[Martial Arts] Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg for 37 Minutes!

Author: Jeffi Chao Hui Wu

Time: 2025-7-09 Wednesday, 6:02 PM

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[Martial Arts] Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg for 37 Minutes!

Today (Wednesday, July 9, 2025), I broke a record I never thought I would achieve—standing on my right foot in the Golden Rooster position for a full 37 minutes, without a single moment of touching the ground to rest, without swaying, and without showing any signs of fatigue. In fact, during the latter half, I felt as calm as a tree, like a statue.

The time was between 3:47 PM and 4:24 PM, and the location was on the grass. The weather was neither too hot nor too cold, with my phone showing a temperature of 19°C and a perceived temperature between 22°C and 24°C. This time and temperature happened to be my golden period for practice every day. Before starting, I was wearing soft-soled slippers, with no protection and no hard sole support, standing barefoot (in soft slippers) on slightly damp, slightly sloped grass, embarking on this unprecedented "extreme test."

In fact, I did not intentionally set out to challenge the 37-minute Golden Rooster position. I never aim to "break records" in my standing practice, nor do I think about "how long I can hold it." There was no one watching, no one encouraging me; it was just me practicing something I do every day, and today I happened to reach a certain critical point.

At first, I stood with my eyes closed. The first five minutes were very uncomfortable, especially around five inches above my right ankle, where the muscles began to feel a bit sore and swollen. My center of gravity felt stuck there, as if something was holding it back, unable to go down or come up. At that moment, I even doubted whether I could stand for long today; perhaps I would have to switch feet after five minutes.

But strangely, after the fifth minute, without moving or adjusting my posture, my body found its balance internally. I could clearly feel the gravity slowly sinking; first, my thighs relaxed, then my calves, and finally even my ankles, soles, and toes became completely natural. All the muscles were no longer tense, with no burden; my soles felt as if they had melted into the grass, firmly, gently, yet heavily pressing against the ground. At that moment, I knew today was different.

Starting from the fifth minute, I opened my eyes and maintained the "holding the ball" posture to continue standing. The so-called "holding the ball" does not involve actually holding anything; it is simply raising my arms naturally, as if embracing a round energy ball or sphere in front of me. This posture is one I often use in Tai Chi and standing practice, being both stable and relaxed. Many people usually say that "practicing with energy while doing forms" is difficult because it involves the process of transferring the energy feeling from standing to the forms, but today I was able to naturally enter this state without any conscious intention throughout.

What is even more remarkable is that my entire center of gravity remained firmly on the sole of my right foot, neither stuck at the toes nor pressing on the heel, but evenly and gently bearing my weight across the entire sole. This state can only be experienced after many years of practice; even a slight exertion would cause a shift, and even a moment of relaxation would lead to instability. Yet today, I managed to sustain it for over thirty minutes without pausing.

I usually practice very steadily, with over 1.5 hours of martial arts, swordplay, and standing practice by the seaside every morning. For the past six years, regardless of wind or rain, heat or cold, I have persisted in my training by the seaside in Sydney, truly embodying the practice of "taking the heavens and earth as my dojo." But today, during this 37-minute Golden Rooster position, I truly felt the "silent miracle" of my body merging with the ground.

As the founder of the Australian International Qigong Tai Chi Academy, I have been on the path of inheriting Tai Chi, Qigong, and Xingyi Quan since 1992. I am the ninth-generation direct descendant of the Che family Xingyi Quan, with Master Zhao Hongwei as my Xingyi master and Teacher Shan Ying as my formally recognized Tai Chi master. I am also an honorary advisor to the Hong Kong "Tai Chi International Academy" (formerly "Qigong Tai Chi Society") and have held this position since 2001. My senior brother, Master Lin Wenhui, is a well-known figure in the Hong Kong martial arts community, with a clear lineage and substantial evidence of his practice.

The core methods I inherit are not taught casually; they are all part of a legitimate lineage, passed only to formally recognized disciples. Just like today's Golden Rooster position, many people think it is just standing still, but the transformation of energy, muscle coordination, nerve control, breathing synchronization, and psychological balance are all crucial; mere imitation cannot achieve this.

I want to remember this experience forever, not to show off, but because it itself is a proof: standing on one foot for 37 minutes without any external assistance, with my body showing no fatigue, my soles stable throughout, and my muscles coordinating and optimizing automatically—this is the true feedback of the "Dan body," the best validation of my practice system.

In the future, I will continue to stand, not for competition, not for an audience, but for myself to walk further and deeper, even if only I know that someone in this world has practiced and stood like this; that is enough.

Source: https://www.australianwinner.com/AuWinner/viewtopic.php?t=696773