The Truth About the Lin Kong Jing (part 4)

 Part 1 |  Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

We're finally to the part of the series, "The Truth About the Lin Kong Jing", that most people have been waiting for:

The actual practice itself.

We're done with theory. Now, it's time to get to work.

Like the rest of the series, my approach to Lin Kong Jing training varies in serveral ways from the "traditional" method. Personally, I feel like these variations are improvements.

But, I'll let you judge that.


Stand Up Like a Man -

Last week I introduced you to the Pushing and Pulling Hands Qigong method.

This qigong acts as a "warm-up" for the Zhan Zhuang, or Standing Meditation, exercises that form the meat of the Lin Kong Jing system.

The traditional Powerful Empty Force system consists of roughly 12 different Zhan Zhuang postures intended to develop 3 subsets of the Lin Kong Jing ability *.

This is way too many postures

It isn't a surprise that the Lin Kong Jing system has so many postures as it is closely related to Yiquan. But, then again, I've always thought Yiquan had too many postures as well.

To simplify things I want you to focus on 4 of the most important postures:


Double-Weighted Posture 1 - "Hands on the Water"(bi-lateral)

You'll be standing with your feet about shoulder width apart or slightly further. Shift your weight so that all of it  rests evenly across the whole surface of your foot. Lightly clench the ground with your toes.

Next tuck your butt in as though you are going to do a slight "crunch" while standing. This will cause your lower back to flatten slightly. As you tuck your butt in you will also tuck your chin in slightly. This will cause the top of your head to rise up a small amount.

Place your tongue to the roof of your mouth, behind your teeth, and begin breathing through your nose. You can utilize either the Buddhist or the Taoist breathing method. (mix it up with both)

Now, bring your arms up with your elbows bent and palms down as shown in the pictures above. Make sure you keep your shoulders relaxed and your armpits "hollow" (imagine as though there are golf balls in your armpits).

A good visualization for this posture is to imagine your hands are resting on top of the surface of water.

Double-Weighted Posture 2 - "High Embrace"(bi-lateral)

This posture is virtually the same as posture 1, except the arm position.

Instead of "resting your palms on top of water", you'll be doing a high "embrace" type posture. Keep the hand high (fingertips about forehead level) and make sure to leave several inches of space between the fingers of each hand.

All other postural requirements remain the same.

"Single-Weighted" Posture 1 - San Ti Shi (uni-lateral)

I've discussed San Ti Shi Posture in detail here.

"Single-Weighted" Posture 2 - "Empty-Step Embrace" (uni-lateral)

This posture is very similar to San Ti except for the hand and arm position.

Your going to be holding you arms in an "Embrace" type posture with the lead hand held about face level and the rear hand at about heart/chest level.

Make sure you relax your shoulders and keep the "golf balls in the armpits" visualization.

During all of these postures make sure you allow yourself to relax (but not so much that you break posture). You should feel your weight sinking into the ground beneath you.

There are other aspects to "rooting" but these will be good for now.

Also, strive to maintain an "aliveness" in your postures - you should feel as though you could "spring into action" at any moment.

"How Long and How Often Should I Hold These Postures?"

There are all kinds of crazy stories about martial arts masters having new students hold Zhan Zhuang postures for ridiculous amounts of time. I've heard as long as two days!

 And all of this was to prove how serious the student was about training.

Other stories describe how some instructors would teach nothing but Zhan Zhuang for as many as three years - again to test the seriousness of the students.

Initially, my instructor, Richard Mooney, and Paul Dong all suggested that Lin Kong Jing practitioners should perform Zhan Zhuang training for roughly and hour a day followed by an hour and a half of seated meditation.

That's two and half hours of training nothing but standing and sitting still!

It's also WAY TOO FUCKING MUCH.

Look, I'm a huge fan of Zhan Zhuang but it is simply irresponsible to tell your students to perform this much standing every day.

Lucky for me, sifu Dragoo ended up telling me the truth.

According to my instructor, a Lin Kong Jing practitioner need only "stand" for about 10-20 minutes a day. In my own training I have found that the 10-20 minute time length is perfect.

We're looking for quality not quantity.

So, here is what a typical 12 minute session would look like:

* Warm up with some Joint Mobility Drills  and Pushing/Pulling Hands Qigong
1. San Ti - hold for 2 minutes each side
2. Double Weighted Posture 1 - hold for 2 minutes
3. Single Weighted Posture 2 - hold for 2 minutes each side
4. Double Weighted Posture 2 - hold for 2 minutes. 
* Finish with 3 reps of "Gathering Clouds".

Pretty simple stuff.

1-2 sessions of  this routine daily is more than enough Zhan Zhuang training.

In the beginning you want to focus on your breathing and maintaining the posture. As you become more and more comfortable in the stances you can begin to add certain visualizations.

Now, Lin Kong Jing training has several visualizations and "meditations" you can use, but early on (and especially for those who are interesting in developing a strong fighting ability) the "Creating a Sense of 'Enemy' Drill" is the most important.

Creating a Sense of "Enemy"

Now this visualization is great for a few reasons

• It helps you overcome come the fear of fighting.
• It helps develop the right "intent" you will need should you find yourself in a violent encounter.
• It helps you develop more self confidence and may help you project that self confidence so any would-be attacker may think twice before trying anything. (this is the real Lin Kong Jing)

This visualization is incredibly simple. 

In Paul Dong's book, and the way I was originally taught, a special stance was used for this visualization. But I don't like the stance and prefer to use either one of the "Single Weighted" stances or just a standard fighting stance. 

In general I just use a typical Muay Thai/Kickboxing style stance.

Now get in stance and face a wall/heavy bag/tree. Next, imagine as though what you're standing before is actually a very strong opponent or attacker. This person wants to kill you and everyone you love.

You really have to get this image in your head and really experience the emotions it creates. Feel your heart rate increase. Feel the anxiety and anger, but control it - direct it at your target. Feel yourself becoming ready to attack at any moment. Your whole body should feel as though you are about to lash out at this person. 

It has to be real in your mind. 

Hold this visualization for 2-5 minutes while standing in your your stance. 

Another way you can use this visualization is just prior to and during a shadowboxing/heavy bag session. Some of the best fighters in the world visualize beating their opponent during training before they ever step inside the ring or cage with them.

You don't have to do the drill every day, but the more often you do it the better results you will see. 

Make sure you spend a time daily in silent seated meditation to help balance out this drill.  

Conclusion - 

We're almost at the end of the series. 

In the final post I want to address some of the controversies surrounding the Lin Kong Jing and give you guys my opinions on them. 

Also, I want to point out that there are other meditations and visualizations utilized in the Lin Kong Jing system. Some are useful while others are not. I'll be creating a post on power development used in (Xing)Yiquan and the Lin Kong Jing which will have the drill I have found most useful. But I want to wait and have that as a stand alone post. So, you guys will have to wait until then (I promise it won't be too long). 

Train Hard, 

Josh Skinner

* Paul Dong talks about three different versions of the Lin Kong Jing ability. One version deals with using "Qi" to attack pressure points, other focuses on developing large amounts of physical power called "Shi Jing" or solid force, and the third type is a more general type of "Qi" which focuses on knocking people down with your energy. 


A fourth type of Lin Kong Jing is the type I teach and develop. It focuses on the development of "Shi Jing" and a powerful fighting intent/spirit.