[Martial Arts] Close-eyed Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg for 10 Minutes

Author: Jeffi Chao Hui Wu

Time: 2025-7-19 Saturday, 5:12 AM

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[Martial Arts] Standing on One Leg with Eyes Closed for 10 Minutes
Today is July 19, 2025, 5:20 AM. The temperature in Sydney is only 6 degrees, even colder by the sea. I am wearing quick-dry long pants suitable for spring and autumn, a single-layer T-shirt, a windbreaker, and gloves, yet I still head to the seaside to practice as usual. Such temperatures often require thick pants, down jackets, and knee pads in the morning, but now my body has long adapted to operating in low temperatures, with warm currents flowing steadily throughout, maintaining a balanced temperature range from head to toe, and my practice is not affected by the cold at all.
On this seemingly ordinary morning, I achieved a breakthrough that surprised even myself—standing on one leg with eyes closed for 10 minutes! I successfully challenged both my left and right legs!
Not with eyes open, but with eyes closed. Not just standing firm, but keeping one foot raised the entire time without touching the ground. When standing on my left foot, I closed my eyes; at first, there was slight swaying, but soon my whole body found a perfect balance point. Around the third minute, I made slight adjustments to my center of gravity, but still remained in a state of not touching the ground, completing the posture correction through subtle adjustments of my foot. My hands were always holding a ball, my body relaxed and heavy, with no reliance on arm strength to support myself, and my calf muscles did not exert force to resist swaying; instead, the entire structure naturally settled down, relying on the perception of the soles of my feet to automatically achieve balance.
I did not set a target time in advance; I simply felt the changes in my body. As a result, I stood on my left foot for 10 minutes, and my right foot with eyes closed for nearly 8 minutes, finishing without any fatigue, dizziness, with internal and external coordination, and a smooth flow throughout my body. Compared to the initial struggles of just a few seconds in the past, the current feeling is that "my foot knows how to stand by itself."
Many people cannot imagine: if they can't stand steadily with their eyes closed, how could they possibly stand on one leg with eyes closed for 10 minutes? What I want to say is: this is not a process of "fighting against gravity," but rather a practice of "merging with gravity."
Chickens can stand on one leg and sleep, often with their eyes closed, yet humans find it difficult to maintain balance even for 10 seconds with their eyes closed.
This sounds like a joke, but it actually exposes a harsh reality: many of us have long lost the basic abilities of being a "biological organism," not devolving to "less than divine," but devolving to "even less than a chicken."
The greatest difficulty in standing on one leg with eyes closed is not physical ability, but the reorientation of the sensory system. Standing with eyes open can rely on the visual feedback system for balance adjustments, but once the eyes are closed, the body loses the brain's most commonly used "reference for positioning." At this point, one can only rely on the vestibular system, proprioception, and the state of blood flow to determine the body's position in space. In other words, after closing my eyes, I am not "seeing myself standing straight," but rather "feeling myself standing straight."
During the process of completing this action, I did not deliberately exert force to control my body; instead, I entered a state of extreme relaxation and stability, with no sinking, and my consciousness was extremely calm, making my entire body a resilient whole. In this standing process, I was not "standing," but rather "being stood." It was not my physical effort that held me up, but the center of gravity finding its position automatically, with my body structure standing me up by itself.
This may seem similar to traditional training movements, but the method of resistance is completely different. What I train is not the speed of muscle response, but rather "allowing the muscles not to have to respond," letting the body enter a state of natural operation and autonomous coordination.
Some people ask me: Why practice this? What is the use?
I never place importance on so-called "rarity." Because those who can achieve 10 minutes of standing on one leg with eyes closed are generally difficult for ordinary people to match. And this action, once completed, is not just a breakthrough in technique, but a result of the integration of the nervous system, blood circulation, and self-perception.
I believe that behind every action, there is no coincidence. I do not practice to break through; rather, I have been continuously refining my skills from long-term dedication to various schools, including Zhuang Gong, Tai Chi, Tai Chi Sword, Xing Yi Quan, and more, accumulating to this day. Especially in the past year, I have begun to reconstruct my body perception system, shifting from "using force to resist" to complete relaxation and structural alignment, allowing the body to return to the most natural state between heaven and earth in an extremely effortless way.
When you truly stand there, you will find: it is not you standing, but the energy of heaven and earth supporting you steadily.
Especially on this 6-degree morning, being able to maintain unity throughout my body despite the cold wind indicates that the circulation of energy and blood within is extremely stable. Many people experience stiffness in their knees and ankles during winter, but now I can freely control the placement of my toes even while wearing warm pants, indicating that my energy circulation system has moved beyond the primary stage of "relying on clothing for warmth" and has truly entered a level of "internal energy generating heat and adjusting automatically."
Standing on one leg with eyes closed may seem like a simple posture, but for ordinary people, not relying on vision, being able to stand for 10 seconds is already quite good.
I once researched, and the average value for healthy adults standing on one leg with eyes closed is about 7 to 10 seconds, with over 30 seconds belonging to a level of extremely strong nervous system.
And today, I can do 10 minutes, indicating that every aspect of my body has been re-integrated, truly entering a brand new state.
Modern people chase various "external black technologies," while I, in this seemingly simple act of standing with eyes closed, feel the true "internal black technology" within my body: the perception in the soles of my feet is like GPS, the conduction of my spine is like high-frequency signals, and the extension of my fascia is like quantum entanglement.
I do not need to rely on equipment to enhance balance because my body itself is the strongest positioning system.
This morning, I practiced Tai Chi once, and at the end, I completed exactly 20 minutes of standing on one leg with eyes closed, maintaining micro-balance throughout.
This is not about showing off skills, but a testament to my accumulation.
Not to display anything, but because I know my body has truly "awakened."
Many people ask me why I can stand on one leg with eyes closed for 10 minutes?
I instead want to ask: Why can’t you even stand for 5 seconds?
What is truly rare is not what I can do, but why you can no longer do it.
—This is not talent; this is my testimony of refusing to participate in "collective degeneration."
With my eyes closed, I cannot see the outside world—but I feel the deepest strength within my body.

Source: http://www.australianwinner.com/AuWinner/viewtopic.php?t=696934