Like a Dragon Whirling in the Clouds

"It is easier to leave a circle than to enter it.
The emphasis is on the hip movement whether front or back.
The difficulty is to maintain the position without shifting the centre.
To analyze and understand the above situation is to do with movement and not with a stationary posture.
Advancing and retreating by turning sideways in line with the shoulders, one is capable of turning like a millstone, fast or slow, as if whirling like a dragon in the clouds or sensing the approach of a fierce tiger.
From this, one can learn the usage of the movement of the upper torso.
Through long practice, such movement will become natural."
- Yang Family Old Manual, The Coil Incense Kung

"The East Asian Dragons are often associated with water, rain, vapors, fog, springs, streams, waterfalls, rivers, swamps, lakes, and the ocean.  Water can take many shapes and states, and Dragons are shape shifters and linked with transformation, appearing and disappearing, changing into something new.  Water is found in three states, depending upon the surrounding temperature: a solid (ice, snow), a fluid (flowing liquid), and a gas (fog, vapor, steam).  Since rainfall is often accompanied by thunder and lightening (thunderstorms and typhoons), the Dragon is sometimes associated with fire; and, since hot water and steam are major sources of energy in human culture, this further links the Dragon with the essential energy of Fire.  The Dragon is thus linked with the chemical and alchemical transformative properties of two of the essential Elements, both Water and Fire.  Dragons are generally benign or helpful to humans in East Asia, but their powers can also be destructive (e.g., flooding, tsunami, typhoon, lightening, steam, drowning, etc.).  There are both male and female Dragons, kinds or species of Dragons, Dragons of different colors and sizes, and mostly good but some evil Dragons.  Some Dragons can fly, some cannot fly; most live in or near water, a few on land.  The body of a Dragon combines features from many animals, representing the many possibilities for existential presence.  The Dragon in the East has serpentine, snake, or eel like movement qualities: twisting, spiraling, sliding, circling, swimming, undulating, flowing freely like water."  [See: The Dragon in China and Japan by Marinus De Visser, 1913] 

Dragon Chi Kung features exercises that involve twisting, turning, screwing, spiraling, curving, wiggling, undulating, spinning, sinking down and rising up, swimming, circling, swinging, or twining movements are often associated with snakes, serpents and dragons.  There are many Qigong sets and specific Qigong movements that have been called "Dragon" forms, sets, or exercises.  Baguazhang martial arts feature much twisting, turning and circling; and, also include many "Dragon" sets and movements.  Silk Reeling exercises in Chen Style Taijiquan include twisting, twining, circling, and screwing kinds of movements. 

The Realms of the Dragons

Dragon Qigong
 

Dragon Staff

Swinging Arms Exercises

Magic Pearl Qigong

Leaping Over the Dragon's Gate

Dragons: Bibliography, Links, Quotes, Notes

Silk Reeling Exercises (Chan Si Gong)

"Silk reeling (pinyin chánsīgōng, Wade-Giles ch'an² ssu¹ kung¹ 纏絲功), also called "Winding Silk Power" (chansijing) (纏絲勁), as well as "Foundational Training"(jibengong), refers to a set of neigong exercises frequently used by the Chen style, Wu style and some other styles of T'ai Chi Ch'uan. The name derives from the metaphorical principle of "reeling the silk from a silk worm's cocoon". In order to draw out the silk successfully the action must be smooth and consistent without jerking or changing direction sharply. Too fast, the silk breaks, too slow, it sticks to itself and becomes tangled. Hence, the silk reeling movements are continuous, cyclic patterns performed at constant speed with the "light touch" of drawing silk.
In common with all Qigong exercises, the patterns are performed in a concentrated, meditative state with an emphasis on relaxation. However, rather than being isolated exercises purely for health benefits, the focus is on strengthening and training the whole body coordination (nei jin) and grounded body alignment that is used in the Tai Chi form and pushing hands. Silk reeling is commonly used in Chen style as a warmup before commencing Tai Chi form practice, but its body mechanics are also a requirement of Chen Style Tai Chi throughout the forms. In other styles, silk reeling is only introduced to advanced levels. Many schools, especially those not associated with the orthodox Tai Chi families, don't train it at all."
- Silk Reeling - Wikipedia


Dragon Qigong

Silk Reeling
Bibliography, Quotes, Notes, Videos.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo. 

Chan Ssu Gong, Chan Szu Chin, Chan Ssu Kung, Chan Si Gong, Chan Si Jing
Chen Style Taijiquan and Qigong
Spiraling Energy Exercises, Spiral Energy Qigong

 

Tai Chi Chuan Practice Principles of Ken Gullette

Key Components of an Effective Chen Taijiquan Practice

Signposts on a Martial Arts Journey: Tai Chi, Hsing-I, Bagua, and the Art of Life.
By Ken Gullette, 2013, Kindle E-Book
Chapter 47: Why Your Tai Chi is So Weak

The Real Concepts of Tai Chi Chuan Practice

1.  Establish and Maintain a Ground Path

2.  The Most Important Energy is Peng Energy and It 
     Must be Maintained at All Times

3.  All Movements Must Be Connected Through the Body

4. Silk Reeling Practice and Skills 

5.  Dan Tien Rotation

6.  Opening and Closing the Kua

7.  Maintain a Centered Stance

"The best you can do for yourself is to NOT believe everything an authority figure tells you, but to investigate and research and read, watch videos and compare, and don't close your mind to the possibility that you might be learning poor quality Tai Chi."  

Sifu Ken Gullette's excellent website with instructional DVDs, books, online videos, Zoom classes, and support of learners.  

Silk Reeling Energy

"Silk reeling energy' is common in most all the Northern Chinese martial arts. It refers to moving the torso and limbs in circular, spiral or twisting patterns. At a basic level (striking for example), the greater the speed, the greater the potential force of impact. In the body, this translates to combining and coordinating the overall movement of the body so that the combined power of several types of movement is many times greater than a single type of movement alone. For example, if I hold my arm straight out ahead of me and walk directly into you I will hit with x amount of force. If I combine the forward movement with a rotation of the torso (y amount of force) as I hit you, the force will be much greater (x and y combined). The method of silk reeling is to combine the many rotational forces of the body into one coordinated flow (the rotational power of the legs with the hips with the torso with the arms), resulting in an exponentially greater force than could be achieved by using one part of the body alone. Another advantage of silk reeling power applied to striking is that the spiralling power issued bores into the opponent's body (just like the bullet of a rifle penetrates more readily than a musket ball). When applied to throwing, the same types of rotational body movement allow the thrower to put more force into an opponent from point blank range (which is where most grappling occurs). In addition, people are more able to resist straight pushing and pulling motions, and are easily put off their base when twisted. Joints are much more resistant to straight bending and stretching forces than they are to twisting or rotational forces. So silk reeling applied to Chin Na and joint locking techniques makes them more efficient. Twisting the joints of the extremities is the only practical way to chain lock into an opponent's center for techniques which push inward. Defensively, twisting to neutralize an incoming blow ('rolling with a punch' for exmple) is the only method of avoiding harm while maintaining the ability for simultaneous counter attack (for example, you push my left shoulder, I rotate my torso with the push, neutralizing the incoming force while simultaneously striking back with my right hand. These types of techniques are only possible when rotational movement is applied). Health wise, rotational movements of the joints are invaluable in maintaining range of motion and proper lubrication. In addition, twisting the muscles (and internal organs) helps to 'squeeze' the blood and fluids out and allow fresh blood in. Circular or rotational movements also greatly improve flexibility, and the strength of the connective tissue."- Tim Cartmell

Silk Reeling Exercises

Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan

Silk Reeling Exercises

Silk Reeling Exercises.  Research by Mike Garofalo.  The most comprehensive guide to resources (books, DVDs, articles, webpages) about Silk Reeling Exercises (Chan Ssu Gong).  Silk reeling exercises are used frequently by Chen Taijiquan practitioners.  Silk reeling helps a person develop skills for the expression of connected power, coordinated energy, connected strength, Jin. 

"In order to understand a move you must practice it 10,000 times.   This is called The School of Ten Thousand Repetitions.   ....  The Way is in training."

-   Miyamoto Mushashi 

Chen Taijiquan

     "Grandmaster Feng Zhi Qiang (1928- ), founder of the Hun Yuan Tai Chi system, states that Tai Chi is Chan Si (silk reeling).  This statement highlights the importance of this aspect of the training.  The Tai Chi classics speak of performing Tai Chi movements like reeling silk from a cocoon.  The analogy warns us that if the silk is reeled too fast, the thread will break.  If it is reeled too slowly, the thread will tangle.  The silk reeling exercises teach you to use an adequate amount of force to generate movements efficiently.  If you are too forceful, you will lock your joints and will fail to achieve freedom of movement.  If you are too limp or empty in Tai Chi terms, you will also fail to circle the joints completely, thus losing the full range of movement.

    The Chan Si Gong is an important training method for developing body awareness and coordination.  It is a link between building and expressing qi and jin (force)  These silk reeling movements work on different joints of the body: neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, chest, abdomen, waist, hips, kuas (inguinal crease), knees and ankles.  Grandmaster Feng describes the Chan Si Gong as training the body’s 18 balls.  If it is practiced well, the body moves like a well oiled machine, each part moving on a series of ball bearings.  The Chan Si Gong gradually builds up power through coordination, linking all the body’s joints like a string of pearls.  It teaches you the Tai Chi principle of moving the body as one unit.  The Tai Chi classics state that jin starts in the feet and is controlled by the waist and expressed by the hands.  This explains the way that Tai Chi generates and releases power.  It sounds simple.  However, in order to achieve this, each joint has to be strong yet flexible, and be able to listen and work with all other parts of the body.  If one joint is weak or tense, the force will be neutralised and the ground force will not be released.  What is released will only be a fraction of that potential power."
-   Silk Reeling Gong: The Key to Improving Your Tai Chi Form.   By Brett Wagland. 

Silk Reeling Chi Kung

"Silk reeling (pinyin chánsīgōng, Wade-Giles ch'an² ssu¹ kung¹ 纏絲功), also called "Winding Silk Power" (chansijing) (纏絲勁), as well as "Foundational Training"(jibengong), refers to a set of neigong exercises frequently used by the Chen style, Wu style and some other styles of T'ai Chi Ch'uan. The name derives from the metaphorical principle of "reeling the silk from a silk worm's cocoon". In order to draw out the silk successfully the action must be smooth and consistent without jerking or changing direction sharply. Too fast, the silk breaks, too slow, it sticks to itself and becomes tangled. Hence, the silk reeling movements are continuous, cyclic patterns performed at constant speed with the "light touch" of drawing silk.
In common with all Qigong exercises, the patterns are performed in a concentrated, meditative state with an emphasis on relaxation. However, rather than being isolated exercises purely for health benefits, the focus is on strengthening and training the whole body coordination (nei jin) and grounded body alignment that is used in the Tai Chi form and pushing hands. Silk reeling is commonly used in Chen style as a warmup before commencing Tai Chi form practice, but its body mechanics are also a requirement of Chen Style Tai Chi throughout the forms. In other styles, silk reeling is only introduced to advanced levels. Many schools, especially those not associated with the orthodox Tai Chi families, don't train it at all."
- Silk Reeling - Wikipedia


Dragon Qigong


Silk Reeling
Bibliography, Quotes, Notes, Videos.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo. 

Chan Ssu Gong, Chan Szu Chin, Chan Ssu Kung, Chan Si Gong, Chan Si Jing
Chen Style Taijiquan and Qigong
Spiraling Energy Exercises, Spiral Energy Qigong

Dragon Qigong

Exercises that involve twisting, turning, spiraling, screwing, sliding, swinging, swimming, sinking down and rising up, wiggling, undulating, circling, or twining are often associated with snakes and dragons.  There are many Qigong sets and specific Qigong movements given a name that includes a 'Dragon.'  Baguazhang and Shaolin Kung Fu also include many "Dragon" forms, sets and movements.  Silk Reeling Qigong is also related to Dragon like movements. 

Dragon Qigong is often associated with Wudang Taoist mind/body arts.  Maybe the cliffs and valleys of the Wudang Mountain area are home to many dragons? Dragons have a well established place in Taoist symbolism and lore, as well as in Chinese culture in general.    

My updated webpage on Dragon Qigong includes an extensive bibliography, links, resources, an introduction, quotations, and a detailed description of my own Dragon Qigong set.  

I welcome suggestions for additions and changes to the Dragon Qigong webpage. I have also successfully used these Dragon Qigong movements in my Hatha Yoga classes, and call them "Chinese Yoga."

Are you preparing for the upcoming start of the Year of the Water Dragon in 2012 starting on January 23rd?  Check out the sidebar on this blog for links to resources on Dragons. 

  
The East Asian Dragons are often associated with water, rain, vapors, fog, springs, streams, waterfalls, rivers, swamps, lakes, and the ocean.  Water can take many shapes and states, and Dragons are shape shifters and linked with transformation, appearing and disappearing, changing into something new.  Water is found in three states, depending upon the surrounding temperature: a solid (ice, snow), a fluid (flowing liquid), and a gas (fog, vapor, steam).  Since rainfall is often accompanied by thunder and lightening (thunderstorms and typhoons), the Dragon is sometimes associated with fire; and, since hot water and steam are major sources of energy in human culture, this further links the Dragon with the essential energy of Fire.  The Dragon is thus linked with the chemical and alchemical transformative properties of two of the essential Elements, both Water and Fire.  Dragons are generally benign or helpful to humans in East Asia, but their powers can also be destructive (e.g., flooding, tsunami, typhoon, lightening, steam, drowning, etc.).  There are both male and female Dragons, kinds or species of Dragons, Dragons of different colors and sizes, and mostly good but some evil Dragons.  Some Dragons can fly, some cannot fly; most live in or near water, a few on land.  The body of a Dragon combines features from many animals, representing the many possibilities for existential presence.  The Dragon in the East has serpentine, snake, or eel like movement qualities: twisting, spiraling, sliding, circling, swimming, undulating, flowing freely like water.  [See: The Dragon in China and Japan by Marinus De Visser, 1913]

Whirling Like a Dragon

"It is easier to leave a circle than to enter it.
The emphasis is on the hip movement whether front or back.
The difficulty is to maintain the position without shifting the centre.
To analyse and understand the above situation is to do with
movement and not with a stationary posture.
Advancing and retreating by turning sideways in line with the
shoulders, one is capable of turning like a millstone, fast or slow,
as if whirling like a dragon in the clouds or sensing the approach
of a fierce tiger.
From this, one can learn the usage of the movement of
the upper torso.
Through long practice, such movement will become natural."
- Yang Family Old Manual, The Coil Incense Kung   

"Silk reeling (pinyin chánsīgōng, Wade-Giles ch'an² ssu¹ kung¹ 纏絲功), also called "Winding Silk Power" (chansijing) (纏絲勁), as well as "Foundational Training"(jibengong), refers to a set of neigong exercises frequently used by the Chen style, Wu style and some other styles of T'ai Chi Ch'uan. The name derives from the metaphorical principle of "reeling the silk from a silk worm's cocoon". In order to draw out the silk successfully the action must be smooth and consistent without jerking or changing direction sharply. Too fast, the silk breaks, too slow, it sticks to itself and becomes tangled. Hence, the silk reeling movements are continuous, cyclic patterns performed at constant speed with the "light touch" of drawing silk.

     In common with all Qigong exercises, the patterns are performed in a concentrated, meditative state with an emphasis on relaxation. However, rather than being isolated exercises purely for health benefits, the focus is on strengthening and training the whole body coordination (nei jin) and grounded body alignment that is used in the Tai Chi form and pushing hands. Silk reeling is commonly used in Chen style as a warmup before commencing Tai Chi form practice, but its body mechanics are also a requirement of Chen Style Tai Chi throughout the forms. In other styles, silk reeling is only introduced to advanced levels. Many schools, especially those not associated with the orthodox Tai Chi families, don't train it at all."
- Silk Reeling - Wikipedia

Silk Reeling Webpage

Dragon Qigong Webpage

Whirling Like a Dragon

"It is easier to leave a circle than to enter it.
The emphasis is on the hip movement whether front or back.
The difficulty is to maintain the position without shifting the centre.
To analyse and understand the above situation is to do with
movement and not with a stationary posture.
Advancing and retreating by turning sideways in line with the
shoulders, one is capable of turning like a millstone, fast or slow,
as if whirling like a dragon in the clouds or sensing the approach
of a fierce tiger.
From this, one can learn the usage of the movement of
the upper torso.
Through long practice, such movement will become natural."
- Yang Family Old Manual, The Coil Incense Kung

"Silk reeling (pinyin chánsīgōng, Wade-Giles ch'an² ssu¹ kung¹ 纏絲功), also called "Winding Silk Power" (chansijing) (纏絲勁), as well as "Foundational Training"(jibengong), refers to a set of neigong exercises frequently used by the Chen style, Wu style and some other styles of T'ai Chi Ch'uan. The name derives from the metaphorical principle of "reeling the silk from a silk worm's cocoon". In order to draw out the silk successfully the action must be smooth and consistent without jerking or changing direction sharply. Too fast, the silk breaks, too slow, it sticks to itself and becomes tangled. Hence, the silk reeling movements are continuous, cyclic patterns performed at constant speed with the "light touch" of drawing silk.

In common with all Qigong exercises, the patterns are performed in a concentrated, meditative state with an emphasis on relaxation. However, rather than being isolated exercises purely for health benefits, the focus is on strengthening and training the whole body coordination (nei jin) and grounded body alignment that is used in the Tai Chi form and pushing hands. Silk reeling is commonly used in Chen style as a warmup before commencing Tai Chi form practice, but its body mechanics are also a requirement of Chen Style Tai Chi throughout the forms. In other styles, silk reeling is only introduced to advanced levels. Many schools, especially those not associated with the orthodox Tai Chi families, don't train it at all."
- Silk Reeling - Wikipedia

Dragon Qigong

Silk Reeling

Silk Reeling Exercises

I added some links, resources, quotes and comments to the Cloud Hands webpage on Silk Reeling.

Chan Ssu Gong, Chan Szu Chin, Chan Ssu Kung, Chan Si Gong, Chan Si Jing
Chen Style Taijiquan and Qigong
Spiraling Energy Exercises, Spiral Energy Qigong