zen-bear

Hi miwizi, I will answer your questions by supplementing and elaborating upon Earl Grey's very good answers just a tad in a couple of places. See next post. Sifu Terry Dunn

To the FPCK Community: My sincere and deep apologies to everyone on the FPCK thread for being so very slow in replying to your comments. That includes BenBeastMode and others who stated that they took offense to my posting of my letter to Daobums.com founder, Sean Omlor dated Dec. 9, 2019, that states--if you read it carefully--that I supported his action of asking "all right wingers" to leave the daobums.com blogsite--only if he limited his expulsion in the following way: "As long as you limit your expulsions to those hopeless simpletons who are diehard supporters of 45 (who by definition must love and worship the evil that grips all of Russia and him and pose the greatest existential threat to this country and the liberal democracies throughout the world), you can call it "going rogue"--or anything else you want..." I apologize for not providing additional context for this statement that was/is in limited agreement with Sean Omlor's drastic unilateral act of asking all right-wingers to leave the blog. I stand by my above statement and the ensuing statements in the email saying that arguing with a fact-denying Trump-supporter aping Vladimir Putin's talking points and the alt. right's Russian-fueled propaganda is a waste of time--and something that is contra-indicated by Musashi Myamoto's ninth precept--expounded in his classic book on strategy and martial Zen, "A Book of Five Rings": "Do nothing that is of no use." In addition, I hope what follows will be more than enough context to explain my partial endorsement of Sean's action: For starters, here are links to a 2-part law enforcement training film that I produced, directed, shot, and edited--that is based on weekend A.O.T. (Advanced Officer Training) seminars in Los Angeles given by American Kenpo master Ron Chapel, a super-cop and one of the senior-most students of founder Ed Parker called "Universal System of Arrest & Control for Law Enforcement." (The officers attending these seminars were from California's State Police, Highway Patrol, L.A. County Sheriffs, and every So. California agency except LAPD and San Diego PD.) The methods developed by Ron Chapel and organized in this training program are still state-of-the-art and used in police academies and departments across the country and by several foreign military services today as well (--except for the predominant use of Tasers in many dept.'s over the PR-24 or baton/nightstick in non-lethal situations). (btw, in the 1990's, I was acknowledged by Ron Chapel as the 2nd best-versed instructor in his Universal system of Arrest & Control, second only to himself.) Volume One: https://vimeo.com/187522358 Volume Two: https://vimeo.com/186365982 You will see under the long scroll of credits titled "Consultants" (not the 7 Technical Consultants): the second name is that of Chief Errol Southers. (See 51:53 on the time code of Vol.2 link abov.) Errol Southers was one of many police chiefs and fellow training officers that Ron Chapel and I worked with (Ron for years more than I) in identifying the most problematic tasks and dangerous arrest & control situations--in order for Ron to devise new methods and procedures to improving hands-on arrest & control tactics to better protect both cops and suspects--in the wake of the LA riots set off of by the Rodney King fiasco and ensuing acquittal of LAPD officers who were videotaped beating him with PR 24's. (Much of Ron Chapel's "Universal System" are revolutionary advances such as the "single officer felony arrest" procedure at the start of Vol.2.) In 1993, Southers was just stepping down as chief of the L.A. Safety Police to join the FBI in counter-terrorism, which led to a distinguished 25-year career in that specialty. Today he is Professor of the Practice of National and Homeland Security, Director of Homegrown Violent Extremism Studies, and Director of the Safe Communities Institute at the Sol Price Graduate School of Public Policy at the Univ. of Southern California (go USC Trojans!) in my home town and the recognized national authority on home-grown terrorism. And in this video, which I consider to be an absolute MUST WATCH by anyone even remotely concerned about the dire threat that 45 poses to the American republic and to the democracies of the world, Errol Southers introduces his colleague and old friend, Malcolm Nance, one of the foremost counter-terrorism and national security experts in our top military intelligence echelon. I am posting this lecture that Malcolm Nance gave in the summer of 2018--just before America's mid-term elections--as the first tranche of CONTEXT to explain why I publicly posted my private email to Sean Omlor supporting his action only to the extent that I prescribed. I especially want to point out the invaluable informative service that Nance provided by connecting of the dots between trump's campaign/ present entourage to the European alt right movement that first manifested in 2011 with the massacre of 77 children and 8 adults at a summer camp in Norway by a neo-Nazi named Anders Behring Breivik, who, armed with an M-14 and a handgun, went there posing as a policeman with the intent of killing the entire new generation of liberal leadership in Norway (that's what those 77 children represented to Breivik). Nance was first to warn the world about the threats of Russian "active measures" and cyberwarfare, and its funding and all-out support of the European alt. right and the American alt. right in his best-selling books, "The Plot to Hack America" (2016) and "The Plot To Destroy Democracy" (2018), which are clear presentations of his de-classified intelligence work. He explains that the current alt.right/neo-Nazi movements in Europe are funded across the board by Russian oligarch money directed by Putin and how one of them has already taken over the Austrian government, two others now represent the second largest political parties in France and Germany, and two other factions are poised to take control of Greece and Italy. Before writing the "Plot to Hack America", as the top expert on islamic terrorism, Nance wrote the best-seller, "Defeating ISIS." Just start at 24:50 on this clip and to get a grip on the history of the worldwide alt right movement, to understand what U.S. intelligence agencies have already known about America's Lord Commander Marmalade since 2013 (I wish I had coined it, but that nickname was coined by Trey Crowder, aka the Redneck Liberal), and how Russia since 2013 has conducted active measures against the American electoral system, every member of the NATO alliance and the European Union that it sees as the only obstacle to Russia's fatuous return to greatness and world dominance... and has through its brilliant and unrelenting massive use of social media to disseminate disinformation/propaganda, influenced several generations of "simple-minds" (as termed and classified by Cambridge Analytica for its Russian clients, Russia's FSB and Internet Research Agency) to vote against their own self-interest and put a neo-fascist who is compromised and 100% owned by a Russian oligarch-dictator into the most powerful office in the world in order to dismantle all the guardrails against Russian totalitarianism--that the U.S. and its NATO allies built and maintained since the end of WW2. My personal & family background as context: My father was a major cog in military intelligence for the U.S. and Allies in the China and the Pacific in WW2 and was a spymaster throughout the Korean War --when he headed an operation of 2,500 American-trained Chinese insurgents out of Okinawa and Saipan, whom he recruited. (I was born on Okinawa in 1954.) My father was a soldier for 1/3 of his life and on the right side. As he was my role model, I was actually considered the U.S. military as a career when i was graduating from high school in 1972. But upon seeing the military being held in high disregard (to put it lightly) by society in general as the Vietnam War was winding down, I turned down my Congressional nomination in California to attend West Point (one of two given each year), and instead went to Yale College. By then, I had realized that the Vietnam War that I was very, very hawkish about jr. high school was actually horribly mismanaged, fought with the wrong tactics and metrics--and was started and escalated based on what we all know now was a false flag operation in the Gulf of Tonkin. So, because i didn't have a "good war" to go to, I channeled my militant enthusiasm and sense of duty and service into, well, Chinese martial arts and then later the Chinese healing arts, all the while sublimating my vehement anti-communism. I grew up awash in military intelligence and tell tale signs of spycraft in the person of my father and 3 of his best friends from his youth in China who fought the Japanese in WW2 alongside British and Americans and then went on to work for CIA after they also fled the communist revolution in 1950 and came to the United States. That greatest generation, btw, never talked about their war exploits except amongst fellow veterans, and I had to slowly piece together what my father did during 2 wars by going to his annual SACO reunions. (I'll leave anyone interest to research what SACO is). All that is to say that I learned what communist Chinese and what Russian propaganda looks like, sounds like, and feels like. That is why nowadays, I have no qualms whatsoever-- if I'm cornered--to inform anyone who loves that destroyer of American exceptionalism and democracy in the white house, that his or her aping of that red had slogan is an ignorant and preposterous lie-- and that red cap is actually originally drenched and colored by--the blood of those 77 Norwegian children and 8 adults on that Norwegian island in 2011. Just read Breivek's manifesto and read the transcripts of Steve Bannon's talks. They are identical extremist-fascist political agendas. That said, I want suggest to anyone who wants to further discuss or take issue with this statement of my context for my Dec. 9 email to Sean Omlor that we start a separate blog discussion on a separate social media platform. I think it's safe to assume that Sean Omlor probably won't want to host any political forums on Daobums given that it's supposed to be about the practice of Taoism related ancient wisdom traditions, and especially given that he took a rather extreme--what he called "rogue" measure-- to shut down what he called "right wing" debate on the blogsite. But I was recently informed by Earl Grey that Sean Omlor was intent primarily on shutting down alt. right subscribers to Daobums who were running rampant posting high volumes of extremely twisted, batshit conspiracy theories (of the "Pravda" type as defined by Malcolm Nance, I assume). BenBeastMode, you might be surprised to learn that I'm probably more right-wing than you are. After my liberal-leaning college years and then going to business school, I became politically what my father was all his life in America: a Goldwater Republican, strong on national defense and adamant that govt. stays out of the bedroom and off of women's bodies and reproductive rights, which today, unfortunately means that I'm a Centrist Democrat(!). And because of my bent and predilection in applying my skill in Chinese marital arts, I was very active in police training in the 1990's and am concerned about--and may get active again in--police governance and law enforcement policy-making. BTW, when my police training video came out in 1993, the U.S. Marine Corps purchased 600 copies and thus I became a govt. contractor. And yet I teach Tai Chi Chuan, two monastic systems of Qigong, teach the healing arts of both Tao Tan Pai and Bok Fu Pai monastic traditions, and quote Hui-neng the 6th Patriarch of Chan Buddhism whenever the occasion warrants it. And one occasion was my Dec. 9 email to Sean Omlor. Because fact-deniers--of any persuasion--are hopeless people and a waste of time to deal with. Same waste of time as trying to talk to someone who still believes that there were WMD's in Iraq in 2003. My third tranche of context that explains my intolerance for the cult of trump is Malcolm Nance's latest book is titled "The Plot to Betray America," which was published last fall. Most of it focusses on what 45 has been doing to this country and its strategic alliances--all according to Putin's playbook--ever since he took office, and the most troubling behavior of his Republican enablers in Congress who are carrying out a Russian political agenda for the U.S. and have set the stage for Russia to interfere again in the next election again-- through a massive disinformation operation similar to the one in 2016, at the very least. The problem of the digital disinformation age and the only remedy (one that's not instant or fast-acting) against Russia using cyberwarfare against the American electorate every second of every hour of every day to hack the American mindset is discussed in this interview. Finland has been the first country to apply this difficult but necessary remedy. • European history professor Timothy Snyder at Yale published a long prophetic article in Dec. 2016 just before 45's inauguration warning of everything that we in America now see before us: POST TRUTH IS PRE-FASCISM. https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/3/9/14838088/donald-trump-fascism-europe-history-totalitarianism-post-truth And this article and Snyder's book, "On Tyranny" is my fourth and final tranche of CONTEXT --that i would be glad to discuss with anyone--in a civil manner--on another online platform (when I have the time, of course). Again, my sincere apologies for not providing this context much sooner to all those who felt or still feel that it would have avoided personal insult, upset, resentment, and this thread going off-topic. But I recall BenBeastMode's initial complaint was also couched in his admission that he "didn't follow politics much." Even though he said that, I still felt compelled to answer his complaint about my not providing any context for that Dec. 9 letter to Mr. Omlor. Hence this posting. To bring this post bring back to FP Qigong: I take no personal offense to anything anyone has said politically on this thread, including those who were angered by or abreacted to my Dec. 9 letter posted without context. (And I am not erasing anyone's postings in response to my Dec. 9 posting up to this point in time.) Maintaining this attitude of tolerance is made very easy by simple the sublime and deeply healing and transformative nature of the Flying Phoenix Qigong: As long as you are practicing Flying Phoenix Qigong and are enjoying its healing and growth benefits, and wish to continue its practice to explore its basic, intermediate, and advanced health and spiritual potentials, I will be glad to teach it and provide you whatever guidance and assistance that I have to offer--either on this thread or via backchannel Daobums email. (Also recall the observation made GM Doo Wai, me, and other advanced practitioners that evil people will not practice FP Qigong the second that they scratch its surface and feel how it works. They will not scoff at it because they can't deny that it works. But evil people will just run in the opposite direction from FP Qigong because they fear or even hate its manner of healing and transformation. I've occasionally witnessed this over the years of teaching FP since 1992. So if you're liking FP Qigong, you ain't evil---and you're OK by me--and I accept you, respect you, and will be able to stand you, no matter what your political beliefs are--except if you vote for 45, of course! Sincerely, Terry Dunn P.S. Repeat: now that I've provided context with my apologies, all further political discussion should be convened elsewhere--on a non-Daobums thread!

Mark February 29 on your calendars, New Yorkers and Northeasterners: 9 days until my 8-hour Taoist Elixir Method Qigong workshop at the New York Open Center (30th and Madison), teaching Basic 31 Meditations of Tao Tan Pai, an authentic Taoist monastic system of hygienics and kung fu created 24 generations ago during the Tang Dynasty. https://youtu.be/KOUTQslA0xw As explained in the this thread and initially advised by GM Doo Wai, who was a friend and peer of Taoist priest Share K. Lew, the Tao Tan Pai (Taoist Elixir Method) Nei Kung, although completely different in methodology and alchemy in every way--and cultivates a unique and completely different type or "flavor" of Qi in comparison to the FP Qigong and its FP Healing Energy, is a perfect foundational catalyst that supports the practice of FP Qigong and enhances all the self-healing and spiritual benefits FP Qigong. In the words of GM Doo Wai: "Yeah, you can mix the two energies. No problem. They are very compatible." Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Heartbreak, No, it is not necessary to hold the breath for any duration before breathing to the top again. Not helpful for beginners and intermediates. I might be interesting only for a few very, very advanced yogins Again, there is absolutely NO breath RETENTION (HOLDING) required in the FP Qigong practice to derive optimal health benefits. It's not needed because each FP Meditation's unique percentage breath control formulas is sufficient to ignite the cultivation of fine FP Healing Qi. If one were to hold the breath for an extra 4 seconds or however long at the end of each exhalation, that puts the system into a slightly unnatural O2 deficit, which would cause the body on the next inhalation to involuntarily inhale faster and more voluminously. If one were a very advanced yogin, with great conscious control over one's involuntary functions, then it might be interesting to do that type of unnecessary breath retention--just to see what other side effects might be caused. But for the vast majority of FP practitioners--especially beginners: the rule of thumb is "No holding of the breath--during any part of the meditations." Good practicing. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hi Orange, It doesn't matter if one sits on the forward part of a chair seat with back upright or if one sits back on the seat supported by the back of the chair--just as it doesn't matter for those who are able to sit in half-lotus or full-lotus position whether they sit upright away from a wall or prop or whether they sit with back against a wall, piece of furniture, any type of prop. The FP seated MSW meditations are very accommodating: as long as one KEEPS THE BACK STILL and upright and moves relaxedly, it doesn't matter whether one's back is being supported by a prop or not--in order to receive maximum health benefits from the meditations. Good practicing! Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Yes, if one cannot do the standing FP meditations, then one can work around that handicap and do just the seated FP meditations. But this is very sub-optimal. As stated several times on the thread over the years, the standing meditations are more powerful than the seated meditations--even though the seated ones may seem more affective because one feels the Qi cultivating more readily in the head, hands and torso with the seated. Also, as I've stated in previous posts: the Monk Holding Pearl standing meditation (50 40 30 20 10) can also be done in supine position (and in seated position as well) to excellent effect. In fact, I often will end an evening class with Monk Holding Pearl in supine position, if there are students who need and want a total and sure-fire RESET of their mind-body. But Monk Holding Pearl is the one of the standing FP exercises that can also be done seated or supine. All the others can only be done on one's feet. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

At this morning's FP Qigong class at Eastover, I had veteran workshops students visiting form NYC and I tailored the practice to their relatively more advanced level, emphasizing the longest moving meditations in the FP Qigong system (standing and seated) and doing MGM and MHPeach further ground, deepen and focus the cultivated FP Healing Qi. I. Warm-up A. Toe-circling walk B. Silk-Weaver's Exercise C. Warm-up #3 - Alternating Snake Creeps Down Exercise from Tai Chi For Health DVDs D. Wave Hands Like Clouds in wide horse stance (feet paralle). II. Standing Flying Phoenix Qigong A. Moonbeam Splashes on Water -- 2 rounds B. Monk Gazing At Moon C. Monk Holding Peach D. Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditatiion (aka, Long Form Moving Meditaiton on Vol.4) III. Seated Monk Serves Wine Meditations A. 22- movement Long Form seated MSW meditation (unpublished) - 2 rounds B. Monk Serves Wine #10 (does not conform to numbered MSW meditation son the DVD series.) Good practicing. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

To The FP Qigong Community: To further commemorate the 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY of this FLYING PHOENIX CHI KUNG discussion thread started by Lloyd McClelland on Dec. 4, 2009, I want to share this recent email exchange I had with Sean Omlor, the founder/owner of www.thedaobums.com, thanking him for creating this virtual space that has furthered countless forms of eastern practices and connected hundreds of thousands--if not millions of seekers--with authentic sources and preservers of sacred martial, yogic and spiritual Knowledge--despite the fact that when it attained peak popularity far beyond any other thread in the General Discussion , verminous trolls donned sock-puppets and tried to divert traffic to scamsites that attempted to dupe and gouge the gullible to buy stolen videos of GM Doo Wai demonstrating advanced BFP Qigong Arts (that no one I can think of is ready for or can benefit from practicing) for tens of thousands of U.S. dollars (!!! LOL)...thus causing the DB moderators to move the thread from the General Discussion section (accessible to all) to the Personal Practice Discussion where new FPCK subscribers now have to jump through several hoops and screen tests before they can post something to the FPCK thread--and where I have the liberty to delete any posting that derails the FPCK discussion in a dishonest or an unhealthy manner. At any rate, you'll see in my response to Sean's response, I wasn't aware that the discussions on other parts of the DB site had turned political in a tribal way (because I don't go far away from teh FPCK thread for lack of time and energy.) Thus I told Sean that I backed his decision 200% to drop the hammer and lock out all alt-right supporters of Stable Genius from his blogsite. Yeah, those supporters of the King of Trolls in the white house who just yesterday called the FBI "scum." All I can say is, the Tao Works in Mysterious Ways! --and Happy Holidays to all: Sifu Terry Dunn Holiday Greetings! Inbox x Terence Dunn <[email protected]> Dec 5, 2019, 5:51 PM (6 days ago) to Sean Dear Sean, When you have a second, please take a look at the post I just made on the Flying Phoenix Chi Kung discussion thread on your blogsite. As of yesterday, it has been active for ten years on www.thedaobums.com. I cannot thank you enough for creating DB and managing it so well through thick and thin, and especially these part 3 horrible years of 45's regime in D.C. in league with the international alt-right movement (ie., neo-nazism). But, nonetheless and nevertheless, you've done a tremendously valuable service for seekers of truth through yogic sciences throughout the English-speaking world. You should always be proud of that. Happy Holidays, Sincerely, Terry Dunn Sean Dec 8, 2019, 11:13 AM (3 days ago) to me Ten years. Incredible! I'm so happy that this weird little forum I upkeep could be of any benefit and I'm sincerely honored by your kind words. Humble bow. Also, yes, I'm pretty happy that I've gone rogue and began decisively kicking out right wingers. They don't give a shit about anyone IMO and I've lost patience trying to reason with them in my old age, LOL. Hopefully it facilitates a better vibe there. Happy Holidays to you and yours as well! Blessings, Sean Terence Dunn <[email protected]> Dec 9, 2019, 10:26 AM (2 days ago) to Sean Sean, You should take many more bows--humbly, only if you must-- in the face of massive thanks and gratitude that I strongly suspect every initiator of a discussion thread on TDB and all subsequent subscribers would hold and want to express to you. Btw, I am in absolute full support of you having gone "rogue" and acting decisively to kick right wingers and alt. right trolls off the site. But I wouldn't call what you did having "gone rogue." As long as you limit your expulsions to those hopeless simpletons who are diehard supporters of 45, (who by definition must love and worship the evil that grips all of Russia and him and pose the greatest existential threat to this country and the liberal democracies throughout the world) you can call it "going rogue"--or anything else you want. Besides the fact that it is your site and you can do anything you want with it, by it's name, the TheDaoBums, the blogsite is about Taoism--and the functional definition of which is: "Wisdom based on deepest universal ecological awareness." (my definition) --and, as Hui Neng, the 6th Patriach of Buddhism and the de facto creator of the Chan or Zen school, described the means to attain and maintain wisdom as: "Calmness (meditation) and wisdom is like a Lamp and its Light." So why would any right-winger or any-winger who supports the alt-right and donald trump, who is nothing but a monstrous id, and therefore the ultimate ZEN-less man, and why would anyone who supports any of 45's unethical, cowardly, immoral, blasphemous, un-Constitutional, atrociously venal, and treasonous policies, actions and declarations want anything to do with this site???!!! Political beliefs and prejudices aside, these are just HOPELESSLY STUPID people who are not interested in learning or have the capacity to learn. And if you observe them long enough, you'll see that the only way that they can learn is by experiencing extreme paradox (usually tragic in nature)--i.e., "Instant Karma," as explained by John Lennon in his song with that name. And as I have said both inwardly and outwardly ever since the early-1980's when faced with many types of people with all levels of intelligence, who want to study/train with me: it's my good karma in this lifetime that I am able to quickly dismiss or avoid stupid people...because it is no use to try to teach them. And anyone who's read Miyamoto Musashi's "A Book of Five Rings", his elegant book on strategy that teaches what I call Martial Zen, and follows his simple and powerful 9 Precepts to attain power and enlightenment on the warrior's path to Knowledge, the Ninth precept is "Do nothing which is of no use." And in exposing oneself trying to teach or reform stupid people, you yourself are violating that ninth precept and are being quite stupid yourself, and thus will suffer the inevitable consequences (fallout). And all that is because of this fact: "STUPID PEOPLE DON'T NEED TO MEDITATE...BECAUSE TO THEM, EVERYTHING IS CATHARTIC." Quite honestly, I've not wandered far enough off from the FPCK thread to see what the alt-righters have been posting in other parts of TDB--other than a lot of binge-reading during the weeks following your announcement of your "reorganization" of the site. I certainly agree with you that the trumpeting by alt-right subscribers is not conducive to civil discourse or any meaningful discussion of the Spirit or of anything even remotely related to Taoism. So may you continue to hose out your site of perverse obstructors (and worse) with exorcistic zeal in order to return Daobums to its original purpose of leading seekers to calmness (meditation) and wisdom. Peace, Terry Terence Dunn <[email protected]> Dec 9, 2019, 10:27 AM (2 days ago) to Sean P.S. Besides, a certain percentage of those you've expelled from the site are no doubt Russian trolls.

[Thanks for quoting, Earl Grey.] Miwizi, here are answers to your questions--even though they are about the old Vol.6 VHS video that I took off the market in the 1990's that contains advanced Bok Fu Pai Meditations that are NOT part of the Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Kung system: (1) When practicing "monk splashes water" as the arms/hands separate to the sides, should there be a feeling expansion to the collarbone area and a feeling of contraction of the shoulder blades, or should it be a case of finding the least tension front and back? • The theme of "Monk Splashes Water" is opening and closing the chest in both of its movements. As with many Bok Fu Pai and FP meditations that are done 18 times: Just Do It. This exercise itself when done regularly conditions the practitioner to eventually never have any gap between the points of the scapula (shoulder blades) even when the hands are "expanding" in front of the throat. (2) In general what is the distribution of weight on the foot between the heel and the ball of the foot? • Approximately 50% to 50%. You can also apply pressure equally to "three nails"--as taught by Tai Chi grandmaster William C.C. Chen: one point underneath the middle of the big toe, another point underneath the middle of the ball of the foot, and a third point underneath the middle of the heel pad. (3) When practicing "jade emperor lifts golden pagoda," should the weight distribution between legs change or remain 50/50? • Yes. Concentrate on keeping the weight distribution 50/50 between the two feet throughout the entire meditation. As each extended arm lowers from the stretched overhead position with palms facing upward, just stay centered--i.e., keep your center of gravity equi-distant between the two feet. (4) In general how much does one rely on personal internal feedback as opposed to mimicry of visual info from dvd etc.? An example for me would be the options in "jade emperor lifts golden pagoda." As the single arm extends outward and downward there is an angle that produces the least tension in the body. Do I use this trajectory or do I try to approximate what I see? • With "Jade Emperor" you want to lower each arm straight to the side (at a 90 degree anglerelative to the direction that your hips and shoulders are facing--i.e., on the normal). Thanks for the opportunity. miwizi Thank "Fu_doggy" for starting this thread and Sean Omlor for creating the Daobums.com blogsite. Good nuanced questions, Miwizi. Regards, Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

To the Flying Phoenix Qigong community: ACK!!! I had it in mind, but got so busy after Thanksgiving break that I missed it by a day: "It" being to remind y'all to take note of and celebrate the fact that December 4 is/was the: TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS FLYING PHOENIX CHI KUNG FORUM! --which was yesterday, December 4! --and our need to acknowledge it's longevity and the fact that it is still going strong [--Despite the fact that in the summer of 2018, the Daobums moderators had to move this forum out of the universally accessible General Discussion section into the Personal Practice Discussion where I can edit it--due to the thread being repeatedly trolled by what can only be called venal low-life/miscreants attempting to divert traffic to pathetic scam sites charging upwards of $10,000 (!!) for stolen videos that the vast majority of Qigong practitioners aren't advanced enough to even use and have no business practicing--containing material that I would teach anyway to any of student who followed the proper course of training in the Bok Fu Pai tradition--and at affordable cost.] Exactly 10 years ago yesterday, a 51-year old management consultant in Orlando, FL named Lloyd McClelland (screen name "Fu-doggy") posted the very first comment about Flying Phoenix Celestial Healing Chi Meditations on a www.thetaobums.com thread that he had started. (For those of you who remember, this blogsite was spelled with a "t" back then.) A few weeks later, Lloyd contacted me by email and asked if I would join the discussion thread as people were asking a lot of questions about Flying Phoenix Qigong. Lloyd explained to me that he had more than 7 years of experience in various other styles of Qigong--but had never experienced anything as powerful as Flying Phoenix Qigong. I had never heard of thetaobums.com before...so when I visited the site, I was delighted to find that it was totally legit and was hosting hundreds of discussions about eastern holistic health practices, including many occult Taoist and Buddhist traditions. We thus all owe a debt of gratitude to "Fu_doggy" Lloyd for starting this discussion thread on December 4, 2009--and I owe him a personal debt for contacting me and inviting me to join the thread! ••> And we also send a great shout-out of a THANK YOU to the founder/creator of www.thedaobums.com, Sean Omlor! Someone can check, but I am pretty confident that our FPCK discussion is the longest running forum on the DaoBums blogsite--and by far. To be accurate, if we subtract Earl Grey's two postings within the past 10 hours and subject this notice, the numbers of postings of the FPCK discussion thread is a total of 5,069 replies, or 5,070 postings (including Lloyd's prime posting.) And if we subtract 4 views, we arrive at a 10-year anniversary total of 638,765 views. This thread's longevity and the vast diversity of practitioners' unique accounts of their experiences of the tangible, measurable, and demonstrative health, yogic, and spiritual benefits derived from their practice of Flying Phoenix Qigong is a very substantial testament to the fact that this authentic system of Taoist monastic hygienics works like no other. And just this past Sunday, I was given the following scientific assessment of the efficacy of Flying Phoenix Qigong as a system of hygienics by Dr. Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu of the Yale School of Public Health and the Yale School of Medicine--with whom I became acquainted in April of this year: "The practice of Flying Phoenix Qigong elevates parasympathetic tone. The practice of this system of hygienics is truly restorative in real time and over time afterwards.” -- Yetsa A. Tuakli-Wosornu, M.D., M.P.H., IOC Dip. Sp. Med. Assistant Clinical Professor, Yale School of Public Health Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, International Olympic Committee (IOC) Working Group on the Prevention of Harassment and Abuse in Sport, World Obstacle Course Racing (FISO) Safeguarding Committee International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Medical Committee. (Dr. Tuakli-Wosornu is a former All-American in track and field, when she was a Yale undergrad and also Olympic competitor in the long-jump for Ghana. She earned her medical degree from the Harvard Medical School and Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.) So instead of stumbling and bumbling around, searching for words to describe what FP Qigong does for health and longevity when we try to recommend it to others, all we FP practitioners can now quote Dr. Tuakli and sound reasonably scientific! So, on this 10-year Anniversary of the FPCK thread on thedaobums.com, THANK YOU, LLOYD. THANK YOU, SEAN. AND THANK YOU, DR. YETSA TUAKLI ! Sincerely, Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Earl Grey, Thank you so much for accurately answering Ronin2019's 2 questions about closing breaths!. Sifu Terry

Pre-Thanksgiving update: November 4: Another spectacular testimonial came in spontaneously and quite unexpectedly from 81-year old Rori Kanter, one of my FP Qigong students in Lenox, MA who takes my weekly community classes. She told the class that at the end of her annual physical exam by her doctor the day before, he asked what she was doing for exercise? When she told him, "Qigong with Terry Dunn for the past 6 months" he " I want to send my patients to him." And that was because--as he told her-- she had the vitality and strength of a 59-year old male: https://vimeo.com/372632471 November 16: My first FP Qigong workshop at Woodstock workshop was a great success with a turnout of 30 people. FP followed a 2 hour Tao Tan Pai -31 session in which we covered all 15 standing meditations and the first 5 of the 16 seated meditations. At the end of the FP workshop, 5 attendees said that they would travel to my workshops in Lenox at Eastover Estate, which is only a 90 min. drive from Woodstock. As in the case of every FP Qigong workshop, several people--4 in this case-- reported in the following days to Mark, the sponsor of the workshop, that when they woke up on Sunday morning, their most pronounced chronic pains had disappeared. After 2 hours of FP, I taught a 2 hour class in the Yang Tai Chi Form of GM William C.C. Chen that included 40 min.s of Push-hands. And the local clique that practices Yang Tai Chi together are coming to Lenox for future workshops and classes with me and my teacher GM William C.C. Chen. But that was November 16. This is the Thanksgiving update: because I was invited to a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner given by a close friend and student who is a prima Italian chef and had 3 of 4 of her children with their spouses and 5 of her brilliant grandchildren at the table, and the deliciousness of the food (including desserts that were all equally delectable) and the energy and conversation at the table caused me to eat a higher volume of food at a higher velocity than ever before, I naturally had to devised a fast-digestion FP workout when I got home. And here his is it: 1. Wind Above the Clouds - 2 rounds (6 min.) 2. Wind through the Treetops - one round (4 min.) 3. Bending the Bows - 9 rounds done very, very slowly--i.e., at the proverbial "Speed of a Shifting Sand Dune." (10 min.) 4. Monk Holding Pearl in supine position (for 10 min.) Time: 30 minutes--i.e., if you don't fall asleep during #4. 5. The 2nd warm-up seated meditation on Vol.2 (50 10 50) -- POP QUIZ: can anyone figure out why this meditation is good for digestion? Happy Holidays, Sifu Terry.

Four more days until my first Tai Chi and Qigong workshops at Woodstock, NY!! Three 2-hour workshops in one day: (1) Tao Tan Pai Nei Gung, (2) Ehrmei Mountain Flying Phoenix Qigong, and (3) Yang Tai Chi Chuan (focus on William C.C. Chen's 60-part Form, Tai Chi Sword, and Push-hands). https://www.eventbrite.com/e/terry-dunn-one-day-qigong-tai-chi-seminar-in-woodstock-tickets-74721557189?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=escb&utm-source=cp&utm-term=listing https://www.facebook.com/events/2433068673449628/

Video images from the start of last Saturday's Flying Phoenix Qigong workshop at the Natural Living Expo in Marlborough, MA. A nice group of 60 enjoyed the sublimely energizing and restorative two hours--with an overtime session of 30 minutes in the hallway afterwards! https://vimeo.com/372431999 https://vimeo.com/372426783

Attention all Flying Phoenix Qigong practitioners and enthusiasts in the New York region: This Saturday, Nov. 2, from 10am to 5:30 pm, at the New York Open Center (30th & Madison Ave., I will be giving a 6-hour immersive workshop in FP Qigong. I will cover all the first-level Flying Phoenix meditations on Volumes 1 through 3, Vol.5, and Vol.7 of my Chi Kung For Health DVD series (2004). In other words you can learn the entire standing portion of the FP Qigong system short of the capstone Long Form Meditation taught on Volume 4 and you will learn up to 25% of all the Monk Serves Wine seated Flying Phoenix meditations (6 out of 24). Several of the "Old Guard" from my Eastover workshops over the past 3 years--Tony and Corinne Arcuri, Spencer Lawrence and SJ will be attending...so you will have experienced FP practitioners to follow and exchange notes with. To all my New York City students and friends who have never done Flying Phoenix Qigong: invest one Saturday--this coming Saturday--and your paradigm for health, wellness, longevity, brain center activation, and SPIRITUALISM will be SHIFTED FOREVER with tangibly energizing and rejuvenating effects of Flying Phoenix Qigong, which sets on within 45 minutes of practice, usually sooner. You will simply will not be able to imagine--and therefore will not be able to believe--that a human being could have created this tangibly healing and profoundly restorative meditative art. To all my west coast friends and friends across the country: please tell all your friends and relations in NYC to come to this once-a-year opportunity to experience and learn powerfully healing authentic Taoist monastic Qigong at its source. This high yogic art produces results that last. Info and registration here: https://www.opencenter.org/flying-phoenix-qigong

Hi Steve, You're not the only one who is amazed by the absolutely staggering amount of knowledge that GM Doo Wai has--not just the hundreds upon hundreds (no exaggeration) of classical Kung Fu forms comprised of: all the Bok Fu Pai Kung Fu forms (including the dragon forms that GM Doo Wai's father gave to the GM Chun Lai Chuen of the Bak Mei System; the complete Bat Dim Gum (8 Sections of Energy Combined system, an ultra-rare esoteric system) that's not even a Bok Fu Pai art, the complete Ehrmei Mtn Bak Mei Kung Fu system, the Tibetan Burning Palm system that Sifu Garry Hearfield preserves, the advanced 10,000 Buddhas (Ascend To heaven) meditation system consisting of 54 powerful Qigong exercises, PLUS all the vast systems of healing Qigong: Flying Phoenix, Sunn Yi Gung that Sifu Garry preserves, PLUS the VAST pharmacopeia and body of Trad. Chinese Medicine--herbal and healing art--that is distinctly Bok Fu Pai. For examle, I have all the herbal formulas not just 12 types of dit da jiao, but also formulas for herbal tinctures that aid meditation and vitality, and formulas to create herbal pills ("wan") for general health and that are integral to specific arts: Bat Dim Gum, BFP Iron Palm, and BFP Iron Body. And those are just the arts that I'm aware of. Between Sifu Garry and myself, we guess that we might have received training in about 50% of what GM Doo Wai knows, if that. Yes, the videos of GM Doo Wai's "Healing Meditaiton" and "Detox Meditation" ARE indeed ADVANCED in their sophistication and their effects. And they look complex becaiuse GM Doo Wai's form is , well, pretty perfect. But they are not that complex when it comes to classical forms to be learned. Just jump in and practice them over and over with eyes open. Practice until body memory take sove rand you no longer have to peek at the video. I assure, it's worth it to do those two little treasures that he put on Youtube! --and , btw, these two moving meditations would be interesting for anyone to run by Eric Isen, to verify their effects on oneself if practiced. Enjoy, Sifu Terry www.taichimania.com/chikujg_catalog.html

13 days until my next one-day (6-hour) Flying Phoenix Qigong workshop at New York Open Center (30th at Madison Ave.) This workshop will teach 7 Flying Phoenix Standing Meditations and 11 "Monk Serves Wine" seated meditations contained in Volumes 1, 2 and 3 of my Chi Kung For Health DVD series....PLUS selections from sister arts such as 10,000 Buddhas Ascend to Heaven, and Advanced Flying Phoenix Qigong (9 standing moving meditations). https://www.opencenter.org/flying-phoenix-qigong

Two days until my next 3-day immersive Flying Phoenix Qigong workshop begins at the beautiful Eastover Estate in Lenox, MA! http://www.eastover.com/workshop/flying-phoenix-qigong-3-days-master-terry-dunn.html

hi thelerner, Other than FP Qigong, there are no other guided meditations outside of the Bok Fu Pai tradition that I would recommend to people in a weakened state because I don't know of any Qigong system that is easier to do and less demanding than FP Qigong and yet imparts substantial energization and rejuvenation and activates the body's self-healing faculties, . E.g., Tao Tan Pai (Taoist Elixir Method), which I have been practicing since 1975 and teaching since 1983, is powerful, complete and profound Taoist monastic system, but it is far more demanding and requires more mental and visual concentration and physical stamina to learn and practice than FP Qigong. Therefore, the first thing I would recommend is for the weekened people that you speak of to do to start in on practicing FP Qigong. They are so easy and user-friendly and not taxing at all as far as authentic Qigong systems go. Besides starting with FP Qigong, the people in a weakened state might also try any of GM Doo Wai's Youtube videos, such as the Detox Meditation and what is called his Healing Qigong Meditation. Healing Qigong Meditation. These two Healing Qigong exercises are actually more complex and more difficult to learn, remember and practice than the two intermediate FP Standing Meditations on Vol. 3 of my DVD series ("Wind Through Treetops" and Wind Above The Clouds"). But these also produce good results if you (or they) can manage to learn them. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichmania.com/chikung_catalog.html

To Flying Phoenix Qigong practitioners and enthusiasts: Saturday, November 2 is my next FP Qigong workshop in New York City at the Open Center of New York, an excellent venue in the "NoMad" district (North of Madison Park). This will be a great opportunity get learn the 85% Flying Phoenix Qigong system and/or deepen your practice to profound extent. New York Open Center22 E 30th St, New York, NY 10016Phone: 212-219-2527Email: [email protected] In this coming workshop, you will learn all 7 of the basic standing Flying Phoenix Meditations: "Monk Holding Pearl," "Monk Gazing At Moon", "Monk Holding Peach," "Wind Above the Clouds," "Wind Through Treetops," "Bending the Bows," the Tai Chi-like "Moonbeam Splashes On Water." You will also learn 8 or more of the seated Flying Phoenix Meditations collectively known as "Monk Serves Wine" and five additional standing FP Meditations that require a total of 90 seconds each to perform. Two of the 8 MSW Meditations being taught have been proven through the past 3 decades to promote sound and perfectly restful sleep.Tuition: $125 (Open Center Members)$155 (non-members) https://www.facebook.com/events/1069762480056153/ Here's the standard boilerplate: Qigong and Kung Fu Master Terry Dunn will give a 6-hour immersive workshop on Ehrmei Mountain Flying Phoenix Qigong, a rare and powerful (purely) healing Qigong system created in 1644 by Taoist monk Feng Dao Deh and impeccably preserved by 6 generations of his teacher Grandmaster Doo Wai's lineage. Sifu Terry is the sole 7th generation preserver of this authentic Taoist monastic system of hygienics that is comprised of standing and seated, stationary and moving meditations that imparts a wide range of salient health benefits: increased respiratory power, improved circulation and metabolism, well-regulated sleep and resulting higher energy levels, improved neuro-muscular function and balance, strengthened immunity, increased bone strength, and the allostatic reversal of many signs of aging. Long term Flying Phoenix Qigong practice activates man's latent healing potential and cultivates a superabundance of the distinctively tangible and visible Flying Phoenix Energy (Chi) that has extraordinary healing properties unlike any other type of yogically cultivated energy. This workshop will experientially transform your paradigm of health, Yoga, and human energetics. Visit Sifu Dunn's website, www.taichimania.com and his Facebook product page, "Terry Dunn's Tai Chi For Health", for abundant information on this and other remarkable internal arts. Also see videos of Sifu Dunn's past FP Qigong workshops on Youtube by searching under "Flying Phoenix workshop Dunn." Also highly recommended: to hit the deck running at this workshop, practice to Volumes 1 and 2 of Terry Dunn's "Chi Kung For Health" DVD series available through the www.taichimania.com website.

Charlie, I've got a long ways to go to catch to you with your 44 minutes! I'm between 20 min. and 35 min. Once in a blue moon, I will go over 40 minutes. It's just that I have sooooo much to practice. E.g., practicing the 8 Sections of the 8 Sections of Energy Combined takes a min. of 90 minutes--if you do each form just once plus the fundamental BDG meditations. One group of 18 meds of the 54 meditation 10,000 Buddhas Ascend to Heaven Meditation System takes 2 full hours at minimum. Advanced FP Meditations (9 standing moving meds.) takes one hour. But I'll catch up one of these days! Best Always, Sifu Terry

It is exactly three weeks until my next 3-day immersive Flying Phoenix Qigong workshop at Eastover Estate in Lenox, MA. At this workshop, besides learning all the material on Volumes 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 of the Chi Kung For Health DVD series, you will also learn the 22-movement Monk Serves Wine long form seated meditation--until everyone gets it. FACT: three rounds of the MSW seated Long Form meditation is about the equivalent energy cultivation of doing two Monk Serves Wine Meditations (each one a set of 7 reps). http://www.eastover.com/workshop/flying-phoenix-qigong-3-days-master-terry-dunn.html "So get it while the gettin's good." -- Sifu Terry P.S. See videos of FP workshop sessions in my September 19 post above. https://www.facebook.com/pg/Terry-Dunns-Tai-Chi-For-Health-236579434951/posts/?ref=page_internal

Hi Taoguy, Because it is so restorative--if practiced continually for at least 35-40 minutes, FP Qigong can be quite helpful for those who trying to recover after being wiped out from radiation and chemotherapy treatments for cancer. In my experience, the most important benefit is that FP Qigong will rebuild the immune system better and faster than any meditative art I can think of--for the immune system is what is severely compromised by chemo/radiation. I know this first hand because my father tragically died in Nov. 2000 of complications from excessive chemo/radiation (which is a rampant problem in oncology). (Unfortunately he was not open to alternative therapies, specialists in Asia, or holistic approaches to curing the lymphoma he had.) Bottom line: No guarantees. But FP Qigong absolutely CANNOT HURT one's chances of recovering from cancer treatment. Best wishes for your mother. Sifu Terry Dunn www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

Hello Markern, Sorry for the slow reply--I was away from home base of Lenox, MA since last Tuesday...and am just now catching up with recent postings on the FPCK thread. A. Answer to your to Part A of question: Yes, I have been teaching workshops in Flying Phoenix Qigong at various venues since 1997. Presently, I am teaching in residence at a holistic health resort in Lenox, MA called Eastover Estate & Eco-Village. I have been giving 3-day workshops here since July of 2017. I have another workshop coming up this October 24-27. http://www.eastover.com/workshop/flying-phoenix-qigong-3-days-master-terry-dunn.html However, the price info on this registration page is wrong. The fee for this 3 day retreat is: $295 prepaid before Oct. 24; $320 on October 24. It will be fixed within 12 hours. B. Answer to Part B of your question: Yes, I do plan to give certifications in FP Qigong. But that is a long course of study and training. Besides demonstrating proficiency in the entire Flying Phoenix Qigong system, and the Advanced Flying Phoenix Qigong (9 standing meditations); to become a certified instructor, one must also learn and demonstrate proficiency in healing with the FP Qigong energy. That requires an apprenticeship with me to learn the use of Bok Fu Pai herbal formulas and Tui Na acupressure. So far, I have not had the time to teach students in these aspects of the art. But in about 18 mos to 2 years, I will be in a position to teach all aspects of healing with the distinctive FP Qigong energy. Thanks for your questions. Regards, Sifu Terry Dunn

Hello Markern, Sorry for the slow reply--I was away from home base of Lenox, MA since last Tuesday...and am just now catching up with recent postings on the FPCK thread. A. Answer to your to Part A of question: Yes, I have been teaching workshops in Flying Phoenix Qigong at various venues since 1997. Presently, I am teaching in residence at a holistic health resort in Lenox, MA called Eastover Estate & Eco-Village. I have been giving 3-day workshops here since July of 2017. I have another workshop coming up this October 24-27. This will be seventh FP Qigong workshop at Eastover, I believe. http://www.eastover.com/workshop/flying-phoenix-qigong-3-days-master-terry-dunn.html However, the price info on this registration page is wrong. The fee for this 3 day retreat is: $295 prepaid before Oct. 24; $320 on October 24. It will be fixed within 12 hours. B. Answer to Part B of your question: Yes, I do plan to give certifications in FP Qigong. But that is a long course of study and training. Besides demonstrating proficiency in the entire Flying Phoenix Qigong system, and the Advanced Flying Phoenix Qigong (9 standing meditations); to become a certified instructor, one must also learn and demonstrate proficiency in healing with the FP Qigong energy. That requires an apprenticeship with me to learn the use of Bok Fu Pai herbal formulas and Tui Na acupressure. So far, I have not had the time to teach students in these aspects of the art. But in about 18 mos to 2 years, I will be in a position to teach all aspects of healing with the distinctive FP Qigong energy. Thanks for your questions. Regards, Sifu Terry Dunn P.S. Here below again are video clips from past FP Qigong workshops at Eastover: Bending the Bows (cornerstone FP meditationon Vol.1): 2 movements in the middle of "Moonbeam Splashes on Water", the second to the last and most complex of the FP Qigong Standing meditations: My demonstration last winter in Lenox of "Moonbeam Splashes in Water" --done at proper healing-meditative speed: Finally, this an advanced Bok Fu Pai meditation that accelerates the cultivation in Flying Phoenix Qigong: And this is a clip for the most recent FP Qigong workshop, where the class is doing one of the Ten Thousand Buddhas' Meditations, a completely different Qigong system consisting of 54 mostly standing moving meditations in the the Bok Fu Pai tradition. it is a sister art to Flying Phoenix: Enjoy. Sifu Terry Dunn