2 Bagua Applications - From Martial Arts to Healing

7/28/2019 2 Bagua Applications - From Martial Arts to Healing

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MODULE9Bagua Applications:From Martial Arts to Healing

BRUCE FRANTZIS


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Copyright 2011 Bruce FrantzisAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording orotherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.Published by Energy Arts, Inc., P.O. Box 99, Fairfax, CA 94978-0099The following trademarks are used under license by Energy Arts, Inc., from Bruce Frantzis: FrantzisEnergy Arts system, Mastery Without Mystery, Longevi ty Breathing program, Opening the EnergyGates ofYour Body Qigong, Marriage of Heaven and Earth Qigong, Bend the Bow Spinal Qigong,Spiraling Energy Body Qigong, Gods Playing in the Clouds Qigong, Living Taoism Collection,Chi Rev Workout, HeartChi, Bagua Mastery Program, Bagua Dynamic Stepping System, BaguaInternal Warm-up Method, and Bagua Body Unif ication Method.

Editing: Heather Hale, Bill Ryan, Richard Taubinger and Caroline FrantzisInterior Design: Heather HaleCover Design: Thomas HeringtonPhoto and Illustration Editing: Mountain Livingston and Thomas HeringtonPhotographs by: Eric Peters, Bill Walters, Caroline Frantzis, Richard Marks and Catherine HelmsIllustrations: Michael McKee and Kurt SchultenImage Alteration: Lisa Petty, GiriVibe, Inc., Patrick Hewlett and Jodie SmithModels: Bruce Frantzis, Bill Ryan, Keith Harrington, Don Ethan Miller and Paul CavelPrinted in the United States of AmericaPLEASE NOTE: The practice ofTaoist energy arts and medi tat ive arts may carry risks. The informationin this text is not in any way intended as a substitute for medical, mental or emotional counselingwith a licensed physician or healthcare provider. The reader should consult a healthcare professionalbefore undertaking any martial arts, movement, meditative arts, health or exercise program to reduce the chance of injury or any other harm that may result from pursuing or trying any techniquediscussed in this text. Any physical or other distress experienced during or after any exercise shouldnot be ignored and should be brought to the attention of a healthcare professional. The creators andpublishers ofthis text disclaim any liabilities fo r loss in connection with following any of the practicesdescribed in this text, and implementation is at the discretion, decision and risk of the reader.


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Table of ContentsFrom Martial Artsto Healing ............................................... 5Overview ..................................................................... 5

Energy Healing: Same Game withDifferent Goals and Rules ......................................... 6Beijing: The Next Shift ............................................... 7


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From Martial Artsto HealingOverview

People come to practice internal chi arts for many different reasons. Often times,they shift thei r emphasis as the events in their life change or they address what-ever the initial issue was that started them practicing in the first place.My training began with martial arts at age twelve. Although as a teen I studiedshiatsu and worked extensively on large numbers of people, my interest in heal-ing others didn't really start to emerge until my twenties.As I've written in my books many times, I contracted a severe, almost lethal, caseof hepatitis while in India. As a youth, I had never before understood the pain andsuffering of sickness. I beat the odds and brought myself back from the brink ofdeath, but the hepatitis hangover lasted for many years.

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2011 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.


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6 Bagua Mastery Program

Through this period, I came to know the unrelenting pain of an unhealthyliver. At times, I watched as all of my strength completely left me, as though all ofmy blood was drained from my body. I would have intermittent experiences ofshifting, seemingly out of the blue, from being a very physically strong person tosuddenly becoming humbled and weak.The reality of pain, imbalance and suffering was much different than myintellectual ideas about what it was and was not. My experiences gave me aglimpse ofthe impact illness and injury had on people's lives.Some years later, as part of my Taoist priest training, I was told rather than askedto learn healing or withdraw. Although I had been exposed to qigong tui na train-ing before, it wasn't until this time that I began seriously studying the medicalarts of chi wi th the same intensity as my internal martial arts training.Initially, I noticed the similarities and connections between martial arts and heal-ing work. For example, internal martial arts seek to move chi through your body.In the beginning, you practice to promote vibrant health otherwise you can gethurt. Anything less than good health supports internal weakness rather thanstrength.Essentially, internal martial art training evolves into developing chi inside yourown body to manipulate and direct it externally. In coordination with physicaltechniques, cultivating chi helps to increase power, reflexes and speed, whichcreates a fighter who has a better chance ofwinning against an opponent.

Energy Healing: Same Game withDifferent Goals and RulesEnergy healing practices basically use the same process with a twist. Insteadof inflicting pain and destruction, they work on the opposite side of the con-tinuum to promote healing. So the learning progression is the same: first, youupgrade your own chi and then you can apply it to some end. However, now the



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Module 9: Bagua Applications-From Martial Arts to Healing 7

context of the "opponent" changes, which shifts your focus. In energetic healingwork, the physical aggressor (martial arts opponent) becomes the disease, injuryor dysfunction that you seek to control or defeat.

So rather than focusing on techniques to control or deflect a punch or kick, itshifts to techniques for increasing strong, free flowing bodily chi. You knock outderanged chi inside a patient's body to ultimately defeat it and thereby heal thehealth problem.As the skill of the qigong tui na practitioner gradually upgrades and he is ableto heal unbalanced chi in others, the next step is to learn to do the same withthe energies of the patient's mind and emotions, at least to the degree requiredto enable the patient's physical body, emotions and mental actions to smoothlylink and flow between with each other. Otherwise, a major gl itch at one level caninterfere with the smooth functioning of the other two levels.As a patient becomes more emotionally and mentally healthy, it can helptheir physical illness improve. Equally, upgrading the functioning of theirphysical body enhances their mental and emotional dispositions. It is a self-reinforcing, positive feedback loop.like martial arts, healing work has a series of challenges to overcome. Helping asick person get better requires more than just skill. It requires compassion. Goodhealers somehow find a way to drive forward by the motivation of the healingpotential rather than getting stuck in human suffering.Exploring these perspectives has been one of my streams since my twenties. Itstill floats my boat to find myself thinking: "This is really difficult. Cool. Then, canit be done and, if so, how well can it be done?"

Beijing: The Next ShiftThe next major shift in my life occurred in Beijing in my thirties during the timeI spent with my primary teacher, liu Hung Chieh. It was the final and most



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8 Bagua Mastery Program

difficult phase ofmy formal qigong tui na training. I primarily worked with cancerpatients and some others with equally serious conditions.During this time, my teacher Liu awakened in me a genuine sense ofcompassion. This caused a shift in me where it ceased to be all about thechallenge. He helped me see the most important consideration, which is thesuffering of human beings and the great opportunity I have to reduce it.Now, when you work to physically heal people, you're basically in the sameposition as a doctor. For me, it was good that I initially had the martial arts train-ing because it inured me to the rough stuff of life. As when you deal with verydifficult and truly heart wrenching conditions, it can really affect you.If you have any kind of a heart whatsoever, it can be very painful constantlywatching people die or undergo the most incredible suffering you can possiblyimagine. To see it once or twice in your lifetime is one thing, but the ongoingonslaughts accumulate like ongoing post traumatic stress.Many young doctors/healers must ask themselves, as I did:"How do I help peoplewithout it hurting me?" The Taoist Inner Dissolving practices really helped me,but they weren't the whole story.Compassion completes the cycle for me. Just realizing the importance ofmaking contact with a suffering human being and using the opportunity tosomehow further the human condition is a good beginning, however, the road tocompassion is a bit more encompassing than this.After these experiences, my road from healing and the road to meditation beganto merge.Where will you go?


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2 Bagua Applications - From Martial Arts to Healing