"There are many ways of practicing the standing meditation exercise.  By training with different methods, you will obtain different results.  The "WUJI"standing meditation exercise is a relatively simple exercise among the many and various types of gong (fu) training but it is  also an extremely important type.

In order to practice the "WUJI" training, you must first calm your mind (Xin Jing).  Once your mind is calm, you can then begin to relax your body, as if the four limbs and all the bones of the body [ie. the body] are not there.  Your thoughts gradually become like an illusion, [you are] in perfect stillness, with only a glimmer of life force potential (Qi Ji).  [You must] wait until the time when [your mind] becomes totally still, then the life force starts to move.  When "Qi"   (life force) moves, then "Tai Ji" comes in to being.  In all the methods of "Qi Gong" training, "Wu Ji" [the formless] is the source of origin [of Tai Ji].

How to Practice the " Wu Ji" Standing Meditation Training:

Stand with both feet as wide as the width of your shoulders, with the knees slightly bent.  Stand [naturally] upright, with the whole body relaxed.  At first, let the two hands hang by the sides of your upper thighs (kua);  then, very gradually raise the two hands in a gathering motion to a position in front of your abdomen, the left hand outside of the right hand (women place the right hand outside).  Touch the upper palate with the tip of your tongue, lightly close your two eyes, and use your "inner vision" (Nei Shi) to see [ie. to direct your attention to] your "dantian" (an acupuncture point below the navel).  After you are standing in the proper posture, you first have the idea that you are taking the "Zhuo Qi" (turbid or Yin Qi) from above the top of your head and lowering it downward;  you can just visualize a ball of vapor (or cloud) dropping downward from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet, and then, gradually spreading outward.  At the same time, as the turbid or Yin Qi moves downward, each part of the body in turn relaxes.

After your entire body is relaxed, direct your thought to your "zu qiao" spot [the sinus area between the two eyes].  At the same time, use your "inner vision" to look downward to the "dantian" on a line [from the  "zu qiao"].  This is convenient for subconsciously setting aside the sensations og the outer world from the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.  [You should] only use your attention [or thought] (Yi Nian) to think of and to pay attention to (ting, literally to hear) the subtle and minute changes in your "dantian".  The life force [or internal energy] (qi) is trained with the mind [in a state of perfect] calm (jing win lian qi).  This is conducive to sealing off the "four gates" (meaning your eyes, ears, mouth, and nose), or, is also expressed as "chaining the monkey of your emotions, and tying the horse of your intellect".  Then, in a deep [state of contemplation] you gradually feel that your "internal energy" (nei qi) penetrates throughout your body to the pores of your skin where it mixes together with the external "qi" (wai qia0 of nature.  ["wai qi" is possible a reference to the air we breathe.]  This produces a free and easy feeling in your body and mind almost to the point of intoxication or a feeling such as you're about to become an immortal (tao ran yu zui piao piao yu xian zhi gan).  This is convenient for entering a state of quietude, [while] still keeping your thoughts acumulating on the "dantian".

After standing quietly for 45 minutes to an hour, you perform the closing exercise (shou gong).  While performing the closing exercise, your two hands lightly touch your abdomen and make circles around your navel, following a counterclockwise pattern of upward on the left [side] and downward on the right {side} circular self massage [of the abdomen area] (women follow a clockwise pattern, upward on the right [side] and downward on the left.)  The speed should be slow and even.  Gradually, the circular path of the two hands  [as they massage the abdomen] should be enlarged during the course of thirty-six circuits, the two hands lightly massaging as high as the chest above the breast and as low as the lower abdomen below the navel.  After turning thirty-six circles, [change the direction to ] upward on the right and down ward on the left following a clockwise pattern (women follow a counterclockwise pattern, upward on the left and downward on the right) massaging in a circle.  The circle described by the hands goes from large to small, and, when the two hands have made twenty-four circuits, they circle the navel once and then stop, very lightly touching the navel area while you stand quietly for a brief time.  when your two hands are lightly touching the abdomen and massaging in a circular pattern, visualize that the inside of the belly (fu qiang) and the two hands are moving together in circles.  After you have been practicing over a long period of time, the perception (Yi) of this inner movement will gradually become apparent, gradually combining together with external movement.  In this way, the "closing exercise" (shou gong) will give one a satisfying result [feeling].

Wait until after your visualization and the movement of your hands has ceased completely, then, your two eyes open very slowly.  Rub your two palms together rapidly to warm them and then massage the face, starting next to the two ears and going up to the top of the head and then down the front of the face to the jaw, pressing the palms against the skin.  Make twenty continuous circuits and then the exercise is ended.

The "Wu Ji Standing Meditation Posture" practice emphasizes combining the mind (Yi) and internal energy or life force (qi) into one.  The "qi" sinks downward into the "dantian", the visualization [of your mind, yi nian = to visualize] concentrates on the "dantian".  from the "dantian", using the mind (yi) to almost imperceptibly guide the breathing cycle (hu xi) is [the meaning of] combining mind and internal energy (yi qi xiang he).  The "dantian" is located at the center of the body, and, according to [traditional Chinese] Yin Yang and Five Elements (wu xing) theory is called "Zhong Yang Wu Ji Tu" [Zhong Yang = Central;  Tu = Earth Element; "wu ji" is possibly an allusion to an old saying "wu ji ju zhong zhen fu si fang" (the governing officer stays in the market town and controls the surrounding countryside), there was an official (military) title of the Western Han Dynasty, c. 48 B.C., namely, "Wu Ji Ziao Wei", see <Ci Hai> (Shanghai 1948) p. 550.]  In practicing this exercise, your power of concentration collects on the "antian", this is the same as planting seeds in the ground ing that you will obtain the result of gradually growing roots and put forth flowers.  Therefore, when you are training in gong [fu] you should use your mind to think upon your "dantian", use your closed-eyes "inner vision" to see your "dantian", and your ears to hear the "dantian" expanding (fang) and contracting (shou) at will.  This causes the mind (Xin) and the spirit (shen) to become concentrated, thus allowing you to achieve the result of gong [fu] training - of being able to enter into a state of quietude.  By practicing the "dantian" mindfulness training (shou dantian) for a long time you will be able to produce "vital energy" (xue qi ) and increase your "innate, inborn energy" (yuan qi)J.  It is for this reason that the masters of old had a saying that came out of their own experience; "Grasp the practice of the circulation of energy in the dantian, the mysteries of Heng energy [of inhalation] and Ha energy [of exhalation] are inexhaustible." (Zhua zhu dantian lian qigong, heng ha er qi miao wu qiong)."

[The above is an excerpt from pp. 7-8 of Master Feng Zhi Qiang's <Chen Shi Tai Ji Quan> with Wang Jie (Beijing 1990);  translated and published by permission of Master Feng - to be continued in the next issue of the Journal.