EXERCISES FOR ALL SEASONS:

Constant Bear
On page 114 of his book, CHENG MAN-CH'ING, MASTER OF FIVE EXCELLENCES, Mark Hennessy
relates this revealing story about Prof. Cheng and the Constant Bear exercise: "Professor Cheng once
invited Mr. Liu Hsi-heng to his home near Tiapei. When Liu arrived, he could see Cheng through the
front door doing the Bear while editing one of his manuscripts. Cheng continued the Bear and Liu
was certain he had noticed his approach. Finally Cheng looked up and said, 'This single move is
t'aichi - - there is nothing more than this.' "Thus the importance of this move should not be
underestimated. It is the single move which connects and permeates every posture, the string upon
which all are strung. Only through practice of this constant principle can the myriad transformations
occur. Cheng himself said of it, 'The Constant Bear combines the Five Animal Frolics and t'aichi into a
single move.' Seek it and you will receive it; neglect it and you will lose it." ** The following
paragraph is my summary of a passage (too long to quote in its entirety here) that appears on page
122 of Douglas Wile's book ZHENG MANQING'S UNCOLLECTED WRITINGS ON TAIJIQUAN, QIGONG,
AND HEALTH, WITH NEW BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. When Prof. Cheng is asked what exactly does he
mean by "circulating the qi" during Constant Bear practice, Prof. Cheng responds by pointing out
that 5 important energy centers have to be connected while practicing the Constant Bear exercise:
the Bubbling Well (yongquan, KI-1) areas in the soles of the feet; the Palace of Toil areas in the
centers of the palms (laogong, PC8), and the Hundred Convergences center at the top of the head
(baihui, GV-20). What is not present in Douglas Wile's English translation of this passage is the very
important tai chi notion that the weighted foot should connect to the OPPOSITE hand. (Perhaps this
concept is not clearly expressed in the original Chinese characters, which can often be interpreted
and translated in a variety of ways). However, this very important "crisscross" principle appears in
several translations of Prof. Cheng's other writings on tai chi. In my article at this URL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUynvx... I quote several important statements by Prof. Cheng,
and his master, Yang Cheng-Fu which emphasize this "crisscross interconnection" between the
weighted foot and the opposite hand during tai chi practice. I have also frequently encountered this
principle of the "crisscross correspondence of weighted foot to opposite hand" in various tai chi
classes. If we accept Prof. Cheng's assertion that Constant Bear is a quintessential tai chi movement,
then the tai chi principle of connecting weighted foot to opposite hand must also be experienced
while practicing the Constant Bear. Therefore, whenever I do the stationary Constant Bear exercise,
or Prof. Cheng's moving 37 Posture Tai Chi Form, I make a point of paying special attention to this
crisscross correspondence between weighted foot and opposite hand. When all my body weight
drops through the "Bubbling Well" / K1 area of my left foot, I feel a stream of warm-current chi
rising from the center of my weighted left foot, up my weighted left leg, up my spine, through my
right arm, all the way to the center of my right hand (the LaoGung area in the center of my palm),
extending to the fingertips of my right hand. Simultaneously, a gravity line drops from the crown of
my head (the Hundred Meeting Points area), through my weighted left hip-joint, into the K1 area of
my weighted left foot. This gravity line defines a central vertical axis for my body, around which I can
turn left and right, "like a millstone." When all my body weight drops through the "Bubbling Well" /
K1 area of my right foot, I feel a stream of warm-current chi rising from the center of my weighted
right foot, up my weighted right leg, up my spine, through my left arm, all the way to the center of
my left hand (the LaoGung area in the center of my palm), extending to the fingertips of my left
hand. Simultaneously, a gravity line drops from the crown of my head (the Hundred Meeting Points
area), through my weighted right hip-joint, into the K1 area of my weighted right foot. This gravity
line defines a new central vertical axis for my body, around which again I can turn "like a millstone." I
strive to consistently experience this internal chi dynamic not only while doing the stationary
Constant Bear exercise, but also while doing the entire moving CMC 37 Posture Tai Chi Form
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEE9-l... ** Throughout this video, to emphasize this constant
interplay between Yang and Yin, full and empty, substantial and insubstantial as my weight
constantly shifts back and forth from one foot to the other, I shake whichever hand happens to be
opposite a weighted foot at any given moment.

After reading the above mentioned 3 written works very carefully, I've concluded that these are the
main ingredients & key principles of THE CONSTANT BEAR exercise (I've incorporated all of these
elements into my own interpretations of this exercise):

- The waist constantly turns left and right (around a central vertical axis - - the tai chi concept of
"turn like a millstone").

- The Taoist "inner smile" is present. "Make sure you are comfortable, relaxed, and happy."
(Circulating "smiling chi / happy chi" throughout all the cells of the body helps rejuvenate them).

- The head does not move independently of the torso. The nose aligns with the navel during all
movements of the waist. "Your head should not move independently, but moves aligned with the
navel."

- The head is held, as in tai chi, "as if suspended by a string from above." This upward idea elongates
and straightens the spine, creating a vertical central axis around which the entire torso can turn left
and right. The head should not tilt, slump, sag, or droop (the wrong, unintended consequence of the
ever-present tai chi imperative to "relax & sink").

- During each turn of the waist, 100% of the body's weight falls through one weighted foot at a time;
the other foot becomes weightless (the empty foot can be picked up off the ground easily). "Clearly
distinguish full and empty. When you turn left, your weight should be fully on your left leg, making it
as heavy as a mountain. Do the same when you swing onto your right leg."

- The sole of the weighted foot "sticks to the ground." - One unified flow of chi can be felt between
the Bubbling Well (KI-1 point) in the middle of the sole of the weighted foot, the middle finger of the
opposite palm (if the left foot is weighted, the right palm), and the crown of the head. Also the
abdominal tan-tien. All of these areas are interconnected by chi flow.

- This exercise develops "tendon energy" and "total body jing." All tendons throughout the body - -
from the weighted foot's connection to the earth, to the fingertips of the opposite hand - - are
unified during each movement.

- The hands do not move (independently of the torso / body). The exercise probably looks very
similar to the way Prof. Cheng does "Cloud Hands" in his 37 Posture Tai Chi Form. Clearly, Prof.
Cheng's arms and hands DO move during "Cloud Hands" (they aren't frozen motionless, cupped over
his abdominal tan-tien, for example). His hands simply do not move INDEPENDENTLY of the body;
they move as extensions of the central core of his body.

- This exercise develops very flexible waist / hip-joints, and a strong root in the weighted foot. - This
exercise is very symmetrical. Each side of the body is developed equally. For every turn of the
waist/hip-joint on the left foot, there's a turn of the waist/hip-joint on the right foot. Mind-body
coordination is developed equally on both sides of the body. "... use natural breathing. In terms of
taiji principles make the breath calm, slow, fine, and long."

- The mind and chi are held in the abdominal tan-tien.

- The 3 Taoist treasures (ching, chi, shen) are circulated and cultivated throughout this exercise.