Ba Guas

12 Standing Postures
& the Meridians

This PDF expands on the book, Ba Gua Nei Gong Vol. 3: Twelve Posture Standing. One of
the interesting things about the Chinese internal arts is the many different levels of
practice possible even in the most fundamental exercises. Ba Guas 12 Standing Postures
are a good example of this. Each posture builds strength and develops power by
creating spiral twists that run through the whole body. These lines of torsion increase
the power at the endpoints (For example: the extended hand, or the foot rooting into the
floor) by lining up the body to create a unified structure. The postures also open and
close the cavities of the body the spaces that hold the organs and through which Qi
and blood flow. A specific posture guides or draws the Qi and breath, so that it flows
more to one area than another. Through a similar mechanism, the postures also open
and activate the Jing-Luo (channels and collaterals) or meridians. Each posture opens
and activates a different meridian or group of meridians.
This article makes the assumption that you are familiar with the Jing-Luo and their
general pathways. Much of this material is covered in some detail the book, Ba Gua
Circle Walking Nei Gong, the Meridian Opening Palms of Ba Gua Zhang. The Circle Walking
Nei Gong postures have their own correspondences with the Jing Luo and the interrelationship of the walking postures and the standing postures is not only interesting,
but forges many critical internal body connections.
When talking about the relationship of postures and movements to meridians, we need
to be careful of the Western tendency to simplify things and break them down into their
component parts. The body is an organic whole. When you move one part of the body
you create global effects throughout the entire organism. Therefore, when we say a
posture activates a particular meridian, this does not mean that it does not also effect
other parts of the body or other meridians. To some degree each of the postures has
global effects throughout the body. Opening

and activating a meridian, in this

context, means that the posture has a tendency to lead, draw and guide Qi and breath
more into that meridian or group of meridians than others. This tendency can be further
augmented through application of the mind-intention.
It is important to keep in mind that the Meridians or Jing Luo are not merely lines of
energy that run through the body, but are contiguous and include in their trajectory the

soft tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia) . In this regard, it is useful to hear the
words of senior acupuncturist Wan Ju Yi:
Narrowly speaking, one might say that the channels are spaces(jian xi) in the body. In
a larger sense, the concept of channel refers not only to the spaces, but to everything
wrapped within them. In this definition, the concept broadens to include not only the
spaces within the connective tissues, but also the structures (and fluids) held and brought
together by these connective tissues. A channel is then like a river in that it includes the
riverbanks and also the complexity of life within the water itself held by those banks. In
the body, the channels are the groupings of connective tissue, that bring together the
blood vessels, bones, lymphatic vessels, nerves, tissues and interstitial fluids within their
purview.1
It is also tempting to make things fit a specific model or theory. In this case we know
there are 12 main meridian. It would be very convenient and tidy if the 12 postures
matched up with the 12 meridians in a one-to-one correspondence. However, this is not
the case. Once one lets go of this notion, and includes the Eight Extraordinary Channels
(Qi Jing Ba Mai), the actual correspondences between postures and meridians are far
more interesting as can be seen in the following list .

Applied Channel Theory in Chinese Medicine: Wang Ju-Yis Lectures on Channel Therapeutics
by Wang Ju-Yi and Jason Robertson Seattle: Eastland Press, 2008, p. 13.

1. Old Monk Offer the Alms Bowl: Hand & Foot Yangming

2. Hiding Flower Under Leaf: Du Mai

3. Green Dragon Turns Its Head: Hand & Foot Shaoyin and
Hand Taiyang

4. Hawk Overturns Its Body: Hand & Foot Taiyin

5. Black Dragon Searches the Sea: Foot Taiyang

6. Yin Yang Coiling Dragon: Dai Mai And Bao Mai

7. Wing Spreading Flying Palm: Ren Mai & Foot Yang Ming

8. White Ape Offers Peach: Chong Mai

9. Dragon Crouches on the Ground: Yin Qiao Mai & Yang Qiao
Mai

10. Embrace the Moon to the Breast: Hand Jueyin & Hand
Shaoyang

11. Three Plates Fall to the Ground: Foot Jueyin & Foot
Shaoyang

12. Unicorn Spits Out the Book: Yin Wei Mai and Yang Wei Mai