Adding Rotation and Resistance to a Foundational Qigong Pattern

A look at movement through the lens of Chinese Medicine: Channel-sinew (jingjin) and Dūn Yāo

The Dun Yao is a qigong pattern that involves a rising expansion and falling compression. Yao is spine (or waist) and the loose translation for this is 'spine squat'. Emphasis is thus on the spine, and the rise and fall helps create a growing circulation up the Du Mai (Governing Vessel) and down the Ren Mai (Conception Vessel). 

The rising movement is driven from an involvement of the Urinary Bladder jingjin (channel-sinews, or myofascial component of the channels) and the Kidney jingjin.. Key muscles involved are:

• Gluteus maximus and hamstrings (BL jingjin): Hip extension while rising
• Erector spinae (BL jingjin): back extension while rising
• Cervical extensors and suboccipitals (BL jingjin): involved with drawing the head back and allowing energy (and lift!) to rise to DU 20 (Bai Hui).
• Lower and middle trapezius (BL jingjin): Retracts and depresses the scapulae (shoulder blades) to make you taller.
• Transverse abdominis (KID jingjin): creates a stabilizing 'girdle' around the midsection to stabilize the spine. A sign that it is active is a drawing in of the abdomen towards the diaphragm. But one should look for this and not 'suck the abdomen in'.
• Psoas major (KID jingjin): This is an interesting muscle for so many reasons. It has dynamic, hip flexion based fibers AND it has spine stabilizing fibers, It is almost two muscle. The stabilization aspect, particularly, is part of the KID jingjin.
  
  

The sinking movement is driven from an involvement of the Stomach and Spleen jingjin. While it is subtle, there is a slight bowing and compression in the torso on this sinking face. Key muscles involved are:

• Rectus abdominis (ST jingjin): This muscle has a slight engagement on the sinking phase. It is like a gentle and soft 'abdominal crunch', yet it should be natural and not forced. 
• Posterior rectus sheath and abdominal obliques (SP jingjin)). The abdominal obliques are part of many channels and we will see their rotational, unilateral involvement when we look at the Liver jingjin. Bilateral involvement that compresses the abdomen is part of the SP jingjin. Interestingly, the fascia of these muscles meet at the semilunar line which is at the lateral edge of the rectus abdominis and is the location of the Spleen primary channel in Chinese medicine. The fascia splits (bifurcates) and travels superficial and deep to the rectus abdominis, but I feel the deep layer is associated with the Spleen channel.
• Serratus anterior (SP jingjin): Like the obliques, this muscle can act unilaterally as part of a rotational force and associated with the Pericardium jingjin. But bilateral activation is part of the Spleen jingjin role and causes a protraction of the scapulae.
• Quadriceps femoris (ST and SP jingjin): part of the hip flexion and really active in both the sitting and standing, but in terms of its Yangming-Taiyin role, these are associated with the sitting phase.
• Tibialis anterior (ST jingjin) and tibialis posterior (SP jingjin): Eccentrically loaded while sitting to allow foot pronation. This loads the spring of the foot.

The Dun Yao is traditionally down with a palm up, hand rising during the rise and a palm down, hands sinking during the fall. In this case, the above structures are involved. Adding the macebell not only adds weight and resistance, but also introduces rotation to the pattern. Particularly, this rotation is in the shoulder girdle and the torso with an emphasis on the lower ribcage movement. This massages and mobilizes the diaphragm, liver, thoracic spine and pericardium; and it is driven by the Liver and the Pericardium jingjin. 

These channels include myofascia that is part of the list above, yet they are active as part of a functional pairing with other rotators which are part of these channels. Included are:

• Rhombo-serratus sling (P jingjin): This includes the fascially connected rhomboids and serratus anterior which actually continues to the opposite side splenius cervicis and capitis. This manages position of the scapula in rotation patterns.
• External obliques (LIV jingjin): This is associated with rotation of the torso
• Psoas major, quadratus lumborum, adductor longus and brevis (LIV jingjin(: The psoas can also have a dynamic role, particularly associated with rotation patterns as there is opposing lengths between the left and the right. It is active with the QL and adductors and all of these are involved with rotation.

Check out the video below and you can look for these channel activities!

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Rotate Torso to Improve Health

Turning Pelvis, Lower Ribcage, Shoulder Girdle

In taiji and liuhebafa, rotation is evident in many of the movements. This is especially true in liuhebafa which really highlights rotation and it features rotation in three main centers in the body; the pelvis, lower ribcage and shoulder girdle.

There are many martial applications with this type of rotation, but the health benefits are evident. Included are:

• Mobilization of the the innominate bones (the main pelvic bones on the right and left) leading to better function of the sacroiliac joint and lumbar spine,
• Mobilization of the low ribcage which engages the abdominals, improves health of the respiratory diaphragm and massages the internal organs like the liver, stomach and spleen.
• Mobilization of the shoulder girdle leading to better shoulder health, a strong and stabile shoulder girdle and better health of the thoracic and cervical spine.

Check out the tutorial to start learning and practicing the basics and click here for in-person classes in Temple Terrace or my zoom classes online. 

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Three Primary Functional Movement Patterns

The Acupuncture Channels Organize Movement

The image above describes 3 groupings of acupuncture channels (sometimes referred to as meridians). These channels in each grouping are all related and anyone who studies Chinese and East Asian medicine, including things like acupuncture, tuina, qigong and herbal medicine, would see and understand something about these groupings. 

The major functional movement patterns are organized by these 3 groupings and you do not need to have studied Chinese medicine to understand this. I can use a bunch of technical jargon such as describing the 3 networks by the names in the graphic above, but I can make it far simpler by describing the basic movement patterns that these channel parings do. These three groupings produce the following three movement patterns. They:

1) Expand, extend, and propel the body forward, 

2) Compress, flex, and hollow the body; and they

 3) Side bend and rotate the body. 

Expansive movements which propel the body forward:

We can look at something relatively simple such as a pull up for an example of this movement pattern. This movement engages muscles of the back of the torso and shoulder girdle. And, if your form is good, there is engagement of core. This relatively straightforward movement primarily involves expansive movements that lift and propel the body forward. These movements lift the body up (literally, in the image below), but also lift you into an upright posture when standing and walking; and they also stabilize the spine.

 

Photo by Ruslan Khmelevsky: https://www.pexels.com/photo/muscular-sportsman-doing-pull-up-exercise-in-gym-4608157/

Compressive movements which hollow the body:

Other movement patterns compress and hollow the body. They protract the scapulae, depress the chest, and flex the torso and hip. There are many calisthenic and gymnastic exercises which illustrate this movement pattern. Hollow body holds, L-sits, a front kick, and many other movements fall into this category. The image below shows a gymnastics moves called a planche which is being performed on gymnastics rings. These movements protract the scapulae (round the shoulder girdle), depress the chest, and they flex the torso and hip. 

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-male-gymnast-practicing-on-gymnastic-rings-3763702/

These movements also balance the expansive ones described above and there are many exercises that move back and forth between these two groupings. For instance, rowers would move back and forth between these phases; going into a compression so that they have more range as they engage the back, expand and propel forward as they pull the paddle through the water. You have to compress and load the spring before you expand, especially if you want to do it explosively. The spinal wave from White Crane qigong is another example of this ebb and flow and you can watch my video by clicking here. 

Movements which side bend and rotate the body:

Sidebending and rotation are two separate movements....., sort of. Major joints of the spine and pelvis couple these two movements which means that if you perform one of these movements, you are doing the other. Some movements are more apparently side bending, while others are more about rotation, but from a kinesiology standpoint, these movements are very integrated together and not as easily separated. 

These movements involves trunk and neck side bending, but also abduction and adduction of the limbs, along with rotational movements. To fully understand this category, you also need to understand that this movement pattern involves preventing too much movement by stabilizing the sides of the body. It involves the muscles which allow us to stand on one leg, even momentarily such as when we are walking or running, without the hip buckling and failing to support this weight. Walking or running is actually a great example of this patterns since the rotation of this hips and spine is so integral to healthy gait.

Another very simple example is in a video below where I am swinging on monkey bars. This exercise emphasizes rotation, but you will also see side bending if you watch the video.

Photo by Los Muertos Crew: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-doing-sports-at-sports-hall-10039561/

Check out my Youtube channel where I will be exploring many of these concepts. If you do visit, especially if you find the information useful, please subscribe, like the videos, and comment on the videos. All of this helps build my channel and allows me to put the time into producing more content. Besides this, I appreciate the comments since it helps be continue to organize this information and we can all learn together!

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Eight Pieces of Brocade - Qigong for Health

Eight Pieces of Brocade: brief history.

Eight Pieces of Brocade (Chinese pinyin: Baduanjin) is attributed to general Yue Fei dating back about 1000 years. This figure was possibly a mythical figure and may not have existed, but the qigong exercise has its roots in antiquity, regardless. Legend has it that it was developed as a way to maintain the health of the soldiers. There is a standing form and a separate sitting form. I have learned the sitting form, but do not practice this regularly and do not teach this form, so the discussion below will be related to the standing form. Note that the standing form can be modified effectively to seated for those with limitations that prevent standing, but the original sitting form is a unique form and is not simply an adaptation of the standing form..

I learned this form from Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming at his North California retreat home. This was a fantastic introduction. I have since modified the form to highlight principles that I focus on and teach, but it is largely unchanged from what I learned with Dr. Yang.

Eight Pieces of Brocade: a great qigong form for spinal mobility and core engagement.

I practice and teach Eight Pieces of Brocade in several setting, but specifically I came to appreciate this form during much of the initial social distancing phase in 2020. This form, due to is simple stance and lack of stepping patterns, lends itself quite well to zoom based classes. In 2020, I initially also taught taiji, liuehebafa, and core strengthening classes, in addition to baduanjin (8 POB). While it is possible to teach taiji and liuhebafa on Zoom, they are not as obvious a fit as something such as eight pieces. 

Eight Pieces of Brocade contains many of the same principles, especially those related to health improvement, that can be found in the other forms. Yet it is much simpler and more repetitive externally. The internal movement, however, features the same spinal mobility and core engagement. This can take some practice to find and maximize and is something we focus on in class. But it is pretty simple to jump in and start following, and you will likely be getting at least some of the this benefit from the beginning. You can get some nice stretching and strengthening from the start with plenty of room to develop and grow!

Eight Pieces of Brocade: Spinal Wave/Danyu

One way to maximize the benefits in eight pieces of brocade is to incorporate the spinal wave into each move. Some of the people I teach learned this qigong movement as the danyu (dūn yāo). There are some external differences between these two qigong exercises, but they both are ways of accessing the small circulation (microcosmic orbit) which is a circulation up the du mai (governing vessel) and down the ren mai (conception vessel). This movement can then travel out into the extremities and it would then be referred to as the grand circulation (macrocosmic orbit). Simply, this means that the movement of the spine and core manifest into the extremities. If you can find this movement in the Eight Pieces of Brocade, the benefits will be far greater for your health and wellness.

Check out the Youtube video below. This walks you through each move and allows you to follow along and practice. Also, check out the class information and contact info by clicking here.

Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions on the video by leaving a comment. Also, please like and subscribe as this helps build my channel which will allow me to continue providing content like this!

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Liuhebafa Qigong Patterns

Liuhebafa (brief history of the form I practice)

Liuhebafa (known in Cantonese as Lok Hup Ba Fa), is one of the major internal martial arts from China. It is similar in some ways to taiji, though lesser known, especially in the West. The liuhebafa that I learned comes most directly from Liang Zipeng. Liang Zipeng was a recognized student of Wu Yi Hui who was likely the most instrumental figure in the wider transmission of this art. However, Liang Zipeng only learned the first half with Wu and he created his own second half from knowledge of other styles such as Yiquan, Xingyiquan and Baguazhang, The liuhebafa I learned is most closely related to the version his student, Moy Linshin taught, though there are other sources and influences in the version I am doing now.

Liuhebafa Qigong Patterns

To teach Liuhebafa, I have 'created' several small qigong patterns (drills). I say created, but these are really just isolated movements from the liuhebafa form that are modified only to make them more bilateral (done on both sides) and repetitive so that you can isolate and train certain movement patterns. If you were to learn these patterns, that would be enough to work on mobilizing the shoulders, ribcage, pelvis and spine while massaging the internal organs. This is the purpose of these qigong patterns. Practicing these patterns would also facilitate learning the liuhebafa form. I put these together for that reason, so that they can be practiced in my classes. But I also teach them in my online Zoom classes. I find these patterns are much more adaptable to online classes than the full form, although they are a useful element of live class. Click here for the class info.

Check out two of these patterns in the video below.

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Liuhebafa (Lok Hup Ba Fa) Qigong Patterns

Qigong patterns from Liuhebafa

I am creating a series of qigong patterns derived from liuhebafa (lok hup ba fa), based on movements from the bare hand form of the tradition taught by Liang Zipeng and passed on by Sun Di and Moy Linshin.

There are six patterns for Part I of this form. Part II of this form is quite different from most versions of liuhebafa, and Liang Zipeng mostly created this second half as a unique form. I will post more about patterns for Part II separately.

Liuhebafa movement patterns

The following movements are the basis for the Part I qigong patterns. The video below shows one of these patterns.

1. Commencement of Liuhebafa
2. Stop Cart and Ask Directions. (See Video Below)
3. Wild Horse Chases Wind
4. Nine Circulations of the Golden Pill
5. Part Clouds and See Sun
6. Gentle Wind Sweeps Leaves

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