Baguakid

Bob, have you given up Taiji for Liuhebafa? Where are you studying this? Also, I sent you an email. Did you get it? tks.

niko (wind) hatzakis, In 85 when I first visited China we traveled with a group of runners (we were a kungfu group). I had never been so embarrassed as I was at the behavior of those runners. A bunch of drunken, stupid fools. You are worse 10 fold. You give "Laowai" a bad name (which by the way is not considered a bad term). I honestly hope you are not in China now as you say as you are an embarrassment to all foreigners in China. You give us all a bad name. There are ways to disagree on a forum. Name calling and insults are not the way and will help no one. If you disagree then present a viable argument.

There's no replacement for immersion in China.

Are you sure the demand is there? When I lived in SoCal I was taking classes at the community college and no school could fill a second level class. Mainly because the first level class there were a lot of Chinese taking it for easy credit and to satisfy language requirements. Not many could fill a second year course. What I did was this. You are only going to get so far in a class. I forced myself to go the flea market where I knew some Chinese had a booth. They spoke very little English so I was forced to speak Chinese to communicate with them. It's very difficult and takes time but with that you feel great when you've accomplished it. After that I went to China to live for nearly 2 years. My Bagua teacher didn't speak any English so, again, I was forced to speak Chinese with him. Add to that, his mandarin was terrible. So, I got to understand him and communicate with him in spite of his accent and dialect. If you want it, you'll work for it. In fact, now there are many sources on the web to learn Chinese. Check out my links page for more info: http://members.bigvalley.net/wuji/china/shanghailinks.html hope this helps.

I agree that Learning Chinese is essential if someone really wants to learn and understand the culture. It's a long road but worth it in the end. However, Classical Chinese is that much more difficult. Even for the common Chinese.

Sifu Garry, May I ask, being down under as you are, how were you able to learn from GMDW? Does he provide remote instruction or did you have to make a trip to Cali to pick it up? tks, Also, yes, those stories sound great!! Reminds me of my old kung fu days but not at that level. Question: Is the world still producing Masters such as Share K. Lew and GMDW or are we witnessing an end to an era? tks.

oh, Splitting, not Spitting I was wondering how spitting could help build qi.. lol Anyway, I was also told, in our style. Single palm change is most important.

mewtwo, Find a teacher.... Be careful.. go slowly.

There should be a Wuji Qigong group there in Toronto. I visited them in the 90s. Unfortunately, I don't know how to contact them. This should be free or cost little for instruction. Keep a look out, I'm sure there still there.

Very Nice post Terry. Thank you much for sharing. I have heard that there are 4 levels to GM Doo Wai's Iron Palm training. 1. Break coconut on the ground. 2. Break coconut hanging from a line/string. 3. Break coconut with it sitting on a piece of Tofu without damaging the tofu. 4. Break coconut from a distance. Is this accurate? I am so happy you have had the opportunity of being involved in these systems. It has been my dream. Unfortunately I have wasted much time due to my own fault of listening to someone's advice. Someone who wanted to control the flow of cash into his pockets rather than giving clear, honest advice and direction. Best regards and wishes. Bill

I would say it depends. It depends on the quality and detail of instruction from the teacher and the ability to remain in contact and ask questions. and It depends on the prior experience, natural ability, and Wu (wuxing - 悟性) of the student. Personally, based on my background and exposure, I believe I would have no problem learning in this manner if the material is presented well. This may not be the case with others.

Hello Terry, Thank you for your reply. I will PM you the person's name. It could be I misunderstood this guy regarding the breath retention method I mentioned as you are the second person to confirm the natural way of practicing. I do appreciate you sharing the way you were taught those exercises as I was taught Circling Palms in a slight horse (not deep). I did have several years of Mantis training from two different systems before learning the TTP exercises and I continue with now several years of Bagua training. Again, it must be I misunderstood this person's meaning regarding the retention methods. Thanks again for your reply. Best regards, Bill

Sorry, I don't.. This is just hear-say and not confirmed. In addition I should mention that breath retention (forced) in qigong/neigong is a very advanced method and can be very dangerous without a teacher.

Hi Terry, Thank you for your reply. May I ask something else about Master Share K Lew's system. When I was in China studying Bagua I met an American who spent a lot of time with Master Lew's system. He told me there was a Qigong method of practicing and Neigong method of practicing these exercises. Each had to do with breath as to how the exercises were defined. What I mean is, if they were practiced with a natural breath then it was Qigong, if the breath was retained it was Neigong. For example, in circling palms, the natural way would be as you described above, long even natural breaths. But, for the Neigong method the breath would be taken in completely before the palm would circle, hold the breath through the circle, and then release at the normal release portion. Have you heard of anything like this? Thank you. Best regards, Bill

ZHAN ZHUANG & THE SEARCH OF WU in Chinese? I heard this is also written in Chinese? Anyone know where that can be found? Also, the link for the english version seems to be broken. Thanks in advance,

Hi Terry and welcome to the forum. Thank you for adding to this conversation with your experiences. I have also learned some exercises from Master Share K Lew's system but frankly, I didn't receive much results from them. I did not, however, learn them from Master Lew himself but from someone who learned them from someone. I learned 5 breaths, Short 31, Shen (6 standing/6 seated), and 5 dragons from Master Lew's system. It's great you provide a perspective between the two systems. I used to live for 6 years in Orange County but never had the opportunity to meet Master Share K. Lew or GM Doo Wai. You and Spirit Ape are lucky. Best Regards, Bill

Hey Spirit Ape, The main standing practice I do is Wuji Standing with arms relaxed at the sides as taught by Cai Songfang. The main purpose for my standing practice (currently) is purely for health. Build kidney strength, stimulate and tonify stomach and spleen, and as a Qigong practice. I have other standing practices I've learned, Bagua Standing, Detoxifying Standing and others. I always come back to Wuji. I'm always interested in learning, expanding my understanding more so that's the reason for the book request. Best, Bill

Hi Spirit Ape, Yes, that helps. Thanks!!

Spirit Ape, Were the percentage breaths created by Master Doo Wai to adjust his style to the common man? I thought I saw somewhere, watched a Youtube from him about that. Can you confirm? If so, what were the original breaths like? Breath retention? Or, are the percentage breaths original? Thanks,

I agree. Religion is the dead, stale, mechanical detachment from true spirituality.

Spirit, I sent an email to your gmail account. Thanks,

As I recall they were all seated positions with different hand positions and breath percentages. There were no mudras in this one. I can tell you more when I get home and dig out the paperwork. Thanks.

Hey Garry, I learned a set with breathing percentages from a guy who got it from Jim Lacy. It's called "Five Elder Qigong for health and mental clarity" if I remember correctly. It's all seated exercises. I haven't practiced it for a long time though and have it written down. Do you know anything about this one? Thanks,

John Chang does not look to be in a full lotus in that pic.

This is percentage breathing in Flying Phoenix, right? Didn't he learn this from Master Doo Wei?