8 Pieces of Brocade - Ba Duan Jin

Hang’s very first Qi Gong encounter was going in the deep end with the Yang Tai Chi sequence. She loved it so much that she journeyed to China to learn more. Her first Qi Gong encountered was with a young humble teacher that mostly practiced Kung Fu in a system called Lohan. Shaolin monks still practice this system. Initially, he didn’t want to take Hang on as a student. Through perseverance and mostly begging, she was finally accepted as his private disciple. Can you guess the first Qi Gong sequence she learned?

You guessed it, The 8 Pieces of Brocade, or Ba Duan Jin in Chinese. Hang still practices it regularly.

The 8 Pieces of Brocade are eight individual mindful movements (exercises) that are practiced in a silken and smooth way. Over time the breath will be deep and slow to coordinate the slow movement to sync in with the breath.

The 8 Brocades’ history and origin are still unclear but we have an idea that it was mentioned in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) text. It has also been traced as far back as 300 B.C. in Yellow Emperor’s traditional Chinese medical text. Some Qi Gong scholars and historians believe it was developed in the fifth century, some in the tenth century as well as the twelfth century to increase soldier vitality. What is clear is that the practice has helped many practitioners improve their overall well-being, balance, strength, focus and concentration. Today, there are many 8 Brocade traditions and forms but its essence remains the same. The version I’m sharing was taught to me while living in southern China.

The Ba Duan Jin as a whole is broken down into eight separate exercises, each focusing on cleansing and stimulating a different physical area and various qi meridians. The 8 Brocades are also wonderful for anyone with lower back issues. You do not need to practice all 8 Brocades if you don’t have a lot of time. You may want to pick one or two that are most relevant to you in the moment and practice each portion 5-10 times. But I do suggest to always start with #1 Bring Earth to Heaven and to always end with #8 Heaven Falling. And, did you know that you can practice Ba Duan Jin sitting or standing up?