Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Interviews with Gary Clyman (1982 and 1987)




Gary Clyman began his Tai Chi career in 1974 in Chicago, studying Temple Style Tai Chi Ch’uan as taught by Master Waysun Liao. After three years of intense 6-10 hours of training a day, he founded the Chicago Wholistic Health Center which has blossomed into a highly publicized enterprise.

The opinions and views expressed here and the actions of Gary Clyman are not necessarily those of MIT Qigong; however, there is value in exploring a variety of perspectives. Below find video from Gary Clyman's First TV Interview in 1982 as well as excerpts from his interview with Inside Kung Fu Magazine in 1987. Other articles and videos can be found at his website: www.chikung.com



Video from Gary Clyman's First TV Appearance (1982):



INSIDE KUNG FU MAGAZINE APRIL 1987
An Interview with Gary J Clyman

IKF: Just what is Chi Kung meditation?

GJC: Chi Kung is an ancient Chinese Taoist method for rejuvenating your internal energy systems - your Jing, Chi, and Shen. It's done using various postures and different kinds of breathing, but it's the internal exercises behind these outer movements that's important. So right here it's different than say Hatha yoga or Chinese calisthenics, which it can look like; plus, the postures aren't for stretching. Traditionally, it's part of Taoist yoga - the practices of the Taoist monk's. Today, it's the backbone of the internal martial arts of Tai Chi, Hsing I, and Pa Kua. (If it's taught that is!) Right now in China, a popularized version is getting attention as a kind of cancer therapy. There are similarities with Tantric yoga, but the language, exercises, and objectives are different. What makes Chi Kung unique is the conscious directing and use of the energy.  So, it's really a meditation for self-development, for creating change in your life; and it can be done by anyone. I've had doctors, Chiropractors, commodity traders, attorneys, housewives, teachers, and business people do this training, and everyone has experienced important, positive changes in their life.

IKF: Many articles are now appearing in martial arts and new age magazines on Chi Kung. With your busy practice, have you had a chance to read them? And if so, what are your conclusions?

GJC: All the articles I've read have been too superficial to do justice to this Nei Kung practice, so deep-rooted in Chinese culture. People have been led to believe that if they sit in the lotus posture and stretch one hand over their head and hold the other at tan tien while they abdominal breathe, that's Chi Kung. No way! Chi Kung means internal energy work, internal training! And it's tied into the oral secret teachings of the Taoists, and martial arts Masters. What we're talking about here is a sophisticated inner science involved in this art. People have spent their entire lives doing this and never moved off a cushion. I mean, if they're doing - why the superficial material? But there is always a purpose in putting something forth: they've prepared the public for what's to come.

IKF: So you consider exposure to the "Three Treasures" theory important for success in Chi Kung? What about elusive concepts of Chi, Jing, and Shen?

GJC: Most books confuse this and make it impossible to understand. I'd rather give the student four or five sentences he could relate to and say: "I know what he's talking about." And even taking the risk that the concept he gets is incomplete, at least it's a beginning that he can build upon during his training. It's best to look at Chi, Jing, and Shen as levels. On the deepest somatic (body) level is Jing - sexual energy. When you're sexually attracted to someone, or when sexually aroused, it’s the energy of raw Jing surging up within you. To harness that energy and work it into a purified form, to cultivate it for purposes other than the sex act, say for fighting or personality development - that's the motivating fiber of Chi Kung meditation. As the student uses this concrete idea to guide his practice, and begins to understand my wholistic health orientation, with the emphasis on diet, nutritional supplementation, and proper body mechanics, it's not hard for him to expand this idea into the more abstract one of seeing Jing as the organism's generative and regenerative energy system, a power source that begins at conception with activated cells, and then tissues, organs, the mind, the total person, and now - repairs them too. So, the vibrations then are cultivated Jing. 

IKF: So how does this contrast with the famous "Chi" or "ki" so often written about?

GJC: With Jing you can transmit its energy, or the manifestation of your internal development, to another person and they can feel it. So here, if I hold both of your hands and decide to give you a shock, the feeling you can get from my cultivation of raw Jing, and its release, the fah, is pure Jing. "Fah Jing" is the "mysterious" power of the great Tai Chi Masters. It's sometimes labeled "Fah Jing." Jing can be transmitted for healing purposes also, but when we're talking about Chi, the energy of Chi can manifest as a sensation I feel that has nothing to do with the vibrations I can transmit to you. Chi energy (internal energy) has a completely different vibratory frequency. Chi vibrations are in the next level and are shorter, smaller, and faster vibrations. Jing vibrations (internal power) are more guttural, more physical, and slower. Chi of course, moves the entire universe, and is in all of us from our first embryonic breath as the source of organic change and movement, of breathing, eating, walking, fighting, thinking, and even aging too. But to sense it and use it with purpose takes technique, practice, and work. An analogy is helpful here to my students. An internal combustion engine must have an energy source, gasoline, and a method of igniting the energy, the ignition system, into the more usable form of energy, horsepower. For us, Chi is the energy source, Jing is the power, and Chi Kung is the method of transformation.

IKF: So how do you put this mechanism to work? How do you harness the Chi and make it work for you? What's your basic approach here?

GJC: The concept that cuts through the fog of ignorance and secrecy, the concept that allows the student to use Chi with purpose, to cultivate Jing, to develop and "burn" it into form, to become a dynamic self-powered individual is "The Condensing Principle." "The Condensing Process" is one of creating an inner vacuum with Chi, Jing, and Shen all at the same time. It's the process of packing the essence of things into every thought, intention, and action. Here's one basic condensing technique for developing Jing: whatever the posture, on the inhale focus on the body to expand, and at the same time focus on the inhaled Chi to contract, to condense, into the core of the body; then, on the exhale focus on the body to contract, and at the same time focus on the inhaled Chi to expand. On each inhale and exhale there is a simultaneous mental focus to expand and contract. This particular technique does two things: first, it sensitizes you to where you are in space as a physical, material body, and second, it introduces you to the first glimmer of Chi sensation, so much used in later training. This is just step one. As we go on and on, what we're doing is refining this same basic technique to the point where it goes from as gross as the body contracts, to where all the molecules in your body condense into one single atom.

IKF: I understand that your Basic Path Training and The Sitting Forms make use of many postures and coordinated movements. What's the idea behind the variety?

GJC: Basically they all accomplish the same thing - to help the mind direct the Chi and Jing through the auxiliary Chi tracts. It's like dancing: when you're studying it, you have to learn more than one step. A similar problem exists here as in Tai Chi. Many students base their choice of a system or the quality of their chosen system on how many movements there are in it. "Oh, my form has 108, his has only 68, but I know of one that has 138." This is an attitude conceived in ignorance. What's important is, at the end of the training, what does the interpretation look like, not how many movements there are.

IKF: In most meditation the mind is calmed and it simply registers the flux of consciousness to naturally reach a state of pure awareness for eventual union with the absolute. In Chi Kung however, the mind seems to be very active and directed.

GJC: It's active, but it's also concentrated, that is, focused. The mind is active only in the sense of "guiding the Chi," not thinking. This is called "Hsing Chi" and it means "wherever the mind goes, the Chi follows." Most meditation restricts awareness to mantra, a mandala, a chant, or the breathing. Most articles treat Chi Kung as a form of visualization - wrong! This is not. My concept of visualization is something created in imagination, something not existing, or not yet existing, like in the method of Creative Visualization. In Chi Kung you're not visualizing Chi condensing, circulating, or dispersing through the use of images, you are actually doing it, physically. The proof is that you can feel the forewarned effects, and later, the personal power is there and you feel it. When using Tai Chi in a martial application, someone else feels it. This is not  like other meditation systems in which consciousness is worked at the expense of the body. In the Taoist view, there is an innate wholistic union of Chi, Jing, and Shen. Whenever one is being exercised, the other two are right there getting worked also. The Taoists wanted us to develop all our innate capacities so we could experience the joys of living here on earth for as long as possible. In Chi Kung, the person develops as a total unit, more fit for living.

IKF: You've talked about Jing and Chi, the basic concept of condensing, and a few other  techniques, where does Shen, the third "Treasure," fit in?

GJC: Well, how do you take all this, the whole system of Chi Kung, and use it in your daily life? That's what Shen is about. When you develop the personal power of Jing you have to express this excess of vitality in some way. Since you've released latent Jing energy stored in armored muscles, tendons, and ligaments and added it to your pool of retained sexual energy, you're no longer a composite of everything that's happened to you in the past. You become "in the moment." You're not distracted by what happened last week, or six months ago. Now you can focus all the energy that you are on something new, on new goals, on a new direction for yourself. What I see in my classes is my students and clients developing the ability to recognize events for what they are. They make decisions more quickly and confidently. Their lives become simpler, less cluttered with emotional baggage, and the fear of doing new things disappears. The cultivated Jing manifests in their physical presence and awareness, the Chi, in their ability to think more clearly, to make up their minds and not be distracted. The Shen is their ability to "follow through" on what they've decided upon. "Shen is the way you can manipulate your universe to be what you want it to be. It’s your outlook on life - the way you work in the world." That's my understanding of the "Three Treasures." It grew out of my Kung Fu training, not out of the philosophy books.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Some Notes on Movement

Great Monday session with Coach Jim last night!!
                    10m Gathering Qi
                    10m Turning Cow
                    10m Moving Post
                    10m Low Post
                    10m Cow Post
                    5m   Low Post
                    Seal/Wash




Some Notes on Moving from Zhan Zhuang 
by Michael Garofalo
From stillness comes movement. All of the basic still stances lead to various moving forms. If the forms are done using Silk Reeling skill: chánsīgōng, 纏絲功, one then creates "Winding Silk Power" (or Silk Reeling Power): chánsījing, 纏絲勁. It is this silk reeling power (jing) that creates peng jing 掤勁 (ward off power). It is the combination of both that is the power behind the internal martial arts and Qigong. Without these two primary jings, Taijiquan is just slow dancing and Qigong is just slow breathing. Using the technique "Yin-Ru-Yang-Chu" (陰入陽出): "moving-in when breathing-in" and "moving-out when breathing-out", Qigong practice channels Qi through the body with movements that are synchronized with breathing. Moving in or closing and moving out or opening refer to parts of the body. However, with the principle of Yin Yang, when one part of the body is closing, another is opening. As an example: You are inhaling and your arms are spreading from directly in front of you, to out to the side. This is opening of the chest; however, it is also closing of the back. Reverse the movement of your arms and exhale; you are closing the chest and opening the back.


Observe closely what happens in your body just before you move. Say you get ready to move but you 'abort' the move just before it actually happens. If you try it few times, you are quite likely to notice a certain type of feeling in the part of the body that you were going to move. At the beginning, it is probably easier to feel it in your hands or arms, so if you have difficulty with it, choose a hand movement. Eventually you will be able to feel a sort of 'inner' activity in your body. What happens is that as you form an intention to move and as you get ready to move, there will be some muscular activity associated with stabilising your body in such a way so as to enable the movement to take place. Normally this muscular activity is not noticed as it gets subsumed in the sensations of the actual move that normally takes place. We can't call it a movement, as there is nothing actually moving, yet it is more than 'not moving' - that's why I call it almost-movement. This is the basis of 'sensing strength'.

Zhan Zhuang is the first step in acquiring Internal Power. The emphasis should be on relaxing all muscles and feeling how the body balances against gravity. Gradually the use of phasic muscles is eliminated from the postural function of the body. Slow, very subtle movements can be felt under the guide of movement in stillness. Later on, when learning to move using 'intent', the body's structure should always be supported by postural muscles only, producing the feeling of standing at any point in the movement (stillness in movement).

Friday, June 24, 2011

Qigong may improve quality of life for office workers

Qigong training and effects on stress, neck-shoulder pain and life quality in a computerised office environment
L. Skoglund aM. JosephsonaK. WahlstedtaE. Lampaa and D. Norbäck1a
a Department of Medical Sciences, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Uppsala University and University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice Volume 17, Issue 1, February 2011, Pages 54-57


Background: Qigong is a Chinese health promoting exercise with a rhythmic pattern of slow movements and breathing affecting the autonomous nervous system.


Objectives: To examine the implementation of Qigong for half an hour daily in a computerised office, and to study effects on health state, general health, neck-shoulder and lumbar spine symptoms and stress after six weeks training


Design: A crossover intervention study with 37 employees randomised in two groups. A questionnaire was completed one week before starting study and every second week during the training period. After 6 weeks the first group stopped and the second group started the training.


Results: There was a small significant improvement of neck pain and disability following therapy.


Conclusion: Qigong training may reduce neck disability in office workers. A longer training period might be needed in further Qigong studies in healthy, normal populations.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Meditation Training for the Martial Arts

Meditation Training for the Martial Arts

By Sifu Zopa Gyatso

Meditate on the unborn nature of mind:
Like space, no center, no limit;
Like the sun and moon, bright and clear:
Like a mountain, unmoving, unshakeable;
Like the ocean, deep, unfathomable.

- Jetsun Milarepa 

Just as they hone the fitness of their bodies and their reactions, many martial artists practice meditation to hone and control their minds. Meditation can assist martial arts training and performance by giving the practitioner the ability to focus and relax the mind. In combat a relaxed but focused mind is essential and may well be the factor which ensures you are a survivor. Japanese samurai well understood this and sought out Zen masters to learn this skill and studied it assiduously. Likewise, Chinese masters, both Buddhist and Taoist, in various martial traditions, have stressed the necessity of mind training to attain superior skills. This is especially marked with respect to the internal systems, some of which have extensive chi gung and meditation curricula. Wing Chun Kuen, of course, has its Siu Lien Tao form, the first section of which can (and in my view, should) be used as meditative exercise.

In this article I will restrict myself to discussing seated meditation. Standing meditation is slightly physically different but involves essentially the same mental processes. Likewise I refrain here from commenting on chi gung. The thing to bear in mind, in both martial art and meditation, is that you must seek transfer of training to application. In other words, the calmness you achieve in practice must be transferred to the normal world by consciously practising the transfer. Otherwise, you are simply training something in isolation, "in an incense-filled room", as some-one recently put it. You need to practice your calm relaxation during training and to be aware of it during an actual self-defence encounter.

In the Tibetan tradition of mind training there are two types of meditation. These are: Shi-ne (Tibetan), Samatha (Sanskrit) or Calm Abiding meditation (English) and Lhag mthong (Tibetan), Vipasyana (Sanskrit) or Insight Meditation (English). Both are essential but one must master Shi-ne before Lhag mthong can yield any benefits. This article focuses on Shi-ne. In the words of my lama, Lama Choedak, Shi-ne tunes our minds to the wave length of spaciousness, freedom and happiness.

***

Here are the reflections on Shi-ne meditation: 
My mind has long been lost in search of happiness Without knowing how transient all things are. Seeing the unsatisfactoriness of real life experiences, I will not allow my mind to wander outside.

Turning back the forcers of harmful habitual inclinations And holding firmly to the peace and tranquility within I rejoice in the store of joy I have discovered I the happiness of observing the intrinsic calmness. Let this clear and luminous state of mind Not be overshadowed by my habitual tendencies; Abiding in the natural calmness and serenity of the mind Let me see all perceptions as nothing but its mere reflection.

Neither grasping nor rejecting any sensory perceptions. I shall see them as adventitious ripples and waves Of the sea of my mind in deep meditation And absorb them into the ocean of clear mind.

As I focus my mind to sit in the correct meditation posture Let the physical self express the deep yearning To experience the calm, still and spacious nature of the mind And transcend the problems I have with this body.

The incoming breath brings in all the positive things outside me And permeates the whole nervous system of my body; As the rays of the morning sun dispel the darkness It soothes the pain and temporary discomfort.

As I retain my breath, let me sustain The vital energy of wakefulness and awareness Enabling me to let go and forgive the past And enjoy the fresh manifestation of this bare moment. My outgoing breath releases all feelings Of tension, anger, stress, anxiety and worry As the masses of dark clouds suddenly disappear Let the adventitious circumstances lapse to dawn a new beginning.

Breathing and observing the bare moment of awareness Without assuming what it will become May I live every moment with pristine awareness Without delaying an unforeseen future to cultivate it.

Following the wise sages by respecting their words of wisdom Let me remember skillful ways to apply them to everything I do, say and think, so that my conduct brings no harm to others And may I not become a victim of what I do, say and think.

While watching the constant flow of thoughts Without discriminating between those that are good or bad Let me neither be overjoyed with meditation Nor depressed by my lack of concentration Sinking in a withdrawal of the senses Is relaxation of the conscious self, but not meditation. Let me not be excited by the slight virtues of concentration I have just begun to experience.

Holding the rope of mindfulness and the hook of alertness May I resolve to tame this mind which is like a wild elephant.

Steadily focusing the mind with moderate application of antidotes May I discover what causes its restlessness.

When I find no sensory objects which are not in my reflection All visions and experiences are the circumference of my self. Like trees, mountains, rivers and heaven and earth My existence is to give and share what I have with others.

How can I cling to and grasp what I have obtained from others? As soon as I let something go, I create space and experience joy. As soon as I give things away, I find a joy not found in keeping them. Learning to cherish others will bring me happiness that will last.

***

If you decide to add meditation practice to your training then you will not regret it. In my view meditation is an essential component of training in martial arts both for the practical benefits which flow from it in application but also for the training of a calm mind which can express Mo Duk .

Monday, June 20, 2011

1600 Stand in Singapore for Father's Day

By S Ramesh

SINGAPORE: The elderly should be spending more time on activities like qigong. With about 1,600 senior citizens in a mass qigong exercise, being in the company of friends and residents keeps them active, healthy and socially connected. For the community, the exercise and brisk walk were also ways to promote racial harmony and celebrate Father's Day.




Friday, June 17, 2011

A Field Guide to Taoist Meditation

By Sat Hon, Founder, New York Dan Tao Center

On Finding a Teacher

On one fine summer day, as I strolled aimlessly along a riverbank,
Beset with a thousand disquietudes,
I chanced upon an old woman fishing under the shady cool of creeping willows.
I wanted to ask her my thousand questions regarding the sun, moon and the creation of the universe and my purpose in life and oh so many more,
She placed her fingers on her lips: Fish are rising.
So I stood there and watched.
The freckled river shimmered with flashes of light like scales of an anaconda.
Clouds drift and tugged the blue horizon with their thick, silken strands;
Shadows of the willow grove deepened. 
I felt my questions draining away.
Finally, as she slowly reeled in her line,
 I laughed as I saw that the line was without a hook.
How does one catch fish without a hook? I wondered.
As she turned to go, I know that tea is ready and I am invited.
Following behind her light, drifting footsteps, 
a gentle breeze combs through the willow branches, 
I catch fragments of their whispering: A big one she caught..

* * *

Taoist meditation is action without aim. It is an aimless, meandering meditation without technique or prefabricated notion -- fishing without a hook. In Taoism, the very nature of this existence is considered a total meditation of the cosmos. Yet, my clinging mind needs something concrete, steps and the knowhow. Thus, began my foray into the wide horizon of meditation.


Taoist alchemical meditation
I consider this the most simple yet, the most difficult of meditations. There is no technique, no particular posture or formality. Just this very instance of one's existence is the meditation. One takes each moment as perfect, whole and everything in its rightful place; thoughts, emotions and such are wonderful, magnificent manifestations and an expression of one's true nature. It is likened to a man waking up after a long coma to find everything -- every thought utterly sweet. In other words, as in the case of a patient of mine who suffered partial paralysis from a stroke, the sharp pain of a needle was felt with overwhelming joy and gratitude.


Mentak Chia's macrocosmic/microcosmic meditation
The representative of this lineage of Taoist meditation is Master Mentak Chia who guides students in circulating their endogenous energy/Qi through the acupuncture meridians. Master Chia also utilizes the internal visualization of the inner smile in this meditation. Smiling to one's angry liver or soothing the weeping lungs might seem farfetched, but such inward smiling does have wonderful healing affects on the organs and their functions. Furthermore, in the opening of the endogenous energy channels, the source and root causes of pathogens are vanquished and one's health is restored. In summary, the Healing Tao meditation system emphasizes the harnessing of the mind's power in the health process and guides one toward healing.


Yan Xan's inner child meditation
In this meditation, one is seated in a chair and initially the breath is settled as a way to calm the mind and body. Then one visualizes the image of oneself as a small child at the age of four or six years old. Often, a vivid image of one's childhood emerges with crystalline clarity. Then with each breath, the inner child enlarges in size until he/she completely fills one's present body. I have found this meditational process extremely effective in dealing with childhood traumas. But readers should proceed with caution. One should always have a competent and enlightened guide in doing Yan Xan's inner child meditation.


The golden flower meditation
In essence, the golden flower text is a combination of the above two meditational techniques: opening the channels and visualization of the birth of the immortal fetus. Through a hundred day process of laying the foundation by at first opening the channels, and then 1,000 days of creating an immortal embryonic energy entity within. The initiate is said to achieve the next level by projecting their consciousness outside of their body -- the initial stage being only an invisible shadow of oneself that others cannot perceive. This ethereal body can travel vast distances of space and experience reality as we know it, but this entity cannot interact in a concrete way with anyone or anything around them. After 10,000 days, or nine years of further cultivation, the initiate advances further into the realm of true immortality by the achievement of a concrete, solid, conscious projection of self. At this stage, the initiate must still maintain their physical body, although at this point, it is in a catatonic state. Meanwhile, the projected self wanders and functions like a normal person. However, as their true physical body's biological functions are in a state of hibernation, they will age at much slower pace. Caution: In the last 200 years of modern Chinese history, I have not personally verified a single individual of this lineage who has achieved this advanced level. A few have claimed that they can project their consciousness outside of their body, but an objective assessment of their claims has not been proven. Obviously, this particular path is filled with pitfalls and practitioners often deviate into psychosis. At this point in time, only one teacher, Wang Li Peng, teaches this cultivation in sporadic seminars in China.


Qigong dynamic meditation
As China morphs from a feudalistic society into the modern era, old time martial artists are transforming their martial fighting skills into healing practices. Master Wang Hiang Xia, the founder of Yi Quan or Mind Martial form, created a series of standing meditation postures such as Tree Hugging stance or Taming the Dragon stance. This dynamic meditation employs the use of imagination and visualization such as Standing Like a Windsock Filled with Breeze in order to distill the mind into a dynamic power force. In his martial system, the laser sharpness derived from meditation is then used later on for sparring and fighting. Yi Quan's dynamic meditation is a wonderful healing meditation with only minor side effects: spontaneous movements and shaking. However, these side effects are symptomatic of one's endogenous channels being opened. Once the stagnation is freed up then the shaking and movements cease as well. As Master Wang once said: Moving greatly is not as fine as moving in smaller motion, tiny movement is not as fine as stillness. Hence, dynamic meditation can be said to guide one from motion into stillness.  

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

MIT Qigong Program: Monday, June 13

While Coach Jim recommends just 20 minutes of zhan zhuang training every day, our club meets every Monday for a full hour of soft qigong practice. The power of group mentality enables even first time participants to endure an advanced routine of postures. Last Monday, we had five new students join us in Kresge Auditorium for a full hour of year one and year two exercises.


                                    (10m)   Gathering Qi
                                    (5/5m)  Crane Left/Right
                                    (5/5m)  Hun Yun Zhuang
                                    (5m)     Turning Cow 
                                    (10m)   Cow Post (#5)
                                    (10m)   Universal Post (#1)
                                                 Seal/Wash

Monday, June 13, 2011

Pin Sun Siu Lin Tao Partner Set

Coach Jim Roselando featured in Wing Chun Illustrated Digital Edition:


Sunday, June 12, 2011

Year One Exercise: The Low Post (ZZ#3)

The Low Post makes it easy to RELAX the shoulders
and focus on good POSTURE and BREATHING

Saturday, June 11, 2011

The Five Origins of Traditional Qigong


By David Cowan

Traditionally, all qigongs come to us from five distinct schools of philosophy—these are the Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist, Martial and Medical schools of qigong. Each qigong school shares similarities in form and principals of practice but emphasizes a distinctly different goal.

  • Confucian qigong—as practiced by the ruling elite—the goal was to train oneself to remain emotionally detached and centered no matter what the situation.
  • Daoist qigong focused primarily on increasing longevity which led to the pursuit of alchemy—the turning of base metals into gold—and an attempt to discover: Dan, the ‘Elixir of Life.’ The goal of Daoist qigong is Immortality.
  • Buddhist qigong focuses on the attainment of Enlightenment. The goal of all Buddhist practices is to become a Buddha sustained by undisturbed inner-peace gained through the practice of meditation.
  • Martial qigong’s goal is to become invincible in any fight—a supreme martial artist. Kung fu masters train themselves to become impervious to injury and perform amazing feats of skill and agility due to their years of intensive physical, mental discipline, and their heightened body awareness.
  • Medical qigong’s goal is the alleviation of illness, freedom from sickness, good health and long life.
Many medical qigongs are Daoist in origin, but Indian and Buddhist yoga is strongly influential too. Interestingly, the fateful blending of Chinese Daoism and Indian Buddhism gave rise to a powerful new branch of Buddhism known as Chan Buddhism—or as it is commonly known in the West—Zen. 

Thursday, June 9, 2011

First Issue of WC Illustrated now Available


Jim Roselando, MIT Qigong Coach, 

Featured in the First Issue of the 

New Wing Chun Boxing Magazine:

 

http://www.wingchunillustrated.com/

 

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See the new WC Illustrated on Youtube:

 


 

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The Print-on-Demand Edition of our 

premiere issue is now on sale!


For more details and to place your order of the premiere issue,
please visit our Facebook Fan Page.
(you don't need a Facebook account to access the page)

Wing Chun Illustrated is the world’s only magazine dedicated to Wing Chun, regardless of lineage or style. Each bi-monthly 60-page, full-colour issue features informative, incisive and exclusive content. The magazine’s Advisory Board and staff writers include some of the most respected instructors in the Wing Chun world today: David Peterson, Wayne Belonoha, Jim Roselando Jr., Dr. Robert Chu, Emin Boztepe, Alan Gibson, Rolf Clausnitzer, Andreas Hoffmann, Bey Logan, Cliff Au Yeung and Lamar M. Davis II, to name but a few. 

In July, WCI will also be available digitally for the following mobile devices: iPadiPhone and iPod Touch. Single issues, subscriptions and back issues of the Digital Edition will be on sale via Apple’s App Store. $5.99 per issue. 1-year subscription (6 issues): $29.99. WCI will likewise be available for Android 3.0 and BlackBerry Playbook in July. 

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Qigong Sutras

By David Cowan

1. Feet Touch the Earth…
How to: Begin by distributing your weight to the front at 70/30 with 70% of your weight on the balls of both feet and 30% on the heels. Slightly flatten down the arches of both feet and press (K1) Bubbling Well points firmly against the ground. Now relax your knees and sink your weight into both heels while maintaining pressure on your big toes. Continue to adjust your posture on the centerline—left/right and front/back—until your weight is 50/50. Push the earth down and feel as if your feet are deeply rooted in the ground. Relax. Do not lean back. Imagine that Earth Qi flows unimpeded upward through both legs and flows into the Lower Dan Tian.

2. Head as if Suspended from Above…
How to: Imagine being gently “pulled up” by an imaginary string that is attached to the crown of your head. Feel yourself “hang down” from your head and allow your spine to lengthen upward one vertebra at a time. Consciously breathe-out while releasing any pressure or tension that limits circulation to your spine. Feel yourself relax each vertebral disc. Adjust your posture until it balanced along your anatomical center-line. Feel for a soft inner-sensation of floating as if your head was literally suspended from above and your while your body was effortlessly hanging down from the skull.

3. Relax Low Back…
How to: With feet now grounded and head on top, allow the lumbar spine at the level of L2 / L3 to move backwards approximately 1-3 inches. Release all tension in the muscles of the low back.

4. Knees are Bent…
How to: Soften and relax the knees without squatting down. Unlock but do not bend the knees. The knee caps should move approximately 1-2 inches forward and soften the back of the knee. Imagine your knees are buoyant springs.

5. Tailbone Points to the Ground…
How to: Slightly rock the pelvis back approximately 10 degrees until the tailbone points towards the ground. Imagine your tailbone is very long and can reach the ground. Let this imaginary tailbone form serve as the third leg of a tripod. Slightly raise the Hui Yin point by gently contracting the muscles of the pubocoxigeal region (a Kegel-exercise).

6. Fold the Kwa…
How to: The “Kwa” refers to the Bilateral Inguinal Creases of the groin region. To fold the Kwa, engage the abdominal muscles and slightly tip the pelvis up at the point of the Pubic Symphysis in order to properly balance the pelvis and lumbar spine. Have a feeling of rolling the thighs slightly inward at the same time and allow yourself to rest more deeply on the imaginary tripod formed by the feet and tailbone (Kangaroo Tail).

7. Sitting but Not Sitting…
How to: While relaxing all the muscles of the feet, legs, pelvis, low back, spine, torso and abdomen, and with tailbone pointing towards the ground, fold the Kwa and change the angle of the pelvis as if in the act of sitting down. Rest in this poised state as if sitting comfortably on your “kangaroo tail.” Flatten the natural lumbar curve by slightly moving the Mingmen area slightly backwards 1-2 inches. Relax and balance the spine, neck, and shoulders. Release all muscle tension in the legs and back as if “sitting but not sitting.”

8. Tongue Touches Upper Palate…
How to: Place the tip of your tongue lightly but firmly against the roof of your mouth at the meeting point of the hard and soft palate.

9. Drop Shoulders…
How to: Using the muscles of the ribcage and torso gently pull down the shoulders and relax all tension in the neck.

10. Go Out In Six Directions…
How to: Imagine your body expanding towards the horizon in all directions: Up, Down, Front, Back, Left, and Right. Feel the expansion of your personal energy moving in all directions to connect with the Blue Sky. Continue moving outwards until the earth feels like a small ball resting in the center of your body (Lower Dan Tian).