Jiulong 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.