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Having been a long time student of Erle Montaigue, I have been practicing taijiquan by putting weight on my heels. I just wanted to know the Healingdao perspective on this. I myself have never put weight over my bubbling wells because Erle teaches that this is dangerous. Kind of like putting force on your huiyin with your fingers. I think that the heels are naturally designed for absorbing the earth’s qi and going upwards through your bones. Allow me to quote Erle on this from his website.
“People still get it wrong of course and they also teach incorrect Qigong methods to others. The reason is that they simply have not had the training necessary to be up on the dangers and dangerous ways of performing Qigong. For instance certain stances in Qigong may seem to have tremendous power due to an upsurge of ‘rising Qi’ from the point called the ‘Bubbling Well Point’ or Kidney point No. 1. This gives an immediate ‘hit’ of well being and power in much the same way that coffee and its associated caffeine gives an immediate hit to the brain causing the neuro-inhibitors to be retarded this causing the brain waves to speed up dramatically. However, the brain waves must at some stage slow back down again and then people do into deep depression etc.! So they have to take more caffeine and so the cycle continues until usually a complete breakdown occurs!
And it is the same with Qigong done incorrectly for the sake of an instant ‘hit’ of power. At some time, that power must dissipate giving the opposite feeling of no so well-being and weakness! This is because so much yang Qi is built up during incorrect Qigong practice that at some time, it must burst through the incorrect tensions caused through incorrect stances and reach the brain all at once! This is incorrect of course as the brain along with the rest of the body must receive a constant and balanced flow of Qi from the ground via the K1 points.”
Erle also claimed to me that Chia once sent two of his best students to Erle’s classes and tried to rip off as much info as they could get and tell Chia. Erle is a very nice man, not the type to lie about this although there could have been some misunderstanding of this.
Smiles out, Fajin
http://www.taijiworld.com/Articles/reasons.htmFound a quote from another website on Tai Chi
It clearly shows that centering the weight over the bubbling wells is NOT a misuse of practice – Cheng Man-Ching, the Tai Chi Chuan grandmaster himself clearly teaches that it is the balance point. This is not to say that standing on the heels is not also a valid practice. I fail to see however, that the heels would not also be involved when centering over the K1 points.
Check with Michael if he gets withdrawal symptoms and depression, I’ll bet you he doesn’t.
I however, get very depressed when I hear teachers whinging about their methods being “ripped off”, even if it were true, a real teacher wouldn’t complain about it unless he had an agenda ie my method is the best (or even the only safe) method learn from me. This seems to me to stifle the spirit of alchemy.Bubbling Well
The Bubbling Well is a balance, weight, and energetic point located in the sole of the foot, slightly in front of the arch and centered from side to side. In the meridian system it is the same as the Kidney 1 point.
The importance of this point in T’ai Chi practice is multi-faceted. In terms of a postural and balance guide, the idea is that when the weight falls properly on this point one has aligned the weight of the upper body correctly in respect to the base of the lower body. The feeling of this correct alignment is that the foot, even of a weight bearing leg, should be soft and relaxed. It’s interesting to note that most of our muscular usage (some tests say as much as 80%) is compensation for poor balance. So as our balance and posture improve, we become more efficient in our muscular use, not only conserving energy, but also freeing the body to move which is a prime contributor to the strength element in T’ai Chi. The awareness of the desired feeling of the foot being soft and relaxed is one of the most important indicators of this correct body relationship.On the energetic level, the Bubbling Well represents the gate that either permits or inhibits the “Earth Chi” from rising up and entering the body. One again the prime factor here is balance. If the balance is good, the foot relaxes and the energy is permitted to flow into the body. If the balance is poor and the foot is tense, then the energy is blocked. This actually describes a very important aspect of T’ai Chi both as a martial art and a personal growth tool. The importance of Chi § or vitality is understood in all aspects of the practice, but the quality that ultimately determines how much Chi one accesses is not force or effort or desire, but balance. So one can only draw the amount of energy that one is capable of using well.
Grandmaster Cheng, Man-ching taught that T’ai Chi Ch’uan was the study of what he called the “Three Treasures” § which were the Bubbling Well, the Tan t’ien, § and the crown of the head. The Bubbling Well is our earth connection where we establish that quality referred to a having “root”. So in many respects, this is the foundation of our practice and must be given much consideration and emphasis.
http://www.ronperfetti.com/glossary.html
Dylan
Thanks Dylan, your info helped. I will check the matter further. I’m going to Mt. Wudang in September so I will get the live feedback and I’ll post it up. Thanks!!!
Fajin
there are huge variations in systems and amongst teachers on this point.
I teach based on my experience.In my orbit classes I teach qigong with alternating weigh shifts between k-1 and heels to create a dynamic flow between front and back channels.
In my bone breathing and rooting classes (my version of iron shirt) i keep the weight on the heels to open the channels inside the bone marrow.
In fusion 2/3 the practice of opening heel channel goes internal, and eventually it doesn’t matter as much where your external weight is. That would be an application argument amongst martial artists, not a cultivation issue amongst internal alchemists.
fyi I studied with Mantak’s main wu style tai chi teacher in NY chinatown, Ed Yu, and he taught mantak (and me) to keep weight on heels when you need discharge power.
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