
Wudang Zhaobao Tai Chi has been passed down for more than 400 years, and it has preserved the essence of traditional culture in its original flavor – the philosophy of Tai Chi Yin and Yang. Tai Chi’s internal family and the dual cultivation of nature and life, Dantian is the foundation. There are many schools of Tai Chi in the world, and they all emphasize that when practicing Tai Chi, the qi should be sunk into the Dantian, but the specific requirements for the sinking of qi into the Dantian are slightly different. The ancients said: “A slight difference will lead to a thousand miles of error.” It has a certain impact on health preservation and martial arts.
According to traditional Chinese medicine and modern Western medicine, Dantian is the so-called upper Dantian, middle Dantian, and lower Dantian. In fact, it is the place where the qi of the upper, middle and lower Jiao is concentrated, that is, Yintang, Tanzhong and Dantian. Dantian is not actually an acupuncture point, but the birthplace of qi. The harmonics of qi generated in Tanzhong are transmitted to the heart, and the harmonics from the heart are generated by Tanzhong. The qi from Tanzhong gathers in Dantian, and the qi from Dantian gathers in Tanzhong. This is what Chinese medicine calls the interaction between the heart and kidney. Only when the essence is sufficient can there be qi, and only when the qi is sufficient can there be spirit. This is what we call “essence, qi and spirit”.
The state of Tai Chi practice is a state of sympathetic interaction. From the perspective of body technique, the opportunity for the innate qi and acquired qi of the human body in the body technique is to relax the shoulders and embrace the elbows, and relax the knees and hang the crotch. When the shoulders and elbows are relaxed, the acquired qi is sunk, and when the knees and crotch are relaxed, the innate qi is lifted. The two qi are combined in the dantian, the internal qi is surging, the belt meridian is full, the sky covers the earth, the two qi copulate, the sympathetic interaction, and the true qi lasts forever. The boxing manual says: “Practice essence to transform qi (the body must not move rashly, because movement will not allow qi to enter the spirit) “Practice qi to transform spirit” (the mind must not move rashly, because movement will not allow spirit to enter qi) “Practice spirit to return to emptiness” (the mind must not move rashly, because movement will cause the original essence to disperse). We must pay attention to the cultivation of essence and lay a good foundation to produce vigorous dan qi and move towards the great way step by step.
Wudang Zhaobao Tai Chi emphasizes the practice of sinking Qi into Dantian because it knows the importance of Dantian. When practicing Wudang Zhaobao Tai Chi, as long as the boxing posture is correct and meets the requirements of boxing theory, Qi will sink into Dantian. There is no need to deliberately move Qi and intention, everything will be natural, and it cannot be forced, otherwise it will easily cause physical discomfort and mistakes. To sink Qi into Dantian, you must be mentally focused, calm your mind and relax your body, empty your head and strength, hold your chest and pull your back, sink your shoulders and elbows, straighten your waist and drop your hips, and relax your knees and hang your crotch. To sink Qi into Dantian, it is not necessary to have a large and low boxing posture. Instead, you should have the feeling of “chest is empty and stomach is full”. When the qi sinks down, the whole body is stable and active, and the energy is magnificent. The qi is transformed quickly, and over time, it slowly reaches the advanced stage of qi solidification and spirit concentration.
When practicing Wudang Zhaobao Tai Chi, you should relax your whole body, take emptiness as the basis, and keep your mind calm. Don’t think about things that are not related to boxing practice, concentrate your thoughts, embrace the circle and keep oneness, silently recite and understand each key point, and then start boxing. Make the form, intention, and spirit highly unified.
Empty neck and top strength: use light and agile strength to make the head stand up, as if there is a line connecting them, so that the head is upright, the tongue touches the teeth, and it does not lean forward or backward, which is convenient The nervous system controls the balance of the human body. The neck is straight, the lower jaw is slightly retracted, and the head does not need to be pushed up directly. It should be empty and indirect to achieve the meaning of pushing up. Observe the crowing of roosters in rural courtyards carefully, and you will get unexpected gains. At the moment of each action, it should be soft and strong, and the landing point should be strong. The four tips are aligned, so that the roundness of Tai Chi can be shown.
Holding the chest and pulling the back: The shoulders are slightly forward and downward, and the chest is slightly contained, and the back has a convex feeling. Holding the chest is to make the air sink inward, and pulling the back is to make the air stick to the back. The arms, legs and chest spine are prepared with five bows. The boxing manual says: “Storing strength is like opening a bow, and releasing strength is like releasing an arrow.” Strength comes from the feet, and strength comes from the spine. Keep the boxing intention in the chest at all times, the back should be round like a turtle’s back, and when exerting force forward, the spine has a feeling of swelling backward. Boxing theory says: “When there is up, there is down; when there is left, there is right; when there is front, there is back.” The two arms and chest and back are like giant tires filled with air, and the internal energy is full and incomparable. This state of feeling is necessary.
Drop shoulders and elbows: The shoulder muscles relax naturally, so that the shoulder joints fall down and sink, and the elbows have the meaning of holding forward and falling, so that the energy can sink down, the body is light on the top and heavy on the bottom, and the changes are light and agile, and the shoulders, elbows, muscles and tendons do not need any effort. The shoulders are like hangers, and the muscles and tendons are naturally placed on them like clothes. When exercising, the elbows should be held towards the midline of the body with the intention of holding, pulling and stretching the muscles and tendons of the spine, so that many muscle tissues participate in the exercise, which is the popular muscle and bone training in the martial arts world. Exercise all the muscles, bones and flesh of the whole body, let them all participate in the opening and closing, loosening and tightening exercises, and connect each joint, and the whole body is one, “One movement is all moving, and one stillness is all stillness. ’’
Straighten the waist and drop the hips: The body does not bend forward or backward, tilt left or right, but remains straight and upright, with the lower abdomen slightly retracted and the buttocks slightly rolled forward and upward. Make the waist and spine straight, the pelvis fall down and solid, and the thigh roots relax. The waist should be straight, the waist is the axis, and the axis cannot be twisted. The waist should not be twisted randomly, and the hips should move. The buttocks should roll forward, the joints at the gate of life in the waist are stretched, the skin feels tight, and the gate of life feels convex. Fill the groove in the waist, and the gate of life can be relaxed. Among all the acupuncture points, the gate of life is one of the important acupuncture points. Ancient books also specifically mention that the vitality comes from the gate of life. There is a strong correlation between the circulation of the heart and the circulation of the gate of life. When the gate of life is injured, the circulation of the heart will also deteriorate. Mr. Lv Zijian, a martial arts master in Sichuan Province, and Zheng Wuqing, a master of Zhaobao Tai Chi, talked about knocking and vibrating the gate of life to stimulate the true energy, so that the dan is strong and the qi and blood are unblocked. In the later practice of Zhaobao Taijiquan, some teachers and descendants would gently tap the vital point when practicing the oblique form, shaking steps, and flashing back movements.
Loose knees and hanging crotch: The thigh root should be relaxed and sink, and the knees will naturally relax accordingly. The buttocks should be slightly pulled forward and the valley should be lifted. Loose knees will make it easier for the thigh root to relax and sink, and the strength of the waist, hips, spine and upper limbs will be smooth and follow, and the strength will reach the tip. Hanging the crotch can make the crotch open, the hips are easy to rotate, that is, the crotch is round, the total center of gravity of the body sinks, the upper part is empty and the lower part is solid, the movement is flexible, the perineum is loose and tight, the qi in the dantian gathers but does not disperse, and the crotch moves lightly and flexibly with the fist style. The predecessors of the Zhaobao School passed down the book saying: “The primordial qi is light and warm, and the turbid qi is cool. Shen Leshan left a fitness formula. Roll the shoulders, bind the ribs, and gather the brain strength. When standing, the knees must be hidden. Opening the crotch and lowering the hips is the best…”.
Chest containment, sinking shoulders, and dropping elbows make the qi sink. Hanging the crotch makes the perineum loose and tight, tight and loose, and supports and rolls the sinking qi. The lower abdomen is slightly retracted, the outside is tight and the inside is loose, and the tailbone is supported and rolled in front. The gate of life has a convex feeling, and the qi is stationed forward. The requirements of the fist structure up and down, front and back, left and right, make the body have a “solid abdomen and empty chest” feeling. , through this state, the Qi sinks into the Dantian. The fist posture when the Qi sinks into the Dantian is the stance, which has the distinctive characteristics of Wudang Zhaobao Tai Chi. Only by practicing in this state can the Kung Fu keep pace with the times, which is refreshing and wonderful, and you can experience the Wudang Zhaobao Three-in-One Tai Chi that truly conforms to the Taoism of nature.
The boxing manual says: “Essence nourishes the spiritual roots, Qi nourishes the spirit, nourishing the roots and nourishing the Tao sees the innocence, and nourishing the Dantian will create a treasure of longevity, which is worth ten thousand taels of gold.” Wudang Zhaobao Three-in-One Tai Chi, which has been passed down for more than 400 years, is a rare flower in the Chinese boxing garden. It truly embodies the law of Taoism, and is an excellent method that integrates health preservation and martial arts. Regardless of men, women, old or young, if you practice it seriously according to the requirements, you can get unexpected results. Although Qi sinking into Dantian is important, it cannot represent the whole picture of Zhaobao Taijiquan practice. It is inevitably biased to only talk about the importance of Qi sinking into Dantian. The practice of Zhaobao Taijiquan is to achieve a rounded state of overall balance and unity. I just explain the essence of Qi sinking into Dantian from another perspective based on my own feelings. To help fellow practitioners master and remember the essentials of practice, I have written a short poem.