How to Develop the Yin & Yang Qi of the Body in Tai Chi & Bagua (2/2)

Part 2 of 2: Play the Yin-Yang Spectrum of Neigong

By Paul Cavel

In Part 1, we discussed how to weave relevant neigong threads into a single fabric through your tai chi or bagua practice.

Stage 3: Delving Into the Depths of Subtlety

Assuming you have adequately prepared your foundation, the next step is to look towards developing the range of yin and yang qualities within each neigong thread. For example, the yang method of bending and stretching will be developed in a yin way, or the yin method of pulsing will be developed in a yang way. Again, each neigong has a propensity towards being either yang or yin, but can and should be developed along the entire spectrum of yang to yin and yin to yang. This allows you to get closer to the underlying principles that apply the same neigong techniques to create very different qualities in the arts of tai chi and bagua.

For example, opening and closing in bagua — while Walking the Circle and practising any of the 200 or so postures or palm changes — is done with very little external motion. There is no "leakage" since all pressure is contained within the joints and cavities (of course within 70 to 80 percent of the practitioner's capacity). This creates a yang pulse, which can only be implemented if the prerequisites are embodied, and the body has shed its superficial tensions at a minimum.

Conversely, in tai chi, yang bending-and-stretching techniques, for example, are done in such a way as to create a very soft and relaxed outer shell, yet still penetrate down to the bone. Again, this is only possible if tension stored in the body is sufficiently released.

You must overcome this yin-yang hurdle, because if you go straight for cranking up the pressure in the joints in bagua, you will only manage to lock in more tension. Yet if you back off bending and stretching in tai chi too soon, you cannot reach any reasonable level of depth and internal motion. First work neigong threads into your body within their natural dispositions, releasing whatever tensions surface, then you can start playing any thread's range, from yin to yang or yang to yin.

When you do, only amp up or down a notch at a time, so that you:

• Avoid issues from too much yang intensity or becoming disconnected from too much yin softness.
• Keep all active threads integrating smoothly.
• Release whatever tensions are uncovered at each new depth.

Tensions can surface through both methods, while either increasing or decreasing intensity. Following an incremental methodology allows you to avoid problems, rids the body of many layers of unconscious tension and generates the skill to develop — at will — the whole range of the yang-yin spectrum of any neigong thread or combination of threads. This is the path to truly defining the yin nature of tai chi and the yang nature of bagua, as well distinguishing each art in the realm unto which it belongs.

Instinct Is Not Enough

A fully qualified teacher can help you avoid traps and pitfalls that send you down cul-de-sacs and create glass ceilings. Unfortunately today, titles like “sifu” and “master” have little meaning, so take care to do your research. First verify the lineage and training of any teacher you plan to follow (see my three-part video series on the Water Method to learn why this is important). Even in neigong-rich systems, many long-time teachers have not properly developed their foundation. This greatly hinders their students’ ability to learn how to access their qi, especially because they are often directed to project with their mind, putting them in a purely mental space. The aim is to feel your body through the kinaesthetic sense in order to uncover what is really happening (or not happening, as the case might be). Instinct is not enough.

There are health issues too that should not be ignored or overlooked by either the student or the teacher from the cravings of the ego. Over the last 30 years, I've encountered too many people after they have blown out their system from pushing too hard or ignoring safety protocols. Their potential, the trajectory of their lives changes, and usually not for the better. All internal arts teaching is absolutely rooted in foundational neigong and will require you to go through the basics again and again in alignment with the circular nature of learning, as promoted by Water Method Taoists for millennia. This is the path to getting real about what you can and cannot do. Taoist arts always start with and remain rooted in the physical body as your anchor in reality, at least all the time you are here on the Earth.

Follow the Taoist wisdom passed down through the ages: tune into your inner world, do what you can do in the here and now with a consistent practice, and you will create a continuum of continuity. From that place of stability, you can let go on ever-deeper levels, and in so doing, grow your potential in body, mind and qi ... well beyond what you can envision today.

I wish you good luck!
Paul