The Cognitive Body & Contemporary Qi Gong

2011-09-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

Thoughts on Letting Go

30 years on, I have a great debt of gratitude to all my my teachers. Often in life we want what someone else has: their career, lifestyle, looks, fitness, artistic skills. I am sure that we continuously cover up insecurity. We all participate in such games. We perceive the world from our narrow yet highly conditioned perspective. My personal ego
issues arose out of wanting to be the best. The resultant self suffering and masochism that came from such suppressed thought was and is quite a force to behold. My interest in physical and the so called energetic arts of the orient stemmed from one event and one practice:

This was the process of body scanning where felt sense observation and the acceptance of sometimes agonising emotional patterns were the order of the day. It felt at the time as if my emotions were cemented into my human form. This changed my course, however I had to do it, and do it and then do it again to keep sane, there was no going back. This repetitive process loosened the self maintained emotional strangle hold that was suffocating my life and isolating me from it.
Then later another mentor taught me to view my own and another persons mental thought patterns via the tempo and rhythm that transmits from all arising thought. The more entrenched a thought pattern the stronger the tempo. This method of medita- tion is a useful tool in the fight against the machinations of the ego.

Then finally I met Dzogchen Master Namkahi Norbu. My urge to meet him came via a book, (The cycle of Day and Night) I had hastily grabbed this from a shelf in Watkin’s bookshop in Cecil Court off Charing Cross Rd . It was 1991 and this book was my constant companion on a work trip to Germany. This led to me meeting him many years later and to an experience which was liberating in the most ordinary way possible.
And yet now many years later, still my ego, regardless of all observations still find ways of recapitulating patterns that are so entrenched that the process of relaxation and letting go must continue to be practiced.

Qi Gong and all the internal arts practice has been a way for me to use intelligent methods of movement to access those entrenched layers of knots, lesions, scar tissue and emotional blockages, and as such has been a most wonderful method of release when combined with ( and this is the punchline ), simply being present and not rushing or striving for something, in my case that is being the best as I mentioned amongst other ludicrous ego structures.

I have a few observations on the theme of the ego and the body and I hope that this will all come out in a book.
Efficiency in life seems to me to stem from being alive to the world and to others where inspiration and creativity can arise from that place of presence. What can drive us away from experiences and growth in life are the deeply entrenched psycho-physical, emotional knots that we either ignore or talk about too much. Please note that I am talking from one perspective here and there are other frameworks of observation, like birth and pre- birth influences, spiritual influences etc

What are the mechanisms of avoiding the opportunity for helping oneself.

Events in the world and immediate environment also distract us too much, via the news. We become embroiled in world events so much that they become another method of control as much as advertising, We are all susceptible to this type of conditioning and everything we observe can add to our conditioning. So we must be vigilant and have some form of practice to free us up and to keep us free.

If you sit in an office for 20 years and your internal environment is toxic through poor eating you can get cancer, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease etc. In fact the odds that you will are increasing all the time. We are all too comfortable, lucky to have the luxuries that we really could do without. And as a result the ego develops a new kind of tactic. We guard our comfort and our right to the ( Anglo- American ) view of life and liberty, you know the one that says we are free individuals. yeah right!
And so I stand, I move and I observe the internal scenery of my self and look at what state it is in. Is it freeing up or is it closing down. Sometimes it is hard to tell because of the healing crisis that occur on all levels of being and the Machiavellian deviousness of the my ego. It is easy to not practice anything and to distract ourselves .

Only some form of awareness practice can illuminate the ego process to us. ( of course we need an ego, one that we control consciously and not one that sabotages us through our own ignorance of it modus operundi )
You dear reader are only one who can do this. This leads us to self responsibility, the moment we say to ourselves enough is enough, ‘Wake up !! ‘
Conditioning is a natural process, grossly out of control.
I thank all my teachers
Free body Free mind Crc 2011

2011-06-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

I recently spent a morning at the Congress of Rheumatology at the London Excel Centre. I was invited to talk at the congress alongside two international Phd's, Till Uhlig PHd and Karin Niedermann PHd, who were reporting on the evidence supporting the view that Tai Chi is good for Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia.

Session Title: Joint Workshop: Is Tai Chi good for me?
Date/Time: Saturday 28.05.2011 08:45-10:15
Room: Room S25
Chair 1, Niedermann Karin
Chair 2, Kent Alison
Lecture 1, 20 min: Uhlig Till: When should we advise people to do Tai Chi?
Lecture 2, 20 min: Niedermann Karin: What is the evidence for Tai Chi for people with rheumatic diseases?
Lecture 3, 30 min: Chappell Chris: How I experience and perform Tai Chi

I was very happy to have the opportunity to present Tai Chi Chuan alongside distinguished Representatives of the health community who are doing research into natural forms of intervention for the treatment of Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia.. I was surprised at the limited scope of the scientific studies and equally surprised at the small size of the audience.

For my part I could offer observations based on my personal experience gained from the 27 plus years of Tai Chi Practice and professional teaching.( Teaching which involves helping people who have exhausted conventional means of treatment) I discussed the some specific case histories pertaining to my own clients suffering with chronic conditions. My recommendation was, that although Tai Chi can be adapted to groups of people with Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia, it must be understood that severe cases more often need one to one attention. It is not a problem if people only receive verbal instruction in class, but the efficacy of the Tai Chi session will be very slow and highly variable due to the quality of information, teacher ability, duration of study, etc.

For example I gave a 10 minute practical session to the attendees of the talk, which was, frankly, cosmetic and of no practical value. ( There is no way that anyone can get a feel for Tai Chi as theraeutic tool from an adhoc few minutes, specially when taken in the context of the thrust of the conference, the treatment of Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. I would need at least a few hours to lay down some sound experiential ( get everyone to feel ) bio mechanical principles and to elicit some structural guidelines, followed by some simple experiential, hands on transmission.

There were a few misconceptions arising from the scientific studies, the science for ( or against ) the referral of Tai Chi to patients. As always in scientific matters results varied and so that one conclusion drawn was that Tai Chi made no difference to pain in fibromyalgia but was ok for increasing range of motion in Osteo Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. So let me try here to reframe what Tai Chi is not.

Tai Chi Chuan ( or a first class Qi Gong ) is not a tablet, it does not suppress symptoms or block the natural immune response and therefore it initially and periodically can illicit what is called a healing crisis. These events will effect the results when questioning study groups. This is a natural process of change and can be uncomfortable, but the pain will clear with proper guidance. In is incredibly important that the scientific studies that Tai Chi is not viewed as some magical gesture, or pill equivalent, but rather a process of change, a letting go.

"Tai Chi is not a tablet or a magic gesture"
Anyone teaching Tai Chi for Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia must be:]

a) experienced with basic structural anatomy and how to transmit the information within the context of teaching Tai Chi Chuan.
b) be aware that there is not a one shoe fits all practice of Tai Chi Chuan for chronic conditions and be capable of modifying the tai chi form and know how to read the patients body structure.
c) be able to modify movements that stabilize group learning which are inclusive of the lowest common denominator of the presenting group.
c) results will be greater when a control group works with a high level teacher rather than people who have only learned from a teacher who learned to teach on a weekend of Tai Chi Chuan teacher training. ( that is physiotherapists attending a weekend CPD ( I am strictly against the teaching of Tai Chi Chuan by people who do not have a personal practice and gain certification to teach others after one weekend training). My reasoning for this is that low level skill will disseminate low level practice and in the long term undermine the real potential benefits of Tai Chi Practice and in worse case scenario someone may give inappropriate guidance. Would you have your car fixed by an od job man who took a weekend course of basic car mechanics!
d) the studies done on Tai Chi in control groups were of a low duration 6 or 12 weeks. This is not long enough
e) Three elements are necessary for the correct teaching of Tai Chi Chuan for Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia., they are Mindfuulness-Correct Nutritional Support-Intelligent functional movement.
f) any approach to treating Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. must be multi-dimensional and address degeneration due to lifestyle and nutrition as well as locomotion.
g) Studies to discover the effectiveness of Tai Chi must be of a longer and more consistent duration. Self practice must be encouraged and the teaching of integrated learning that relates to the everyday use of the body must be addressed. ( sitting, standing, walking, etc )
f) people who have any chronic condition like Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia , need to explore experientially what increases their pain compared to pain that arises from the body opening up and releasing.
g) know what is an exercise induced healing crisis and be able to help someone through this.
It was very interesting to be at a conference that in he main is sponsored by the drug industry which is primarily involved in the suppression of symptoms and not in finding the cause of Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. The development of a self healing strategy for the public is a faint and distant voice compared to the multi-billion Euro pharmaceutical juggernaut. This is a strange idea to me, however the inclusion of Tai Chi must be seen in a positive light. During my years of teaching I have witnessed people become pain free and capable of self healing from arthritic conditions. People have achieved this using Qi Gong and Tai Chi methodologies. I have also managed the healing crisis that inevitably arise when dealing in particular with chronic cases, so for me it is a no brainer that good quality Tai Chi is a wonderful intervention in the treatment of Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia

I salute people who are brave enough to attempt to make investigations in natural therapy/ treatments against the he rising tide of drug therapy.

2011-06-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

I recently spent a morning at the Congress of Rheumatology at the London Excel Centre. I was invited to talk at the congress alongside two illustrious Phd's Till Uhlig PHd and Karin Niedermann PHd, who were reporting on the evidence supporting the view that Tai Chi is good for Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia.

Session Title: Joint Workshop: Is Tai Chi good for me?
Date/Time: Saturday 28.05.2011 08:45-10:15
Room: Room S25

Chair 1, Niedermann Karin
Chair 2, Kent Alison
Lecture 1, 20 min: Uhlig Till: When should we advise people to do Tai Chi?
Lecture 2, 20 min: Niedermann Karin: What is the evidence for Tai Chi for people with rheumatic diseases?
Lecture 3, 30 min: Chappell Chris: How I experience and perform Tai Chi

I was very pleases to have the opportunity to present Tai Chi Chuan alongside distinguished Representatives of the health community who are doing research into natural forms of intervention for the treatment of Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia.. I was surprised at the limited scope of the scientific studies and equally surprised at the small size of the audience.

For my part I could offer observations based on my personal experience gained from the 27 plus years of Tai Chi Practice and professional teaching.( Teaching which involves helping people who have exhausted conventional means of treatment) I discussed the some specific case histories pertaining to my own clients suffering with chronic conditions. My recommendation was, that although Tai Chi can be adapted to groups of people with Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia, it must be understood that severe cases more often need one to one attention. It is not a problem if people only receive verbal instruction in class, but the efficacy of the Tai Chi session will be very slow and highly variable due to the quality of information, teacher ability, duration of study, etc.

For example I gave a 10 minute practical session to the attendees of the talk, which was, frankly, cosmetic and of no practical value. ( There is no way that anyone can get a feel for Tai Chi as therapeutic tool from an adhoc few minutes, specially when taken in the context of the thrust of the conference, the treatment of Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. I would need at least a few hours to lay down some sound experiential ( get everyone to feel ) bio mechanical principles and to elicit some structural guidelines, followed by some simple experiential, hands on transmission.

There were a few misconceptions arising from the scientific studies, the science for ( or against ) the referral of Tai Chi to patients. As always in scientific matters results varied and so that one conclusion drawn was that Tai Chi made no difference to pain in fibromyalgia but was ok for increasing range of motion in Osteo Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. So let me try here to reframe what Tai Chi is not. Tai Chi Chuan ( or a first class Qi Gong ) is not a tablet, it does not suppress symptoms or block the natural immune response and therefore it initially and periodically can illicit what is called a healing crisis. These events will effect the results when questioning study groups. This is a natural process of change and can be uncomfortable, but the pain will clear with proper guidance. In is incredibly important that the scientific studies that Tai Chi is not viewed as some magical gesture, or pill equivalent, but rather a process of change, a letting go.

"Tai Chi is not a tablet or a magic gesture"

Anyone teaching Tai Chi for Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia must be:

a) experienced with basic structural anatomy and how to transmit the information within the context of teaching Tai Chi Chuan.
b) be aware that there is not a one shoe fits all practice of Tai Chi Chuan for chronic conditions and be capable of modifying the tai chi form and know how to read the patients body structure.
c) be able to modify movements that stabilize group learning which are inclusive of the lowest common denominator of the presenting group.
c) results will be greater when a control group works with a high level teacher rather than people who have only learned from a teacher who learned to teach on a weekend of Tai Chi Chuan teacher training. ( that is physiotherapists taking a weekend CPD ( I am strictly against the teaching of Tai Chi Chuan by people who do not have a personal practice and gain certification to teach others after one weekend training). My reasoning for this is that low level skill will disseminate low level practice and in the long term undermine the real potential benefits of Tai Chi Practice and in worse case scenario someone may give inappropriate guidance. Would you have your car fixed by an od job man who took a weekend course of basic car mechanics!
d) the studies done on Tai Chi in control groups were of a low duration 6 or 12 weeks. This is not long enough
e) Three elements are necessary for the correct teaching of Tai Chi Chuan for Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia., they are Mindfuulness-Correct Nutritional Support-Intelligent functional movement.
f) any approach to treating Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. must be multi-dimensional and address degeneration due to lifestyle and nutrition as well as locomotion.
g) Studies to discover the effectiveness of Tai
f) people who have any chronic condition like Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgiaexperientially what increases their pain compared to pain that arises from the body opening up and releasing.
g) know what is an exercise induced healing crisis and be able to help someone through this.

It was very interesting to be at a conference that in he main is sponsored by the drug industry which is primarily involved in the suppression of symptoms and not in finding the cause of Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. The development of a self healing strategy for the public is a faint and distant voice compared to the multi-billion Euro pharmaceutical juggernaut. This is a strange idea to me, however the inclusion of Tai Chi must be seen in a positive light. During my years of teaching I have witnessed people become pain free and capable of self healing from arthritic conditions. People have achieved this using Qi Gong and Tai Chi methodologies. I have also managed the healing crisis that inevitably arise when dealing in particular with chronic cases, so for me it is a no brainer that good quality Tai Chi is a wonderful intervention in the treatment of Osteo-Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia

I salute the brave PHd's who are making strides against the rising tide of drug therapy.

keep moving Crc copyright June 2011

2011-05-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

Take control of your vascular health now. Proargi9-plus in UK

Generally in Western society people are dying through a lack of adequate nutrition and through a lack of alternative information and approaches in treating disease conditions. At best many are simply resigned to the the fact t that they are victims of some invading disease. However let ‘s be clear, the cause of cardio -vascular disease stems from poor eating habits which have been sustained over a long period of time. The Proargi9-plus supplement from Synergy is s state of the art product that is helping countless people overcome many health issues. However the only way you are going to hear about Proargi9-plus, is if you meet or know someone who is on it. I personally came to take Proargi9-plus as part of a peak performance programme that I undertook under the guidance of a Naturopath who has a track record of reversing heart and lung disease amongst many other ailments. In this blog I intend to write about the experiences of the people who I am personally working with and who take ProArgi9-plus to promote vascular health. I am also going to publish my heart sonar results as part of this process. I have many clients who are now road testing Proargi9-plus as part of their health regime. One client Hakan started on Proargi9-plus one month ago and has lost one stone in weight, his blood pressure has lowered and he is feeling on top of the world. So in one month on Proargi9-plus he has made a significant changes. There is a vast amount of misinformation regarding the potential for reversing heart disease. I recently watched a highly emotive TV adverts claiming that the heart foundation needed money to find out why angel fish can heal their hearts and humans cannot!! . This TV advertisement infuriated me as I personally know of someone who revered heart and lung disease through nutritional change and organically sourced supplements, fasting etc. That a heart organisation can put out such misinformation on national television conditions people to the hopelessness when faced with the realisation that they have such a illness. we are not only a product of what we eat but a product of what we believe to be true. Advertising kills people. Little research is done into the causes of heart disease. Why ? well it is simple, looking for a drug treatment to manage symptoms is much more lucrative then telling folk to watch what they eat and to embark on a nutritional change to reverse the condition. The natural ingredients in Proargi9-plus can be used as part of a natural method to treat vascular disease, high blood pressure etc. along with some intelligent exercise and dietary change and you have a formula for success. I would advise people to be careful about food combining when on Proargi9-plus and to at least cut down on wheat, dairy and sugar. This is simply to give your body a rest from the narcotic effect from eating processed food and to help your experience of taking Proargi9-plus. The effect of Proari9-plus can be greatly enhanced by following some simple dietary measures. I will be offering suggestions as to how you can do this in future posts.

2011-02-23T05:05:00.000-08:00

The Internal martial Art of Ba Gua Zhang (8 Trigram Palm) is such a wonderful art if one can remain relaxed whilst twisting oneself into
a pretzel !. I thought the boys and girls handled the two man set of Liu Jing Ru very well at Sunday' s monthly study group. this two man set teaches rapid change and self defense applications of the system.

Joking aside Ba Gua Zhang is clearly by far the most difficult of the Internal Arts to master. (mainly because walking in a straight line is hard enough and Ba Gua continuously walks a circle ! ) However, the obstacles of internal held body tension are not insurmountable. Ba Gua Zhang involves large amounts of twisting and wrapping of connective tissue whilst walking the circle. The twisting movements have to be done with a keen observation of sound body mechanics, so as not to create more tension. This can only really be achieved with the assistance of of teacher of some experience. Ba Gua really is not the art one wants to imitate from video or book format.

Ba Gua Zhang practice has an incredible benefit. It is a fantastic substitute for jogging or running which damages joints. It can be done in a relatively small space and needs no special equipment or electricty to power it. The practice super charges the nerves in a stimulating yet relaxed way. When I first started Ba Gua in 1998 I used the art specifcally to wake up my energy, and I can tell you the brake stepping of Ba Gua does this incredibly well.

If you want to read more about Ba Gua Zhang, check out the book,'The whirling circles of Ba Gua Zhang" by my mentor and good friend Master Frank Allen http://www.baguanyc.com/frankallen.htm

Here are some stills from the London Cheng Ba Gua study group February 2011. Feel free to contact us if you fancy joining an introductory session of Ba Gua Zhang. realtaoism@gmail.com
Crc feb 2011.

2011-01-31T07:57:00.000-08:00

Respiratory function is influenced by everything we do. What we eat, drink, how we sit, stand and how we ultimately express ourselves in movement impacts us. Psychological factors must not be overlooked in respiratory function ( i.e the neurotic aspects of thought that are unconscious to us, which produce unconscious patterns that reflect in our habitual body alignments and thus our capability to breathe freely)

Breathing is an unconscious process that we can consciously influence at will, but it is well to remember that all thoughts, especially unconsciously held beliefs dramatically influence the breathing process. Various breathing methods have been employed in the east and the west with the aim to either purify the body and the mind, in modern times the main reason in or for narcissistic purposes.

Breathing has two major attributes that produce two different outcomes. One fires us up to act and the other calms us down. We must not be locked into one pole or the other but smoothly glide from one reality to the other.

The para-sympathetic nervous system, slows down respiration to produce what is medically termed tidal breathing. Allowing your body tissues and systemic functions of the body to rest and recuperate and restore, leading to homeostasis. ( This can be achieved in active life through intelligent movement practice, meditation, mind-fullness and breathing exercises )

The sympathetic nervous system deals with firing you up to get things done, increasing the heart rate and is most famous for it's role in the fight or flight response. Think of the para-sympathic as the brake and the sympathetic as the accelerator.

If we drive a car aggressively the engine will lose performance. Humans systems although having an innate ability to recover and adapt to stresses do not fare well when they are stuck in the fight or flight end of the spectrum, with the proverbial foot rammed down on the pedal most of the time. The plain message is to balance life with exercise and seek rest that stimulates the nervous system to self- regulate. People in sedentary jobs become numb to their bodies often having no method to increase awareness.

Running and breathing. Running is an over rated form of exercise that dries the tissues out, weakens joints and makes bones brittle. The cumulative effect of the pounding and compression produce a negative medium to long term outcome whereby the athlete needs to run to get the heart and circulation going because at rest the circulation becomes inefficient due to internal scarification. A good question to ask if you want to take up running (or any activity ) is this, "is my body fit for the purpose of the activity I want to take up". You would not dream of climbing a mountain without preparation, would you? So why would you take up pounding the pavements if your body is not fit to take the pounding. It's a mute point for me as there are alternatives to running. "If you must run do it on grass". People who run habitually have lousy joints and weak lungs and poor flexibility. Our ancestors did not chase down game on the hard shoulder of the motorway, they ran like the clappers over the grass, or ambushed prey in forests and if the were on rock the walked. Short intense bursts of activity followed by rest. Habitual running damages your capacity to breathe deeply and gives you less of a body to actually breathe into. Habitual running is not not healthy and damages you body.

One aspect of Tai Chi Chuan which is not researched well is how the system when taught to the highest level eventually can bring about an ability to make all the tissue of the ribs, and rib attachments elastic. It is the opinion of the author that deep diaphragmatic breathing can only take place when the whole of the thorax and the deep myofascia becomes elastic and complementary to the action of the diaphragm.

Only a method of omni- directional often subtle stretching can accomplish this outcome. Through often subtle internal movement one can achieve a level of breath control that produces an enhancement of the breathing process during increased physical activity. The less tension you produce during your chosen movement, sport then the more efficient will be your breathing.

There is more to cardio - vascular fitness than increasing your heart rate. increased tension decreases breathing efficiency. For example, I would argue that running up hills does not make for a better Judo player. In fact regular running is completely unnecessary for a Judo player. I believe that the over emphasis in the training of the cardio vascular system plus an emphasis on upper body strength weakens the national squad and is a major factor in a lack of medalling internationally for the UK, such weakness implies and over dependncy on brute force leading to even more tension = poor respiratory strength and an developmental undermining of actual Judo skill.

There is a potential to develop deep rhythmical and diaphragmatic breathing which is integrated with greater degrees of physical exertion, thus producing a type of energy saving, this means that one can literally conserve energy and maintain power longer, by creating an oxygen rich environment in the blood and by the use of deeper degrees of body control. The aware use of functional exercise with optimum alignment can create greater oxygen storage even under increased physical demand!.

Two ways to address breathing problems is to deal either separately or together with physical restriction within the various layers of the human form, commencing from the investing layers of fascia all the way down to the periosteum of the bone. ( the so called bone breathing in Taoist body work ) is literally a function of a deep experience of the bone matrix and being able to move in truly balanced way that stimulates the fascia that penetrates the bone which in turn stimulates the osteo-blasts in the bone, advanced and regular practice of authentic Tai Chi - Nei Gong can lead to some restructuring of deep connective tissue and the unwinding of fascia investing to the bone which has been formed through poor posture and misuse. This leads to extremely strong bones even into old age. A lot of the twisting in Ta Chi etc. increases bone density. It was reputed that the late Grandmaster Yang Chen Fu's arms were 10 times heavier than that of a normal person. Scientists would do well to research the body of a living advanced level Tai Chi master !

At this time I think that the middle ground of intelligent exercise is the base from which a person can take control of his/ her internal rhythm and experience. The use of external modalities of intervention are a great starting point in the quest of personal liberation from negative physiological habits and physiological habituation, but the main message to anyone who wants to embark on a rehabilitation is to take full responsibility and to unlearn the unconscious habits laid down through years of neglect. So get out and try something that challenges your body perception.

In severe cases of restriction it may preferable to start with breathing exercises that give you an experiential understanding of slow diaphragmatic breathing. Then one can sit in a chair, then stand then walk and finally fully engage in exercise whilst maintaining deep breathing.

You cannot separate the act of breathing from the physical reality. You must use a gradual moving strategy if you have a body that is wracked with pain and restriction, if you have pain, lack of mobility and restriction then it is usual to have a large dose of unawareness operating to blind you to internal restriction. We become quickly habituated to such restriction.

I do not advocate the holding of extreme postures, headstands and shoulder stands which may produce more injury than health. If you choose this approach to exercise then listen very carefully to your body. I have met with people who ignored clear warning signs and literally ruptured spinal tissue.

Facts about breathing.

Physical tension does effect your ability to breathe

We lose 27% of of breathing capacity for every decade on living !!

No part of us is missing in the act of breathing. The whole body is employed in the free body concept.

One can get as precise as one likes and one can focus on breathing alone at times, but the reality is that even restriction of feet, ankle and toes will have the effect of throwing out the whole body above and also impact to greater or lesser degrees on respiratory function. It is impossible to breathe body into realigning itself by accident. One has to move and realign through repetition. You must have a multi-dimensional approach through movement and correct breathing. You can not take one part of the human organism and separate it from any other part.

A note on chest breathing, any method that encourages a person to breathe into and or raise the sternum either upwards or outwards must be avoided at all costs. Breathing like this will produce compression of the whole of the thoracic spine. This will have no benefit whatsoever on breathing capacity, and can lead to complications. Chest breathing weakens the lungs.

Therefore as a whole body method of self cultivation one must not bind oneself to a particular holding pattern or by maintaining of contraction. ( sucking in the lower abdomen as in the case of Pilates is a method of image creation not health producing and leads to unhealthy breathing patterns that disturb the mind) Structure can be strengthened through the aware use of exercise that creates length and tone ( bio-tensegrity), tensegrity is a contraction of the words tension and integrity. Holding in the lower abdomen in tension is incorrect and harmful for health.

And in summing up on breathing, the best way to approach dysfunctional breathing or a dysfunctional form-body is through a syntony of movement and breathing. Truly Intelligent systems of body control increase breathing through the use of natural movement and intention without re-course to specialized breathing gymnastics. Some less intelligent methods can increase dysfunction. If it feels wrong for you then its likely that it is wrong.

A call to all Yoga and Tai Chi teachers ( to the potentially over stretched,over compressed or flacid) go deep into the fascial anatomy of your art and realise that there was a reason that one to one training with a master was essential. Keep learning and questioning. Living body arts are not a one shoe fits all strategy. We need to be aware of the collective hype of our art forms. Stand well, breathe well, think and move well. Good luck.

P1000417

2010-08-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

BG2.MOV

2010-08-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

2010-07-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

Post Operative Rehabilitation using Qi Gong as method of Structural Integration when the medical profession has given up.

Trevor Marshall was introduced to the studio approx 15 months ago through recommendation. I guess it was the end of the line as Trevor as he could not stand on his own without the aid of a walking stick which he rested very heavily upon and appeared to be trapped in a body that was spiraling out of control. He initially exhibited strong anxiety, breathlessness and a constant rocking from side to side.

Trevor asked if what I taught could help him walk again as it had been 5 years since he had his operation and had never recovered the ability to stand or walk properly. I stated that although I had quite smart techniques at my disposal that could mitigate the strong distortions he experienced but that in my opinion it would take some time, there were no guarantees and the outcome was somewhat based on our collaboration and his willingness to practice the Qi Gong tasks set for him. Trevor agreed to have a go and was prepared for the long haul.

Here Trevor describes how he got his injury

In 2005, I had a knock to the back of my head whilst in the process of sitting down in an office lobby chair. The knock caused an already weak disc (C4/5) due to to a Road Traffic Accident some 13 years earlier, to prolapse through the spinal cord.

Within a few months of the accident, I began to lose the full movement of my right leg and was in a lot of pain. I used the services of a sports therapist and a chiropractor, which made matters worse.

By the end of eight months I was told that I had to have an anterior cervical discectomy. My surgeon informed me that I may not get the full movement of my right leg again, as the operation would merely prevent further deterioration.

Two years after the operation I was still using two crutches. By the time I was introduced to Chis, in April 2009, I was using one crutch.

I remember the first few classes with Chris; I was unable to fully stand for more than a few seconds.

Fifteen months on, and I am hardly reliant on just one walking stick. I realise that I am not yet "out of the woods", but I feel that I have come a long way, and that the path to recovery is clearly ahead of me, even on the bad days when I have some setbacks.

I now walk straighter, and with Chris's help, hope to reverse a lifetime of bad habits, and in time, make not only a full recovery, but will feel better than I did years ago.

Trevor Marshall

I am going to list some of the symptoms that Trevor presented which included, headaches, spontaneous shooting pains and spasms in peripheral locations, hands, forearms , feet, and sometimes shoulders, dizziness, breathlessness, bladder problem.

It was some months before could get Trevor to stand on his own long enough to get a visual reading of his structure. However initially our main priority was for him to be able to be able to stand unaided. This we achieved by session 4. In session 1 I had Trevor sit in a chair and perform a repetitive, slow movements to initiate stretching of upper body as a whole without the necessity to address leg relationship, then Trevor would stand with me literally holding him in an upright posture, for sometimes up to 5-10 minutes whilst I manipulated manually his physical alignments, this done in between bouts of nausea and dizziness that was extremely challenging and painful for him, however I had the chance to lay down some signals to his nervous system and the connective tissues and things started to move. Trevor had extremely strong compensations and had laid down much thickening of tissue on the left side of his body in an unconscious attempt to hold himself upright, that amount of tension drains the whole energy of the person due to the the great amounts of bound up energy. When we got releases they were usually spectacular. Literally falling asleep whilst standing was one of them, violent and percussive involuntary movements through the diaphragm, pelvis and right hip was another.

After about 3-4 months in Trevor seemed convinced that he had nerve damage ( Trevor's mood swings at this time were completely understandable when physical and energetic impairment leave no energy reserves to deal with emotional events) . The medical consultants he would see simply had no other explanation for why Trevor could not get better in function other than to simply label the lack of progress from his operation as nerve damage. Although Trevor was functionally limited I personally felt through touch and sensing Trevor any lack in his body other than the need to re-educate his nervous system and unwind the chronic tension. Trevor had some tests and no nerve damage was found plus a bladder issue that was diagnosed as nerve damage cleared through Qi Gong practice also. As time went on Trevor would begin to walk well and then at times relapse into a twisted internal dynamic of the right hip which was always in tandem with a twisting in pelvic tissue and diaphragmatic tension. All these events weer accompanied by our working through the post operative trauma that was evident in Trevor. It makes me wonder how many people end up in wheelchairs because they did not release the trauma of the surgery they had.

It is important to recognize that relapsing over and over again in chronic cases is a natural process ( often called a healing crisis in the trade), as the unravelling of layer after layer of imbalance unfolds. Staying on task and never losing sight of the fact that the body is an incredibly intelligent self regulating organism and that the daily re integration and dissolving of tension allows for this Qi Gong and standing alignment process to bring results.

The Chronic tension patterns in Trevor's case had built up over many years and it is arguable from his past history that he had some structural imbalance to his pelvis before his knock on the head and subsequent traction to the neck via a chiropractor and the surgery.

If I describe session one it may give you an idea of the huge obstacle we both faced. I also should mention that I have two sets of stairs that alight to my studio in Brick Lane and that it took Trevor about 10 minutes to negotiate, this when I first encountered him, he did it by hauling himself up mainly with the use of his arms. To go down was not possible in a forward manner and so had to be negotiated by going backwards. Trevor had to sit on a chair to start out with Qi Gong and as described previously I held Trevor up for the initial structural training.

It is interesting to note that working with Trevor has been a pleasure and the training we have done has been constantly shifting symphony of symptoms, ever changing and sometimes predictable, for example many times in the first few months of practice Trevor would release some back and pelvic tension and with a slight adjustment he would suddenly get pains manifesting in the feet, thumb, wrist, over the skull very often. Any one familiar with the concept of trigger points or myo - fascial continuities will realise that what Trevor was going through was a remote release of tension being referred instantaneously to another part of his anatomy. Trevor often asks, "what's going on, why is that happening" . I always give the same reply, "everything is connected to everything and the most seemingly distal point from an adjustment or a release can radiate to many other places in ones anatomy".

Anyway Trevor has a little more work to do, but he walks well unaided and can stand well and the stairs at the studio take him 20 secs to descend now and he has got the go ahead to drive again ! excellent !!!

2007-07-02T05:28:00.001-07:00

June Retreat 07

With global warming causing floods and much rain Northern Europe it was a great to be able to stay outside in the sun and practice the Hun Yuan set on our French retreat. There were 10 people taking part on the retreat. As usual we flew in our regular retreat chef Josep. Below is an excerpt from the Hun Yuan set. crc

Hun Yuan 6-Heaven and Earth Open and Close

2007-03-20T20:58:00.000-07:00

Master Ma Bao Guo
left: a young Ma in his army days practicing

Master Ma is a disciplined man dedicated to his practice of the Taoist Internal Arts. He lives in Zhangzhou with his wife in a modest government owned apartment block. This block is a stark contrast to the multitude of private apartment blocks that are springing up all around China.

Master Ma talks straight and I think he understands Westerners quite well, in his four and a half years of living in Newcastle he talks fondly of his English inner door students, basically his private students. In China mostly people would not try out the master quite as much as the North of England boys did, who it seems insisted on try to down the master if they could on what seems a regular basis. He beams as he explained how he took this as a little rudeness or brashness at first. In China you generally give face to masters and not take advantage. Master Ma came to realise that these Northern barbarians simply wanted to know if his art worked and of course they found out!

In his turn Master Ma it seems has come to appreciate the North of England's lack of necessity to give face to someone simply because of their position in life. My Aunt Lily, from County Durham , would definitely impress upon him her ability to disregard face with horrifying swiftness.

And so Master Ma does pursues his Gong Fu practice daily and diligently. Master Ma is rich in knowledge and experience, his wealth comes from his ability to feel life and to constantly invest in developing his health and martial skills, and in never holding back one iota of information that can help others in their practice.

I could only dream that men like Master Ma existed when I was a young boy growing up in Durham and thankfully such men of creative skill and genius do exist! Boy, those Northern barbarians were so fortunate that this guy dropped in!

2007-03-19T03:43:00.000-07:00

Master Ma's teacher Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan Grandmaster Wang Chang Hai 1940-

One of Master Ma Bao Guo's main teachers is 67 year old Grandmaster Wang Chang Hai, he is well known in China but in the West. He is an 11th generation successor of Chen Tai Chi and 2nd generation successor of Hun Yuan Tai Chi. The Hun Yuan Tai Chi that Grandmaster Wang teaches is the modern Chen style of Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang.

Grandmaster Wang studied in 1965 with Chen Style master Zhang Fu Ju, Zhang had Chen Fa Ke's son Chen Zhao Kui living with him. Wang then began training with Chen Zhao Kui in 1974 until Chen's death. He then went on to study 10 years from 1982 with the now world famous feng Zhiqiang.

Both myself and Jan were taken to GM Wang's house in Zhangzhou where we were warmly welcomed by him and his wife. GM Wang the took us to the park to let us in on the basic Chen training exercise of developing the Peng, Ji, Lu and An energies of Chen Tai Chi Chuan.

Wang is a very humble and calm man and according to Master Ma has the best push hands skills out there as well as fine locking skills. Grandmaster Wang was a classmate of Chen Xiao Wang. He has taught approximately 1000 students over the years and has 20 indoor students.

An indoor student is one who gets the full package of teachings including combat secrets. Whereas the general public in the main train only for the health and some martial benefit.

left, Feng Zhiqiang far left, master Wang centre sitting with Chen Xiao Wang resting his hands on his shoulders and below is master Wang far left with Chen Zhao Kui sitting two places to his left front row.

2007-03-17T03:17:00.000-07:00

Master Ma's Hun Yuan 21

There are many people in the areas of Art, Music, Dance, Writing, Martial Arts, and Sports of all kinds who are great copiers, skillful people who can create and perpetuate great forgeries for the public and the connoisseur. To simply re-enact and blindly follow and never question the validity of what you practice is quite simply a waste of time. In the so called internal arts world many teachers including some so called masters, (even famous masters ) live in a self deluded state. You may have a teacher who is great a push hands but lousy at combat, or the opposite may be true, you may have a teacher who is good at combat but lousy at push hands. Besides the above two categories one must add the third category, this is the teacher who can neither use the training for developing sensitivity or Qi development nor in application for self defence.

These arm waving sycophants are legion and the situation is set to get worse with the inclusion of Chinese Wu Shu and by association Tai Chi as a sub category of Wu shu into the Olympics at the upcoming 2008 Beijing games.

Never, ever mistake mass marketed qi gong or internal arts practice as the real mcCoy. These arts were never about organisations, certificates, rhetoric, relentless theory, competition, in the main they are about money, the ego and acquisition. Never, ever mistake hundreds of silk clad, 'corp de ballet' as having anything remotely to do with the Taoist influenced art of Tai Chi Chuan. The real McCoy was never as easy . You can never buy these arts. You can never copy. You need a living master and his or her willingness to let you in.

Master Ma Bao Guo is an interesting man. He has not written books or made videos and become famous. I personally think he should be more well known than he presently is. Why? Well, he can clearly demonstrate that his art works either as combat or push hands or health. He will gladly let you have a go, if you really want to take a pop at him he is happy to comply. One better he will laugh hysterically if you really go for it, he is confident in the efficacy of his art and his gong fu.

In China many masters only show what is termed a demonstration of their art. We are then left to assume that they have a rocket fueled Atlantean version hiding under the bonnet waiting for a flick of the booster button for them to unleash it. Well, Ma can unleash and its truly like witnessing a force of nature. It reminds me a little bit of witnessing BK Frantzis back in his heyday and before his decline, this was in 1988 in his father in laws back garden in North London, I was literally blown, hurricane like into a fence only to find that Frantzis towering over me as if pausing before the final kill.

To use a quote from a much later BK Frantzis public event, he leaned over and whispered into my ear at one London seminar , 'lets not frighten the bunnies'. Bunnies I assumed meant the punters. There you have it again public and private. Don't cut loose to much in case the punters head for he hills, and understandably so, if I had over 100 people in a room paying £110 then I would not want to scare them off either.

You have to feel what these types have under the bonnet to appreciate their art, the pretty smooth arm waving stuff disguises their gong fu.

Master Ma is a modern creative artist of classical gong fu. His area of expertise is in the internal arts of Hsing-I, Tai Chi Chuan, Ba Gua Zhang with a smattering of useful Shaolin techniques, this has then been road tested and measured alongside the internal body, energy mechanics of Ermei and Wudang qi gong. His Hun Yuan forms are numerous and his Hun Yuan 21 is one of them. Zajian Cr.

2007-03-15T04:30:00.000-07:00

The Shaolin Temple

On a smoggy morning after practicing early with Master Ma, we consumed a swift lovely breakfast cooked by Mrs ma and headed for the bus station. Master Ma felt a trip to Shaolin temple would be welcome considering its only about 100km from Zhengzhou and we needed the break.

The Shaolin Monastery was destroyed and has now been somewhat restored. The region for many miles are firmly entrenched in the marketing phonemena which is Shaolin , for make no mistake the art practiced and perpetuated now is for performance only and bears the faintest of resemblance to the the original combat warrior monk Shaolin system.

Many Shaolin Wu Shu academies exist in this area. Little kids going through their gymnastics on any spare piece of ground.

Would Damo the founder of the Shaolin tradition approve of these holiday camps for Jet Li wannabes? Not sure on that score. A heady mixture of theme park and Butlin's. Still it is good exercise for the kiddies and prepares them possibly for a future in the military.

About 500 or so extras perform western style kickboxing exercises?

The Arhat hotline

Graveyard of the former abbots of the Shaolin temple

2007-03-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

Two Qi Gong explorers gate crash the lobby of the Crown Plaza 5 star Hotel

A familiar sight in the reception of the Crown Plaza in downtown Zhengzhou are two white devils reclining on palatial chairs befitting a Hollywood sequel to Dallas.

Jan Golden aka Jin Yang and Chris Ray Chappell aka. Ke Rui Hua hijack local wireless networks to report on their Qi Gong findings for the benefit of mankind. Reporting from Henan provinces major city is not so easy. Even if the internet at our own hotel worked for apple laptops it would be almost impossible to get any work done due to constant phone calls from the hotel ladies touting for work. Its not that they keep calling our room but you can hear every phone on the 5th floor kicking off every few minutes like a deck of cards falling.

I had never heard of Zhengzhou city until we arrived and to be frank its really not worth hearing about. A soul less mass of cranes, concrete and shit coffee. The average downtown Zhangzhou person eyeballed us with such contempt that my kidneys sung silent prayers.

Anyway back to our humble but perfectly comfy hotel uptown, zaijian C

2007-03-11T05:44:00.000-07:00

Master Ma Bao Guo and his Hun Yuan 21 form

Master Ma is not a man to be evasive with his ideas, he admonishes teachers who propagate empty forms that have no function martially. So therefore it is no surprise that upon witnessing his Hun Yuan 21 form you are witnessing a combat oriented ( and health ) form from the start. he also emphasises that at higher levels you can transcend the form to be able to deal with whatever comes at you whether it be a punch, kick, push, throw, lock from any angle.

His Hun Yuan art is a merging of the forces-energies that are the trademark of all the 3 internal art systems of Tai Chi Chuan - Hsing-I Chuan and Ba Gua Zhang. He has developed the form over many many years of investigation and practice. He credits all his teachers but the highly eccentric Guo Sheng Hai seems to have been pivotal to he young Ma. Guo was the best all round combat exponent that Ma encountered in the research. Gou was educated at a Buddhist monastery from the age of four. Guo was a Buddhist and Taoist (not uncommon in China) qi gong exponent of both Emei and Wudang Qi Gong and martial arts. Gou taught few people his secrets, but taught Ma specifically because he was instrumental in saving the old mans life around the time of 1987-88.

The above is the only photo that Master Ma has of the young Guo Shang Hai taken from a small pamphlet on martial arts.

Ma lets me feel an application of his Hun Yuan 21, this was not set up for the camera my shoulder was close to dislocation.

Crc

2007-03-11T05:21:00.001-07:00

Master Ma demonstrating Hun Yuan Qi Gong 1.

Here are a few photos of Master Ma demonstrating the first hun yuan qi gong

2007-03-06T04:23:00.000-08:00

Brief descriptions for students of the hun yuan qi gong

Hun Yuan Qi Gong

Clearing the Qi internally to the lower Dan Tien

This movement develops the first in a series of counter forces inside the body which facilitate qi flow. By this I mean the creation of opposing movements which are performed in two directions simultaneously. The primary direction in this movement is on the vertical plane. The hips and pelvis ( bum ) descend as the arms rise above the head, equally as the arms descend to the lower dantien the hip lowering reverses, although not dramatically, that means to say that you do not bend and straighten fro the knees, the movement is solely performed by the sitting motion.

Perform the movement 9 times followed by 3 more repetitions adding the palming to the lower dantien.

Finish the set with the 3 circle closing, that is 3 circles clockwise then 3 circles anti clockwise for men. The reverse is true for women, women start anti-clockwise small to big and clockwise big to small circle to finish. Remember to perform the circles palm facing you , small, medium then big circles and then reversing form big, medium then to small.

Master Ma comments

Master Ma advises students to relax and to sink into their posture but not too much, also to make sure that you do not visualise sinking but develop a feeling for sinking. It is a mistake to visualise as this can lead your practice in the wrong direction. Keep balance and slowly work on breathing as this will help with the feeling of circulation of qi, this circulation is initially from the Hui Yin point at the perineum up to the ming men at the lower back and to the lower dantien and back to hui yin, making a loop. The breathing referred to here is the reverse breathing taught with this set.

my comment: note that many schools of qi gong and internal arts, emphasise visualisation in qi gong practice. It has been a consistent comment of many masters I know that instead of being of benefit it is actually a hindrance to practice. Instead of becoming more grounded in the body in your qi fact gets stuck in the head.

Crc

2007-03-06T03:12:00.000-08:00

Zhengzhou- Master Ma and his teachers.

Zhengzhou, a city once obliterated by the Japanese rises like the proverbial Pheonix, whilst being the capital city of Henan province it is home to master Ma Bao Guo and his wife. Master Ma is a relativlely unknown quantity in the martial arts world, having never taken students prior to his 4 year sabbatical in Newcastle UK , he is neither well known nor famous.

As he is fond of saying there are many famous masters teaching in the West and even in China who do not show their true skill to their students, keeping the higher level teachings for a chosen few and there are many others who are merely armchair masters, a quaint term he often uses for famous masters who cannot use their art as a fighting system. He also believes that both of these factors are reasons why some of the internal arts have degenerated martially.

Master Ma is highly regarded by the his Chen Tai Chi teacher master Wang Zhang Hai and his Hsing-I teacher Grandmaster, Shang Ji. In fact Master Ma is presently re-writing one of Shang Ji's Hsing-I books. Master Ma recently showed his own combat modifications to grandmaster Shang Ji and Shang Ji commented how they were the same methods used by some of the premier practitioners and fighters of earlier generations.

Master Ma clearly is not a blind follower of tradition but a real pragmatist with eyes wide open and a hunger for the reality of his chosen art, an artist in the true sense of the word.

Internet access is impossible where we are staying and so the blog may well be severely effected, apologies to anyone visiting the blog for more info. When I find internet that is not a dial up den full of gamers and kids ogling porn I will galdly start to go through the Hunyuan Qi Gong and publish any interview info and pics.

2007-02-27T04:49:00.000-08:00

China Research Trip march 07

On the 2nd March 2007 I will be visiting Master Ma Bao Guo who lives in Zhengzhou, Henan Province in China. I will be reporting regularly on the visit which will hopefully include an interview with Master Ma and his 87 year old Chen Style Tai Chi master, Master Wang Chang Hai.

As practitioners at the studio know, we are working very much with Master Ma's Hun Yuan Qi Gong. I am very pleased to have this Qi Gong as a base practice for members.

I will be working through the 12 Hun Yuan during the trip and describing the function and benefits of each movement for the members. Crc

Master Ma demonstrating Hun yuan 4- Rub ball

2005-11-22T09:21:00.000-08:00

October Dragon & Tiger helps Michele to give up smoking!!

Well for some of retreat is a great time to get some practice in and for others an great opprtunity to detox from negative habits. I am happy to say that Michele who came on retreat with us in October is off tobacco since returning from retreat in October 05, she says it is the first time that her attempts have worked for her as usually she is back on the cigarettes the next day. Well done!

2005-10-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

Lower standing postures

Lower Standing postures are used for:

a) ....Opening up energetically the base of what is called the right and left thrusting channels, and for opening The kwa which includes the whole of the kwa both front and back. ( A kwa is a place in the body where you have folds and articulations around joints). You have a few kwas in the body, the major and most significant and the most difficult to open up is the hip kwa. Also good for purging stagnate Chi in the leg channels.

b)....... this posture can develop leg strength or contrary to that, could make you tight and pretty pissed off if you get it wrong is a warning that comes with the posture, and a responsibility for showing it. If you do not know what you are doing with this kind of posture you can distort the back and cause yourself back hip and knee problems. Be careful if you are shown these or see them in books etc. Even top level tai chi people have screwed their bodies up by ignoring certain common sense principles by pursuing a forcing strategy in their endeavors to develop strength and power. It does take significant time to adopt new body memory.

c).......Creating an internal stretching in and around the insertion points of the hip pelvis, and importantly where the ilio-psoas group of muscles attach from vertebrae in lower to mid back down to the head of the femur in the legs. It actually is more physiologically complex than that but lets not get carried away.

Internal arts training for the young, here I am helping with the alignment process, if all goes well there are significant releases that can be felt in the abdominal and pelvic diaphragms

Do not try this at home

Happy standing, The Tian family Yang style foundation training. Watch and weep, my son coming up to his 11th birthday is warming up, he can keep this up with pretty good alignments for 3-5 minutes.

2005-10-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

More on standing practice

There has been a little controversy. Ludicrous comments have been made accusing me of consciously misleading the public. This was because I published a photograph if myself in one of the Tian Yang familyTai Chi foundation postures. A Tai Chi brother believes that I should stand with my arse parallel to the floor and not to do so is WRONG!! well strangely enough, at times I do and at times I don't depending on my mood, Mmmm.

I think the word should, could be taken out of the dictionary and we would not miss it.

To quote Chaz Palmienteri's character in that fine movie,'A Bronx Tale'..........,' nobody cares' !, ..........nobody cares!

and so I say lets,'forget about it'!

I will be addressing a few of the points raised in the comments on the blog , thanks for the feeback, it spurs me on. For Justin, 'Goodday mate'! I will do a seperate analysis of the San-Ti trinity stance of Hsing-I. And thanks for Hugh's very informative comment of current affairs in the Malaysian Tai Chi Scene. Give my regards to Nigel Sutton, we only met once a long long time ago backsatge at the, Duke of York's Theatre, Covent Garden, darling, where we both treaded the boards in 86', Hey Hugh can I have your email address, you can send it too chris@realtaoism.com

And thanks to Vicki and RMC, .....and also...... dare I speak his name....the dark lord of Epping.

2005-10-25T06:07:00.000-07:00

To Stand or not to Stand

I am a great advocate of standing practice; however it can take many, many years to grasp the significance of standing practice for your martial arts training in general. I have met lot of people over the years who fail to grasp the relevence of standing practice, even amoungst seasoned practioners of the Taoist Internal Arts. Standing practice works at many levels, at the physical level, at the level of your energy and at the level of mind and consciousness. There has to be an integration mind, body and energy for the benefits of standing practice to emerge.

Within standing practice it is good to understand that it is not an intellectual pursuit. Think about standing all you want, it is not the same as experience. As the human body gets on in years it can become increasingly difficult to stretch out the insertion points. (Locations where muscles attach to the bony structures of the body) This means that the age that you start standing and your unique limitations and potential will be a barometer to measure yourself by, you must never measure yourself by someone elses standards. When children begin stretching as youngsters, for example as in classical ballet the result is that the body maintains an open integrity that acts as a support for physical training. Like wise in the internal arts if one were fortunate to be working with standing postures from a young age then there will be a point that you may not need to stand much, if at all. ( Note: that my teacher master Tian Ying Jia, has a differing opinion on standing than some others masters I have worked with, I personally know extremly high level internal artists who still stand, even the top players like the late grandmaster Ip Tai Tak, The 5 th generation inheritor of an authentic Yang Tai Chi lineage, practiced standing til the day he died)

The famous Wang Zhang Zhai of the I- Chuan, Da Deng Chuan tradition was famous in later life for saying that standing practice had everything you need within it. Well that was true for him as he spent many years travelling China and living and training with the foremost Hsing-I masters of that period. He had done his apprenticeship and much more and had earned his realisation from a lifetime of dedication. This can be misunderstood by people sometimes to mean that if you simply stand a lot you can fight?? Well I wish it were that easy, but it simply is not.

Anyway we have to work within ourselves and acknowledge our limitations. Body type, prior experience etc will play significant part in your practice as well as having access to helpful teachers.

This brings me to the point of this dispatch: Height when practicing standing. I had been standing using various methods, Zhang Zhuang from Master Chu King Hung (3rd disciple of Yang Sau Cheung) and later intensively worked on the dissolving practices of B.K Frantzis. I also then tried to get into low standing postures and was taught by a Wu- Shu Champion, ‘Wang Wei Dong’ of Shanghai ( back in 88 ) 1988 that is! He had several chi gung master teachers, and I learned some very good stuff from him ( in particular a system called,’Shen Chi Gung’). But the low horse stance in one of his chi gung sets was to be worked on until he said, if you can stay in the posture for 4 hours at the height whereby you can put a cup on your thigh then my teacher in Shanghai would teach me!!. The most I ever did was two hours approx and that was a one off) the stance work made me physically stronger but was severe enough to bring up such psycho-emotional turmoil that I could not sustain a regular practice) this was at a time when I was still a professional classical dancer. I was no stranger to hard physical work.

The point is that it is best to develop your capacity in a cumulative fashion. If you are practicing on your own you may quit, whereas when in a teaching/class situation you go that little bit further. Height I discovered had its down side; one of the experiences was the strain on existing internal imbalances which manifested in excruciation hip and knee pain.

I will be producing a series of dispatches on standing and then form work. happy standing practice Ahhhhh!

For anyone who would like me to reply to their comments, please include your email address, all the best CRC