Sticky Palm

First off: No, this does not have anything to do with the Tai Chi Form that goes by a similar name.

Intro: This is 100% and application of chi kung that I have developed (more out of necessity at a young age than anything else). That being said the method of learning this technique is very... unorthodox, as it was developed by a little boy trying to sneak around the house after his parents went to bed.

What it is: Sticky Palm is essentially using yin chi to hold hand against a wall, as though your hands were sticky.

Method of Training: the best way is to find two parallel walls close together, within an arm span apart, and something underneath that makes noise when too much pressure is applied to it to place across the ground (not a squeaky toy, it must be something slightly less responsive. A creaky stairwell works great - often has walls the proper distance apart, and depending on the stairs only creaks when your full weight is on them. At one end of the area, begin walking across holding your hands against the wall, use yin chi to essentially pull the wall toward you (although wall beats chi practitioner, so you'll actually be pull yourself into the wall). Walk across attempting to use that grip on the wall to hold you up enough to not cause whatever you are walking across to make a sound. You will still be applying pressure to the ground, especially at first, but the purpose is to reduce the amount of pressure you are applying to the ground. Eventually you could theoretically go across the area without even touching the ground, but that would likely take years of practice. One step at a time!

Long Time

Well, it has certainly been awhile since I have posted. To get going again, I am going to go over a few techniques in detail. Some of them I have developed myself, some of them I have picked up from one of my instructors, some come from sources like the Chi Power Training and Advanced Training I have mentioned now and again, and some come from a combination of sources. I am probably not going to dwell on any one topic too much, so if you have any questions, just post them in a comment, and I will be happy to go into more detail. Some of the topics I am going to discuss are:

• Sticky Palm (and accordingly Sticky Foot)
• Ice Foot (never figured out the practical application for this, but still cool)
• Seeing in the dark / seeing with eyes closed
• Tree Top Kung Fu
• Iron Staff

I will go into more topics later, but here is a good starting point.

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)