Hey Tim and All,

I took a little Wu Style Tai Chi, of the Wang Peisheng lineage, and was interested in the way that they focus on certain acupuncture points in their form. I read his book, which detailed the approach and stated that it was easier to focus on one specific point on he body, rather than a part. Made sense. I thought that idea was exclusively Wang Peisheng's.

Last week, I was reading through that massive book "Wushu Elements" and found that in their power development excercises, like "Pushing Apart the Mountains"-where you pretend to be...well, pushing apart mountains, they also say to focus on certain acupuncture points( the ones in the palms of your hands) while doing the excercise.

I'm not sure what the rationale is for this. Any ideas? Is it a chi-gung thing? And if so, what's it supposed to do? Is it a coordination thing?

I'd appreciate any input.

I translated a one of Wang Peisheng's Qi Gong books back in the 90's. He placed a great emphasis on visualizations of specific acupuncture points during the movements of the exercises. I believe Wang's emphasis was based on his idea of Qi Gong, applied to helping the practitioner obtain and maintain specific postural alignments as well as specific focus of intent.

I'd guess the rationale is the same for most other systems using similar points and visualizations.

Thanks, Tim. That makes sense and will be very useful.

What did you think of his concepts overall?

Well, focusing on various small points is not my method, I tend to train with the same intention I'd use when I spar or fight. But if it works for the individual or their interest is in some kind of Qi Gong practice, it may be good for them.

Cool. Thanks for the input, Tim.