Foo prepares to fight demons.

[Foo]

 
Foo rose up early to greet the dawn. As he stepped out of his hut and looked across the temple grounds, he noticed the abbot waving him down.
 
“Foo, I have a mission for you to undertake. I was approached by some villagers from the Wuxi province, and their small farming community has been under attack by a group of 5 demons every year for the past 4 planting seasons. As the ground is to be tilled in about 30 moons from now, they came to ask for our help in ridding them of these monsters.â€
 
“Master,†said Foo with some curiosity “that's terrible. I will certainly do what I can to help the village, but I do not know much of demons. Also, I know only my meager kung fu, and have no magical weapons to defeat a demon horde.â€
 
The abbot stroked his wispy beard slowly as he spoke. “Well, your kung fu should have all the answers you should ever need for any battle in heaven or earth, but what you will need to know is that the land of Wuxi is riddled with dangerous cliffs. One must have the firmest of stances to hope to do battle there. You should be certain that your training has covered that before your go. Also, the 5 demons do battle by harnessing the 5 elements into their attacks. You would be wise to be certain that your knowledge of alchemy is worked into your kung fu so that you have an answer to any elemental attacks. Last, only a fool would battle demons at night, so you must be certain to be at your peak as soon as you rise in the morning. With these 3 things and keeping yourself well, I believe that you are ready for your first real mission outside of the temple.â€
 
Foo bowed deeply, “I'll get to work immediately, sifu.â€
 
 
So, for my upcoming challenge, I have 3 primary additions to add to my normal training.
 
1. Make sure my footing is steady.
During a seminar in the United States, Chen Qingzhou was asked: what was the most important thing that someone could do to improve their tai chi.
He Responded “I will tell you exactly what to do and it will improve your health, tai chi, your martial and mental abilities, and will only take you three minutes a day, but you won't do it.â€
“Why won't I do it?†He was asked.
“Because I've said this many time and no one follows through.â€
“Well, what is it?â€
“Stand,†and he assumed a Zhan Zhuang (post stance)
 
The first part of my challenge will be to stand in a deep Zhan Zhuang stance, and attempt a standing meditation for just 3 minutes a day.  This will be in addition to my normal seated meditation, but with a heavy emphasis on holding a 90-degree knee position.  I'm sore just thinking about it.
 
2. Answer for the 5 elemental attacks:
If you have much knowledge of taoist philosophy or Chinese medicine, then you're sure to know of how the 5 elements support or destroy each other. Over the next 4 weeks, I plan to learn the 5 elemental fists and the linking sequence for them from Xingyiquan. (Actually, I already have learned the basics for the first two, but should be able to get the other 3 by the end of the challenge.)  This is to make sure that I don't slouch on what is a non-primary art for me.
 
3. Be ready to fight early in the day:
This is a modification from my last challenge which included waking up every day and immediately doing Wudang 5-animal qigong. This time, let's summon the sun with a bit of Surya Namaskara A & B (Sun Salutation A & B ). I think that a A, A, B, A pattern upon waking will get the inner fire going in my body, so before I even get dressed in the mornings, I'll be doing this every day.
 
*these are to be done in addition to my circuit training, tai chi training, and now...regular vinyasa class. Still abstaining from alcohol and eating a paleo diet with heavy focus on raw vegetables.
 

 
...and best of luck to my fellow druids.
*bows deeply*

[Foo]

*reserved for a nice little summary of successes/failures at the end of this challenge*

[Ballad]

Loving the back story! Following along for your challenge, obvs.

[Rihor]

Fighting demons is important work! Following!

[Calanthia Cobbin]

This seems awesome! Following  

[Sunmage]

Welcome back!

 

Facing demons is hard work, but the reward is well worth it

 

Have a great time!

[Foo]

Prologue: "The Ritual of Purification"

 

Foo went to the Great Hall's library and pulled out the scrolls of the elemental fists.  He began to read over the words of the masters through their poems of mind-body alchemy.  There was a great deal to learn, and not a lot of time to do it.

 

"I must make sure that my mind, body, and spirit are ready for this training."  He said to himself, slightly doubting his own ability to undertake this journey.

 

He went back and made an elixir of the immortals, drank it, and began the ritual of purification.

 

=====

 

Day -minus one: DETOX

 

So, today I decided to really drop into this upcoming challenge with the right mindset.  I took today as a day for cleansing, so I made a pot of tea using ginger, chamomile, jasmine, and valerian root.  I started off by drinking a few cups of this and having a 30 minute seated meditation.  Took out some of my books on Xingyi and read through some of the commentary on the "Songs of Xingyiquan" which include a lot of information on the postures and such, and then looked up videos of people much better at the art doing some of the movements.

 

After this, I threw on a hoodie and some sweatpants, turned up the heat in my studio, and did 2 hours of slow hot yoga.  I poured buckets of sweat, and really just settled down into some deep bending.  It was AWESOME.

 

Afterwards, I took a shower with some eucalyptus in a bag in the shower with me....and then slept like a baby.  This was a super awesome day, and I'd recommend this to anyone looking to unwind.

 

*thanks for the support everyone. I plan to increase the intensity of my working out this month, so I really appreciate the extra accountability.  Also, I may share the poems(songs) of each elemental fist on the days that I work on those...just because they're interesting, if it doesn't make too much of a wall of text*

[RMDC]

This is an amazing theme, and I'm psyched to see it unfold. Stanced meditation sounds challenging and rewarding. I've only dabbled in aikido and shorin-ryu, neither of which have particularly mystical themes, but both of which taught me the importance of rooting to the earth in one's stance. Glad to follow along.

[Foo]

Day 1
 
Foo decided to waste no time in beginning his training, as life in the temple often provided enough setbacks to make procrastination a foolhardy decision.  He arose early, and greeted the sun...setting his mind in a place for battle.
 
He practiced his stances, holding them longer and harder than he had ever done before, until it felt as though the fire of the sun itself was contained in his legs.  Contemplating on this very fact, he recalled a song he'd read the previous day.

{Pao Quan belongs to Fire in the Five Phases; it is an opening and closing of the one Chi, like the explosion of a cannon.  When its chi is harmonious, then within the heart will be light and agile, the body will be comfortable and invigorated.}
 
Foo contemplated the words of the song as he sank into a deep meditation on his stance.
 
==========
 
Today I covered the Pao Quan (fire fist) in Xingyiquan.  Very cool, but I need some practice to get the snap in it I want.  Here's a link to a video of the form, if you're interested in seeing it done.
 
Also, after looking over a couple of different recommendations for how to do a standing meditation, there are really 2 schools of thought.  The "It is for making you learn to relax in a deep stance" school, and the "it is learning to TOTALLY relax while standing" school.  I decided to go with both, since I can see benefits to both.  I'll outline how I feel about each of them a bit, for fun.
 
1. Deep stance:  This one is truly hard to hold for 3 minutes.  I tried to focus on my breath while slowly counting to 180.  By the 60 mark, my legs were shaking and burning.  By 90, my mind was screaming which found me trying to force myself to just breathe and relax.  I continued this process until 180, which is POSSIBLE, despite the fact that my body was trying to convince my mind that we weren't going to make it.  I am sure I'll be dreading this one tomorrow, so I'm certainly going to do it again.
 
2. Shallow Stance:  This one is much easier to hold, and I did a guided meditation in it that lasted for 10 minutes.  During this time, I noticed that my initial stance wasn't totally relaxed, as I found myself still holding my shoulders slightly tense.  As the meditation went on, I kept making minor adjustments that made it softer and more supple.  I see how this would really help my tai chi...so I'll also be doing it.  Neither is objectively better from my viewpoint, they're just different.

 

Also did Surya Namaskara A, B, A, A upon waking.  Super nice way to kick off the day.  It warms the whole body up really well and woke me up better than coffee normally does.  

 

I normally don't post this early in the day, and still have my normal circuits, yoga, and tai chi later today...but I was too excited to not share this ASAP.  Also, feel free to double-check my mandarin.  I'm pretty sure that my translations of the songs are close enough to carry the meaning if not totally perfect.  I'll probably cover a bit of the theory on how Taoist alchemy ties in with the 5 elemental fists later, maybe as part of the last week's study.

[Lag a'mhuilin]

Yours was one of the threads that I read when I was trying to map out my own. I'm really digging the narrative you're weaving throughout. When I got to the first quest in your first post it made me stand up for a few seconds, but I would need a standing desk to keep it going for longer and be productive at work. The standing meditation is one of my favorites. I'm going to incorporate it into my meditation quest now. Thanks! I also really like the idea of doing A, A, B, A on waking. I'm pretty sure early morning yoga will be part of my next challenge, after I make it through this one.

[Foo]

Deepening the stance did nothing to quench the burning fires from below.  Foo began to sweat and shake.  Was this the bodily comfort spoken of by the song?  Certainly it didn't seem like it, but, perhaps it was because he was fighting the fire itself.  He was reminded of "Yi" or intent, that the arms and legs did not move unless you intended to move them, but that as soon as your mind directed them, then they followed.  Perhaps his "Yi" could work with the burning?

 

Foo began to direct his breath not in defiance of the burning flames, but allowing himself to sink into them.  He found that although they didn't cool, that he was in harmony with them.  The fire was his and he belonged to the fire.  The fire was not something to be defeated, but rather it was his teacher.  Pao Quan was simply the splash into a bucket that is to be stirred, a spoke on the great wheel of elements.  It was a rough beginning to this training, but the first step of any journey was always the most difficult.

 

Nothing had changed.  The fires still burned.  His legs still shook and sweat still poured, but Foo was comfortable with this.

======

 

Today's narrative is pretty much how I felt today.  After a pretty intense vinyasa class, and heavy isometric plank work, the deep standing meditation was....interesting.  It would have been really easy to convince myself to not do it had it not been part of my challenge, but since it is central to this 4 weeks, I forced myself to go through with it.  At first, I was shaking and struggling to hold the position, and thinking about how much my quads were screaming at me, but I continued to TRY to put my focus on breathing deeply and relaxing everywhere that wasn't required to hold the position.

 

At some point during it, I had a moment where I just thought "Nobody has ever died from this....you're fine."  Now, it still felt the same and my muscles were strained and tired, but my breathing finally "sunk" into a slow rhythm.  I felt the soles of my feet and the way that it wasn't a stiffness holding me up in this stance, but thousands of microscopic adjustments and oscillations that were preventing me from falling.  Before I really had time to fully appreciate feeling this sensation, my 3 minutes was up.  I plopped into the floor and massaged out my sore thighs, almost giggling to myself about how cool of a feeling it was.

 

I took a bit to get some water after this.  I did the fully relaxed standing meditation as well.  The rest of the day was pretty standard training, but I really was inspired by the deep stance work.

 

*tomorrow:  how does this "wheel" work..coming soon*

[RMDC]

You convey the sensation in a truly visceral way. Now I'm even more eager to try it out.

[Slayer]

I'm also a fan of the way you weave role-playing narrative into your challenge while being able to write about both! Following!

[Foo]

While harmonizing with the fire was a wonderful victory, Foo reminded himself that this was not a single-point training.  The power of his kung fu was in the ability to circle and neutralize, to use the force of the enemy against him.  He recalled the words of the abbot, "You would be wise to be certain that your knowledge of alchemy is worked into your kung fu..."

 

Well Foo had studied the meridians of acupuncture for years, so if he was holding fire then it would give birth to earth, and could be used to neutralize metal.  The next step of his training was made apparent.

 

======

 

A quick bit of explaining for those of you who aren't into Chinese medicine and taoist alchemy:

 

This is how the wheel of elements works.  Each element gives birth to or generates one other element, and destroys/neutralizes another.  This theory is actually really prevalent in Xingyiquan, as it's the basis for the elemental fists.  I figured that since that's a central tenant to this month's challenge for me, that it might help to make sense of my story each day.

 

Today's training was actually closely tied to the theme of "transitions."  Vinyasa class was very humbling, as our yogini instructor was showing how to "jump through" the asanas.  She can stand into a handstand and then just swing her legs through her hands into a padmasana (lotus position.)  I am, how do I say this, "Not so graceful?"  The good thing about yoga is that her practice isn't my practice, so it's okay that I perform the same movement as a kind of awkward donkey-kick followed by crumbling into an oddly shaped human-ball and then squiggling my feet through my hands, slowly shuffling into a cross-legged position.  It's all about my intention.  I accept my body for where it is, and have full faith that one day I will also have grace in my vinyasa.  Namaste.

 

My standing meditation was as intense as the previous couple of days, but I actually really enjoy it.  It also emphasizes the idea that once I'm done with the deep stance standing, the rest of the day will probably be easier.  

[Rihor]

Today's training was actually closely tied to the theme of "transitions."  Vinyasa class was very humbling, as our yogini instructor was showing how to "jump through" the asanas.  She can stand into a handstand and then just swing her legs through her hands into a padmasana (lotus position.)  I am, how do I say this, "Not so graceful?"  The good thing about yoga is that her practice isn't my practice, so it's okay that I perform the same movement as a kind of awkward donkey-kick followed by crumbling into an oddly shaped human-ball and then squiggling my feet through my hands, slowly shuffling into a cross-legged position.  It's all about my intention.  I accept my body for where it is, and have full faith that one day I will also have grace in my vinyasa.  Namaste.

Ha! Loved that! I think the majority of us fall into the donkey category. One day though...

[Foo]

"Fire generates earth."  Foo pulled out his scroll bag and checked for the fist form that corresponded with earth.
 

{Heng Quan belongs to Earth in the Five Phases; it is able to nourish the spleen and harmonize the stomach, like the gathering of the one Chi.  Its shape is round and characterized by solidness.  When it's chi is smooth, then the Five Phases will be harmonious and hundred of lives will be produced.}
 
"Hmmm....round and solid?" thought Foo, as he started packing his scrolls back into the bag.  "I know just the place to meditate on this form."  He walked off of the temple grounds and down the side of the mountain.  He crossed the patches of grass with grey rocks jutting forth as though the years of battle between the mountain and the life upon it had settled into an uneasy truce.  Eventually he entered the mouth of a small cave.  He shuffled carefully though the darkness.  As he entered a large chamber, he opened his pack, lit a candle and began to study the paintings of Heng Quan's form.
=====
 
The truth is that Heng Quan was actually the last of the 5 fist forms that I learned.  So, I've got the basics of the forms down and just need to memorize the linking sequence and practice before the end of the month.  I've got a lot of practice ahead before I think I'll feel comfortable with them, but I've got the rest of my life to master them.

 

The 'cave' from today's story is actually part of my plan for tomorrow, as I'm burning up some vacation from work to have a 3-day weekend.  I plan to take tomorrow morning to work through the entire primary series from Ashtanga to see where my weaknesses are and try to formulate a plan going forward to better balance my yoga practice for me.  It will be a few hours of slowly moving meditation, and that's my own personal little 'cave to meditate inside of.'

[Foo]

Foo practiced his form for many hours.  Inside the cave it was dark so he wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been practicing.  The feelings that things weren't going as well as he'd hoped started to wear him down.  He considered the futility of his progress along this time line.

 

As he sat down on a rock for a short meal, he spilled his water down the side of a rock.  It puddled up and made mud of some clay on the ground.  Foo dipped his finger into the mud and drew a wuji symbol on his head.

 

"The earth is not broken, and neither am I."

 

He returned to practicing.

 

======

 

I actually have a shampoo that has a clay base, it makes my beard smell earthy.

 

The ashtanga forms took forever, like 4:45 for me to actually do them all in multiple stages and with a vinyasa attached to each.  I sat into most of them for a 5 count at least at every stage, which was really empowering.  I feel like I can snap more deeply into those postures already.

 

My standing meditations and waking practice remain the same.  At this point, it's just something else that I do in the constant grind for self improvement.  Loving this month's tempo.

[RMDC]

Your dedication to practice is inspiring. I can always count on this thread to get me motivated.

[Foo]

It soon settled into Foo's very spirit that it was the struggle that brought him to the way of earth.  It was a need to find the strength that the earth provided.  He was the stone and must be unmoved by the struggle.  Inside of him, there must be an empty space like this cave itself to be filled with the energy of life.  He was one with fire, and he was one with earth.

 

He felt the strength and he felt the hardening.  There was still harder to go, though, and the only harder elemental fist than stone was metal...

 

======

 

Strength training day!  Nothing like doing an hour of bodyweight presses, and then going home to rep out a few sets with the old dumbbells.  When I moved out to the middle of nowhere, I sadly didn't have anywhere to set my squat rack back up, but I really found that my joints hate me less when I do more unilateral work.

 

Down to #206 today, still dropping weight.  I will take corrective action should I hit #180, but my training has been going really well and I think that I'm just losing extra fluff for now.

[JessOfAllTrades]

Love how you framed your challenge. Looks like some wonderful things are happening!

[Foo]

Foo removed a single coin from his pack.  This wasn't exactly the most inspiring of objects of power to meditate on.  It was light and seemed rather frail.  Still, he knew that from this same material could be wrought an ax that could level a forest.  He thought back to the words of the song.

{Pi Quan belongs to Metal in the Five Phases; it is able to nourish the lungs.  If it's Jin is smooth, the lung chi will be harmonious.  Because man is mastered by chi, when chi is harmonious, the body is naturally strong.}

 

"Naturally strong," he thought.  This means that perhaps it just is strong and doesn't require special effort.  "This coin is as strong as an axe, regardless of if I recognize its strength or not."

 

Foo meditated on this truth.

 

======

 

Today was a day for restorative work.  I did work my vinyasa practice as normal and did all of my challenges, but the last week has my tendons popping like banjo strings.  I have every intention of getting back to killing it tomorrow with great fury, so today I took some time to find postures that let my joints rest back into their sockets.  Hopefully it will prove therapeutic. 

[RMDC]

Reading about coins and axes just makes me think of the apocryphal story of George Washington and the cherry tree. Y'know, 'cause he's on a coin. And he did the thing with the axe. Just me? Never mind.

[Foo]

Foo practiced his Pi Quan over and over, until his hands felt like the chopping of an ax and he felt like he could fell a tree with each strike.  Metal was his.

 

Following the wheel, he began to prepare for the next element.

 

======

 

Today was a good day of training, but with a little twist to the end.  I did some really serious work on trying to smooth out my "fair lady works at shuttles" in my tai chi form, as it's easy to lose the 6 harmonies while focusing on the footwork for that section.  I spent a long while doing the same pattern over and over until it felt more natural.  Also did a new HIIT routine that I'll just call "7th Layer of Hell with Sadie" today.  It was 15 minutes of torture.

 

The part of the day that I was not expecting was when I got up to do my Surya Namaskra, on the chaturanga dandasana, it felt like someone was stabbing me in the right rotator cuff with a fork.  I'm going to take some Ibuprofen and try to keep shoulder work out of tomorrow's practice.  Since I take Wednesday as a rest day, this should give it a couple of days rest before I go back to needing to work it, and hopefully whatever I've irritated will be better.

 

...I'd hate to have to miss part of a challenge due to overuse injury.

[Lag a'mhuilin]

Today was a good day of training, but with a little twist to the end.  I did some really serious work on trying to smooth out my "fair lady works at shuttles" in my tai chi form, as it's easy to lose the 6 harmonies while focusing on the footwork for that section.

 

Do you have an online resource for your tai chi, ashtanga, and vinyasa forms/flows, or do/did you attend classes?

[Foo]

I attend classes for mine, and my wife is a yogi which helps a lot on assembling vinyasa flows for me when I can't make it to a class.
 
That being said, I've got a few suggestions for anyone who wanted resources.  I covered a bit of that here for the tai chi side of things, and can dig up lots more if needed.  Tai chi is really subtle, though, so it's easy to miss important things.  If you do decide to learn from a video, it's certainly something that I'd suggest learning the 13 Principals, 8 energies, and 6 harmonies along with.  These are also a good indicator over if a teacher is knowledgeable or not.

 

For Yoga, I love Kino MacGregor.  She's an Ashtanga stylist who's highly talented and puts a ton of her stuff up on YouTube.  She's also a student of Sri K. Pattahbi Jois in Mysore India, and is certified to teach from him.  That's about as authentic as you can get.  I think that my wife is heading to do a workshop with her in March, which should let you know how highly she's thought of by us.

 

I hope that helps.  If there's anything I can help you with on your journey, then just let me know.  I'll do what I can to assist.