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The Goal of Zhandouli

January 4, 2010 By

When you practice Baguazhang, your attacker will be confused because he cannot know what you will do and you also will not know what you are about to do but your body will know instinctively how to react.”
Li, Long-dao

Martial ability (zhandouli ) is a term we use frequently in Jiulong Baguazhang.  At one level, the meaning of the term is obvious from the translation:  martial ability is the capacity to face an opponent or opponents in combat; the greater one’s martial ability, the higher the likelihood that one will emerge victorious.  Most students of Jiulong Baguazhang, however, will never have to fight for their lives – and so much the better.  Even in the face of danger, we are better off if violence can be avoided.  As Sun Tzu says, “To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill.  To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”  So what does zhandouli, really mean for practitioners of Jiulong Baguazhang? The answer lies at the very heart of our art.

No Formalized Forms Training

Jiulong Baguazhang does not consist of memorizing hundreds of forms. In the final stages there are no formalized forms or kata in the traditional sense. The core of this art consists of total training with exercises to develop external skill (waigong), subtle skill (neigong) and internal energy skill (qigong).
These exercises — standing meditation, waigong, neigong and qigong exercises performed while walking in a straight line and on the circle holding the eight mother palm postures — strengthen the body and neurological system.

Jiulong training also includes a study of the meaning and images of each of the eight basic three-line diagrams (gua) of the Yijing as they relate to attitude, action, and use of each of the hand.

The term, “the eight mother palms”, refers to whole body postures incorporating all of the body’s energies.  The palms become mental attitudes permeating the entire psychological and physiological makeup of the student. The martial and qigong practices use the Yijing symbols as visual images to empower the student through the focus of his intention (yi) and heart (xin) until imagination becomes reality.

Immediate Feed Back

One of the great things about Jiulong Baguazhang is that all postures and physical positions can be tested for the correct energy (jin) pathway. A jin pathway is the alignment of body segments in such a way that energy can move uninterruptedly up from the ground, through the legs, to the torso, and out into the limbs. Developing power skill is called jingong.

This pathway can exit at the palm, forearm, shoulder, or almost anywhere one wants to strike or push. When the pathway is correct, pressure on the arms or any other body part will result in a feeling of an uninterrupted line of energy sending pressure in the corresponding foot or feet in accordance with our “Cross the Great River” principle. This principle states that the arm in use for striking or neutralizing is opposite from the leg upon which the body weight is being supported. Thus the left hand is pushed by the right leg through the torso and the right hand with the left leg.

This principle is easy to understand in static training but is quite difficult to master while performing continuous linear and circular walking. Nevertheless, it is one of the major components of the Jiulong Baguazhang method that allows us to strike, throw, or bump with full body force yet still carry power in reserve.

The Arms Are Important

In any posture, when the shape is correct the arms will have the same bend in the elbow that they do in the standing posture we call “Dragon Embraces the Pearl”, and other systems call “Holding the Ball” or “Hugging the Tree”.

Many persons who stand do not attain the correct alignment of the elbows and thus cannot manifest the jingong easily through their arms. It is this correct bend in the elbows that creates an “energy sink” leading the force into the spine (the ridgepole), thence to the thighs and into the ground. Every shape in Jiulong Baguazhang can be tested in this way. Start with your standing forms and later try it with the other shapes of Heaven Palm.

Entering The Dragon Gates

In Jiulong Baguazhang, we study each of the eight palms individually, as a complete system, for one year or more. With each palm, students experiment with qi development, meditation, and martial skills in stationary stances, linear movements and walking the circle while changing directions.

There will also be work with both healing and martial training comprised of coordination drills, study of anatomy, health benefits from traditional Chinese medicine and qigong as well as modern Western medical implications of the practice.

Jiulong Baguazhang is a total system of training for mind, body and spirit. As a martial practice each posture will be carefully examined and incorporate both internal and external power training called Nei-gong and Wai-gong. Balance training and deft footwork will precede the study of realistic combat applications for locking (qinna), throwing (shuaijiao), and striking (da) using each individual posture.

A Jiulong student is striving to achieve the “virtue of one palm” (yizhangde) as he does this he will pass through one of the eight dragon doors (balongmen). After all eight are absorbed he will have eight forms of palm virtue (baguazhangde). In the more advanced stage, the palms are combined one with the other. At this level, movement begins spontaneously to generate forms.

As a student comes to know all of these postures and their internal and external energies intuitively, they begin to exist on a subconscious level, coming and going as naturally as any other habitual activity.  At this level he has passed though the ninth dragon door. He is now a Jiulong Baguazhang boxer.

The ultimate goal of this style of Baguazhang is to learn to move naturally with such power, grace and balance that, no matter what happens, you are able to go along with the now moment; merging and emerging with external forces while preserving your own energy. Although the art of Baguazhang has many faces and forms it is this spontaneity of action and continuity of change that is the goal of every Jiulong Baguazhang student.

This is the essence of Nine Dragon Baguazhang. The art is simple but there is a great deal to do before we attain mastery.

Go to the Jiulong Discussion group to talk about this article:



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Matter in Motion: The Physics of Jiulong Baguazhang

December 7, 2009 By 1 Comment

Jiulong instructor Barry Solway in Colorado offers a very impressive analysis of the physical properties of the Nine Dragon methods.  This is a fascinating exploration which helps us understand the Jiulong movements from the perspective of physics and provides a clear explanation of what happens when we correctly apply the methods. There is no need to use confusing mystical language when explaining the way Jiulong works and Instructor Solway’s article is a testament to this fact. Take some time to read and re-read this. It is worth it.  Enjoy!!

Matter in Motion: The Physics of Jiulong Baguazhang

© Barry Solway

Mr. Solway can be reached at info@spiralpatharts.com

What does the study of physics and Jiulong Baguazhang have in common?  Both disciplines are a study of matter and motion, a look from different perspectives on how the world around us behaves.  Taking a glimpse at the general principles of physics as applied to martial arts striking can more deeply inform our practice of Jiulong Baguazhang. The dynamics of the human body during movement and under stress are complex and varied and do not lend themselves to simple analysis.  For the purposes of this article, many important considerations are put aside (such as the visco-elastic nature of the human organism, and the ways in which complex forces are dissipated and absorbed throughout the body). This limits the applicability of the models under discussion in the real world, but should provide a sufficient framework for useful discussion.. In particular, we shall attempt to derive some insights into our practice and reveal how Jiulong Baguazhang is rooted in natural principles.

Basic Physics

We start with a basic refresher in physics, the equation for generating force. This equation is F = ma (1), where m is the mass and a is acceleration.  This equation indicates that a force is acting on a body only when it is accelerating.  A body moving at a constant speed does not require a force to act upon it to maintain that speed. The body is said to have momentum, as expressed by Newton’s First Law of Motion.  This occurs in the natural world in a vacuum, and is demonstrated by objects in space that move at high velocities for long periods without any external forces acting on them.  For moving objects in our everyday experiences, we have various forces (such as wind resistance, internal and external friction, etc..) that act to slow objects down. In this case, there is a negative force acting on the body and we need to apply a counter-acting force in order to maintain a constant velocity.

When striking, a more useful way to express the forces involved are to look at the momentum of a body.  Momentum is expressed as p = mv (2), where p is the momentum, m is the mass and v is the velocity.  Momentum can be thought of as a measure of the difficulty of stopping an object in motion.  We shall see in a moment why this equation is more useful than the equation for force above to our understanding of delivering power and force during striking. This gives us a second way to express force, as F = p/t (3), where p is momentum (kg*m/s) and t is time. One way to think of Eq. 3 is that it  describes the amount of force necessary to bring an object of momentum p to rest.

Power is another useful concept in martial application.  Power is work over time and is expressed as P = W/t (4), and given in units of Watts.  Work occurs when we apply force over a distance, W = Fd (5). Power is proportional to the amount of work we do (i.e proportional to the force and the distance), and inversely proportional to how quickly the work is done.  So the faster the work is done, the greater the power. Since work is force multiplied by distance, then (4) can be re-written as (6) P = Fd/t.  The second part of this, d/t, is the equation for velocity.  So P = Fv (7).  To increase the power of a given movement we either have to move with more force or with more speed (or both). If we move with more speed, then the force will be transferred to the object we touch in a shorter period of time, resulting in a higher impact force, as we shall see below.

Collisions

Now, let’s look at the most basic of collisions.  An object that weighs 1 kg is traveling at 10 m/s (meters/ second).  This is about 21.6 mph (miles-per-hour).  Since it is traveling at a constant velocity, there is no appreciable force acting on the body.  A useful equation to express what is going on is the momentum equation (2), p = mv.  This yields p = 1 kg * 10 m/s = 10 kg*m/s.  Assuming an inelastic collision (the objects “stick” together), then when the objects collide, energy is transferred  that may cause deformation to one or both objects. The force of impact is described by Eq. (3), F = p/t. In this case t is the duration of the collision.

Now the first important lesson is revealed.  When a collision occurs, an major consideration is the velocity of the object right before impact.  The method of achieving that velocity isn’t as important as the velocity achieved.  At high velocity, the body has high momentum, resulting in a great impact force when the object collides with another object.  In addition, we are interested in t, the amount of time it takes to stop the object.  This translates into a negative acceleration,.  From equation (3) above, we can see that if the object stops. a force must be acting on it.   The quicker the object stops, the more force is acting on it.   In our example, if the object stopped in 1 second, it would have a force of F = p/t = 10 kg*m/s / 1 s = 10 N acting on.  If the object stops in 1/100th of a second (10 ms), then the force acting on it is F = p/t = 10 kg*m/s / 0.01 s = 1000 N (about 224 pounds). Another way to think of this is that the faster the object stops, the quicker it is de-accelarting, and the higher the force is, as given by Eq. (1).

Back to the Real World

How does this theory apply to our common understanding of martial arts?

We have already seen that the important element in striking is velocity.  This is an intuitive observation.  Since velocity is related to momentum, we can see how Jiulong Baguazhang uses the principles of physics to achieve high impact by maintaining a high momentum through constant movement. [3] gives values on the order of 3 seconds for sprinters to achieve 98% of maximum velocity.  In martial application, we have only fractions of a second to execute a movement, and would like to maximize velocity prior to the strike.  Constant movement is important, because it takes time to break our inertia from standstill. It is therefore possible to achieve a higher velocity in the same amount of time if you are already moving then if you are standing still.

Secondly, we see that if we are moving at speed x, then if we can add a sudden burst of acceleration directly before impact, we can increase the final velocity of our bodies before striking, and increase the force of the strike.  This is the essence of how fa jing can add a tremendous amount of speed to our strikes, creating maximum energy for deformation on impact or throwing. As an example, [1] shows that karate practitioners can accelerate a standing forward punch from standstill to maximum velocity of 6 to 9 m/s in 200 ms.

Additional insights are revealed by research on the breaking of objects such as boards and blocks by martial artists. A summary of results are presented here without elaboration, please see the references for details.

The first interesting observation is establishing a baseline reference when talking about impact force.  [2] gives a table that compares the force necessary to break wood, concrete and living (wet) bone.   It takes a force of  670 N to break a wood board, dry white pine of dimensions 28 cm x 15 cm x 1.9 cm.  It takes 3100 N to break a concrete block of dimensions 40 cm x 19 cm x 4 cm.  Interestingly, living human bone is stronger than either wood or concrete, requiring up to 5400 N to break a wet long bone of 2 cm diameter and 30 cm in length.  These numbers assume the ends of the object are held firmly in place, such as during a board break. This insures that the collision is inelastic, collision times are minimal (< 10 ms) and all the force will go towards deformation, not pushing the object away.

And how much impact force can we generate in Jiulong Baguazhang?  Derivations by  [1] and [2] reveal that karate experts could be expected to generate in the realm of 5000 N of force for a standing forward punch.  Velocities of 7 to 9 m/s are common for this type of strike, with instances of 14 m/s being observed.   Since only the arm is involved in the strike, the mass is considered to be the hand and arm, estimated at 10% of total body weight or ~7 kg for a 70 kg fighter.  Impact times of less than 10 ms are recorded in [1] (with observed times of 5 ms in [2], with de-acceleration in excess of 3500 m/s2).   Assuming the 10 ms impact time, yields a total force of F = 7 kg * 7 m/s / 0.01 s = 4900 N.  This is sufficient to break a long bone of diameter less than 2 cm.  However, placement is important. It was observed that when subjects failed to achieve proper breakage, a frequent reason wasn’t that the force was too low, but that the placement was not correct.  The power levels described here assume the object was hit in the center.  Hitting slightly off-center changes how the forces are applied to the object being struck and can reduce the effectiveness of the strike considerably. The area of the strike is important also. The force per square centimeter is higher if we focus the strike on the heel of the palm, as opposed to the entire palm. So choosing the striking area is important to the overall effect of the strike.

However, this is not the way we apply techniques in Jiulong Baguazhang.  This example is of a standing fighter drawing an arm back to the hip and throwing it out in a forward punch.  In Jiulong Baguazhang, we are constantly moving and the force comes from our legs and waist, not from the arm.  This more resembles the speeds and forces generated from sprinting.  From [3], we have typical maximum sprint speeds in the range of 11 m/s.  Typical walking speeds are in the range of 1.5 m/s (about 3 mph).  In Jiulong Baguazhang, we normally walk at fast walking speeds, in the range of 3 to 5 m/s.  Using fa jing directly before a strike could theoretically lead to velocities upon impact greater than 10 m/s, likely exceeding the values given for a standing forward punch.

More importantly, however, is that fact that the Baguazhang player will attempt to strike with the full weight of the body.  The hand and arm contains 10% of the mass of the body.  By using the full mass of the body behind the strike we increase the effective mass up to 9 times the values calculated above.  In practice, this will be hard to achieve, and possibly undesirable.  It may not be prudent to commit all of one’s mass into one strike, possibly off-balancing oneself. However, the increase seen in the force generated is intriguing.  The theoretical force of impact of a 70 kg sprinter hitting a brick wall at full speed is in excess of 40,000 N, see [5].  This would give us an upper theoretical limit.  A force in excess of 10,000 N (~2400 pounds) would seem realistic for a Baguazhang player of similar mass, where the velocity on impact is 7 m/s (2/3 of a sprinters), only 1/2 of the mass was involved in the technique, and the impact distance is equivalent to trials as described in [2] (in the range of 8 cm).  Note that the impact velocity of 7 m/s is conservative as empirical evaluation in [2] shows speeds of various martial arts strikes up to 14 m/s, thereby doubling our estimate above.  Our estimate of the total mass involved is also conservative.  However, there is no direct empirical research to validate the higher claim, and it remains unresolved as to whether such forces are attainable in practice. The closest analogy is [4], suggesting impact forces of 9000 N or more in collisions involving football players at similar speeds (6 m/s). In this case, the stopping distance is likely longer due to the properties of the padding the players wear, implying targeted combat strikes could have more impact force. Obviously, the application of the technique would heavily influence the maximum force attainable. For example, more force would be generated if the opponent was moving towards the strike as opposed to moving away from the strike.

Jiulong Baguazhang training adheres to natural principles to achieve tremendous forces for striking and throwing. Continuous movement establishes a high baseline momentum.  Fa jing allows us to generate power to increase velocity over short distances directly prior to a strike or throw.  Together, these methods allows the trainee to achieve maximum velocity. Using “whole body power” puts more mass into play.  Proper structure is necessary to direct the force into the opponent at the moment of collision and insure that the force is not absorbed by the joints of the body.  Greater velocity and mass leads to maximum momentum and higher impact forces.

Theory can help inform and clarify the purpose of training methods, but cannot replace the need for constant practice.  Subtle increases in velocity, mass and form can lead to dramatic differences in the effectiveness of a technique. This requires patience and hard work, but the player is rewarded with an intuitive understanding of the underlying physics of movement in the natural world.

Mr. Solway can be reached at info@spiralpatharts.com

Bibliography

[1] Karate Strikes, Jarel D. Walker, Physics Department, Cleveland State University, March 24, 1975 from The Physics of Sports, 2nd Edition, 1993

[2] The Physics of Karate, S.R. Wilk, R.E. McNair, & M.S. Field, Department of Physics and Spectroscopy Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September 28, 1982 from The Physics of Sports, 2nd Edition, 1993

[3] Physics of Sprinting, Igor Alexandrov and Phllip Lucht, Department of Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; American Journal of Physics 49, 2t4-247(1981); © American Association of Physics Teachers

[4] Tackling Physics By Rhfonda Hillbery, Caltech News, California Institute of Technology, from Tim Gay’s The Physics of Football.

[5] Visit http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/carcr.html#cc3 for a simulation of a car colliding into a tree allowing the user to change parameters. Example in article uses mass = 70 kg, velocity = 11 m/s and collision distance = 0.1 m (about 4 inches)


Filed Under: Philosophy

Tibetan Qigong

November 7, 2009 By

berniestandingHere is an article written by Bernie Jackson, a Jiulong student. He outlines his experience with a Tibetan practice involving trees and the much misunderstood concept of beginner’s mind. Of particular note is his scientific training (he holds a masters degree in electrical engineering). He talks about his experience with this practice as an scientist would by reporting the experience in as much detail as possible, without making unproven conclusions. One is left with a something of immense value…..a sense of wonder.

Lessons Learned From a Passing Tree: a first experience of elemental energy

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Void

October 23, 2009 By

Void

To make the soul
The eye of the hurricane
To make the spirit
A still pool
To let the eyes
Reflect the depth of sky
To make the will
A silent arrow

To make one’s purpose
An unresisting river
To root the center
Like the earth embracing oak
To have a heart of wind
Is to know no fear

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What is The Dragon?

October 18, 2009 By

Jiulong DragonJiulong Journal readers will remember this guy. He posed the question, “Play with me and someday I will show you something. What do I mean?”

So what does this mean? The answer to this question takes us into the realm of spontaneous action.

First, let’s identify the Dragon. He’s a reference to the any of the Eight Palm Energies. So, there is a Heaven Dragon, Earth Dragon, Water Dragon, Fire Dragon, and so on. Each Dragon is an animated representation of the “personality” of the palm energy. For example, the Heaven Dragon expresses an energy that is unstoppable power that surges upward and outward. He is unconcerned with what may be an obstacle, simply flying up and out, completely overwhelming whatever stands in his way. One could think of his personality as one of unrelenting assertiveness.

In contrast, at the other end of the spectrum is the Earth Dragon.. He is soft, yielding, preferring to be like a wisp of smoke that rotates around an obstacle seeking an advantageous position. He does not contend with and opposing force, preferring to vanish and leave the opponent with the feeling of falling into empty space.

In each of these examples, you can clearly see that the nature of each palm energy is quite different. We personify these natures in the mythical animal called the Dragon and can refer to these traits as each Dragon’s personality.

Why would we personify these ideas?  Why not just refer to them as energies or forces and discuss their use with reference to vectors and levels of force or power? Because since we see ourselves as personalities with certain traits, it is easier to relate to the palm energies as if they also were personalities. If I want to create and generate a force that causes my opponent to fall backwards, it is easier to think and feel like an “unstoppable dragon that is flying up and out” than a “force vector that moves on a 45 degree angle at 100mph with the contact point on the opponents body at the optimum position to destabilize his/her balance causing a loss of coordination that provides tactical advantage for enough time to………” you get the idea. It’s easier to imagine I am the Heaven Dragon with all the  attributes I mentioned earlier, especially “unrelenting assertiveness”

This is not to say that you cannot generate this force by thinking of it using the physical description in the above paragraph. In fact some people’s minds work better in that mode. In either case, once you have the “feeling” of Heaven Palm, by which I mean the tactile sense of a force rising upward and outward, it no longer matters how you obtained that feeling. Now you can work directly with it.

But let’s return to the Dragon. First, with regard to gender, I always refer to him as “he”. This is because I am relating to him as a male personality in order to embody him. If you are female, you can refer to her as she for the same reason. Remember, the idea here is to use the personality of the Dragon so you can become her/him for a moment.

You now start standing, shifting, walking while using your imagination to create the Heaven Dragon feeling. There are specific methods for doing this. If you practice them you will generate the feeling and power described. As you walk, you will start to notice that the body, while following the feeling/force will “want” to turn a certain way. Or it might “want” to form one of the nine Heaven postures without you consciously deciding to form it. Of course you will start by consciously determining which postures you are going to form, and this is a very good way to create the “Heaven feeling”. But somewhere along the way, you may suddenly form a slightly different posture than you intended.

You may, for example, plan to use Twin Yang while walking  with Twin Yin on the turns but suddenly, upon coming out of the turn, your arms automatically form Pressing Heaven and Earth. And it feels exactly right. You will feel a little bewildered for a moment and then return to Twin Yang because, after all, that was what you were practicing. But there was a moment in which “something else” happened.

This spontaneous change, coming from seemingly nowhere is the experience we call “the Dragon showing you something”. It can be described as a spontaneous expression or manifestation of a feeling that, while unplanned consciously, is what the mindbody senses is the correct expression at that moment. The reasons for the expression can only be determined by the practitioner and this only after a great deal of experience with the process. This is because the reasons will be specific to the time, place and state of the practitioner at that time. But none of this negates the fact that “something” happens that is automatic and spontaneous. It just happens.

This experience has been described with statements like “I didn’t do it, it did me.” or “I suddenly felt this urge to move this way rather than that way.” or “My body seemed to have a mind of it’s own for a moment”. These are all attempts to express a non-conceptual experience with conceptual thought. In fact, this entire article is exactly that. Yet the experience is unmistakable and the language we are using in Jiulong is that of “the Dragon coming out and showing me something”. At this point we are discussing the moment the Dragon shows you a different posture than the one you thought you were practicing. There are other “messages” from the Dragon .

Once you have practiced being the Heaven Dragon long enough through the visualizations taught in connection with him, and you have practiced walking both in straight lines and circles with him, you will have created the feeling of Heaven in your mindbody system. (Please note that “long enough” varies from person to person and you will have to be the honest judge of this for yourself). Having created this feeling you are now ready to play with a partner in the Two Dragons Playing in the Clouds game to get a sense of how the Heaven Dragon might find opportunities for expression while engaged with unpredictable movement. This is where it gets really interesting.

Now you are dealing with forces coming in from a partner, and you have to deal with them in the moment they occur. One of the major difficulties with properly playing this game is having a plan and therefore not being attuned to what is actually happening. For example, I have found that while I am attempting to get into a position to do a certain technique, a strike or arm bar or whatever, I have missed the fact that my partner is uprooting me. So I abandon that plan and change to another, thereby repeating the mistake. The overall process here is that of attempting to consciously control the situation.

But in the meantime, my mind and body are already constantly moving with my partner and automatically adjusting to the angles, speed etc. I am missing all this automatic movement while formulating my various attack plans. I become aware of this and attempt to be “spontaneous” which of course is not possible. One cannot plan to be spontaneous. Then, suddenly, my body flows into a space (of which I was not conscious while I was planning spontaneity) and the unstoppable up and out force of Heaven overwhelms my partner. I internally congratulate myself on my martial prowess even though I know on a deeper level that “I” did not do anything. There was just that sudden movement which instantly appeared. And it had the same quality as that palm change while I was practicing Twin Yang/Yin palms when a different posture appeared.

These experiences are part of what we mean when we say “the Dragon comes out to show you something”. In essence it is that automatic expression of the right energy and movement at the right time over which one is not exercising conscious control. So, having described the experience, we can now look at the central question “What is the Dragon?”

Readers will be familiar with the concept of engrams. This was discussed in the Fall 2006 issue. When one repeatedly practices the Heaven Palm postures and imagines the forces the postures are supposed to be generating, that neurological loop we call an engram is being created. Eventually, simply adopting the posture will generate the power if Heaven. It would be correct to say that you are imprinting the Heaven Dragon into your mindbody system. Remember, the concept of Heaven Dragon is a composite of the physical posture and the psychological attitude the it is designed to generate. The result of the posture and the attitude is the feeling of the Heaven Dragon.

We are getting closer now.

When the physical posture and psychological attitude are repeatedly imprinted through standing, shifting, walking, and playing over a long period time, the expression of the Heaven feeling becomes automatic. In other words it will suddenly appear when you least expect it in ways you did not plan, but which are exactly appropriate to the situation at hand. THIS is the Dragon coming out to show you something. It is the spontaneous appearance of a movement combined with a sensation that is determined by the needs of the moment, not the plans of the conscious mind.

In other words, you have cultivated the Heaven Dragon though posture, visualization and attitude with the result being that he appears when the situation requires him. Upon reflection, you usually see why it was the right thing to do (eg. my partner was stepping this way and I suddenly felt his balance point and was able to uproot him with Heaven Palm) thereby learning something about that situation. But what you learned was revealed through that moment when the Heaven Dragon automatically did what was needed.

So a working definition of “The Dragon” now can be “an imprinted mindbody pattern of feeling that spontaneously reacts to the needs of the moment with correct force, angle and speed without conscious control”.

This is a bit cumbersome, but, I think, accurate. I hope it is giving you some insights into why Jiulong Baguazhang is taught with such emphasis on visualization combined with exact body mechanics. It is this combination that sets the stage for the Dragon to be born within you and start generating movement. The paradox inherent in all this is that you cannot force the Dragon to appear. All you can do is practice the methods designed to create him, continually refine the physical and psychological aspects required — then release control and wait.

With regard to Qigong for health, the exact same process applies. Obviously the overall intention is different from martial practice, but the methods are essentially the same. You combine postures with visualizations and attitudes directed to creating health. The composite of these practices becomes an overall feeling in the body (and in some cases specific places in the body) and the particular Health Dragon will appear at some point and show you what posture/attitude you should be using in that practice session. We will explore this health aspect more in future issues of the Journal.

I must conclude by drawing attention the single most important aspect to creating the various Dragons in your mindbody. That is Patience.

I know this seems obvious from everything you have just read, but since the idea of an automatic manifestation of an energy one has been cultivating is quite alluring, you will find yourself wanting it to happen constantly looking for evidence that it has happened. But this will lead to frustration and delusion. You will think something has happened when in fact you consciously generated it out of that desire.

I promise you that if you are patient and disciplined in your efforts to simply create the Dragon through the methods prescribed, he will appear at some point. It won’t take years. Some people experience him within a few short months. But it will always be when least expected and only when not being consciously sought.

Is this difficult? Of course it is. But when it starts to happen, and you keep practicing and strengthening him, the Dragon will appear more and more, to the point where you can start rely on him with the trust that he will appear when needed. This takes you into the realm of complete spontaneous movement that is, after all, is the goal of the Jiulong Baguazhang player.

Trust the Dragon. He will appear and show something. And when it happens you will be the first to know.

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