Oh the spirit! A level many enjoy talking about but few actually reach. Shen or Spirit is a more esoteric level and dives into the stranger side of internal martial arts. Some discuss Shen as your vigor, emotions, or hormones, but I believe they miss the mark. The classics talk of very few people attaining such a great feat, Masters like Li Nang Ren (Xing Yi), Dong Hai Chuan (Ba Gua), and Yang Lu Chuan (Tai Chi) were said to obtain such a level through diligent practice, concentrated effort, and humble ability. Shen must be produced and nourished through our intention of raising Qi into the Upper Dan Tian. This is where the magic will happen. Now to accomplish such a feat a person needs to follow the protocol and work first to convert essence (jing) into Qi and store their Qi. Once they have accumulated Qi in your lower Dan Tian and 5 organs (throughout your body); you can work towards developing your Qi into Shen and bringing it into your Upper Dan Tian through the Du meridian (GV vessel).
Now a person might ask me, “Sifu, can’t I just go right to Shen development?”
“NO!” Without the proper buildup and accumulation of resources your Shen will be weak and frail, incapable of the abilities an internal martial artist truly desires.
Once your Shen is strong and vibrant your eyes will shine and your mind will be clear. From here the deeper levels of joining the void can be explored in which you will know and see all things, thus allowing your movement to become without intention and demonstrating uncanny abilities.
I will leave you with this final excerpt from Sun Lu Tang’s book “AUTHENTIC EXPLANATIONS OF MARTIAL ARTS CONCEPTS” (Translated by Paul Brennan in 2013) about Li Nang Ren:
“In the same county was a certain man who came top in the imperial military exams. His body was strong and he was an extraordinary man, also an expert in boxing arts. With Li he was simple and friendly, but of Li’s martial art he was secretly unconvinced. He always wanted to challenge others, but when he was on such friendly terms, he was too shy to say so. One day they were conversing in a room, talking and laughing like everything was normal. But he began to decide to test Li after all, and with the intention of catching him totally unprepared.
When he acted, he took advantage of the unexpectedness of it, sneaking up behind Li to clutch him and forcefully lift him up. And as he extended a hand, his body was already soaring diagonally upward, his head went into the ceiling, and then he fell back down with both feet standing on the ground rather than falling down.
He suspected Li of sorcery, but Li informed him: “It’s not sorcery, it’s just that at the highest level the boxing art is a spiritual skill. As it is unperceived, it seems miraculous and beyond your comprehension.” From that point, his contemporaries dubbed him “Magic Boxing” Li Nengran.”