Spontaneous movement qi gong makes use of various kinds of qi whose distinctions depend on the idiosyncrasies of the particular school which practices it.

My own school, founded by Dr. Shen Hongxun, who created a system of spontaneous movement qi gong he called taijiwuxigong, drew the distinction between bin qi which is the negative or pathogenic qi which is released during spontaneous movement and other positive forms of qi.

Dr. Shen also created, or rediscovered, a system of healing which he called Buqi which is a bit like Reiki, except the healer draws out the bin qi as well as projecting positive qi into the patient. Buqi practitioners must also learn to be sensititve to bin qi and other forms of qi in order to make accurate diagnoses.

Besides healing, Dr. Shen also practiced martial arts, and he taught the use of empty force t'ai ji which is similar to spontaneous movement, but here the master directs the use of qi to control his or her oponent without directly touching them.

My problems started when I tried to understand the distinction between facilitating taijiwuxigong and fighting using empty force t'ai ji. In both cases the master plays a role. When practicing taijiwuxigong or spontaneous movement qi gong, the master facilitates the sponataneous movement, i.e. creates the conditions whereby spontaneous movement can occur. When practicing empty force t'ai ji, the master directs the movement of his or her oponent.

In trying to understand the difference I started to experience examples of entanglement, whereby I was responding to the qi of complete strangers, through opening up. They themselves were not conscious of it, but I could observe the connection, and I couldn't control either myself or them, merely respond.

In essence it was like a feedback loop whereby all my movements amplified the connection.

The other person or people were also moving in relation to my own qi, but not at my direction as I had no control.

Such sensations of feeling helpless physically are a common first order symptom of schizophrenia known as motor or kinesthetic passivity whereby the sufferer attributes the ownership of their motion to be coming from somewhere other than themselves.

Placing the ownership for me is hard, whether it be internal or external, and if external where in the external world. The school I attended placed the source of spontaneous movement in the earth and advised projecting it up to heaven, in keeping with the Yi Jing hexagram T'ai which represents the perfect balance of life.

However when I was practicing taijiwuxigong, I immediately thought to place the source in the teacher/master, and tried to resist it.

Later I was able to place it in myself, though without feeling much connection to the earth.

Placing it in strangers is a result of being too open to them whilst not having a loving attitude in one's projections of energy, i.e. feeling paranoid or resentful, or trying to be controling.

Of course if one is a martial master then one can use empty force as a stick to move the oponent, but as with all sticks the oponent has the choice in how they respond within the limits of their capabilities or ego.

Anyway, I am steering clear of such practices for the time being as my condition of schizophrenia still means that i get too paranoid, resentful and controling in my relationship with other people when I engage.

Closing down so I am not so open is one thing I would need to master if I did practice it regularly. Not practicing it means that I am more likely to be in a closed state naturally, than if I practice it and open up on a regular basis.

Projecting and producing love is another thing that I need to master if I am to cure myself of paranoid and resentful thoughts of controling other people, which also means letting go of attachments to being judgmental.

I'd welcome any suggestions of practices I could do to enhance these things without opening up as in spontaneous movement qi gong.

Thank you.