Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
6/18/2013: On Ben Lo’s Camp and his practice of standing gong:
Both Julian and Dr. David Walls-Kaufman (disciple of Ben) had some interesting testimonials of some of the training that went on at the camp. In particular the morning standing training at the camp.
Ben had been practicing standing for the last 4 years and nobody could push him over while he just stood, even when more than one person ganged up on him. It was a testimonial to how important standing is. Dr.David, whom I train with a lot, always does a ton of standing in his class, can really toss people effortlessly in push hands based on his years of standing gong training. He says he is nowhere near the level of what Ben Lo has attained through hard work (gong fu). They said that originally the Taijiquan was trained as standing postures and eventually they became strung together.
Julian and David both spoke about their experience with Ben Lo and the
importance of standing. Standing Gong requires 2 very important factors:
1. Empty mind- thoughtless mind, Wu ji mind- mind has to be in the here and now,
no extraneous thoughts, “monkey mind”, or internal chatter. You can not do
standing gong with mind distracted without clarity. If you can’t do this then
part 2 is useless.
2. Once mind is under control you can begin to make self corrections, small
adjustments, and refinements of your standing postures. Once that is done, you
can do your neigong work.
6/18/2013: On Ben Lo’s Camp and his practice of standing gong:
Both Julian and Dr. David Walls-Kaufman (disciple of Ben) had some interesting testimonials of some of the training that went on at the camp. In particular the morning standing training at the camp.
Ben had been practicing standing for the last 4 years and nobody could push him over while he just stood, even when more than one person ganged up on him. It was a testimonial to how important standing is. Dr.David, whom I train with a lot, always does a ton of standing in his class, can really toss people effortlessly in push hands based on his years of standing gong training. He says he is nowhere near the level of what Ben Lo has attained through hard work (gong fu). They said that originally the Taijiquan was trained as standing postures and eventually they became strung together.
Julian and David both spoke about their experience with Ben Lo and the
importance of standing. Standing Gong requires 2 very important factors:
1. Empty mind- thoughtless mind, Wu ji mind- mind has to be in the here and now,
no extraneous thoughts, “monkey mind”, or internal chatter. You can not do
standing gong with mind distracted without clarity. If you can’t do this then
part 2 is useless.
2. Once mind is under control you can begin to make self corrections, small
adjustments, and refinements of your standing postures. Once that is done, you
can do your neigong work.
