Introduction to Nei Gong

1: Introduction to Neigong: an introduction to schools of thought and practices.

When: Saturday mornings in April from 8-9 AM EST,

Where: ZOOM classroom with recordings available for review and for those who can't make it to class,

How much: $150 USD/person,

Media included: live ZOOM classes, recordings, translated documents in PDF each week, video tutorials of specific exercises contained in the texts we are reading.

Course introduction:

Neigong is one of the most popular buzzwords in the contemporary American Daoist environment, but it is also not entirely clear most of the time what the difference is between Neigong, Qigong, and “Neidan.”

With the conviction that knowing the meanings of words is the first step of developing good knowledge, I am happy to present a month long course looking at the foundations of Neigong, a popular practice which combines Martial Arts, Chinese Medicine and Daoist Yang Sheng.

The term Neigong was first used as a naming convention in 19th century texts and it is not clear how long it existed as a folk practice before.

Today Neigong can be used as a noun and an adjective since it can describe a series of practice and a type of aquired skill.

In this course we will learn about the origins of both variations by looking into relavent classical documents Neigong Tu Shuo (The Pictorial Discussion of Neigong) and Neigong Jing (The Classic of Neigong).

Neigong Tu Shuo was a proto-Qigong text which claimed that its practices were derived from the Shaolin Temple and that they were passed down to help humanity attain physical longevity and spiritual realization through the practice of Dao Yin, Yang Sheng (health preservation) and Meditation (Washing the Marrow Classic).

It views Neigong as a practice which can be learned outside the context of Martial Arts and use to strengthen people's bodies and minds and as such is an early example of a popular Qigong art before Qigong officially came into existence during the 1950s.

Neigong Jing is a Martial Arts Neigong classic frequently used in the Song family lineage of Xingyi Quan, but it can also be used to understand how internal skill is attained in the Internal Arts of Xingyi, Bagua and Taiji as well as being generally useful to understand the nature and purpose of Martial Qigong in the Internal Arts.

In this series of four classes you will learn:

• An overview of the core theories and concepts of Neigong Tu Shuo,
• How its author and other masters practicing the same style at the time understood the key differences between Neigong and Waigong,
• Useful exercises from the Yi Jin Jing presented in this document,
• The Twelve Silk Brocades Sitting Yang Sheng method from Neigong Tu Shuo,
• The early Neigong theory of the body which deeply influenced modern Qigong and Martial Arts,
• Core aspects of the Neigong Jing including breath work, the use of the Dantian, body posture, the methods of power delivery, important cavities in the body used to help Qi penetrate the limbs and center,
• and so much more...

This course is especially useful to anyone wanting to better understand the practices of Internal Arts, Qigong and Yang Sheng, understand how posture, Qi cultivation, internal movement, and stillness work all work together in the energy arts, and how to properly integrate Daoist ideas with Martial and Qigong practice.

Unfortunately many people today treat Daoism, Medicine and the Martial Arts as a kind of soup and do not know how to clearly separate their ideas. This makes it hard to even get to the beginner level in any of the practices, let alone attaining genuine skill.

Being able to clearly understand where our present day practices come from is the best way to go from beginner to intermediate or intermediate to advanced practice and this course is a rare chance to deeply encounter some of the most important ideas in the modern Internal Arts, Qigong and Yang Sheng environment.