Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts Blog

Breathing and the Internal Arts -- Hen, Ha and A Bunch of Hooey

chi powers hen ha sounds qigong powers Jan 07, 2014

In recent days, members of my website have asked some questions about breathing during Taiji, Xingyi, Bagua, and Qigong.

I replied to one question last night, then saw that the great Kevin Costner movie Bull Durham was playing on cable. I turned it on and within a minute or two, Susan Sarandon gave Tim Robbins some pitching advice.

"Breathe through your eyelids," she told him, "like the Lava Lizards. It's Mayan, or Aztec, I get them mixed up."

I laughed pretty hard because of the good timing. The "breathing through his eyelids" joke was repeated throughout the movie.

This is the type of Hooey that a lot of internal arts instructors give their students. Gullible students are told to "breathe through their skin" or other silliness. It would be fine if the instructor said that this is simply a technique of mental visualization, but there is no qualification, and that encourages people without critical thinking skills to believe that they can breathe through their skin.

But it gets ev...

Taiji Demonstrations Should Be Based on Reality, Not Fantasy

chi powers qigong powers tai chi powers May 23, 2011

What do we do about the image of Taijiquan when the world believes its a slow-motion exercise for health and meditation designed for the elderly?

How do we show it for what it is -- a powerful martial art?

One thing that would help is for Tai Chi teachers to stop pretending it's mystical -- that you can control a motivated, violent adult with your mind and with something vague called "intent."

Here is a video on YouTube showing Wang Peisheng, a famous (now deceased) Wu style Tai Chi master demonstrating push hands.

The principles he describes are great, but as he demonstrates, he uses a partner who is willing to fall in dramatic ways so the master looks good.

The problem is -- it doesn't work like this, and any decent martial artist who sees this knows it's a crock. Anyone who has ever fought another human being knows none of this works the way it does here.

Here's another video that shows the fantasy of Tai Chi -- not the reality. It involves another famous Wu style master, ...

Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

Breathing and the Internal Arts -- Hen, Ha and A Bunch of Hooey

Taiji Demonstrations Should Be Based on Reality, Not Fantasy

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