Classes Offered
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Qigong #1:
This class serves as a broad introduction to some of the methods and styles that I practice and teach. The main form consistently practiced will be the 8 Sections of Brocades and easy to follow, gentle, and flowing single move exercises from Yiquan, Yang style Tai Ji Quan, and Shaolin Qigong.
*Eight Sections of Brocade, Ba Duan Jin:
The development of this qigong form is often attributed to the Taoist Immortals Zhongli Quan and Ancestor Lu Dongbin. Earliest textual evidence is found in several Song Dynasty encyclopedias.It is both a medical and martial qigong. Each movement focuses on and energizes different meridians, organs, and muscles. While there are many varieties of this form and I have learned several, our practice lineage comes from Sifu Fong Ha.
Qigong #2:
More rigorous than Qigong #1 This class will focus on Shaolin Qigong through stretching, reverse breathing, and deep practice of the Yi Jin Jing form.
Myth traces Shaolin Qigong origins to the wandering ascetic Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, who is considered the Founder of both Shaolin Kung Fu and Ch’an(Zen) Buddhism. Yi Jin Jing or Muscle/Tendon change classic: Legend has it that when visiting the Shaolin Temple, he found the monks too frail for rigorous meditation. He then taught Daoyin “guide and pull” exercises such as Yi Jin Jing introduced to improve the monks health, resilience, and as a supplement to seated meditation. Our lineage comes from Guo Lin.
Yiquan (Class #3):
The central and foundational practice in Yiquan is Zhang Zhung (standing like a post/tree) meditation. This followed by Shili (testing strength/integration) -- where simple, natural flowing movements are slowly performed much like Tai Chi. Class concludes with Walking Meditation.
The methodology Yiquan or I ch’uan was founded by Xingyiquan master Wang Xiangzhai during the mid 1920’s and 30’s. After traveling around China visiting many kung fu masters he concluded that too much emphasis was placed on complex and flowery forms. He instead sought the distill the internal core aspects which were essential to all the styles he was exposed to during his travels. His collaboration with doctor Qian Yantang encourage the emphasis placed on Zhan Zhuang.
Zhan Zhuang standing meditation is the foundational practice thru which our natural state of awareness is accessed and our integral,innate hun yuan li or omni-directional strength first experienced. As Wang wrote in ‘The Correct Path of Yiquan’, “ By such means, weakness will be transformed into strength and clumsiness transformed into nimbleness. Students of Zen begin with disciplined behavior, then become experts in established wisdom, realize the ‘origin’ of mind, awaken to the reality of emptiness, and then are at last able to discover the Way. Meditation is like this and so are martial arts.” The stillness of standing practice is then integrated and expressed thru Shili (resilience testing) movements, MoCabu(friction stepping) footwork, two person exercises and free form JianWu(warrior dance)
Tai Chi Essentials (Class #4)
In Daoist cosmology Tai Chi (grand Polarity) comes from Wu chi(no Polarity)or emptiness. Our class begins and ends with the standing meditation of Wu Chi qigong. In between we will focus on single move repetition of Tai Chi’s various postures rather than taolu or form practice.
Bonpo/Vajrayana(Tantric Buddhism) Paradigm
Class #5:
Tsa Lung/ Five Elements: The focus of the class will be the five Tsa Lung exercises from the Bon Mother Tantra. Each exercise corresponds with one of the five elements: space, air, fire, water, and earth.
Class #6:
Healing with Sound/ Five Warrior Seed Syllables: Class begins with Om Ma Tri Mu Ye Sa Le Du . Students will practice seed syllable zhine (shamatha) meditation, Tsa Lung and the Five Warrior seed syllables.