soaring crane

and sit like a tortoise and sleep like a dog He knew a thing or two about this stuff!

My mother sent me the link, so I must say, xie xie, Mom! :-)

staying on topic. No argument from me that the Tu Na you keep harping on is authentic and effective, I understand your perspective 100%. But it would be a show of respect for other people's experiences if you would fight the urge to wield it like an axe every time the subject of 'qigong' comes up.

except that, if you read the OP, you'll see the actual topic is indeed something more specific than "What's been your personal experience with walking and qigong?" (Which is a great topic in itself, and one that's come up often). So, the spirit of many of the replies so far are akin to students of Wing Tsun breaking into a Bagua group and telling them they're doing it all wrong (which happens here, too, of course). There's an undertone of disrespect in the flow of this thread, and it comes from plain ignorance of the subject. Therapeutic Qigong Walking (whichever school is stems from) is arguably the most widely and successfully applied 'gymnastic therapy' in use in clinics today (in China, anyway). My own teacher is in China working with therapists and patients once or twice a year and has experienced many many complete remissions of advanced stages of cancer. However, any therapy, qigong or otherwise, effective enough to battle and conquer a demon like that is going to have side effects some times. That's just how it is. And that's what the OP is about. So maybe someone with experience in therapeutic walking qigong can offer specific insights? For my part, I've written my teacher and explained the situation. And I already mentioned that the closing routine is a crucial step, but didn't see where anybody noticed. 1. what kind of energy does the body gather while doing walking chi kung practices? 2. does the body get "addicted" to this kind of energy ("addicted" = to get used to)? 3. how often/ how long should i train walking chi kung? The 'kind' of energy is a question guaranteed to get a plethora of conflicting answers and I'm not offering one. "addicted" doesn't = "get used to'". Perhaps you mean accustomed instead of addicted? depends on your actual practice and as I wrote previously, this is something I don't really feel can be learned effectively from a book or video. In clinics, they'll do this for many, many hours a day, in many sessions. But for general health, a half hour is more than ample. The warm feeling and urge to continue, I wouldn't grade as negative effects at all (but I did write my teacher about it and I'll let you know what he says). This is a more powerful practice than maybe you thought when you bought the book Maybe the more important question is how you feel during your regular day. Do you notice any changes, pleasant, unpleasant or otherwise? And also, how well do you sleep? That's a good measuring stick for judging the general condition.

You're wrong, chiD - there are very specific breath techniques in these forms. Period. If you're unfamiliar with them, then you should educate yourself before commenting, criticizing or correcting. Xi = inhale hu = exhale These sounds are for the person calling "cadence" during group practice. Xi xi hu pause those are the four steps in the most advanced version. In, in, out, pause heel, ball, heel, ball Slowly... Little puffs of breath. Inaudible. More in than out. The missing exhale takes a long time to get used to. You can't learn this from text or YouTube.

Guolin organ strengthening xi xi hu, I learned and practiced intensively for almost 4 yrs as a major part of teacher schooling here.

Didn't see spotless's post till after posting my own. Spotless, yes, look up what I just wrote above

1 - Danny Dreyer's Chi Running has piddle to do with qigong walking (I was highly disappointed in that book and the entire movement it inspired) 2 - Clinical qigong walking is a very potent practice. Look up Guolin xi xi hu. This is what the OP is about.

What? Why?

Hi Sirius - I only have mobile access at the moment, so difficult to write out thorough replies. I learned qigong walking - xi xi ho - mostly with Dieter Hölle from Illertisen. Very intense instruction, many hours. I'll have my notebook again tomorrow, can write more. For the masses - qigong walking is a qigong form, or, as usual, an umbrella term for many qigong forms. It look crazy at times, lol. But it's powerful healing medicine. The major area of application is in reversing cancer.

unhappy about being Watermarked :-)

Walking qigong is one of my main activities, has been for a long time. I'll check in again later, but atm I just wanted to mention that the 'addiction' is something to look into and you're right to question it. Anything about it in the book? One other thing - do you have a closing exercise? You definitely should!

which of course speaks volumes about the system being promoted.

Very, very thought-provoking, thank you I hope it's ok if I help you out with the English a little: Tao is often seen as synonymous with water Taoist adepts must go to the origin So, they sail up to the source So, they sail against the flow (to avoid sexist-bias in English, it's generally best to utilize the plural form where possible) In chat yesterday evening, it was written, "Does the river experience the flow, or the resistance to the flow?". In other words: Can Tao be realized without the container we put it in? I don't think it's a tremendous failing to be alive and experiencing life, and enjoying it while it lasts

Yes!!!

heavy stress on the some there, I think it's important. There are a lot of spokes on this wagon wheel and only a few of them squeak. Of course they're the ones who distract the driver ... fwiw - your PPF is still a tremendous source of inspiration for me, Dainin (I recommend everyone check in with him once in a while) and I don't recall you ever having set anything on fire without the aid of, um, fire-starting materials

oh, Brian, you are soooooo going to get a stern reply in the space panda forums! (yes, I peeked at it)

Sweet teacup movements, Vitalii, thank you for sharing it edit: I only now noticed the second video - doubly sweet

and the people you felt best illustrate that idea are the ones who suffered the worst violence of the modern era. I didn't miss or misunderstand anything.

Just a short note to point out that the DDJ isn't the alpha and omega of all things Daoist-related.

you actually feel comfortable comparing poor, self-absorbed MPG's personal plight to the fate of the Jews in concentration camps? In death camps??? And the moderation team here to the death camp overseers?? Wow. Just WOW.

that's all good, MH, but I feel you miss out on the most exciting and profound part of the 'philosophy' when you refuse to take part in the physical exercises that manifest it. You're talking about maybe one quarter of what's there, probably much less. And if you feel good with that less-than-a-quarter, then, you know I feel good for you. Happy :-) But I think it would be correct to at least acknowledge that you are in fact intentionally keeping a distance from a huge body of experience and knowledge, and that your Daoist practice only scratches the surface of the real potential.

Hope this isn't too simple or difficult a question, but, what is this?

they just kind of appear uninvited

The thing about teachers, and especially big-name teachers, is, they need a relatively captive audience. TTB is not a captive audience. It's an extremely eclectic gathering.