Standing Meditation

Standing meditation, also known as 站庄 zhan zhuang, is one of the most essential practices in Wu Gong. For those who want to learn the martial arts or Tai Ji Quan (Tai Chi), it is vital to practice standing meditation because it will improve your movements tremendously. It will strengthen your legs to give you a strong base to work on and teach you grounding. The stances will be stable, and the movements will be smoother and stronger. This means that the flow of the qi will also be smoother and stronger. This practice will make everything else in the training much easier. 

 The basic stance in most Wu Gong styles is the horse stance. Your feet should be apart about two or three times your shoulder’s width. Start to sit down, like riding a horse. Your feet will grip the ground, and your energies will go down into the ground. This is Qi Rooting.  It will strengthen you physically, mentally, and emotionally.

There are many ways to place your hands during the horse stance: everything from “Pressing the Sky”, “Wei Tuo Presents the Pestle”, “Holding Ball” and so on.  The arms and legs become very tired after a while.  This is the time to learn how to control your body.  The strength comes from relaxing in the posture, letting qi flow be your strength. At first, have the goal to build up your strength to stand for 5 minutes, just focus on your breath. When your focus sways, don’t worry. With time your focus will get better. Then, every week, add a little more time to your practice. At first, you will probably not feel the flow of the qi, unless you have had some prior training with qi, but eventually you will.