Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

[zen-bear]

I have been following this forum and practicing FP for some time ( a few years). Just got volume 7 a few weeks ago. Really like the forms and the energy. I don't get the "sleeper" result from the 50 20 10 one though. In fact, quite the opposite. I dream (lucid dreams) a lot. I may be sleeping, but staying aware while is something I wasn't prepared for .

It reminds me of the results of one of the meditation techniques in Evan Wentz's Tibetan Practices book.

 

ridingtheox is an inspiration btw.

Much thanks to Terry Dunn and everyone who has provided their experiences over the life of this forum. Really cleared up some things for me.

Hello TF,

 

(My apologies for not reading your Nov. 25 post more carefully before reading and answering your Nov. 27 post.)

 

Here is my belated reply to your earlier post of Nov. 25 in which you stated that the increased lucidity during your sleep that resulted from practicing the (50 20 10) MSW meditation affectionately known as "the sleeper" was not something that you were ready for!:

 

I may be sleeping, but staying aware while sleeping is something I wasn't prepared for .

 

If you literally mean that you are aware and lucid while sleeping as well as aware and lucid while dreaming (and that's a very big difference), then you are developing or evolving a very advanced higher state of consciousness (HSC) with the help of "the Sleeper"!

 

For the highest (and also most saintly) yogins that I know--including my spiritual guide since 1994 (who is not versed in Chinese martial or yogic arts, btw)--can sleep in a mode in which they are seemingly enjoying maximum restful sleep (appearing to be deeply asleep to any sensitive outside observer--by their respiration pattern and energy level), but their consciousness is Universal and All-knowing--simultaneously teaching by solving problems of immediate concern to other parties in the room while being fully aware (with eyes closed) of every being's thoughts and actions within the room. It is a HSC maintained while sleeping that I sense is akin to what Chen Hsi I (Chen Tuan) of Huashan cultivated and then codified in his "Sleeping Yoga." (I will go into greater detail about high-level problem-solving during lucid sleep (as well as lucid dreaming) in a chapter in my forthcoming FP Qigong Book.)

 

I'm sorry that I nearly missed your comment. For I always enjoy reading about practitioners' nuanced and peculiar effects derived from FP Qigong practice. -- Ha ha. Flying Phoenix is full of sublime surprises, is it not?!!

 

If you already have good facility in lucid dreaming, the 50 20 10 "Sleeper" meditation will only make your sleep more restful and your dreams more clear, and more lucid as an active and conscious participant, more easy to remember upon waking. The second Monk Serves Wine meditation on Vol.2 DVD (50 40 30 10) has similar "smoothing" effects.

 

Your report of the "Sleeper's" effects coincides with my completing a 10-week FP Qigong course for 18 acupuncture students, and they almost unanimously reported the following throughout the last 5 weeks of the class:

1. they sleep longer

2. they get more rest from sleep.

3. their dreams are more clear and easy to remember.

4. they have noticeably higher energy levels throughout the day.

5. However, there were no comments by any members of this group regarding the onset or enhancement of "lucid dreaming."

 

TF, be sure to let the thread know of the effects from your practice of the advanced Monk Serves Wine Meditations on Volume 7!

 

Enjoy.

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

_{www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html}

Edited December 9, 2014 by zen-bear

[zen-bear]

 

When I do Flying Phoenix, I definitely feel more warm from having increased circulation. Doing taiji or zhanzhaung though, sometimes my hands or another body part will become so warm that it's actually uncomfortable for me, and I definitely don't feel that during FPQG.

Hi Monk Drinks Wine,

 

Thanks for your feedback on temperature effects of FP Qigong practice. For beginners, FP practice always feels like it has warming effects because it increases circulation and respiration and then harmonizes both functions with all the other organ functions of the body, inducing the state of allostasis. If FP Qigong is the first Qigong system one has practiced, then the first experience of internal energy will be a warm experience.

 

_{When I do Flying Phoenix, I definitely feel more warm from having increased circulation. Doing taiji or zhanzhaung though, sometimes my hands or another body part will become so warm that it's actually uncomfortable for me, and I definitely don't feel that during FPQG.}

 

That's an important observation and distinction. Indeed, the FP Energy is so balanced and allostatic that even in super-abundance, it is not felt as an intensely high or uncomfortable heat from Tai Chi Qigong or internal systems.

 

The question I posted was to all practitioners:

**To all FP Practitioners: Please chime in with accounts your experiences of the FP energy as to its temperature if you've experience it.**

 

Thus I'm also addressing more advanced practitioners who can regularly feel the body fully permeated with the FP Healing Energy--i.e., those who practice the Standing Long Form meditation (Vol.4) regularly, for whom the FP Healing Energy is abundant, tangible, accessible and transferrable--to describe the temperature of the FP energy as they experience it.

Hope to hear from y'all as to temperature. Thanks.

 

Best,

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

_{www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html}

[zen-bear]

 

After completing the AMSW #1 meditation (50-20-10) my sleeping patterns are much more successful, but only when the meditation is completed in a minimum of forty-five minutes. For the best results sessions greater than fifty minutes seem to be required. When performing this meditation, the feeling of being drowsy is not present, but a very restful sense is within me.

 

When any of the Flying Phoenix meditations are performed to quickly, in my experience, only minimum, if any, achievement is made. Slowing down all the meditations provides best results. Some of these results are:

 

Physical:

• weighted forearms

• tingling hands/arms

• mild, pleasant, tension in the center of the forehead

• overall body warmth

• weight and heat in the tan tien

• the sense of moving through water

Eyes closed:

• blue orbs moving

• over all view of blue within the black mental screen

• occasional intense floods of emotion (not overruling)

• sensations of suggestions regarding diet and life changes

If any of these sensations have not been encountered within a meditation session, then I feel that connection has not been established. Likely causes are lack of focus, relaxation, and moving too fast. The deficiency in the latter leads to the others.

A typical morning session, which includes completing a round of Yang Tai Chi Chuan, requires two to three hours to complete.

 

Over the years I have found that it is very important to continue with all the meditations. Normally, in the morning, one of the basic five meditations is applied, then one of Wind Through the Tree Tops or Moonbeam splashes on the Water, and then the Long form. After, a round of Tai Chi is applied, using the shifting sand dune principle, and then completing the session with one of two seated meditations.

Hi Robb,

 

My comments are below in blue italic:

 

After completing the AMSW #1 meditation (50-20-10) my sleeping patterns are much more successful, but only when the meditation is completed in a minimum of forty-five minutes. For the best results sessions greater than fifty minutes seem to be required. When performing this meditation, the feeling of being drowsy is not present, but a very restful sense is within me.

• Good effects. More restful sleep and longer sleep are always reported by practitioners of "the sleeper" meditation. Because the effects of all the meditations in the FP Qigong system are cumulative, over time (within a few months), you will find that you will have to practice less in attaining the same or even greater levels of deep sleep and/or conscious absorption.

 

When any of the Flying Phoenix meditations are performed to quickly, in my experience, only minimum, if any, achievement is made. Slowing down all the meditations provides best results. Some of these results are:

In the beginning, going as slowly as possible with the moving meditations--at "the speed of a shifting sand dune"--is essential for greatest health benefits and yogic development.

 

Physical:

The physical effects you've described below are typical of those experienced by beginning FP practitioners, which are very much like the benefits of early Tai Chi practice. As per my hits to "the fool", this is what's ahead:

• weighted forearms • forearms and limbs not felt at all--and if felt, they ares felt only as floating lighter than air.

• tingling hands/arms • energy permeation through entire body from head to toe.

• mild, pleasant, tension in the center of the forehead *Other parts of the brain will feel "activated". Then a most fluid energy movement inside the brain matter experienced as a sublime "washing" sensation.

• overall body warmth •body temperature neutral and even throughout, such that one can easily not feel the body at all. Allostasis.

• weight and heat in the tan tien •a barely noticeable fullness at tan tien--Again, the FP energy uniformly permeates the body.

• the sense of moving through water •No sense of the body as being separate from the environment and space.

 

 

Eyes closed:

• blue orbs moving

• over all view of blue within the black mental screen

• occasional intense floods of emotion (not overruling) Grist for the mill.

• sensations of suggestions regarding diet and life changes As per any allostatic and legitimate psychotherapeutic effect: insight follows change; never precedes it.

 

If any of these sensations have not been encountered within a meditation session, then I feel that connection has not been established. Likely causes are lack of focus, relaxation, and moving too fast. The deficiency in the latter leads to the others.

A typical morning session, which includes completing a round of Yang Tai Chi Chuan, requires two to three hours to complete.

 

Over the years I have found that it is very important to continue with all the meditations. Normally, in the morning, one of the basic five meditations is applied, then one of Wind Through the Tree Tops or Moonbeam splashes on the Water, and then the Long form. After, a round of Tai Chi is applied, using the shifting sand dune principle, and then completing the session with one of two seated meditations.

That's a very good training program that you've described combining your Yang Tai Chi with the FP Qigong.

 

Advice: systematically continue the practice of everything through the Long Standing Meditation. At some point, you will intrinsically know which of the more basic FP Meditations (below the Long standing Meditation) you can stop practicing or practice less.

 

Carry on!

 

Best,

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

_{www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html}

Edited December 7, 2014 by zen-bear

[the fool]

Sifu Terry,

Thanks for both replies.

I tried the 2nd warm up ( 50-30-10) and then did " the sleeper" ever so slowly..the results were that the rest was better, the lucidity/control of my dreams was clearer. I was also aware of my surroundings to some degree, I believe. Everything is so subjective when I am like this it is impossible to be sure. I could be dreaming that I am aware of my surroundings while in the dream. (kind of like a hall of mirrors)....hard to put this kind of thing in words.

I do have realizations and solve problems in this state, but unfortunately I am way to self centered to be able to solve any one else's. Plus they probably wouldn't want to hear it anyway.

 

As far as the sense of heat request....hard to say. I tend to feel as if " intent" is the only thing moving during the form. ( I remember in the first warm up of the seated forms you alluding to something like this...so I try).

Mostly lately, I feel calm, relaxed, and as if there is a blue flame around me. (after the meditations are complete)

 

All for now...Please keep coming with the suggestions and the experiences. they are all very inspiring.

 

the fool

[zen-bear]

Sifu Terry,

Thanks for both replies.

I tried the 2nd warm up ( 50-30-10) and then did " the sleeper" ever so slowly..the results were that the rest was better, the lucidity/control of my dreams was clearer. I was also aware of my surroundings to some degree, I believe. Everything is so subjective when I am like this it is impossible to be sure. I could be dreaming that I am aware of my surroundings while in the dream. (kind of like a hall of mirrors)....hard to put this kind of thing in words.

I do have realizations and solve problems in this state, but unfortunately I am way to self centered to be able to solve any one else's. Plus they probably wouldn't want to hear it anyway.

 

As far as the sense of heat request....hard to say. I tend to feel as if " intent" is the only thing moving during the form. ( I remember in the first warm up of the seated forms you alluding to something like this...so I try).

Mostly lately, I feel calm, relaxed, and as if there is a blue flame around me. (after the meditations are complete)

 

All for now...Please keep coming with the suggestions and the experiences. they are all very inspiring.

 

the fool

Hi TF,

 

Thanks for your further recall of your FP Qigong experience and with "the sleeper" in particular.

 

When you stated that the FP Meditation had "increased your awareness while asleep," I took that literally and took the opportunity to elaborate about higher states of consciousness (HSC) while asleep--and its distinctive difference compared to highly lucid dreaming."

 

Thanks for your testimonial that the Monk Serves Wine meditation on Vol.7 that we nickname "the sleeper" (50 20 10) does indeed improve sleep duration and sleep quality. Your corroboration is one of dozens on this thread.

 

Don't worry about solving other people's problems through mentation (i.e., not through dreaming) while asleep. Every human being naturally must resolve their personal problems before they are called and empowered to solve other people's problems through highest states of consciousness. That rare psychic turf is inhabited exclusively by what religious societies call saints and what I call incarnate angels.

 

Best,

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

_{www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html}

[zen-bear]

Yesterday and today, this was the content of my very long morning practice session (following my usual every day practice of (A) Tao Tan Pai 5 Dragons meditation and ( 3 of the 5 TTP animal forms (practically every day for many years):
1. Standing Long Form Meditation (Vol.4) two times.
2. the 22-movement Flying Phoenix seated meditation (not on DVD).
3. Advanced Monk Serves Wine meditation (80 70 50 30) on Vol.7
4. Advanced MSW (70 50 20 10) on Vol.7
5. The first Red Lotus Flying Phoenix seated meditation (not on DVD)
6. Three of the 54 "10,000 Buddhas (standing) Meditations".
7. Bok Fu Pai's "10-Hook Eagle Claw Attack" form (one round)
8. 3 Sections (Forms) of the "Eight Sections of Energy Combined" kung fu system;
9. 2 of the "Eight Sections of Energy Combined" Neikung exercises.
10. the 9th Advanced Flying Phoenix Standing Meditation (the capstone).
11. Then I finished with two rounds each of GM William C.C. Chen's 60-posture Yang style form and his straight sword set.

Total time: 5 hours.

The meditations numbered 1 through 5 are medical qigong exercises for developing good health and healing power--and Flying Phoenix Chi Kung is, of course, central to it, while the other Qigong and Forms listed in 6 through 10 empower martial art. This is to give you an idea of the traditional context or setting of FP Chi Kung.


Sifu Terry Dunn


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Edited December 9, 2014 by zen-bear

[rldawson]

Thank-you Sifu Terry.

[the fool]

Sifu Terry,

 

definitely NOT Angel or Saint...most likely the opposite...

Thanks for the encouragement though.

I have gleaned from reading this thread that mixing up the forms yields differing results or maybe the word is concentrations of the energy...am I getting this right? or is what is happening something entirely different.

My own experience has been that certain meditations "feel" better with others.

[John Reinhard]

Hello Sifu Terry,

 

Can we expect new training material on DVD in 2015

 

with kind regards en thank you for your good support here.

 

John

[安永樂]

---

Edited August 22, 2019 by 安永樂

[John Reinhard]

Yesterday I started 80 70 50 30 and 70 50 20 10. While I do them, there is a subtle energy movement that follows the hands. A gentle heat ends up slowly in the body. During the movement of the hand with the back of the palm for the forehead, I feel exchanging heat. I intend these two 108 days to do so in combination with Bending the Bows, vol. 3 and the long form alternately.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

[Ace]

I have now finished reading through all 196 pages of this thread. I'm mostly a lurker here, but I must say that this has to be the most informative and inspirational thread I've ever had the pleasure of reading on this forum.

 

My interest in Flying Phoenix----and indeed all the Doo Wai arts----is very high. I PM'd Sifu Terry a few weeks ago and simultaneously sent an e-mail to the various e-mail addresses he has made reference to here. I've yet to receive a response and I'm aware that he is very busy. Is there another contact method I should employ to get his attention?

 

Happy Holidays to all!

[tao stillness]

You will receive a reply and it will be worth the wait.

[Ace]

You will receive a reply and it will be worth the wait.

 

Thank you for the reassurance, tao stillness. By the way, I have really enjoyed (and benefited from) your many posts on this thread.

[tao stillness]

Thank you Ace for the appreciation. I have benefited from this post immensely. So much to choose from in the world of chi kung and that is also so apt for Flying Phoenix itself.

[the fool]

In response to the sensations of heat generation....I'm with John Reinhard in that I have noticed "heat" or some sort of interaction whenever the back of my palms approach my forehead while doing the forms.

 

Oh and Happy New Year everyone.

[Ace]

Ironically, I was doing research on another system when I accidentally happened upon references to the Doo Wai practices. That, in turn, led me to this thread.

[zen-bear]

Hello Shifu Dunn,

 

I'd have some questions concerning the Flying Phoenix Qigong and would be grateful for your help.

 

1.) Which part or which excercise of the Flying Phoenix Qigong is best suited to induce lucid dreams in a person, who never in his life had lucid dreams?

 

How long will it take to develop this ability through the practice of Flying Phoenix Qigong?

 

2.) Do you perhaps know of any traditional master, who would have full knowledge of Chen Tuan's "Sleeping Yoga"?

 

3.) May I ask who is your spiritual guide since 1994, who has the amazing sleeping abilities (ref.: your post at http://thetaobums.com/topic/12639-flying-phoenix-chi-kung/?p=596413)? Is he still alive and to what spiritual tradition does he belong?

 

Thank you in advance for the reply.

Hello An Yongle:

 

Sorry for the delay in responding. It's been a hectic holiday season and I'm just now getting to reviewing and answering most recent postings on the FPCK thread.

 

Here are my answers to your questions (in bold blue):

 

1.) Which part or which excercise of the Flying Phoenix Qigong is best suited to induce lucid dreams in a person, who never in his life had lucid dreams?

 

The entire system as a whole is most effective healing or medical Qigong system which dissipates stress in all its forms and physiological manifestations and thereby improves the quality of sleep. Improving the quality of sleep typically enables one to be more lucid in the dream state--IF (and that's a big "if") that person has the capacity for lucid dreaming.

 

I don't know of what percentage of the human population or the population here in America or in other cultures have the capability of lucid dreaming. That said, I don't really know if a person who had never experienced lucid dreaming would be enabled to dream lucidly by simply practicing the FP Chi Kung system.

 

I do know that lucid dreaming can be trained through dream exercises. Various cultures have different approaches. The Senoi tribe in Malaysia has been thoroughly studied by western researchers. Another school of dream discipline is documented in Carlos Castaneda's books chronicling his apprenticeship with Yaqui Indian sorcerers.

 

 

How long will it take to develop this ability through the practice of Flying Phoenix Qigong?

 

I don't know. (And as I said, there may be some persons whose beliefs and whose physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual conditions make it impossible for them to experience lucid dreaming.)

 

2.) Do you perhaps know of any traditional master, who would have full knowledge of Chen Tuan's "Sleeping Yoga"?

I don't know if that Yoga has been survived to the present day. Thus, I don't know of any master who would have such knowledge of it. My understanding of Chen Tuan's "sleeping yoga" is flimsy and shallowest--based solely on my intuitive guess of what that name might mean, based on my meditative and dream experience/know-how.

​The only person that I know of who might know about Chen Tuan's legacy and his "Sleeping Yoga" is Master Kwan Sai Hung, the only Huashan priest in the United States. I had two late friends who used to study with Master Kuan in the 1980's in San Francisco. (My teacher in Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu and Tai Chi Ruler, Master Share K. Lew, also had a meeting with Master Kuan in the late 1980's, as I had described earlier in this thread.)

 

This is the most recent info that I found about Master Kwan:

http://vimeo.com/36704204

• Btw, Master Kwan's Qigong workout shown in this video is very interesting to study. Besides appreciating the depth and breath of his knowledge, an FP practitioner will also appreciate what a cohesive and integrated Qigong SYSTEM the Flying Phoenix Qigong is by comparison.

**I just noticed that this Vimeo link doesn't play on this site. You can find it by searching for:

"A day with Master Kwan (02/11/12 Chinatown NYC)"

 

 

3.) May I ask who is your spiritual guide since 1994, who has the amazing sleeping abilities (ref.: your post at http://thetaobums.com/topic/12639-flying-phoenix-chi-kung/?p=596413)? Is he still alive and to what spiritual tradition does he belong?

 

I do not disclose the identity of my spiritual guide per his preference. But I have disclosed earlier in this thread that he is not of any Chinese or Asian martial art, yogic art, or spiritual tradition.

 

Regards,

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

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Edited January 2, 2015 by zen-bear

[zen-bear]

HAPPY NEW YEARTO ALL FLYING PHOENIX QIGONG PRACTITIONERS AND FOLLOWERS OF THIS DISCUSSION!

 

To kick off the new year, I'm going to take the easy path and re-post two messages that I wrote on page 94, back in December of 2013. Both summarize what I think the most interesting qualities and principles of Flying Phoenix Qigong and explain the best approach to practicing this system. And in the second post I explain a tad about Advanced Flying Phoenix.

 

Post #1494, December 10, 2012:

 

Hi Malcolm,

Thanks for the kind words and compliment on my dedication to proliferating correct practice of FP Qigong through this thread. To be honest, it's quite easy support this thread with contributions--even at times disclosing too much (in the eyes of more traditional masters) because the depth of the Flying Phoenix energetic healing experience and the process of doing the FP Qigong exercises is so profoundly health-promoting and at a certain level, so spiritually blissful that I can't wait for more practitioners to cross the first threshold of experiencing the basic healing effects of the Basic Level practice as taught on the DVD series. For what I've discussed thus far on this thread is just the "snow cap" of the Flying Phoenix iceberg ("tip" of the iceberg is not accurate). FP Qigong is a complete system preserved over six generations by GM Doo Wai's family lineage. It is not for dabblers and cherry-pickers at the smorgasbord of published Qigong exercises- Either a Qigong method/system produces results or it doesn't. And Flying PhoenixQigong not only produces sublime energetizing/healing results, it produces them rapidly--instantaneously for many as reported on this thread. And the energizing effects are cumulative, as Fu_Dog has just confirmed and described his recent revelation of this. Hence the FP practice is naturally self-perpetuating--at least for those who are clear enough in body, mind and spirit enough to grow with it. Hence the real success of this thread is due to the fact that the FP Qigong System works and works profoundly at all levels.

But if one is going to do the FP Qigong, then one has to do the system correctly and in its entirety to experience its full range of health benefits. That is why earlier this year I encouraged FP practitioners to start practicing in one sitting: complete sets of any three (3) of the seated "Monk Serves Wine" meditations (on Vols. 2. 7) on a regular basis, daily if possible. I also recommended that FP Practitioners--especially if they are in their 2nd year of practice--diligently learn and practice the capstone exercise of the system, Long Form Standing Meditation called "FlyingPhoenix Heavening Healing Chi Meditation" (on Vol.4) on a regular basis. As explained earlier int he thread, doing this long meditation form can replace practice of the shorter standing FP Meditations such as MGM, Monk Holding Peach, Wind Above the Clouds, etc. As "ridingtheox" discovered and reported on the thread, daily practice dramatically releases and organizes one's energy, and raises one's energy level. When one experiences the ongoing elevated energy levels from all the FP standing meditations and the specific, physically rejuvenating effects of the seated Monk Serves Wine meditations, will another deeper level of FP energy healing issue.
What is most rare and extraordinary--if I do say so myself--is the fact that the learning of this authentic and very effective Qigong system is available to the public at all. It could go very well have been kept secreted within the Bok Fu Pai tradition for a seventh generation. But my karmic meeting GM Doo Wai changed that. Likewise, Sifu Garry Hearfield making available his teaching of GM Doo Wai's Burning Palm system, White Tiger Heavenly Healing System (Bak Fu Sunn Yee Gong) and certain aspects Omei Bak Mei Kung F is a special rarity. http://www.warriorbo...-sunn-yee-gong/

Thanks again for the very positive feedback, Malcolm
Sifu Terry

 

Post #1497, December 11, 2012:

 

Hi Steve,

My recommendation of late for FP practitioners to diligently practice the Long Form Meditation on Vol.4 presumes that everyone following this thread understands my position that it's best to systematically learn and practice all the FP Standing and seated meditations that lead up to it and in the order presented in Vols 1-3 of DVD series. For as I explained in Year One of the thread, the order of the FP exercises seen in the DVD series is the order in which I learned these exercises from my teacher, GM Doo Wai. And that general order of practice is the safest and most efficient prescription I know of for learning the basic level of FP Qigong system and the Advanced FP Qigong as well (comprised of 9 very powerful standing-moving meditations). For if my teacher's order of training worked well for me and my classmates in the early 1990's, it should work well for everyone else wanting to learn FP Qigong.

Every practitioner has his or her own way of learning and speed of learning; whether it's slow or fast, the essential thing is that one covers all the meditations and practices them correctly long enough to understand what each one does (energy and health-wise)--and how one FP meditation interacts and relates to another energy-wise. Once the basic FP Qigong has established and one has facility with the FP Healing Chi, the next level of practice will be quite naturally made available to one and it will make perfect sense as the next step--without anyone having to confirm it for you. So no need to rush to get to the Long Standing Meditation. Get to it when you get to it.

Thanks for sharing your experience in trying out the Advanced FP Qigong before establishing the basic level of FP. You found out for yourself why the FP Qigong system is composed of two very different regimens of training. The Basic FP Qigong taught on my DVD series can be learned safely and to good effect without a Qigong master standing watch over you. It cultivates a distinctive healing energy that can stay with you throughout a prolonged lifetime. The Level 2 or Advanced FP Meditations cannot be safely practiced by beginners who have not mastered the Basic Level of FP and conditioned their bodies to conduct the very intensely concentrated energy that the Advanced FP Meditations cultivate. As I stated earlier in the year (or was it last year?) when I had a contentious disagreement with "Sillum" (before he got barred from the thread) over his irresponsible urging of beginning students to try to practice the the Advanced FP Meditations (that I assume had a profit motive behind it): while there might be one yogic prodigy in a several million--or a few high-level Tai Chi and Qigong masters-- who can "grok" the advanced FP practice and instantly derive benefit from them, what happened to you demonstrates why Chinese yogic systems should be learned systematically as taught by their preservers, and also demonstrates why advanced Chinese yogic and martial practices are never committed entirely to writing in literal terms or to other forms of recorded media. The reason is that all advanced Chinese Qigong and kung-fu training require oral teachings, i.e., neuro-physiological “programmings” and/or a spiritual channeling/dousing/initiation conferred by a bona fide master. Simple as that. An inescapable truth about the Chinese arts. And whether or not one gets conferred with advanced skill depends on how hard one works and on one's karma. The same is true, of course, of Advanced FP Qigong.
One should be able to discern that by seeing GM Doo Wai's superbly advanced quality of mind-body movement in his demonstration of the Advanced FP exercises. There is so much subtle and beautifully nuanced physical movement and visible advanced energetics that I am still today learning from these videos. And I have been practicing FP Qigong since 1991 and Yang Tai Chi Chuan since 1980 (1976 actually, but I'll start my count from the time that I started training with TC Master Abraham Liu).

•• I'll also take this opportunity to explain that I will probably not publish videos teaching the Advanced FP Qigong because of the risk of serious internal injury: I had once experienced a training accident when I was learning the system: It was the third of the 9 Advanced Meditations, which consists of 8 movements through eight positions all done in a wu-chi-like stance with no lateral shifting of the weight. The very last movement of the meditation is circling up both palms to the centerline at chest level and clasping them together. The palms are touched together momentarily and then released, with the hands lowering to each side of the body. On one particular day when i was unusually stressed, I clasped the palms in front of the heart but instead of releasing them instantly, for some unconscious reason, I kept them there and took three deep breathes in that position. And on the third breath, I held my breath for a couple of seconds before exhaling, which had the effect of "clamping down" on the tan tien. Well, a hot line of energy instantly shot down from my heart through the scrotum to the end of the appendage between the legs. It was startling and just a little bit painful. And that was unlike any sense of cultivation or energy empowerment that I had experienced in FP Qigong or any art up to that point. (And other internal energy experiences included my first feeling every cell of my body suddenly being charged and inflamed with electrical energy--that felt like being struck by an internal bolt of lightening--while doing Tai Chi form in the late 80's.) At any rate, with regards to Adv. FP Meditation #3, I knew I had made a mistake. And I'm sharing that mistake with all FP practitioners here as an emphatic reminder that:
(A) there is NO BREATH RETENTION in FP Qigong training--breathe normally and do not try to coordinate breathing with the FP movements;
(B ) Advanced FP Qigong requires a solid foundation of the Basic FP Qigong system (+ 20 years of Tai Chi Chuan would be helpful, too), otherwise a mistake in the Advanced FP practice can be very injurious, damaging your nervous system for starters.
(C ) Where one takes 3 ending breathes matters very much in the Advanced FP exercises.
(D) Thus, if you prematurely practice the Advanced FP Meditations, you do so at your own risk.

Well, Steve, that's my long-winded way of saying what my classmate Sifu Garry Hearfield said on this post very early on about how to train:

"Slow and steady is the Way..."

And again, the cosmically ingenius alchemy of the FP Qigong art is its merging of the body and hand movements with the simple breathing combinations. I went back to find Sifu Garry's words in an early post--around page 5 or 6--which I like a lot and is identical to my experience:

"the hardest was learning the breath combinations the hand movements are simple enough but very effective and since they are simple brings results. Simple and realistic!!!"

...or as I put it on the back of one of the DVD's cases in 2003:

"The power of Flying Phoenix comes from its simplicity; for simplicity causes all things in nature to flourish."

Thanks for your question, Steve, which has allowed me to post this extended answer.

(To get the complete context of my answers, see the original comments that I was responding to on Page 94.)

 

 

Good practicing and Happy New Year to all!

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

Edited January 2, 2015 by zen-bear

[zen-bear]

SUGGESTED NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION FOR ALL INITIATED FLYING PHOENIX PRACTITIONERS:

 

Throughout the last month of December, as part of my very long daily morning practice session (outlined in Post # on page , I practiced the Long Form Standing Meditation (taught Vol.4) twice at very, very slow speed.

 

90 60 5 40 30 (corrected) goes the percentage breath control sequence.

 

Charlie Thomas in Arizona ("Ridingtheox") wrote on this thread a few years back about how doing this Capstone FP Mediation twice is all that he ever needed to do for health and vitality. And he had been practicing Tai Chi for more than 20 years. I knew this energizing effect of the Long Form Exercise from the mid-90's and late-90's as I was teaching it in weekend workshops across the country. And spending 4 hours per day methodologically teaching this wonderful exercise (along with the preceding FP exercises in the other 3 hours) always put me in a state of sublimely toned bliss.

 

If you can make the time, and have completed all the FP Meditations taught in Volumes 1 through 3, I highly recommend learning the Long Form Standing Meditation and doing it twice in every practice session.

 

Just Do it!

 

Happy New Year!

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

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Edited January 11, 2015 by zen-bear

[John Reinhard]

Thank you Sifu Terry for this very interesting information. I will start doing the Long Form twice a day and also the two on vol 7. 80 70 50 30 and 70 50 20 10.

Als also thanks you for the interesting information about Master Kwan Sai Hung.

 

John

[Callanish]

Having become fairly proficient with the 2 FP meditations in vol.3, I went directly to vol.4 learning the Long Standing Celestial Healing Meditation. Now,

having practiced this beautiful meditation for 5 months plus the Standing Meditations in vol.5 - I am wondering if

I need to go back to the earlier DVDs that I have missed..? Has anyone had a similar concern as far as the order in

which one should learn these FF CK exercises?

Thanks for any input.

Callanish

[zen-bear]

Thank you Sifu Terry for this very interesting information. I will start doing the Long Form twice a day and also the two on vol 7. 80 70 50 30 and 70 50 20 10.

Als also thanks you for the interesting information about Master Kwan Sai Hung.

 

John

Hello John,

 

Happy New Year!

I think you'll enjoy the results from doing the Long Form Standing Meditation two times a day. It is a very wonderful cultivation process.

Yes, I was glad to see Master Kwan actively teaching, shopping for herbs, and doing all the things that a great master does at age 91.

 

Sifu Terry

[zen-bear]

Hello Callanish,

 

As I explained in past posts, one can start with the more advanced FP moving meditations in Vol.3 and Vol.4 and higher if one has a good background in Chinese internal martial arts such as Tai Chi Chuan. The Chi Kung For Health DVD series presents the FP Meditations in the order in which I was taught the system by Grandmaster Doo Wai. So beginners with no background in other Chinese arts should start with Volumes 1 and 2.

 

But it is very important to cover all the exercises presented int he DVD series. None of true FP exercises presented are superfluous. Each one works in its own unique way and its energizing effects "blend" and synergistically work with all that produced by all the other FP exercises. It generally doesn't matter which Volume you start with, so long as you cover all the FP exercises. Flying Phoenix is a cohesive SYSTEM. If you cherry-pick bits and pieces, then you just get smattering of the truth.

 

The Vol.4 Long Form Standing Meditation, which is the capstone of the Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditation system, can be practiced in lieu of all the preceding standing FP meditations in Vols 1 and 3. But if you practice the basic Meds. in Vols 1 and 2, the Long Form meditation will be that much more effective.

 

I don't know when he posted it, but I recall that "ridingthrox"(Charlie) explained in detail how after staring with Vol.4 Long Form, went back and picked up all the stationary basic FP exercises in Volume 1 and the Basic seated Monk Serves Wine meditations in Vol.2. and the 2 moving meds. on Vol.4.

 

Many practitioners have confirmed my experience and forecast that after you further (deeply) establish the entire FP system as taught on the DVD series, when you go back to the first three "basic" preparatory seated meditations on Volume 2, you will find that they are NOT very basic at all. But quite profound in their effects. The more you practice the whole system, the more powerful and effective they become.

 

Good practicing!

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

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[zen-bear]

P.S. By the way, for those interested: for the past year and half, I have been giving corrective and remedial online lessons (through Skype and Facetime) in all the FP Meditations--and giving a lot of corrective lessons to those who have learned the Vol.4 Long Form Meditation.

 

And I want to announce that as of this past December, I have started teaching FP practitioners who have gained proficiency in the Vol.4 Long Form Meditation the five advanced Bok Fu Pai meditations on the long retired and out-of-circulation Volume 6 program (described on the Chi Kung For Health webpage).

 

If anyone interested in private online sessions, please contact me by PM here or at [email protected].

 

Best,

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

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Edited January 5, 2015 by zen-bear