Jin Ji Du Li, also known as Golden Rooster Stands On One Leg, is a Chinese exercise that originated from Shaolin’s San Lu Pao basic training.

The essence of the exercise is that your “Eyes Must be Closed” when you are doing this exercise. You must practise the “Jin Ji Du Li” exercise with the eyes closed. This exercise was so simple and amazing that I thought I had to share it here.

Here is the exercise:

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Stand on one leg with both eyes closed. That’s it!. Just try it right now, stop reading and stand up, close your eyes and try standing on one foot.

If you are not able to stand for at least 10 seconds, it means that your body is about the same as that of a 60 to 70 year old person. In other words, your body has aged a lot faster.

When I first read about this exercise I had thought to myself: “oh, this is no big deal, I’m sure I can do this easily.” Little did I realise that what I had thought was such a simple stance could turn out to be really difficult…. at first. Nevertheless I’m glad I tried it.

I now know that with eyes open one could very easily stand on one foot, but doing the same thing with both  eyes closed is really another story! I discovered to my dismay that I could not keep my balance even for more than two to three seconds!

You do not need to lift your leg high.  It seems that if your internal organs are out of synch, even lifting your leg just a little will be enough to make you wobble and lose balance.

I must admit that not being able to stand for just a couple of seconds shocked me because what this tells me is that my body has aged almost 20-30 years beyond my age!

The Chinese are really very advanced in their knowledge of the human body. It was very heartening to know that frequent and regular practice can help you recover your sense of balance. In fact the Chinese specialists suggest daily practice of Jin Ji Du Li for 1 minute, will help prevent a host of health problems.

In the beginning, you can try this exercise by slightly closing both eyes instead of completely closing them; in fact this is what the health specialist Zhong Li Ba Ren recommends.

It is said that daily practice of Jin Ji Du Li, can help in healing many illnesses or diseases such as:

• Hypertension,
• High Blood Sugar or diabetes,
• Neck and Spinal diseases,
• Dementia.

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Zhong Li Ba Ren has written a book entitled “Self Help is Better than Seeking Doctors’ Help“, which has been a bestselling book on health in China since its publication last year. Indeed the book has been reprinted 12 times within the first 6 months, and more than 1 million copies have been sold. The book is a hot seller because is it teaches many simple practical health tips.

According to Chinese physicians, diseases arise in the body because of a loss of coordination between the various internal organs. A consequence of this is manifested in our not being able to maintain balance. Fortunately the consistent practice of Jin Ji Du Li can help us readjust this inter-relationship of the organs and enable them to function in harmony with each other.

Zhong Li Ba Ren said that most people will find it difficult to stand on one foot with their eyes closed for even 5 seconds when they first try doing this exercise.  However with constant and daily practice, most will acquire the ability to stand for more than 2 minutes.

As one gains the ability to stand for longer time, the feeling of “heavy head, light feet” will fade away.

By practising Jin Ji Du Li daily, you will find that the quality of sleep will improve, and that you will begin to enjoy better clarity of mind as well as your memory will improve significantly. Indeed, it is said that if you can practice Jin Ji Du Li with your eyes closed for 1 minute every day, you will not get dementia.

Zhong Li Ba Ren explained that there are 6 important meridians passing through our legs. When you stand on a single leg, the weakest meridian will begin to feel sore as you are doing this exercise.  By persisting with the exercise, in the longer term the weak meridians will begin to strengthen thereby bringing benefits to the corresponding organs. This method also helps to channel the body’s qi (energy) to the foot and strengthen our body overall.

Jin Ji Du Li also helps to increase our Immunity against diseases.  Jin Ji Du Li is suitable for almost everyone. You do not have to wait until you have any illness to start practising Jin Ji Du Li.  It is especially beneficial for young people, when they practise it daily while they are healthy, thereby minimising the chances of contracting the various illness associated with aging.

However, please note that this exercise is generally not suitable for people over 70 years old, or people whose legs are not strong and cannot stand steadily.