A Tale of Two Qi's: Unlocking Tai Chi's Bodily and Spiritual Energy

[@senchalhatton9690]

That was very in depth and awesome as always! Of course I enjoyed Mo flying off screen the best, even though he's a wonderful person, who makes great teas, that I would never wish violence upon. 😆

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you! We are working on a series of deeper explainers to the extent that people understand and enjoy them. More to come! About Moe flying, you don't wish it but you very much opportunistically enjoy it. 😄

[@CharlesEBusa]

Hi Chester! Yet another great video! Thanks for sharing!

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you for enjoying and supporting! 😃🙌

[@Mitch1371Tube]

Using your chi to absorb/block your opponents and using it against their momentum, always a lot to learn in Tai Chi! Glad I found your chanel! You explain Tai Chi in a manner that the book's cannot. I never saw it as internal and external, thanks!

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

I want to clarify that in classical Tai Chi, they tend to call all of it, universally, Qi. Sometimes it is called Zhenqi (真氣), True Qi. Sometimes it is called Haoran Zhengqi (浩然正氣), Vast Righteous Qi. But the energy that remains within the body and governs Yin and Yang, organ meridians etc, is not generally distinguished from the spiritual energy that travels outside and throug bodies. The terms Tiqi (體氣), Bodily Qi, and the Lingqi (靈氣), Spiritual Qi, are terms from Phoenix Mountain's Shendao Neigong. I want to specify this so that I am not putting words into the classical writings of Yang Tai Chi and explain why you may have never heard of them before. And I wanted to share them in this discussion to help people understand a valuable distinction. And I have found that mastering the more apparent Tiqi is a very helpful stepping stone to mastering the more subtle Lingqi, to help the student reach their highest level of Tai Chi mastery. This informs the distinction of our Tai Chi online courses Stage 3 and 4, from Qi Mastery to Neijin Mastery.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

At 3:35, Lingo should be Lingqi. Autocorrect got me 😅

[@kingofaikido]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi Oh man, Chester..! That "Lingqi" you mention is the same pronunciation as my family name. That means I really need to learn this..! Just from your description, I can guess how to do it. There are masters in aikido who can do this as well and I have been observing their actions like a hawk..! ;)

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

​@@kingofaikidohaha fantastic! That's very funny about the name. And yes it seems quite reasonable that certain masters of Aikido would make use of it! 😃👍

[@petertuongnguyen7999]

WOW!. What a deep understanding and explanation of Qi manipulation using YI in Taiji!. Dear Sifu, you took such a complex, hard-to-understand concept and made it so simple to understand like this … something I haven’t seen before. Awesome stuff !!. Thank you very much Sir. 👍😁

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you for the high praise! It is wonderful to see that you and others are able to understand more about these fascinating topics, and beyond understanding, to begin to enjoy and appreciate their impact on your practice. Let's journey to a deeper level of this art together! 🙌😃

[@ragemydream]

Fantastic video again. Shifu it would be great to have a video how yang tai chi, xinyi quan and Bagua quan differ in the use of internal qi, and why you prefer tai chi overall?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you! You must be psychic or one with the universe because I'm planning on making a video tonight related to that. 😃🙌

[@ragemydream]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi I hope that's true. Then I become as good as you. You could also do a video between Chen, Wu and Yang style. I think a lot of people think Tai Chi are all the same.

[@igorkiselev1936]

Очень интересно увидеть сравнительный анализ , различий усилий БАГУАДЖАН и Тайцзицюань , с нетерпением жду ! Спасибо !

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

​@@igorkiselev1936Thank you! I will make one involving Bagua. 😃

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

​@@ragemydreamI filmed one involving Xingyi! We can look at the different styles of Tai Chi too next time. 😄

[@yellostallion]

Great teaching!

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you for your kind words and comment! 🙏

[@highdefinitionarchitecture8208]

Thank you for all your interesting demonstrations. Seeing such videos fuels the desire to dig deeper into exploring the secrets of this art. Feeling so excited for the Neijin Mastery course in October!

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

I'm excited along with you for you to explore deeper into Tai Chi mastery too! Thank you for your interest and support! 😃🙌

[@dzj20p]

Thank You for the great demonstrations. We use a similar technique that we call "Pulling the Mule", allowing the opponents energy to pass and dissolve.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Oh that's very interesting! Thank you for sharing. What is the inspiration behind the name?

[@dzj20p]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi When meet with a overwhelming force it is best to guide/pull it aside to allow the energy to dissipate, then it can be easily manipulated. "A stubborn mule will not move if pulled, but it will move if it gently guided and persuaded to cooperate... "

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

​@@dzj20pHaha yes thank you for clarifying. I was thinking... Why pull mules, aren't they known for being stubborn? 😅

[@40JoCharles]

Lots to take in there. 🙏🏼

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Ya! We'll continue to explore this bit by bit beyond this overview that we have started. 😃🙏

[@tonyirwin50]

7:47 😂😂😂😂😂 "Please just tell me how to make the peng come out and then I'll stop bothering you with questions" must be at the heart of a lot of your online interactions 😂 I do like the progression you lay out here: why not master just floating and sinking first, and then I can explore the eight energies much later down the road 😊👍

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Haha you are totally right about how prevalent that question is! And luckily it's one we can answer and help people to train. 😃 And you're right too about mastering float and sink first, and then exploring the 8 energies a little bit further down the road! Because it may not be that much further down the road, with the right training. 😃

[@robertjordon1984]

Thanks Master, this was a really interesting video as I had no idea about the external qi. When using the internal qi its often described as a hydraulic mechanism like you mentioned. With xingiquan the mechanism whereby this occurs is, according to some practitioners, by pressurising certain chambers inside the body. Is this pressurizing chambers mechanism the same method used in taichi when using the body's internal qi? How does this external chi mechanism work, I mean is it specifically dependent on having done enough neigong work to get access to the Shen and with it 'spiritual energy'? Also can a taichi practioner do every single taichi technique with the option of either using internal or external qi and is there a simple test one can use to verify whether they are using internal or external qi?

[@PinkPoodleVoo-Doodollcon-ob6mn]

The internet pronunciation has 3 distinct and the last 2 syllable run together, but 4 syllables is the correct pronunciation. I stand corrected.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you for sharing! 😃🙏

[@linuxva]

Yep. Interesting 🤔.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Yes I understand it's a bit beyond the way we usually see and work with things. And sometimes we don't see something, and then after sometimes we suddenly see it and something becomes easier, does it not? It took me a while to tease apart the two types of practices and skills and I hope to help others see something that they have seen before, but may not have realized what they're seeing yet, in a way that's more helpful now. 😃🙏

[@Chien-YuKuo]

Three questions: Can I summarize from the video that the internal corporeal qi can be used in the general pushing and deflection actions in offense and defense? At the same time, can the external corporeal qi be considered equivalent to "Yi" in concept? Finally, you stated that one can not easily switch from one qi to the other qi. Isn't a continuum transition from one to the other?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Yes the bodily Qi can be used in deflection and pushing in defense and offense. As well as floating and sinking. The extracorporeal Spiritual Qi is not the same as Yi. As the Qi is an energy, and Yi is a consciousness' attachment to a particular manifestation of an outcome. They will both move people with very subtle lightness but the source and effect are in different layers for Qi and Yi. In terms of awareness of yourself and of the environment, the transition is strange and mysterious. Try this: Put your awareness somewhere inside your body. Notice what you feel. Notice what it is like. As you feel that, allow your awareness to start drift forward away from you. You may sense your personal space as your awareness moves forward through it. Let it drift forward beyond the edge of your personal space, and further beyond that even. What do you notice? What was the transition like? When and how did it stop feeling like you and what do you feel in your personal space? And what happened when you went beyond that? Above all, what do you know now that you didn't know before? You asked some deep questions and they are very interesting ones for you to ask. 😃🙏

[@t.roberttsao4274]

Is ‘No Touch’ 淩空勁 a manifestation of extra corporeal Qi or Yi? A few years ago, I watched Master Lin A Long ( 林阿龍） sent his student flying with No Touch in TaiPei. I stood a couple feet away and did not feel any force or Jin. But another standby who practices Qi Gong was affected and jumped back one step. Does No Touch only work on sensitive people? Can it hurt people like me who cannot feel the force?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

That's a really interesting question! In the Old Six Roads method of Yang Tai Chi, you are always borrowing force. Even if it's subtle, or at a distance, you are still interacting with their force or their intent for force. So that means it cannot hurt you or someone who is just watching. Master Lin A Long studied Cheng Manching's Tai Chi as well as Zhaobao Tai Chi. It's possible that his skills came from one of these traditions.

[@t.roberttsao4274]

Thanks, However, you did not answer my first question: Is No Touch a manifestation of Extra Corporeal Qi or Yi? The issuer and receiver need to be in the same wavelength to make the No Touch work? So it only works on some people, especially on Master’s students.

[@groff8657]

@@t.roberttsao4274 Though I have not seen 'No Touch' in person, a similar way to achieve that is by no-touch pulling force. Where you ask your partner to push and suddenly yield without letting them touch you. This creates the effect of them trying to remain upright and find balance by following your arm. You can bait people's awareness by triggering this reflex in that way. A couple of old Taiji masters that has been filmed on KZbin uses this reflex response to trick people into being off-balanced. But when it comes to no touch pushing, I do not think this is real at all.

[@brianvandine1773]

When I am feeling increased "heat" emanating from my hands, I have done a finger prick blood sugar test and it seems blood sugar is z little higher. I wonder what chi cultivation does fir blood sugar ldvrks?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

That's a really interesting observation! I don't have any experience regarding that but it's common for people to discover improving capacities to positively affect their heart rate, blood pressure, etc. Please update us on what you discover. 😃🙏

[@brianvandine1773]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi blood glucose is said to give cells their energy. I suppose it might make sense that when we are emanating greater Chi levels that perhaps glucose levels are higher. I read somewhere that when practicing Chi cultivation methods one should not eat high energy fatty foods but should eat vegetables to keep energy in balance. This is perhaps another clue in support of this idea. Also, a well known Tai Chi master in his video as he talks about Chi suggests that abdominal breathing converts fat to energy. All of this could support the idea of how Chi cultivation practices work within the body at a physiological level of understanding. Thank you for differentiating corporeal Chi from extra-corporeal Chi. I experience what feels hydrolic when my intention directs focus to my limbs but I didn't know this was actually a kind of Chi. I just thought it was some physiological thing. You have confirmed for me that I am on the right track. So, thank you

[@rtuain]

When I tried the song dispersion technique shown in the Invisible Touch video, I noticed my arms had a tendency to rise. Is this extracorporeal qi?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

It probably is! Could also be corporeal Qi, bodily Qi. Depends on where you attention is, which, if you were doing the invisible touch dispersion, is likely outside your body. So, good job! 😄🙌

[@rtuain]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi I’m pretty sure it’s outside the body after the song dispersion. I’m going to try to float someone.

[@rtuain]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi So I did the song dispersion. Then lightness spread out from the center. When it reached my arm, my partner’s weight disappeared. Then he drifted along with the arm.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

​@@rtuainooo that sounds very well done! Congratulations! 🎉🙌

[@rtuain]

@@phoenixmountaintaichi OMG, ji is awesome, I just got it to work. I’m officially a Jedi.

[@bajuszpal172]

OK , Sir, to my understanding there are two modes of applying but both energies subsequently: -In active mode, I use my body energy to reach his and feel his stiiff structure and then add internal upward moving energy to disbalance him backward, or into any direction I want. -In passiv mode , I use my sinking energy to deplete or absorbe the opponents´energy, as if leveragin hois energy downword a nd then using external energy for redirecting the attacking force around my body. My question is why the use of two energies are presented in forward direction only. My humble Tai chi knowledge is based on movements in at least four bu often in á directions. or not? Best regards.Paul,69, fan of Chinese and Japanese or Okinawan martial artretired instructor of Karate.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Yes you use the energies to influence them, while Song serves as the passive energy you describe to stabilize your own body. The reason I just presented Peng and Ji, forward energies, along with a little bit of the splitting rotating energy, is because of time ha ha. This presentation was already going on for 20+ minutes and my students are eager to practice the material! If you are thinking this can be applied to the rest of the 8 Tai Chi Neijins, and in all their other movements, you are right! I will present the other 8 Neijin as we work on them in my in person classes. They are also fully covered in detail from how to do it, how to apply it, and when to apply it, in the Neijin Mastery online course! Thank you for asking and your ongoing interest in Tai Chi! 😃🙏

[@Chien-YuKuo]

Can I summarize from this video that the internal corporeal qi is the first level of qi that can be used to push-back and deflect your opponents? Does the external corporeal qi, on the other hand, take that a step further and imbed the "Yi" concept? You seem to imply that you must switch one off to get to the other, and there is no in-between. Isn't it a gradual and continuum transition from one to the other?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

The external Spiritual Qi is a bridge to the Yi concept, but is different from the Yi Concept. One is an energy, and one is the consciousness' attachment to a manifestation of an outcome. See my response to your other comment for details. 😃

[@PinkPoodleVoo-Doodollcon-ob6mn]

I believe that 'corporeal' has 3 syllables and not 4 ---I'm unsure about spelling. Thank you for the great instruction.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Thank you for the comment! 😃🙌

[@t.roberttsao4274]

李雅軒大師said there five levels of Jin, 硬力，僵柔勁，鬆沉勁，輕靈勁，虛無勁。 What are the internal and external corporeal qi that you are referring to corresponded to that five levels of Jin aforementioned. Also Master Mark Rasmus classifies Jin as Physical, vital, astral and mind. Are you all describing the same Jins just using different terms.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Interesting question! I have not studied Master Lee's Tai Chi, but I may take a guess, and anyone with deeper knowledge please correct me if I am wrong. 硬力 may refer to muscular force. 僵柔勁 may refer to tendon elastic force. 鬆沉勁 may refer to the sinking effect of Bodily Qi. 輕靈勁 may refer to the floating effect of Bodily Qi, or maybe the extra corporeal Spiritual Qi. 虛無勁 may refer to the Spiritual Qi, or maybe to the effects of Yi Mastery. Now I really do not have a background in the Hermetics that Master Rasmus speaks of. As he is a living teacher I do not want to guess and misrepresent his teachings if I am wrong. There are likely to be similarities to what we are all working with. But there are clearly differences in how they are modeled and understood. It would be best to ask him. Thank you for asking the interesting questions though! 😃🙏

[@t.roberttsao4274]

Thank you very much for spending time answering questions. Do you hold workshops outside Phoenix Mountain TaiChi School? I live in the SF Bay Area, CA.

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

​@@t.roberttsao4274 you're very welcome! I am based in the Los Angeles area so San Francisco workshop is totally doable! If you know another dozen or two interested persons we can totally make it happen. I really enjoy seeing people's reaction as they discover themselves able of performing skills that they thought took ten years. Email me from my website if you'd like to talk more! 😄

[@taojones]

Thanks for the video, I would say this is your next step where there is only one universal Chi and separation has disappeared. When you move the universe moves... NO FORM, NO IMAGE; THE BODY IS EMPTY THROUGHOUT. ”Is taken from the West Mountain taoist sect's" Song of the Secret Transmission" ' was originally concerned with "yang shen" (cultivating Iife) ; later adopted by pugilists such as Wu Tu-Nan who related it to the Tai Chi classical writings “ Attaining to the gods" and "giving up the self to accord with the other person" "no form , no image" refers to the body's yuan-chi, (original energies) - the source of one's vitality. It has no forms and no images, yet can change into a myriad forms and myriad images. One must train to the stage where one's body and the Surrounding environment combíne as one; You have forgotten the boundaries of one's physical form . To Shih Míng " no form, no image" means that the physical form is not evident , that one's power has been freed from form and detached from images. The body is empty throughout the body is one with heaven and inside and outside chi's have combined ; upwards connecting to the chi; of heaven, downwards connecting to the chi of the earth. This is referred to heaven, earth and man are one. After the pores have opened it seems as though whatever size you choose to become Someone will think you are that size. At this level whoever pushes you will then feel as though he is groping the air. One accords with the other party, never initiating, always maintaining one's equilbrium To reach the level of emptiness and nothingness, you start with extreme calmness of mind, leading to extreme relaxation of the body , which inturn means extreme softness and all the joints opened.

[@palnagok1720]

The closest antidote to xingyi is...bagua ?

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Interesting question! Many people train both and I'm sure they are each optimally useful in different situations. They are both very highly regarded internal arts. 😃🙏

[@carlodefalco7930]

I like your explanations and your demos, but I have to say but. As with most of these, I’d like to see your student students manage to demonstrate what you can do

[@phoenixmountaintaichi]

Hi Carlos you're totally right about how we should see the students do them more! You'll see in almost all my other videos, my students learning to perform the skills in real time as I coach to do it for the first time. Because these videos are from their own lessons with me. This video is the FIRST time I showed them the extra corporeal Qi. Check back in 2 weeks and you'll see them performing it. 😃 Check out these other videos from the channel! Here are some examples of my students working on their skills: Qi Mastery online course, several clips of my students practicing the skills: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKi5fJaof9SXpa8 A Tai Chi expert visits provides review of my class, myself and my students: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hF7RkqKdma6hfMk Hope these help you. Thank you for highlighting the importance of the students' capacities, because that's what I as a teacher want to see, the success of my students. 😃🙏