Wudang Zhaobao Three-in-One Tai Chi has been passed down for more than 400 years, and it has preserved the essence of traditional culture, the philosophy of Tai Chi Yin and Yang. Tai Chi internal family, 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, Yingtang, 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 “heart and kidney communication.” Only when the essence is sufficient can there be qi, and only when the qi is sufficient can there be spirit, which is what we call “essence, qi and spirit”. The state of Tai Chi practice is a state of sympathy. From the perspective of body technique, the opportunity for the innate qi and acquired qi of the human body in body technique is to relax the shoulders and embrace the elbows, and relax the knees and hang the crotch. When you relax the shoulders and embrace the elbows, you sink the acquired qi, and when you relax the knees and hang the crotch, you lift the innate qi. 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 sympathy is fused, and the true qi lasts forever. The boxing manual says: “Practice the essence to transform into qi (the body must not move randomly, because movement will not allow qi to enter the spirit), “Practice the qi to transform into spirit” (the mind must not move randomly, because movement will not allow spirit to enter qi), “Practice the spirit to return to emptiness” (the mind must not move randomly, 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 focuses on the practice of qi sinking into the dantian because it knows the importance of the dantian. When practicing Wudang Zhaobao Tai Chi, as long as the boxing posture structure is correct and meets the requirements of boxing theory, the qi will sink into the dantian. There is no need to deliberately move qi and intention, everything will be natural, and it cannot be forced, otherwise it is easy to cause physical discomfort and mistakes. Qi sinking into the dantian requires a focused mind, a calm mind and a relaxed body, a hollow head and a straight top, a chest and a straight back, a sinking shoulder and a falling elbow, a straight waist and a drop hip, and a loose knee and a hanging crotch. Qi sinking into the dantian does not mean that the boxing posture is large and low. Instead, there must be a feeling of “empty chest and full stomach”. When the qi sinks, the whole body is stable and active, and the energy is magnificent. The qi is transformed quickly, and over time, it will slowly reach 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 do not move your mind. Do not think about things that are not related to practicing boxing, 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, high and reverse unity.
Empty neck and top strength: Use light and agile strength to make the head top, as if there is a line connecting them, so that the head is upright, the tongue touches the teeth, and does not lean forward or backward, which is convenient for the nervous system to play the function of controlling 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 is necessary to be empty and agile to indirectly achieve the meaning of top. Observe the demeanor of the rooster crowing in the countryside carefully, and you will have unexpected gains. At the moment of each action, it should be soft and strong, and the landing point should be hard. The four tips are aligned, and the roundness of Tai Chi is revealed. Hold the chest and stretch the back. The shoulders should be slightly forward and downward. The chest should be slightly inward, and the back spine should feel convex. The chest is to make the qi sink inward, and the back is to make the qi stick to the back. The arms, legs and chest spine should be 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. When exerting force forward, the spine should feel like it is expanding backward. The boxing theory says: “If there is up, there is down, if there is left, there is right, if there is front, there is back.” The arms and chest back are like giant tires filled with air, and the internal qi is full and incomparable. This state of power feeling is necessary.
Drop shoulders and elbows: The shoulder muscles are naturally relaxed, so that the shoulder joints fall and sink, and the elbows have the meaning of holding forward and falling. This is convenient for the qi to sink, the body is light on the top and heavy on the bottom, and the changes are light and agile, and the shoulders, elbows and muscles and tendons do not need any effort. Shoulders are like hangers, and muscles and tendons are like clothes naturally placed on them. When exercising, the elbows should be pulled toward the middle line of the body, pulling the muscles and tendons of the spine apart, so that many muscle tissues can participate in the exercise. This is the muscle and bone training that is popular in the martial arts world today. It exercises all the muscles, bones and flesh of the whole body, allowing them to participate in the opening and closing, loosening and tightening movements, connecting each joint, and making the whole body one. “When you move, you cannot move; when you are still, you cannot be still.” Straighten your waist and drop your hips: Do not bend forward or backward, lean left or right, but keep your body straight and upright. Slightly pull your lower abdomen back and slightly roll your hips forward and upward. Keep your waist straight, your pelvis down and firm, and your thighs relaxed. Do not make your waist stiff or rigid. The waist should be straight. The waist is the axis and cannot be twisted. Do not twist your waist randomly. Move your hips. Roll your hips forward. At the gate of life in the waist, the joints are stretched apart, 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 points. Ancient books also specifically mention the vital energy. It 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.
Loose knees and hang crotch: The thigh root should be relaxed and the knees will naturally relax. The buttocks should be slightly retracted 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 smooth, and the strength will reach the tip. Hanging crotch can make the crotch open, the hips are easy to rotate, that is, round crotch, the total center of gravity of the body sinks, the upper part is empty and the lower part is solid, and the movement is flexible. The perineum is loose and tight, and the tightness is loose. The qi of Dantian gathers but does not disperse. The crotch and hips follow the fist style to do light and flexible movements. The predecessor of Zhaobao passed down the book: “The primordial qi is light and warm, and the turbid qi is cool. Shen Liaoshan left a fitness recipe. Roll the shoulders, bind the ribs, and gather the brain strength. When standing, the knees should be hidden. Opening the crotch and crossing the legs is the best…” The chest is contained, the shoulders are sunken, and the elbows are dropped to make the Qi sink. The crotch is hung to make the perineum loose and tight, tight and loose, and the Qi is held and rolled up. The lower abdomen is slightly retracted, the outside is tight and the inside is loose, and the tailbone is held and rolled up in front. The gate of life feels convex, 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 sense of “the abdomen is solid and the chest is empty”. Through this state, the Qi sinks into the Dantian. The fist posture when the Qi sinks into the Dantian is the stance. It has the distinctive feature of Wudang Zhaobao Tai Chi to maintain one step and one stance in the fist movement between movement and stillness, looseness and tightness. Only by practicing in this state can the Kung Fu keep pace with the day, which is refreshing and wonderful, and experience the Wudang Zhaobao three-in-one Tai Chi that truly conforms to the Taoism.
The boxing manual says: “Essence nourishes the spiritual root, Qi nourishes the spirit, nourishing the root and nourishing the Tao reveals the innocence, and nourishing the Dantian will bring longevity, which is worth more than ten thousand taels of gold.” The 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 combines health preservation and martial arts into one. Regardless of gender, age or status, if you practice it seriously according to the requirements, you can get unexpected results. Although it is important to sink the Qi into the Dantian, it cannot represent the whole picture of Zhaobao Tai Chi practice. It is inevitable that it is biased to only talk about the importance of sinking the Qi into the Dantian. The practice of Zhaobao Tai Chi is to achieve a rounded state of overall balance and unity.