escott

It's funny you should mention this. Last night when I was doing Ba Duan Jin I got an intense itch in the palm of my left hand (laogong). I never itch there. I just let it go because I didn't want to cross meridians.

Here is a stretch that has brought me great relief. It was taught to me by a family member who has a master's degree in exercise physiology and a master's degree in physical therapy and is a gym owner and personal trainer. Lie on your back, on the floor. Bring your leg up to your chest like you did above. Use a strap, I use a belt, and put it around your foot and hold each end of the belt with your hands. Straighten your leg out up in air. Hold that for a few seconds, maybe a count of 10, then move your leg out to the side and stretch. Then bring your leg over across your body to the other side.

I was researching this topic about 2 years ago. I've seen the chart that you posted. I will have to try to find some of the links that I found. But, my ultimate conclusion was that, yes, we are primarily frugivores. Therefore, I try to eat as many "fleshy" fruits and vegetables as I can. This includes things like cucumbers and squash, not just fruits. Buuuuut, this is where it gets interesting - we are designed to be not just be frugivores, but we are actually (in our primal, natural form) Omnivorous Scavengers. That includes eating insects (I haven't tried this, yet). Also, whatever meat we can find. Predigesting it by cooking it helps. Also, nuts, berries, and seeds. No need to go raw, though, humans (and neanderthals) have been cooking food for hundreds of thousands of years.

I've gotten really interested in pursuing Zhineng Qigong. I found a course on 'Lift Qi Up, Pour Qi Down' that I'm really enjoying so far. I couldn't pass it up for $12. https://www.udemy.com/lift-qi-up-pour-qi-down/ That's a fraction of what I would pay for a course from The Chi Center or a retreat with Mingtong Gu. Although, I think it would be nice someday. It looks like it actually takes several years to get certified through The Chi Center programs. That's a lot of $$$. The thing I like about Zhineng is that it looks like a complete system that has been created in a scientific manner and tested in "The Medicineless Hospital". Also, it doesn't seem to be tied to a lineage that is dependent on a master. Instead it is a system to be learned, that produces results, and shared with others. BTW, the Udemy course above, in the very first lesson, explains the points on the body and how the movements relate to the effect on the Dan Tiens.

One way to start would be to Google: Dumbell Workouts. I did that and turned up this, it looks good. https://www.muscleandfitness.com/training/build-muscle/dumbbell-workout Muscle and Fitness magazine was like my textbook for learning how to lift weights when I was a teenager back in the 80's. I don't know how good it is now, but I still bet you could find some good info on their website. Clarence Bass knows everything about fitness. https://www.cbass.com/ Bodybuilding.com is always a good resource. https://www.bodybuilding.com/index.html Plenty of good stuff at T-Nation https://www.t-nation.com/ Just to summarize what you can do with dumbells: Chest - bench press, flys shoulders - front raises, lateral raises, bent flys, overhead press Upper back - bent over rows, shrugs When I say "bodybuilding style" I'm talking about doing isolation movements that target one particular muscle at a time. When you are doing legs and trying to work around what causes you pain you'll need to do movements that target only one muscle group from a particular angle. That's why I suggest doing leg curls for hamstrings only, leg extensions for quadriceps only, calf raises for calves only, and good mornings, straight leg deadlift, or kickbacks for glutes only. To do the isolation movements for legs you will need access to a bench that has the accessory for leg curls and extensions. If you can't go to the gym or buy the equipment then you may have to stick with bodyweight movements for lower body. Darebee is a great reference - https://darebee.com/ . The aspect of bodybuilding that you are referring to (building mass and definition) is accomplished through a process called "periodization". This is where you segment your training plan into 3 phases spending 3-4 weeks in each phase: 1.) Heavy weight, low repetitions (1-5 reps); 2.) Mid-weight, mid-reps (5-10 reps); 3.) light weight, high reps (10-20 reps). Heavy weights build mass, high reps cut in the definition. Personally, I now do mostly Sandbag Training with some dumbells, balance ball, and bodyweight movements thrown in the mix. I do it in a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) fashion, 45 minute workouts 3 times per week.

Have you looked into "lateral pelvic tilt" being the cause? I had this issue, likely from slouching in office chairs for over 25 years. If you look at yourself naked in the mirror can you see if one hip bone is higher than the other or does one side of your abdomen look shorter? @Aetherous gave you some good info - it's all in the hip flexors. Also, the glutes may need some strengthening. What really helped me was getting IASTM from a good chiropractor. Once she broke things lose I was able to ease into exercising again. Use a foam roller for maintenance all around the thighs - outer (IT band, it's gonna hurt!), front, and inner (adductors). Gently stretch the psoas. To strengthen the hips: on hands and knees - kick backs and fire hydrants, clam shells, and lunges, lunges, lunges.

Ok, I think I'm getting a clearer picture here. It basically comes down to experience, which is basically how mastering anything works. So back to a comparison with physics: Most technical people, unless they got a PhD in math or physics have only gone as far as learning calculus and differential equations. But, there are many higher maths such as tensors, spinors, and Clifford Algebra that most people don't even know exist. So, I could have someone like Stephen Hawking show me all the math about the existence of black holes and only he and a few like him who have dedicated thier lives to similar studies would understand it. I just have to take their word for it that it is true. In the case of Qigong it is also scientific, but it is experiential. Only when a person puts in the time to learn and practice do they get the same result as the others who also learned. So, the maps of meridians and dan tiens are only a notation and only those who have internalized the abstract concept can comprehend it.

I see your point. Even in physics we don't know WHY any of the fundamental forces behave the way that they do. We only know from observation that things behave in this way and we have derived formulas that can predict this behavior when we plug certain parameters in.

I could certainly use the clearing of those things. The problem in this day and age (actually, I think it's always been a problem, i.e. snake oil) is that I don't want to buy into a line of B.S. There are supposedly thousands if Qigong methodologies. I'm willing to bet some of them are fraudulent. That's why I want to know the specific internals of what is happening so that I can discern for myself what I am getting into.

I have found a method for pulling myself out of self doubt, it's really very simple - I just remind myself of all my past successes and tell myself I can do it again. You're also right about just being honest about your abilities. If you're good at teaching people and you have sufficient knowledge then you have something that people can benefit from that is if value. It sounds like you have that. On the business side of things can I just say as a student seeking a teacher a good website is really helpful. You can have one for $3/month with services like Bluehost or HostGator. WordPress is a solid, flexible framework. If you need help it should be easy to find a consultant that can customize it for you. There are probably free or cheap templates you can use and you won't need to code anything. All you will need to do is upload your pictures and type in your content. Post some articles to put your knowledge on display (you don't need to blog) and it sounds like you could get some testimonials from former students.

I have a 13 year old son who is considered Level 1 Autistic. His primary deficit seems to be a non-verbal learning disorder. I also have a 4 year old son who is (in my opinion) very coordinated. On a few occasions I have tried to teach my older son some meditation techniques to help him calm down when he has meltdowns. He has received occupational therapy in the past but his therapist thinks she's taken him as far as she can take him. A few times he participated in a yoga class with other children like him. He really liked it, but they don't do it anymore because of some changes that were made with insurance classification. A few days ago my older son said, "Dad, can we do some meditation tonight?" This time I tried to teach him how to lift a chi ball over his head then let it explode and rain energy down over him. He really liked it and said he could feel the energy. But, at first he was all over the place. I had to get a soccer ball to put in his hands at first to get him to make his palms face inward. This got me thinking, is there anything to teach tai chi to kids? I did find a few things. One was Dr. Paul Lam's 'Tai Chi 4 Kidz'. I'm still a novice but the excerpt on Youtube just looked like he was doing the Yang short form with kids behind him. Then I found Cari Shurman's 'Tai Chi For Kids'. I think this looks good. I was wondering what The Bums thought of it? Here are some links: https://www.taichiforkids.com/ Here she demonstrates some of the movements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_6TuS0ByPU Here is an overview video. It looks like more qigong than tai chi. For instance I saw Drawing The Bow from Ba Duan Jin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=jaZwO3Z8k0s I think this would be good for both of my kids (maybe even the grown-ups in my family).

'Chi Kung, Way of Power' by Master Lam Kam Chuen. I had to buy it used from Half Price Books. It's the only way I knew how to get it. I don't think it is in print anymore. It just arrived today. It took 2 weeks to get here, but it seemed like forever. I'm so excited to read it. It looks like it has a lot of different content than 'The Way of Energy'. I might be up late tonight reading it.

Here's something that came to mind. I've been a software engineer for 25 years, solving problems I've never seen before, with technologies I've never used before, always trying to keep up... I sometimes suffer from 'Impostor Syndrome'. https://startupbros.com/21-ways-overcome-impostor-syndrome/

You're right. When I got into the form he said, "Oh, oh, oh, people call it many different things." Then he proceeded to give me a helpful tip. So, I guess I should give him another chance. The Pittsburgh area seems to be a bit of a Qigong and Tai Chi desert. You sound like a knowledgeable person and a good teacher as well as a person of high integrity. Good Luck

I'm new to all this, but that would make me a perfect new client who needs a teacher, right? Earlier this week I attended my first Qigong group class. I should have done a head count, but I would estimate there were 30-40 people. The class was filled with mostly older people. I think that is his target market. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. In fact, it's good to be focused on your marketing. For instance, if you want to be something like a personal health coach you need to be focused on a particular market. I'm not sure if I'll be going back to the class though. The group thing just following the instructor (without any personal correction to form) didn't appeal to me. After the class I talked to the teacher and told him about my personal practice of Zhan Zhuang. I was hoping he could analyze my form. I was surprised when he got confused on the terminology between the wuji posture and Standing at the Stake. He has teaching certifications from a world famous teacher who has many DVD's on Amazon. He has pictures on his website of him standing with this teacher. I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't think you need a lineage to be a teacher. You just need to be knowledgeable about what you are teaching and do some good marketing. In terms of what you could teach: I would love to find a teacher that would teach me to perfect the Ba Duan Jin (that's open source), how about 5 Element Qigong, 5 Animal Frolics, Yang 24 movement short form, Zhan Zhuang, and teach people proper breathing. I think even if you don't know these, but you have been doing Tai chi for as long as you have you could pick them up easily and teach them. If you think you need some official certifications look into Roger Jahnke's Tai Chi Easy certification programs. They look really legitimate and are reasonably priced.

You were right. The 3rd time I did this I was standing in Zhan Zhuang trying to visualize myself as a tree with roots deep into the Earth and branches collecting heavenly energy I was left with this golden disc with light beams coming out of it superimposed within it. I couldn't make it go away. I just didn't feel right. Anyway, if one wants to practice different systems I assume it's ok to do them at different times. For instance, do Ba Duan Jin and Zhan Zhuang in the morning. Then do Qabbalistic Cross, Middle Pillar, LBRP, and scrying in the evening.

I was really surprised by the shaking doing Ba Duan Jin because I have worked my way up to 20 minutes of Standing at the Stake and all along the way I never experienced any of the side effects that are mentioned in The Way of Energy. The only unpleasant thing I've experienced from Zhan Zhuang is tightness on the outside of the legs and some knee and ankle pain. So I'm stretching and foam rolling to work that out. If worse comes to worst I'll go to my chiropractor and get some IASTM. I'll have to watch the video later, but I'm guessing it talks about mobilizers vs. stabilizers. I read a blog post somewhere about that to help me with Zhan Zhuang.

I've seen many demonstrations of the movements but I have to find an explanation of how the chi is supposed to flow. So, what I've been doing is to visualize that I am stretching a chi ball between my hands something like stretchy, elastic taffy. Is this right? Should any visualization even be done?Any suggestions?

I was watching my son bounce on an exercise trampoline yesterday and it made me wonder if it does the same thing?

I'm hoping it's the former and not the latter. That's exactly what I was hoping to get from Qigong. I lift weights so I wouldn't expect to be fatigued so quickly. I'm planning on seeing a teacher tonight. https://standingcrane.com/

@windwalker When I bring my hands in front between movements (like I'm holding a ball in front of my chest) my hands have started shaking on about the 2nd or 3rd movement. It seems like it alternates, too. For instance, the hand that was extended on Drawing The Bow will be the one that shakes. What could that be?

So it's just basically calisthenics? I suppose that's why it's still an approved form of the Chinese government. Are most forms just movement? What's the difference between forms that encourage visualization, like Spring Forest Qigong, and those that do not, like Fragrant Qigong?

I think I may have found what I am looking for. http://www.followmetaichi.com/breathe-book.html# There is a link to "ALL VIDEOS" at the top where all the movements are demonstrated. I like the book illustrations, too.

I guess I don't want to get too hung up on terminology. There just doesn't seem to be much out there targeted toward kids or autistic kids. I'm hoping somebody is familiar with Cari or checks out her videos or could suggest some other options. I wonder if I could just teach him Daniel Lee's easy version of Ba Duan Jin. Are those movements fun or interesting to kids? I guess that's the main thing, is making it fun for kids, but it also has to be effecive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJjr_OD8M4A

I've been reading Roger Jahnke's 'The Healing Promise of Qi'. He talks a lot about Spontaneous Qigong. It seems like he is indicating that that is where one ultimately end up with their Qigong practice. Personally, I just don't get it. Maybe, I'm just not mature enough in my practice. I've only been doing Qigong for 2 months. I got the book to learn some theory while practicing Zhan Zhuang from The Way of Energy. Just what exactly is spontaneous Qigong and how will I know it if I see it? BTW, I tried Pilates. It's hard. Unless someone is working with an instructor to help them with modifications I think one needs to have a certain level of core strength to begin.