How to Open the Ming Men in Tai Chi and Qigong

[@Don-jg5qb]

Watching your videos on Tai Chi/Qi Chong are truly informative and relaxing. Your calm presentation is just what a student needs to thoroughly learn. Thanks so much.

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you for your lovely comment!

[@chunsit9201]

This is the second time I heard about opening the Ming men from two American tai chi teachers. I practice tai chi for 50 years and have read all Chinese books on tai chi. Never come across opening Ming men. So this is something new to me. But I know for sure there is no shoulder qua, because qua in Chinese means hip joints.

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you. I learned about the Ming Men and the shoulder Kua from Master William Ting.

[@Drumlin998]

It actually felt like marshmallow :D Although I have lower back pain at the moment, sitting on an imagined stool with the support of a jacket gave me some ease in pain. Thanks

[@InternalTaiChi]

You are very welcome. That is wonderful that you felt the marshmellow effect! Keep practicing it and you will be able to alleviate your pain more quickly through intention.

[@TheBhannah]

You explain a very important point so well !

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you! 😊

[@AndrewUKLondon]

wonderful, informative and clear. thank you for sharing:)

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you for your comment. Good to hear from you, Andrew!

[@flordelsur63]

Thank you so much from Spain. I would like To understand more that concept of Kua as you put it (shoulders , Lao Gong)

[@InternalTaiChi]

Great! I will try to make a video discussing these kua aspects in more detail. Thanks for the video idea!

[@springstaichi]

Very informative! Thanks for sharing!

[@InternalTaiChi]

My pleasure!

[@georghackl6178]

❤ I like your teaching .

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you! 😃

[@zofiaaue4546]

You are the best of the best

[@InternalTaiChi]

:-). Thank you for that marvelous comment.

[@papandreasg]

Thank you for this information! I’ve always been told to ‘tuck’ the hips to create that straightening of the Ming men area…I thought that was the process. Your explanation makes me feel that your practice by the wall is more ‘appropriate’. Is you’re sense of that exercise to focus on the Ming men moving toward the rolled jacket instead of ‘tucking’ the hips as the lengthening of that Ming area? Probably not a perfect way for me to ask a question, but if I’m understanding how you are teaching that ‘alignment’ by the focus in the Ming men moving backward instead of ‘tucking’, it feels that you’ve given me a completely different perspective…subtle, but completely different.

[@InternalTaiChi]

Yay!! I am delighted that you feel the subtle difference. This subtle difference will make huge difference in your practice. I always tell my students to place their awareness on the not obvious. So to answer your question: If we "focus" on the Ming Men, then we are already out of balance; too focused on the part. Instead, feel an awareness in front of the body (dan tien or the entire belly area) and imagine it being soft and receiving, like a marshmallow or malleable material. And now allow it to receive an imaginary or real incoming force and allow it to EXPAND, release or inflate the ming men. So there is no action taken other than absorbing in front and sending or expanding the back by way of the absorption in front. If you are doing my wall exercise, then simply allow the ming men to inflate or soften into the jacket. Once you have that, then place your awareness in the front expanding to the back to facilitate the softening in the jacket. Then memorize that feeling. That is how your low back or ming men should feel when doing Tai Chi. Soft, relaxed, receiving through the front, open in the back. You will know you have it because it is as if the entire body sighs with relief and comfort! This the state of "Song." I hope this helps!

[@papandreasg]

@@InternalTaiChiThank you!

[@PeterBridenne]

Hi ! Thanks for your teaching master. You talk about Master Ting, do you mean the one who teached wuji jing gong ?

[@InternalTaiChi]

Yes!! Master William Ting. Very few know of the Wiji Ji Gong Tai Chi form. Did you know him!?

[@PeterBridenne]

​@@InternalTaiChi I know his first Student Rémi a french/chinese teacher who is a friend of my main teacher Yves Ladieu. Yves was the student of Meng Fuyan , himself a direct student of Ting's Master ; Lujitang. I study Qi gong, méditation and Taï Chi since nearly Three years ; the Wuji jing gong and a little bit of Yang . Rémi gives us a vidéo of Ting's master Lujitang doing the form, if it possible I will send it on KZbin. If you have an email, whatsapp or facebook messenger I can send you some text and biographie about those men. Thanks to keep the spirit alive

[@PeterBridenne]

​@@InternalTaiChi​@InternalTaiChi I know his first Student Rémi a french/chinese teacher who is a friend of my main teacher Yves Ladieu. Yves was the student of Meng Fuyan , himself a direct student of Ting's Master ; Lujitang. I study Qi gong, méditation and Taï Chi since nearly Three years ; the Wuji jing gong and a little bit of Yang . Rémi gives us a vidéo of Ting's master Lujitang doing the form, if it possible I will send it on KZbin. If you have a Facebook messenger or whatsapp whatever I can send you some text or picture about these lineage and his masters. Thanks for keep8ng the spirit alive !

[@PeterBridenne]

@@InternalTaiChi I know Rémi a French/Chinese teacher who was the favorite student of Ting. Rémi is the Friend of my main teacher Yves Ladieu. The Master of Yves was Meng Fuyan who himself learned Wuji Jing gong from Lujitang , the master of Ting. If you are interested about this school I can send you some texte and picture on Facebook messenger or whatsapp etc... I've got also a vidéo of Lujitang doing the form, I'll try to put it on KZbin. Thanks for keeping the spirit alive !

[@InternalTaiChi]

@@PeterBridenne Thanks for the clarification. Yes, I know Remi. Before Master Ting passed, he asked that I take over and teach his Wuji Qigong class and students which he was teaching twice weekly via livestream during the covid shut down for two years. It was a huge honor and a huge responsibility. I still teach his Wuji Qigong live stream class and have several of his former students. Master Ting and I were quite close. I would enjoy enjoy seeing that video. When you post it, please send me the link.

[@plee4384]

Beautiful.

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you. 😊

[@constantinestone5483]

you are true . teach .🦉

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you. Powerful words and insight. 🙂

[@jemmyliou]

while rotating, the kua movement how is done ?

[@InternalTaiChi]

If you keep the spine aligned, and the shoulder over the hip, the rotation will naturally rotate the kua. Does this make sense?

[@MjahedTV]

So ultimately your are relaxing and let your weight drop/sink your weight trough the segments of the kinetic chain into the ground right? I always focused on "folding the kua" which caused a lot of tension. When I simply dropped relaxed starting from my ankle and relaxing all other parts of the chain it was effortles and the pelvis sank naturally and was ultimately carried by my feet. Can you please share your view on that?

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you for sharing your experience and insight. Yes, you are letting your body sink (I like the word "release" instead) down through the segments of the kinetic chain. However at the same time, if you allow it and don't fight it, there is an upward, floating, filling feeling. This is the ultimate sensation we want. If we focus too much on the "sinking" we become too heavy. That is why I like the word "release" instead. Your third sentence, describing the sensations and process you used, sounds spot on. That is what it should feel like! We do not want to "fold" "open/close" the Kua. The Kua should always have an expression of opening, never closing. It expands just as your body does. Lower Kua releases, upper Kua floats, middle Kua absorbs. Just like our whole body does in Tai Chi. I really like your reframing sentence: "let your weight drop....through the segments of the kinetic chain to the ground." Just add, and: then allow the spaces between the joints and within the body to open at the same time as the weight flows down. Then you have a balanced cycle of Yin/Yang. Hope this was helpful! Thanks for watching and engaging.

[@MjahedTV]

@@InternalTaiChi thanks a lot that you took the time for this helpful comment!!!

[@InternalTaiChi]

@@MjahedTV You are very welcome. Hope it helps!

[@MjahedTV]

@@InternalTaiChi it did!

[@1965Cataldo]

Ma il discorso del qi funziona se uno ci crede ai meridiani e a tutta la sua trattazione? Se uno non crede al qi funzionerebbe lo stesso? In sostanza è solo una questione mentale?

[@InternalTaiChi]

Il qi è una cosa reale, che ci si creda o no. Inoltre non è necessario avere conoscenza dei meridiani per coltivare il proprio qi. Quanto alla tua domanda, se sia una cosa mentale - lo è in un certo senso, ma il qi è sempre presente che ci crediamo o no. L'aspetto mentale sta nell'essere aperti alla sensazione del qi.

[@1965Cataldo]

@@InternalTaiChi Come ho già detto in un precedete post avrei dovuto conoscerti prima. Dopo tanti anni mi hai dato spunti su cui studiare e riflettere. In poassato ho fatto molte ricerche sullla realtà del qi e dei meridiani e non sono riuscito a dare una spiegazione scientifica certa. Tu dici che è reale perchè vedi che le cose che fai per te funziano. Ma dimostrarlo scientificamente è un'altra cosa. Però la porta per me è sempre aperta. Ma non so se ho più la voglia di studiarci sopra. Comunque grazie per quello che ci mostri.

[@InternalTaiChi]

@@1965Cataldo Capisco il tuo bisogno di prove scientifiche. Ho letto un articolo basato sulla ricerca dove i praticanti di Tai Chi e coloro che meditano hanno un tasso misurabile più alto di energia bio-elettrica che scorre attraverso di loro. Tutti noi abbiamo energia bio-elettrica. È così che funziona il nostro sistema neurologico, inviando impulsi elettrici ai nostri muscoli per l'azione, attraverso la nostra colonna vertebrale per la sensazione e attraverso il nostro cervello per i pensieri. Tuttavia, se tu fossi geograficamente più vicino a me, potrei mostrarti come si sente il Qi, e saresti in grado di sentire tangibilmente il Qi dentro di te, tra te e intorno a te. È una cosa palpabile. Una volta che lo senti, è più facile crederci. È interessante che abbiamo fede nell'aria che respiriamo anche se non possiamo vederla. Il Qi è molto simile. Comunque, ti auguro il meglio nella tua ricerca e nel tuo viaggio.

[@martam518]

Where are you located? How practicing changed your posture over time and muscles?

[@InternalTaiChi]

It trains your body to release muscle tension, to elongate the muscles and become softer. This allows us to align our skeleton more naturally and beneficially.

[@HappyLifege]

What if one has pelvic tilt?

[@InternalTaiChi]

If the pelvic tilt is from tightness or stiffness, they should not force a change. Using the technique of opening the Ming Men as described in the video, will, over time make a subtle change to the pelvic tilt which will relieve the back of unnecessary pressure. I hope this answers your question! Just don't force a pelvic tilt. Allow gravity to do the work and open up the spine naturally.

[@lynnfrench8983]

Towel?

[@InternalTaiChi]

I find a towel is a bit too hard when it is rolled up. I like a jacket (although not a big bulky one) lightly rolled up because it is easier to feel your back expanding into it and the jacket "receiving" the expansion.

[@constantinestone5483]

...be patient , work it .

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thank you.

[@cinmac3]

why don't you always explain this way or just say low back hips belly , and is dan tiien belly center or my lower belly feels hard as a muscle, i cant soften 🙃😑🙃, i think helping to create tensions shoulder, waist , hip? And/or a list and point where every thing is , it helps me more watching doing and hoping to get the feeling, i know for me doing , in learning somatics i learned to what is called pandiculate.

[@InternalTaiChi]

The dan tian is basically the center of the inside of the pelvis. Like an imaginary ball. It is not an actual anatomical feature. What happens in this area can certainly effect other areas of the body.

[@flordelsur63]

Thank you so much from Spain. I would like To understand more that concept of Kua as you put it (shoulders , Lao Gong)

[@InternalTaiChi]

Thanks for your comment. I will add it to my list of videos to make! Keep on wathcing and giving me suggestions. I appreciate it.