[Martial Arts] Structural Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg for 40 Minutes

Wu Chao Hui (JEFFI CHAO HUI WU)

Article Date: Friday, July 11, 2025, 10:45 AM

Today's single-leg stand on my left foot has broken a limit record I never imagined — over 40 minutes of support, completely relaxed, without gritting my teeth, without forcing it, without any mental urging, everything felt as natural as standing, easy and steady, until the end when I found it hard to believe myself.

It was a sunny morning by the sea, around 11:50. I habitually began my practice. In recent years, I often practiced standing post and martial arts in the early morning or late morning, but today I wanted to try a more stable and deeper structural test. The weather was not cold, with a temperature reading of 17 degrees, but there was still some wind, especially by the sea where the air was humid and the breeze gentle; if one was not careful, it could feel slightly cool. Although I was wearing a lightweight down jacket, I only had on sports pants and slippers on my lower body, with the real pressure on the soles of my feet.

I choose to stand on the grass, an uneven natural surface, wearing soft-soled slippers. Logically, this environment is not suitable for the "Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg," as the ground cannot fully support balance, and the shoe soles cannot provide extra grip. But today I want to give it a try; if I can achieve full-body stability and relaxation even on this soft, slightly unstable grass, that would be true "structural standing."

At first, I didn't intend to persist for too long; I simply shifted my weight quietly to my left foot, with the entire sole naturally touching the ground, neither leaning forward nor backward, not twisting or clenching, while the other leg naturally bent and lifted, resembling a bird resting. There was no deliberate holding of breath, no gathering of energy in the lower abdomen, and certainly no thoughts of "how long should I hold this." I just breathed naturally, kept my center of gravity vertical, and let my gaze fall forward, feeling an inner calm.

The most magical feeling occurs about 10 minutes later. Usually, at this point, the thigh muscles, ankles, and core start to feel sore or tremble, but I feel nothing at all. I can't even feel that I'm doing a "single-leg stance" martial arts move; instead, I feel as if my whole body is "gently supported by the ground." The only sensations are the slight warmth in the soles of my feet and the gradual emergence of a light sweat on my body, indicating that my entire being is indeed mobilizing energy, but in an extremely gentle way.

At this moment, I glanced at my watch—11:51, heart rate at 75, completely in a state of quietude. Continuing to stand, the wind gently blew by, my clothes were stirred, and I felt the warmth of the sun on my cheeks. In my mind, there was only one thought: "This is not standing; this is allowing the body to return to its structural origin."

As time passed, my heart rate gradually increased. Around the 30-minute mark, I checked my watch again, and it showed 108—indicating that my body was continuously metabolizing and mobilizing, even though I still felt no burden, and didn't even feel my legs "existing." My thighs and calves seemed to have completely withdrawn from the "support structure," as if a column of air had grown from the soles of my feet, supporting me from the center of the earth, and I was simply "being stood up," not "struggling to hold on."

Most importantly, this time my toes were completely relaxed, with no gripping action, and the soles of my feet did not intentionally press against the ground, but rather fell naturally. In other words, the entire sole of the foot was "not a point of force," but rather "naturally contacting the ground according to the body's structure." In the past, I often had a misconception in my practice, thinking that "stability" relied on muscle strength to maintain balance. Today, I finally understood—stability, in fact, comes from "having the correct structure, allowing for stability without any effort."

This is not a type of "standing meditation" or "post standing," but a natural state completely based on structural understanding. This state is something I have never experienced in the past few decades.

In the end, I naturally gathered my energy, without any tremor, leakage of strength, or collapse. Instead, my feet gently touched the ground, as if I had just completed a breathing adjustment. At this moment, I compared the data from two smartwatches; from 11:51 to 12:32, a total of 40 minutes and 40 seconds, standing on the grass, wearing soft-soled slippers, without any conscious effort to maintain balance, without muscle tension, relying solely on structure, center of gravity, and natural adjustments, I accomplished this Golden Rooster Standing on One Leg.

This is a truly "structural standing." It is not about forcing it, not about mindless practice, not a temporary stability after the internal energy is activated, but rather completing over 40 minutes of left foot independence in a relaxed manner similar to natural sleep, while being awake.

I began to rethink the definition of "Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg." If a person can stand on the grass, wearing flip-flops, without relying on their toes, without engaging their muscles, and without using their mind, for 40 minutes without feeling fatigued, then perhaps the traditional notion of "standing meditation" can be redefined. It turns out that standing meditation is not about pursuing "mind focus" or "force generation," but rather about returning to "structural stability + smooth flow of qi and blood + no resistance throughout the body."

I finally understand that true "Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg" is not about forcing the body to hold itself up, but rather allowing the body's structure to bear the weight on its own.

Today, during the Golden Rooster Stand, I didn't feel my muscles "working" at all, especially my calves, thighs, and glutes, which were almost completely relaxed. This isn't endurance developed through training, but rather a natural support achieved through structural adjustments. I can clearly feel that my weight is not pressing on the muscles, nor is it hanging on the fascia, but is transmitted down through the skeleton, layer by layer, to the soles of my feet—more precisely, it is "gently received" by the soles.

At this moment, my body becomes a self-stabilizing structure:

The back is not stiff, but rather like a flexible antenna;

The sole of the foot is not a "support point," but a "landing interface";

The entire sense of weight is precisely guided by gravity, requiring no active control from me;

All the muscles in my body do not need to exert force; only the soles of my feet respond slightly to the ground, as if the earth is gently supporting me.

The most obvious change is: I no longer "carry myself standing," but instead am "caught" by the Earth. And this feeling of being naturally supported by the structure is what truly allows for a sustained core that lasts for dozens of minutes or even longer.

For many years, I thought that the "Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg" was about training leg strength, balance, and endurance. But now I realize that those are the results, not the essence. The true essence is to let the body's structure bear the weight itself, rather than relying on willpower to hold it up. When I learned to let the skeleton guide gravity, the weight no longer pressed on the muscles, but naturally descended along the structure. At that moment, standing for a long time is not tiring at all, because there is no effort involved.

This realization may be the true meaning of "reverse cultivation"—shifting from the cultivation of force to the optimization of structure, from the strong control of intention to the natural guidance.

So today's record, for me, is not just a breakthrough in numbers, but also an awakening of bodily wisdom. I finally understand that it's not about how long you've practiced or how many forms you've learned, but whether you have truly delved into the depths of your own structure to discover that state of "relaxation is stability, stillness is vitality."

The structural chicken standing on one leg has entered a whole new phase. From now on, I may no longer pursue how long I can stand, but rather whether I can allow my body to return to this state of "stability within looseness, and liveliness within looseness" at any time, in any environment, and in any condition.

This is, at this moment, my greatest gain.