Ten ways to improve your practice

Whether you practice for Martial arts or health, as Nei Jia (Internal School) practitioners today, we are in many ways treading in the footsteps of our ancestral forefathers.  When we practice the long hand form we are making the very same steps Wu Quan Yu (1834 – 1902) and Wu Jian Quan (1870 – 1942) made in their practice. Indeed they were replicating the same steps that their teachers Yang Lu Chan and Yang Ban Hou taught to the Imperial guards. 
The Qigong forms go back even further, some authorities suggest as much as three thousand years, others that it predates written records. The reason these practices have continued through out the millennia is that they are effective, Martial arts are pragmatic, there is no room for something that does not work. 
As a pre requisite to any martial practice the establishment of a strong healthy and flexible body is an essential requirement. That is why  even today, so many tread the path and follow the way, the goals may be different but the steps are the same.

Keith & Gloria lead a class in Qigong at the University Hospital of Coimbra

Below are some tips to help you progress a little each day.                         

1. Set aside time to practice every day, even if it is only a little.
   
2. Stand in the poses, and learn to relax, the more you do, the better it gets.
   
3. Practice one or two movements until you know them well, then add more.
   
4. Practice the movements first, breathing normally, to remember the sequence.
   
5. Practice the breathing separately, while visualising the movement.
   
6. Use “wasted” time: i.e. waiting for the kettle to boil, practice while you wait.
   
7. Do not expect progress every day, rewards are not always immediate.
   
8. Stretch daily with Qiong: try Ba Duan jin or Kai Men if you are new.
   
9.  Before going to sleep, relax by visualising the forms you practice in detail.
   
10. Enjoy your practice!
    

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