YeokGeun

The more correctly you perform YeokGeun, the more benefits you derive

  What makes GiCheon unique is the principle of YeokGeun (Yeok: to change, Geun: muscle) or locking of the joints. A more refined application of this principle can’t be found anywhere (Korean or Chinese martial arts, yoga, etc), though YeokGeun is widely known -- especially among shaolin kungfu practitioners. It was introduced by Bodhidharma in Chinese as Ijing, meaning to change muscles.

  According to GiCheon lore, Bodhidharma (the 18th generation heir of Mohakasyapa, the founder of Zen and the developer of Shaolin kungfu) learned YeokGeun from the female GiCheon grandmaster named “CheonSeonYeo” (Woman of the Heavens).

  YeokGeun in GiCheon includes much more than the concept as it has appeared in writings which have described it. So important is this principle to the art that it can be said that GiCheon is YeokGeun training or vice versa.

  One requires a few years (at least three) to attain an understanding of what GiCheon YeokGeun means, and even longer to learn how exactly to perform and develop or expand its techniques. I always think that most of these can hardly be taught just through words or writings, but rather requirepersonal instruction from those who have really attained YeokGeun proficiency, because it’s not just a form or exercise.

  One also requires great endeavor and, more importantly, endurance to learn YeokGeun while undergoing characteristics of GiCheon (i.e. ascetic training, the phenomena of Wind, Fire, and Water, natural abdominal breathing, etc). Without experience in any of these, it may be said that you have not learned or trained YeokGeun in a proper way. Perhaps that’s why there’re not so many GiCheon practitioners who have really learned and trained in this crucial principal.

  Firstly, YeokGeun means that one should have his/her muscles and ligaments of the joints as twisted (like squeezing water from a wet towel or clothes to make it dry quicker) as possible. But it is understood that YeokGeun in GiCheon sometimes means to have a certain part of your body fully stretched or bent to a certain angle (i.e. 90 degrees).

  Perhaps that’s why some students get confused with understanding how to do YeokGeun and are unable to learn how exactly to do it through the entire body. Of course, it is important that they first know how to perform at least 6 basic poses in GiCheon.

  According to my understanding, there’re at least two sorts of YeokGeun which one can perform: that in the static poses of GiCheon and that while moving.

  To begin with, one should learn and train in YeokGeun for years in a static way through practicing basic GiCheon movements. While doing so, he or she may realize how to do YeokGeun not only in static poses but also in motion - NaeGa ShinJang can bring the practitioner to realize the culmination (perfection) of activity (movement) by inactivity (a static state).

  YeokGeun stimulates major acupunctural points and Gi channels in the body, unblocking them and circulating Gi effectively in the body. This makes it possible for many ailments and diseases (i.e. scoliosis or slipped discs, shoulder pain, cancer, heart diseases, hypertension, skin ailments, arthritis, paralysis, apoplexy, aging problems, diabetes, chronic headaches, even obesity, etc) to heal naturally.

  YeokGeun also makes Gi circulate in the muscles and joints well and thereby strengthens trainees’ bones and ligaments while developing both the Eum and Yang muscles simultaneously. It intensifies trainees’ abdominal power by aiding the accumulation of Gi in the body. The effect can be understood as expanding and developing three abdomens (lower, middle and upper).

  Korean traditional archery -- called “GakGung” -- is a good example of how the YeokGeun principle can be applied to produce superior performance. The recurve of the bow as it is strung against the flex of the wood (the structure of a Korean traditional bow) generates much energy, propelling arrows much faster, farther, and more powerfully than those shot from bows which are strung with the flex of the wood. The more recurved a bow is, the more power it will have. More importantly, a bow strung in this way doesn’t bring harm or damage to the shooters’ body (especially elbows, shoulders and wrists), so they can shoot longer.

  When beginners perform YeokGeun in their hands, for example, many of them commonly carry tension their shoulders, which they shouldn’t do at all while practicing YeokGeun. Their tense muscles and ligaments in the shoulders, arms and/or wrists won’t allow them to perform YeokGeun properly. Those who don’t have any experience in the methods required for YeokGeun training often find them awkward at first.

  The heart of GiCheon is NaeGa ShinJang. This essential pose allows trainees to perform YeokGeun in the major joints (wrists, waists, knees, and ankles). It is said that there’re three abdomens (upper, middle and lower) and four gates (head in North, nose in the East, palms in the west, and soles in South) in the body. These three abdomens and four gates are linked to each other, making 12 Gi channels.

  NaeGa ShinJang helps trainees unblock Gi flow in these 12 channels and accumulate Gi in the abdomens (especially in the center of the body – the lower abdomen or Ha DahnJeon in Korean). With the aid of this pose, it is believed that Gi courses in circuits through these 12 channels as the Earth rotates around the Sun.

  In short, the longer trainees hold the static pose NaeGaShinJang, the faster their Gi will flow and the more Gi will accumulate. Eventually, this training can allow practitioners to achieve a condition comparable to that of the newly created Earth.

  Like the newly created Earth, the practitioner’s body generates great heat. Other phenomena of the newly created Earth are also manifest: Wind (earthquake, tornado – circular breath to move oceans and mountains), Fire (volcanic rise and release of core temperature), and Water (rain -- cooling sweat).

  As these three elements would mold the newly created Earth, generating the atmosphere, for instance, they will also help GiCheon practitioners generate and circulate Gi in NaeGa ShinJang, expelling the unwanted from the body while accumulating desirable Gi.

  The beneficial effects of Yeok Geun in NaeGa ShinJang are many and complex: the circulation of Gi, degree of flexibility (or stiffness) of muscles and joints, relief of physiological problems, stimulation of (often blocked) acupunctural points and channels, correction of the spine, and so on.

  GiCheon practitioners are taught to overcome countless physiological problems through training basic YeokGeun for months and years. When trainees become ready for moving disciplines and other advanced training, they receive further instruction: martial arts and/or ways of improving inner strength, expanding the three abdomens, etc.