Daoist Eight Pieces Brocade 道家八段錦

For more than eight centuries, the Eight Pieces of Brocade has been one of China’s most widely practiced cultivation sets. Its eight movements are simple enough for anyone to learn, yet deep enough to repay a lifetime of practice. In this ten-lesson course, Master Han Ji Xiang presents the Daoist tradition of Baduanjin through four levels of practice: a health-preserving exercise (養生健身操), a qigong method for guiding breath and qi (氣功導引術), a way of integrating internal strength (內功勁力整合法), and the foundation of Daoist inner alchemy (金丹築基階). At the center of every lesson is the method of 鬆身順氣, relaxing the body so the qi can flow freely. It turns each outward movement into an inner one, a practice of breath, intention and connected strength.

If you have never trained before, you sit at a desk all day, or you simply want to feel better in your own body, this course meets you where you are. Each movement is taught step by step and builds gently on the one before. You’ll open the chest and back, release a stiff neck and shoulders, stretch the waist and the back of the legs, and settle the breath and mind. For days when time is short, you’ll learn a condensed version of the first four pieces. A complete seated Baduanjin set lets you practice from a chair if standing work isn’t right for you.

For experienced martial artists, the same eight pieces lead somewhere much deeper. Master Han shows how 拉弓 Drawing the Bow builds 開弓蓄勁, strength that is stored and stretched open: relaxed without going slack, extended without going stiff. He shows how the opposing pull of 單舉手 develops central balance and internal power, and how 馬步鑽拳 links the legs, hips and fists into one unbroken line of strength. A partner Baduanjin set (雙人八段錦), taught across the final four lessons, lets you feel opening and closing, softness and firmness, and the transfer of force against a real partner. Whatever your starting point, this course will give you a daily practice to nourish life, sharpen your awareness, and strengthen your foundation for many years to come.

About 韓基祥 Han Jixíang Laoshi

Master Han Ji Xiang is the grandson of Grandmaster 韓慶堂 Han Qing Tang, the top graduate of the Central Guoshu Institute’s first class and a legendary master of Northern Shaolin Changquan. Master Han began training as a child. He later graduated first in his class from Chinese Culture University’s Department of Guoshu, and he founded 韓門武集功夫學苑 Han Men Wu Ji Kung Fu Academy in Taipei. He is also the head Shifu of Tsang Wu Ge’s Changquan Shu, where he carries on his grandfather’s art. His training spans Changquan, Praying Mantis, Taijiquan and Wudang qigong, and he has taught at several of Taiwan’s leading universities. He sees martial arts as lifelong self-cultivation, and in this course he opens the deeper, inner side of Daoist Baduanjin to every student.

$100