Qi Magazine issue 76 v2

Cover: Grandmaster Yang Meijun

Qi Magazine is published by the Tse Qigong Centre.Its aim is to bring you information not readilyavailable in the West.

Editor: Michael TseDeputy Editor: Darryl MoyAssistants: Vera Externest

Martin GaleCaroline GarveySarah MoyJane PollardClaire Spruce

Legal Adviser: Tony WalshMarketing/Distribution: Jessica BlackwellSweden: Barbro Olsson

Stefan Eekenulv

ConsultantsGrandmaster Yang Meijun

Grandmaster Ip ChunGrandmaster Wu Chun Yuen

Grandmaster ChenXiao Wang

Columnists:

Peter Andersen Kate BrittonMartin Gale GlennGosslingJohn Hayes HelenMassySihn Kei Adam WallaceJulian Wilde

Readers may contact any of our contributors c/oQi Magazine.We encourage all our readers to contribute articles, lettersor questions for possible inclusion in future issues ofQi Magazine.Articles appearing in Qi Magazine do not necessarilyreflect the opinion of the editor. Adverts appearing in themagazine are not necessarily endorsed by it or the editor.Exercises appearing in Qi Magazine are for referencepurposes only. Thus anyone wishing to study shouldseek qualified tuition.

Michael Tse 2005.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored or transmitted in any way without thewritten permission of Michael Tse.

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ISSN 1358-3778

When I was recently teaching aseminar, a student asked meabout diet and how this relates

to health and Qi. I have never reallyconcentrated too much on my diet. I havealways listened to my body to tell mewhat I should eat. However, today diethas become very important and everyonewants to eat more healthily. Why is this?Are the foods we eat poison?

When I was little, I remember thatwe never had to worry about what weate. We ate everything as long as weliked it. I remember that often we didnot have a lot of food, so for us, anyfood was good.

Today, however, we have all kindsof food and we do not really starve inmost societies, but we have morestrange diseases than ever before andmost people are unhealthy. A lot ofpeople think that this is connected to thefood that we eat.

So what should we eat? InChinese medicine we see our

bodies like the weather.So we have hot,cold, dry and dampconditions. As longas we balance thetemperature andmake our bodieshave “niceweather” thenwe will be

alright.

Hot and dry are related. Cold anddamp are related. So we can see thatthere are really only two kinds ofproblems. We can be either too hot ortoo cold. How can we make our bodiestoo hot? This is because we make toomuch energy go to a certain area of thebody and not enough to go to otherareas. If there is not enough energy in acertain area, then it will be too cold. Toomuch Qi in one area will make it too hotand too little Qi in one area will make ittoo cold. This is how we get problems.

How does a virus or germ affectus? A virus may have been around aslong as we human beings have. Ourancestors died because of them but nextgenerations developed ways to overcomethem. Germs challenge us, but when wecan overcome them, we become stronger.So from first being enemies, we thenbecome friends with these germsbecause they make us stronger.

If we always lose this fight, thenwe would have already died out. Theyare the same. If our immune systemscan defeat them, then they will also dieout. So each time they come back theyhave to be stronger.

When we practise Qigong, ourimmune system automatically getsstronger. When we gather Qi (energy)from nature, then we can handlestronger viruses and germs. However, themajority of people get their energy fromfood rather than from taking it from theenvironment which is what we do when

we practise Qigong.Good food will give you good

energy and make you healthy. Badfood will make you weaker andmake you ill. So what sort of foodsshould we eat today? The answerdepends on your condition.Generally, there are two kinds offood, one is meat and the otheris vegetable. Meat will generallygive us hot energy andvegetables will generally giveus cool energy. So one will

make our systems hotterand the other will cool it

down.

continued onpage 9

Qi Magazine Jul/Aug/Sept2005 page 1

Tse Qigong Centre

Kung Fu WeaponsLongquan (Taiji) Dragon SwordDouble edged straight blade, engraved & finished with brass andcopper. Comes with scabbard and tassel. (Length 81cm)Tse Qigong Centre members £90 / Non-members £100

Kang Li Telescopic Practice SwordWell-balanced, steel practice sword. Comes with carrying case andtassel. (Length 71cm)Tse Qigong Centre members £36* / Non-members £41*

Longquan Dragon Knife (Broadsword)Engraved blade finished in copper. Includes engravedlacquered scabbard with brass finish. (Length 77.5 cm)Tse Qigong Centre members £95 / Non-members £105

Chinese Spear (Length 215cm)Chrome plated spearhead with white wax woodshaft and red ying (hair). Requires cutting to size.Tse Qigong Centre members £52 / Non-members £57

White Wax Wood Staff (Length 200cm)Tse Qigong Centre members £40 / Non-members £45

Wing Chun Knives - Baat Jam Dao (Length 45cm)Tse Qigong Centre members £110 / Non-members £120

Longquan (Taiji)Dragon Sword

LongquanDragon Knife(Broadsword)

Prices include UK p&p and are by express courier service.*telescopic sword includes UK p&p by standard post.Please make cheques payable to ‘Michael Tse’.Specifications may vary. Prices valid for cover dates onthis issue only. Please see the latest issue for up to date prices.

Wing Chun Knives(Baat Jam Dao)

To order contact:Tse Qigong Centre PO Box 59

Altrincham WA15 8FS0845 838 2285

[email protected]

37 Liao Fan’s Four LessonsContinuing the serialisation of Liao Fan.

38 Chicken TeriyakiSimple to make, easy to eat and very tasty!

15 Language of MovementMovement is a form of communication we do not often thinkabout. How then does it tell its message?By Helen Massy

44 Taijiquan’s 5 Steps of Development Part IIThe secret to anything is practice, but you must practisecorrectly or your efforts will be in vain. These five steps willbe invaluable not only for your Taijiquan but other martialart or Qigong skills.By Michael Tse

46 Finding MyselfQigong and Taijiquan are internal arts. As such they willmake you look at yourself. Sometimes this is not an easyprocess to go through.By Cherryl Duncan

48 Bone QiBone Qi is what makes us heathy and full of energy. It isalso responsible for the condition of our brain. With sufficientmarrow, our mind will be clear and our intelligence improved.by Sihn Kei

50 Exercise for the Legs & KneesMany people suffer from Sciatica and painful knees. Hereare some simple yet effective exercises that can help.by Zeng Qingnan & Liu Daoqing

52 Feng Shui of a BookshopFeng Shui is about change and the flow of Qi in a space.Here is a real life example of how this knowledge can beused.By Michael Tse


POBox POBox POBox...

This year has been a year of celebrations...it is the 15thyear anniversary of the Tse Qigong Centre and we willsoon be having a Qigong and Martial demonstration in

London to commemorate this. However, this year has alsohosted the weddings oftwo Tse Qigong Centrestudents. Seniorinstructor Glenn Gosslingand bride Kesti weremarried at Leeds Castlein April and just beforevows were to begin, theflock of geese restingoutside the gatehousetook to their wings andhonked and flew in acircle to land and honkagain. It was a real ‘WildGoose’ blessing.Afterwards, Glenn andKesti left the gates of thecastle grounds beneatha canopy of crossedswords held by his Sifu,Michael Tse, and five

New Number0845 838 2285New Number0845 838 2285

other students. Anyone knowing Glenn’s adoration of all kindsof ancient weaponry will not think this unusual but just a“Glennerism”.

The other celebration was the wedding of Hawaiistudents, Brandon and Traci Eugenio. Brandon and Traci tooktheir vows in a historic church which is sheltered beneathtowering Banyan trees. In typical Hawaiian style, the churchwas overflowing with family and friends who joined togetherto celebrate the joining of families. Even more relatives, friendsand students joined the reception where festivities included atraditional lion dance and lots of local food. Although no swordswere present, Traci presented Brandon with the gift of aHawaiian hula dance that she had learned for the occasion.Some movements are like those of Wild Goose Qigong butthe gentle movements expressed words rather than motionsfor gathering Qi.

HappyCelebrationsHappyCelebrations

Those of you who wish to call the Tse Qigong Centre/ Qi Magazine in the UK, can nowuse our new local rate telephone number 0845 838 2285. Callers are only billed at local rateswherever you may be calling from within the UK at any time of the day. Our old telephonenumber, 0161 929 4485, can still be used so there is no reason why you can not give us a call.

All of us at the Tse Qigong Centre wish them along life, good health and happiness.

Mr & MsGlenn Gossling

Mr & Ms Brandon Eugenio

page 4 Qi Magazine Jul/Aug/Sept 2005

POBox...DamoIncentiveDear Sigong,

I just wanted to tell you how muchI (and many others I am sure) doappreciate your visits to the U.K. It isinspiring and motivating for me and mystudents to meet you when you visitedWimbledon classes. For instance, Sigong,when you said to me, “When you teachthe Damo Staff......” it felt impossiblethat I should ever reach that standard.Yet I know that many things which feltimpossible a few years ago have becomepart of my routine, so why not? And thefact that YOU think I am capable ofreaching that level is a big incentive forme to go on polishing that form.

I look forward to seeing more ofyou at the instructors’ course. Meanwhile,I am sending you my gratitude and allmy best wishes.Your Grand-student M Ball, London

WarmingUp HistoryDear Sigong,

What is the historyof the Chun Yuen WarmUp exercises? Were theycreated by yourself, WuTai Sigong, or evenpossibly Sijo Wang Ping orolder? Nobody seemedto remember hearing thisinformation before, andthought that perhaps youcould enlighten us in thisregard.J Leland, Seattle,Washington

Dear J,I created the Chun

Yuen Warm Up to help mein my own practice. WhenI moved to England, theweather there was much colder than whatI was used to in Hong Kong. I had alsobegun learning the Northern Shaolin skillwith my Sifu, Wu Chun Yuen, andalthough he had some warm-up exercisestaught to him by Wang Ping, he did notreally concentrate so much on these,perhaps because he wanted to spend thetime to pass on other skill to me.

Qigong gave me a lot ofunderstanding of how Qi works in the

body and so I knew that the flexibity ofthe waist is very important. This is becausethis relates to the back and also thecondition of the kidneys. I see peopledoing all kinds of warm ups andstretching, but I rarely see peopleconcentrating to make the waist loosefirst. The waist is the centre of the body.Once it is loose, everything in the body isopen. That is why we do Iron Ring Aroundthe Waist and then Wind Blows the Willowand Carp Fish Jumps into the Water first.So Level I of the Chun Yuen Warm Up isabout opening the waist from a stableposition.

After the waist, we work on thelegs and hips. Level II uses moving forwardand back and up and down and kicking.A lot of people think of this section asusing power, but actually, it is more aboutopening the hips and knees. Posture isalso very important and helps open thelungs to strengthen the Qi and breathing.Level III is totally for stretching and alsofor balance. Level IV helps to developstrength by working on jumping as wellas flying and running kicks.

All ofthe Chun YuenWarm Upmovements arebased ontraditional skilland along withmy knowledgeof how healthand how Qiworks in thebody. Some ofthe movementsare actuallyfrom some ofthe Chun Yuenforms, like XingShou, YanQing and DaBei Gong(Great SadnessG o n g ) .Through theChun Yuen

Warm Up, I have found the better way todevelop the body for health.Best wishes,Michael Tse

Wing Chun Qi?Dear Michael,

Many years ago I studied ChenStyle Taiji & did Level One Hard Qigong.I’ve just started studying Wing Chun

which I enjoy & wish I could get to moreclasses, but due to work & family (secondchild due within the next 7 weeks) it’shard. The reason for this long-windedquestion was to ask what are the healthbenefits of Wing Chun if any? I alwaysremember you saying how Taiji builds Qi,does Wing Chun?All the bestS Web, Manchester

Dear S,Thanks for your letter. It is always

nice to hear from “old” students and it isgood to hear that you have come backto class.

Wing Chun has many benefits foryou health. If you look at my Sifu,Grandmaster Ip Chun, he is over 80 yearsold and still so healthy and fit. His WingChun is such a high level and he can stillChi Sau with anyone. He has achievedthis through his Wing Chun training.

The emphasis of Wing Chun andalso Taiji is relaxation. When the bodyand mind relax, the Qi will start to flownaturally. When you do Chi Sau you mustcompletely relax and your mind will settleas you concentrate on what you aredoing. The better you get the more settledyou will become and this is very good foryour health as you have “no mind” i.eno distracting thoughts. In Taijiquan, thisprocess happens more when you aredoing the form. As you go through it youhave to concentrate on what you aredoing and this makes the mind and bodyrelax and also makes the Qi flow. UnlikeTaijiquan Wing Chun does not have a longform and this is one reason Chi Sau is soimportant.

However the first Wing Chunform, Siu Lim Tao is the most importantpart of Wing Chun to develop your Qi. Inparticular, the first section needs to bedone very slowly. As you relax, you needto let your mind settle, so your thoughtsreduce, and as you move slowly your Qiwill develop. This is very much like doingZhan Zhuang – standing meditation,which is also very important in Taijiquan.

When your Qi is strong and canflow naturally and freely, then of courseyou will be healthy. Hope this helps, enjoyyour training!Best wishes,Michael Tse

Qigong DreamsHello Michael Tse,

I am sure you get hundreds ofquestions like mine but I’d be very


grateful for some help. I am practisingQigong and teach myself with the helpof books and videos. I have never heardor read anything about Qigong until Idreamt about it in a very clear dream. Iwas told that I need to learn Qigong tobe able to help. (I realise that this soundsfairly ridiculous for a well-balancedperson, as I am indeed) I live in theNetherlands, Alkmaar and nowhere neara Qigong teacher.

Could you please give me someidea what step I could take to learn tohelp others. Is it at all possible to learnto heal without a teacher?Thank you for your timeS. Stone, Netherlands

Dear S,Many people come to Qigong for

many different reasons and through manydifferent ways. I have heard of people“dreaming” before and some people willsay it is spirits talkingto us. However wecome to study, themost important thingis that we are practicalabout our training andstudies, i.e. we dothings we can manageand also things thatare natural and goodfor our health.

Unfortunately, Ido not know anyone teaching in theNetherlands and so cannot help you withthis. It is possible to learn some simpleQigong from books and videos, but thisis never a substitute for having a goodSifu to guide you. To begin with I suggestyou concentrate on making yourselfhealthy and developing you own Qi. It isalways good to help other people, butunless you are healthy yourself and alsoknow what you are doing, then you cancause more harm than good.Best wishes,Michael Tse

Books WantedSifu,

Good day. I wanted todesperately order some of your booksand videos on Qigong, primarily forhealth benefits (since I chronically sufferfrom prostate / bladder problems) withsecondary emphasis on fitness, andwould like your esteemed opinion on thebest all-round package, which could helpme in achieving some of my goals

without confusing me with too much infoinitially. (Just to give you a bit ofbackground, I have had some limitedexposure to Aikido and Taijiquan, but it’sbeen years since I’ve practised on accountof my relocation). I would also

appreciate yourguidance inpicking suitablebooks of otherauthorit ies aswell. For themoment, I ampractising someof the Qigongexercises that Iremember fromyour book“Qigong forHealth & Vitality”(mainly Rowingin the Lake,Punching andCloud Walking,since the book iscurrently on loanto my in-laws)which I’m surewould benefit me greatly over the longterm, but I would be indebted for yourexpert help in this matter. With mydeepest thanks and sincere regards,

Dear Tse Sifu!Thank you for the last visit in Gothenburg, it really gave me a lot.

I always look forward to come to Gothenburg for courses and feel thefamily energy of the Centre. Because I do not have any opportunities totake regular classes, those times give me a lot.

Thank you again for your work with helping all this people withtheir health, energy and to get a better life, it inspires all of us studentsto do the same and to do it with a good heart.Yours SincerelyJ StrandbergSweden

Adil Jamil Lutfullah

Dear Adil,Thank you for your letter and I will

try to help answer your questions. I thinkthat the best book would be “Qigong for

Healing and Relaxation”and also the DVD,“Healthy Living Gong PartI”. The book will give youa lot of practical knowledgeabout Qigong and healthand will also cover the PartI Healthy Living Gongmovements in great detail,explaining how they werecreated and on what youshould concentrate whenpractising.

The DVD will letyou follow along and learnthe movements step by stepand let you see themovement in more thanone dimension (which is alla book can let you seethrough photos).

If you like to havesomething you can hangon the wall and learn moreacupuncture points andchannels, then there is alsoa Part I wall chart that hasthe Part I exercises insequence and also one fullside of all the channelsand commonly usedQigong acupuncturepoints.

There is a specialoffer for the entire set

which would be £61.90 (saving £5 intotal).

Best wishes,Michael Tse

From the HeartFrom the Heart

“Concentrate onmaking yourselfhealthy.”

“Concentrate onmaking yourselfhealthy.”


Canada Demoand Seminar

Tse Qigong CentreChen TaijiquanResidentialInstructor Course

News::::: Demos & SeminarsNews::::: Demos & SeminarsNews::::: Demos & SeminarsTse Qigong CentreChen TaijiquanResidentialInstructor Course

‘Understanding the part playedby heaven and man is the highestknowledge. Knowing what is receivedfrom heaven andwhat one shouldadd oneself is thehighestunderstanding.”(Chuang Tzu)

At the end of March,the Tse QigongCentre held its firstresidential ChenInstructors Course atthe Harper AdamsCollege in Newport.Although the groupwas smaller than theannual Qigong Instructor Course, thespirit of the occassion was strong and fullof enthusiasm.

Master Tse's presence at anycourse is a great privilege. One knowsthat there will be some difficulty ahead,but there is a certain satisfaction in theknowledge that his presence will alsocause you to reach beyond yourself. Hisenergy, the quality of his movements arean inspiration. They cause you to digdeep in yourself and find that bit morethan was there before.

This is perhaps the role of a greatteacher, to take his students beyondthemselves, beyond their own personallimits and ultimately to point the way tothe absolute limit that is Taiji.

The great thing about the ChenResidential was that it was a leveller. Bythe end of the weekend, you could seeclearly where you where at in themoment but also to the way ahead. Theroute might seem difficult. It mightdisappear into the mists clinging to thesteep sides of a perilous mountain, butonce again you can feel the thrill of beingalive and breathing fresh air.

Although each day was full, withTui Shou (Pushing Hands) being doneuntil midnight, there was a wealth ofinformation bestowed on everyone. Oneof the students commented, "Sifu doesnot only look at the situation now, heconsiders far into the future." This

foresight is helping to train all of ussomeday to be Masters worthy of passingdown the skill to the future generations.

“The gift of heaven is one’snature received at birth. The role of manis to seek, starting from what he knowsand learn what he does not know.”(Chuang Tzu)

Canada Demoand SeminarEarlier this year in March, over 30 peoplecame to watch Master Tse demonstrateand talk about Qigong at the CanadianCollege of Acupuncture in Victoria.Through Master Tse’s story of Uncle Choi,we learned about the basic principles ofYin and Yang – how when something’bad’ happens, something ‘good’ willthen also happen and when something‘good’ happens, something ‘not-so-good’ might follow. This story remindsus that we should take life as it comesand not get too excited or too upset aboutthings.

In his talk about health, MasterTse encouraged us tolisten carefully to ourbodies and not to letourselves get too tiredas this can lead tosickness which can thenlead to death. Let’stake charge that wemight live a longhealthy life and diepeacefully andnaturally when we’reready.

He compared,with impressive

demonstration, Chen Taijiquan withQigong, showing the more martialnature of Taiji and its rooting in selfdefense. Someone remarked that itlooked less friendly than the beautifulmovements of Wild Goose and TripleCrossing Spiral Gong. In the Qigong,the movements were much softer,fluttering hand movements to releasenegative Qi and bending and stretching to stimulate the internal organs

and open the channels. Whereasin Chen Taiji, the body is moreupright and the movements aremuch more intense with lowstances, punching and evenstamping of the feet to stimulatebone Qi. We actually need bothYin and Yang movement for goodhealth.

Over the following two daysin Duncan, Canada, Xing Shou wastaught for the first time. During theintroduction, one of the studentsasked a question about how themovements could develop thestrength of our bones in the upper

body when there is no weight-bearingfor the upper body. Master Tse explainedthat if the feet are strong, then the anklesare strong. If the ankles are strong, thecalves are strong. If the calves are strongthe thighs are strong. If the thighs arestrong, the hips are strong and so on, allthe way up the body. The reason wecan hang on the branch of a tree isbecause the roots and trunk are strong,not because the branch is strong itself.

Another question arose abouthealers protecting themselves againstexchanging ‘negative’ energy with theirclients. He said that we are exchangingenergy all the time with our environment,which includes people. Energy movesfrom concentrated to more diluted, fromstronger to weaker. This is why it is bestif we practise Qigong outside to gather

Sifu Tse and the students on the 2005 Chen Instructors Course

Enjoying the Canadian fresh air

Qi Magazine Jul/Aug/Sept 2005 page 7

Everyday we receive many letters from people all over the world, sometimes asking for advice, sometimes justsharing their experience. Unless specifically asked otherwise, we will consider these letters for possiblepublication in Qi Magazine. In this way, we all come together like a family and share and help each other.That is the reason I began Qi Magazine and particularly the PO Box. - Michael Tse

If there is anything you wish to share with others, any news or any announcements you would like to make,send them to us. We also welcome articles (800 - 1000 words in length) on appropriate topics..

Please write to:

UKQi MagazinePO Box 59,

Altrincham WA15 8FS. UK.email [email protected]

USATse Qigong Centre

PO Box 15807,Honolulu, HI 96830. USA.

email [email protected]

Hard QigongLevel I Exam

Jade Pillar Gong

Plum BlossomChi Sau

JointOpeningGong

the beautiful, clean Qi from Nature.Movement is what releases Qi. If wego to sleep when we feel drained aftera healing session, it’s like putting awayour dirty clothes without washing them.If we move, jump around, swing our armsor better still practise some Qigong, thenit is like washing our clothes beforehanging them out to dry.

JointOpeningGongThis seminar included two groups whereboth Part I and Part II of Joint OpeningGong was taught. Within an hour of theseminar, it was quite obvious that thegentle beginnings of the earlymovements in Part I gave way tom o v e m e n t saltogether morea d v e n t u r o u sand challenging inPart II. It broughtan interestingenergy to theseminar to seesuch differentthings beingtaught sim-ultaneously in the same room. It wasinteresting also to see such contrasts ofYin and Yang brought together in thesame form. However, this is an idealexample of healing the body, using firstgentle, soft and relaxed movements tohelp encourage Qi flow for flexibility andany stiffness in the joints and then usingfast movements, up and downmovements as well as walking andspiralling to open the joints and createheat and powerful ciruclation to makethe body strong and healthy.

Those who were in the group thatlearned Part I are anxiously lookingforward to learning Part II and those wholearned Part II are looking forward torepeating the seminar to polish the formas a whole, which if we are lucky will besometime in 2006.

Plum BlossomChi SauYou may have seen the Shaolin monksas the travel around the world performingin their shows. One of the mostimpressive demonstrations is the on theplum blossom poles. In the past, Wing

Chun Chi Sau could also be done onthese poles. Today, it is difficult to findany plum blossom poles to train on, soinstead we use the confined space of atabletop or two benches.

Although it has long been afavourite indemonstrations, thiswas the first seminarconcentrat-ing on thistraining. It requiresgood stance work andturning and alsoincreases sensitivityand Gong Lik.Withoutthe option of movingaway from youropponent, you have to find efficient andeffective ways to avoid his (or herstrength). Many of the studentscommented on how quickly they foundthemselves using too much strength

when one of theiroptions was takenaway.

As with anyform of Chi Sau,there is no substituteto touching morehands and gainingmore experience, soeveryone made surethey did Chi Sau with

everyone else on the course.The training heightened their

sensitivity to the space around them andtaught them to use this space, howeversmall, to their advantage. After they hadacclimatised to it, they began to realisethey had more room than they realised.

Jade Pillar GongJade Pillar Gong is one of the skills fromthe Wild Goose (Dayan) Qigong systemand is a very beautiful and graceful form.Its main emphasis is on making the spine

more flexible and also strengthening it.In contains many interesting twistingmovements and stimulates many of theacupuncture points on the spine.

On the course one student asked,why when she bent down and got up

did she sometimesfeel dizzy and lightheaded? This is dueto the circulation andblood pressure. InChinese Medicine wesay the Qi leads theblood. When the Qiis weak, then it cancause the blood toflow more slowly.

When you bend down the body is smallerand so the Qi and blood will flow quicker.When you stand up, then the spaceincreases. If the Qi is not strong enough,then the blood pressure will drop andthe blood will not flow up to the headand so you will feel dizzy. When the Qi isstrong, then the blood circulation will alsobe strong and this should no longerhappen.

Hard QigongLevel I ExamCongratulations to those people whopassed their Hard Qigong Level I test inJune 2005. Having taken the course inFebruary, they had been training awayregularly for one hundred days, twice aday. The effort was rewarded when eachof them had successfully withstood astudent jumping onto their tummies froma table and also punches to the Dantianarea.

Having all passed, they celebratedwith a well-earned meal in China Town.However it was not long before theirthoughts turned to Level II, which iscoming up in September.

Practising Joint Opening Gong

The Plum Blossom Chi Sau attendees


If you always feel tense, have aquick temper and are overweight, thenyou should eat more vegetables and lessmeat. This is because meat will give youmore fire and so the problems will geteven worse. If you can cool down thesystem, then it is like being in summer

when there is a wind to cool us downand make us feel better.

On the other hand, if you alwaysfeel cold, have cold hands and feet, feeldepressed, then you need more heat andmore energy to make the body circulationstronger. So meat will create more heatin order that the body will be warmer. Itis like having a fire in winter to warmthe house.

Many people say you should eata balanced diet, but what is balancedfood? Everybody is different and so howcan we take advice from a book andexpect it to be right for everyone. Whensomeone says that a certain food isgood, it does not mean that you shouldeat as much as you want of it all thetime. We need to eat many kinds of foodand then our bodies will tell us whichones are good for us. If you just stickwith one kind of food, then it is like onlyusing one hand. If we do this, theneventually the other hand will becomeuseless. If you only eat certain foods, thenyou will also create an imbalance in thebody.

Of course, I am talking abouteating all kinds of wholesome or organicfood. I am not talking about eating junkfood or foods that do not give anynutrition but are just tasty. The less junkfood or chemically altered foods we eat,the better as these are poison to us ifwe are not strong enough. Even if weare strong, then we need to practise a

lot of Qigong to get rid of the toxins andartificial things these foods contain.

Of all the Qigong that I practise,Horse Stance (a type of very powerfulstanding meditation) particularly tells mewhich food is good or bad for me. If it isbad, then I find my body releases a lotof negative energy and my stomachreacts very strongly.

If we want to be healthy, we needto eat five types of food, the Chinesesay food should have fives tastes. Theseare sour, bitter, sweet, spicy and salty.

These five tastes will stimulate ourorgans and make them function better.Spicy relates to the liver, bitter is for theheart, sweet is for the spleen, spicy is forthe lungs and salty is for the kidneys.

Also you should choose fivecolours of food as different colours alsorelate to the internal organs. Green isfor the liver, red is for the heart, yellowis for the spleen, white/grey is for thelungs and black/blue/purple is for thekidneys.

We should also eat some rawfood, which makes the organs workharder, as well as cooked food and weshould also take hard food as well assoft food, which is easy on the organsand makes them more relaxed. Hardmeans solid and so you have to chew itmore. Soft means food that you do notneed to chew too much.

The most important thing is tolisten to your body, but this does notmean that you just eat what you like themost. It is the reaction of the body thatyou need to pay attention to, not justindulging the taste buds. I always thinkthat I can eat many kinds of food becauseI practise Qigong. If I eat the wrong food,then I can practise and my body will getrid of it. However, today we have so manykinds of junk food that are made to tastegood but are so full of sugar, salt andother things, that our judgement can beaffected. Some processed foods evenhave chemicals in them to keep your

body thinking that it is still hungry, sothat you eat more.

So when we eat the right foods,the body will become more balanced andwe can listen to it more. It is veryimportant to listen to the body. If youfeel unwell or heavy after eating, thenyou should be careful.

Also when you eat, you should notkeep eating until you are 100% full. Youshould eat to 60-70% maximum. This willbe much better for you. Also you shouldeat at regular times. This is also veryimportant. For example, eat breakfast at7 a m , lunch at 12pm and

dinner at 7pm.Or if you donot eatb r e a k f a s t ,

then youneed

to arrange the time to suit you, but youshould try and stick to these times andnot keep changing them.

Another healthy way to eat is tocook your own food. Then you know whatyou are eating. Always going out to eatis not the healthy way. In the old days,all foods were organic and we had veryfew problems caused by what we ate.Now foods have changed a lot and sowe do not always know what we areeating.

However, if you can practiseQigong a lot, then even if you eat thewrong foods, then your body can work itout and release the negative energy andtoxins. If you do not practise, theneverything you eat will affect you a loteither in a good way or a bad way.

“We need to practise alot of Qigong to get ridof the toxins thesefoods contain.”

“We need to practise alot of Qigong to get ridof the toxins thesefoods contain.”


A common failing at a high level isnot matching the intention of thehands and the feet. I’d betterexplain that hadn’t I? Well, if whenperforming the movement, CloudHands, a student’s hands weretense, not moving smoothly, withgaps between each outwardcircle, you wouldn’t regard it asgood Taiji would you? There

should be an intention tokeep the flow smooth

(Silk Reeling)

whilstimplying the martial

application. It’s the samewith the feet - they shouldmove smoothly, thetransition of Peng(Expanding Energy) fromside to side almostunnoticeable. The flowshould be as seamlessas possible, theintention and the

connection with the rest of the bodyunified. It’s the same when steppingforward or back - you shouldn’t have toreach for the step. The waist should sink,turn and almost place the feet for you.

Another, much more commonfault is to keep the armpits closed. We’renot at the dinner table, so you can let

your elbows float up a bit!

The old saying isthat the elbows don’t stick

to the ribs, neither do they straytoo far away. Again, there must be unityof intention - you can’t sink, turn, loosenthe body at all well while holding theelbows and shoulders stiff.

Of course, we all often tense upwhen we’re being watched. I rememberone of my students remarking once thathaving me watch them perform aTaijiquan or Qigong form was like beingnaked in front of someone. Every smallblemish or defect becomes visible, evenprominent. I sympathise with theirfeelings because it’s the same for me

when I’m being watched by my peers ormy Sifu too! But that’s what we practicefor isn’t it? To start to work on anddiminish our imperfections, andobviously, to do that we need to be madeaware of them. To remain in ignoranceof our faults might feel more comfortablebut then we’d stagnate and no growthwould be possible.

If we always got what wewanted when we wanted it, it wouldonly take the merest setback to turnus into spoilt litt le children. Ifeveryone around us just flattered usall the time, we would never knowwhat was real. And some of thoseso-called blemishes or secrets wethink we conceal so well? They aremore than transparent to theawake. I remember talking to Sifuon the phone a few years back. Outof the blue he asked how I’d hurtmy back (I’d slipped in trainingearlier that day). Taken aback Iasked how he knew and he saidcasually that he could hear it in myvoice! Nowadays, I sometimesstartle students inadvertently byreplying to something they haven’tactually said out loud. It doesn’tmake me special. It is just a by-product of training.

My intention is always to helpothers and to improve myself, althoughthis is just one intention to me, becauseI do not think they can (or should) beseparated. That opening to others andthe process of mutual growth is a journeywith no end and many layers. Butultimately, we all evolve together andthough it is not exactly sink or swimtogether, we influence each otherenormously, sometimes in ways we arehardly aware of. Sometimes we can’thelp our actions, our thoughts, howothers see us, how others react to us,but we can, if we wish, regularly reviewour intentions. That helps keep us on theright track and improves our relationshipwith ourselves and those around us.

Committing to this process is toimmediately have a beneficial effect onthe world

by Julian [email protected]

Unity Of IntentionUnity Of Intention

When testing or polishing a Taiji student’s form, I watch the feeta lot. Sometimes they can tell you everything you need to know. Even ifnot, they often reveal flaws in the form.

“Ofcourse

we all oftentense up when we’re

being watched.”

“Ofcourse

we all oftentense up when we’re

being watched.”

page 10 Qi Magazine Jul/Aug/Spet 2005

The earliest biographical informationon Laozi is recorded by theConfucian historian Ssu-ma Chien

in his Shih-chi (Historical Records). Thissuggests that Laozi (which actually meansrespected teacher) was a man called LiErh (570 - ?) who worked as a librarianin the Chou court.

When Laozi wrote the Dao de JingDaoism did not exist. Laozi is actually thefirst source of the term ‘Dao’ as aphilosophical concept. Even after writingthe Dao de Jing there was no Daoism.Laozi and his contemporary, Kong Zi(Confucius), were simply part of atradition of learning. Daoism as aseparate movement from Confucianismonly really came into being some timeafter the writing of the Zhuangzi. Againalthough the Yijing is older than the Daode Jing and is frequently alluded to byLaozi the Dao de Jing is still really thefirst book of Daoism. The Yijing shouldbe regarded more as the first book ofChinese philosophy, being claimed atvarious times by most of the majorphilosophical movements.

The Yijing concentrates on change- everything in the worldchanges according to themovement of Yin and Yang.The innovation of the Dao deJing was the notion thatbehind all change, as itsunseen source was the Dao,and the Dao was unchanging.Other thinkers and writers hadused the term Dao but it iswith Laozi that it becomes aform of ideal.

The Chinese character for Daoconsists of a human head (in a traditionalhat) in motion. It is usually translated asmeaning ‘the way’ and while this isadequate for most of the time it doesnot contain the secondary meaning of‘speaking’ or ‘explaining’ which is presentin the ancient Chinese. Thus it is probablybest for anyone serious about studyingthat they get used to using the Chineseterm.

Another important concept thatthe Dao de Jing introduces is ‘non-

being’. The non-being of Daojia is subtlydifferent from Buddhist concepts of non-existence. Non-being is something thatis invisible, inaudible, and intangible. Itis like the roots of a tree. It cannot beseen but it is there, and it is thefoundation of everything that can beseen. It is a pregnant void. The principleof Dao is non-being.

The Dao de Jing was originallywritten as a manual of leadership forrulers and princes. As such its readershipmight have been limited if not for theBook of Zhuangzi. The Book of Zhuangzi,

written about two hundred yearslater in the Warring States period,is perhaps the first majorinterpretation of the Dao de Jing.It is also a major literary work andthe earliest text to present aphilosophy of private life. Theliterary quality of the Book ofZhuangzi and its complex use ofmetaphor invited a metaphoricalinterpretation of the Dao de Jing.

The ruler and the state canbe considered a metaphor forfamily, or the individual body.Thus the Dao de Jing came tobe read not so much as a manualof leadership for princes but as aphilosophy of personaldevelopment for everyone. Thismetaphor is extremely powerfulbecause it also underscores thephilosophical concept of themicrocosm and macrocosm.Essentially the body of man isconsidered a microcosm (smalluniverse) which has a directcorrespondence to the macrocosm(large universe).

Thus inthe Dao de Jingif the ruler is toocontrolling it willcause trouble

among the people,and in bodily terms if

the mind gets tooinvolved in the actions of the

body the body will not functionproperly. Daoism eventually drew up

a whole range of correspondencesbetween body and universe: the five Yinorgans and the Five Elements, 360 daysof the year and 360 articulations of thebody etc.

Zhuangzi draws out thephilosophical implications of Laozi’sthought and gives them a directrelevance. According to Zhuangzi theperfect man attunes the rhythms of hislife so completely with the rhythms ofnature that they become one. In the Bookof Zhuangzi the idea of the Dao is not amystical or transcendent idea. The Dao

Daojia – Philosophical DaoismDaojia – Philosophical Daoism

At the head of all Daoist traditions is Laozi, author of the Dao de Jing. Laoziis the essential sage. Little is known about him and there is much disagreementamong contemporary scholars – some of whom even suggest that the Dao de Jingis a compilation.

“Yijing should be regardedmore as the first book ofChinese philosophy.”

“Yijing should be regardedmore as the first book ofChinese philosophy.”


Matt Coppock - SheffieldMatt Coppock - SheffieldInstructor Insight

is an underlying unity between all things.Many people may consider Zhuangzi’sthought a form of cultural relativism, butit is not. Zhuangzi may well often speakof the difficulty of knowing right fromwrong, but this does not mean that thereis no difference. It means rather, that itis difficult to establish universal truths.

The reason that it is difficult toestablish universal truths is that they haveto be based on the only thing that isunchanging – the Dao – which the Daode Jing has already defined as invisible,inaudible and intangible. Zhuangzidevelops this further to suggest that theDaoalso cannot be ‘known’ by the human

mind because the human mind isstructured by the categories of languageand the Dao exists beyond all categories.Thus Zhuangzi argues that human lawsand morals are relative and can neverbe universal exactly because they arehuman, but Zhuangzi exhorts us to movebeyond the human.

The source of knowledge is not inthe individual thing in isolation but thetransformation things go through andtheir connections to other things.Ultimately the value and meaning of allthings can only be judged from theperspective of the Dao, but as Zhuangziparadoxically says, ‘The Dao cannot beregarded as having a positive existence,and existences cannot be regarded asnon-existent’.

The two key insights of Zhuangziare self-knowledge and sympathy. Todevelop knowledge of the self means tounderstand that the self is a part ofnature and not apart from it. To developsympathy is to be in harmony with theDao. True knowledge is based onbecoming one with the Dao, thereforeZhaungzi says, ‘Leap into the boundlessand make it your home.’

by Glenn [email protected]

When I was growing up I was fortunate as my parents kept what could only bedescribed as a library, (albeit a small one) in our home. I always loved reading thebooks there even when I was young and had a passion for history and old books. My

Dad had a particular interest in philosophies and religions from all around the world andhad copies of many of the texts of ancient China.

When I was older I had evolved quite an interest in philosophy, so much so that I tooka degree in that subject. I feel at this stage in my life I was typical of many people of ourmodern society as I thought I “knew” everything. A few years after this I became plagued bychronic back pain that had been developing all my life. From here I decided to do somethingabout it and this was when I took up Qigong. Soon I saw I didn’t “know” everything and hadmuch work to do, most of all learning to relax. After several years of practice, I can honestlysay the discipline has transformed my life and developed greater balance in everything.

In the summer of 2004 I was saddened to hear that my Sifu, John Spinetto, wasleaving Sheffield and would no longer be able to take the class, but it was an honour to beinvited by him to attend the instructor’s course. Of course this honour also involved lots ofhard work! So I would like to thank everyone at the Tse Qigong Centre who have helped onthis journey; Sifu John Spinetto, all the instructors who gave me so much of their time andpatience on the course and who have always been on hand to help with sound advice. I must also thank Sigong Tse and TaiSigong Grandmaster Yang Meijun without whom so much of what I am doing now would not be possible, and my parents whostarted me on this journey.

This instructor’s insight would not be complete if I didn’t thank all the students at the Sheffield class; the senior studentswho have kept the core of the class stable over the last year and the new students who have shown enthusiasm and good heartby practising Qigong even when they find it isn’t easy. I hope they have learnt as much from class as I have from teaching them.

Matt is qualified to teach theDayan Qigong Syllabus and can be

contacted on: 0114 266 28888

“The Dao is anunderlying unity

between allthings.”


Testing 1,2,3Testing 1,2,3With each level the test involves

demonstrating forms, to show Qiis right and the standard (power

and endurance) reached. If, by the end,the student is exhausted there will notbe sufficient Qi left to protect the bodyfor the actual test that follows.

Level 1 test involves the Dantianbeing punched (the objective being toremain still and solid, not only to surviveit) and jumped upon from a height ofapproximately two metres, as well aslifting a person of equal weight witharms outstretched, and tossing andcatching him repeatedly.

Level 2 test involves bricks brokenover one's head with a sledgehammer.My ex-wife begged me not to do thisand then requested a writtenagreement that if I returned brain-

damaged she would not have to lookafter me! (The marriage did not endurefor long.) Adding to pre-test nerves wasthe fact that the exam was conducted infront of fifty fellow instructors. Everythingwas going well until the handstand,whenupon partially-digested food fromdinner repeatedly came to my throat,blocking my air passage and forced meto come down twice. (Three times is afail!). It took every bit of concentrationto prevent this from recurring.

After the forms, one of my KungFu brothers repeatedly punched myDantian with injurious force andslammed his forearms across the chestand back repeatedly. Surprisingly,afterwards only the skin around my belly

felt tender. Then another studentdelivered rapid-fire solid roundhousekicks to the chest and back. I knew fromthe force he generated that he was notholding back (as instructed). The feelingwas like fire raging through my body,sending a powerful vibration from mylungs down to my feet. (Ironically, Ihave spent my life studying martialarts to protect myself against exactlythis kind of assault.)

As evening grew dark, Sifusuggested continuing with thebreaking displays the followingday, out of consideration to thosephotographing the event. So, nextday, after preparations, I wasinstructed to concentrate Qi tothe Baihui (crown) before fourbricks were piled on top of the

Progression in Hard Qigong depends upon passing various tests –challenges of increasing difficulty, both mentally and physically.

Testing the back the Level III way!

“One, two, three,then…..…BANG! Thevibration shot throughmy entire body .”

“One, two, three,then…..…BANG! Thevibration shot throughmy entire body .”


head, without cloth to protect theskin, which is toughened throughtraining. I concentrated andbraced myself for what was tocome. The fact that you cannotsee what is coming is particularlyunnerving. The student holdingthe sledgehammer tapped itupon the bricks, counting down– one, two, three,then…..…BANG! The vibration shotthrough my entire body and dispersedinstantaneously as the top bricks werepulverised. One last BANG finished thejob. I stood up feeling remarkablyunfazed, only to lie down for the pavingslab broken over the Dantian with thehammer. Sifu, as an afterthought, thensuggested two students both kicking mychest and back sim-ultaneously threetimes. This ‘sandwich effect’ of forcecreated a vibration more intense thanbefore, quite indescribable and‘interesting’ to say the least. Then it was

declared officially over. I rememberlaughing (in amazement at the humanbody’s endurance when Qi is developedin this manner) as I picked out fragmentsof red brick and shook the dust from myhair.

Two years later it was time forLevel 3. I skipped dinner entirely and feltrelaxed this time despite an audienceagain. Increasingly heavy rocks wereplaced on my Dantian, as I lay betweentwo chairs (head on one, heels on theother), and dropped repeatedly from aheight onto the Dantian. Then an array

of sticks and broom handles werebroken over my outstretched arms,chest, ribs, and back. At one point,an enormous piece of wood(approximately 4ft. long and 10inches diameter) caught a floatingrib and winded me. I massaged it(thinking “Game Over”) andrecovered within moments, and sothe pounding continued.Following this, the tips of a double-ended spear were placed betweenmy partner’s throat and mine.

We then walked towardseach other until the shaft snapped.Then two concrete slabs wereplaced back-to-back and brokenwith a kick, followed by threeslabs. Lastly, a fat tree trunk wasused to ram my Dantian. Then itwas over! The intensive training,which dominated my life formonths, waking before five o’clockto beat the unforgiving New Yorksummer heat (but not thedebilitating humidity), had nowcome to an end. The elation,intensified by the congratulatorysupport from my Qigong/Kung Fufamily, was overwhelming. Thenext morning there was no visiblebruising, just a few scratches, andthe skin felt as if mildly sunburned,sensitive to the touch.

The training prepares youthoroughly, but without having

experienced what is involved it is easyto have doubts about the test.Ultimately, you have to trust in your Sifu(who has been through it all before), trustthe skill, and, most importantly, trustyourself. So the test is largelypsychological – having faith andovercoming fear.

I don’t know about Level 4 testyet but something about a truck beingdriven over the body has beenmentioned in passing!

by Adam [email protected]

Breaking the Speak against the throat!

“Trust the skill, and,most importantly, trustyourself.

“Trust the skill, and,most importantly, trustyourself.

Food Cures forBoils andPimples

When we have boils and pimples, it is because we have toomuch heat in the blood and it needs to be released. Teenagers,because their bodies are growing and the hormones changing sorapidly, often have attacks of acne. The first thing one can easilydo is to stop eating oily and deep fried foods and also driedfoods. So this means no French Fries, potato crisps and all theother dried food snacks that teenagers love.

Deep fried foods create a lotof heat in the body and it ishard for the body to releasethis heat quickly, so it willcreate pimples to help. Dry

foods, like dried fruit and snacks, alsodehydrate the body. If the body does nothave enough internal lubrication, thisaffects and can stagnate the Qi, alsocausing pimples and boils.

It is very common in southernChina and Hong Kong to find tea stallsselling bitter teas of all sorts. Some aretraditional family recipes while others arepatent remedies that one can buy andboil at home. These bitter teas are moreeffective and faster acting than thesweetened remedies likeChrysanthemum Flower Tea. Anotherremedy is a black jelly made from driedturtle shell. This bitter jelly is then eatencold or hot with a sugar syrup pouredover the top.

There are many, many recipes andfoods for clearing internal heat that youcan make at home as well. One of myfavourites is Luk Dou Sa – Mung BeanSoup. It is simple to make and nice toeat either warm or cold.

Luk Dou Sa1 - 1½ cups dried mung beans6-8 cups water3 Tablespoons brown sugar1 Tablespoon honey(Optional: 1 piece of dried tangerine skin (can use ½ fresh tangerine skin)(Optional: 3 Tablespoons tapioca pearls found in Chinatown shops)

Wash off beans and drain. Add to clean water and bring to boil. Lower to a simmerand add the sugar and honey. Simmer semi-covered for 2 hours while stirringoccassionally. You can cool and then refridgerate for eating later over a few days. Youcan also eat it hot. It is even better the second day after all the flavours have had achance to develop. The beans should have broken down and opened like flowers andthen lose their shape entirely.

Dandelion Stir Fry with EggDandelion Leaves3 eggs – beaten

Rinse dandelion leaves, allow to drain and then stir fry in a little oil and salt for 2-3 minutes. Take out the leaves and wipe the pan and add some more oil. When oil is hot,add in the eggs and cook till almost set. Then add the dandelion leaves back into theeggs and stir with a pinch of salt. Serve hot.

by Jessica Blackwell

Food Cures forBoils andPimples


Taijiquan, often just referred to as Tai Chi or Taiji, is themost popular health exercises in the West and the East.When people practise they find it, they find verybeneficial, because the slow movements help themto relax. This makes circulation stronger and their

metabolism faster. With practice it can even make a weak andtired body into a healthy and calm one.

Taijiquan is very good for your health and does notcause any side effects. However, Western doctors still do notreally understand how it works. Once you find a good teacherand follow him and practise daily, then you will get healthier.Taiji is generally popular because of its health benefits, notbecause it is a martial art. Actually, it is a very serious martialart that has techniques that can cause an attacker serious injury.Most people, though, do not even know this or train it as amartial art.

Wing Chun Kuen is different. People who study it knowthat it is a martial art and learn it in order to be able to defendthemselves. They do not necessarily have much considerationabout their health. Once you start, you begin to learn aboutfighting and when you reach a high level, you can defend

There is a saying some people use, “NorthTaiji, South Wing Chun” and this is quite right.

In Chinese martial arts, Taijiquan and WingChun Kuen are the most popular styles in theworld. Some people often wonder why this is.

Wing Chuna History

Wing Chuna History


yourself without too much effort you can defeat a bigger,stronger opponent. Many martial arts require a lot ofphysical training but not Wing Chun. This is because itwas created by a woman whose name was Wing Chun.

Of course, Wing Chun is popular because ofBruce Lee as well. He studied under the famous WingChun Sifu, Ip Man. Bruce Lee became famous and so didWing Chun. However, Bruce Lee only taught Wing Chun inthe beginning and the rest of his life he taught his own style ofmartial art, Jeet Kune Do. Bruce Lee was and is the best JeetKune Do man. None of those who have followed him, includinghis own students, are better than him. This is because he trainedin a way that fitted him. If you train the same way as him, youwill not get the same result. It is like wearing clothes. Somethingmight look good on one person, but when you try it might notbe so good on you.

Wing Chun is popular because it is a good martial art.Once you learn it, it is easy to become addicted to it, in particularChi Sau which is also called Sticking Hands. But what isthe history of Wing Chun?

Wing Chun Kung Fu’s story began about400 years ago in the Southern Shaolin Templein Fujian (which is very close to Taiwan andonly separated from it by the sea). In 1644the Manchurians conquered the MingDynasty. China is made up of five different races,the Hans, Manchurians, Mongolians, Muslims (Hui) and theTibetans. Throughout history they fought each other, but mostof the time the Han people ruled China. The Han peopleruled the Ming Dynasty, but the Manchurians, who later wenton to conquer the rest of China and united the whole country,overthrew them. The Manchurians named their dynasty theQing Dynasty.

However, no matter who ruled, they all followed theRujia system (Confucianism). This educated people tounderstand compassion, loyalty, courtesy, wisdom and trust.When the government understood and followed this, thensociety was more settled and safer. If the government wasbad, then the people would rebel and fight back. So thedynasty would change, but the system of the society wouldnot.

This was true until Sun Yat Sen overthrew the Qinggovernment and that was the end of the Rujia educationsystem. The system was replaced with a kind ofdemocracy in 1911. However, the country slippedinto civil war and at the same time theJapanese invaded China. After Sun Yat Sen,Jiang Jie Shi took over. At that time manywarlords ruled China. At the same time, theChinese Communist leader, Mao Ze Dong,gathered all the farmers together, and theyjoined forces with Russia to fight against JiangJie Shi’s Gou Man - the National Peoples Party- which was supported by the USA.

At the end of 1949, the ChineseCommunist Party won the war. Jiang Jie Shi’sGou Man party escaped to Taiwan. This is a justbrief history of China, but how did this effectthe history of Wing Chun? When the Qing tookover, there was a lot of fighting between the newgovernment and the Han people. The Han


people had many martial artists and a lot of these came fromShaolin Temple.

When the Qing army took Beijing and the ForbiddenCity, many Ming people moved south to continue their fightagainst the Qing army. Some of the Shaolin Temples becameinvolved in the fight against the Qing government, and theQing government reacted by burning down the temples. Manypeople think there is only one Shaolin Temple, the one inSongshan, Henan Province,but this is not correct. InChina’s history there wereeleven Shaolin Temples.The most famous one is inthe North on Songshanand the next most famousone was in the South inFujian province, Quanzhou,Pu Tian.

When the Qingarmy burnt the SouthernShaolin Temple fiveseniors, four monks and anun escaped. They wereNg Mui, Chi Sin, Fung DaoDak (some people call himLee Ba Shan), Bai Mei andMei Hin.

Ng Mui (Wu Mei in Mandarin) was thenun and she had a very high level skill in martialarts. Her style was the White Crane Style. TheWhite Crane Style is based on gentle and lightmovements, but is quick and attacks the weakerareas of the body such as the face, armpit,throat, ribs and groin area. The footwork is alsovery fast and sensitive. Ng Mui fled to Da LiangShan (also called Qi Xia Shan), the White CraneTemple. However, this was a Daoist temple andnot a Buddhist temple.

The monk Chi Sin (Zhi Shan in Mandarin)was strong and powerful, especially in his MaBo (horse stance). When he made his stance,no one could move him. Another skill he wasvery good at was the long pole, which was calledthe Six and a Half Point pole. After he escapedhe hid himself in a Chinese Opera group. InChina, an opera company is like a big family.Some people make music, some people singand some people do martial artsarts. This is allon the performance side of the group. On theother side, some people did the cooking or thelaundry. In this group, Chi Sin became a chef.

The opera company lived and travelled through Chinain big boats, which were called Red Boat or Hong Boat. Hongmeans red and this term also represented the Ming Dynasty.So the Hong Boat was basically against the Qing Government.

Later on, Chi Sin taught his Six and a Half Point pole tohis student Leung Yee Tai. Leung Yee Tai taught his good friend,Wong Wah Bo. Wong Wah Bo knew Wing Chun and so hetaught this to Leung Yee Tai. This is how the Wing Chun systemgained the Six and a Half Point Pole. When you see thetechniques, you can see that they are very different from theusual Wing Chun principles and requires more strength. Today

there is even a branch of Wing Chun called Chi Sin WingChun and so I believe there is a story about this as well.

The history of Fung Dao Dak (Feng Dao De in Mandarin)is not clear. According to one story that is even told in ChineseShaolin Temple novels, Fung Dao Dak was a Daoist who camefrom Wudang Mountain. So I believe there was no such person.In the novel, he is even against Shaolin and so we cannotbelieve this person was a Shaolin Monk.

The other person, Li Bak Shan, (in Mandarin - Li BaShan) was another martial artist of high level skill. In the storyof Fong Sai Yuk (this is another character from a Shaolin Templenovel), Fong beat the Northern Chinese martial artist, Lui LoFu. Liu had challenged all the Southern martial artists. Whenhe was defeated, his father-in-law, Li Bak Shan, wanted totake revenge and fight Fong Sai Yuk. Fong lost and escaped toShaolin Temple and became a student of Chi Sin, but this isjust a novel and is not true. Actually, Li Bak Shan and Fong SaiYuk never really existed.

To be continued… by Michael Tse

“When the Qing army burntthe Southern ShaolinTemple fiveseniors,escaped.”

“When the Qing army burntthe Southern ShaolinTemple fiveseniors,escaped.”


Chen StyleTaiji 19Form

Chen StyleTaiji 19Form

5. Three Steps Forward

i. Allow the left hand to change to a palm. Move slightly tothe right and make two circles with your hands. Fig 31.

ii. Shift the weight onto the left leg and turn to face the leftside. Start to drop the left hand down and bring the righthand forwards. Fig 32.

iii. Lift up your right leg, so that you are now standing on your leftleg, and continue bringing your right hand forwards and droppingthe left hand down to the side with the palm facing down (Fig33). Step forwards with your right leg and slightly push your righthand forwards and the left hand backwards. Fig 34.

Fig 34 Fig 35 Fig 36



6. Conceal and Strike Left

i. Sink your weight down. The weight should be equal onboth legs. Turn both palms upwards. Fig 39.

ii. Make your left hand into a fist (Fig 40) and then punchforwards. At the same time, pull back your right hand sothat it finishes by your chest. The left fist and right elbowshould be in line when you punch and your weight shouldbe more on the right leg. Fig 41.All martial arts have their way of punching. Taijiquan’s

punch is slightly different to most as it has to spiral out to whereit is going. The first part of the movement is based on the waist,and the waist movement is based on the legs. This is why whenyou punch in Taijiquan, it connects with the whole body. So it

comes from the legs (root), the waist and then to the fist.Remember every single movement must connect without anyobstructions.

In Chen Taijiquan the punch is called “Conceal and Strike”,which means the front hand will hide the other hand from youropponent which then strikes. You can then attack without themnoticing.

In the Laojia and Xinjia, all the punching is done using theright hand, so it is good to also do it with the left hand. Somepeople will call this movement “Demonstrate Hand and Punch”,but in Chinese it is pronounced the same way.

iv. Repeat ii and iii on the right leg so making a total of threesteps. At the end, your right leg is at the front and yourweight is more on the left leg. Fig 35 - 38.

This part we have actually already done in “Step ForwardsDiagonally”, only this time we only walk forwards. We step right,left and then right, thus, finishing with the right leg at the front.

This movement is very unusual. Normally when we walk, theopposite hand and leg move, so when we walk with the rightleg, the left hand will swing forwards and when we move the leftleg, the right hand will swing forwards. In this movement,however, the same hand, and leg move, i.e. the right hand andthe right leg and the left hand and the left leg. Why is this? Thisis because the hand can be used to hit an opponent, so when westep forwards and hit with the same hand then it will be morepowerful. The other hand is used to control the opponent’s handshould he try and hit us. So one side holds the opponent’s handand pulls it down while we step forwards and hit at the sametime.

In the long form (Laojia - Old Frame) this movement doesnot exist. However, we repeat the movement “Step ForwardsDiagonally” and “Twist the Knee”.

Fig 37 Fig 38

Fig 39

Fig 40

Fig 41


i. Shift your weight back to the centre so it is 50/50 on both legs,then put your hands together so the right palm faces down to theleft palm, it is like holding a small ball in front of your chest. Fig 41.

ii. Shift your weight onto your right leg and at the same time pushyour hands out to the right. At the end of the movement, changethe hands so the right palm faces up and the left palm faces away,as if you are holding someone’s arm. Fig 42.

iii. Bring both hands to the left side and shift the weight to the left leg.Fig 43.

iv. Shift your weight on to the right leg. Meanwhile bring both handstogether so they are near your shoulder and face. Fig 44.

v. Step forwards with your left leg, bringing the left foot up to theright foot, but keep the heel up and only touch the ground with thetoes. Keep the back straight. Push both hands forwards so the palmsare in front of the chest. Fig 45.Double Pushing Palms is used to push someone’s chest with both

hands. It uses Peng Jing. Peng means expanding and Jing means power.Peng Jing is the most important power in Chen Style Taijiquan. Nomatter how we move the body there is energy around it. It is like a ball,once it is pressed it will bounce the opponent away. Peng Jing is alsoused to hold the balance of the body so we do not get moved so easily.

Your Peng Jing must be sensitive, then you can change when youneed to. Taijiquan does not suggest making the body tense and once youuse power or strike, you must keep the joints connected and not over-stretch. So Double Pushing Palms uses Peng Jing and the elbows arekeep bent.

Some people will ask, why the weight is on one leg when pushing?When we push with both legs on the ground, we will be more balancedand stable and so more powerful? This is right as we cannot push someonein this stance. Actually this technique is done when you are walking, soyou step into the opponent’s chest as you push. In the form we do it onone leg as it looks better.

to be continued... by Michael Tse

7. Double Hands Pushing


Fig 44

Fig 45


O ne weekend, I returned to mynewly acquired flat in Manchesterafter a long weekend's training at

a seminar in London. It was about halfpast eleven in the evening and I was fairlytired, as you can imagine. As I enteredmy flat I noticed that there was a partygoing on in the flat above mine with veryloud music and voices.

I remember thinking to myself atthe time, it will probably quieten downsoon and I am so tired I will soon beasleep. How wrong I was. At two o’clockin the morning the noise was even louderand did not seem to be showing anysigns of stopping in the near future;however eventuallysleep prevailed.Unfortunately, theloud music andpartying till the earlyhours of the morningcontinued for fournights until just likePopeye, “I couldstands so much and Icould stands nomore.” So I got astick and banged onthe ceiling. At this thevolume of the musicdropped and then Iwent back to bedand fell asleep. Next thing I knew therewas somebody banging on my flat doorand lots of shouting. It was my neighbourfrom upstairs, hurling verbal insults andabuse from the other side of the doorand asking me to come outside in orderthat they could give me a thrashing. Ofcourse I refused, so they said that thenext time they saw me they were goingto “sort me out”. This frightened meslightly, so in the morning I reported themto the housing association who were nohelp whatsoever. In fact they seemed tothink it was my fault due to the fact that

I was blind and had over-sensitivehearing to which I replied that yes, I mighthave an acute sense of hearing as a blindperson, but I did not particularly wantto be using it at three in the morning.So all I was left with was a crazy threatand the beginning of worry, anxiety andfear of the unknown.

Recently one of my younger WingChun brothers told me he had beenwatching a late night televisionprogramme about violent situations thathad been caught on security camera. Hetold me that one of the clips was of aprison guard and an inmate, walkingalong a corridor, when suddenly the

prisoner turned around andpunched the guard in thehead. The prison guardfell to the floor and theeighteen stone prisonergot down on top of himand continued to rain blowsinto the helpless prisonguard’s head.

My Wing Chunbrother then told me thatsince he had watched theprogramme he hadstarted to worry about

whether he could stopsomething like that fromhappening. What ifsomeone came from nowhere andsuddenly threw a really big punch, forno rhyme or reason. Would he be ableto stop them?

The programme had started aworry and a fear in his mind, he hadstarted to create situations and scenariosthat he could not answer. Just like myown fear of what my neighbours mightdo.

From a Qigong perspective,emotions like fear, hate, envy and angerare negative reactions to situations thatmight arise in our lives. Theseemotions drain oure n e r g y ,creating

Unkown Fear

Fear is a powerful emotion. Once it grips you it willmake your life quite miserable. Dealing with it is not easy,especially as you need to overcome yourself first.

Unkown Fear

“These emotionsdrain our energy,creating weaknessand illness.”


weakness and illness. Of course we haveemotions and we're going to use them;it is near on impossible not to. But bypractising Qigong we can replace the Qithat we lose and after longer and regularpractice even build up our levels ofenergy. The emotion of fear is related tothe kidneys, in turn the kidneys connectto the legs; strong legs create strongkidneys. To create strong legs, practisestanding on one leg. Stand on one leg,slightly bend the knee and relax, bringup the other knee until it is parallel withthe floor, bring your hands in a prayerposition in front of your body or forbalance hold them out to the side, whenone leg becomes tired change legs. Also

try practising horse stance, separate thelegs to just beyond shoulder width, thensink down as if astride a horse, try tokeep your back straight and your kneesopen, hold your hands out in front atwaste level, hands face down, close yourmouth and breathe through the nose;when you feel tired, rise up and rest andthen try again.

From the point of view of my WingChun brother, and indeed my ownsituation, there is something out therethat is always going to create a fear: thisis the unknown. When is it going tohappen? Where is it? How will I deal withit? The fear is the unknown quantity andthe questions are when, where, what,

and the big one, why. Mostly thefear that is created by us can beaddressed because it is reality, afear of the dentist, or of exams,or even a fear of water. Wemight have a fear of the dentistperhaps because when we wereyounger we did not brush ourteeth enough and every time wewent to see them they drilled and

filled or removed your teeth, andso the answer became, brushyour teeth. My fear of exams wasthat I always got low grades, somy parents answer became,revise more. A fear of water,might stem from the fact that asa child you nearly drownedbecause you believed you couldswim without your armbands onwhen in fact you could not, butthrough numerous trips to thepool the problem was gone.These fears can be solved,because they are situations thathave a logical answer or are morelikely to happen. The sun is likely

to rise again tomorrow and is likely tobe followed by the moon, and so on.

The unknown quantity ofsomebody suddenly turning around andplanting you with the big one is a lottery.You buy a lottery ticket. You might winthe lottery, then again you might not.It’s a lottery, bet your shirt on a dodgyhorse running in the two thirty athaddock, and you have got problems.The answer to these fears are, do notbet your shirt when in fact your shirt wasthe deposit for the family holiday andthey are wondering why they are notgoing to see Mickey Mouse this year.

If you become a prison warder ina maximum-security prison, you are morelikely to encounter violent situations, thesame as if you became a soldier or apoliceman.

Encountering the unknownassailant is more likely to happen if youfrequent undesirable areas or places. Ofcourse, this may not be possible to avoid,depending on where you work or liveperhaps.

At the end of the day, you cantake all theprecautionsnecessary,and do lotsof trainingin order top r e v e n tsituat ionsarising, butthe onlyway ofd e a l i n gwith theu nk n ow nhappeningis with the

mind. The unknown has been created inyour mind and it is making you sick withworry and creating a fear that just keepsgrowing stronger. The reality is that it hasnot happened yet and is not likely tohappen, either; but if it does, thenwhatever will be will be.

My situation with my neighbourswas resolved when I came to theconclusion that I had spent the past tenyears learning Wing Chun, and if theywanted to talk, then I could talk, and ifthey wanted to do anything else, thenthat would be up to them; and at that,they vanished from the shadows withtheir armies of Orks, Goblins and thegang of trolls hiding under the stairwell

by Martin [email protected]

“Fear that iscreated by us canbe answered byus.”

“Fear that iscreated by us canbe answered byus.”


Chan and Ma were practising togetherwhilst their Sifu was watching them.After a while he came over and said,

“Ma, you are using too much strength.You need to relax more and find a wayto balance the situation.”

Ma stepped back and shook hisarms. It was true he was feeling tired.“Sifu?” he asked, “How can I tell when Ihave found a balance?” His Sifu lookedat him and smiled. “What is balance, andI don’t just mean in terms of physicalthings?” he asked in reply.

Ma scratched his head.“Harmony?” he said after a fewmoments. His Sifu shook his head,“What is harmony? You use this wordas another way of saying balance.” Mathought again, “Going with the flow?”he said. “Do you mean going withwhatever life and naturethrows at you?” his Sifu said.Ma thought he must be on theright track and nodded hishead a litt le tooenthusiastically. His Sifumotioned Ma to come and sitdown and began to tell him astory.

“I once knew a manwho said he lived by goingalong with whatever life threwat him. He liked to walk intothe mountains and be with nature.However all the local people were veryworried about him as a tiger lived onthose slopes. They would tell him not togo up there and he would say, I go alongwith nature, if my fate is to be eaten bythe tiger, then this is my fate.”

“Is this what you meant by goingalong with nature?” Ma frowned but didnot answer. His Sifu smiled again, “Yesyou know something is not right here. Ifthis man was eaten by the tiger it washis fate to die through naivety. His wayof thinking was not balanced. It is notenough to follow nature, we must alsowithstand nature and also not damageit. When we can do this, then we havefound a balance. Do you understand?”he asked Ma. Ma was still not clear.

“Let me give you anotherexample,” his Sifu said, “Take somethingwe all know well, the weather. If it is toohot what will you do?” he asked Ma. “Iwould wear cool clothes and stay in theshade,” he said. His Sifu nodded, “Andwhen it is too cold what will you do?” heasked. “I would wear more clothes andkeep active,” Ma replied. His Sifu smiledagain, “Yes you are right. Automaticallyyou have balanced the weather. Ofcourse if it is too cold you will simply puton more clothes, you would not wearyour summer clothes, cut down all thetrees and burn them to keep warminstead as this is not balanced.”

Ma nodded he understood now.“Sifu, what happened to the man who

Strike a Good BalanceStrike a Good Balance

liked to walk in the mountains, did thetiger eat him in the end?” His Sifulaughed, “No, I explained to him that ifhe did not mind dying in the jaws of thetiger, that was his choice, but the factwas, the tiger never bothered the localpeople and only looked after its young.It might have attacked him if he got tooclose, but then the local people wouldhunt it down and kill it. Then he wouldbe responsible for the death of the tigerand any of the locals who got hurt tryingto hunt it. He realised he was onlythinking of himself and this was not good.As far as I know, he has taken to walkingin the forest where there are only rabbitsand birds.”

by Darryl [email protected]

How do you find a balance? In fact, what are you trying tobalance? If you can work this out, then maybe you have a chance.

“To follow nature, we mustalso withstand nature andalso not damage it.”

“To follow nature, we mustalso withstand nature andalso not damage it.”


For the first time in my life I truly wentinto the wild. A 1¼ hour jet boatride took us to the head of a vast

lake. Rain forest reached down to thelake edge, and mountains rose steeplyup from the waters, closing in around usthe further we travelled. We began towonder what we had let ourselves in forwhen eventually a tiny landing stage wasseen jutting out from a thickly woodedshore. We could not really believe wewere about to disembark; there wasabsolutely nothing there. But land wedid, in a place where no roadspenetrated, and where no aircraft flewoverhead. The only way in was by boat.

We set off up a narrow trackthrough vegetation so dense you couldnot see very far into its depths. Fernsbordered the track, and everysurface was swathed in moss:tree trunks, branches, rocks.We walked for four days withonly the sounds of nature inour ears. Birds were ourconstant companions, aswere thesound ofwater fa l l s ,and theoc ca s i ona lcrack and roaro favalanches.Fast flowingrivers were soclean wecould, anddid, drink from them, theiricy glacial melt water tastingof nothing but nature. The air was sopure, very soon our skin and hair feltincredibly soft. Tiny Fan Tail birdsdisplayed for us only a few feet away,and Bush Robins hopped around our feetlooking for insects scuffed up by our feet.Sometimes they even jumped on to aboot to tug at the laces, thinking them aworm.

Early morning mist hung low onthe snow capped mountains, whichseemed to crowd in around us ominouslyin the dim light. But gradually the daywould warm up, so that at a pool wewould take off our boots to dip our hotand weary feet into the water. It was socold it took your breath away, and if you

kept your feet there more than a fewmoments they went completely numb.In one place, an avalanche had broughtdown so much rock debris that it hadcompletely smothered the vegetationover a huge area. We picked our wayacross, hoping to find the path again onthe other side. Apparently it hadhappened a year before, just twentyminutes after a group of people hadpassed through! So much devastation, butin ten years’ time when the vegetationhas regenerated, you will never knowanything had been amiss. At times wewalked together and at times alone. Iwalked for two hours one day withoutseeing a soul. It was a wonderfulexperience.

Completely alone in an incredibly remotepart of the world, with only the naturalworld around me and yet I felt perfectlysafe. I knew somewhere in front andbehind me were other people, and I couldnot get lost as there was only one track.At one point a small bird sat on a branchright next to me and sang its heart out. Itkept stopping and looking at me with itsbutton eyes, as if to say “I know you havefood, give me some”. It was an experienceI shall never forget. Climbing a mountain,we were suddenly above the cloud base.Images loomed in and out of the mist.Sometimes the clouds parted to reveal aspectacular scene,only to disappear again.

Just like life. There long enough raiseour attention, but gone before we wereready to let it go. Leaving us desiringmore.

Emerging the other end, wecruised on a remote fiord. This timedolphins, seals, sea lions and penguinswere our companions. One femaledolphin pushed a dead pup in front ofher, constantly pushing it to the surfacein an attempt to revive it. Having beendead a week, it was already decaying,but she could not give up hope. Anothergroup were more playful, and wescreamed with delight as they played inthe waves created by the boat. As theyleapt out of the water they turnedsideways so that one big eye looked you

straight in the face. What must theyhave thought of us? Justas they got bored andswam away, the Captain

announced the firstnews of theTsunami that hitAsia atChristmas. Whilethousands weredying, we hadbeen screamingwith delight. Wefelt awful. Whywere we so

lucky andothers not? Itwas a very

h u m b l i n gexperience.

So therewe had it, the

whole of life’sexperiences condensed into four days.Comedy, tragedy, destruction andrenewal, loneliness and company, steepclimbs and even steeper descents,delight and sorrow. When viewed in sucha short timescale and in such a beautifulbut potentially dangerous setting,individual events in all our lives seemedentirely insignificant.

It was a trip I shall treasure forthe rest of my life. Any time things getme down, I transport myself back intothe wilds of New Zealand. Will I goback? Well maybe, but there are somany more places to see

by Kate [email protected]

Travel broadens the mind, they say. I was lucky enough to spend a month in SouthIsland, New Zealand. I have travelled a fair bit in the past, but never to such remote placesand never to such a clean and unspoilt environment. It was a life changing experience.

Life’s a JourneyLife’s a Journey

“Thousands weredying. We feltawful.”

“Thousands weredying. We feltawful.”


Minority ReportMinority ReportIn China I was used to people referring

to their friends as ‘brother’ or ‘sister’;I assumed it was one of the

consequences of superimposing the ‘onechild policy’ on a nation rooted in theconcept of family.

My friend’s ‘brother’ was veryhelpful. He quickly figured out what Ineeded, unplugged a lead from a nearbycomputer and handed it to me. I hadn’tcome looking for a freebee and tried topay him, but he would not hear of it.Instead he gave me his card and saidthat if I had any problems with mycomputer I should bring it to him andhe’d fix it for free. Generosity beyondthe call of duty, I felt.

When I looked at the card I wassurprised to notice that he shared thesame surname as my friend, although,we should note here, that this is not thecoincidence it would be in the West.[Apparently there are 100 million‘Chang’s (also written ‘Chan’) in China]When I pointed out the coincidenceto my friend, she laughed. “I havea sister with the same surnametoo,” she said. She went on toexplain that she was not, in fact,Han Chinese, she was insteadfrom one of the manyMinority nationalities thatmake up the population ofChina.

I did knowthat the five starson the Chineseflag are thereto symbolisethe fact

that China is a collection of peoples; thisdespite the fact that well over 90% ofthe population is Han. What I hadn’trealised was that the ‘one child policy’was not always strictly enforced in relationto Minorities and that I had in fact justmet my friend’s real brother. Come tothink of it they did look kind of similar...

This revelation set me thinking.Wouldn’t this uneven application of policycause resentment? I felt such an outsiderin China myself that it not really occurredto me that my friend, who was Chinese,did not have a straightforward grasp onher identity. I subsequently discoveredthat even her schooling had taken placein a separate ‘Minority’ University inWuhan. She had certainly struck me assomehow different; she spoke very fluentEnglish, was very open minded and haddated an American teacher for severalyears before marrying him, makingherself the object of some fairly invasivescrutiny from the authorities. I wondered

I needed a lead for my computer. My knowledge of technical terms inChinese was as poor as my understanding of computers so I jumped at theopportunity to meet the ‘brother’ of a friend, who owned a computer store.

how much of this preparedness to breakrank was down to her personality or heroutsider status within China. Probably itwas a bit of both.

The word ‘Minority’, I should pointout, is a relative term. A minority thatmakes up 0.3% of the Chinese populationstill has more members than a smallEuropean country. Furthermore, the label‘Han’ covers a vast multitude of peoplespread over a huge terrain with peoplein the north and south having about asmuch in common as, say, a Swedishnuclear physicist and a Sicilian farmer.

Nevertheless, once I had becomeaware of the Minority nationalities, Icouldn’t help but scrutinise students andnew acquaintances alike, and wonder.The Mongolians were easy to spot, aswere the restaurateurs from Xinjiang,whose local language is comprehensiblein Turkey. Some of my classes had 60 ormore students, which gave me about 45seconds per face, so it was hardly a

comprehensives o c i o l o g i c a lstudy, but I doremember onestudent inparticular whohad... wait forit... blue eyes! Iwondered if itwas the result ofsome geneticdefect and so Idid not drawattention to it in

class, but I later discovered that therewas a group of practicing Judaic Chinesein Kaifeng who were known for

occasionally having offspring with blueeyes. Wonders never cease. If youreally want to meet Minority people,however, go to the South Westwhere there are more than 23different nationalities. I found itone of the most colourful andinteresting parts of China andthe people some of thefriendliest I have met - especially

when you finally buy whatever itis they are selling

by Peter [email protected]

“Mongolianswere easy to

spot”

“Mongolianswere easy to

spot”


Guardian ofGuardian of

Yang MeijunYang Meijun

DayanGongDayanGong

GrandmasterGrandmaster


Every time I look at photos ofmy teacher, Grandmaster YangMeijun, memories of when I used togo to visit and study come back tome. Those of us who were close to hercalled her Nai Nai. This meansGrandmother. I can still hear hervoice and it is as if she is still here. Ispent a long time with her and had agood relationship with her.

Every time I look at photos ofmy teacher, Grandmaster YangMeijun, memories of when I used togo to visit and study come back tome. Those of us who were close to hercalled her Nai Nai. This meansGrandmother. I can still hear hervoice and it is as if she is still here. Ispent a long time with her and had agood relationship with her.

Nai NaiNai Nai

Chinese people call their teacher Sifu, or in MandarinShifu. The student treats the teacher like one of theirparents. Why is that? In Chinese culture we rememberthat our parents give us life and maintain us. Teachersgive us education and skills to make you into someone

who can make a living and be respected by society. So teachersand parents are very important. When I look at myself I findthat everything I have today is because of my parents and myteachers.

Everyday I pay my respects to my Qigong teacher andtreasure the time I spent with her. Here are some of mymemories of her:

When I began to study with Grandmaster Yang, I wasonly twenty years old. When I was thirty-three she said to me,"Thirty-three is a big turning point.” I did not know what shemeant so I asked, “Nai Nai, what does that mean?”

She smiled at me and answered, “Life is basically aboutsixty years. It is one big cycle and then everything repeats and


“Dayan Qigong is not justQigong. If you really practise alot, you will notice that it ismartial art as well.”

“Dayan Qigong is not justQigong. If you really practise alot, you will notice that it ismartial art as well.”


Visiting Grandmaster Yang Meijun at her home

Grandmaster YangMeijun’s high level skill g ave her the “Longevity Palm”

so things happen which are similar. Thirty-three is just overthirty and so your life will have a big change. The Yijing has 64Gua. Thirty-two is half of this and half will be Yin and half willbe Yang. We say thirty years on a river going East and the nextthirty years on a river going West. So you see when you arethirty or around this time, your life will have big changes.”

Chinese philosophy is based on balance. Proper balanceis fifty percent Yang and fifty percent Yin. Accordingly, thismeans our lives should be fifty percent easy and fifty percenttough. If you have a tough life first, then later on the “good”life will come and you will be more stable. On the other hand,if you have the easy life first, then you will find the hard timeseven tougher. This is all because you will have no experienceof dealing with difficulties. In Chinese society the moreeducated people want their children to go to strict teachers.Then the children willexperience difficultieswhen they are in schooland still young. It is veryhard for parents toeducate their childrenlike this, as it is too easyto spoil them.

There is anotherstory about Nai Nai.When people came tovisit her, before meeting her they would imagine she was avery powerful and strong lady. When they met her she did notmatch the image they had as she was only four feet tall anddid not weigh much over 80lbs. People would think, “This cannotbe a Qigong master.” Despite her appearance she was a verypowerful and famous Qigong master who was recognised bythe Chinese government and known throughout China. Whenshe was in her 90’s she would demonstrate how flexible shewas and her favourite thing was to lift her leg above her head!It was very impressive. Today most people in their 60’s, 70’sand 80’s suffer from many illnesses and need to take somekind of medication every day. However Nai Nai was still verystrong and healthy when she was 100.

Another thing she liked to do was to show how strongher elbow was. She would hold her elbow against you and youcould not push it away! She had very strong bone Qi and atthat age she was amazing. Her palms were a very healthy redand at the centre at the Laogong point they were white. We

call this Longevity Palmand this is a high levelof Qigong training.

If you had dinnerwith her she would offeryou some of her rice orother food from herbowl. This was becauseher Qi would affect the

food and because it would have her Qi and this would benefityou.

As she was so small, many people would think that shewas slow, but actually she could move very quickly. Once sheasked me to show her my Wing Chun Kung Fu. She had neverseen any as in the North of China it is not so popular. Shewatched me carefully and then said, “Your Kung Fu is good,but do you think that because I am an old lady you canovercome me easily? You are wrong if you think like that.” Ofcourse, in my mind I never thought that. People from outside,however, might think that, as they had never seen her power,so you would think it would be easy to take advantage of her.

She then told me to try and attack her. I was so nervous.I decided to pretend to attack her, but as I took a step forwardmy chest suddenly hurt. She had hit me before I even noticed.She smiled and said that was from Dayan Gong, the movement,Spread the Single Wing . I thought to myself, “I know thismovement, it is from the 1 st 64 of the Wild Goose Qigong.”Nai Nai then said, “Dayan Qigong is not just Qigong. If youreally practise a lot, you will notice that it is martial art aswell.”

I am so impressed with the whole Wild Goose systemand by Nai Nai who kept these skills for over 60 years, untilshe was 78 years old, before sharing them with anyone else.When she was 13 years old she promised her grandfather(who was her teacher) that she would not teach until she was70! Someone who can keep a promise like this is a high levelhuman being. Being a good human being is the foundation ofbeing a good Qigong master.

Nai Nai told me a lot of stories and many tales abouther life and her experiences. She gave us so many treasuresthat you will not be able to find anywhere. Anyone who studiesWild Goose should respect her and her skill. This is the veryfirst lesson we need to learn when studying Chinese skill andin fact any skill. If you can respect your teacher and be a goodstudent, then one day you will be a good teacher.

by Michael Tse

She told me to tryand attack her. I wasso nervous.

She told me to tryand attack her. I wasso nervous.

Grandmaster Yang Meijun’s 102 Birthday party!


Six Senseswith Wild

GooseQigong

Six Senseswith Wild

GooseQigong

When we practise the Wild Goose Qigong form, we should haveno eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body and no mind.This means we do not look at the outside. Although we see, wedo not focus. The only thing we focus on is the movement. If thehand is moving, we look at the hand and if we walk forwards,we look forwards. We look at the movement we are doing so we

will not be distracted by outside thoughts.No ears means we are not distracted by outside noise. Most of us like to

practise outside so we can get better Qi, but outdoors there can be lots of noisesuch as lawn mowers, cars, etc. These machines can be very annoying, but if weare practising Wild Goose, we should try and ignore them. Although you canhear, it should not affect your heart. In that way you can still continue practising.

No nose - how can this be? With no nose how can we breath? Of course,your nose is always on your face and so we must bring it with us no matter whatwe do or where we go. The nose is for breathing and so we cannot live without it.No nose means that when we practise we do not think about our breathing butjust let it happen naturally and only concentrate on the movements.

Our lungs and nose will find the best way to breath in coordination withthe movements. We do not need to worry about this or think about whetherwhen doing a certain movement we should inhale or exhale. The body is anamazing thing. It will find the best and most comfortable way to breathe. All weneed to do is allow the body to do this, but for it to work, we need to relax. Once

“No eyes, ears, nose,tongue, body and mind.” Thisis a sentence from the famousBuddhist text, Xin Jing, (HeartSutra). These six senses arevery important parts of thebody. Dayan Qigong trainingfollows both Buddhist andDaoist philosophy. The morewe want to develop thesesenses the more need to forgetthem. So when we practiseDayan Qigong we actuallyfollow the Xin Jing.


we relax, the body will know exactly what to do. If we can letgo of our thinking and relax the body, then the lungs and thenose will work together and find the best way to breath.

No tongue - what does this mean? It means no talking.The tongue is for talking and for eating. Of course, we shouldnot eat when we are practising, even if it is only chewing ona piece of gum. If we are thirsty, we should drink water beforeor after practising, not stop halfway to drink water or tea.

Also, when we are practising we should not talk toeach other. Otherwise we will lose Qi. The mouth should beclosed and then the Ren Mai (Front Channel) and the Du Mai(Back Channel) can connect together and then the Qi canflow along them without stopping. When this happens, theSmall Heavenly Circle or Xiao Zhou Tian can be formed. Sono tongue means no talking and no eating or drinking, justkeep them o u t hclosed.

W eoften seepeople onTV or in thep a r k srunning andtalking toeach other.Actually, it isvery hard todo this as it makes you tired veryeasily. Already this kind ofexercise is using Qi and whenthey talk, they lose more Qi.People who do this do notunderstand Qi.

No body means to notthink about any feeling in thebody when you are practisingWild Goose. You should justkeep doing the movements andtry not to think about anysensations, pain or blockages andjust let things happen. When wepractise, we often feel the Qiflowing and this can make us feelitchy, warm or cold. It can makeus feel good, tired or evenuncoordinated. When wepractise, we will have all kindsof feelings and each feeling isthe Qi balancing itself within thebody. We just need to accept itand relax ourselves.

If we just concentrate on themovements of the Wild Goose, then thismeans that we have no mind. So we do notthink about anything else. Generally, we all know this, butit is not easy to do. Even if you sit down and try to relax, youwill start to think about many different things. If we move thebody in a Qigong way and relax the body, then you will nothave any time to think. Then you can have no mind, nothinking and, thus, an empty mind.

Most people cannot stop thinking and so cannot emptythe mind. This is because most of us are under stress and

worry about so many things. We need to learn how to stopthinking and allow our minds to rest. Then we can regain ourQi. When we practise Wild Goose Qigong, we can think ofnothing and this is why it is good for everyone.

A long time ago the Chinese discovered that you canempty the mind by moving the body. This will help to releasethe tension from all the muscles and joints so that the Qi cannourish and repair them. However, the joints and musclesimprove not only because the fresh Qi flows to them, but alsobecause internal organs get more Qi and so more blood flowsto them. When they are healthy, all the cells get better andthe bad cells die. More good cells are produced and themetabolism is better. Then we are healthy.

When there is no tension in the mind, we will be ableto think more clearly and quickly. Therefore, you could say

that when we practise WildGoose Qigong that we becomesmarter and more intelligent, butthis is really a result of a healthybody and mind.

Over twenty years ofpractising and studying WildGoose Qigong has helped me

to understand that it is one ofthe best healing exercises.

We just need goodinstruction and dailypractise. We should notjust complain aboutour pain and illnesses,but we should work onthem. Our ancestorsgave us ways to lookafter ourselves, but ifwe do not practise andfollow the principles forpractising properly, itwill not work.

Wild GooseQigong followsBuddhism, Daoism and

even the Rujia(Confucianism) way as

well. Really, they are allabout following nature and

having a good heart. Withouta good heart, even if you

practise for many years or evena life time, you will still find thatyou will not be healthy. This is

because the heart is the teacherof the body.

A good heart will bring a goodbody and a good body will bring good

health. Sometimes I am asked what doeshaving a good heart mean. It means we should think aboutother people more, not just those who you like and who likeyou but also those who criticise you as well.

When you practise Wild Goose Qigong, you need “Noeyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind.” Then you will goback to the true you and this is a good heart and a healthybody

by Michael Tse

“Concentrate on themovements, then youhave no mind.”

“Concentrate on themovements, then youhave no mind.”


In this simple application, the assailant grasps the handof his opponent. The tiger’s mouth of his right hand goesagainst the little finger of the opponent’s right hand andthe fingers are squeezed tightly. All four fingers aregrasped (Fig 1).

If one of the fingers slips loose when you are practising in class,you should stop, because when you are holding just three fingers

Chen Taijiquan is famous for its Fajingexplosive power and rooting ability. Anotherskill it teaches is Qin Na, the ability to graband control an opponent. Not only can youlock an opponent, but you can also escapewhen you are seized yourself.

Fig 1

ChenTaijiquanApplications

ChenTaijiquanApplications


rather than four there is a risk of breaking the fingers. Theassailant sinks his weight and twines his waist to the left creatinga spiralling silk reeling movement upwards and forwards fromhis Dantian to his hand (Fig 2).

This creates a complementary spiral from the fingers ofthe opponent through the tendons of the arm down to theDantian, causing him to rise up and break his root (Fig 3).

This is a classic demonstration of the meaning of QinNa - ‘grasp and take away’. In this position the assailant cannow lead his opponent wherever he wants.

The application against the hand is quite complex. Thesqueezing of the fingers together creates a tension across thepalm. The fingers are then bent backwards tensioning thetendons. The spiral movement lifts the opponent upwards andoutwards so that they loose control of their centre. The Qin Natechnique should lock the fingers and wrist allowing control ofthe elbow shoulder and body.

Part of the beauty of Qin Na is that every move containsa counter move.

Fig 2

Fig 3

“This is aclassicdemonstration ofthe meaning ofQin Na - graspand take away”


Fig 3 Fig 4

Fig 5

To escape from the lock, the opponent first has to regain his centre bysinking a little and pushing in the direction that the assailant is trying to takehim. He also turns a little so that his hand is closer to his centre line, giving himmore control (Fig 3).

This creates some space to allow movement. The opponent then beginsto rotate his Dantian to the right and step forward to the right (Fig 4).

Having stepped, the opponent continues his rotation andaccelerates it. The assailant is drawn in by the held hand whichwraps around his opponent’s back. The opponent spins and usesthis body turn to deliver a firm slap to the assailant’s face with hisleft hand (Fig 5).

In a more serious situation the same body movement canbe used to deliver a vicious backfist strike. The fast rotation of thebody allows a classic Chen style whipping motion. The backfist strikeis completely loose, like a ball of a mace or a cue ball in a sock. Ifthe assailant manages to block the strike, then the fist can also rollopen into a finger strike that can still be effective if it flicks into aneye or the bridge of the nose

Drawings and text by Glenn Gossling

“He also turns alittle so that hishand is closer tohis centre line.”


We read in the Yijing, “families whoperform good deeds will accumulate prosperitythat can outlast many generations.”

An example is the Yan family. Before they married theirdaughter to the man who was to be Confucius’s father,they inquired about the family. After finding that they

practised goodness and accumulated virtues, the Yan familyfelt confident that they were marrying their daughter into afamily that would prosper and haveoutstanding descendants.

In another example,Confucius had praised Shun forhis filial piety by saying: “Dueto his great filial piety andsincerity, Shun could deeplymove even his ancestors toaccept his offering. Hisaccumulation of merits andgood fortune would last formany generations.” Thefollowing are some additionalexamples of how merits can beattained through performinggood deeds. In Fujian province,a man named Rong Yang helda position in the Imperial Courtas the Emperor’s teacher. RongYang’s ancestors were boatpeople who made a living byhelping people cross the river.One year, a storm lasted so longthat violent flooding swept awaypeople, animals, houses andbelongings. The other boaters tookadvantage of the situation to collect thefloating belongings. Only Rong Yang’sgrandfather and great grandfather rescued the drowningpeople and ignored the belongings. The boaters laughed andthought the two to be very foolish. Later, when Rong Yang’sfather was born, the family gradually became wealthy.

One day a heavenly being who had manifested as aTaoist monk told the family that due to their ancestor’saccumulation of hidden merits, their descendants would enjoywealth and prominence. He then suggested a special place

where they could build the ancestral tomb. They followed hissuggestion. Today it is called the White Hare Grave. Shortlyafter, Rong Yang was born. He passed the imperialexamination when he was only twenty years old and laterreceived the imperial appointment of Master. The Emperoreven bestowed the same imperial honours on his grandfatherand great grandfather. Today, his virtuous and prosperousdescendants are still prominent.

Zicheng Yang, from the Zhejiang province, is anotherexample. He worked in the county courthouse and was kind,fair and honest. Once, the county magistrate punished acriminal by beating him until he was bleeding profusely.Zicheng knelt and pleaded with him to stop. The infuriatedmagistrate retorted, "It's all right for you to plead, but howcan I not be angry when he has broken the law!" Zichengreplied that when government leaders do not follow the properpath, ordinary people would lose their way. Realising this weshould feel sorrow and not pleasure (at solving the case).And we should certainly not become angrier. A case like thiscalled for more understanding. Moved by Zicheng’s plea, the

magistrate ceased the beating.Although Zicheng’s family was poor, he refused all

bribes. If the prisoners were short of food, he would takesome from his own home to give them even if it

meant going hungry himself. One day, it was timefor several newly arrived prisoners to be fed. If

he gave the prisoners what he had, hisfamily would have nothing to eat: an

appalling dilemma. He felt thatthe prisoners needed the foodmore than his family did. Hediscussed it with his wife whoasked where the prisoners were

from. Zi-cheng told her they werefrom Hangzhow.

Later, Zicheng had twosons who both held importantgovernment positions. Hiseldest grandson became Viceminister of the Ministry ofJustice and his secondgrandson was a highly placed

member of the governmentstaff in Sichuan Province. They too

were prominent. Today, one of theirdescendants, also a government official, is known for

his virtuous deeds.to be continued...

The above is a selection from Liao Fan’s Book of Four Lessons,written in the Ming Dynasty for his son on how to become a better

person and change his destiny for the better. This book is available freethrough the Centre by request. Please write or call for your copy,

however, please note: There may be a delay in sending as suppliescome from abroad and is dependent upon available stock.

Liao Fan’s Four Lessons

The Third Lesson:The Ways to CultivateGoodness

Liao Fan’s Four Lessons

The Third Lesson:The Ways to CultivateGoodness


Qigong Therapy& Private Tuitionwith Master Michael Tse

Qigong therapy is a very effective way ofincreasing your energy and clearing thenegative energy in the body. Combinedwith specific exercises the treatment isspecific to each patient. Master Tse’sQigong Therapy has benefited a greatmany people and his appointments are highlysought after.

Master Tse is also available for private one to one lessons whereyou can study Qigong, Wing Chun, Chen Taijiquan, Chun Yuen Quanand Hard Qigong. Ideal for those people who want to gain a fullunderstanding of the skills and those who cannot make it to regular classes.

For more information please call:UK: 0845 838 2285 or email [email protected]: (808) 528 8501 or email [email protected]

Chicken Teriyaki

4 Add the chicken and the marinade to a preheated wokand stir-fry for 4-5 minutes, or until it is cooked. Servegarnished with orange segments, mustard and watercress.

Recipe from “Chinese - the essence of Asian cooking”by Linda Doeser

A simple bowl of boiled rice is the idealaccompaniment to this subtle Japanesechicken dish.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 41 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts,orange segments and mustard and watercress togarnish

For the marinade1 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon sake1 tablespoon dry sherry2 tablespoons dark soy sauce, grated rind of orange

1 Slice the chicken into long, thin strips using a cleaver or asharp knife.

2 To make the marinade, combine all the marinadeingredients in a bowl.

3 Place the chicken in a seperate bowl, pour the marinadeover it and marinade for 15 minutes.

Chicken Teriyaki

Later, I went on to teach English. Itwas fascinating to note the particularaptitudes brought by different

nationalities and the difficulties theyencountered. Their national andindividual characteristics coloured theirapproach and their facility at learningEnglish. We enjoyed this vibrantinteraction of different cultures andpersonalities. Classes were interestingand fun.

Qigongtoo is alanguage – alanguage ofmovement. Inthe beginning,we learnsimple wordsor move-ments andthen we startto order theminto basic sentences. This is like learningsimple exercises. Then we move on toconstruct more complex sentences andphrases as we embark on learningforms. As we master these andunderstand more clearly the meaningof the words or movements, we canadvance to more complex anddemanding constructions, moreadvanced forms. The process continuesas we progress with the practice.

At first, it may be quite a slowprocess to remember just a fewmovements. Yet some students mayhave a natural aptitude and move onquite quickly. It is for each of us to go atour own pace, with help from our Sifuand fellow students. In the traditionalway, senior students, more experiencedin the practice, help the others. It isuseful having to explain even simplemovements. The concepts or meaningsbecome clearer in our own minds. So inhelping others, we also help ourselves.In the end, every one helps everyoneelse.

In my language teachingexperience, I learnt that the brain canonly make sense of seven ‘chunks’ ofinformation at a time. This is why,

especially in the beginning, we have togo slowly. Each word/movement makesup a chunk. So seven movements or evensimply seven aspects of a movement, areall we can deal with. Once we havelearned a few movements to make asentence, then each sentence becomesa chunk with meaning. It makessense. Sentences then combineeasily to make a movement phraseand so on. In the end we have a

piece of poetry, prose oreven a story.

With these longerforms or stories,punctuation also conveysthe sense of each part andits relationship to thewhole. Commas and fullstops indicate a pausebefore the next idea/movement and showyou how to breathe.They can alter themeaning of thesentence – as inthe Christmas2003 bestsellerbook ‘Eats,shoots andleaves’ byLynne Truss.Quite adifferent meaningto ‘Eats shoots andleaves’! It is important to be aware ofthe connections and the spaces betweenthe words/movements, as they create arhythm to the form.

Indeed, we need time betweenlessons to absorb what we have learned

At university, I studied French and German. I have also learnt some Italian and alittle bit of Spanish. Each has its characteristics and its overall mood. German seems tobring out efficiency. French is more sensual. Italian is flamboyant and Spanish fiery.

and to make it ours. This is why practiceis important. Sometimes we just needto do what we know and experience theresults. Making mistakes is part of that. Ican remember constructing sentences inGerman, where I knew what I meant butwas not quite sure whether that was whatI was saying. The reactions of my Swissfriends were telling!

Lateral thinking can be a vitalability in applying the movement

language lessons to our daily lives.In this way, our learning can

be applied to a varietyof situations. As we

become moreadept at this, wecan be said to be

‘mastering’ thelanguage. We

achieve a fluencythat comes naturally

from within.So what does

Qigong communicate? Itis a language ofmovement that speaks ofharmony and balance. Itcommunicates an attitudeof openness and well-being and balances thedualities we encounter inlife. Strength andgentleness, softness andhardness, Yin and Yangare unified. By practisingdaily, we touch thedeeper layers. Nowonder we feel somuch happier andcalmer after dedicatingsome time to this

practice.Ultimately, Qigong

is a language of peace. Whenwe are at peace within

ourselves, with our lives, everythingflows. It is the most creative way of living,at one with our Source, the Dao. For me,this is the most important thing in life

by Helen [email protected]

Language of MovementLanguage of Movement

“So what doesQigongcommunicate?”

“So what doesQigongcommunicate?”


Move from the DantianThe next principle is that all movement must come from theDantian. The Dantian is the centre of the body, but actually,our body has three Dantians: lower, middle and upper. TheLower Dantian connects with the waist and it is here that allmovement should originate.

There is also a front door and back door for Qi to enterthe body. The front door is at the Qihai point, one inch belowthe navel. The back door is at the Mingmen point and is onthe same line opposite to the Qihai point but on the back ofthe body.

The centre of the body is the commander of the wholebody. No matter which part of the body moves, it must connectwith the Lower Dantian. Jumping, kicking, punching, SingleWhip,Cloud Hands,HighPat on the Horse or any other Taijiquanmovement must come from the centre.

In Chen Style Taijiquan, this spiral energy is called SilkReeling Power (Chan Si Jing). This energy is like silk that keepsreeling non-stop when the whole body moves together withspiral energy. A lot of people will only spiral the hands andshoulders but do not spiral the waist or the legs. However, allmovements should come from the waist and spiral from thewaist to the finger tips, even to the toes.

In Lao Jia (Old Frame) form, the spiral from the waist islarger than the spiral we learn in the Xin Jia (New Frame)

Last issue we looked at thefirst two stages. These were

Relaxation, Posture and UpperBody Relaxed , Lower Body

Strong. Now we complete the fivestages so that when you practiseyou know what to concentrate on

to make your level higher.

Taijiquan’s 5 Stepsof Development

Part II


form. If the circle is smaller, then the waist will move more. Ifthe circle is bigger, then the waist moves less. Think aboutwhen you make a big circle with your hand. Your shouldermoves less obviously, but if we make our small circle with thehand, then you will see more of the movement in the shoulder.

Even though we can see the difference ofthe movement in the hands and theshoulder, still, all movement in bothLao Jia and Xin Jia, comes from thewaist.

For all beginners, we mustfirst learn relaxation, posture,upper body relaxed-lower bodystrong and only then do we learnhow to move the waist.Otherwise, if we move the waisttoo early, then we forgetrelaxation and posture. Thenyou will see that only part ofthe body is moving, but notthe centre. When thisbecomes habit, it is veryhard to correct. When wedrop a stone in water, thespirals will move outwardfrom the centre and thisis the way it should bewhen we practise Taijiquan.

In order for this tohappen, though, you mustalready be relaxed and have theright structure for this to be ableto take place. If the body is tense,the posture is wrong, then thebody is just like a crooked nailwhich has no chance of beinghammered into the wood. Soeven though we want ourTaijiquan to be good or to bepowerful, it will not happen nomatter how much wepractise. Only by followingthe right principles, step-by-step, will we be able tobecome good and even amaster some day.

FajingThe last thing we learn is Fajing, (Releasing Power). Fajing isbeautiful and impressive but we should not try to do it tooearly or too often because we might injure ourselves. It is likein nature, before the thunder comes, things will become veryquiet. In they same way, before we do Fajing, we need to bemore relaxed.

When we relax and the posture and attitude is right,then our bodies will be like a well-tuned rifle. In a rifle, thebarrel should be cool so that each bullet will come out smoothlyand not shoot out too fast. Our whole body must be connectedall together. All parts of the body relate together so there isno blockage between them. So when we use the Fajingperfectly, everything will be in harmony.

Another important part thing to remember is that thepower comes from the legs. This means our root. From thelegs, the energy comes to the waist and from the waist, theenergy transfers to whichever part of the body needs it. Thiscan be the fist, elbow, hips, shoulder, etc.

Taijiiquanis like a ball andso when wepractise, weneed to makeour bodies like around ball.However, whenwe use theFajing energy,

we need to transfer all the energy from the waist tothis area. So from round, the power part of the

body becomes sharp.If you understand the principle of

Taijiquan, then you will see that it is one of thev e r y high level martial arts. In most martial arts,

you can easily see the attack and defense in the formor sparr- ing, but in Taijiquan you do no see thatmuch. You see some punches and kicks, but there isare many more movements which also have martialapplications.

In Taijiquan, there is a fast form called Pao Chui(Cannon Fist). In this form, a lot of Fajing is used which makesit very attractive and exciting. Many people who see Pao Chuiwant to learn it but first, they should learn how to do theslower forms and learn the first four principles of Taijiquanpractice, beginning with relaxation. Then, when we know howto relax and know the correct posture, and know how to makethe upper body Yin and lower body Yang and to move fromthe Dantian and waist, then we can learn how to do the PaoChui.

If we do Pao Chui too early, then we will damage thejoints. It is like a rifle or gun that has been fired too manytimes. The barrel will get hotter and hotter every time thatyou fire the gun. When the gun releases the bullet, theexplosive force will go back to your waist or shoulder. Anypower that we release will have a retaliation that will bounceback to us, so we must make ourselves healthy and strong bypractice. We should only practise Pao Chui once in a while,not every day. It is the same for Fajing. We should do it onlyoccasionally. In your everyday practice, you can use softerenergy, keeping the body relaxed with good posture.

If you can remember and apply the five stages ofTaijiquan development:-1. Relaxation2. Posture3. Upper body relaxed - Lower body strong4. Move from the waist5. Fajing Power

Then someday, you will be a masterby Michael Tse

Development“Before Fajing,we need to bemore relaxed.”

“Before Fajing,we need to bemore relaxed.”


Finding MeFinding MeStudying Qigong and Taijiquan is a journey of

self discovery. The more you train the more you learnabout yourself. For some people this can sometimes bean unnerving or even painful experience. It alldepends on the individual.

Studying Qigong and Taijiquan is a journey ofself discovery. The more you train, the more you learnabout yourself. For some people this can sometimes bean unnerving or even painful experience. It alldepends on the individual.


This article is about myself. I am twenty-six years old,living in Cape Town. I work as an Account Manager foran international advertising agency.. The rest you willlearn as you read on. Where to begin? It’s two yearssince I first stepped into the Jing-An healing centre. I

was going through the motions of a broken relationship thatended after four years. A relationship, that not only left meempty and unable to feel anything, but made me wonderwho I was and what I wanted.

I moved to Cape Town with my boyfriend. I gave up myjob, left my family and friends to move with him, and aftertwo months the relationship was over. I was twenty-four withno job, no family in Cape Town, no real friends and a socialdrug habit. I never felt so lost. I had lost the man who I definedmyself by, the man I lived to please, who had swept me offmy feet four years prior and shown me a world of exotic traveland artificial highs. I had been sold on illusions of who I was.

Losing the man meant losing what I had become, andI had serious work to find that person again.

I first went, under duress, for an Acupuncture treatmentset up by my mother, who could see how angry I had becomeand felt that she had lost her daughter. That is when I met DrLan for the first time. Hiscalm demeanour firstmade me, feeluncomfortable. I wasused to constant babblewhere he sat comfortablyin silence, enough tomake me at that time,squirm in my seat.

Just onetreatment shiftedsomething small and, forthe first time in months,I felt something. I couldnot pinpoint what it wasor even that it was ashift, but something hadhappened and I wentback for more treatments which led to more questions. Ofcourse, staying true to Chinese Tradition, Dr Lan encouragedme to find the answers myself, he suggested I start Qigong. Idecided to try it out.

At first I didn’t understand the movement; I didn’tunderstand what it was supposed to be doing for me. The onlything I realized was that I felt a sense of calm during and aftereach class. I didn’t really have any expectations and didn’tread anything about Taiji or Qigong, I just went to the class,and because I had danced up until the age of 17, I was confidentthat I would cope with the movement. I was very surprised tofind that it was unlike anything I had ever done, and no amountof dance training could help when all that was required wasfor me to stand on my feet and look inside, something I hadnot done in years, possibly ever.

I started going every week, mainly because it was asafe place I could be, a place where there were no judgments,no expectations, a place that belonged to me. This was veryspecial, as I had not allowed myself my own space and timefor the last four years.

I then wanted to know more and I started attendingTaiji classes where I felt I had to discipline my mind in a way Ihad never experienced before.

I started learning the short form and although Dr Lankept telling us that these movements were the body’s mostnatural expression, it felt strange, awkward and most certainlynot natural. I persisted with the classes, persisted through thefrustration until I had learnt the short form. One thing I doremember though, is how good it felt to focus and concentrateon the movements. For the hour that my class took, the outsideworld was forgotten to me, and in a way, this alone broughtsome peace and in that way I learnt to start disciplining mymind, keeping it in the class, present and focused on themovement.

I had the short form and it felt good and I realised thatif I practised it over and over again that I started to feelsomething. I couldn’t believe how much my heart rate wouldincrease as though I was doing hard physical exercise and mybody would sweat, but I always felt more grounded andcentered after practising.

It was at this time that I realised drugs had no place inmy mind and in my body. I had found the goodness insideme, I had found a natural way to start feeling the world again,and it was easy to let them go. I simply wasn’t a person whotook drugs.

With the goodfeeling came the bad asI now know they are notmutually exclusive, andI began to feel pain, feelsadness, feelings I hadto face andacknowledge, I had toallow them to becomepart of me as well.

I realized that Taijididn’t only belong atJing-An centre, or in myliving room. Taiji had tobecome part of me and

I found myself applying the principles like ‘rolling back ‘inconfrontational situations at work for example. I work inadvertising, in a highly charged environment. I used to add tomania by flying off the handle like everyone else when thingswent wrong until I started applying the principles in my everyday living.

I learned that by centering myself and by sinking theanxiety or the frustration, I could change a potentially explosivesituation into something more positive and definitely moreconstructive. Not only had I changed the way I responded andthereby avoiding upsetting my own balance, I started noticinga change in the people around me and the way they startedresponding to me

I learned so much more about other people by simplybeing still and observing them, which can be a powerful feeling– one I am wary of getting caught up into. Realising thesesmall things about myself, finding these small things thatbelonged to me, started me on my journey back to findingmyself again. I looked around and hardly recognized my life,but at the same time I had never felt so close to myself.

It is now two years down the line and I am still doingmy Taiji and Qigong. I know who Cherryl is, what she likes,what she doesn’t, what she wants and even who she wants toshare her life with

by Cherryl DuncanSouth Africa

“The outside worldwas forgotten to me,and in a way, thisalone brought somepeace .”

“The outside worldwas forgotten to me,and in a way, thisalone brought somepeace .”


Need for Bone QiNeed for Bone QiHowever, in Healthy Living Gong,

the set of Qigong exercises createdby Michael Tse initially for use in

his Qigong Healing practice, there aremany such movements. For instance, inDragon Stretches Its Claws, we stand inbow stance, with one leg forward. Thefront leg is straight and the back leg isbent and this is where all of our weightshould be.

Most people today find this verydifficult because we are not used to strongphysical exercise, and as a result, ourbones are weaker. However, if we wantto be healthy, we need healthy bones.Our bones are like the framework of ahouse which supports walls, roof anddecorations. Imagine what happens to ahouse with timbers or bricks that arerotten or weak. It is not safe to live there,no matter how beautiful the decorationlooks fromthe outside.

Ourbodies arethe same.We need as t r o n gframe inorder beable tohave ah e a l t h ybody. Ourbones storeour marrowbut it isactually the marrow that feeds andnourishes the bones, making them solidand strong. So, where does marrow comefrom and how can we make sure thatwe have enough to feed our bones?

Marrow is not only in the bones,but it is in the spinal cord, and it is thesubstance which makes up the brain. Irecently read that scientists in the Westhave now proven that what we eat doesin fact affect our brain. China has knownthis for many, many centuries and thereare food cures from as early as the Hanand Ming Dynasties for improving brainfunction, memory and intelligence.

I think that before it is too late,we all need to look more not just whatwe eat but what is actually being

produced and how it is grown, as oftentimes vegetables have little nutrientseven though fresh because the land hasbeen stripped of nutrients by the over-use of chemicals and lack of organicfertilizers and crop rotations. There hasbeen a lot of publicity in Britain regardingthe poor quality of school lunches and itsurprised me to learn that my step-soncould make his choice of mealconsisting of chips, cola andsweets. It has become the samein America and teachers haveseen an increase in studentunruliness, sugar highs andlows and attention deficit.

It was interestingwatching an experimentconducted with three Britishteenagers who had beenmoved into a special school

because of their disruptive behaviour intheir normal classroom. The idea was tosee if their current diet was replaced withone rich ingrains, vitamins and freshness,would their behaviour change. First, ofcourse, they had to record what theteenagers normally ate on a day to daybasis. One of them would drink roughlya two-litre bottle of soda daily and theothers nearly the same. Each day theywould have deep fried chips, kebabs(laden with salt, spices and msg) andsweets. Throughout the beginninginterviews, the teenagers were surly orcompletely uncommunicative. Previoustest scoring showed that they were ableto achieve very well in school if theychose to do so.

At first, the boys didnot like the foodspresented to them and itmust have been difficult depriving theirbodies of so much sugar in the beginning.However, over the month, theircomplexions cleared and they had moreenergy. They started doing better inschool and they could actually complete

tasksand focus their attention. After onemonth, their test scores were high andthey felt better.

Marrow is produced from ourkidneys. If the kidneys are functioningnormally and well, they will produceessence (Jing) which will maintain thewhole body, including transforming intomarrow which rises from the kidneys tothe Du Channel (Back Channel) up thespine to the brain.

Knowing this, it is easy to see thatwhen a person’s bones are weak because

Some of my students have knee problems and worrythat when they do any movements that require them to put allof their weight on that area, that they will damage it more.

“Our bones store ourmarrow but it is actuallythe marrow that feeds andnourishes the bones”

“Our bones store ourmarrow but it is actuallythe marrow that feeds andnourishes the bones”


of insufficient marrow, then there couldeasily be a correlation to dementia,Alzheimer’s disease and other diseasesrelated to motor neuron function.

Symptoms of weak bones aredifficulty in standing, weakness in the legsand arms resulting in pain or loss ofbalance. If the bones are weak, they canbe easily be broken or fractured. Myfather was diagnosed with Lou Gering’sdisease three years ago and passed awaylast autumn but over the years therewere many signs of poor kidneyfunction. He constantly had pain inthe legs and back and he found ithard to relax his mind. Weak limbs,pain in the loins, dizziness, poorhearing, dim eyesight are allsigns of insufficient kidney Qi.

In the beginning, whenhe started having tests todiagnose why he was losinghis balance and having somuch pain, they justthought that he washaving mini-strokes. Forsuch a long time, they justdid test after test with noanswer, no result and stillhis condition worsened.Finally, he eventually agreedto see a Chinese doctor at myrequest. The Chinese doctor toldhim that his kidneys were weak andadvised him to do the Qigong I hadtaught him along with standingmeditation building up to one hour a day.This standing would create more boneQi.

The doctor also told him to eatcertain foods that directly supported thekidneys and liver, which controls ourcirculation. He also told him if he carriedon with the right foods and the Qigong,that in ten years he would recover andbe able to carry on his life as normal.However, as my father said to me, “Itmeans a whole change in my life thinkingto do this” and so he carried on with whatlittle treatment was available throughWestern medicine for his condition. Heeventually even stopped this when hisown doctor told him “this medicine willeventually destroy your liver so it maycause your demise even before thedisease does.”

It was very heartbreaking to seemy father’s body failing slowly, inch byinch and day by day. It was hard for meto let go when I knew that Qigong couldhelp save him. However, I finally acceptedthat we all have to choose our own fateand we can only support our loved ones

on the journey they have chosen.However, each time I saw him, he hadgotten weaker, smaller and eventuallylost use of his entire body. I share all thisonly because, from a Qigong point ofview and Chinese Medicine point of view,there is no disease that cannot be helped.It is not about effecting a cure

but

r a t h e r,bringing everyth ingback into balance. If thekidneys are weak, then Chinesemedicine and Qigong will work to makethat area stronger.

I do not believe that there willever be a cure for cancer because canceris caused by so many different kinds ofthings. It is an imbalance in the bodythat takes over, just like a spoiled childallowed to carry on its tantrums until itno longer has any friends left. In the caseof the spoiled child, we do not kill thechild, so we do not need to try to kill thecancer, but bring it back under control sothat the cells can change back to normal.Buddhism believes that everyone can bea Buddha as long as we go back to ouroriginal, true heart. Sometimes we findan imperfection in the body and we wantto get rid of it instead of trying to balanceit and accept it.

If we continue to make our bodiesstrong and healthy, then even if we do

have cancer, it will not be able to go toofar. We can live with cancer and probablymany of us do without even realising it.It only becomes a problem when ourenergy is weak, just like a thief breakinginto your house when you go away andleave the door or window unlocked.

So, one of the first things we cando to make our bodies powerfullyhealthy is to make our bones strong.Drinking lots of milk or taking calcium

tablets in not really the answerbecause they do not create Qi orrelease toxins from the body.Nutrition is only a support, not areplacement for movement thatincreases Qi and makes the bodyflexible and the mind coordinatedand able to relax and be calm.

In the same way as ourbodies should be supple, strong

bones are flexible bones thatcan stand some stress before

giving way. So instead oftrying to avoid the Qigong

movements which are difficult orwhich make us uncomfortable, we

should work on these even more. I havetaken to separating out some of thedifficult movements from forms andworking on them individually each day.For instance, if I find it difficult to balanceon one leg when doing some movement,I practise standing on one leg in thatparticular posture each day for severalseconds, slowly building up the time untilI feel comfortable and relaxed.

A few years ago I hurt my kneeand I have noticed that it was gettingweaker and unconsciously I was notputting all of my weight on it when doingthe Chun Yuen Warm Up and forms.However, children are great mirrors andas I watched my students struggling withtheir own knee problems and not wantingto put weight on that area, I feltchallenged to prove that you can recoverfrom joint problems.

It is not just doing the externalmovement though. It is also practisingwith the right intent and energy. If wemove too fast or are too tense, then Qicannot keep up with the movement andcannot go to the area where there is aproblem. If we are tense, we also blockthe Qi. Qigong is not just movement forme any longer. It is a way of life thathelps me to understand myself betterand how our own actions and lifestylecan create either health or illness

by Sihn [email protected]


Legs & KneesDeep in the muscles of the buttocks,

on each side, lies the sciatic nerve,starting from the sacrum of the

spinal cord, running down along thethighs, and branching out graduallythrough the shanks to the muscles andskin of the soles of the feet. This is animportant nerve, controlling themovement and feeling of the legs.Sciatica is a common and frequentlyoccurring disease affecting this nerve.

Once the sciatic nerve is inflamedor pressed by neighbouring bones,ligaments, tumours, inflammation of themuscles, and especially the protrusion ofthe intervertebral disc, there is pain inthis nerve. In an acute condition, the painextends from the lumbar area to the feet,making it difficult to walk. Even if itbecomes chronic, there is always hiddenpain as if something is drawing it, andmovement of the legs and feet is difficult.

If you have sciatica, you shouldfirst discover the cause. If it is caused bypathological changes that constrict thenerve, this problem must be solved. If itis an inflammation of the sciatic nerveitself, you should lie in bed and restduring the acute period and treat it withpainkillers, acupuncture or massage. If itis chronic, please do the exercisedescribed in the following passages.

Traditional Chinese medicinebelieves that the limbs must move aboutto reduce strain. Therefore, once you areafflicted with sciatica, you should continueto move the lower limbs so the conditiondoes not become aggravated.

Because the pain during thechronic period is often related toadhesion around the nerve, the “sleep-sit-stand” method is called for so thesciatic nerve has a chance to recover.Repeated practice helps to dissolve theadhesion and relieve the pain.

The method is described asfollows:

Sleep:

Sit:Sit on the bedside or in a chair withlegs straight, heels on the ground,toes up, and hands on the thighs.Bend the body forward gradually andpush the hands toward the feet. Atfirst, the hands cannot reach far, butthey will be able to reach the instepsand toes after repeated practice. (Fig.10-58)

Stand:

Sufferers of sciatica should also do some running, physical exercise or playball games as much as possible, all beneficial to the recovery of health.

Lie on the bed on your back with legs bent, stretch the legs by rotation with thefeet on the bed, and then raise the legs upward by rotation. Usually, the leg onthe healthy side can be raised from the bed at a 90 degree angle, and the legon the affected side to a 45 degree at first, with the angle gradually increasedafter practice. (Fig. 10-57)

Stand upright with handsakimbo. First raise the legsforward by rotation, kneesstraight, and then stand with thefeet as far apart as possible, andbend the knees by rotation.Squat down like a bow so thatthe straight leg is straightenedand drawn with a pulling force.(Fig. 10-59)

“Sleep-sit-stand” exercises for sciatica

Exercise for theLegs & Knees

Sciatica and painful knees are verycommon problems. They stop many of us doingmany everyday things and also any exercise tomaintain our health. Here are some Qigongexercises to help both these conditions.


The knee joint is one of the jointscarrying a large load in bearing thebody’s weight, and in all activities.Walking, moving, sitting, lying, runningand jumping are all impossible withoutit. Therefore, the knee joint is oftensubject to injury. Excessive activity maycause strain, while unexpected twists andfalls can result in sprains or contusions.And remaining too long in cold and dampplaces may cause rheumatism in the legs.All these conditions will make it difficult

for the knee joint to move about, bend,and stretch.

Traditional Chinese medicinebelieves that the knee joint is themeeting place for the tendons in thelower limbs. If the knee joint cannot bendand extend freely, you must bend yourbody or have some support whenwalking. This is a sign of the decliningfunction of the tendons. Thousands ofyears ago, Chinese people began to usemedicinal decoctions, hot compression,

acupuncture and Daoyin exercises. In hiswork General Treatise on the Etiology andSymptomatology of Diseases, ChaoYuanfang, imperial physician to emperorYangdi in the Sui Dynasty, collected morethan 20 Daoyin exercises for treatingknee-joint diseases. These methods havebeen handed down for more than 1,000years, and exercises similar to these arestill practised today.

Some of these simple exercisesare as follows:

Hold the knee against the chest:

Turn with twisted knees:

This method helps strengthen theleg muscles. If you persevere in doingthese exercises they will produce certaincurative effect, which may be even better

Stand upright, relax the entire body,raise the right leg, bend the knee,hold it with both hands, and keep theknee joint as close to your chest aspossible. Pause for a moment, relaxthe hands, and put the right leg backto its original position. Then raise theleft leg, and execute the movementsin the same way as the right leg.Repeat the exercise 10-15 times. (Fig.10-76)

Keep the legs together, bend the bodyinto a semi-squatting position, handson the knees, and turn the knees backand forth and to the left and rightgently. First turn from the left, thenturn from the right, 10-15 timesalternately. The movements should begentle and slow. (Fig. 10-78)This method helps strengthen theligaments of the knee joints. It not onlyhelps improve the bending andextension of the joints, but also relievespain in the knees. It also has a certaincurative effect in treating chronicrheumatic arthritis.

If you have difficulty bending the knee or standing uprightsteadily, you can lie on your back and try your best tokeep the knee close to the chest. (Fig. 10-77)

Squat with bent knees:

Stand with legs apart atshoulder width, handson the knees, and squatdown slowly. After aslight pause, rise slowly.Keep the buttocks asclose as possible to theshanks while squatting.Repeat the movements5-10 times. (Fig.10-79)

if you also take the proper medicine atthe same time. But mind you, do not dothem when you have an injury, acuterheumatism, or swollen knee joints. If

you have meniscus sprain or softenedkneecaps, you should seek further advice.

by Zeng Qingnan& Liu Daoqing

Knee-bending exercises for sore knees


At first they contacted some friendsand then eventually this lead themto find me. They asked if I could

come and check what problems they hadwith their Qi.

I found the shop situated on thecorner of a busy but narrow road. Thefirst thing I checked was the surroundingenvironment, around the building andthe shop. It was on one of many avenuesjoining a main road and there was nopavement for people to walk on. So, thepeople and the cars had to pass throughthese small avenues , and so both driversand pedestrians had to be careful not tohit each other.

So, basically no one would stayaround long enough to see any shopsthat were there. The only exception wasif you knew exactly what you were lookingfor. If you were walking around thebuilding you would not know thebookshop was there. It was as if it wasinvisible so, of course, the business wouldnot be good. What also did not help wasthe fact that the small avenue ran parallelto the main road. This meant the mainroad took all the energy and sothe small avenuewould take much less,

I suggestedthat they put a pair oflion statues at thefront of the shop toward off the traffic. Onthe other hand, Isuggested that theyput signs up on bothoutside walls of theshop, then peoplewould be able to seethe shop when theywere walking downthe road and also fromthe other road as well.Then people would beable to see them froma long way away.

The interior of the shop wasquite okay if you just walked around it.The amount of light, space and air wasnot bad. However, on the floor of theshop, they had the logo which had been

one of them said that some people hadvery strong energy and might be toostrong for them to compete with, so whatcould they do?

You can see in the natural worldthat the physically strong controls the

physically weak.Strong energy

will con-t r o l

t h e

weake n e r g y

and there isnothing you

can do about this,but you can do things to

help to balance this out. If youdo more good deeds, then this will

help. For example, you can help to tidythe street outside by picking up rubbish,you could donate money to , and youcan make sure that you do not cheat orlie to people and help people eitherphysically or with your knowledge. Thenyour energy will change.

I hope my advice helped them.For any house, the first important thingin Feng Shui is its position and then thenext is the energy of the area. If theposition is wrong, then everything willbe wrong and the energy will be wrong.If the position is right, the energy will beright. So if your heart is right, bad FengShui can be changed to good Feng Shui

by Michael Tse

designed to represent the three owners.The problem with this was that anyonewho walked into the shop would standon it, and that was not good.

In the old days when armiesfought a war, there was a flag bearerwho would hold the army's flag. Whenthe soldiers could see their flag,they knew their soldiers andcommanders were stillthere, and so theywould fightharder. Whenyou lost thebattle, yourflag wasthrown ontothe groundand tramp-led upon.

H a v i n gthe shop logoon the floorwas not agood position.This wouldmean theywould lose

money, energy and their health wouldnot be good. You could see from theirfaces they were not so healthy.

They listened carefully to mysuggestions and decided what to do. Then

Feng Shui of a Bookshop

Recently, whilst I was in Rome, Italy, I was invited to do a Feng Shuiconsultation for a bookshop. The three partners who ran the shop were veryworried as their business was not very good. It had been open for 7 months andthey could not understand why the business had not improved.

Feng Shui of a Bookshop

Entrance

Logo

Counter

Shelves

Shelves

Narrow Avenue

MainRoad

Bookshop

N


Documents

Qi Magazine issue 76 v2