The Origin of Zhanzhuang
- How can we learn Zhanzhuang?
A dog can live up to 15 years old or more, A tortoise can live up to 150 years or more. A tree can live up to 1500 years or more. The ancient Chinese came to believe that not moving may be the key to health and longevity. There was a sentence in the book <Guan Zi>, which was written 2700 years ago.
This is probably the Chinese earliest record about “Not moving is better than moving”.
The ancient Chinese gradually created a health-maintenance methodology by mimicking a tree and named it Zhanzhuang. (AKA “Standing Post”, “Standing Pole”, “Standing Meditation”, “Standing like a tree” .)
Chinese traditional martial arts have preserved the origin of Zhanzhuang and developed it as the fundamental part of the martial art system. Different martial arts have different types of Zhanzhuang. We only talk about and teach Yiquan Zhanzhuang at Yiquan Park.
Yiquan Zhanzhuang has many stances. Different stances have different Yi to train with. All stances are generally divided into two categories based on the type of footstep: Parallel-step stances and Combat-step stances. Parallel-step stances are generally designed for health purposes. Combat-step stances are generally designed for combat purposes.
Stances for health and stances for combat are not separate. Parallel-step stances with strong Yi can be practiced for combat. Combat-step stances with light Yi can be practiced for health. Parallel-step stances and Combat-step stances are connected and progressive.
We must start with Parallel-step stances in the Zhanzhuang practice whether our goal is better health or combat. For the weak and the elderly, you can also practice Combat-step stances after you get the physical readiness with enough practice of Parallel-step stances. For those who are so eager to learn combat, especially the young and strong, you must know that mastering Parallel-step stances are the prerequisite to learning Combat-step stances.
When you start to learn Zhanzhuang, you should try to stand as long as you can. If you are too weak to stand or have health problems that you can’t stand long, there are sitting style and lying style of Zhanzhuang. If you are weak but not that weak, you can start to stand for 5 mins then 10 mins then 15 mins and so on.
Believe me, your body will know when you are stronger. When you are stronger, stand longer.
For most people, your first goal of Zhanzhuang practice is to be able to stand Parallel-step stances for one hour consistently and after the one-hour practice, there is barely any soreness or tiredness or stiffness in your body. When you are reaching this goal, we consider that you have basically mastered Parallel-step stances at a high level.
If your ultimate goal is only better health, you can skip Combat-step stances and start to learn Shili. However, even if you don’t like to learn combat, you can also practice Combat-step stances. If your ultimate goal is combat ability, so to speak, self-defense, the next goal is to be able to stand Combat-step stances for one hour consistently with the same feeling described as the first goal. When you are reaching this goal, we consider that you have basically mastered Combat-step stances at a high level. Then you can move to Shili and so on.
With my method, Zhanzhuang for one hour isn’t as scary as it sounds. After you’ve basically mastered Zhanzhuang at a high level, always try to practice Zhanzhuang for 30-60 mins every day. Ideally, One-hour Zhanzhuang a day, at least 5 days a week is the best. One-hour daily practice of Zhanzhuang will be sufficient to make you healthy, keep you healthy and let you gain strength gradually for self-defense.
Please be reminded that no matter how long you practice a day, less than 3 days a week isn’t enough; no matter how many days you practice a week, less than 30 mins a day isn’t enough unless you are weak or elderly. If you are weak or elderly, there is no strict requirement. Try your best.
Zhanzhuang is a lifetime practice for health and for self-defense. We get stronger when getting older. Having Zhanzhuang is having all.
The video version of this post:
Characteristics of
is a special exercise. It’s aerobic, very gentle, and doesn’t require much movement. No warm-ups before the exercise or ending routines are required. What you need is just a place (either indoor or outdoor) with good air circulation. has a large number of postures (stances are the technical term), but there is only one basic posture which can be transformed into all other postures. So, when you master the one posture, it’s only a matter of time to master all of them. From this perspective, is not a complex skill to learn.
The training time of can be adjusted by oneself. In general, practitioners start from 5 minutes and increase progressively up to one hour. However, a 5-min has health benefits, too. So is quite accessible since no minimum “dose” of time is required. In fact, men, women, seniors, juniors, the weak or strong, all can practice according to their own situation at their preferred time and place.
There are usually four stages of the learning process and there are various reactions during beginning stages of .
03
Healing aspect of
In general, can correct and build a stronger body. With postures, young men with hunchbacks can be corrected. Dysfunctional feet, knees, or legs can be fixed to a great extent. The middle-aged suffering from back/shoulder/neck/muscle pain, hemorrhoids, insomnia, bad digestion, etc., can expect to get rid of those with consistent practice of over time.
is the best option for the weak or elderly as can gradually and constantly enhance their immune system – the human body’s own defense mechanisms. According to Dr. Yu’s clinical experimentation and tests, many kinds of chronic diseases such as chronic tracheitis, chronic gastroenteritis, chronic hepatitis, cardiopathy, high blood pressure(hypertension), neurasthenic, chronic rheumatoid arthritis and similar rheumatoid arthritis, adipoma, goiter, etc., may obtain unbelievable beneficial effects after practice.
We only listed some of the health applications of . There are more. Every day practitioners are discovering new benefits of this amazing exercise.
04
Why can cure diseases?
is not only standing still. It is not only meditation, either. The system of training is a combination of physical and mental aspects. The physical and mental activities are not separate from each other in this exercise. Hence, both the physiological and psychological functions of the body are cumulatively strengthened. Why heals is a huge topic. Dr. Yu had written many books about it. In this article, we are going to focus on how is able to nourish the blood. We will talk more in our blog posts.
During , the body is held relatively unchanged in correct structures and there is constant contraction and loosening between muscles and bones. This will mobilize blood vessels, which promotes blood circulation. Dr. Yu listed the following figures in the book of “ and Search of Wu” (Yu Yongnian, 2005, Shanxi Science and Technology Press).
After one hour of the composition of the blood may sensibly change:
- up to 1520 000 additional erythrocytes (red blood cells) per cm3 of blood,
- up to 3650 additional hem leukocytes (white blood cells) per cm3 of blood,
- up to 3.2 gram of additional hemoglobin per cm3 of blood.
Red blood cells are able to carry oxygen so efficiently because of the hemoglobin they contain. Increase of hemoglobin can directly impact the quantity of oxygen. With this additional amount of oxygen brought to the organ systems, one will be in a special state of relaxation and wellbeing. This is why has particularly good results in treating neurasthenia, arthritis, angina, cirrhosis, cardiovascular diseases, etc.
05
Recommended for special people
The most important characteristic of as a healing method is that there is no side-effect. From the medicine point of view, there are not so many optional exercises for people who are too weak to sit or stand and people with special diseases i.e., cardiovascular diseases. is the best option for those people. There are lying-down postures, supported postures, sitting postures, standing postures, practitioners can choose appropriate postures and control the physical effort precisely by the time of practicing.
To conclude, with thousands of years of development and the support of Yiquan martial artists and medical professionals in the last 100 years, has brought together the essence of Chinese well-being philosophies and western sciences as a mature, thorough and complete method of health maintenance and improvement. If you want to know more about as a healing method, reading Dr. Yu’s books is a good start. Here are three recommendations:
< Zhan Zhuang and The Search of Wu > (Chinese, English versions)
<Zhan Zhuang: The Art of Nourishing Life> (Chinese, English, French versions)
< Zhan Zhuang and Dao De Jing> (Chinese version)
Characteristics of
is a special exercise. It’s aerobic, very gentle, and doesn’t require much movement. No warm-ups before the exercise or ending routines are required. What you need is just a place (either indoor or outdoor) with good air circulation. has a large number of postures (stances are the technical term), but there is only one basic posture which can be transformed into all other postures. So, when you master the one posture, it’s only a matter of time to master all of them. From this perspective, is not a complex skill to learn.
The training time of can be adjusted by oneself. In general, practitioners start from 5 minutes and increase progressively up to one hour. However, a 5-min has health benefits, too. So is quite accessible since no minimum “dose” of time is required. In fact, men, women, seniors, juniors, the weak or strong, all can practice according to their own situation at their preferred time and place.
There are usually four stages of the learning process and there are various reactions during beginning stages of .
03
Healing aspect of
In general, can correct and build a stronger body. With postures, young men with hunchbacks can be corrected. Dysfunctional feet, knees, or legs can be fixed to a great extent. The middle-aged suffering from back/shoulder/neck/muscle pain, hemorrhoids, insomnia, bad digestion, etc., can expect to get rid of those with consistent practice of over time.
is the best option for the weak or elderly as can gradually and constantly enhance their immune system – the human body’s own defense mechanisms. According to Dr. Yu’s clinical experimentation and tests, many kinds of chronic diseases such as chronic tracheitis, chronic gastroenteritis, chronic hepatitis, cardiopathy, high blood pressure(hypertension), neurasthenic, chronic rheumatoid arthritis and similar rheumatoid arthritis, adipoma, goiter, etc., may obtain unbelievable beneficial effects after practice.
We only listed some of the health applications of . There are more. Every day practitioners are discovering new benefits of this amazing exercise.
04
Why can cure diseases?
is not only standing still. It is not only meditation, either. The system of training is a combination of physical and mental aspects. The physical and mental activities are not separate from each other in this exercise. Hence, both the physiological and psychological functions of the body are cumulatively strengthened. Why heals is a huge topic. Dr. Yu had written many books about it. In this article, we are going to focus on how is able to nourish the blood. We will talk more in our blog posts.
During , the body is held relatively unchanged in correct structures and there is constant contraction and loosening between muscles and bones. This will mobilize blood vessels, which promotes blood circulation. Dr. Yu listed the following figures in the book of “ and Search of Wu” (Yu Yongnian, 2005, Shanxi Science and Technology Press).
After one hour of the composition of the blood may sensibly change:
- up to 1520 000 additional erythrocytes (red blood cells) per cm3 of blood,
- up to 3650 additional hem leukocytes (white blood cells) per cm3 of blood,
- up to 3.2 gram of additional hemoglobin per cm3 of blood.
Red blood cells are able to carry oxygen so efficiently because of the hemoglobin they contain. Increase of hemoglobin can directly impact the quantity of oxygen. With this additional amount of oxygen brought to the organ systems, one will be in a special state of relaxation and wellbeing. This is why has particularly good results in treating neurasthenia, arthritis, angina, cirrhosis, cardiovascular diseases, etc.
05
Recommended for special people
The most important characteristic of as a healing method is that there is no side-effect. From the medicine point of view, there are not so many optional exercises for people who are too weak to sit or stand and people with special diseases i.e., cardiovascular diseases. is the best option for those people. There are lying-down postures, supported postures, sitting postures, standing postures, practitioners can choose appropriate postures and control the physical effort precisely by the time of practicing.
To conclude, with thousands of years of development and the support of Yiquan martial artists and medical professionals in the last 100 years, has brought together the essence of Chinese well-being philosophies and western sciences as a mature, thorough and complete method of health maintenance and improvement. If you want to know more about as a healing method, reading Dr. Yu’s books is a good start. Here are three recommendations:
< Zhan Zhuang and The Search of Wu > (Chinese, English versions)
<Zhan Zhuang: The Art of Nourishing Life> (Chinese, English, French versions)
< Zhan Zhuang and Dao De Jing> (Chinese version)
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An ancient secret exercise adopted to align body and mind, enhance immunity, cure chronic diseases, etc.
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