Yin Yang Conclusion

I just wanted to put a final word in about yin and yang. First of all, it is important to recognize that while almost all of the techniques you learn in your first years of practice involve either yin or yang, many of the advanced techniques require a combination of the two. Yin and Yang are opposites, but as with anything in life, when you bring opposites together, it is a powerful thing. Also, if you want to learn more about yin and yang, and exactly how they are implemented, the Chi Power Training course I recomended is a great resource. In fact, that is pretty much the biggest reason I recomend it (that and I actually find it to be effective and straight foward, which is always good). It is something that you might want to consider looking into if you either are rather new to Chi Kung and don't have an instructor available to you where you live, but think you have a good grasp of these concepts of yin and yang, or if you are already quite proficient using chi, but want to extend your knowledge of chi in how it relates to using yin and yang chi. Again, it isn't my product, so it really doesn't bother me if you don't go after it, but if you are in either of those two groups, it might be worth considering.

Yang Philosophy

The same as Yin, only for Yang:

• Day
• Sun
• Light
  
• Summer
  
• South
  
• High
  
• Right
  
• Strong
  
• Hard
  
• Male
  
• Active
• Creates
  
• Dragon
  
• Odd
  

Yin Philosophy

This is what Yin represents in typical Chinese Philosophy. This does not so much apply to Chi Kung as much as some might say, but it is interesting and does apply nicely in more advanced levels:

• Night
• Moon
• Dark
  
• Winter
• North
• Low
• Left
• Weak
• Soft
• Female
• Passive
• Receives
  
• Tiger
• Even
  

Advice

I was given the advice from a friend to point out why I have the links to the Chi Power Training and Advanced Training systems on my blog. They are not my products, and I am not trying to sell them. The point of this blog is to help disseminate knowledge of chi and encourage and assist learning about chi for people who do not really have access to masters in their area. While I can try to get people interested in chi and teach some basic principles, I believe the best way to truly learn it is through some sort of system (and I'm sure every master out there would agree that a chi kung system is better than simply reading a blog for learning about chi). Because of this I posted some of the best resources I can find online for learning chi on my blog, so people know where they can go from here. The Chi Power Training is a more basic system for the moderately interested person. The Advanced Training is a more advanced system for the person who wants to become a more avid practitioner.

Yang Uses

Yang energy, while of equal importance to Yin energy, tends to be the type of energy that students are first taught to use in actual implementation, because it is used for some of the simpler techniques.

• Protecting against an attack
• hardening fist/foot for an attack
• increasing power of a punch
• Brick Breaking (esp. Selective Brick Breaking)
• Healing
• Telekinesis (yes, yin or yang can be used for this)
  
• Ice Walk (different than Walks On Ice)
  
• Iron Palm/Iron Body

It is mainly because the first 5 items mentioned here are typically among the first practical uses of chi taught that makes yang so much more sought after than yin.

It is also important to mention that there are many skills which require a combination of yin and yang energy together to perform (and so thy are typically considered much more advanced)

Yin Uses

Yin energy is often underestimated. It is not good for increasing the damage of your punch, or any other such things, but it is equally important to yang.

Here are some ways in which you use yin energy when you are practicing chi:

• Heightened awareness of your surroundings
• Seeing with your eyes closed
• Attracting/drawing energy
• Attracting Wealth*
• Attracting Relationships*
  
• Sticky Hands Technique
• Walks On Ice Technique
• Telekinesis
  
• A good natural state**

*Please be careful of anyone trying to sell you a method of attracting wealth and relationships using chi. A master worth anything would likely only teach you these things as a part of a much larger system.

**When not using your chi for any particular purpose it is always good to keep the chi in your aura in a yin state, as it will work as an early warning system to you (if you are sensitive enough) as someone intending harm to you will be energized with yang energy. (Even if they aren't chi pratitioners, yin and yang is something everyone works with, chi kung is just a way of mastering them)

A basic way of looking at yin and yang

Yin and Yang are ways of using the chi energy. Chi on its own is nutural, but we use it in a yin or yang way. When we draw things in using chi, we are using yin energy. When we are propelling things using chi, we are using yang energy. A great way to practice using both yin and yang chi is by making a psi ball (simply a ball of chi energy, usually heavely packed, but it does not need to be for this.) and just pass it back and forth with a partner. Stand a couple feet apart, and just pass the psi ball back and forth. When it is being passed to you, use yin energy to bring it to you, when you are passing it to your partner, use yang energy to send it over. Once you have done this a bit, try speeding up or working with a denser or bigger psi ball.

Yin and Yang

As requested, I am going to start a short series on yin and yang, which will include:

• a basic way of looking at yin and yang
• exercises and skills using yin
• exercises and skills using yang
• philosophical view of yin
• philosophical view of yang
  

Crown Chakra

Name: Crown Chakra
Also Known As: (no other common names)

Sanskrit Name: Sahasrara

Principle: Understanding

Damaging Issues: To great a connection with world things

Color: Violet

Emotions: Wisdom, Power, Spirituality

Body Parts: pineal gland, upper brain, and right eye

Chi Application: Great Chi Power comes when this is open and receiving a steady flow of energy.

Third Eye Chakra

Name: Third Eye Chakra
Also Known As: Brow Chakra (not commonly used)

Sanskrit Name: Ajna (Om)

Principle: Imagination

Damaging Issues: Unimaginative

Color: Indigo

Emotions: Intuition Wisdom, Imagination

Body Parts: pituitary gland, lower brain, and left eye

Chi Application: important for psychic viewing and such

Throat Chakra

Name: Throat Chakra
Also Known As: (no other common names)

Sanskrit Name: Visuddha (Ham)

Principle: Power

Damaging Issues: Introversion, Inability to Communicate, Lack of Creativity

Color: Blue

Emotions: Self-Expression, Creativity

Body Parts: thyroid gland, bronchial tube, vocal chords, lungs, sense of hearing

Chi Application: Assists in creative application that uses chi in a way helpful to you.


While opening this chakra will allow you to affect your through vocal emphasis in a better way, practical application of this chakra is mainly that it opens the door to better using above chakras.

Heart Chakraheart

Name: Heart Chakra

Also Known As: (no other common names)

Sanskrit Name: Anahata (Yam)

Principle: Love

Damaging Issues: Nonsocial, Apathy

Color: Green

Emotions: Love, Relationship, Empathy

Body Parts: heart, thyroid, circulatory system, and sense of touch

Chi Application: fuels healing abilities in a special way.

This chakra also helps to balance yin and yang and allow you to switch from using yin energy to using yang energy and vice versa easily.

Navel Chakra

Name: Solar Plexus Chakra

Also Known As: Navel Chakra

Sanskrit Name: Manipura (Ram)

Principle: Wisdom

Damaging Issues: Tension, Frustration, Stress, Indecisiveness

Color: Yellow

Emotions: Power, Self-Esteem

Body Parts: pancreas, stomach, gall bladder, liver, nervous system, sense of light.

Chi Application: feeds ability to apply chi practices

Basic Skills

I wanted to briefly talk about some of the basic skills you can learn with the Chi Power Training that I set up a link for, so here is a short list:

• Chi Breathing : Learn the 3 very most powerful ways to breath in order to create maximum power and energy.
• Standing Meditation : Learn to use the ground to drive energy up your body like a geyser in full force.
• Blood Washing : This one exercise will increase your Chi Energy exponentially, even if you are not doing all of the other exercises. This never before shown technique has only been handed down from master instructor to the eventual heir of the system. Now you can have this information.
• Bone Marrow Energy Packing : The true Energy Packing as taught in this course is designed for you to physically feel it. More powerful than any other method available.
• Lying Down Meditation : Get your body and mind to relax. Find out how much more productivity you'll have when you can relax down anytime or anywhere.
• Seeing through the 3rd eye: Find out how the profits of old and psychics of today harness the power of "stilling the mind" to see visions and outer body experiences.
• How to control animals with chi : Control animals by using your chi energy to calm them down or bring them over to you. Fishermen love this technique to bring in boat loads of fish!
• How to move objects with chi : Utilize your breath and chi energy to move objects without touching them. Easier than you might think, using the right technology will amaze your family and friends.
• Gain speed faster than a cat : Increase your overall natural and create a new velocity for sports, martial arts or general use.
• Controlling Time : Learn how to manipulate your chi energy to control time for your benefit and others.
• Select Breaking: Focus your energy to pick a board or brick to break and break that one only. When you truly learn the art of focus you will be able to do many wondrous thing including this most sought after technique.
• Put out a candle with your eyes only: Take your focus to a new level and learn this ancient technique taught by masters of Wudang mountain. Extinguish the candle with your chi energy from as far away as 25 feet! 

 Check out the Chi Power Training, it will teach you way more than I can teach you on this blog.

Sacral Chakra

Name: Sacral Chakra

Also Known As: Naval Chakra

Sanskrit Name: Svadishthana (Lam)

Principle: Order

Damaging Issues: Insecurity, Shyness

Color: Orange

Emotions: Desire, Sexuality, Pleasure, Passion

Body Parts: Glands, Reproductive System, Sense of Sight

Chi Application: Greatly multiplies energy brought in

If this chakra is healthy, you will be very well off, not only in practicing chi but in your every day life. It is the passion behind your Chi Development

Root Chakra

Root Chakra

Also Known As: Base Chakra; Support Chakra

Sanskrit Name: Muladhara (Vam)

Principle: Life

Damaging Issues: Fearful, Nervous

Color: Red

Emotions: Stability, Comfort

Body Parts: Kidneys, Spinal Column, Sense of Smell

Chi Application: Drawing in energy

It is very important to deal with fear and discomfort, becuase this chakra is literally the root of everything that involves energy, including chi.

Chakras

I'm going to begin a short (8 Post) series on Chakras. Knowing about Chakras is a key component to massively increasing your chi flow and ammount of chi energy you can utalize and have control of. It is also important in identifying why you may be having problems with your chi. There is no one word that explains what a chakra is. There are however a lot of lengthy explainations out there. Two that seem to fit best are "pools of energy" and "gateways for energy to pass through". Either way, you have to open your chakras in order to enhance your chi flow. Each chakra has things it controls both mentally and physically. If the chakra is very open these parts of your mental and physical health will also tend to be good. If the chakra is very closed they tend to be not so good. More importantly though, there are certain emotional problems that tend to close up your chakras. Each chakra has certain emotional problems that it reacts to specifically. Knowing what these are can help you to make sure you keep these problems out of your life and help keep you chakras open. There are 7 main chakras, though some teach that there are dozens of lesser chakras located throughout your body. The 7 main chakras are located up and down your spine in order from the bottom near your groin, up to the tip of your head. Each chakra also corrosponds to certain chi skills that you need the chakra open to be able to better perform. In the next 7 parts of this series I will touch on each of the 7 chakras.

Early Chi Use

When I was much younger there were two particular basic skills I practiced, though I did not really know they were chi. I just knew I was doing it and did not really look for a science behind it until much later. When I was a very young kid, probably early elementary if I recall correctly, I was able to see in the dark almost flawlessly. When then lights were all off, curtains closed, in the middle of the night there was truly no light around. Despite this I would be able to navigate my way around my messy room, read things, see color, and all other things you can normally do in the daylight without any trouble at all. Many years later, the second skill revealed itself in my life. When I was in late elementary to early middle school, I would help haul furniture for a charity organization. As just a kid, not even a teenager yet, I was able to lift heavy furniture, like the annoying hide-a-bed couches with almost as much ease as the burly adults on the other side of the couches. What I did not know then, but do now, is that these skills were actually using chi. Both these skills are now simple skills that I can use whenever I wish, and as a bonus, I even know how and why they work. Everyone has the ability to learn to use their chi in a great way, it just requires a bit of dedication, and some way to learn how to do it. There are many good programs like the ones I have links to over on the side of this blog that can help you to do this, and as I learned as a little boy, it can make your life so much easier!

Advanced Training

I mentioned the Chi Power Link on the left, and how it has a few courses for the less avid enthusiast, and an advanced course for those that are truly serious about taking their chi practice to the next level. At the end of this 12-month course (or an accelerated, intense 12-week course), they provide a checklist to make sure you learned everything you were supposed to learn. I thought it might interest you to see this checklist.

1. Either be able to put out the candle or move around the drinking straw.
2. Show they can feel the difference between black & white (the colors) and be
   getting some of the others down. [with a blindfold on]
3. Be able to project energy out of their hands & eyes, so that it can be felt easily
   by someone else, who is sensitive.
   (should be able to make it pointed chi (like a pointed needle) or blunt type chi,
   wider and bigger)
4. Show you can make different emotions come out of your chi. Make yourself go
   through & feel diff emotions.
   (be able to change other people to at least feeling good too)
5. Show an ability to make cool chi or warm chi come out of diff parts of their
   body, Minimum of hand, but rest of body soon.
   (raise or lower temperature of chi in a noticeable way)
6. Correctly perform each exercise in the Vol-1 & Vol-2 DVDs and be able to
   show someone else the right way.
7. Make chi come out of you from where ever a person would point on your body
   to do it from.
8. Show a person how to remove different minor pains from the body, such as
   headaches and the like.
9. Explain how our system works thru the nerve fibers build up and why it works
   like it does.
10. Show an ability to send their chi through objects such as doors or glass, ect., so
    that someone else can feel it.
11. Show the ability to lower their own heart rate & blood pressure and the ability
    to do it to others.
12. Explain how chi effects the immune system, such as your NK cells and
    pheromones and why we do it in this good feeling & cool way.
13. Be able to correctly sense if something is in a closed can or other objects or
    not at least 50% of the time or better.
14. Show the ability to make someone feel the circles pattern from doing their
    circle exercise.
15. Start showing signs of improved cognitive skills, better reasoning, seeing
    better in your head (lines and/or designs are starting to be seen), better
    coordination.

I am also going to add a direct link titled "Advanced Training"  on the left that goes directly to more details on this training and what you would learn. If you are serious about learning to manipulate chi, this is the best way I know of to go about it.

Advanced Skills

In an earlier post I mentioned some of the more basic benefits that you will start to notice after only a few weeks of training. Now I want to focus on the long term. These are some skills that will take years to even begin to learn and years more to master. I have seen masters perform the basic techniques of some of these after only a year of training, and some people could train their entire life and never learn. This is an idea of where you could possibly end up in the end if you truly put all you have into chi training for years and years:

• Telekinesis"
• Starting/Extinguishing Fire"
• Manipulating Water"
• Prevent injury when attacked"
• Controlling Emotions (of you and others)"
• Throw Someone Across a Room
• Climbing Walls (like Spider Man, only using chi instead)
• Teleportation*
• Invisibility*
• Passing Through Objects*
• Levitation*

This is just a short list, as the list is truly infinite, and is limited only by the practitioner's creativity.

"A dedicated student could possibly learn the basics of these skills in a year.
*You could work your whole life and never learn these

About Chi Power Training

I wanted to add a word about the Chi Power Training Link that I added. I figured since I added the link over on the left, I should take a few minutes and give you an introduction to it, so you aren't blindly surfing a random site. This training does offer a few different levels for however interested you may be. For the less interested people who don't want to put a major investmen in to Chi Development, but want to learn the basic skills that come from it, there are the various Chi Power Training systems. There are three levels of this all the way down to $27, so you can go with just the very basics if you want. A word of advice: however much monetary investment you make, give a full effort to learning these techniques. They are very helpful and the more you practice, the better off you will be. If you really want to dive right in and start working toward the more advanced techniques, understanding of course that it will take years of training to master the simpler advanced techniques, there is a more in depth course available that I highly recomend (it is where I was certified as a Sifu and began my chi training.). When you click on the Chi Power Training link, it will take you to a different website. On that website there is a menu on the left. If you click on the "Advanced Training" link, it will take you exactly where I would recomend you go. Be prudent, but at the same time, I really do believe that if you truly want to see the benefits of Chi Training, you will need to make some sort of investment (believe me, an in person instruction would cost much, much more.)

Daily Applications of Chi

I want you to be able to keep in mind what you would be using this chi for, so i decided to put together a short very non-exhaustive list of some of the advantages that come from controlling your chi.

• Inner Peace (Sounds corny, but Chi Development really helps)
• Extra Strength
• Health
• Vitality
• Pain reduction (especially with Arthritis*)
• More Energy
• Hightened Awareness
• Better Focus

This is just the short list and definately not the full list of day to day applications. The list goes on almost indefinatly, but these are some of the main ones that people first start noticing.

*I also want to point out that if you do have Arthritis, you should definately see an expert before trying to practice Chi to make sure it is safe, and also mention that if at any time during your chi development you start to feel extra pain that is a result of chi training, stop your practice immediatly.

Best Advice

I would love to be able to teach you everything you need to know to truly master chi using this blog, but the reality is that as much as I am a fan of the philosophy that something free is gives you the most bang for your buck, it really requires something more than that to truly master chi. This is how to master chi: you need to follow the simply steps laid out by a master in a full structured course. Unfortunately that is not something you can do in a blog or on a forum. There are only two ways I can think of to be able to properly learn how to use chi. The first is by finding a dojo in your area. That is great for the people who live in New York City, The Twin Cities, or China (near a temple). Now for the other 99.99% of the world: You need to find a good online or book course. I'm sure that there are a lot of really crappy versions of this out there, but there are at least a few that can truly teach you to master your chi. One of these is the Chi Power Training that I have added a link to on the left of this blog. That is where I first learned to master chi, and that is where you should go to learn this as well. In this blog, I will do my best to teach you all the very basics, answer any questions, and fill in the gaps, but the best that I could do with just a blog is supplementary teaching. You cannot learn everything you need to from a blog, so that is why the best advice I can give you is to go to the Chi Power Training link that I set up, and try learning there.

Yin and Yang

Yin and Yang are two very basic concepts (actually they are deep and complex, but as they relate to chi, they are basic concepts) that will help you to better control your chi and that should be learned very early on in your chi development. Like all energy, chi has a positive and a negative, a repelling and an attracting force. While in electricity, these are simply labeled positive and negative, chi was discovered long before such words existed. Instead there is Yin and Yang to label them. Yin is the positive attracting force and Yang is the negative repelling force. Using these two concepts at different times can take any level of Chi Kung and triple its application.

Palm Test

I want to get you started off by helping you to feel your chi right off. This is an age old test to do just that:

Hold your palms out so that they are facing each other, about a foot apart. Slowly push your palms together until they are just a few inches apart. Then pull them apart again. You should be able to feel a gentle tug on your hands as you are pulling them apart. If you have had no chi training at all, it will probably be very small. You should be able to feel something, although I have met a few people who did not feel something the first time they did this. This doesn't mean you can't learn chi, it just means that you are truly at level 1.

I hope this exercise helps you to kick off a great venture toward chi training and development.

Chi 101

Okay, let me start by telling you what chi is. Chi is a universal energy that all living creatures, plants and animals, have. It has gone by many names and the concepts of chi are as old as pretty much anything we know. The modern term that scientists use is bioelectricity. Some people believe we have no control over this energy that flows through us. I'm one of those who very much believes we do. Chi has a literally infinite number of daily applications. I have seen people who have truly mastered it perform telekinesis and climb walls (kind of like spider man does) using chi to hold themselves to the walls. Let's be honest, it will likely take years of training before you can even begin to apply chi in that way. What chi can do, however, is help with smaller things, like protecting your fist as you are punching, helping you to carry a few more pounds than you used to be able to, or simply feeling rejuvinated and energetic all the time. These are quite honestly the more real world applications to chi anyways. Telekinesis is nice and could come in handy every now and then, but learning to use chi in everything you do each day to make it much easier, that is the reason I want you to learn it.