SMALL UNIVERSE AND OVER-TRAINING
The Small Universe
Question
As the Small Universe provides its practitioners with a smooth continuous flow of energy around the Du and Ren Meridians and distributes the chi from them to the other wondrous meridians, can we affirm that the Small Universe at some point reduces or even eliminates the over-training symptoms of practitioners? Can you please elaborate on this statement, explaining why it is true or false?
Davy
Answer
The Small Universe enables practitioners to have a continuous flow of chi, or vital energy, round the Ren Meridian and the Du Meridian. The Ren Meridian and the Du Meridian, also called the Conceptual Meridian and the Governing Meridian, are the seas of chi, where all the chi of the 12 primary meridians flows to or from.
However, the other 6 of the 8 Wondrous Meridians are different. The chi in the Ren Meridian and the Du Meridian may not flow into these 6 secondary meridians.
In theory, the meridian systems links to every part of the body of a person. But in practice many parts of the body are blocked in almost all persons, except those who successfully take a special course like clearing the Eight Wondrous Meridians which is very rarely offered. Those who attend the Small and Big Universe Course will have a chance to clear all the wondrous meridians.
The Small and Big Universe is a very advanced course. Very, very few people will have a chance to really attain the Small Universe and the Big Universe. We in Shaolin Wahnam are ridiculously privileged.
Attaining the Small Universe and the Big Universe, or any advanced chi kung or kungfu arts on one hand, and over-training on the other, are different issues. Even a practitioner at a low level of a chi kung art can over-train. Over-training occurs when the physical body of a practitioner cannot cope with the tremendous increase of energy, and not because the art is elementary or advanced.
If an art is advanced, which means a lot of energy is generated, presuming that all other things were equal, it is more likely for over-training to happen. But in real life all other things are not equal. The physical body of Shaolin Wahnam members can take more energy than that of ordinary person. Shaolin Wahnam members also understand a lot of chi kung philosophy, including over-training.
Some of those who use chi kung techniques to practice gentle physical exercise, which means most chi kung practitioners in the world today, over-train, but the over-training is mild that they soon overcome it, often without their knowing.
One may ask how can those who practice gentle physical exercise over-train as they do not generate energy.
When I mentioned earlier that over-training occurred when the physical body could not cope with the tremendous increase of energy, I was referring particularly to our Shaolin Wahnam members. Here is a good example that chi kung terms are often used for convenience, and are not scientific definitions.
The concept of yin-yang harmony is useful to explain over-training.
In our case, yin represents the physical body, and yang represents an increase of energy. If the physical body can cope with the increase of energy, which means there is yin-yang harmony, over-training does not occur. If there is a rapid and large increase of energy, and the physical body cannot cope with the increase, although the body is healthy, over-training occurs.
In the case of other people, yin represents the physical body, and yang represents physical exercise. If the physical body can cope with the physical exercise, or there is yin-yang harmony, over-training does not occur. If the physical body cannot cope with excessive physical exercise, over-training occurs.
It is interesting to note that in our case over-training is due to too much energy, whereas in the case of most other people over-training is due to insufficient energy. Other people over-train when they have used up their energy in excessive physical exercise.
Over-training concerns a balance of the physical body and the amount of energy, and not whether the art is elementary or advanced. Our family members practicing the Small Universe or the Big Universe will not over-train if they ensure that an increase of energy is within the capacity of their physical body.
Hence, your statement that the Small Universe can reduce or even eliminate the over-training symptoms of practitioners is false.
It is worthwhile to note that we need to ensure a balance between an increase (or decrease, in the case of physical exercise) of energy and the capacity of the physical body, not the need of the physical body.
Suppose the need of the physical body is 20,000 units of energy, and the capacity of an ordinary person is 25,000 units of energy, leaving 5,000 units as reserve.
In other words, with 20,000 units of energy he can carry out his daily life, like walking about and having his meals. If he has to run, he may soon be tired and out of breadth, as he has used up 30,000 units of energy which exceeds his capacity of 25,000 units.
Because a Shaolin Wahnam student has learnt how to generate energy, his capacity is more. Suppose his capacity is 50,000 units, but his need is also 20,000 units. In other words, he needs 20,000 units of energy for his daily work. But he has the capacity to do twice the amount of work done by an ordinary person. When he runs, he only uses up 30,000 units of energy, so he may not be tied or out of breadth.
If he attended the 1000 Steps Course in Finland, he can run even better. He uses only 5,000 units of energy, not 30,000 units, for physical movement, and this 5,000 units as well as the other 25,000 units for running will be replenished from the Cosmos the next time he breathes in, and the result is that he will have more energy at the end of the run than when he started.
Those who will attend the coming Small and Big Universe Course will have similar effects. They won’t be tired or out of breadth in running or in doing any physical work. In case I forget to tell the class how to transfer the skills of the Small Universe to doing daily work without being tired or out of breadth, those attending the course please remind me. Having attained the Small Universe, practitioners will have not just 50,000 units as his energy capacity, but he will have at least 100,000 units. In other words, he will be able to perform at least 4 times more work than ordinary people.
The questions and answers are reproduced from the thread 10 Questions on Small and Big Universe in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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