"This won't do. I can't keep going like this." Chen Mo gritted his teeth and decided to wait until Thursday's one-on-one session to ask Instructor Xu for help. It was the first time he'd truly felt how important it was to have a personal mentor. When he ran into a problem he couldn't solve himself, he didn't have to stumble around like a headless fly.
After class on Thursday afternoon, Chen Mo arrived at the small training room right on time. As soon as he saw Instructor Xu, he laid out the whole problem. "Instructor Xu, lately, my Qi and blood keep hitting snags when I practice. It's especially bad when I try to push them through the meridians in my limbs. It feels like something's blocking them, and there's a soreness and swelling too. It even triggered a system warning."
Instructor Xu wasn't the least bit surprised. Instead, he nodded as though he'd expected this. "Get into the Black Tiger Stance and circulate your Qi and blood. Let me see."
Chen Mo did as instructed, settling into the stance and slowly circulating his Qi and blood. This time, he deliberately slowed down, focusing on showing how they flowed through the meridians in his elbows and legs.
Instructor Xu circled him, watching closely with eyes as sharp as an eagle's. Every so often, he reached out and lightly touched the places where Chen Mo's Qi and blood snagged. When they snagged again near the Qu Chi Acupoint and Chen Mo's arm began to tingle, Instructor Xu suddenly said, "Stop!"
Chen Mo immediately ended the exercise and looked at Instructor Xu, his eyes full of confusion.
"This isn't stagnation of your Qi and blood. It's a false snag caused by your Qi and blood speeding up faster than your meridians can