Qi Resting | Qigong in Yang Lu Chan’s Form
Dan tian qi activation through spirals, clockwise & counterclockwise, men & women
By Eli Montaigue, September 11th, 2026.
Ever been a bit confused with this qigong? Which way do the spirals go? Is it different for women and men, and if so, why? Let me explain….
The other day during class, I got up to this posture in the form, and once again my brain said “clockwise or counterclockwise? Was this one reversed for women?”
This has happened to me many times over the years, including when Dad was alive. I’ve double checked on a video, then gone ahead and started teaching.
Lately, since I put together our new WTBA grading book, I have been working on making absolutely sure that when I publish the new videos on our system, there will be no bum steers, no “typos” no unclear statements.
To do this, I have been triple checking and cross referencing everything! Comparing what I learnt directly from Dad, (Erle Montaigue for those who don’t know me) to all his books, videos and articles. I’ve also done a lot of research and cross referencing with other teachers, both in the WTBA and from other styles. It’s been and continues to be very enlightening.
So, I came to this posture in class, hadn’t thought about it in a long time as I’ve been focussing much more on the first third of late, I felt once again that I was not totally confident in my knowledge of this move. I like to feel 100% sure of what I’m teaching, not just how but also why, then once I understand why something is done a certain way, I rarely forget it. So, the work began.
The first thing I noticed which was quite clear, by the time I was learning the form Dad was also confused about this move! On all the older videos and books, it is very clear which way the circle should go, all stating the same thing. This was back when he was teaching regularly. In the later videos however, when he was not teaching that often, at least not the third part, “Silk Reeling” and “This is how we do it” he was saying to go the other way! ARRHHH!!!!!
No wonder I’ve had confusion around this posture.
However, what I noticed was, a few times when he would start to do it, his body instinctively went the other way from what he was saying, then he would stop and go the way he had said. It ’s quite clear on the video that there is some confusion here.
Before I go any further, please be aware that neither direction is wrong, one way would in my opinion be more fitting with the posture name and purpose, but if you have been doing it the other way, it is only a different more yang activation, you will not have been harming your Qi flow.
What I’ve done, is check all the videos and books of Dad’s, cross reference them to other forms that use the same or similar qigongs, such as the Wudang Finishing Form, then cross referenced all that with various articles on Qigong and TCM. I then put the findings into practice to see what I felt.
Men and women need to do these spirals in opposite directions to get the same effect. If you are something in between, then it’s up to you to do what feels right for you. Neither direction will do you any harm in this specific short qigong, there are some other qigongs however that might cause some issues if you did it the wrong way.
The reason for men and women doing it in different directions, is another deep rabbit whole. In a nutshell though, a man and woman’s polarities are opposite to each other. Therefore, a clockwise circle will have the opposite effect on a man than a woman. Imagine jump starting a car, if the battery’s polarity was reversed, you would have to place the jumper leads the other way round. This doesn’t mean every form you do needs to be done the other way round, the rest of the car is the same, only the battery is different. Most forms should be done both ways anyway, so it is only in some very specific activations where things are reversed.
There are many different reasons and theories behind this in TCM, some even contradict each other. However, it is agreed upon which direction a circle goes for a man or woman to get the desired effect, even if the reason why we should do this can differ.
Ok, so, cross referenced and checked for correctness to the best of my ability, then confirmed by my own practice of how things feel.
This is how it all works…
As a standalone qigong, this would usually be done by first building the qi, the yang, then storing the qi, the yin, you would always do both, yang then yin.
However, in the context of the form, the posture is called Qi Resting, therefore we should use the yin activation. Also, we can look at where it is placed in the form. Just before it, we have the very yang building low movements with Fa Jing, finishing off with pigeon flies to heaven. It would make sense then to follow this section with a settling yin, especially when you see that directly after the movements gradually build from yin, getting more yang into another low squat, then exploding into plum blossoms.
Having this yin resting here fits perfectly.
The final confirmation that this is the correct way for the form, Dad did it the yin way, apart from those two times where he was confused. We’re all human, any master who would claim to have never made a mistake like this, is most likely no master at all. Erle Montaigue was one of the greatest that ever taught Taiji, but of course he can still make a mistake here and there, which he would always admit too when he was alive.
Ok, so how is it done.
the clock should be placed in one of two ways, if doing the more common dan tian qigong with light pressure, where the circle goes up and down, 12 o’clock would be at the top just under your ribs, 6 o’clock down at your pubic bone, 3 o’clock on your left and 9 o’clock on your right. Like the clock is stuck to your belly facing outward.
For this Qi Resting qigong however, the circle goes in deep. 6 o’clock is now where your hands sit, while 12 o’clock is inside you, the clock is facing up to the head, therefore the 3 is still on your left and the 9 still on your right.
I’m not going to try and teach this Qigong here in text, I’m only writing this for those who already know it. I have made a short YouTube video teaching the movement, which has been linked at the bottom of this article. Books are great tools to jog your memory, remind you of things, but you can’t learn this kind of movement from a book.
Breathing.
You should breathe out as you press in and breathe in as you relax out, unless you’re doing a reverse breath, then you would breathe in as you press in and breathe out as you push the belly out.
Personally, I usually use a natural breath with this to aid the settling of the Qi. However, it’s certainly not wrong to do a reverse breath, I will do this if I’m going through the whole form with a very yang martial feel.
Even with the reverse breath, so long as you use the correct spiral in the qigong, you will still get a qi resting effect, only a slightly more yang one.
The natural breath helps lowers stress, slows the heart rate, and helps the body enter a deep state of qi resting.
The reverse breath increases muscle strength in the core and lower limbs, improves physical balance, and stimulates internal vitality in the lower dan tian. Overall, it tends to bring a more yang feel to whatever you are practicing.
Natural breathing is best for beginners, since there is nothing that can go wrong, it’s how we should be breathing most of the time day to day.
Reverse breathing on the other hand if forced or practiced improperly, it can cause chest tension, headaches, or high blood pressure, so it’s best to leave this till later in your training.
I hope this clears up the details for everyone regarding this qigong. As usual, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me.
Here is a link to a YouTube video where I teach this Qigong : https://youtu.be/k6V9OvPFkdE
