Qi Concentration in Chinese martial arts

Wherever your mind is, your qi is. Once you have developed grand circulation, you should be able to move your qi from your dan tian to any part of your body. When you put your mind (yi) on a particular technique, for example, a push, your qi will go to the muscles being used. The stronger your imagination is and the greater your concentration, the more the qi will flow and fill the active muscles. This energizes them the way a surge of electricity brings an electric motor to life. It will also increase the flexibility and elasticity of the muscles and make them feel inflated and capable of resisting a punch or generating a lot of power. The more disciplined your will and concentrations are, the more effectively you can move your qi.

Western science reports that concentration generates a chemical reaction in your muscles that increases the power much more than usual. I do not doubt that this is caused by the qi that this concentration of the mind brings.

When you have trained your qi and muscles, you will find that you can generate the same power with less muscle tissue. You will be able to relax your muscles, which will let the qi flow even more easily. The main bulk of the muscle fiber, which is in the middle of the muscle, will relax, and you will rely more on the ends of the muscles near the tendons. It is said that taiji jing comes from the tendons. This demands great skill and control on your part. To move in the loose, fluid, almost boneless fashion of taiji, you have to be able to place every part of your body in the correct relationship to each other part, the ground, and the target. The force generated by your legs is bounced off the floor and coiled through your body. The force cannot pass through any kinks or around any corners. Tension in any muscle will hinder the flow of force and qi. The tendons, which are the connectors of the parts of the body, transmit the force from each part to the next. The ends of the muscles use the minimum amount of effort to keep the flow going and direct it. Click to learn how Chinese medicine treats Intermenstrual Bleeding.

Most people have parts or patches of their bodies that they are not really aware of. This may show up as, for example, a place on your thigh where you are not as sensitive as elsewhere. This means that your spirit (shen) doesn't normally reach everywhere in your body, and consequently, your mind and qi don't go there either. You must train your spirit, mind, and qi to fill your body like a thread passing through every part of the pearl with the nine-curved passage. Only when your consciousness and qi suffuse your muscles can you really control them and your movement.

There are several ways you can fill your body with spirit and qi after you have completed grand circulation. You can visualize that you are a balloon being inflated with energy and awareness. However, the main method in taiji is doing the sequence slowly. When the form is done at a slow, steady pace, you have a chance to pay attention to the movement of qi without sacrificing anything else. Accumulate qi in your dan tian and coordinate it with your movements through your breathing.

You will always use some muscular energy (li) when you move. It is impossible to move without it. Similarly, there is always qi moving in your body. It only stops when you die, or a part of your body dies. An external stylist can develop qi to strengthen his movements, but it is local qi, developed in the arms and shoulders. Since this kind of movement uses tensed muscles, the qi from the dan tian cannot reach the arms. An external style of gongfu like Tiger Style uses this kind of local qi to greatly strengthen the hands and arms. A soft-hard style like White Crane uses this local qi to strengthen the arms, and balances it with attention to the waist and dan tian. Most of the time, however, the qi in the dan tian is not circulated up the back and into the arms. External styles exhale to get the air out and coordinate it with the energy, but it is stiff energy, not the soft energy of taiji.