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Prana Dynamics

By Huai Hsiang Wang

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Huai Hsiang Wang

The Mind in Prana Dynamics: A Pathway to Transcendence and Transformation

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Here is a formal essay synthesizing the core principles of Prana Dynamics regarding the nature, limitations, and transcendence of the mind, based on Huai Hsiang Wang’s teachings.

Introduction

Prana Dynamics, founded by Huai Hsiang Wang, presents a radical framework for understanding the human mind—not merely as a cognitive tool, but as a dynamic energy system that both shapes and constrains human experience. This essay explores the intrinsic structure of the mind, its self-imposed limitations, and the systematic practice of transcending it to unlock profound personal liberation.

I. The Tripartite Architecture of the Mind

The mind in Prana Dynamics operates through a triadic structure:

  • Neutrality: A state of detached observation, free from judgment.
  • Activity: The realm of analysis, decision-making, and intentional thought.
  • Passivity: The capacity to receive external stimuli and internal sensations.

Collectively, these states govern perception, cognition, emotion, and consciousness. Crucially, the mind also generates “fermentations”—unresolved mental and emotional residues that accumulate as psychological burdens. Yet despite its complexity, the mind remains confined to processing tangible phenomena; it cannot comprehend true emptiness, encountering only darkness when turning inward.

II. The Paradox of Self-Imprisonment

The mind’s greatest limitation lies in its inability to transcend itself. Attempts to “think beyond thinking” inevitably create tension, breeding competition, struggle, and existential fatigue. This paradox manifests in three ways:

  • Cognitive Entrapment: Forcing solutions through mental effort amplifies complexity.
  • Energy Stagnation: Mental tension crystallizes as physical rigidity, converting potential energy into pain and stress.
  • Existential Narrowing: Over-identification with the mind reduces life to a series of reactions, obscuring deeper dimensions of being.

As Wang observes, “You cannot use the mind to escape the mind”—a realization that marks the first step toward liberation.

III. The Fourfold Praxis of Transcendence

Prana Dynamics prescribes an embodied methodology to dissolve mental dominance:

  • Inward Turn: Redirecting attention from external objects to internal awareness.
  • Deep Release: Systematically surrendering accumulated tensions—physical, emotional, and psychological.
  • Embrace of Emptiness: Allowing the “void” beyond thought to dissolve mental boundaries.
  • Abiding in Stillness: Stabilizing consciousness in inner silence to reactivate latent energy.

This process, termed “reverse self-engineering,” replaces striving with receptivity. Partners serve as mirrors in this practice, providing feedback to verify progress beyond theoretical understanding.

IV. The Liberated State: Integration and Transformation

Transcending the mind initiates a cascade of transformations:

  • Bioenergetic Unblocking: Frozen stress metabolizes into vital force (prana), alleviating chronic pain and mental fatigue.
  • Martial Reorientation: Combat arts evolve from confrontation to “heart-connected flow,” where technique arises from presence rather than force—a shift practitioners describe as “Magic.”
  • Existential Recalibration: Perception shifts from fragmentation to wholeness. Emotions stabilize, and reactivity yields to enduring equanimity.

Critically, life ceases to be endured as a “mental victim”; instead, one becomes the sovereign of experience.

Conclusion: From Mechanism to Metaphor

Prana Dynamics reframes the mind from master to mechanism—a useful instrument but an inadequate governor of human potential. Through disciplined non-effort, practitioners dismantle the mind’s illusory dominance, accessing an inherent dimension of energy and awareness.

This awakening is neither mystical nor abstract; it manifests as tangible freedom in daily life: in relaxed relationships, creative action, and unshakable inner peace.

As Wang’s system demonstrates, true power emerges not from controlling the mind, but from realizing that which lies beyond it.

The Internal vs. the External: The Role of the Mind in Martial Arts and Spiritual Practice

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The distinction between internal (內家 nèijiā) and external (外家 wàijiā) martial arts—or, more broadly, between internal and external approaches to any practice—lies not in superficial techniques but in the function of the mind. As explored in various sources, the key factor separating the two is whether one operates from the ego-driven mind or transcends it to access pure energy and awareness.

1) The Root of the Divide: Ego-Mind vs. No-Mind

External systems originate from the ego-mind (xiǎowǒ xīnzhì, 小我心智). When one begins from this mindset—striving, competing, or forcing—the practice remains external, regardless of skill level. Even if one performs intricate forms, if the mind is engaged in struggle (whether in martial arts or spiritual pursuits), the approach remains superficial.
In contrast, internal arts embody a state of no-conflict, no-force, no-mind (無爭、無力、無心). Here, movement arises not from conscious effort but from spontaneous energy flow, where external actions become extensions of inner freedom.

2) The Mind’s Function—and Its Limitations

The mind is merely one expression of energy. It operates within the boundaries of perception: it cannot comprehend what lies beyond its conditioned framework. Crucially, **one cannot use the mind to transcend the mind.

When the ego-mind dominates, several problems arise:

  • Muscular tension (resulting from fear or aggression) blocks energy flow, reducing movement to brute force.
  • Separation from inner harmony occurs, making one a victim of “animated mental energy” (活躍的心理能量) driven by fear and ignorance.
  • Suffering persists Because struggle reinforces duality—measuring, comparing, and resisting.

3) The Path Beyond: Dissolving the Mind

Internal practices (such as Taiji) emphasize relaxation not just physically but mentally—termed “deflaming the mind” (去心智化 qù xīnzhì huà). This process involves:

  • Releasing physical tension, to prepare for mental stillness.
  • Letting go of ego-driven intent, allowing action to arise from primordial awareness (元氣) rather than personal will.
  • Awakening inner perception. Once the mind quiets, the body’s innate intelligence guides movement.

This shift is likened to an inner revolution—breaking free from the “fortress of the mind” to return to natural harmony.

4) The Misconception of “Dantian” (丹田) and Energy Cultivation

Many martial artists misunderstand dantian as a physical center to “strengthen.” However:

  • It is a metaphor from Daoist alchemy, representing the gateway to life-energy.
  • The mind cannot locate dantian—trying to do so only fuels mental agitation, stiffening the body.
  • True internal practice does not “accumulate” energy but realizes that one already is energy—by releasing mental and physical blockages.

5) Conclusion: Internal as a State of Being

The difference between internal and external is not about techniques but consciousness.
External methods reinforce the ego-mind’s illusions, while internal arts dissolve them, revealing effortless power and unity with existence.

As one source states:

Once you release the mind, ‘intent’ is no longer your intention—it is the intention of conscious existence itself.

Thus, the journey inward is a holy war (jihād al-akbar in Sufi terms)—not against others, but against the tyranny of the ego-mind, leading to liberation in stillness.

The Alchemy of Mind and Energy: Decoding Wang Huai Hsiang’s Prana Dynamics

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Introduction

Wang Huai Hsiang’s Prana Dynamics—a synthesis of martial arts, Eastern philosophy, and modern somatics—proposes a radical shift in understanding human movement and consciousness. At its core lies the concept of mind (心智), not as a mere thinking apparatus but as the bridge between intention, energy, and physical expression. This essay examines Wang’s teachings on the transformative role of the mind in martial practice, exploring its theoretical foundations, practical applications, and implications for contemporary mind-body disciplines.

The Paradox of the Ego-Mind

Wang identifies the ego-mind (小我心智) as the primary obstacle to mastering internal energy. Unlike Western psychology’s view of the ego as a necessary self-structure, Wang frames it as a flame—an agitated state that fragments awareness and binds practitioners to external competition rather than internal harmony.

Wanting to Have, Wanting to Be

The ego-mind fixates on acquisition (techniques, strength, status), creating a disconnect between mental focus and bodily energy.

The Flame Metaphor

Ancient Chinese medicine associates excessive mental activity (xin huo, 心火) with scattered qi/氣/炁 (energy). Wang’s solution—deflaming the mind/炁—parallels Zen’s mushin (無心, “no-mind”), where thought ceases to dominate perception.

This aligns with modern neuroscience: the Default Mode Network (DMN), active during self-referential thinking, inhibits fluid movement and somatic awareness. Wang’s approach mirrors meditative practices that suppress DMN activity to enhance present-moment attunement.

The Threefold Path of Energy Cultivation

Wang’s method progresses through stages that integrate structure, awareness, and validation.

1) Structural Unlocking: The Role of Fascia

Physical training begins with releasing muscular tension to allow fascial breathing—a concept corroborated by biotensegrity research, which shows fascia’s role as a body-wide conductive network. In push-hands practice, this means avoiding brute force (“like two cars colliding”) and instead creating space for energy flow.

2) The Alchemy of Yi (Intention)

Wang reinterprets the Taiji maxim “Where mind goes, energy follows; where energy flows, power arises” (意之所向，氣即隨之；氣之所到，勁自生焉). Here, yi (intent) is not concentration but non-localized awareness:

  • Bypassing the Contact Point:
    In sparring, fixating on an opponent’s push triggers fear-based resistance. Wang teaches redirecting attention beyond the point of contact, allowing energy to circulate freely—akin to Feldenkrais’s differentiation of attention.
  • Spatial Will
    Advanced practitioners learn to project yi into surrounding space, a skill echoing qigong’s external qi techniques and sports psychology’s “quiet eye” training.

3) Validation Beyond Concepts

Wang warns against intellectualization: “Concepts are the claws of the mind.” True understanding arises from embodied verification—e.g., sensing warmth or vibration during energy flow. This phenomenological approach mirrors Husserl’s epoché (bracketing assumptions to perceive raw experience).

Implications for Modern Practice

Wang’s system challenges conventional martial pedagogy:

1) From Form to Flow

Traditional drills often ingrain rigid patterns. Prana Dynamics prioritizes awareness-in-motion, resembling Systems Dynamics’ emphasis on adaptability over fixed solutions.

2) A Scientific Bridge

His descriptions of mind-energy fusion invite research into:

  • Cardiac Coherence:
    How heart-rate variability modulates fascial tension.
  • Embodied Cognition:
    How intention alters biomechanical efficiency.

3) Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue

Parallels exist with:

  • Somatics
    Like Thomas Hanna’s sensory-motor amnesia theory, Wang attributes stiffness to disembodied mental habits.
  • Mindfulness
    Both seek to dissolve the observer-observed dichotomy.

Conclusion: The Mind as Medium

Wang Huai Hsiang’s Prana Dynamics reframes martial arts as metaphysics in motion. By dissolving the ego-mind, practitioners access a state where thought, energy, and action merge—an idea resonating from Daoist classics to cutting-edge neurology. His work invites a renaissance in mind-body training: one where technique surrenders to awareness, and power arises not from force, but from the silent geometry of intention.

Further Exploration

Video analysis of Wang’s yi projection drills could reveal quantifiable changes in movement efficiency, offering a template for scientific inquiry into ancient internal arts.

On Wang Lang, the founding Master of the Praying Mantis System of Kung Fu

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Wang Lang/王朗, Taoist alias Yeyo Shan Ren/葉友山人 (literally, the recluse friend of the flora), a man from Jimo city/即墨 of Shang Dong/山東 province, China, the founding Master of Praying Mantis/螳螂拳 system of Kung Fu.

When Wang Lang was young, he was athletic and loved martial arts. His teacher was a Taoist Monk, alias Yuhua/羽化真人 (Literally, the holy man of immortality), at the Trinity Temple/三清宮 at Laoshan/嶗山 of Shang Dong province.

Yuhua taught Wang Lang martial arts and Taoist alchemy for a couple of years. The martial arts taught by Yuhua were mainly various martial applications and techniques without the traditional naming of a system.

At Wang Lang’s graduation, Yuhua told Wang Lang that seeking a master is not as good as friendship and exchange with other martial artists /賢師莫若訪友妙.

Wang Lang left his teacher and embarked on a journey of friendship and exchange with other martial artists to validate his skill level.

Attracted by the reputation of Shaolin Temple, Wang Land made his way to Shaolin Temple to exchange and to validate his skill.

The legend said that Wang Lang was defeated on the first day of his arrival at Shaolin temple.

Exhausted and confused, Wang Lang was resting underneath a tree outside of the Shaolin Temple, trying to figure out why he lost the challenge to upgrade his skill.

Suddenly, Wang Lang noticed a Praying Mantis trying to catch a cricket on the tree branch, mimicking some martial application principles.

Wang Lang pricked and played with the Praying Mantis, simulating martial applications gaming.

Mesmerized in a trance state, something sparkled from within himself, the martial techniques he learned before converged into principles in the form of awareness, enabling the applications in the flow.

Out of his excitement and thrill, Wang Lang knocked on the Shaolin Temple gate again before the gate was open early in the morning.

The legend said that Wang Lang won the challenge.

The Shaolin Abbot witnessed the magic, invited Wang Lang to have tea together.

The Shaolin Abbot asked Wang Lang: ”What happened to you last night? How come you lost the challenge yesterday, and overnight, you become invincible? What is your system?”

Wang Lang as baffled by the question, and answered: “Praying Mantis.”

This is the coming of the naming of the Praying Mantis system of Kung Fu.

The Shaolin Abbot asked: “Can one tree blossom two flowers?”

Wang Lang responded: “All martial artists are of one family.”

Befriended, Wang Lang left Shaolin Temple.

After Wang Lang’s departure, based on Wang Lang’s demonstrations, Shaolin monks summarized into a form set titled “Plum Flower Praying Mantis/梅花螳螂拳”.

The twelve Praying Mantis principles are: Hooking/鉤, Flipping/摟. Plucking/採, Blocking/掛, Connecting/沾, Sticking/粘, Gluing/貼,Closing/靠, Evading/閃,Twisting/轉,Jumping/騰.and Moving/挪.

By the time Wang Lang left Shaolin Temple, one of the Shaolin Monks followed Wang Lang and became Wang Lang’s first student, his Taoist alias is Accenstion/昇霄道人.

Another Wang Lang’s student’s Taoist alias is Universe/宇宙道人.

After Wang Lang left Shaolin temple, he began to assimilate martial applications from across schools and disciplines based on the Twelve Principles of Praying Mantis and formalized the Praying Mantis System of Kung Fu.

It was during the era when the northern Qing/清 were invading Ming Dynasty/明朝(1644-1683) in Chinese history.

Wang Lang, being a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, actively participated in the Restoration Movement.

After Qing conquered Ming Dynasty, Wang Lang escaped and escorted his teacher to the mountains, living a hermit life and disappeared from the landscape of history.

Note: Translated and edited based on page 12 of the 2nd edition of Applicable Praying Mantis/實用螳螂拳續集,武術螳螂拳術密笈, self-published/authored by Wei Hsia Tang/衛笑堂.

Photo: Wei Hsiao Tang/衛笑堂

On Internal Breathing

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The prerequisite for modulating the energy flow is to relax the body-mind to make room for the energy flow at the command of intent from the heart.

Tension refers to the contraction of the electric mental energy through focus/attention.

Where the mental focus is, energy flows; where there is the energy flow, magic happens.

The energy trinity is Consciousness, Vital, and Mental energy.

Consciousness is Awareness and is magnetic. Both the Vital and the Mental energy are electric.

Awareness is the observer within; when pristine, it is free from the confinement of space and time and is free of the adulteration of the colorization of sentience; therefore, the mind can not sense it.

Awareness is the only One knower, observer, and creator within.

Vital and Mental energy can function in the form of attention and attachment through contraction within the invisible limits of animated sentience.

The intent from the mind will invoke the electric energy in contraction; therefore, it only enables mechanical, physical movement in fragmentation due to energetic contraction in bondage.

Therefore, the true internal breathing mechanism is about the intent from the heart to modulate the magnetic fluid flow en tandem with the convergence of the counter force to shape the electric energy contraction outside of the body to the partner or to space at the command of intent.

In peace.

Spiritual subjectivity

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Post by Eimhin David Callanan on Facebook

Dear Huai Hsiang Wang,

Recently I have heard some more of your rendition of the fundamental nature of substantial existence as per the wuji, taiji t’u, taiji, and manifest reality model put forward by Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching.

This subject matter has fascinated me from an early age when I came across the model as put forward by Pythagoras in ancient Greece. The Pythagorean brotherhood used a symbol called the ‘Tetractys’ , and wore this as a pendant round their necks, a triangle formed of 10 dots (tetra: 10 , the perfect number of the Pythagoreans). 1 dot, then 2, then 3, then four, to symbolize Unity, Duality, Creative Trinity, and Manifest Reality as four the number of the Square.

In this model, the creative trinity is equivalent to the logos, and the golden ratio, where the lesser is to the greater as the greater is the whole, namely the creative harmony of a duality, and the only two-term proportion in existence where a:b::b:(a+b)

On a personal note, and in the classical Daoist sense of reversion or going back, I should acknowledge that I understand that, on my way, I began in the Western mind looking as from without, toward an objectified principle that in your description is pure subjective phenomena. Please allow me this accident of circumstance. I have some internal practice by now and hope to arrive at the latter someday.

Coming across the Tao Te Ching in my late teens I immediately noticed the parallel with the lines: “Within the Dao, there was the One, from the One came Two, from Two came Three and from Three came the ten thousand things.” From my outer perspective, only dimly aware, all I could see was the patterned likeness. I went on to discover this patterned likeness in a variety of other places.

The ancient language of Croatia, pre-cyrillic (Cyrillic is to Russian as Latin is to English), was called Galgolicja, it was alpha-numeric meaning the numbers and letters were self-similar in sequence, such that 1,2,3,4 was equivalent with A,B,V,G, the first four letters of the language. In Glagolicjian the language had a story where each successive word began with each successive letter of the alphabet. The first four words of this story are: AZ BUKI VEIDEI GLAGOLICJA translating to: I Can See the Word.

This brings up both the Christian tradition : “In the beginning there was the Word and the Word was made Flesh.” and the Hindu tradition in the sense both of the Om, as the seed syllable, and both the micro and macro of the fractalitic self-similar vibratory totality of creation; and also, the foundational Hindu story where Brahma, the eternal unmanifest (Dao), draws a circle around itself (wuji), takes a piece from inside and places it outside the circle which becomes Vishnu (taiji t’u), Vishnu ‘looks’ (veidei is the root of ‘to see’) at Brahma and this act forms Shiva (taiji), establishing all creation and destruction.

I found the pattern also at the root of the Berber language of northern Morrocco, also alpha-numeric, and following this exact pattern but in a visual sense that is not easily explained without being able to draw, but I will add a picture below. The pattern is in tact with even the symbol of phi being the third term where the symbol phi ( a circle with a line through the middle extending above and below the circle) is the mathematical symbol of the golden ratio cited above, and observed in the geometric growth sequence of much of mineral and biological life.

The pattern is again to be found in the axiomatic foundation of complexity theory as per: “Period three implies chaos” where periodic systems are observed as periods of stability until the third period where each part of the system ‘bifurcates’ repeating the original systemic evolution within each particle of the initial system. To illustrate, imagine a smoke ring, it is initially perfect, then it wobbles slightly, then it twists and wobbles more but a circle is still almost discernable, and then chaos, every part of the initial formation dissipates into space.

I felt in hearing you speak that you may be interested, if not mildly entertained by these objective manifestations of the subjective principle you embody and teach, and felt like sharing these.

Any comment is welcome. I hope to one day meet you in Ireland.

Perhaps in the countryside for some days training if this would be something interesting to you.

Thank you for sharing your experience and teaching others.

I am glad to have the benefit of learning from a fellow Taiwanese Master of yours, based in the US, Master Waysun Liao.

Response by Huai Hsiang Wang

Dear Eimhin David Callanan,

The spiritual eminence is in trinity, whereas the human mind functions in duality.

Therefore, spiritual subjectivity can only be comprehended by the human mind in the form of metaphor, based on the intrinsic conceptual separation of subject and object.

However, it does not matter how hard the shadow tries; the shadow can not become the substance.

Likewise, I have been fascinated by the similarities of different spiritual traditions since I was a teenager; however, it took me many years to realize that they are not coincidental.

If one holds conceptual knowledge in awe without being able to digest/validate the imparted knowledge, one will remain bound by the mind and lost in awe in conceptual speculation as an individual.

The key message of the similarities is to remind oneself throughout history: “Thus as You Are.”

There is a huge gap between knowing and seeing from within oneself: the human dilemma!

The mind, which is energy functioning, is the blocking factor.

Freed from the dominance of the mind, one is the vital energy with the veiling of the animated sentience, Prana in Dynamics.

Equalizing the two polarities of the vital energy in vibration, one is the universal Consciousness in creation.

Devoid of the Consciousness in temporality, one is the Light in eminence.

Beyond the Light, Nothing is everything.

In peace,
Huai Hsiang Wang

Drew Henry’s Seminar Testimonials

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The best way to promote Prana Dynamics is through word-of-mouth referral.

Instead of self-promotion, testimonials from event participants are the direct accreditation to teaching quality.

I have certified Drew Henry from New York as my teaching assistant and the Prana Dynamics representative in the US. I am glad to hear that his first Prana Dynamics seminar was a big success based on the participant’s positive feedback and testimonials.

I am looking forward to the pleasure of further evolution of Prana Dynamics family in the US continent.

In peace

First Taipei Seminar

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The first Taipei Prana Dynamics seminar has just ended.

I am glad to witness the evolution of all participants with the ambiance of a family.

It was a small group, yet genuinely international, with participants from different countries, i.e. Ireland, Israel, Switzerland, Turkey, USA, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan.

With the imparted knowledge and the empirical energy sensations, Prana Dynamics will evolve at a steady pace.

The next Taipei Prana Dynamics seminar is scheduled from June 29 to July 2, 2023.

To those who attended, thank you for your interest and support.

In peace, with love.