The Jedi Training Archive

Exercises- 4- Jedi Exercises

Many Jedi "feats" performed by masters may spread myths of the magical powers of the Force user. Such feats, however, are performed not by the Force or magic, but by skills that haven taken years of hard training to develop. They are no less marvelous because of this.

Horse Stance
Iron Palm
Breathing
Breathing Exercise
Inner Strength
Push-Hands
The Unbendable Arm
Projected Fighting

Horse Stance

One exercise the Jedi student should practice is standing in a special position called Horse-Riding Stance (Horse Stance, for short). It is called this because the position resembles how one looks sitting on a horse- both legs wide apart, knees bent, and back straight. The Jedi should practice this exercise by standing in Horse Stance for as long as one hour at a time.

Through this training the Student develops good balance and exceedingly strong legs.

Along with the physical training, the Jedi does mental exercises. The Horse Stance, for example, should also be done as a "meditation" exercise. This means that while the Jedi is holding this position, he should concentrate very hard on one particular thought. He should not let his mind wander, even though this exercise is extremely boring. He should not move, no matter what. If he has an itch, he cannot scratch it. If a mosquito landed on his forehead, he cannot swat it. The pain is even worse, for holding a sitting position without anything to sit on is very painful indeed. The Jedi has to learn to conquer this pain, to make his mind so strong he can endure it.

With this disciplined training the Jedi develops such good concentration and such keen awareness of his surroundings as it attunes him to the Force.

In addition, students who endure months of pain and struggle with the Horse Stance will be unlikely to crumble under the pressure if they are forced into an actual fighting situation.

Iron Palm

Training in iron palm is usually done in the following way: students begin by repeatedly thrusting their hands into a bucket of very fine sand. They practice daily, and after each session treat their hands with special medicine to keep them soft. When the student becomes used to the sand, they graduate, using the same techniques, to a bucket of small pebbles, then small rocks, and finally iron fillings or ball bearings. When they can finally strike full force into iron, then they have what is known as the iron palm or iron hand. This training can be dangerous, and should only be practiced under the direction of a qualified instructor. It cannot be accomplished without the use of special herbal medicine that will prevent serious injury to the hands.

Breathing

When people lift very heavy objects, they unconsciously breathe in and hold their breath. If they exhaled instead, they would find it very difficult to lift that same object. This feeling of extra strength comes from the operation of the Force.

Even though all people have a connection to the Force, in most cases it is untapped, undeveloped, and uncontrolled. For the Jedi, however, the Force is recognized as the practitioners' primary source of energy, and they consciously train to develop and cultivate the Force.

One exercise for cultivating the Force is meditation. It is done by practicing special breathing exercises while sitting, lying, or standing in certain body positions. Meditation requires that the body be in proper posture and alignment so that the pathways in the body are free and not blocking each other. A beginning posture, for example, is to sit on a chair with back and head in a straight line, thighs parallel to the ground, and knees and lower legs at right angles to the thighs. Hands are on the knees. This is very simple to do, and everyone can try it. From this position, students are taught special ways to breathe, and at the same time, they meditate- that is, they think deeply and concentrate on their breathing.

Horse Stance is an example of a more difficult version of this concept.

Breathing Exercise

Breathe in through your nose to a count of four. Hold your breath for a count of seven, and then exhale for a count of eight beats. Use your heartbeat to set the count. With each breath, let tension flow out of you.

Inner Strength

Practicing these increasingly difficult exercises for many years leads to the development of inner strength. Said another way, people who have inner strength have gained control of the Force inside themselves. Those few who have done so can perform many miraculous feats. Masters can be so powerful they can point a finger in the direction of an opponent, concentrate on sending the Force toward the other person, and almost like the wind, knock down the opponent with this invisible Force.

Through the development of this control of the Force, Masters can also make their bodies extremely light or heavy.

Some Masters can actually produce a kind of invisible force field around their bodies that acts as a shield against attack. Opponents find that when they face the Master in a fight, they somehow just can't begin to attack. On eye contact they feel weak and inept, and will know they have been defeated.

If a person who is stronger then you pushes against you, and you push back head-on with your weaker strength, you will certainly be defeated. If instead you step back and give way in the direction your opponent is pushing, and in addition pull the opponent in the direction he or she is already pushing, you can actually throw your opponent down very hard. This is called using one's strength against her.

Push-Hands

To be done with a partner. Face your partner with wrists and forearms touching. Move your hands, arms and bodies in a prearranged circular fashion, maintaining contact with each other at all times.

In the advanced section of this technique, when person A pushes, B yields, and when B pushes, A yields, both trying to yield at exactly the time they are pushed, and only as far. They don't want to give way sooner or any more than they have to. In this practice, students learn to feel when their opponents are weak or off balance. It also helps them locate weaknesses in their own bodies that they would have difficulty finding if they worked out only by themselves.

In the even more advanced version of this, no special pattern is followed, and students practice free-style Push-Hands. This free-style practice is a very different kind of exercise. The object is to break contact with your partner. You try to escape from your opponent's hands while the opponent tries to keep contact with your hands. At the same time, you want to make sure you stick to your opponent's hands, and your opponent tries to escape from you.

Through Push-Hands practice, one develops keen sensitivity to one's opponents, learns how to "become one" with them and "feel" what they are going to do before they do it.

The Unbendable Arm

An example of how powerful the mind and body are when used together is the Unbendable Arm. Try this experiment with a partner. First, make a fist and push strength into your arm, bending it up a little at the elbow. Then ask your friend to try to bend your arm the rest of the way. You can resist as hard as you want. Since your friend is allowed to use both hands, he or she will probably not have much trouble bending your arm.

Now, take the same position, only this time open your fist and don't put any strength at all into your arm. Relax your shoulder and elbow completely. Instead, pretend that your arm is like a fire hose, and that waves of the Force sent from your mind, like water, are flowing with terrific force through your arm. These powerful waves flow out of your hand and fingertips straight to the ends of the earth without stopping.

If you can really imagine this, really believe this is true, then your friend will find it very difficult to bend your arm. If you think, "Oh, this will never work," or you lose concentration for even a second, then it won't work.

Another experiment of this kind can be done with the whole body. Just stand in one place and have a friend or friends lift you up off the ground. Then, stand in the same place, close your eyes, and think of sending the Force from your mind down into the center of the earth. If you can keep up this concentration without breaking it, your friends won't be able to budge you from the spot.

Projected Fighting

Light a candle and place the flame about a half-inch to an inch away from your extended fist; you then withdraw your hand and practice punching at the flame, while projecting the Force toward the flame using your punch as the guiding force or pathway for it to follow (this skill is taught in the Unbendable Arm). Keep moving the flame farther and farther back as you gain range with this technique.

If one wants to learn how to keep the Force turned on while moving one's body, then it is important to practice an exercise which looks like mowing the lawn. In this exercise, one moves back and forth with one's hands in front as if pushing a lawn mower. While moving, one practices special breathing, keeping one's concentration on the tant'ien area, and sending the Force from the hip area out through the wrists.

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