surfingbudda

So is it like a healing tonic applied to exterior "hit" wounds. In your opinion, does it work really well. Do you use it alongside your Taoist medicine?

Hi Rainbow Vein, Thanks for the response. Ya I can't wait till I get my chance to go to my first workshop. Where was the workshop that you went to? Are you doing Michael's 500 hour certification program? Ya I always new that there was higher healing out there way beyond what Acupuncture can do, and I am just THRILLED because I truly believe michael is THE GUY who can get me to that higher level of healing and allow me reach my dream of becoming a perfect healer. I will see, but I am still really considering receiving a TCM to give me a solid foundation of the points, herbs and other aspects that make up TCM; and I want the credibility that comes along with being a certified professional "healer". I Still would like to ask Michael, the question: That after I learn his Taoist Medicine, would there ever be an instance where I would incorporate TCM or does is Taoist Medicine trump all aspects of TCM. It just maybe seems to me that his Taoist method, although extremely effective, may specilize in certain areas while lack in others, while TCM as far as I know can be applied to all kinds of ailments. Basically would TCM prove to be at least somewhat beneficial to me as a healer, or would there be no need for it as Taoist medicine is all superior to it, and learning TCM would only act to confuse me and make the process of learning the Taoist medicine THAT much harder?

I can't wait to get your gift of the Tao, I am about to order it . So is your Gift of the Tao set of movements linear or non-linear like the stillness practice? Also what was your purpose for spending the time to create this set of qigong exercises, what benefit do they give that the stillness movement does not? Does the whole set of exercises in the Gift of the Tao work on the entire energy body?

Ya Mu, So just from my understanding from what you have written, it seems that your Taoist medicine system is an extremely effective healing art. However, just from what you have written, it seems that your taoist method is specialized in pain, emotional and nerve treatments, and not as effective in treating other kinds of ailments. While from my understanding TCM can be used to treat just about any ailment. I guess what I am getting at is, say I receive a degree in TCM and then completely learn your Taoist healing system, is there any instance where TCM would be used instead of your Taoist method in treating someone or I could incorporate both methods. Or does your Taoist method in every way completely trump acupuncture in treating any form of ailment? Also acupuncture is just one part of TCM, as I am sure you know there is also Moxibustion, herbology, Tui Na, and of course medical qigong. So when you say your Taoist medicine is superior to acupuncture, do you still think having proper knowledge in the other four aspects of TCM would be beneficial in further treating people? Or do you think the only benefit of receiving a degree of TCM would be for the credibility it would give to western patients, and perhaps the knowledge of herbs, everything else could be thrown out and replaced by your system? I would like to get a degree in TCM but it will be hard to push through it knowing in the back of my mind the degree is all aesthetics and will simply be replaced by your Taoist Method, and by learning TCM it may only act in confusing me while I learn your system. But there are probably many acupuncturists who easily adapt to your techinque. Would you say most acupuncturists who learn your Taoist medicine encorporate in into their practice, or replace their current TCM practice with your Taoist one. My parents thrilled that I wish to pursue a path in healing, however they feel that by receiving a degree in massage, I will be viewed as someone to go to for relaxation ,while being an acupuncturist will allow me to be viewed more as a real healer. Therefore they are strongly advising against getting the massage certification, which is also my opinion.

I have a great desire to learn your system, perhaps I can find my way to one of your workshops that are already scheduled. Do you have workshops every year where you are located in Missouri? I am school right now, but if you have a workshop during the summer time in the western region of America such as Colordado or Oregon, or even better California , then I could probably manage to go. If not I could possibly find a way to Missouri, it would be nice to know if there was anyone in my area who was driving there for the workshop and had an extra seat for me. So is this a correct outline of your system: go to workshop, learn stillness qigong along with energy transmission and learn other kinds of qigong in your system. Then one has all the skills needed for personal practice in which one will cultivate chi and then at some point return to another workshop and repeat the process by fine tuning one's skills and further energy transmission. What defines the state of progress where one is ready to begin medical qigong? BTW when you say medical qigong, are you teaching the exact same method taught by the NQA or is your method your own taoist version? And just to clarify, the medical qigong that you teach is separate from the stillness movement and gift of Dao. One last question, what is the usual fee for one of your workshops? Also, is there a place that you know of most people stay when going to your missouri workshop, like a cheap room nearby or something. I would assume accommodations are not provided at these workshops. Again Thank you, I truly appreciate your help in answering my questions.

Ya Mu, Could you also explain the significance of Dit Da Jow that you sell on your site Thankyou, Ben

Hey Ya Mu, Did you ever get a chance to make a video of the Dr Graef's isotonal qigong exercises? If not, maybe you could just describe here what they involve? I would be interested in knowing more about them. What is the history behind these exercises and why do you add them to your daily routine, do they fall into your category of non-linear qigong?

Well I hope I can attend your next workshop and begin trying out your style. Whats your next workshop in the states? So for a workshop to be possible in california, all I need is to find a location and enough people? Is there any requirement for the type of space you can do it in, and what do you consider enough people to be worth your while? Also, do you ask a charge for coming to a workshop, and what are usually the individual prices for attending? You say the Stillness-Movement and Gift of Tao come before medical qigong, does that mean these two practices can be considered "self help qigong" which prepares one for learning to heal others? So you say learning TCM can act to confuse one and can actually make learning your Taoist medicine more difficult. Nothing about TCM correlates to your system of healing? You do say that a prerequisite for your certification program is to take a course on the acupuncture points, I guess this is where a degree in TCM would come in handy. So my main concern about not getting a proper degree in Acupuncture and going straight to your program would be the credibility of it to patients. just IMO, I think there may be a broader range of people who would use my services as a healer if they can see a tangible degree from a school of TCM to prove I know what I am doing. Even if your system is light years better than the washed down TCM, it still may be to exotic or esoteric for the average person seeking alternative medical help. If I had both the TCM degree and your certification training, then I feel I could be a true healer, while appealing to more people. This is just my opinion, I do not know exactly how your certification program is viewed by the medical world or common person seeking medical help. Would you say your program is taken seriously by people outside of the qigong world? Do you train many people in your program who's only holistic training has been your qigong certification, or would you say most people coming to be trained under your medical program are people who already have trained in TCM or other alternative health fields such as massage.

Hi Tianshi, I myself am in no way too knowledgeable in the field of "True Health", being a beginner to qigong and taoist philosophy, and my understanding may actually be western schemes to make money by telling people to take supplements and this quote from a chinese herbalist, as well similar quotes from other famous ancient chinese sources, may be giving the washed down "easy fix" to the public and keeping the "true health" secrets to themselves. I am all for learning and changing my views, I am by no way a rigid thinker. I am just curious what yours sources are or how you have come up with your conclusion about supplements and herbs that you have made? Thankyou, Surfingbudda

Hi Ya Mu, Let me just say great work and I am extremely excited to one day join your certification program. I just have a few questions. I have always had a deep passion in helping people and believe I have found my true calling in oriental healing. Right now I am planning on going to a good TCM school (specifically Five Branches in Santa Cruz) and getting a masters degree in TCM. This program includes required qigong courses and offers an optional 176 hour medical qigong certificate program that takes you through 4 levels of medical qigong and includes clinical practice. Would doing all this be a very good foundation for your 500 hour certification program? Am I right when I say this is the hierarchy of oriental healing ability, 1. physical acupuncture and TCM theory 2. Medical Qigong 3. Taoist Medicine. First one should have knowledge of the 1 before going on to 2 and then finally learning 3. My reasoning behind getting the degree from the TCM would be to get a good foundation for oriental healing, and to have an actual degree that people could trust. Did most of your serious students for the program already come with a degree or background in TCM or other healing art? I just feel one reason I would need the Acupuncture degree is because it would give me more credibility as a healer to the more average looking for alternative medicine. Another question, you mentioned there is a difference between medical qigong and regular qigong for self healing. Is a strong foundation for regular qigong necessary before learning medical qigong. Or does medical qigong act as a self healing qigong as well as teaching one to heal others. I guess my question is if regular qigong( as in self healing) is the prerequisite for medical qigong( healing others), or a completely different animal, and one should begin with medical qigong if healing is their goal? Also, do you know anything about wild goose qigong, it is another taoist branch of qigong that does not incorporate forced concentration and encourages wu wei or doing nothing to naturally create powerful qi flow. Could your system work along side this one. I am really interested in checking out your system, I actually just asked to get your book for x-mas . Who knows, maybe after I check out your system, I'll just stick to yours, is your system a complete qigong system within itself? Is the only way to learn how to do your method is by learning it through one of your workshops? BTW do you know the next time you'll be in the calfornia area giving a workshop? Also you mentioned once that you could check if someone in your area is driving to your workshop to catch a ride with them, do you perhaps know how I could go about finding people in my area who are traveling there? I know these are a whole lot of questons, I am grateful for any answers or comments you are willing to provide. Thankyou -Ben

What exactly is transmission? is it a physical exchange between teacher and student or just a way of saying the teacher has passed on his technique to the student?

Hey Baguakid, Did you ever find a suitable class you were looking for? You said you have 25 years of experience. What styles of qigong or martial arts have you done? After 25 years, what has been your conclusion as the best style or type of qigong to you? Personally I think I will continue Wild Goose and continue to search for a good TCM school to get a professional degree, then I think I will look into doing Michael Lomax's qigong certification program because I feel really drawn to his style. I look forward to reading Michael's book this winter, I have already asked for it for x-mas

Hey Ya Mu, I am just curious, is the distance healing that you offer any less effective than being in the same room as you? Also are you the one giving the healing, or one of your students?

Hi Tianshi, I am just wondering what your basis or reasoning is for saying, one should never take supplements for the long run. Does this mean you do not beleive in any sort of multivitamin for continual usage? Also two months to me does not seem like that long of a period, would you only take any certain supplement for a week max? In my logic, it would just seem like taking a supplement once in a while here and there would not provide much benefit, and that one would need to take it for at least a month to really begin benefiting, on account healing is a process. But I might be totally wrong, maybe taking the same supplements too long bring your body out of balance. I would also think that an herb like Ling Zhi, being an herb for overall vitality, health, and longevity would only enhance overall balance within the body and bring one out of balance. Heres a quote by the famous chinese herbalist Li Shizhen about the red Ling zhi mushroom, " It positively affects the life-energy, or Qi of the heart, repairing the chest area and benefiting those with a knotted and tight chest. Taken over a long period of time, agility of the body will not cease, and the years are lengthened to those of the Immortal Fairies" This quote seems to contradict what you are saying and advices one to take Ling Zhi for a long period of time to enhance one's life.

What do you guys feel about combining different arts? I asked my wild goose qigong teacher if one could create a routine by combining different aspects from different styles of qigong. She said that its all fine to do that in the beginning, but eventually if someone want to ever progress they should find a style and stick with it only. I feel really drawn to wild goose qigong and probably will make it my life's work to get as far into the system as I can; there are 72 levels of it so that should keep me occupied . However, I also feel drawn to other forms of internal work, such as Bagua Zhang, and Bruce Frantzis's taoist breathing. I have also heard that different forms of energy work move your chi in different ways so practicing different many kinds of qigong can be harmful to the energy body. Is there any truth to this? Since Bagua Zhang is a martial art and BKF's breath work isn't his system but a way to naturally increase breath; do you guys think it would be fine to make Wild Goose Qigong my core practice, and use it to supplement my bagua training, while learning to increase my breath through BKF's method? It would probably be fine, however I don't exactly want to mess up my energy body. In any event, this is looking way down the road. For now I will just have fun working with Wild Goose, then I will think about adding to my practice. I am just curious as to everyone's opinion on combining arts, do you guys commonly add interesting aspects of other styles to your own qigong routines?

Hello Baguakid, In case your still looking for a qigong master to train under, you could try learning Wild Goose Qigong from Dr. Bingkun Hu My link. If your at all interested in Wild Goose, which is a complete taoist system, then He is the guy. He learned the the complete system from the last lineage holder Yang Meijun. He seems seems extremely knowledgeable and nice. Heres a link with his office in berkeley My link There are a series of teachers under him in a group called wild coast qigong, in which most of them teach around the bay area, heres the website My link. I would recommend checking it out if your still in search of qigong. Incase your interested heres a link with everything you'd want to know about the Wild Goose system My link good luck in your search of a good class

Hi Baguakid, What schools in China do you recommend? So all the classes are in english? Also what is Ya Mu? BTW the two colleges I mentioned, Yo San and Five Branches offer a study abroad program where students have the option to spend there last year studying at a chinese school in china. Also both of these school have a fair amount of teachers who taught in China and came to teach in the states. I don't know if receiving a degree from one of these universities could add up to what you learn in China, but both of these colleges seem adequately better than the majority of acupunture schools in the states. P.S. Is your friend in china, of chinese decent or already spoke chinese before entering the school in Shanghai?

I am planning on studying TCM also . Heres a great article explaining the differences between certain types of acupuncture schools. It explains that some schools of TCM are more lineage based and really teach the more spiritual aspects of it. Two schools that do this that I am considering is Yo San University, founded by the taoist master Hua Ching Ni and Five Branches University which also gives equal emphasis to all aspects of healing, including qigong. If your interested in qigong, Yo San has an intensive chi cultivation program that looks really good. Five branches also has high level qigong training as well, but I think Yo San might emphasize that aspect a tiny bit more. However both school seem great. I am sure there are other lineage based schools but these are the two that I know of. Heres the article My link Five Branches My link Yo San My link

Hi Dmattwads, How exactly does one start transforming and transporting one's jing for healing?

Hey guys, maybe you know the answer to this. I am kinda confused over the concept of jing and ejaculation. Is it that everytime you ejaculate you lose vital jing which is permanently gone and your body will never get back? If this is case, then is it preferable to only ejaculate with the intention of fertilization? Or is like you say, holding the excess sexual energy in too long is not beneficial and can lead to problems in itself, if so is it perfectly healthy, jing and qi wise, to ejaculate say once a month to release the body's built up sexual energy? What does mantak chia recommend, ejaculating say once a month, or to only ejaculate to have children?

A good video my dad showed me and told me the truth, that I can do whatever I want in life. Enjoy =) My link

so BKF says turtle breathing is supposed to be a 5 minute breath. Does this mean that inhale and exhale are 2:30 minute intervals with a combined length of 5 minutes, or each inhale and exhale both 5 minutes long?

Well i reread through the BKF's breathing method and have slowly began training my breath. Even just starting its pretty powerful. Maybe even a bit too powerful, after doing it on my bed for a bit, when i got back up i got dizzy and my whole vision filled with stars; even through i felt no pain during the practice, can one overdose on energy? I will just move even slower through the process to allow my body to adjust to taking in more energy than its used to. Is this just some thing that takes time to push through while your body adapts? Also BKF doesn't talk about it, but is it necessary to do grounding exercises along with it? If so, whats a good grounding method everyone here uses? Also I have just started doing basic qigong exercises from Dr. Bingkun Hu's video "flexability through qigong" and he doesnt have any particular closing or grounding exericise, however he does do a sort of mini closing and focusing on the dantian after each exercise. Is this enough, or should qigong always have a powerful closing and grounding after everything is done?

Thank you Sloppy Zhang, I am excited to get started. Do you think BKF's CD provides information the book doesn't or just resays whats in his book? I guess my only concern is if I should be learning this, just because I am about to start Wild Goose Qigong which I have read is a style which emphasizes natural breathing. I guess BKF's is simply how breathing should naturally be and it would be fine to do both together, its not like I am actually doing his qigong, just his breathing practice.