181. Genchitaofu Baguazhang's Neigong - 艮氣道福八卦掌の內功

Neigong 內功 is the internal practice of developing one's inner strength. In layman's terms, neigong deals with the flow of qi 氣 around and within the practitioner's body. And on a much deeper level neigong is practiced in an effort to harmonize what Chinese call the three treasures or Sanbao 三寶. The three treasures are called: 精 Jing or essence, 氣 qi or energy, and 神 Shen or spirit. While to Chinese these three treasures are three separate and distinct things, in English it can get a little confusing because we tend to use the same word "spirit" interchangeably. And so for the western English mind Jing, Qi and Shen are sometimes one and the same thing. To give you an example, when I am talking about a person's spirit, it is usually taken to mean a person's soul which equates to Shen 神, as in a person's spirit went to heaven after death. Or indirectly to energy as in Qi 氣 when I refer to a person being full of spirit and lively. But the word spirit comes from the Latin word "spiritus" which originally meant the male life force that is given to the woman to produce life; in this context spirit means Jing 精 or semen. Now the practice of Neigong is also strongly associated with Daoist thoughts and beliefs, and so neigong has come to also mean the Tao 道 or the way itself. And so, when one learns neigong, they are in principle a Daoist. But I must add that while in China and to most people Daoism means the religion by the same name, one does not need be a Daoist to follow the way. For that is a grave misconception: The Dao or Way is simply the path you walk. In Baguazhang 八卦掌, the practice of Neigong is an integral path of the Bagua forms. Over time a Baguazhang master comes to the understanding that walking the circle while doing the palms, one's internal spirit is activated by the will to learn these things. The neigong part of Baguazhang comes into its own when the practitioner stops desiring for an external physical manifestation of their skills and abilities, and instead surrenders themself to the process of walking the Tao 道.