Dao Yin – 導引
“Mǎwángduī texts (馬王堆帛書 Mǎwángduī Bóshū), a collection of manuscripts written mostly on silk that deal with a wide variety of subjects. Among them are some of the oldest copies ever found of classical texts such as the Dàodé Jīng 道德經 or the Yì Jīng 易經. Among the texts devoted to medicine is the illustration known as Dǎoyǐntú, which we can translate as ‘illustration of conduction of energy’. Literally, the term dǎoyǐn translates as ‘to guide and pull’. In the Mǎwángduī texts these methods are referred to simply as yǐn 引, which at that time was used to refer to the physical methods of elimination of pathogenic factors.”
The scroll was found in a tomb of the Hàn 漢 dynasty and dates from 168 BC. It is known as Dǎoyǐntú 導引圖.
Daoyin is dated way before qi gong. Today they are easy to mix only by looking at the forms. And people indeed use these terms mixed up. Yet the difference is quite distinct. The way they supposed to work , sometimes in quality, regarding intention or attention, etc.
We use in this school 2 set of daoyin excrecises in the beginning, later more subtle, yet stronger versions or other excercises. Wu daoyin and Long Daoyin. Long Daoyins, as the form of Four Dragons are creation of Damo Mitchell – Lotus Nei Gong and as such specific, chain-linked set of movements to aid purge pathogens from the spine.
But! As in nei gong it is also important to understand each stage has its layer, and doing daoyins on their own still do not make them effective. If there is no engine behind it, or let alone the practitioner lacks Qi, in qulaity and in quantity, the effectiveness of the excercise is questionable. As we learn the movemets, introduce body coordination, fine tune it, but it is still extrenal. Than learn to open joints, and lengthen muscles, but it is still external. Nei gong principles, or if you prefer, the yi jin jing principles are about to be adopted, to make it internal. As we discover more inner layers daoyins start to effect us deeper.
An excellent presentation of the 4 Long Daoyins: by Roni Edlund here
