Ming MemMing Men Opened

Bai Hui, Ming Men and Wei Lu are three acupuncture cavities that play a big role in Tai Chi training and practice. Among the three, Ming Men is of the most important.

There are only very small group of people who really obtained so-called the internal Kung-Fu or internal energy, almost without exception, they first obtained the techniques how to exercise their Ming Men and penetrate the Qi into the backbone.

Tai Chi is focus on working the spine. These are the words telling you how to do it. These three words are generally regarded as “the inside secret of training”. Once you understand the meaning of these words you’ll be able to put them into practice and benefit from the results.

Bai Hui Xuan means the crown of head suspending from above. Have your head standing on your shoulders instead of sitting there. As long as your head is lifted up so does your spirit. The entire body becomes light and agile when the crown of the head is suspended from above. To suspend head properly and to keep neck straight, you tuck in your lower Chin slightly as if to conceal your throat. You will find that your neck is a little bit stretched and your shoulders relaxed. This also makes your head be on alert and under the protection of Qi. There is a saying in the classics, “Conceal your throat and challenge all the heroes in the world”.

Ming Men Tu means convex “the small of the back”. Ming Men is “the small of the back”. Tu means convex. The more frequently used phrase is Kai Ming Men that has the same meaning as Ming Men Tu. Ming Men in Chinese stands for “the door of life”. Kai Ming Men means open the life door to stay alive. Ming Men as an acupuncture pressure point is located on your spine where is the most concave spot. To open Ming Men refers to convex “the small of the back” and make it bow out.

As the name implies the meaning, Ming Men has significant importance in Tai Chi and Qi training. It is said in the classics, “The life and liveliness of each of the movements originates at the center of waist”. To make sure Ming Men function well, it is important to make sure that the Ming Men area is light and agile. The waist up goes up and waist under goes down. There should be not much weight or pressure on Ming Men. Each disk should be separated from each other not one on the top of the other.

Wei Lu Shou means to tuck in the last tailbone. Wei Lu functions like a steering that decides the whole body posture and movements correct or not. It is said in the classics, “The tailbone is tucked in and centered, and the head is up with spirit, the entire body becomes light and agile when the crown of the head is suspended from above.

Wei Lu also serves as the ending point of the torso bow (one of the five bows of body, the other ending is Ying Tang, the third eye) and always tucks in when prepares to shoot.

Just remember, always keep your head suspended, but bow out your Ming Men and tuck in your Wei Lu whenever you do reverse exhaling (this is the time when you finish each movement in your solo practice or when you make punch or take punch).