thought is was cool how my instructor Jeff was teaching Muay thai and boxing and without knowing was teaching some of the Tai chi classics:

Had a good sparring class last night where the instructor said- “Fighting is dictated by universal principles”…we went over two principles that scream 2 taijiquan classic principles.

the first was based on the taiji classic “if my opponet attacks, I arrive before he does” or Taiji classic: It is said if the opponent does not move, then I do not move.
At the opponent’s slightest move, I move first.”
in this demonstration the instructor had a guy throw a strike or kick and he return what he termed a ‘reaction strike’ in which he hit the guy before the guy hit him using a short punch or kick.

The second was called ‘set point’. Set point in fighting is attacking before a guy is able to set in (or root) where he has a powerful strike based on connecting to the ground. for instance if a guy is throwing a punch he has to step and root to have the link from “foot, leg, hip/waist/spine- arm” so hitting or pushing the guy before he makes his set point is the drill.

This is a favorite with one of my sensing/push hands instructors when keeping a guy off balanced or away from a ‘set point’ so that he can not have an effective push or strike.

Taiji Classic:

The chin [intrinsic strength] should be
rooted in the feet,
generated from the legs,
controlled by the waist, and
manifested through the fingers.
If correct timing and position are not achieved,
the body will become disordered
and will not move as an integrated whole;

Taught a total beginner on Sunday. My guest and I both train in boxing and Muay thai boxing, but he doesn’t feel he has enough stretching techniques and other fundamentals. We do almost no stretching in muay thai and boxing. I invited him to train with my friend Mark and I who get to together on Sunday for Chinese martial arts. He has no Chinese Martial arts experience, but he has been to China and lived in Korea and Japan, and his wife is Chinese. I focused his training on the following:

Workout summary-

Etiquette, philosophy, and motto: wisdom, benevolence, sincerity, bravery.
Warm ups 1-14,
1. Neck- up-down in half circles 2. bend forward and back arms crossed, 3. Fingers interlaced stretch to toes left and right 4. elbow to toe and twist 5. Hip and knee circles 6. fight stance front stretch kick, 7. outside stretch kick , 8. cross stretch kick 9. Front kick 10. Side kick 11. outside heel kick 12. back leg swing heel kick 13. drop stance elbow towards foot. 14. slap back.

Bar stretching- 1. front- elbow to toe (left and right) 2. Side bending hip open (left and right) 3. scale stretch 4. horse stance (feet out) stretch.

Supplemental stretching- 1. pushing wall heel stretch, 2. spine -stretch twist on floor 3. butterfly stretch 4. frog stretch
8 basic stances- 1. horse 2. mt. climber (bow stance) 3. Kneeling stance 4. empty stance 5. balance stance 6. drop stance 7. half sitting 8. Rhino view moon.

Moving kicks-
1. front stretch kick
2. inside stretch kick
3. Outside stretch kick
4. Toe kick
5. Heel kick
6. Side kick
7. Combined toe kick, side kick (left and right side)
8. Side stretch kick

Moving stances:
Ma bu (horse stance) gong bu (bow stance)

Mark and I demonstrated the following forms so he has a understanding of Chinese forms and some history. Our guest really liked the Hsingyi.

Forms and history:
Shaolin- style that came from Buddhist temple so monks could stay fit and defend themselves and the Buddhist temple.
Tai Chi Chuan- Taoist martial art based on tai chi “Grand ultimate” symbol (yin yang) combining hard and soft. Old style is Chen family style. Yang Family is most famous after fighter Yang Lu Chan taught the Emperor’s guards and grandson Yang Chen Fu taught publicly around China.
Hsingyi Chuan- another Taoist style meaning “mind and will boxing” consisting of more aggressive forward moving style, primarily used by bodyguards.
Pa Kua Chang- Taoist style based on 8 kua symbols that uses palm techniques. Known for its circle walking and spiraling movements.

Palm strike work:
1. Du chang- shaking palm (similar to a jab or cross but with open palm
2. Dragon back- spinal wave with striking with double palms
3. Throwing palm- like throwing a baseball or over hand right
4. Slapping palm- like hitting a flat table
5. nei wan kai he- two arms coil inward and outward to stretch body and shoulders
Palm work on focus mitts.

Hsingyi practice
Open into the San Ti (3 powers) stance.
Basic drill- rise, drill, overturn, fall.

Qigong practice (qi/chi cultivation)
Concentration drill- counting backward from 60 to 0
Lung exercises:
1. Cleansing breath- inhale through nose, exhale out mouth as long as possible. 3x
2. Filling breath- inhale and exhale evenly and deep from nose. 3x
3. Holding breath- inhale and hold relaxed as long as possible, exhale through nose. 3x
4. dan tien breathing- breathing long and deep from the lower diaphragm

Self massage-
Patting massage- Face, scalp, legs, arms, lower back and kidneys, swing arms hitting body, reverse breathing at dan tien.

Its not really about big muscles if you look at the principles he is talking about.

The principles apply to IMA and CMA in many ways to help you evolve as a athlete.

these apply more to just lifting weight:
1. continuity- consistency getting in the gym and working out
2. Understanding- understanding what your doing, why and knowledge.
3. recovery- good sleep, nutrition, and day off
4. solid foundation- gotta have basics before the complex
5. Individualization- know your weaknesses and where you need to improve.
6. specialization- planning and changing to develop new skills
7. periodization- have a plan before you train, enough what your body can give to achieve goals.
8. variety- your training program needs to constantly change
9. training economy- use time wisely in gym, train hard then go.
10. progressive overload- program need increased demands- more weight, more repetitions.
11. nutrition- got to eat healthy, most important discipline
12. safety- common sense, know what your body can do.

my answer: purpose of forms- ingraining encoded combat techniques in your mind-body memory to gain a reflexive response in a fight or flight situation. It is often used to gain health, strength, for sport, and spirituality.

Forms embody the spirit and tradition of a particular group of people. Chinese Martial arts were from ancient military tribes,clans, and army for conquering and defending from invaders. Temple styles also developed systems using forms. Taoist and Buddhist temple forms came from places like Wu Dang, Shaolin, Ermei, Huashan, Maoshan, and other traditional Chinese mountains and places with temples and monks. Confucian scholars as well prescribed society to learn health training exercises and forms. Doctors of Chinese medicine got involved with study of acupuncture, herbs, and diet and came up with a variety of health forms like du-na, dao-yin, and wu-xing forms. Performance martial arts came from Chinese Opera and Circus. These were traveling groups from the silk road who were skilled in wrestlers, acrobats, artists, knife throwers, contortionists, performance of various qigong feats, and breaking bricks skills, to new a few. There were family styles where people were dedicated to the study of forms handed down from ancestors. There were combat forms studied by masters who were involved with the security of the Royal family, Merchants, Gold, and wealthy people of status from thieves and gangs. There were Lei Tai events who was best in village, best in a particular city. People in sports got involved and began evolution of various forms as sports ‘physical education’ with places like Chin Wu, and sport colleges. In the 1900′s sports competitions started to evolve, organized to share in combat traditions, masters collaborated like the Nanking 1930′s and an Olympic demo in Berlin in 1936. Many forms were shared with the public and simplified. Post World War II created the Chinese revolution and martial arts forms split from people who migrated to Taiwan and abroad vs Mainland China. PRC China evolved into pre- and post- cultural revolution with traditional vs modern martial art forms. While Taiwan and those who fled communism kept many of the traditions unaltered, PRC’s modernism of “compulsory” forms altered from traditional forms for public health and sport was developed for regional, college and city team competitions in PRC China. Also the international community has learned forms from many athletes, coaches, and masters when they migrated to many countries around the world.

The study of Neijia (Internal Art) boxing- prohibitions.

1. Do not attach to much theory into actual practice. When we practice Taijiquan, Baguazhang, Xingyiquan or Yiquan, it is useless to associate philosophy with what you’re doing. For example, many scholars started adding 5 element theory to Xingyiquan. This will not matter in a fight, focus on the combat move, intention, and application. It does not matter what meridian is opening or that it is associated with an element or I-ching trigram.

2. Don’t believe in Taoist Alchemy without seeing hard proof. Many of these scholars talk about jin transforming into chi, chi into shen, and returning to void and enlightenment. In neijia martial arts we need to train hard and do the training intelligently. When you train hard you cultivate different energy and attributes necessary for combat. It is nonsense to talk about breathing from the skin to the bones and into the dan tien. You shouldn’t try to force internal energy like qi into meridians and energy paths. It does no good and causes illnesses like mental problems. As you train hard it is already going into those places naturally.

3. We don’t practice neigong that ignores the external. Our training does involve external work like strength training and ‘wei gong’ combined with internal work like qigong and meditation. Drilling combat techniques and researching applications becomes external to the study of solo forms and proper mechanics which are internal. If you train without the external it will not benefit your health and ability to defend yourself in the long run.

4. Do not pursue super powers. Again, this is something many internal martial artists mistakenly strive for. Fake ability to jump over walls, withstand being cut from swords, or lifting great amount of weight. Just practice and develop your ability, I have never seen superpowers anyways.

5. Do not exhaust yourself. There is no need to train when your tired or to the point of exhaustion. This also includes your state of mind. Training when depressed, angry and excited can lead to exhaustion. This can lead to injury and illness. Train hard enough to get a aerobic, anaerobic, and/or ‘max oxygen volume’ and take breaks. Good rest and sleep is important here, along with rehabilitative methods of spa treatments like suana, steam rooms, and massage therapy for recovery. Master fitness and combat, sparring and drilling, but not to exhaustion.

6. Do not practice to much ying gong- Hard qigong. There is a difference when training to much bag hitting, kettlebells, weights, smashing bricks and other combat skills and not enough. Though these skills can develop great punching strength, to much strength can be detrimental to actual skill training. Use skill like a bull fighter. To much ying gong is like a bull and builds strength attributes for a short period of time. All time devoted to strength can be a waste of time in the long term. It is easier for younger students to do this as well. We want to preserve our strength and ability into to an old age. To much strength training can tax the body into injuries and aging faster.

7. Do not use standing as your practice. Several martial arts believe in long standing ‘jing gong’ and ‘zhuan zhuang’. Though there is some benefit to it, it is a waste of training time and skill training to stand around for 40 to 60 minutes holding a posture. You can work on forms and drills and get standing with short 5 to 10 minute standings several times during workout. Standing can help you properly align body mechanics, find mind stillness and concentrate mind and qi. It can also be harmful to nerves, knees, and waste your time that should be used for real skill development.

8. Do not add ‘wushification’ or ‘mystification’ to neijia boxing. Many wushu long fist masters have altered the tradition and modernized the neijia arts. They included it in wushu forms competitions and into sanda fighting. Some have gone as far as creating long fist jumping and kicks into Taijiquan competition forms judged like gymnastics. Others have mystified the art as Taoist, Buddhist, Confucian, and other religions creating cults that take advantage of the weak minded. The neijia arts are combat arts from centuries past used for fighting, there is nothing religious about that.

A martial artist goes through much more training than fighting. they usually start with some kind of test of character before being accepted as a student. In the old tradition a student might bow at the house of a master for several days to show sincerity to learn. In modern times a teacher might show a few things and see if the student goes deep into it before teaching more. In my case a teacher taught 24 form to see if they could “get it” before teaching the Long Form and didnt talk about themselves and lineage for 2 years teaching strict basics.

A Martial art teacher will that is of true lineage will teach ‘Wu De’ or martial virtue. In the older Chinese tradition a master would “make you a man before martial artist” with teaching things like humility, respect, sincerity, will power, courage, endurance, ect.
some martial arts schools adopted mottos for students, Fu Zhong Wen’s Yongnian Association uses “Diligence, Perseverance, Respect, Sincerity” as quality’s a practitioner must have to develop a high level of Taiji kung fu.*

Many fighters in today’s society are not brought up with this type of mind set. They go right into fighting techniques. This is typical of MMA, BJJ, Kickboxing and Boxing schools. Some old boxing schools and traditional minded schools might have a bit more discipline approach to teaching the fighter, but the goal is fighting for sport and competition sake to help promote the school, style, and teacher usually for monetary gains. fighting takes a much shorter time to learn. A martial artist of a discipline like Taijiquan, the road is longer to mastery and might take up to 20 years to be as good as someone who focuses on fighting only.

Other aspects that are developed by martial artists that might not be developed by the common fighter are internal training, flexibility, qigong, traditional methods of conditioning, Eastern philosophy, principles and theory, history, medical knowledge and healing (TCM), weapons training like sword, saber, spear.

Someone who practices Taijiquan should be one who has motivation to use the art for its original purpose of attaining fighting ability. The forms are combat moves that require combat intent of mind. The mind of the taijiquan practitioner doenst need to be motivated to compete and fight other but to develop courage help those who are weaker that might need to be defended or defense of the self when called to action.

*Zhin- Diligence- Hard work and effort is prerequisite for skilled development. Daily practice on a regular basic will ultimately be rewarded by beneficial results.

Hen- Perseverance- It is important that a long and enduring sense of purpose be cultivated. A sense of purpose combined with regular daily practice will serve to achieve that purpose.

Li- Respect- Respect for your master, teacher, and fellow man is paramount. Deal with others in taking consideration their backgrounds and in the light of their expectations. Mutual respect serves to enhance a sense of community and solidarity in a society where individuals treat each other with respect.

Zhen- Sincerity- Sincerity in attitude or motivation is a prerequisite for learning Taijiquan. In order to achieve, a genuine resolve to pursue your goal must exist. Deal with others sincerely if you want them to reciprocate. Maintain sincerity in the fore of your dealing with others and you will achieve a smooth flow in relationships.

matt

There are alot of Duan systems out there. the Chinese government has a ranking system called “Duan” for top athletes and coaches in Mainland China. The Yang Family created their own Duan system within their own ranks from Eagle to Dragon…see here: http://www.yangfamilytaichi.com/associa … #article-2

Chinese martial arts originally did not have ranks. A belt was worn in ancient times in Chinese and Mongolian wrestling like Shuai jiao. Over time in competitions the belt go dirty, bloody, and eventually begun to change color through time , matches, and experience, so a worn out belt meant you have been around and have a level of skill.

Japanese master Jigoro Kano developed the first belt ranking system to gauge and measure a students progress. This was separated into stages in training to learn various methods of combat at each stage.

Now in the modern age, many schools adopted the ranking system to measure a students progress, marketing, and determine levels of progress from beginner to intermediate,to advanced. Some school choose not to use this type of system and or even compete against other schools in tournaments. They choose a seniority approach to structure and chain of command.

In my experience I first went to aTaiji school that did not have a ranking system. I later went to a VingTsun school that did by levels and not belt/sash., I didnt stick around long enough to get to level 3. I stuck around doing Long fist and Traditional Taiji, bagua, and xingyi with the first teacher for 6 years.

7 years later I trained at Omei wushu kung fu school by USA team coach Lu xiao Lin and Later with Sifu Burris at CMAI (Chinese martial artsinstitute) These teachers taught traditional shaolin and Taiji, and Modern Wushu and Taiji. Here there was level ‘Sash’ tests after a few years I eventually got a Black sash level 3. Not that it meant anything, but it gave a sense of self accomplishment. There were a lot of forms (at each level), two person forms, qi-na, weapons forms, sparring, and questions answer. notes from that time period- http://polariswushu.net/blog/2010/03/23 … 1997-2003/

Testing included:
Taijiquan- perform 24 taiji, 32 sword, 48 form taiji, 42 taiji, 40 yang form, 42 sword, 36 Chen routine, 56 Chen competition routine, 16 Taiji spear, Taiji 13 dao, Bagua and xingyi routines, push hands compete.

Kung fu/wushu- basic kick lines, shaolin Form 1, shaolin form 2, shaolin form 3, Old compulsory Long fist, Old compulsory sword, new compulsory long fist, new compulsory sword, new compulsory spear, qi-na applications, two person fight set, free sparring.

Where I currently at the BJJ, Judo, and our Muay Thai classes all have ranking tests. In the BJJ and Judo it is belts, In Muay Thai my coach created ranks/level. As time goes on the skills learned are more intense,and the tests get much harder. To me it sets goals and standards, so I am all for it.

Have you been to schools with and without ranking systems? what are your thoughts on ranking, tradition and non-traditional?

A traditional CMA master told me once ” i have a belt to hold my pants up!” haha

My current Taiji teacher Coach Christopher Pei talked intimately about why he chose Yang Zhen Ji as his teacher. Coach Pei was influential in bringing Yang Zhen Ji, Yang Zhen Dou, and Yang Jun to America in the late 80’s early 90’s. Coach Pei also studied with Fu Zhong Wen as well. Coach Pei spent a lot of time with Yang Zhen Ji in China and America as Yang Zhen Ji stayed at his home during visits. He got to ask many questions at tea and during training. Here I will mention some of the things he discussed with us.

Yang Zhen Ji was forced to live in a small home (10”x10”) with low wages as a factory gate keeper for
over 40 years for not denouncing his brother Yang Shou Zhong who defected to Canton and Hong Kong. Even while other got pay raises over time, Zhen Ji still got paid low wages.

During his lifetime he taught for free for no fee. As his younger brothers prospered, he live poor but happy.
He lived a humble lifestyle. While other brothers would say their posture were like their dad Yang Chen Fu,
Yang Zhen ji would simply say “I was not taught that way”, “This is how i do”. He would not suggest corrections, just say “this is how I do”, and that “There are other ways of doing it.”

Yang Zhen Ji explains his great Grandfather Yang Lu Chan mastered the Chen taiji, and was able to beat the Chen Taiji masters. Yang knew the study of Chen Taiji was low and went downward,
he mastered and defeated its techniques by understanding the horizontal. He says that Yang Lu Chan made Taiji famous as it was hidden in Chen village for over 400 years. To brake away from the Chen’s, he made his Taijiquan unique as his own style, higher stance, slow even motion, and using the power of soft overcoming hard. Yang Lu Chan and his son Yang Banhao made it famous with defeating fighters from various martial arts.

Yang Zhen Ji Article

My training for past few years has been very rich in terms of coming full circle with Chinese fighting systems: I trained at Coach Pei’s school for San shou sparring and Taiji. His taiji: Yang Taiji of Yang Zhen Jie. I got a lot of details to the form and the how and why it is that way. Structural integrity testing, applications, two person drills, sword techniques, striking hands, and more. 2012 notes on Yang Taijiand more notes. The sparring classes were good with lots of techniques sparring and shuai chiao.

Many of the 2012 sparring clips are on my youtube at: videos We film sparring to see strengths and weaknesses, develop good habits and improve. Sadly they don’t really allow video camera at USWA which had some really good sparring fundamentals and technique sparring.

I still did my rounds with the “Cheng man ching” push hands groups in the DC metro area (Dr. David Walls-Kaufmann’s Lincoln park, Flemming park group, Wu shen Tao push hands, David Chen Memorial park). I started a sparring group at Mainstreet Crossfit gym,

and helping the next generation of fighters at CMAI (chinese martial arts institute) with their sparring program and curriculum at my old al mata with Sifu Burris.

I dabbled a little with Mark Li’s Xingyi Dao group and got the benefits of some of the Dai Xingyi qigong of squatting monkey and drill some linear basic lines of Pi and Beng. Spent some time in training with Nick Masi at his Northern Virginia Shuai Chiao club as well, doing all sorts of fight training and sparring drills for my Lei Tai event.

This was def a good year of sparring and progression as a fighter, despite some injuries here and there. During injury time, I went back and video recorded many of the Taiji warm-up, qigong, and supplementary trainings I picked up from the Yang Taijiquan lineages I am associated with. blog here They are on my Youtube, but some are private and available upon request. That was part of my injury rehabilitation along with my inversion table that did wonders.

I continued with some Muay Thai/Boxing at Vivek’s to help support his new gym called Pentagon MMA link here. Did some cleansing with Bikram yoga, and got some Boxing training at Title Boxing gym as well with my wife Patcharee.

Most importantly I Integrated Yiquan standing meditation at Capitol Qigong again with Shuren Ma’s student Rick Smith. I went there and tried it with Master Ma back in 1998. I respected it and understood standing meditation was the essence to develop real kung fu. The 45 minutes or so wasn’t pleasant. Burning in the legs, aches and pains, here and there holding a posture. I dropped out and opted on my own standing, alone or with other various groups on occasion, but as a discipline, I really was not ready for the stillness and deep standing back then. I wanted to move and train in forms and sparring! The 180 degree flip side of wushu kung fu training of my youth. As I hit 40, I can really value and appreciate the art of standing meditation now more than ever.

about capitol qigong: from website here

“”The history of Capital Qi-Gong has its roots in the Chinese martial arts. The “external” styles of the Chinese martial arts have recognized for centuries that a high level of qi development is the means for vast internal and external power. However, few practioners achieved the desired level of development even after years of effort.

It is in resolving this problem for the martial arts practitioner that a revolutionary approach was developed by Dr. Yu Peng Si, physician and Qi-Gong master.

Dr. Yu Peng Si was the head of the dermatology division of Shanghai’s Number One People’s Hospital as well as a professor at Shanghai’s Number One Medical College. He also studied under the famous xing yi quan master Wang Xiang Zhai,
image:Wang Xiang Zhai.
who had developed an innovative “formless” version of xing yi quan which Wang labeled “yi quan” (also called dacheng quan).

A devout Buddhist, Dr. Yu combined the standing meditative postures and physical exercises of yi quan with the qi-channel opening methods of Tibetan Lamas. The resulting achievement was the formation of a highly successful system for teaching qi cultivation, which yielded one of the most elevated forms of Qi-Gong: The ability to project strong Qi at a distance. This ability is called Kong Jing or “empty force” .

Dr. Yu and his wife, Madam Ou-Yang Min came to the United States in 1981 to participate in a QiGong study at Stanford University. After Dr. Yu died in 1983, Madam Ou-Yang stayed in San Francisco where she still continues to teach Qi-Gong. This is the QiGong lineage of our school’s head instructor, Mr. Shuren Ma.

Mr. Ma, the nephew of Dr. Yu and Madam Ou-Yang, started his Qi-Gong practice in China in 1955, when he was 5 years old. Now a Qi-Gong master with over 40 years experience, Mr. Ma proudly brings us this art through Capital Qi-Gong.

image:Shuren man and Rick smith courtesy of www.thecenterforqigong.com.

Our Qi-Gong meditation style, the heart of our training program, can be defined as a “purifying internal experience”, during which an individual learns to relax and be natural in the process of building qi. This means that a student of qi does not merely relax the body musculature, but relaxes both mind and body — what we refer to as the whole body. This meditation is called “internal” because the process originates from within and its effects emanate outward to benefit the whole body. It is considered “purifying” because we attempt to clear our minds and cleanse our bodies of blockages; we also call this “natural” or “nature’s way.” This kind of internal exercise yields good health, balance, body wholeness, and improved qi.”"

This is probably one of the more powerful practices I have ever done, comparable to even Tibetan deep sitting meditation like Dzogchen and Tummo, Buddhist Zazen and Vipassana, and including various esoteric Indian yogas like TM, Sahaja, and Kundalini.

Had a nice visit to captiolhilltaichi.com in Lincoln park, Washington D.C. Had a brief discussion with a student on my recent training in Yang Taijiquan and structural integrity testing of the postures with Coach Pei at USWA and also Yiquan post standing drills with Rick Smith from Capitolqigong.com

Internalizing Taijiquan standing method he uses:

1. Holding the post posture and visualizing the 3 jin lou channels (jin lou, path of force, not jing lou or meridian path in acupuncture): hold tree posture, “Wu Ji” standing, ect. use of static standing postures.
2. Slowly sinking and rising drill with hands (similar to the sinking/rising drill from William CC Chen seminar).
3. Using holding Taijiquan postures: examples- ward off left, Pipa, etc. visualizing the three channels. Example: if weight is sinking into left leg, visualize the left channel going through body and down through the leg (inner and outer portion of leg).
4. Begin Slow movement using a singular fundamental posture: push, brush knee, etc. shifting weight to and fro.

While the 3 channels is something I have heard of in Esoteric Buddhism and Yoga, I have not heard them used in standing, but can see them as valuable. In regards to Taiji and standing, they obviously are not used the same way as in yoga. Standing, the channels are visualized as a feeling for rooting, stability, and structural awareness/integrity.

standing qigong/Channels video from Fernando Bernall:

comment on 3 channels in Yoga:
Esoteric 3 channels from Sahaja yoga:

http://www.freemeditationnz.com/our-three-energy-channels.html

Left channel (ida nadi) The left channel (moon channel) corresponds to our past, emotions and desires. Its pure state represents the qualities of deep joy, love, compassion, music and art. However, we are prone to left side problems such as emotional attachments, depression, low self esteem and feelings of guilt.
Right channel (pingala nadi) The right channel (sun channel) corresponds to our actions and planning. However, we are prone to right side problems such as egoistic behaviour (selfishness), arrogance, pride, anger (violence) and hatred.
Central channel (sushumna nadi) The Central Channel is the balance of the other two channels. The central channel is the channel of ascent, it is the power which sustains our evolution and guides us, consciously or unconsciously, towards the higher awareness of the Sahasrara (seventh chakra). Daily meditation leads to a cooling of the sun channel and a warming of the moon channel, which restores the inner balance of our emotional, mental & physical beings.

Standing in Yiquan:

In regards to Yiquan here some of the drills we do. http://004c68c.netsolhost.com/www/index.html

we do not visualize anything and the purpose is to: 1. relax, 2. be natural (nothing forced), and 3. gong (do the hard work).
prep for standing:
drill 1 is a small movement to get body to relax, feeling air between fingers and relaxing.
drill 2 is another small movement to feel the body to relax like water between the fingers, like wading in water- smoothing out the “rough waters” to “flowing waters” in and outside the body.
drill 3 and 4 are moving energy in or out of the “3rd eye” and around the body in a figure 8 pattern down to the ground using guiding energy.
drill 5- washing from head down to feel with arm movement.
drill 6 is deep relaxation from head to toe in Wu Ji standing. (Almost exact to a Fu Zhong Wen, Yang Taiji standing that was taught to me in Shanghai)
drill 7 and 8 and basic “silk reeling-like” movements, lifting box and Chen taiji roll back movement.

Standing: then we go into 40 minutes of Post standing choosing from 5 holding postures.: no thoughts or visualization just sense what happens with “qi” or energy, being natural. Not trying to force qi to happen or what Rick says, “you can have all the right fishing gear, but that doesn’t guarantee you will catch a fish that day.”

Ending: with a closing with a small movement to adjust energy.

from there we might do the Yiquan variation of “push hands”

6/18/2013: On Ben Lo’s Camp and his practice of standing gong:
Both Julian and Dr. David Walls-Kaufman (disciple of Ben) had some interesting testimonials of some of the training that went on at the camp. In particular the morning standing training at the camp.

Ben had been practicing standing for the last 4 years and nobody could push him over while he just stood, even when more than one person ganged up on him. It was a testimonial to how important standing is. Dr.David, whom I train with a lot, always does a ton of standing in his class, can really toss people effortlessly in push hands based on his years of standing gong training. He says he is nowhere near the level of what Ben Lo has attained through hard work (gong fu). They said that originally the Taijiquan was trained as standing postures and eventually they became strung together.

Julian and David both spoke about their experience with Ben Lo and the
importance of standing. Standing Gong requires 2 very important factors:

1. Empty mind- thoughtless mind, Wu ji mind- mind has to be in the here and now,
no extraneous thoughts, “monkey mind”, or internal chatter. You can not do
standing gong with mind distracted without clarity. If you can’t do this then
part 2 is useless.

2. Once mind is under control you can begin to make self corrections, small
adjustments, and refinements of your standing postures. Once that is done, you
can do your neigong work.

Here is a blog/journal entry of some standing we do in the park. We spend a
great deal of standing time in this class. 5 postures:
wu ji, left ward off, right ward off, pipa, raised hands.

enjoy:

http://polariswushu.net/blog/2011/06/06/tai-chi-in-the-park-642011/

In Fall of 1990, I began my attendance at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) as a fine arts major. I had a huge interest in eastern philosophy from reading many books on Yoga, Buddhism, Taoism, and Zen. I had always had an interest in martial arts, but never found the right one. My sister Danielle, who was also living in Richmond, told me about a guy teaching martial arts in the park. Little did I know, this martial art was ‘Tai Chi Chuan’ pronounced “Tai Ji”, which was the proper name for the Yin-Yang symbol in Taoism.

Back home in Virginia Beach, the local Edgar Cayce “New Age” store called, “The Heritage”, had many books on martial arts and a Tai Chi instructor in where I tried a free class with instructor Larry Mann, director of Tidewater Tai Chi Association. I knew little about Tai Chi, and never really took the time to study it diligently while in public school.

When I went to Maymont park, I found the class and we started with a warm-up called Ba Dua Jin (Eight Piece Brocade). We soon were doing fundamental stance work, and before winters arrival, the first section of the Yang short form. I had also received some of Wilson’s Tao Experience foundation publications and learned a qigong called , 6 healing sounds.

In time, Wilson introduced me to his TCM doctor Amy Tseng. I got acupuncture from her for a left wrist damaged by years of skateboarding and a hairline fracture from a rock climbing fall. In years to come, I trained in 5 elements Hsing-I, some Pakua chang, got some boxing lessons, and did some fight team training in Wilson’s little, “One Room School House”.

website:
More info at Sacredpeaks.net

Sacred peaks Blog
Scredpeaks blog

Twitter:
Taiji Coach Wilson on Twitter

Youtube:
Wilson Pitts: One room School House youtube

Blogger:
Martial arts with Wilson Blog

Old questions from pre-fight event training “fight camp” weekend.

1.What can the average internal martial artist practicing an art do to improve on practical self defense skills if their instructor isn’t teaching them?
Is push hands really enough?

Can’t really help you here, if the instructor does not demonstrate/teach applications get another instructor.
The beginner must at least see the instructor execute a non-force application for each posture while they are learning the movement. This plants the seed, let’s the mind not have a question about what are really simple movements. The beginner can not do it, but they must see it done to have faith in the process. T.T. Liang was fond of saying you have to imagine you can do it first, I believe this process is what he was referring to. Later, after the beginner has invested in practice and developed some root the applications for each movement, and in most cases there are several, need to be taught and practiced.No hard force can be allowed or there is no hope of “getting it”
The applications are a different practice from push hands. When push hands is done with resistance and hard muscular force it is of no use. The function of a soft, “sensing hands” practice is one, to help with form correction, and two, to develop sensitivity, increased feeling, in the arms. Root, correct postural alignment, and soft gung in the arms, shoulders and chest will all be needed to execute non force self defense applications derived from the formal postures. Anything else is once removed from the actual functional practice of the art and will be empty. This will be easy to tell because the application will not “work” with no force.

2. How long have you studied the relationship of Chinese arts and Western boxing?
What are the common similarities and differences?

I have studied martial arts, boxing included, for over 40 years. I started with students of Daniel K. Pai, who opened the first martial arts school here in Richmond in the mid 60’s. [ that was a little before my time] Pai himself was a feared street fighter and when I studied with his students It was all combat, no forms.
Chinese martial artists from more than one hundred years ago faced the same fundamental problems that English and American bare knuckle boxers faced during the same era. Fighting out doors on the ground, in the elements, with no safety equipment what-so-ever against unpredictable opponents who knew no rules and would do anything to win. That is about all that is common between them though.
The modern sport of boxing is very different, as are Chinese sport combatives. What I found useful from boxing was a live gap, the absolute need for distance appreciation and therefore footwork. These provide a degree of realism, even though it is far less dangerous than bare knuckle, no holds barred fighting. I found the Chinese arts, at least the way they came down to us in the US, needed this dose of reality.

3. What are some of the common problems you see when you watch Lei Tai and San Shou fighters these days?
I have not seen any lei tai in some time. Generally in the past I saw poor distance appreciation, almost no fighting at the critical distance, and too much reliance on brute force. However the sport keeps evolving and like I said I stopped going 7 or 8 years ago.

4. You teach an almost extinct form of western boxing. Can you explain what is going on in boxing now and what you’re trying to get us to understand?
Distance, timing, rhythm must be trained until they are instinct because at a distance where you can strike your opponent, the critical distance, things happen too fast, your vision can not be counted on, and you must have appropriate, trained responses that can flow out or you will not be effective or efficient.

5. I’ve had a fascinating awakening practicing pakua push hands with you student Roberto Sharpe, it almost makes practicing fixed step and moving step push hands virtually useless now.
In tai chi and pakua, each have an oral tradition- correct me if I am wrong- in taiji it is – “stick , adhere , neutralize , follow and
attack/emit”. In pakua it is “run, sit, comprehend, and pivot”. Can you touch base of the two and comment on your study of pakuachang?

Reciting words out of a book is not helpful beyond an extremely basic level.

The big break through that Pa Kua represented in the 1870’s was the fundamental idea of changing angles in the gap in response to the opponent’s offensive actions. Changing,either with him , or against him, and when this was accomplished the openings in his defense would be obvious and counters, take downs etc. flowed right in and through. The foundation of all of this was footwork and position relative to the opponent.
The same is true in Taiji, it is practiced through study of Eight Gates and “taiji in one step” Not of these advanced practices are much use if the student has not had faith in the practice from the beginning and learned and practiced the fundamentals in an organised manner. Even then there are people who spend years going through the motions, develop no root, and can not go on to investigate the very interesting advanced practices.

Comments from Wilson:
There are reasons Chinese teachers do not teach openly, very good ones, with the most important one being concern for the student’s health. We say many westerners are “stuck in their head” but really the energy is stuck in their chest. If they can not or will not soften their chest and let the energy go down to the dan tian then they must not be exposed to true internal practice as this could lead to worse health problems than they already have. This is a real problem that should be taken seriously. The real stiff ones will be the first to dismiss this as Chinese myth or some thing. To the Chinese this translates as lack of sincerity but there is such a huge cultural divide here between this modern western world of fire and hardness and Chinese neijia practices from a more ancient time that it is difficult to assign blame. Many are called but few are chosen… to develop a deep root that is.

Part 2: (coming Soon)

Those were questions from way back when…Now lets cover more recent events and your training:

1. You have been working a lot on translations of some of the Pakua classics, can you discuss your interest in the translation of these classics and some of the folks you have been working with to accomplish this?

2. Huashan qigong has been a significant part of your training since I met you in 1990. Can you discuss more about this branch of qigong, where you learned it. Please also talk about your recent work with the Taiji stone ball and Taiji ruler.

3. You mention Robert W. Smith as one of your Tai Chi teachers, he recently passed away, can you discuss some of the things you learned from him, how you got to know him and learn from Robert Smith?

4. MMA (mixed martial arts) first came on the scene in early 1993. We watched some fights together. At first it was a battle of styles, later the styles merged to where athletes learned the best from Juijutsu, Judo, boxing, Muay Thai, and Wrestling. What are your thoughts on the exponential growth of MMA in the world of martial arts today?

5. A.- Several of your students have fought Lei Tai and we did a fight camp back in the day: what are your thoughts on developing a well rounded fighter? That weekend we did things like- diet, qigong, simulation event sparing w/video taping, talks and training on abdominal work, body hitting/conditioning, and other endurance training.

B. (optional question) The infamous school yard fight between former student Jamar and Maoshan where Maoshan got his butt kicked, thoughts on this…even famous UFC commentator Joe Rogan had a good laugh. thoughts?

6. You have a Boxing Blog on old school boxing called Plug ugly’s boxing blog.
Can you talk about some of your boxing trainers and your passion for writing about some of the old school boxers-

7. Last but not least- I am indebted to you for introducing me to the holistic lifestyle through Chinese TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) doctor Dr. Amy Tseng and your former publication. “The Tao experience Foundation”. You shared Chinese diet therapy, interview with Dr. Amy Tseng, some Pakua basics, Qigong sets, meditation, massage, and other holistic health and lifestyle information. Even some of your students have gone on to become licenses acupuncturists and massage therapists. What are your thoughts on the mainstream media starting to accept this ancient tradition now, more so than 20 years ago?

Dr. Amy patient recommendations- MUST READ!!

Softly, softly: Tai chi chuan (Taijiquan), book by Robert W. Smith has several Hexagrams on opening page, that I felt like Cheng Man Ching and Robert W. Smith were trying to communicate to folks, maybe something to do about their Taijiquan philosophy and style,
I investigated what they were, giving my personal commentary to reflect in terms of tai chi chuan.

1. Hexagram 28: Greatness in Excess. I-Ching: superior man stands up alone and fearless.
Image is of a house in danger if the foundation and frame is weak. Withdrawal to unnatural weight and force.
bend like a reed in gale force winds and heavy flooding. bend but do not break.

Taiji commentary: Withdrawal and push, accept a heavy incoming force from opponent,
try not to resist but use pliable strength. Taijiquan must also have a proper foundation from the base at feet and legs
into the framework of the body’s structure. The alignment must be efficient enough that when a strong force is applied
to the body, the structure can drive and sink that force into the ground.
Wu De is perseverance.

2. Hexagram 61: Understanding. I-ching: The superior man weighs all options and carefully executes.
Strength lies in clear vision. View without prejudice to maintain a healthy mind.

Taiji commentary: the mind of the practitioner must be clear without thought in the practice of Taiji and tui shou.
You must not pre-think of what technique you will use, but calmly respond to how your opponent tries a technique.
Understanding jin is this way: from listening jin, is about how you will
deal with the method when your opponent uses a technique.
Wu De is the empty mind of humility.

3. Hexagram 31: Tension. I-Ching: Superior man feels calm and chivalrous. Be active for those who can not.
Mutual subjugation to a common idea.

Taiji commentary: Martial arts masters always emphasis using the fighting systems as ways to help those weaker, defend the self,
do not start fights, or hurt others.
Taiji is no different, it is there to raise your spirit, make the weak stronger, and help the sick get healthy.
In regards to tension, we must release it to allow qi to circulate properly.
Wu De is bravery, the action of courage.

4. Hexagram 30: Fire. I-Ching: The superior man refines his brilliance.
Yin/Yang-
Yang: give, be active, outgoing.
Yin: hold on to the passive sustenance.
Light requires dark.

Taiji commentary: The Taijquan masters speak of everything about taijiquan must have Yin/yang action:
Open and Close, Left and Right, Up and Down,
Inner and Outer, Upper and Lower, Top and Bottom, movement and stillness, rounded and straight,
big and small, high and low, slow and fast, strength and relaxation, insubstantial and substantial,
Kan and Li, yi and Chi, hard and soft, square and circle, attack and defense, offensive and defensive, masculine and feminine,
passive and aggressive, fight or flight, gentle and explosive, the list goes on and on…
Wu De: Patience.
Form: Press/squeeze.

5. Hexagram 2: Yin. I-Ching: the man does not take initiative, but follow the initiative of others.
Creative force. Feminine, Earth, Receptive.

Taiji commentary: In the oral tradition of two person tui shou, listening comprises of 4 parts: stick, adhere, neutralize and follow.
Following: try not to separate, stay connected.
wu de: loyalty.
Form: Lu or “roll back”.

6. Hexagram 41: Decrease. I-Ching: the man restrain anger, represses desires.
diminishing pleasures and social interactions. Retreat.

Taiji commentary: the bridge between the mind and body is the nervous system which connects brain to organs.
Chinese medicine teaches the relationship
between the internal organs, and the wisdom mind and the emotion mind in its 5 element theory:
1. Heart/Small Intestines: is fire element, with positive emotion is compassion, and negative is cruelty,
2. Kidney/Bladder; is water, between positive courage, and negative, fear.
3. Liver/Gall Bladder: is wood, positive emotion is Kindness, and negative is anger.
4. Lungs/Large Intestines: metal element, positive is joy, negative is sadness,
5. Stomach/Spleen: element earth, positive is centeredness, negative emotion is worry.
Taijiquan is a system that requires diligence to understand the moment where you can start to cultivate qi.
Taijiquan is a qigong, but qigong is not Taijiquan. When qi harmonizes in form practice with the body and mind,
it transforms our moods, purifies and strengthens the body, all the while training martial techniques “slow and exact”.
One must also have faith in decreasing strength, everything in life is about gain, have faith in loss.
In Taijiquan we want to lose ego and tension and not gain stress.
Wu De: diligence. Do the gong! Time is a requirement for good gong fu, so do the work!

7. Hexagram 1: Yang. I-Ching: Heaven in motion, strength of a dragon, man nerves himself for ceaseless activity.
Yang- strong, spiritual, Heaven.

Taiji commentary: Yang is the other “fish” in the Taiji symbol. Form: “An” or Push. Yin and yang are the Taiji forces, you have to have both.
Wu De: Will. What the mind believes the body achieves. Yi (mind) guides qi (vital energy) and the body (Li). Sets body into action.

8. Hexagram 63: Completion. The superior man considers the potential evils and guards against it.
The moment something is complete, is the same moment it starts to decay and fall apart. The peak of yin, transforms to yang,
the peak of yang transforms to yin. change. Yang changes to yin, yin changes to yang, within yin is yang, and within yang is yin.
Seek Perfection. Find Peace.

Taiji commentary: Ward off also called Fend off, is to protect and “guard” your center.
Wu De: Benevolence.

Attn: refresh web browser. last update:3-26-2014
A Lighthouse for approved Cheng Man Ching’s Tai Chi Chuan instructors in USA*
Since I have lived in the Washington DC metro area, I have come across many folks who teach the “Yang Short form” that was designed by Cheng Man Ching. Robert W. Smith (RWS) is the main influence in this area and was a Zhang Men Ren or Lineage Holder. Mr. Smith taught a free Taiji class at the Bethesda YMCA parking lot on Saturday morning’s beginning in 1962.

He also offered a class near his home in Bethesda at Fleming Park where he started a group interested in Pa-kua Chang and Hsing-I Chuan . This group still meets to this day to practice every Sunday mornings at 8 am. Surprisingly, I recently re-read “Martial Musings” by RWS, his disdain for many folks he taught, whom either came to the YMCA a few times, or later became “teachers” without having spent significant time under his watchful eye. Nor had these folks have his permission to teach. This is completely understood in regards to developing real ‘kung fu’ since time, practice, and correction is needed for an art as sophisticated at Tai Chi Chuan (Grand Ultimate Boxing) to master in the early years of fundamental training. Often times students who are actually doing the work long term with a instructor are quite aware of who comes and who goes, who does the work and who doesnt. It is very much about who put in the time with teacher, who is progressing, and who is in the teachers inner circle. It is unfair to those who have done years of deep work and study with a qualified teacher and received a teachers grace. This is stealing an art and does not coincide with ‘Wu De’, “Martial virture”.

Here I will list some of the “approved” and well known students of Robert W. Smith, William CC Chen, T.T. Liang, “Abraham” Liu Chen Huan, Liu Hsi-heng, and Ben Lo as well as some others based on conversations with senior level students. This is to give clarity for future students since there seems to be many un-approved teachers of Cheng Man Ching’s Yang Short form and people un-certified to be teaching and giving students permission to teach.

First lets talk about Cheng Man Ching’s early years Taiwan “Shr Jung” school and his students:
Some of these include: (no particular order)
Benjamin Lo,
Liu Hsi-heng,
Hsu I-chung,
Dr. Ping-Siang Tao,
Robert W. Smith,
T. T. Liang,
William C. C. Chen,
Huang Sheng Shyan,
“Abraham” Liu Chen Huan.
Wu Kou-Chong- Malaysia.
Hsu Fun Yuen,
Yi Chung Bo- Taiwan,
Cheng Hsing Yu- (deceased).
other Shr jung instructors list here at: 37Tai Chi.org’s Instructor List

In 1964, Cheng Man Ching taught in New York city. (In no particular order)
Tam Gibbs (deceased),
Lou Kleinsmith,
Ed Young,
Mort Raphael,
Maggie Newman,
Stanley Israel (deceased), his student is Mario Napoli
Herman Kauz,
Victor Chin,
Y Y Chin,
Jon Gaines,
Natasha Gorky,
Wolfe Lowenthal,also list of CMC student links on Wolfe’s page
Ken VanSickle,
Jane and Bataan Faigao (deceased), Rocky Mountain Tai Chi Center
Don Ahn,
Carol Yamasaki,
Saul Krotki,
Liam Comerford.
Sifu Bill Phillips: Patience Tai Chi instructors
Judyth Weaver,
Robert Ante,
Lawrence Galante,
Robert Chuckrow.

William CC Chen (WCCC): Is one of the longest students of Cheng Man Ching and has competed in full contact fight events. He is one of the most Senior alive today. His children Tiffany and Max Chen were also groomed and have competed in many nationally and internationally representing the USA team in various countries. WCCC has his list public on his website of his approved teachers: Link is here, click.

T.T. Liang’s known students:(unofficial)
Don Ethan Miller- Mastodon productions
Stuart Alve Olson
Gordon Muir
Paul Gallager
Jonathan Russell
Ray Hayward
Paul Abdella

List of Ben Lo’s approved disciples/students who teach:(No particular order)
Carol Yamasaki in Michigan
Pat Culotti in Wisconsin
Garret Chinn – Bay Area. SF Ca
Dr. David Walls-Kaufman- Washington DC
Lenzie Williams- Berkeley CA
Kim Kanzelberger- Kansas
John Crouse- Richmond Va.
Julian Chu- Fairfax Va.
Scott Meredith- Tokyo Japan
Larry Mann (deceased),
Donald Davis- Tidewater Tai chi, Norfolk Va.
Bert Brown is teaching in Santa Cruz
Michael Hackshaw- Germany
Darin Henry- Phoenix AZ
Peter Kwok- San Francisco
Terry Li (deceased)- San Francisco
Kayo Robertson- Utah
Ed Chan – Los Altos, CA
Pak Chan – Cupertino, CA
Alan Kepner – S.F., CA
Don Gillaspie – Marin, CA
Cottie Morrison – Ukiah, CA
Tana Farnsworth – Las Vega, NV
Pamela Zilavy – S.F., CA
Nellie Donovan – Santa Cruz, CA
Lee Scheele- Coasta Mesa Ca.
Robert Davis
Wayne Abramson
Marvin Feldman
Michael Jang
Sam Edwards
Tricia Yu- Taos, NM
Arnold Lee- Rockville MD
Tom Krapu and Michael David- St. Louis MO (St. Louis Tai Chi Chuan Association)
David Chen (deceased)

The top students of Robert W. Smith on the “list” to teach: (No particular order)
Warren Conner,
Len and Ellen Kennedy,
Michael Ward,
Bart Ingram,
Paul Cote,
Dainis Jergenson,
Kirk Talbott,
Stu Scantlebury,
Jay Falleson,
John Lang,
Steve Goodson,
Jim Hill,
Billy Fox,
Russ Mason.
former student: Alan Pittman (authored books with Robert W. Smith).

Huang Sheng Shyan (disciple of Cheng Man Ching)- Unofficial Link of instructors here.
(in no particular order)
Lau King, video
Patrick Kelly,
Choong Chi Pin,
Wee Kee Jin,
Yek Sing Ong,
Foong Choon Sang.

Liu Hsi-heng: (unoffical list)
Bill Tucker- Colorado
Danny Emrick- Tallahasee FL.
Mark Lord- Reno, NV. (deceased)
Jeff Herrod- Catonsville, MD.
Daniel Pfister- Davis, CA.

Abraham Liu- (Unoffical list)
Bill Helm- San Diego, Ca.
Terry Dunn
Chris Luth

Future Section: Links to other 3rd and 4th generation teachers of Cheng’s Yang short form (starting from CMC as 1st generation).
Diosdado Santiago- student of Lou Kleinsmith.
Michael Pekor- student of Bill Phillips.
Avi Schneier- student of Bill Phillips.
Adam Mizner- Lau king student. Heaven Man Earth

This list is as complete as I digged into research, it is to be a guide for new students. Be aware of who your teacher is and where they are coming from. Seek the right path. Buyer beware.
Follow the principles to the letter, do the work, relax, and get back to your martial discipline with diligence!!

Links to other sites with Certified Instructors of Tai Chi Chuan

Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan
Yang Family Tai Chi Association International (Yang Zhen Dou and Yang Jun)
World Yongnian Tai Chi Association- Fu Zhong Wen/Fu Sheng Yuan/James Fu.
Tung Family Taijiquan- Alex Dong’s list of instructors

Wu Family Tai Chi
Wu Family Tai Chi Chuan International (Wu Chien Chuan branch)

Wu/Hao Tai Chi chuan
Wu/Hao Taijiquan: Lineage in China and abroad.

Chen Tai Chi Chuan
The 4 Tigers are: Chen Xiao Wang, Chen Zhen Lei, Wang Xian and Zhu Tian Cai.
Chen Xiao Wong’s USA disciples- List of CXW cert. instructors.
Chen Zhen Lei- website here.
Wang Xian- website here
Zhu Tian Cai’s website here
other Chen, Xiaobao, Li, other:
Chen Yu’s Taijiquan- list of instructors

International Hunyuan association of Feng Zhiqiang. site in Chinese, English site not working last check.
Chen Practical method international- Chen Zhonghua

*sources: conversations and emails with Danny Emrick, Bart Ingram, David Walls-Kaufmann, Scott Meredith, Daniel Pfister, Priscilla@WCCC.com, Paul Gallager, Terry Dunn, Tom Krapu, (sorry if I missed anyone) and sources online CMC Wikipedia.

Western medicine has a progression where old theories die and new theories arise by scientific evidence. Something from 100 years ago is disregarded based on new scientific data and results.

Eastern Medicine has many theories that are used today that date back thousands of years, TCM doctors use many of the medical findings by doctors throughout the history.

5 elements:
1. Water- downward.
2. Fire- radiates.
3. Wood- upward.
4. Metal- destroys.
5. Earth- absorbs.

Chinese has several creation and destruction cycles. One is star pattern, other has Earth in center. See diagram on notes.
Korean has fire in center and with 4 body types. See diagram in notes.
5 zhang- solid organs.- must have or die.
6 Fu- hollow organs, can remove.

High level doctors alter the patient’s lifestyle.
Average doctors- help the internal problem.
Poor doctor- can fix the local problem.

Treating problems that are not healing: treat the part of body/balance not letting the body heal itself.
Examples:
3 week sports injury- should see healing results after a few treatments.
4 month sport injury not going away- should see results after a 10 or more treatments.
Problem persisting for years: 40 to 50x treatments.

Shennong: herbal godfather, father of agriculture, tested foods and labeled them: cold, cool, warm, hot.

7 types of qi
1. Congential qi: called yaun qi and it is from parents at conception, kidneys-jing.
2. Acquired qi: 6 types.
1. Kong qi- air/lungs
2. Gu Qi- from food
3. Zong qi- collects to heart (yuan+kong+gu)
4. Zhen qi- true qi. Channels.
5. Ying Qi- inside channel, acupuncture/moxa
6. Wei qi- outside channel. Qigong.

Acquired qi- is like a battery.
Congenital qi- like computer memory, cannot change.

Herbs, metals, minerals-
Gold: gathers and promotes circulation
Silver- disperses energy.

Quote: All food is good food, there is no bad food or good food in a dualistic sense, there is only food that is not right for you.

Ginseng: earthy-absorbing.
Chinese and Korean is red are labeled HOT.
American is a white ginseng and is Warming.
Ginseng: uses nutrients from the soil. Once a ginseng is harvested, you cannot plant a crop there for 5-10 years.
It is best to let ginseng grow about 6 years.

Acupuncture:
Does not add or remove qi, it just moves it around.
Example: if your kidneys are weak and your heart is too strong, a good TCM doctor will move some of the heart qi to the kidney qi.
Acupuncture is a science, not an art of mystery.

Different approaches to treating a patient:
Example: a student has poor grades and not study well.
1. The poor study is due to being hungry, having girlfriend problems. Treatment: feed the hungery, get rid of girlfriend.
2. Poor study: make the student study more.

San jiao- triple warmer- separates body into 3 sections.
A C-section birth cuts the san jiao, can cause san jiao dis-eases.

Winter- do not ‘train hard’ in winter time, do not stress lungs. The Cold air, or “air qi” is weak outside. It can hurt your lungs. gain a few pounds in winter is ok. this will help for Spring time.
Fat/weight gain: men tend to get round in stomach area when weight gain, women accumulate in butt area.

Allergy analogy: If body is strong, allergy is like a 5 year old bully.
If body is weak allergy is like a 300 lb. biker brawler.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Anatomy and Pathology I and II:
Anatomy- ‘cut up’ as in like a cadaver. In modern med school, 6 students share 1 body to cut and learn the entire semester.
Western doctors take anatomy 1 and 2, and Physiology 1 and 2 (4 classes). Eastern students Anatomy and pathology 1 and 2 combined (2 classes).

Physiology- relationship to nature what is function. Anatomist examine body, while physiologists experiment.

Cell- sub atomic, atomic, molecular, macro molecular, organelle, cell, tissue, organ, organ system, organism.

Integumentary systems: skin, skeletal, muscular, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, lymphatic,etc.

Homeostasis: nervous and endocrine system.

Anatomy /Physiology continued:
Cardio system: heart, arteries, capillaries, veins, blood.
Lymphatic: lymph vessels, fluid, nodes, thymus, spleen.

Cardio and lymph- transport substances throughout internal environment.

Digestive, Respiratory, Urinary systems:
Digestive: break down food into simple forms for digestion.
Respiratory: air/oxygen- in out remove CO2.
Urinary- eliminate waste from blood, water balance, electrolyte balance.

Reproductive system: progeny , new offspring.

Respiratory- breathing/ventilation, move air in and out, exchange of gases.
- Internal: air to blood.
- Lung to blood: blood and body cell.
- Inside cell/cellular: O2 – CO2.
Upper respiratory: Nose, nasal cavity, sinus, pharynx, larynx.
Lower respiratory: trachea, bronchial tubes, lungs.

Nose:
1. filter warm moist incoming air.
2. detect olfactory/smell.
3. modify vibration of speech.

Nasal Cavity:
Conchae: superior, middle, and inferior: curved mucous layers.

Cilia

Sinus: drain from sinus into nasal cavity.
Sinusistis: block drainage, infection, increase pressure, headache.

Pharynx: throat: 3 sections-
1. Naso pharynx
2. Oropharynx
3. Laryngopharynx

Larynx: voice box and epiglottis- separate food/air passage.

Medical descriptions:
Anterior: front
Posterior: back
Mid sagittal: side view.

Larynx: voice box and epiglottis- separate food/air passage.
Larynx: paired folds- voice box.
Upper folds: false vocal chords.
Lower folds: true vocal folds.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Anatomy/Physiology II

I. Digestive system-
-GI tract is 30 foot long from mouth to anus.
-Accessory organs: not true part of tube but aid in digestive process.

Subdivisions:
1. Alimentary Canal: mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestines, large intestine, anal canal.
2. Accessory organs: teeth, salivary glands, tongue, pancreas, liver, gall bladder.

-Teeth cut and grind.
-Amylase- enzyme of saliva.
-Saliva glands: sublingual under tongue, 2 at ear/masseter muscle (parotid), 2 under mandible (submandibular). (5 total).

Pertioneum- abdominal cavity/membrane
-Only duodenum, pancreas and parts of large intestine are retroperitoneal (cavity wall).
-Doral mesentery suspends GI tract and forms serosa (visceral peritoneum- membrane around organs) of stomach and intestines.
-Ventral mesentery forms lesser and greater omentum: the lacy layer of connective tissue containing lymph nodes, lymphatic vessels and blood vessels.

Lesser and Greater Omentum
Lesser- attaches to stomach and liver.
Greater- covers small intestines like an apron.

Mesentery and Mesocolon
Mesentery- rich blood vessel system of small intestines. It also holds/supports intestines.
Mesocolon- anchors the colon to back of body wall.

Carbs- 2hour in stomach
Fats/proteins- 5 hours in stomach

Oral Cavity/mouth.
-Upper/lower lips
-Superior/inferior labial frenulum- points inside center of lips/gum top and bottom.
-Hard and soft palate-front and back of roof/palatine. Uvula and pharyngopalaine arch.
-Glosso- tongue. Lingual frenulum- line under the tongue.
-Saliva ducts- sublingual.
-Teeth: Adult have 32. Baby has 20. Know the teeth structure.

Pharynx
• Nasopharnx
-Sinus: frontal, sphenoidal,
-Nasal cavity-
-opening of auditory
• Oropharynx
-lips, vestibule, tongue,
- oral cavity ,hard/soft palate.
-uvula, tonsils.
• Laryngopharynx
-Epiglottis
-Esophagus
-Trachea

Esophagus
-25-30cm long: nonkeratinized stratified squamous epithelium.
-esophageal glands in submucosa.
-skeletal muscle in upper part and smooth in bottom.
-from pharynx to cardiac stomach passing esophageal hiatus in diaphragm.
-enteric nervous: submucosal and myentric plexuses control mobility and secretion in response to stimuli to the mucosa.
-lower esophageal sphincter closes orifice to reflux.
Tissues of GI tract
1. Mucosa (3) Epithelium, lamina propria, and muscularis mucosae.
2. Submucosa
3. Muscularis externa: inner circular layer, outer longitudinal layer for peristalses.
4. Serosa: areolar tissue/mesothelium. Outer to blood vessels and nerves, mesentery.

Stomach
-Muscular sac with a typical volume of 1 to 1.5 Liter.
-J shape with lesser and greater curvatures.
Regions:
• Cardiac- inside cardiac orfice
• Fundus- domed portion to esophageal opening.
• Body- main portion of organ.
• Pyloric region: is narrow inferior end with antrum and pyloric canal (opening to duodenum sphincter).
Stomach Wall
• Mucosa- simple columnar glandular epithelium. Lamina proria (inside) is filled with gastric pits.
• Submucosa- veins and artieries.
• Muscularis externa- circular and longitudinal layer of muscle.
• Serosa- outer layer.
Cells of the Gastric glands
• Mucous cells- secrete mucus.
• Regenerative cells- divide and move to surface.
• Parietal cells- secrete HCI acid. Gastric pit and glands.
• Chief cells- rennin, lipase, pepsinogen.
• Enteroendocrine cells- secrete hormones and paracrine messengers.

4/17/2014 East and West history: Eastern and Western medicine overview:

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an ancient medical system that takes a deep understanding of the laws and patterns of nature and applies them to the human body.

TCM is a holistic medical system which combines the use of acupuncture, herbs, nutrition, massage, and physical movement like Qigong and Tai Chi, to bring body into balance.

Western medicine looks closely at a symptom and tried to find an underlying cause, TCM looks at the body as a whole. Each Symptom is looked at in the relationship to all other presenting symptoms. The goal of the TCM practitioner is to assess the entire constitution of the patient—considering both physiological and psychological aspects.

The practitioner first observes the general characteristics of the patient, then tries to discern a relationship between symptoms in order to establish what is called a “pattern of disharmony”.
Treatment is aimed at restoring harmony and brining the body into balance.

Basic concepts:
I. Qi and Blood:
-the circulating life energy that in Chinese Philosophy is thought to be inherent in all things.
-Blood: meaning jing, hormones, lymph, yin, and blood.
-Qi: meaning: yuan, kong, gu, zhen, zong, ying, and wei varieties.
Nutrition Qi is ying qi. Helped with herbs and acupuncture.
Defensive Qi or Wei qi is helped with Tu-Na, Dao-yin, Qigong, Tai chi, etc.

II. Yin and Yang theory:
The shape of the yin sections of the symbol, actually gives you a sense of continual movement of these two energies, yin to yang, and yang to yin,
causing everything to happen: just as things expand and contract and temperature changes from cold to hot.
-Inside vs outside
-lower vs higher part.
-softer part vs. harder part.
-Blood vs. Qi.
- Lu,Sp,Ht,Kd,Pc,Lv vs. Li,St,Si,Bd,Sj,Gb.
-Yin is important part and essential part (holds things in).
-Yang is less important in terms of life threating (it passes through).

Yin/yang- balance, understand one is stronger and weaker. Restore the balance, know the proportions of yin and yang.

Upper Body- Yang, Face is hottest part.
Lower Body- Yin, feet is coldest part.
When you are Sick- face gets extra hot, feel temperature at forehead, this is a way to measure if it is a blood circulation problem due to excessive heat. Use cold towel to help balance.
When sick- warm-up the feet in the Yin part.

Men- are more Yang body is warm and hot temperature.
Women are colder more Yin, because of blood loss monthly. Tend to cold limbs. This changes at menopause when menstruation stops. Body will begin to get warm, thus ‘hot flashes’.
Healthy women- adjust to menopause in weeks’ time and get used to new internal system.
Unhealthy women- takes several years to adjust, have a hard time adjusting to new internal system.

Use common sense, listen to your body.
One thing is that in some western practices they may have mother who just gave birth take a cold bath. Taking a cold bath is not good after giving birth.
It is best to use warm. In Asian culture many new mothers are expected to stay away from cold 100 days after giving birth. Warm heals faster than cold.
Ice and cold are for pain, but if you do not feel a lot of pain and are just sore, use heat. Some women have a heat linament rubbed on legs after giving birth.

Yin and yang are relative:
-water is yin, but water is yang because ice is yin.
-fire is yang, but fire is yin, and laser is yang.
Age: boy is yang, but old man is yin.
Yin and yang standout in people, for example: Old woman has a very yang personality, but is old and female: yin.

Front of body is yin (soft organs) while back of body ins yang (hard bones of spine). However this is for upper body, lower part of body, front is yang (hard bones of knee) and back of legs are Yin (soft muscles).

Change:
Change happens in months, conditions of patient change with the seasons. A herb prescribed 6 months ago may not be needed to be taken. A new diagnosis may be needed to determine if you still need same herb or new formula.

Acupuncture and herbs combination:
Acupuncture is like teaching someone how to study, and herbs is like extra material a teacher will give to improve the studying: books, charts, handouts. Herbs add more help to the acupuncture. This is a good combination.

Diagnosis:
The patient is sick, you have to find out how they got sick, not just fix the symptoms of the sickness. Interview the patient, find where/how they got sick.
A patient says is feeling better and ask if they can stop taking the medicine: If you stop taking a shower will you stop getting dirty? You will get dirty, thus you will get sick.
Example: a patient with high blood pressure stops taking medicine, high blood pressure will come back.

3 types of patients that cannot be healed/cured:
1. Shamanic/faith healer: have irrational ways and lack logic. Example: snake handler religion, think snake/god will take care of sickness.
2. Money greedy: people who sacrifice money over health. Will not spend money on things they will help them and improve life. No exercise, just work to make money.
3. People who keep secrets. Not telling the doctor everything, truth. Not telling about lifestyle or bad habits.

3 ways of getting sickness:
1. Outside/External influence (Evil Qi): virus, bacteria, germs, cold energy, damp, heat, winds, ect.
2. Inside imbalance: food, emotion/stress: excessive joy, anger, fear, worry, sad, over-thinking.
3. Qi/blood Blockage: maybe from outside influence, inside influence or both.

Body signals: Use common sense, listen to your body.
Sometimes the craving you have are from the body and other times from the mind. You need to really sense what your body and mind are saying: for example you are craving seafood, this is salty, your body is telling you need some salt, but wanting something fatty and unhealthy is a mind craving. Eating the food that is not right for you will cause an internal imbalance and blockage.

External/Outside/”Evil Qi” for example it is very cold outside: the cold can get under layers: the skin, under muscles, under the blood vessles and meridians, penetrate to the bones, and finally the Zhang/Fu organs.
(Cold weather sample) into layers:
|
———–skin
|
———–muscles
|
————blood vessel/meridian
|
———–Bone
|
Zhang/Fu organ.

When the outside influence penetrates deep to the bone and organ, it is very hard to fix.
Different methods treat the different layers:
Massage can help with skin, muscle, and blood levels.
Acupuncture helps the deeper layers of meridian, bone, and organ.

5 Element theory:
5 Element theory- heart fire, water kidney. “raise water-drain fire”. Metal- decrease, Wood- expand/rise, Earth- absorb.

5 images used to describe forces, and specific relationship to one another.

5 Elements: personality, body shape, organs, climate, taste, tissue, sense, direction, season, color, yin/yang organ, etc.

Talk on Calcium
- Milk is best for baby (baby cows that is), not adults. Digestion in humans change with age and harder to adjust to dairy when older.
- Milk is not always the best source of calcium.

Yin and yang theory is best for acupuncture, while 5 Element theory is best for Chinese herbs. This is saying that 5 element theory in acupuncture has been researched in the history of chinese medicine and found to be not as useful, using yin-yang theory in acupuncture history found this practice yields better results.
_________________________________________________________
Trends in Eastern History in Chinese Medicine:

Pre-history, Antiquity:
Early inhabitants found foods that could relieve illnesses, others were poisonous.
Discovery of fire allowed for food to be cooked.
3 shaman leaders:
1. Fu xi- I-ching, yin-yang, and bagua theory.
2. Shennong- father of agriculture and herbs.
3. Huang di- Yellow emperor. Su wen book on lifestyle and Ling Shu- book on acupuncture clinical practice.

Shang dynasty (1700-1100BC)-
-use of wine and hot water a medicine.
-needles and bronze knives as surgical instruments.
-yin and yang theory and 5 element theory are basically common knowledge at this point.
Concepts of Qi, moxibustion, herbal decoctions, needles.

Zhou dynasty (1100-221BC)-
Taoism and Confucius time.
-organized medical systems developed: court appointed physicians.
Spring and Autumn period of Zhou dynasty:
Bian Que: Book: Nan Jing. patient diagnostics improved, questions, observer eyes, throat, etc.
Warring states period: book- Wushier Bingfang: 52 prescriptions early pharmacology.

Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC):
-Emperor Shi Huangdi burned books and killed scholars in 213 BC.

Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD):
Most TCM theory and practice.
Qi and Blood fully entrenched in practice of TCM.
Examinations to recruit qualified physicians were introduced.
Silk road- communication and trade route.
Bencaogang (Classic of herbal medicine)- 365 medicines, 252 plant origin, 67 from animals, 46 from minerals.

Physicians:
Zhang Zhongjing- Shanghan Zabinglun.
Huang Fu Mi- Zhenjiu Jiayijing. ABC book of acupuncture and Moxibustion.
Wang Shuhe- The Maijing (Pulse classic, manual of the pulses.)
Hua To- surgeon and battlefield doctor, developed anesthesia, and exercise for body based on animal movement.
Tao hanjing- commentaries on the Shennong Bencaojing (Classic of herbal medicine).

-Emperor Wen of Song Kingdom: appoint physicians to teach medical students, government assigned teachers to educate higher standard of TCM.

Jin Dynasty- (265 AD to 960 ad)
Classic of pulse
First pharmacopeia
Imperial medical school
Systematic acupuncture and moxibustion
Disease and symptioms by Chao Yuanfeng
1000 golden prescriptions Sun simiao

Sui dynasty (581-618 AD)
Physician Chao Yuangfang- Zhubing Yuanhoulun (Treatise on Cause and symptoms of disease) book.

Tang dynasty (618-907 AD)
Imperial academy: Medical school system and Pharmacy system.
Pysicians:
Sun Simiao- Hippocrates of TCM (body over disease)
His book: The Qianjian Yaofang- (Prescriptions worth a 1000 gold for emergencies, or Precious prescriptions for emergencies).

Song dynasty (960-1270 AD)
Wood Block printing, many books on TCM were printed under government supervision.
-Yellow Emperor’s classic, Classic of herbal medicine, Pulse classic, ABC of Acupuncture and moxibustion in publication.
Acupuncture statue.
New theory: The 3 causes.

Yuan dynasty (1270-1370)
Discussion on new methods: pathology, gynecology, pediatrics.
Physicians-
Liu Wansu: 5 movement, 6 influence. School of cooling: nourishing yin.
Zhang Congzheng- 6 doors , 3 methods.
Zhang Yuansu- illness was result of imbalance in zhang and fu organs.
Li Gao- how lifestyle affects body, spleen and stomach were vitality, emotions affect Qi.
Zhu Zhenheng- Minister of fire- fire and heat school.

Bone setting and tramatic surgery.
Eating for health.
(era of different schools)
Anatomy

Ming Dynasty- (1368-1644)
Debates, 3 schools:
1. Nourishing yin school,
2. Warming and invigorating school,
3.epidemic disease school.
Advancement in surgery
Physicians:
Waike zhengzong- early surgery records in TCM.
Li shizhen- Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of material medica.)

Qing dynasty (1644-1912 AD)
Western influence
Publishing of many encyclopedias.
Medical standards.
Integrated TCM.

Modern times (1912- today)
TCM to the world.
Combine western and eastern medicine.
National and international standards.

Parts of China and what they influenced based on climate to TCM:
North: moxibutions (cold)
South- herbs (warm) grasses.
Eastern region- (sea) acupuncture.
Western- (dry) qigong.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Anatomy I- Respiratory system

II. Lungs:
1. Trachea- is about 2.5 cm in diameter and 12.5 cm in length.
2. It splits into right and left bronchi.
3. Supported by hyaline cartilage.
4. Ciliated mucous membrane, smooth muscle and connective tissue.

Lower respiratory tract:
1. Primary, secondary, and tertiary bronchi.
2. Bronchial tree connect trachea and alveoli.
3. Interlobular bronchioles-> terminal bronchioles-> respiratory bronchioles-> alveolar duct-> alveolar sacs-> alveoli.
4. Alveoli- dense network of capillaries.

Functions of the respiratory tubes and aveoli
-the branches of the bronchial tree are air passages which continue to filter incoming air.
-alveoli- provide a large surface area of epithelial cells through which gas exchange occurs.
-300 million alveoli in lung.

Lung surface anaotomy:
1. Apex- top of lung
2. Right lung – larger, separated in 3 parts: superior, middle and inferior lobes.
3. Left lung has two parts- superior and inferior lobe.

Plerura Cavity- lung has a fluid lubrication layer.
Visceral pleura- covers surface of lung.
Parietal pleura- lines the thoracic cavity.
Thin film provides reducing friction between the layers.

Breathing Ventilation-
Brachial tree to alveoli, in/out.
Gas exchange in alveoli (inspiration/expiration, or inhalation/exhalation).

External- lungs and blood exchange.
Internal- blood and tissue exchange.
Cellular- 02 and co2 inside the cell.

Lungs at rest- pressure is equal inside and outside at 760 mm Hg.
Inspriation- pressure is 758 mm Hg.
Expiration- pressure is 762 mm hg.
Boyles law- pressure and volume are related in opposite way. Syringe example- suck in air (big), push out air (small).

4 Respiration Air Volumes capacities
1. Tidal volume: normal respiratory cycle inhale/exhale is 500cc.
2. Inspiratory reserve volume- maximal inspiration. 3000 ml.
3. Expiratory Reserve volume- force maxed expiration 1100ml.
4. Residual volume- still have air, after max expiration- 1200 ml.

COPD- cannot breathe well, emphysema. Residual air in lung, fresh air and residual air cause disease.

Alveolar Gas exchange
-pulmonary vein- low oxygen from heart.
-pulmonary artery- high oxygen to heart.
The respiratory membrane is where gas exchange occurs (squamous epithelial cells.
Partial pressure: higher partial pressure to area of lower pressure in two regions equal.
PCO2- in blood pulmonary capillary, is 45mm Hg in alveolar air is 40 mm Hg.
PO2- in blood is 40 mm Hg, in alveolar is 104 mm hg.
Heart pushed the high O2 concentrate blood to tissue.

O2 transport
Hemoglobin molecules: red blood cell carry O2 called oxyhemoglobin.
Blood -> PO2= 95 mm Hg.
Tissue-> PO2= 40 mm Hg.
Diffusion- high to low blood (95 mm Hg)  Tissue (40 mm Hg).

CO2 Transport
-blood flowing through capallaries gain CO2 because tissues have high PCO2, this CO2 is transported in the blood in 3 forms:
1. CO2 dissolves in plasma 7%.
2. CO2 bonding to hemoglobin 23%.
3. Bicarbonate ions- HCO3 mechanism- 70%
Chemistry change- (release and combine CO2) CO2 CO2+H2O H2CO3 H+HCO3.

CO2 transport from blood and air
1. Hemoglobin to to air-
2. Chemistry to air
3. Plasma to air.

Factors affecting breathing
1. Nervous system
2. Hormone- chemical receptors- aorta of heart, carotid artieris.
3. Nerves: glossopharyngeal sensory nerve attaches to carotid arteries.
4. Nerve: Vagus sensory nerve- attaches to aorta of the heart.
Fever, emotion, temperature, exercise, age all have an affect on breathing from the brain stem (medulla oblongata) region of brain.

Factors affecting breathing rate and depth
PO2 and PCO2 in body fluids. Receptors involved in the central and peripheral chemo receptors, which located in the brain
Respiratory center and in the walls of carotid and aortic arch.
-low PO2 and High PCO2 can stimulate the rate and depth resulting in increased alveolar ventilation.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Anatomy II

Alimentary Canal- digestive system
Amalyse- saliva that digest carbs and starches.

Liver- left and right lobes, inferior Vena cava.
Porta hepatic- hepatic portal vein, hepatic artery, common hepatic duct, gall bladder.
Bile- emulse fat substances in duodenum.

Pancreases- endocrine and exocrine hormone. Pancreases is located in back of stomach, behind doudeum.
Agina- enzyme.

Fluids, enzymes, etc.
Saliva- 1000 cc
Stomach- 1500 cc
Brunners gland (duodenum)- 200 cc
Pancreas- 1000-1500 cc
Bile- 1000 cc
Small intestines- 1800 cc
Large Intestines- 200 cc.

Tongue- 10,000 taste buds.
Sweet- front of tongue
Bitter- back of tongue
Salty- front sides of tongue
Sour back sides of tongue.

Digestive system:
Mechanical- teeth.
-incisors: cut
-canine- chisel and carve
-Molars- grind

Tooth structure:
Crown, neck, root.
Enamel, dentin, pulp cavity, gingival sulcus, gingiva, root canal, nerve/blood vessels.

Digestive Chemicals- break down food.

4 basic layers of digestive system:
1. Mucose
2. Sub mucose
3. Muscularis
4. Serosa

Sigmoid colon- waiting area of colon
Gastro colic reflex- baby often drink milk and poop at same time.
Pepsinogen (pepsin)- breaks down proteins.

Skeletal muscles- we can control.
Smooth muscles- cannot control.

Stomach nerve fibers-
1. Maintain muscle tone.
2. Regulate strength
3. Rate and velocity of muscular contractions.

Parasympathetic- increase activity of digestive system.
Sympathetic- inhibit digestive actions.

Pharynx- inner circular and longitudinal muscle groups.
-muscles that pull wall inward during swallowing.
1. superior constrictor- skull and mandible muscles.
2. Middle constrictor- hyoid and fan/middle of pharynx.
3. Inferior constrictor- lower portion of pharyngeal cavity.

Swallow mechanism-
1. Voluntary
2. Trigger to Reflex
3. Swallow reflex- momentarily inhibits breathing. Transports food in esophagus to stomach.

Stomach-
1. Cardia- esophageal opening.
2. Fundus- Balloon top portion.
3. Body- main part between fundus and pylorus.
4. Pylorus- funnel shape that becomes narrow, sphincter controls gastric emptying.

Gastric secretion-
Mucous membrane from mouth to anus.
Stomach is thick with gastric pits.

3 types of secretion cells in stomach-
1. Mucous cells- opening of gastric pits.
2. Chief/peptic cells- digestive enzymes.
3. Parietal cells- hydrochloric acid.

Gastric enzymes in gastric juice:
1. Pepsin- digests proteins.
2. Gastric lipase- fat splitting enzyme.
3. 3. Intrinsic factor- B-12 absorption.

Regulation of Gastric secretions- Gastric juice is produced continuously, controlled neutrally and hormonally.
1. Hormone Somotostatin- parietal secrete, inhibits acid secretion.
2. Acetylcholine- suppress secretion of somotostatin.
3. Gastric- pyloric region histamine, stimulate gastric secretion.

Gastric secretion phases:
1. Cephalic phase- sight, smell, thought of food triggers parasympathetic reflexes, 30-50% secretions.
2. Gastric- 40-50% secretary activity. Food chemically and mechanically stimulates release of gastric juices.
3. Intestinal phase- when food reaches intestines, intestine release hormone 5%. (CCK) Cholecystokinin.

The study of Neijia (Internal Art) boxing- prohibitions.

1. Do not attach to much theory into actual practice. When we practice Taijiquan, Baguazhang, Xingyiquan or Yiquan, it is useless to associate philosophy with what you’re doing. For example, many scholars started adding 5 element theory to Xingyiquan. This will not matter in a fight, focus on the combat move, intention, and application. It does not matter what meridian is opening or that it is associated with an element or I-ching trigram.

2. Don’t believe in Taoist Alchemy without seeing hard proof. Many of these scholars talk about jin transforming into chi, chi into shen, and returning to void and enlightenment. In neijia martial arts we need to train hard and do the training intelligently. When you train hard you cultivate different energy and attributes necessary for combat. It is nonsense to talk about breathing from the skin to the bones and into the dan tien. You shouldn’t try to force internal energy like qi into meridians and energy paths. It does no good and causes illnesses like mental problems. As you train hard it is already going into those places naturally.

3. We don’t practice neigong that ignores the external. Our training does involve external work like strength training and ‘wei gong’ combined with internal work like qigong and meditation. Drilling combat techniques and researching applications becomes external to the study of solo forms and proper mechanics which are internal. If you train without the external it will not benefit your health and ability to defend yourself in the long run.

4. Do not pursue super powers. Again, this is something many internal martial artists mistakenly strive for. Fake ability to jump over walls, withstand being cut from swords, or lifting great amount of weight. Just practice and develop your ability, I have never seen superpowers anyways.

5. Do not exhaust yourself. There is no need to train when your tired or to the point of exhaustion. This also includes your state of mind. Training when depressed, angry and excited can lead to exhaustion. This can lead to injury and illness. Train hard enough to get a aerobic, anaerobic, and/or ‘max oxygen volume’ and take breaks. Good rest and sleep is important here, along with rehabilitative methods of spa treatments like suana, steam rooms, and massage therapy for recovery. Master fitness and combat, sparring and drilling, but not to exhaustion.

6. Do not practice to much ying gong- Hard qigong. There is a difference when training to much bag hitting, kettlebells, weights, smashing bricks and other combat skills and not enough. Though these skills can develop great punching strength, to much strength can be detrimental to actual skill training. Use skill like a bull fighter. To much ying gong is like a bull and builds strength attributes for a short period of time. All time devoted to strength can be a waste of time in the long term. It is easier for younger students to do this as well. We want to preserve our strength and ability into to an old age. To much strength training can tax the body into injuries and aging faster.

7. Do not use standing as your practice. Several martial arts believe in long standing ‘jing gong’ and ‘zhuan zhuang’. Though there is some benefit to it, it is a waste of training time and skill training to stand around for 40 to 60 minutes holding a posture. You can work on forms and drills and get standing with short 5 to 10 minute standings several times during workout. Standing can help you properly align body mechanics, find mind stillness and concentrate mind and qi. It can also be harmful to nerves, knees, and waste your time that should be used for real skill development.

8. Do not add ‘wushification’ or ‘mystification’ to neijia boxing. Many wushu long fist masters have altered the tradition and modernized the neijia arts. They included it in wushu forms competitions and into sanda fighting. Some have gone as far as creating long fist jumping and kicks into Taijiquan competition forms judged like gymnastics. Others have mystified the art as Taoist, Buddhist, Confucian, and other religions creating cults that take advantage of the weak minded. The neijia arts are combat arts from centuries past used for fighting, there is nothing religious about that.

“Lineage is not a true indication of skill, though I have trained, and still continue to train with outstanding people. Kung fu is “ever progressing”, humbly learning from everyone within common reason. We believe in hard work, the same way steel has to be forged with fire and water. 24 years of Tai Chi Chuan is really only a starting point on this pagoda of life. Many floors to continue to walk up and see the view from higher stand points on the journey”. -Matt Stampe

Taught a total beginner on Sunday. My guest and I both train in boxing and Muay thai boxing, but he doesn’t feel he has enough stretching techniques and other fundamentals. We do almost no stretching in muay thai and boxing. I invited him to train with my friend Mark and I who get to together on Sunday for Chinese martial arts. He has no Chinese Martial arts experience, but he has been to China and lived in Korea and Japan, and his wife is Chinese. I focused his training on the following:

Workout summary-

Etiquette, philosophy, and motto: wisdom, benevolence, sincerity, bravery.
Warm ups 1-14,
1. Neck- up-down in half circles 2. bend forward and back arms crossed, 3. Fingers interlaced stretch to toes left and right 4. elbow to toe and twist 5. Hip and knee circles 6. fight stance front stretch kick, 7. outside stretch kick , 8. cross stretch kick 9. Front kick 10. Side kick 11. outside heel kick 12. back leg swing heel kick 13. drop stance elbow towards foot. 14. slap back.

Bar stretching- 1. front- elbow to toe (left and right) 2. Side bending hip open (left and right) 3. scale stretch 4. horse stance (feet out) stretch.

Supplemental stretching- 1. pushing wall heel stretch, 2. spine -stretch twist on floor 3. butterfly stretch 4. frog stretch
8 basic stances- 1. horse 2. mt. climber (bow stance) 3. Kneeling stance 4. empty stance 5. balance stance 6. drop stance 7. half sitting 8. Rhino view moon.

Moving kicks-
1. front stretch kick
2. inside stretch kick
3. Outside stretch kick
4. Toe kick
5. Heel kick
6. Side kick
7. Combined toe kick, side kick (left and right side)
8. Side stretch kick

Moving stances:
Ma bu (horse stance) gong bu (bow stance)

Mark and I demonstrated the following forms so he has a understanding of Chinese forms and some history. Our guest really liked the Hsingyi.

Forms and history:
Shaolin- style that came from Buddhist temple so monks could stay fit and defend themselves and the Buddhist temple.
Tai Chi Chuan- Taoist martial art based on tai chi “Grand ultimate” symbol (yin yang) combining hard and soft. Old style is Chen family style. Yang Family is most famous after fighter Yang Lu Chan taught the Emperor’s guards and grandson Yang Chen Fu taught publicly around China.
Hsingyi Chuan- another Taoist style meaning “mind and will boxing” consisting of more aggressive forward moving style, primarily used by bodyguards.
Pa Kua Chang- Taoist style based on 8 kua symbols that uses palm techniques. Known for its circle walking and spiraling movements.

Palm strike work:
1. Du chang- shaking palm (similar to a jab or cross but with open palm
2. Dragon back- spinal wave with striking with double palms
3. Throwing palm- like throwing a baseball or over hand right
4. Slapping palm- like hitting a flat table
5. nei wan kai he- two arms coil inward and outward to stretch body and shoulders
Palm work on focus mitts.

Hsingyi practice
Open into the San Ti (3 powers) stance.
Basic drill- rise, drill, overturn, fall.

Qigong practice (qi/chi cultivation)
Concentration drill- counting backward from 60 to 0
Lung exercises:
1. Cleansing breath- inhale through nose, exhale out mouth as long as possible. 3x
2. Filling breath- inhale and exhale evenly and deep from nose. 3x
3. Holding breath- inhale and hold relaxed as long as possible, exhale through nose. 3x
4. dan tien breathing- breathing long and deep from the lower diaphragm

Self massage-
Patting massage- Face, scalp, legs, arms, lower back and kidneys, swing arms hitting body, reverse breathing at dan tien.

Its not really about big muscles if you look at the principles he is talking about.

The principles apply to IMA and CMA in many ways to help you evolve as a athlete.

these apply more to just lifting weight:
1. continuity- consistency getting in the gym and working out
2. Understanding- understanding what your doing, why and knowledge.
3. recovery- good sleep, nutrition, and day off
4. solid foundation- gotta have basics before the complex
5. Individualization- know your weaknesses and where you need to improve.
6. specialization- planning and changing to develop new skills
7. periodization- have a plan before you train, enough what your body can give to achieve goals.
8. variety- your training program needs to constantly change
9. training economy- use time wisely in gym, train hard then go.
10. progressive overload- program need increased demands- more weight, more repetitions.
11. nutrition- got to eat healthy, most important discipline
12. safety- common sense, know what your body can do.