Kalidas

This is one of these books you keep going back to the whole time. Have spent many years dipping my feet into all kinds of Qigong but come away with a feeling "this isn't working for me". Have enriched the Qigong media guys by buying books, DVD's and classes to no avail. Have finally come to the conclusion that one size doesn't fit all and as I am in my early 60's my body/mind is not into forms that actually make things a lot worse. I am totally convinced that Dr. Wu is the real thing and have been practising his warmups for quite a few months. They actually work!. Am cool and calm during the day. My severe shoulder pain and neck pains have completely gone and I sleep like a baby. No more Ibuprofin, Aspirin or any of the prescription or over the counter stuff to get through a day. So all my mass of other Qigong materials have gone to the Public Library sale as I don't ever need or want to refer to them ever again. The warmups take quite a long time do do, say up to 45 minutes each day and leaves little time to get into the real 9 Palaces practice. The way to approach this I find is to start with the first exercise, get to know it very well (breath sequence is very important) and remember the sequence of the warmups until you have memorized them all and don't miss any out. After a few weeks your scheduled exercise time shrinks and you can move onto the other forms. It's interesting to observe that Dr. Wu does not have any kind of advertizing campaign like so many others of which most are very suspect. Last of all, he has a book on Feng Shui. I have this idea, that folk who are Feng Shui 'able' usually have the real Qigong thing as to be able to be good at this you really have to be connected with the Qi in a big way and hard work and years of practice enable this and you can't get it off a class or DVD either. When you miss a day of practice you know it right away as your body/mind bugs you to get back into it!!

This is all very strange. Here is me (or is it "I") joined this forum a couple of days ago and really started to look around. Talk about serendipity. I first checked out the section for those who have healing requests and a number of the stories are pretty wrenching. Next up I am reading this detailed thread which is preoccupied with Spring Forest Qigong. I have the Level-1 set and still cant motivate myself to really do it. I keep thinking how slick the materials and marketing are around this program. Yet I also have materials from an almost unknown site I have followed with interest for a number of years. www.traditionalstudies.org a 501C group who are trying to document the old guys who are dying out and the art will be lost forever. Am not saying that SFQ works or not as I dont really know if it does. Its just that I prefer "Healing without Medicines" series and other bodywork DVD especially the healing arts. The DVDs are dirt cheap in comparision most others out there. They also feature Dr. Xie Pieque who at over 80 could still throw guys around with his Bagua. In short (my opinion only) if you want to learn healing from a tradition whose lineage can be traced way back, thats a good place to start. Least ways not much if any marketing goes on. In fact I found the site by accident (or karma). Bon Chance

Hallo, my name is Kalidas. A name given me some years ago by Swami Muktananda but my real name is pretty ordinary. Have been a keen Chi Kung fan for many years and am now into the "old geezer" mode where stuff gets harder and harder to do. Have spent a huge sum over the years on just about every book and video on Chi Kung and even attended actual courses would you believe. So lots of books and dvd's have gone the way of Goodwill and the local library sales. In South Carolina, there are no teachers, sifu's, masters or pundits for this art form so total reliance on media or an expensive trip out of state to find that the course being taught is nothing but a money grab and frankly not just a load of rubbish, but in many cases dangerous to personal health and well-being. The great thing about this site is that folk are sharing their personal experiences and with so many 'ersatz' 'masters' around, thats a good thing. I dont find that arguing about this form of chi kung or that form gets anywhere. The thing comes down to personal experience, different mindsets and even background. So after so many years, have settled on Taoist (non sexual) Chi Kung for both physical and mental well being and because I want to become the oldest, fittest guy on this planet before taking my leave.