China Hand Kung Fu

From nothing is where you start, this is Wu Ji. Once you begin to move the nothing becomes something and you have Tai Chi.

The Wu Ji Posture is done in many different ways, but the basic concept is the same. So below I will describe how to do the posture.

Posture

Feet should be shoulder width apart, flat on the ground, and the weight distributed over the entire foot, yet it should feel as if most of the weight is centered just below your ankle and slightly forward of the heel.

Your knees should be slightly bent or soft and springy. The knees should never lock.

Your hips relaxed and level to the ground. Your tailbone should be slightly tucked in. In order to tuck the tailbone, image that you slightly lift the navel, which in turn straightens out the lower back and brining the tailbone slightly under.

Your back should be straight, not leaning side to side or tilting forward or rearward.

The shoulders are dropped and slightly rounded. The shoulder blades should not feel like they are squeezing together, yet they are not stretching apart to make you feel hunched over. When done correctly, your hands will lightly touch the thighs halfway between the front of the thigh and side of the thigh.

Your head should feel lifted up as if a string were pulling the crown of the head to the sky. Don’t let the head feel as if it were a bowling ball (dead weight) on the shoulders.

The arms are completely relaxed at the side to start.

This starting position is used in many qigong (chi kung) or internal arts to start your form. This will bring you into a relaxed state and allow the qi (chi) to flow freely.

Breathing

When inhaling, inhale only through the nose. When exhaling, exhale through the nose and or the mouth. I usually suggest to only exhale through the nose as we tend to exhale to quickly when using the mouth. Your inhale and exhale should be even in duration. The minimum you should be seeking is at least 4 seconds to inhale and for seconds to exhale.

The tongue should be lightly pressed to the roof of the mouth.

As you inhale, the stomach should extend outward, as you exhale pull inward. Your breath should be slow, even, and comfortable. This is considered natural breathing. This the method we use when we are born into this world.

Mental Focus

Once we are in a good posture and we have regulated our breathing, now we can focus the mind.

Start by relaxing the entire body. Start from the feet and slow work up to the head releasing all of the tension in the body.

The eyes can be opened or closed, provided they are not looking down to the ground. The eyes will look outward toward the horizon or slightly higher. Let the eye lids relax and hang slightly closed.

Now, let the palms turn back facing behind you, yet keeping your hand in front of the body. Hold this position, feel the blood rushing to the fingers. You may feel a warm or tingling sensation in the hands. Allow at least one minute to le the qi extend into the arms and fingers.

Pull the elbows slightly out to the side, as if a string attached to the elbow just lifted the elbow up a tiny bit.

Now keep you mental focus on relaxing the body, natural breathing, and image that your breath extends 10′ into the ground through the feet. You should feel as if the body extended into the earth and your are well rooted. If the body should feel as if you are swaying back and forth, slightly bend the knees and sink into the feet.

Practice

This should be practiced every day and can be done up to one hour per day. Start with 5 minutes, then slowly add time. Add only 1 minute every 1-2 weeks. Within a year, you will be standing one hour, or close to it.