There are many variations of the story of Bodhidharma travel to China, one of them is this.
It is said that when Bodhidharma went to China from India to teach meditation and spirituality, he went to the then Shaolin Temple which was not really known for Kung Fu back then. This was long before Kung Fu was born. During his discourses and sessions he used to see that the monks were very fragile, lazy, would doze of during the meditations and were over all in a very bad shape. Bodhidharma saw that to have a good meditative mind was not possible without a good and healthy body, he sat to think about a way out to make these monks physically strong enough to meditate. Inspite all his pleadings the monks were unable to get over their own laziness and dullness. When words failed to have an effect, Bodhidharma sat down in deep meditation. He sat not for an hour or two, but he sat for a whole 9 years in deep meditation. A whole nine years in meditation. Just FYI.. 9 Years in Meditation = (1 hour of meditation X 24 X 365.5 days X 9) minus Toilet breaks minus Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Breaks minus Chatting with friends on the Phone minus going for evening walks minus everything one could imagine.
After 9 years of meditation what he came out with was 12 Exercises, which are called the Yi Ji Jing and 49 Postures called the I Chin Ching. Such was the power in these exercises that the monks who at one point could not even sit straight for meditation, and were the weakest of the weak, had joint pains and back pains, got transformed into the Shaolin warrior monks with bodies of steel, just by performing these exercises for about 100 days. It is said that all the variations of Chi Kung and Tai Chi spring from these Yi Ji Jing Exercises. These exercises are also said to be the Mother of the well known Shaolin Kung Fu.
It is said he also wrote a book called I Chin Ching which contains 49 postures. These postures are very similar to Advanced Yoga Postures only difference is that these are held for a long period of time( for 49 Breaths) and while breathing you keep our tongue rolled up. And you wear canvas shoes while doing the I Chin Ching Postures.
Coming back to Yi Ji Jing There are three variation in which the Yi Ji Jing exercises are performed.
One is a Soft Version
One is a Hard Martial Arts Version
And the Third is some where in between, which is a static version. I found two excellent videos for the Soft Yi Ji Jing and the Hard Yi Ji Jing am yet to find a video for the Static version of the Yi Ji Jing. May record one and post it up.
Perform these exercises with 49 Repetitions or you can hold the postures for 49 Breaths.
Soft Yi Ji Jing
Hard Yi Ji Jing
The best times for these exercises are early mornings. And in a little cool atmosphere. Shouldn't really be done in extremely hot conditions.
My personal experience with these exercises has been that these have highly relaxing and energizing both for the body and the mind. My advice to those who train mostly in these soft exercises is to reserve one day in a week or fortnight to work out the fast twitch muscle fibers, with Yi Ji Jing Hard style and explosive exercises, such as kickboxing.
It is said that when Bodhidharma went to China from India to teach meditation and spirituality, he went to the then Shaolin Temple which was not really known for Kung Fu back then. This was long before Kung Fu was born. During his discourses and sessions he used to see that the monks were very fragile, lazy, would doze of during the meditations and were over all in a very bad shape. Bodhidharma saw that to have a good meditative mind was not possible without a good and healthy body, he sat to think about a way out to make these monks physically strong enough to meditate. Inspite all his pleadings the monks were unable to get over their own laziness and dullness. When words failed to have an effect, Bodhidharma sat down in deep meditation. He sat not for an hour or two, but he sat for a whole 9 years in deep meditation. A whole nine years in meditation. Just FYI.. 9 Years in Meditation = (1 hour of meditation X 24 X 365.5 days X 9) minus Toilet breaks minus Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Breaks minus Chatting with friends on the Phone minus going for evening walks minus everything one could imagine.
After 9 years of meditation what he came out with was 12 Exercises, which are called the Yi Ji Jing and 49 Postures called the I Chin Ching. Such was the power in these exercises that the monks who at one point could not even sit straight for meditation, and were the weakest of the weak, had joint pains and back pains, got transformed into the Shaolin warrior monks with bodies of steel, just by performing these exercises for about 100 days. It is said that all the variations of Chi Kung and Tai Chi spring from these Yi Ji Jing Exercises. These exercises are also said to be the Mother of the well known Shaolin Kung Fu.
It is said he also wrote a book called I Chin Ching which contains 49 postures. These postures are very similar to Advanced Yoga Postures only difference is that these are held for a long period of time( for 49 Breaths) and while breathing you keep our tongue rolled up. And you wear canvas shoes while doing the I Chin Ching Postures.
Coming back to Yi Ji Jing There are three variation in which the Yi Ji Jing exercises are performed.
One is a Soft Version
One is a Hard Martial Arts Version
And the Third is some where in between, which is a static version. I found two excellent videos for the Soft Yi Ji Jing and the Hard Yi Ji Jing am yet to find a video for the Static version of the Yi Ji Jing. May record one and post it up.
Perform these exercises with 49 Repetitions or you can hold the postures for 49 Breaths.
Soft Yi Ji Jing
Hard Yi Ji Jing
The best times for these exercises are early mornings. And in a little cool atmosphere. Shouldn't really be done in extremely hot conditions.
My personal experience with these exercises has been that these have highly relaxing and energizing both for the body and the mind. My advice to those who train mostly in these soft exercises is to reserve one day in a week or fortnight to work out the fast twitch muscle fibers, with Yi Ji Jing Hard style and explosive exercises, such as kickboxing.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment