Antares

Cheese is not meat. Never had diarrhea from it. At the moment I eat vegetarian food adding organic powder made of supergreens and some mild cheese made of sheep milk. No any other animal products.

Are you believer that horse stance is CARDIO exercise?

cycling rocks for me.

I have learned 2 sections of Taichi with Terry Dunn's DVD. Easy to follow, good explanation, good camera (you can see from 2 angles), good warm up. Best DVD on taichi yang form I have ever seen.

What I wanted to add to SYG and the reason is why... As I mentioned I have got video of Chan Mi Gong. The system is based on 5 exercises for the spine washing it up and down, loosing all joints, opening points and channels. Very similar to the Opening Energy Gates. FP is very very soft and does not give feeling of the good body workout. That is major reason why I wanted to terminate FP practice, as it takes at least 2 hours every day. Plus I need something else more dynamic. So I thought to do smth more like spine workout, taichi and SYG. Weight lifting could be bad for energy channels imho

I'll watch again the DVD. May be I missed smth. I recall it was smth about feeling relaxation. What is wrong with taichi? IMHO good for grounding and for qi development either. But it might be better to do FP for this reason as these 2 systems are fully compatible. And in FP there is taichi - like form. I mean I want to go further with SYG as main system and some levels of FP. My idea was as I tried to explain that SYG is static in the beginning. But FP has some dynamic, but I feel I NEED smth else for the body and your idea of strength training seems appealing to me. that just may be my mind wants something else... Yeah, may be I will just add some weight lifting to my FP and SYG practice

And what better to concentrate on? Breath down and up or just relax and feel the body...?

The question. Is it alright to do seated one from level 1, then taichi and finish with standing one? Or to do them separately or better together one after another?

Thanks. I will be doing another dynamic qigong following by SYG level 1. Was thinking to practice zazen but I suppose SYG is much more efficient than just quiet sitting. Might be zazen is broken Boddhidharma's method. I just wanted to attend local zen community for group meditation. But they just sit and nothing more. I would better practice SYG and dynamic qigong.

I want to ask Garry here if it is OK to practice first level of SYG after other dynamic qi gongs. I am doing Chan Mi Gong as well which is working with spine column (washing it). Then I was thinking to do static SYG after few minutes.

I did not understand your query at all.

I just was thinking to switch entirely to BFSYG because I think I won't be able to meet Sify Terry in sunny California. But I am going to move to the place which is very close to the place where Sifu Wretfors resides. Thus it might be easier to learn it than by the DVDs. And yes, FPCK is good system but seems to be quite long what requires all life commitment. But it might be good idea to practice some levels of FPCK for the foundation as Sifu Terry recommends. It is good for grounding and gives very subtle and smooth healing energy.

I can only quote Sifu Terry words here

That's interesting. Sifu Terry stands for that fact that GMDW normally teaches Flying Phoenix system as safety and energy net for all other BFP arts. And FP system basis includes 2 moving meds and 3 static ones followed by seated ones. And Sifu Terry says vol.1 meds are foundation for FPCK and thus for all BFP arts. That's what I was thinking about this. And I am practicing FPCK now until I have good foundation and then I will do BFSYG meds. Anyway I believe one has to have good foundation for practicing BFSYG.

You could continue practicing Flying Phoenix Chi Kung which has static and moving forms and it is complete system and same BFP energy system. And Sifu Terry Dunn is in California if I am correct.

No bother. I am going for the vegan diet for awhile. I want to take antiparasite course and cleanse body. I take cordyceps now plus 8 immortals and some medicine for my kidneys as I have some deficiency there. Now I am picking herbs to help parasites to find another place. It just to make my body more yang. I think majority of us have more ying due to the food habits and stress.And then I plan to do 100 days of spiritual program: http://www.yahwehsaliveandwell.com/pages/programs.htm Nourishing yin and yang and then more yang. There is Ron's book. Very interesting with herbs description. I like it. I dont know how it will help me but I thought to give it a try. And as I said I feel it helps. My mood is more stable. Like feel more happy. But I do my qigong every day. That is all I can say now

Just let you know lads that this stuff is little cheaper on iherb.com. Plus they do 10% discount for the order over 60$. And reasonably cheap shipping charges. This discount promotion ends up at the end of the month. If you use code ZEJ367 it will give you up to 10$ discount with your first order om iherb.com. If you are interested. This is not promotion from my side. Just saying as it is working for me and it might help to somebody.

Well. All this depends on few factors. May be Ron has not cultivated qi in the way of alchemy and thus it does not help much in cultivation of internal qi. Plus to that he might be working much and has stress. Monks are living mostly in the wild. So we cant compare it. Herbs is what they call "external alchemy". I think it helps more to people who has diff health issues or imbalances of yin/yang. It does not do the job for you. It helps if you do the job. Many of taoists used herbs along with qi cultivation. I personally use it for the purpose of rejuvenation such as to detox organs, bring more balance and mind stabilization. I feel it does something to me. It just helps to bring more balance IMO. I think we have to think of physical body too. It helps to be more healthy and stable. I am taking tao in the bottle. It gives me some nice pleasant feeling of something hmmm let's say subtle. Like I had few cups of green tea. I think it helps to stabilize mood and sleep. It's little expensive but I use it for 100 days along with qigong. Just for the boost

Regarding your post about Ron's stuff I replied here: http://thetaobums.com/topic/10130-ron-teeguardens-herbs-at-dragonherbscom-work-very-well/?hl=teeguarden

It is not noticeable if you are healthy. Then it only boost up immune system and resistance to stress. Ron offers many programs for diff issues by the way. And one has to take it consistently for 100 days nourishing "three treasures" altogether. And I suppose it working much better if you do some qi cultivation. I have been taking some stuff for 3 days and noticed some calming effect and improvement in my concentration.

Aurélien, I would advise you to pay attention to some very potent herbal medicine. For example cordyceps: http://www.yahwehsaliveandwell.com/pages/cordycepsmushroom.htm I've been taking it for awhile and feel it is in very good friendship with FP energy. It is absolutely safe medicine. Also there are some other medicine to strengthen shen (mind, heart) quality and thus fight depression issues. PM me if you want more information (also I can provide you with discounts option for this medicine if you consider to give it a try). That's all I will be able to help you with your problem

It is said there Still worth buying. Good price at least. But I am not sure as I know that the best form is extraction form. It is digested much better. You should remember to have a look if it is just powder or extract form which less amount is required for intake

I like night time practicing too. I think the best time for practice is early morning an late before midnight (9-12 pm) when there is more calmness around. I dont like practice when sun is high. And I think it is important to be in deep sleep before astronom. midnight. So I am trying to practice 9-11 pm and at 11 to fall asleep. Then wake up earlier and practice. But I feel lazy early, I have some blood (qi) stagnation and feel sluggishly straight after wake up.May be that is what I need to move gently after wake up. I am thinking to practice 8 brocades straight after wake up.

"Old school" kung fu arts were very similar to taoist arts. At contemporary Shaolin they practice different arts, more external. Many taoists do practice now arts which are believed originated from chan buddhism kung fu elaborated by Boddhidharma. Many taoists practice baduanjin now, tendons muscles change and 18 hands lohan. This is just an example here: http://www.amazon.com/18-Buddha-Hands-Qigong-Exploration/dp/0924071990/ref=pd_cp_mov_1 You can read excerpts from the book there and it has taoist energetic structure. Another case there are many new age calisthenics like 8 pieces of brocade which working more with muscles and will give you some flexibility and good physical conditions. Ancient Shaolin arts were incorporated with taoists arts and there are not much differences in general if any .

Yeah, but only couple of posts about internal and all other is about he is COOL. This is off topic. Too much Clayman here