soaring crane

Thanks for another great post, Trunk. What you write makes a lot of sense. I was back at it today, I have a key to the physio place, and it was super. I only did rolling stuff, just let go and roll whichever part of my body wants to contact the ball (it works until I come to a wall and have to change direction intentionally, or crash into the wall). I'm sure it doesn't look very aesthetic but it feels fantastic. In my last post I wrote, about the chest bouncing, "I think I have a blockage about this for some reason". I had originally expanded on that thought a bit more and then deleted it. What I had written was that the exercise was going into an emotional body that didn't want to be messed with, yet. I most definitely do appreciate the potential of the exercise, though, and am going to work up to it.

I appreciate your Celtic quest, I gave mine up about 15 years ago when I had to admit that I wasn't finding any reliable information. The few books that I'd found (pre-Amazon.com) were full of the author's opinions and "channelled" information, but with no real documentation and no real, useful instruction. I decided it had to do with the fact that the Druids didn't write their methods down for posterity and then I just gave up. Very shortly thereafter I bought "The Tao of Pooh" on a whim because the cover of the book seemd so... rebellious, almost blasphemous. I had always loved the Pooh stories. I realized then that the Daoists were in many respects the Asian Druids. Except, the Daoists wrote down everything. and the vast majority of their wisdom is available today in translation. How to find the things that you need to improve on yourself before you can help others attain Enlightenment? I have no idea, really, but I would check my motives first if I were you. Just the idea that you want to help people do something like that indicates, to me, based on extremly little information about you, that you should check your motives. Learn to meditate. Really learn to meditate. And then just let things follow their course. I have enough trouble humbly getting people to understand that Qigong is a way of interacting with universal energy and that they can do it all by themselves and don't really need me. But, point as I might at the moon, they keep looking at my finger. They need me, for some reason or other, perhaps because they see no need for themselves. If you pursue your course, prepare yourself for disappointment, and learn to accept it. Btw, where do you live? I'm in Germany now and there are many great Druidic energy areas and Celtic walls and such here. I think you'd enjoy it here.

Should we be incoporating "taboos" into our daily routines? I mean Qigong routines. That doesn't seem so healthy to me, but I'm not really clear on which taboos you're writing about. I'd like to know, though. Actually, I'm having trouble coming to grips with the term "taboo". Part of my routine is specifically letting go of fears and concerns of ethics, morality and society in general. I'll fart if I have to fart during practice. I don't have a taboo against it. But then I also have my opening and closing rituals. Hmm.. would it be taboo for me to finish a Qigong session without gathering around the waist and closing Dantian? I've only ever seen it from the energetic, maybe therapeutic side, but you got me thinking here now. What if I associated the exhale with Yin? I feel weird just thinking about it. I pray for protection and guidance before I start paractice, but it's just routine. Is it also taboo... ? Fwiw, till now I've generally associated taboo with spiritual work like exorcisms and harvest prayers. Things I've never been involved in. Avoiding certain foods before a specific ritual, for example. Or something along the lines of what Taomeow wrote in the first post. Happy Pig Year, too! And this isn't just any Pig Year, it's a GOLDEN Pig year. Quite an honor for us.

huh... you're right. I never looked into it, just accepted it as fact. Thanks for doing the research!

Ok, I tried it. The bouncing and the gym ball exercises. The chest bouncing was really uncomfortable. I did a lot of improvising and tried different sized balls at a physio therapy place and just couldn't find anything that felt remotely "good" or beneficial (for me). I think I have a blockage about this for some reason. I could sense that I was holding back and just couldn't get comfortable with it. The best thing in this respect was a "hedgehog ball", a spiny rubber ball, not a hard spiky massage ball but an inflatable, well, hedgehog. It was flat on the bottom and it really did feel ok for a massage along the front side, but I can get a lot more Qi flowing with slapping. With the gym ball, lol, the first one I used was a large, overinflated one and I bounced off and landed on my elbow on the suprisingly hard floor. Ouch. Now my elbow is swollen and I hope I didn't crack the bone. But I kept at it with other balls and found "my" ball - maybe 18" and not too firmly inflated. It had kind of a "tacky" texture. I tried doing it like the Juijitsu guy in the youtube video and while I was nowhere near his level, it was still a great exercise. I had to take off my shirt and the skin work was pretty intense and invigorating. I was tingling afterwards and just felt refreshed and strong. THAT is something I'm going to be looking into more and I'm very thankful for this thread

I've heard three explanations for it: Some people actually took it to such an extreme that they died during practice. Some people began to act out the sexual dance in an unacceptable way The form, especially the freeform, encouraged free-thought and self-expression. This last one seems most likely but the woman I learned the form from, Petra Hinterthuer, has contact to people who should really know the truth and she says it's because of reason #1. I just can't imagine the Chinses gov't becomming concernded because a few people died. That same woman always does a 20 or 30 minute walk-around after the final form but what you're describing sounds like an "enhancement" created by one particular teacher or school. There are many Crane forms...

Can you expand on that Spectrum? I've been meditating on reversal, which sounds similar, as discussed in Michael Saso's book "The Gold Pavilion". Reversal of Tao Te Ching 42, to be precise. Reign in the 10,000 distractions to find the Three; Tame the Three to achieve the Two; Harmonize the Two to realize the One; And ride with the One to arrive at the Source (my current interpretation...).

Hi, I'm writing this out for my courses and thought I'd share it here. This the first movement from a small routine we cann "Triple Gestalt". Gestalt is the German word and I really couldn't find a more appropriate english word for it. I'm going to meet a friend for a photo session tomorrow and we'll make some photos for this form, too. It's really simple. But the simple forms have the most potential for energetic interpretation, in my expeience. This routine came from a Daoist tempel, supposedly, but I don't really know the history of it at all. I also have a pretty detailed description of the basic stance, but it's still in German. I'd be thankful for any feedback regarding the composition. I know it's simple, but is the text understandable? Here: The Triple Gestalt This instruction assumes knowledge of the basic Qigong stance (Wuji). Triple Gestalt 1, the Grand Opening Make sure the armpits are open (just turn the elbows a little outward) and the palms (Laogong) are open to the rear. Relax the hands and connect the fingers energetically with the Earth. Imagine long fingers rooted in the ground. On the next natural inhale: Without bending at the elbows, let the arms rise in front of you and upward until your palms face forward and your fingers are pointing to heaven. Try not to let the shoulders rise with the arms. Always do arm-raising motions as though someone you trust is standing behind you, holding warm hands on your shoulders. Your hands should be about shoulder-width apart. Connect your fingers energetically with Heaven. On the exhale: Let your elbows slowly sink, pulling your hands downward, palms facing forward as though wiping a glass pane, and feel your fingers stretch like elastic bands. Pull down to shoulder or chest height, where the arms come to a natural, comfortable stopping point. Inhale intentionally into the chest and at the same time lift the elbows upward to the sides; your palms will turn downward and face toward Earth; your fingertips will meet in the middle. Coordinate the movement with the breath. On the following exhale, sink inwardly from breast to abdomen and push your hands downward to about the belt line. Continue sinking inwardly through your pelvis, thighs, knees, calves, ankles, feet and soles of the feet, and then deeper, into the Earth. Let your arms return to the starting position. Allow one or two breaths before starting the next repetition. 3, 9, or 27 repetitions are generally recommended but you can do as many as you like. (Triple Gestalt 2 brings us into the lower Dantian and TG3 connects all three) Thank you for the space weird.. i don't why the paragraph breaks are so huge. All I did was use color and some bold tags...

lol, this little routine is supposedly purely Daoist and actually quite old. There's another very small exercise we learned called the Source of the Light that's really simple but sooo powerful. Thing is, these are just taught to beginners as an introduction to Qigong. And then they're fogotten as we move onto bigger "better" things. But after four years of ignoring them, I've returned to them and really discovered how much thought went into them and how well they reach the deeper levels of the Qi bodies. Less physical action allows for more Qi action sometimes. And a lot more individual interpretation. I would really love to learn more of these kinds of things, if any of you have similar exercises and a crappy little video camera, well, that's all ya need

Isn't all fear the fear of death? Fear weakens the Kidney Qi which in turn brings death a little nearer. But then there's the fear of being caught. Hmm.... And does jealousy always have a message hidden inside of it? I think so. I think, when I feel jealous, (usually about someone else's accomplishments, I've finally grown out of the material desires) it's a way for my subconscious mind (what is that in Chinese terms?) to signal me that I'm not happy with myself the way I am. But what do I change? My way or my perspective? Perspective is a lot easier and healthier to tamper with, I suppose.

Hi Thaddeus, thank you :-) Yes... it's really hard to put everything into writing. I could probably write ten pages describing everything that goes into the little "Arm flapping", lol. For example, I guess it looks like I'm raising up by straightening nmy legs knee-band style. But that's not it at all. The knees are just relaxed the whole time and the lifting is coming from my middle. It's really just a Qi movement and the legs straighten out because that's just what they do... I'm making the written version for people from my own course, people who've learned with me. They just have trouble remembering the moves, you know? So I'm making them a visual aide. I used to work in pre-press and like playing around with graphics and layout (am i nuts?). I got the next two movements loaded now. Unfortunately they both got chopped off at the end. You can hear my freind Erhardt counting the time for me. He made me laugh... I'll write up a description tonight or tomorrow. The third one actually gets quite powerfull after a few reps. The little thing I do with my hands in the beginning is a way of charging up the Tiger Mauls (what do you call them in english? Between thumb and forefinger...) and this in turn boosts the power in Laogong and then the whole thing gets pretty intense as they come together above the head and get separated again... here: Triple Gestalt Two Triple Gestalt Three

Great question. My ritual: I return to the lower Dantian, lay my hands on my abdomen, close my eyes, relax my face, smile, bring the smile into my head, send it down to the lower Dantian. Then I close Dantian, bring my hands up and lay tham on my closed eyes. After a few moments, I slowly open my eyes behind my hands and then slowly open my hands, allowing the light to enter gradually, and let my arms gently drop. I take in the view for a few moments, smile, breath deeply and on the exhale bring my left foot to my right foot to "officially" close the session. Then I do a self-massage, either gently or vigorously, depending on teh energy and anywhere from 2 to 30 minutes... At the end of the massage, I gether Qi around the wais, close Dantian a last time, smile, bow, left foot to right again and then with the left foot take the first step to "tea" One of the nicest thing to do after a still session where there's lot's of Qi movement and gathering is to just walk, very very lightly, aimlessly in circles or just wherever the Qi takes you, with little steps and a smile on the lips

hi again, Was out yesterday taking photos and then remembered that my camera (old Canon G2) also has a little video funtion. The photos are a lot nicer and I'm actaully making a little instruction sheet for a class. But I posted the video at youtube for you. I was a little rushed as the video function only has 30 seconds... It's not much but I guess it makes the written instruction more clear. I also have the other two movements on video and am trying to get them loaded as well, but having problems... Also need to write up instruction in english. youtube clip Peace

HUGE topic and one that unfortunately leads to some pretty bitter debates and damaged egoes. This forum seems far better than others for discussing this kind of thing, though. I can't hold doctoral dissertations on what Dao means to me and have learned from past experiences that it's better, healthier, when I avoid the conversations. There's actually an answer in there ^ somewhere.

The sixth form is the Zifagong, spontaneous standing, yes. It's what I concentrated on most and supposedly the reason the form is now banned in China. Walking isn't really a component of it, afaik. A lot of teachers just like to walk a little after practice. Or a lot

cool I actually started a Soaring Crance group at yahoogroups but I couldn't find anybody to take part Did you ever get into the Zifagong part? The sixth form?

hey

Hi, Ii guess you've come accross some dire warnings in your readings. If you're of relatively sane mind, then don't take the warnings too seriously. I haven't met any people that have actually damaged themselves by doing basic Qigong exercises. Some get stiff shoulder and things like that but energetically, no. It's people at the intermediate levels of practice that can get themselves (ourselves) into trouble. I think it's part of the growing process I'm going to post a simple routine on my little website soon. Just need to make photos. Also, there are some really good dvds out there these days, as far as I know.

that's funny I never heard the word "taint" before. In German we say "Damm", which interestingly means "dam" as in, "dam up the leak". I call it Huiyin and I thought the english term was perinium.

regardles of the number of reps (i tend toward multiples of 3 but I got the 6 from Eric) he's just asking should he do one figure multiple times or do the whole thing one time through and then start over again? (6, 8, or 99 times...). How would you generally practice (any form, not necessarily the 8 Pieces of Brocade)?

I think he was asking - should he do six reps of the first figure followed by six reps of the second figure, then six repetitions of the third, etc., up the eigth figure. Or do six complete run-throughs of the entire form (1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 x 6). The first suggestions is the most effective as only that way can you really deepen your understanding of the exercises and only that way can the movement really deepen itself in you. It's kind of a beginner's routine nowadays but I don't think it was viewed that way at first. There are literally 100s of variations and some are quite complex.

<KISS>muiltiple repetitions of one figure before moving to the next</KISS>

that weird nauseas feeling does come up sometimes and I've never been given an real explanation for it. Ian's seems pretty likely. A very small (but for me effective) modification is to drop the tongue to the lower palette when the Qi sinks down Renmai. Raise the tongue when the Qi rises up Dumai and let it settle (as though it would lay down in bed) when the Qi sinks down Renmai. This'll increase your saliva production and that saliva may help keep the nausea away, if you learn to swallow it deeply. Your bang is a new one one on me. I'm just curious. Do you get any other sensations at the time? Colors? Light? Can you describe it in more detail? Also: What is a "taint lift"?

A Very Happy New Year! (but prepare for a tricky Autumn)

This is a photo of Prof. Cong, practicing in Germany: He was in his mid eighties when this was taken and unfortunately, he's been missing in China now for a number of years. He had political troubles and religious troubles and nobody knows what happened to him. I have an impromptu video of him practicing Fanhuangong, which I doubt anyone outside of his circle will recognize, but I think many would find very interesting. I'd like to post it for this group but don't want to use Youtube or anything with too much public exposure. Any suggestions?