Dì Gōng 地功 Part 2

Dì Gōng 地功 is a Chén Shì Tàijíquán 陈式太极拳 – Chén Style Tàijíquán term and I have only ever heard my Sīfu 師父, Chén Xiǎo Wàng 陳小旺, use it. When a person’s stance is strong we call it Dì Gōng. So they are like a big rock or even a mountain so strong that most people cannot move them. My Shīfu is so strong that when a student tries to push him, they cannot move him. In another of his famous demonstrations he can stand on one leg forward other leg backward as like a bow stance, then a student can push his chest as hard as he or she can and they cannot move him. Then he can have a line to over ten students all trying to push him. He stands holding the first student’s arms and all together they cannot move him! Sīfu’s Dì Gōng is so strong he can stand on one leg, tuck in other leg on the standing leg on the back of the knee, and then hold a cup of tea in one hand and let a student push him as hard as they like, while he is drinking the tea.

When you practise Tàijíquán 太极拳 a lot your Dì Gōng will develop. We can also practise Zhàn Zhuāng 站樁. This is a standing meditation position where we hold the arms up so they make a circle in front of us. We bend the knees, keep our back straight and then close our eyes and relax. The more we relax the more we allow the Qi to flow naturally and the longer we can stand the more our Dì Gōng will develop. My Sīfu 師父, Chén Xiǎo Wàng, can easily stand like this for more than two hours!

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