Thank you sifu, and sorry for the late reply. 🙂

Hi Lovlesh. If it’s just normal bad weather (like rain or cold or heat), then it’s fine as long as you’re comfortable. But if it’s a hurricane or some other strong weather pattern, you might want to wait a bit before practicing. Generally speaking, it’s okay to practice as long as it feels right to you.

Since you’re also lifting weights besides your Tai Chi training, I would like to ask you what you think of isometric exercises. Are they harmful compared to other strength exercises like weight lifting and push-ups? Do you also know how to breathe properly during these exercises?

Best regards,

Kan

Great question, Celestine! I’ll answer it in this month’s “Ask Sifu Anthony”.

I have read on your site, when practicing Qigong inside, one should not practice in the restroom, which I can understand. Are there better rooms to practice in than others? Upstairs, in a basement, in a room over the basement?

Best Regards,

Derrick

I’ve done quite a bit of research into the various methods of iron body skills (by which I mean any type of training intended to allow a person to withstand blows without sustaining injury, including weapons). In my studies, I found your advice in this forum:
http://www.wongkiewkit.com/forum/showthread.php?1321-Taijiquan-and-Golden-Bell/page2&s=4a580e6df758e44dee1d01a521fdff53

As I am someone who practices taichi, and absolutely -loves- zhan zhuang, I was delighted to hear you explain that practicing internal methods alone can eventually result in the byproduct of iron skills.

Here’s my confusion though- I’ve rarely read anything else expressing this idea. All iron body/golden bell/iron palm/etc. methods worth anything have always emphasized the importance of qigong, but only in conjunction with striking objects/being struck by objects at some stage in the training.

So while, in theory, I want wholeheartedly to believe that zhan zhuang alone with develop iron skills, I just don’t see many people advocating that view. For instance, let’s take one of the 72 Shaolin Arts, the Iron Broom. For this method, the student is supposed to first cultivate the ability to stand in a horse stance for a couple of hours. Then he is to begin kicking a post buried in the ground until he can break it in half without injury. Simple enough. But if, as you say, zhan zhuang is enough to develop iron shins over time, then why does the author not simply say, “Cultivate the ability to stand in a horse stance for a couple of hours. Now continue doing this. Eventually you’ll be able to break stuff.”

Sorry for the long post. I just wanted to be clear. I love zhan zhuang, and I love simplicity. I would rather cultivate the iron arts holistically and from the inside-out, rather than practicing a bunch of separate external methods (i.e., iron palm, iron finger tips, iron forearm, iron abdomen, etc.). Your advice would be most welcome.

Sincerely,
Danny

PS- Do you know of any masters I can read about, historical or current, who have obtained the iron skills through zhan zhuang?

Great question, Jacek! I’ll answer it next month.