Chapter

14

Mulan Quan Basic Short Form

In This Chapter

If Mulan Quan’s main benefit could be put into one word, it would be self-esteem. The artistry of its forms and the mental healing of its practice expand and enhance our self-perception. Mulan’s elegant promotion of grace and agility make it perfect for women, yet great for men, too.

See Web Video Support’s About Mulan Styles, which shows brief samples of this chapter’s Mulan Basic, and also the Fan and Sword styles that will follow in Chapters 15 and 16. The video speaks of expanding feminine power, but men should not feel excluded. In Chinese philosophy based on the Yin Yang symbol, both men and women share masculine and feminine aspects, and that we reach our maximum potential by finding balance between the two. This isn’t a sexual issue, but a way of approaching the world, the Yin Yang represents the balance of nature: hard-soft, dark-light, force-yielding, etc.

Mulan Quan is a rather modern form of T’ai Chi, but it is derived from an ancient, nearly extinct form of Hua Chia Quan (Hua is “flower,” Chia is “frame,” Quan or Chuan is “fist”; together they mean “beautiful boxing style”). The Mulan Quan T’ai Chi short form comprises 24 powerful yet delicate movements that flow one into the other. This chapter introduces the first 10 movements of the Mulan style of T’ai Chi, which are also exhibited on the Web Video Support’s Exhibition of Entire Mulan Basic Short Form where you can view the rest of the 24 Mulan movements as well.

Because T’ai Chi is constant movement, this edition of the book provides this highly useful Web Video Support to expand on the chapter’s photos and general text descriptions of the Mulan basic short form. As you saw in Chapter 13, where we provided detailed step-by-step instruction of that T’ai Chi long form, it took a lot of pages to flesh out all the details. Due to our limitation on page count, this Mulan Basic Style chapter won’t break the form down with that intensive instructional detail. But I do want to expose you to various forms of T’ai Chi, so this chapter and the next two will give you overviews, and complete form exhibitions. However, this chapter’s Web Video Support’s Mulan Step, Spread Wings, and Float does provide a deeply detailed instructional on the first three basic Mulan-style movements, in addition to the video exhibition of the entire style, so you can have a rich understanding of Mulan and also a good idea of what class instruction might look like.

Mulan Quan Promotes Elegance and Health

The physical elegance of Mulan Quan gives the practitioner a regal appearance that is mesmerizing. The practice of its forms has a wonderful impact on its practitioners’ self-esteem. However, the mental healing is just the beginning because this vehicle enhances our physical beauty as well as our physical health:

KNOW YOUR CHINESE

Mulan Quan is a highly effective beauty regimen for women. Its ability to simultaneously instill a sense of deep personal power and elegance in motion literally changes the practitioner’s personality and outlook on life. This living embodiment of power, grace, and artistry actually transforms the practitioner. No external cosmetic can come close to the beauty treatment Mulan Quan offers. However, with a more beautiful being within, anything you adorn yourself with externally will be very effective.

Mulan Quan is recommended for many ailments and chronic diseases, including obesity, heart diseases, insomnia, and lower-back problems. (Chinese T’ai Chi masters often say, “You are as young as your spine is flexible.”) Reports from Chinese hospitals indicate Mulan Quan has been very useful in stroke rehabilitation treatment and as an adjunct therapy for cancer patients. The Beijing Cancer Center used Mulan as a physical therapy for patients, who then saw improved appetites, weight gain, and better overall health.

If you haven’t already, begin this section by viewing the Web Video Support’s Exhibition of the Entire Mulan Style Basic Short Form section to get a moving visual of the power and grace of Mulan T’ai Chi before continuing.

SAGE SIFU SAYS

Step East to Lotus

This series of movements rotates both your upper and lower body joints while promoting a deep sense of tranquility. These movements improve your balance and promote an expressive attitude of elegance. The insights in this chapter go deeper than a video or live class could, due to the time limitation of classes and video. However, live-class moving instruction offers a right-brain quality that adds a soothing and hands-free learning dimension. This chapter’s Web Video Support gives you a video example of what live Mulan instruction might look like, with detailed instruction on the Step in the Eastern Direction and Spread Wings to Lotus movements in this section, as well as on the Floating Rainbow movement that begins the next section. Again, you’ll have a good feel for what class instruction might look like after viewing this on the Web Video Support’s Mulan Step, Spread Wings, and Float video.

Step in the Eastern Direction

Step in the Eastern Direction helps you relax into your forms. This initial motion’s liquid quality places the mind in a pool of tranquility as it prepares the body for what’s to come.

Spread Wings on Lotus

This motion fully rotates the shoulder joints, which can begin to loosen some of the daily stress that tends to accumulate there. This movement challenges and improves your ability to balance, as it carries you through a transitional move toward the next movement.

This is the preparatory movement leading to lifting the left leg.

Elegance and balance are the hallmarks of this form. This movement rotates and begins to release deep tensions in the hip sockets and surrounding tissue.

Float Rainbow to Golden Lotus

This series begins with deep loosening throughout the upper body and out to the fingers. Yet it continues to open Qi’s flow throughout the entire lower body as well.

Floating Rainbow

This beautiful extension lives up to its lovely name. Floating Rainbow tones the body and exercises the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and finger joints.

Sit on Golden Lotus

While promoting grace and balance, Sit on Golden Lotus works the thighs and legs. Some feel that the demands T’ai Chi puts on the thighs very effectively promotes circulation to the lower extremities, which allows the heart to work less hard to oxygenate the body.

OUCH!

Ride Wind to Dragon Flying

These motions promote a very subtle internal awareness of balance and movement. Every part of the body is worked and loosened in this series.

Ride With Wind and Waves

A very subtle shifting of the weight between the front and back legs exercises all the muscle groups in the lower body. The arm movements likewise loosen joints and tonify muscles throughout the upper body.

Dragon Flying Toward Wind

This movement is a very subtle internal motion that focuses awareness within.

Purple Swan Tilts Its Wings

See Web Video Support’s Purple Swan Tilts Its Wings for a look at how movements might be broken down in a live class (www.idiotsguides.com/taichi).

Nearly every muscle is loosened and strengthened by this move, but the abdominal muscles benefit especially. This series promotes spinal flexibility.

This exquisite movement is not only beautiful to the eye, but it also promotes health, balance, and flexibility through the torso and spine.