(Tr. by F C Yue)
老從腳起！
Old age grows from your foot!
樹老根先枯，
人老腳先衰。
For the trees growing too old, first to rot is their root;
For people growing too old, first to fail is their foot.
Why is this so?
Your feet (and knees too: they support your whole body weight every day!) are located farthest from the heart that pumps out oxygenated-blood carrying the essential nutrients out to (and helping eliminate the toxic wastes from) all the tissues and organs... With the heart muscles inevitably weakening over time, the efficiency of the heart functions drops and then the extremities of the body will first suffer.
(that's why long ago i taught my grandchildren, for fun and friendly competition in the park, to "stand on one leg". the one-leg stance forces each leg to become stronger by supporting the whole weight of the body. it's not just training the leg muscles per se. with suitable encouragement and incentives, the young child gains eye-body co-ordination, stability, confidence and slowly learns how to persevere in one's pursuits ...)
from another blog site:
<JKwok9> :
由腳及膝頭負責支撐全身重量可能是西醫的謬誤觀念。要學習放下。只要能捨得放下，把體重放到腳底，人便能更輕鬆。用單腳站立久了，因為撐不住，累了，自自然然就會把更多的力放到腳底下。老人練習用單腳站立（扶着欄杆）是好的。步行亦是好的。每行一步，要用心去感覺腳掌與大地的接觸。>
<JKwok9> :
<[樹老根先枯，
<JKwok9> :
<[樹老根先枯，
人老腳先衰。]
人老亦可以很健康。但"腳衰"就肯定是身體退化了。>
人老亦可以很健康。但"腳衰"就肯定是身體退化了。>
hi, <JKwok9>,
thank you for your comments. (from my own experience, i would say...)
1. <用單腳站立久了，因為撐不住，累了，自自然然就會把更多的力放到腳底下。>
this is true only for the initial few days with the tensed leg muscles when one's first learning to stand on one leg. one should also visualize the leg extending deeply and most firmly into the ground some 50 or 100 feet, like the immovable steel stakes of a high-rise building...
the distinctive "one-leg stance" -- like a fighting crane with both hooked hands raised high at the sides -- is just the first 'popular posture' for beginners (a la the movie "the karate kid"), to impress themselves and the spectators so that they are motivated to do the more and more advanced postures, for even better balance, greater stamina, etc.
if one persists and does the simple one-leg stance over time, then there's no effort involved at all. you just do it 'naturally' and with some ease, standing one-legged for over 20 minutes without knowing it. if you are into taiji, in a long line-up, you can stand on one leg that's not "detectable" by others: though you are still standing on your two legs, one of them actually bears 90% of your body weight, the other, 10%. this is the so-called "substantial" and "non-substantial" leg respectively. (and by twisting your body, with you already "empty leg" you can instantly kick at any assailant --if any, a BIG 'IF'!-- coming from the front, the side or the back!)
2. <老人練習用單腳站立（扶着欄杆）是好的。步行亦是好的。每行一步，要用心去感覺腳掌與大地的接觸。>
yes, but for a seasoned and highly perceptive qigong practitioner, he or she can use the soles of the feet -- the "Bubbling Spring" acupoint -- to actually absorb the fresh and invigorating qi from the grass and the Earth as well in the morning! (and one doesn't have to be bare-footed though this is best for best results.) one can also take in the different qi's from different flowers (with different shades of 'coolness or warmth'), trees (particularly healthy-growing pines and cedars), the lake, river, and the sun, etc. (i'd better stop here as some readers may say this is just a v tall story.)
thank you for your comments. (from my own experience, i would say...)
1. <用單腳站立久了，因為撐不住，累了，自自然然就會把更多的力放到腳底下。>
this is true only for the initial few days with the tensed leg muscles when one's first learning to stand on one leg. one should also visualize the leg extending deeply and most firmly into the ground some 50 or 100 feet, like the immovable steel stakes of a high-rise building...
the distinctive "one-leg stance" -- like a fighting crane with both hooked hands raised high at the sides -- is just the first 'popular posture' for beginners (a la the movie "the karate kid"), to impress themselves and the spectators so that they are motivated to do the more and more advanced postures, for even better balance, greater stamina, etc.
if one persists and does the simple one-leg stance over time, then there's no effort involved at all. you just do it 'naturally' and with some ease, standing one-legged for over 20 minutes without knowing it. if you are into taiji, in a long line-up, you can stand on one leg that's not "detectable" by others: though you are still standing on your two legs, one of them actually bears 90% of your body weight, the other, 10%. this is the so-called "substantial" and "non-substantial" leg respectively. (and by twisting your body, with you already "empty leg" you can instantly kick at any assailant --if any, a BIG 'IF'!-- coming from the front, the side or the back!)
2. <老人練習用單腳站立（扶着欄杆）是好的。步行亦是好的。每行一步，要用心去感覺腳掌與大地的接觸。>
yes, but for a seasoned and highly perceptive qigong practitioner, he or she can use the soles of the feet -- the "Bubbling Spring" acupoint -- to actually absorb the fresh and invigorating qi from the grass and the Earth as well in the morning! (and one doesn't have to be bare-footed though this is best for best results.) one can also take in the different qi's from different flowers (with different shades of 'coolness or warmth'), trees (particularly healthy-growing pines and cedars), the lake, river, and the sun, etc. (i'd better stop here as some readers may say this is just a v tall story.)
No comments:
Post a Comment