Bending knees

All-in-all, it depends on what you are trying to achieve.
There’s no “one” right answer here, other than what feels good
for you and what your goals are.

Let me give you some different examples with regard
to bending knees, so that you better understand what I mean.

Michael’s Primordial Qigong is a good example–
when you do the scoop at the end of each cycle . . .
Here you bend the knees as you sink to the earth,
and then straighten them as you rise.
I think the benefit here is that by allowing your
knees to bend as you scoop, it releases your attention
from any rigidity in your body, and allows you to direct your
attention more on the elixir that is being gathered.

Another example in Primordial Qigong, is Michael’s
recent adjustment to the opening to the Earth cycle,
where you bend your knees and sink on the opening.
Here the purpose I believe is to open up your lower back.

On the other hand, there are certain situations where
keeping the legs straight is more beneficial. One example
of this would be the Bathing sequence in Deep Healing Qigong.
In that movement, you are trying to amplify the energy moving
through your core via the “scanning” you do with your hands.
I find the energy less disrupted if you keep the rest of your
body relatively still . . . apart from the bending over and scanning.
I.E. I think not bending the knees is better here.

Certainly also in Iron Shirt Qigong, the Iron Bridge–Yin Position
is done with straight legs . . . but there the reason is to have
greater focus on opening up your middle and upper back.

So both bending/not-bending, have their own benefits, and
it depends on what you are trying to achieve and what feels good
for you.

The last bit is the most important.
If something feels right to you to do, in your intuition, then
you should do it. It is your practice, after all.
What you do, is nobody’s business but your own. 😉

Smiling qi,
Steven