1. The importance of training both Qi and Body
In exercise and fitness, training the body usually starts with physical movement. At first, it’s muscle-driven, but muscle-based effort alone quickly leads to fatigue and wear. Inevitably, qi (vital energy) enters the process, unfortunately it’s not as the driving force, It’s like a car engine: it begins with the mechanical movement of pistons, but soon relies on the force generated by the expansion of gas combustion. Real strength doesn’t come from isolated muscles, but from whether the whole body can coordinate its muscle groups to generate power focusing at the single point.
Think of ordinary glass compared with a convex lens: the latter can focus sunlight until it burns. Or think of a baby: when a baby grabs something, the grip feels astonishingly strong. That’s because the baby instinctively recruits the entire body’s muscles. The key to this lies in breathing. Laozi once asked: can you breathe like an infant?
This is especially emphasized in the internal schools of martial arts. A deep breath engages the maximum number of muscles, forming unified strength. It feels like pushing with the chest, yet deeper—where breath not only drives the body but can even connect down to the heels. Through qigong and meditation, one can train the breath to sink into the dantian and even down to the soles, until it becomes second nature. This method is not just for martial arts or exercise—it can also help refine posture in standing, sitting, and everyday movement.
2. Why choose Taiji and the Shakuhachi
I choose Taiji because it shares the same roots as the philosophy of Yin-Yang, the Five Elements, and the meridian system in Chinese medicine. It enhances one’s awareness of their body. As practitioners gradually learn to align their movements with their breath naturally, a state of relaxation evolves into an instinct.
I choose the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) because it reflects and amplified the quality of the breath and the state of your body, breath practice has no rigid measure yet shakuhachi playing has another function: to measure the breath in terms of length, steadiness, smoothness, and softness, and to link it to physical relaxation and comfort. In this way I would say art provides the standard of breath and shakuhachi practice becomes anther use of Eastern music: One enters Dao first, then enters Zen—another way to understand music.
3. Method
We begin with Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, using them as the guiding thread throughout practice. Some movements are adapted to suit small spaces, supplemented by core fitness training (to strengthen core muscle). At first, effort relies on clumsy muscular strength; later, it transforms into the subtle power of qi.
4. In the end
When you can play a high note without tension or when no opponent is present, one trains as if there were; and when an opponent is present, one responds as if there were none.
Then you learn to stay calm and composed at all times. From qi, to form, to mindset—good fortune flows naturally. In Chinese, the words for “luck” and “circulation of qi” are one and the same: yunqi.
