Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

[JinlianPai]

 "San Dah" (spiritualism/posession) and then informed me of the binding oath that Huashan priests take, and what they have to do in life to 

 

What is San Da in both contexts?

 

What is spiritual boxing exactly?

Edited March 8, 2015 by JinlianPai

[zen-bear]

what did i miss?   when did the site change from taobums to daobums???

 

 

 

my morning long form 90 60 5 50 40 very intense this morning as it continues to increase movement and awareness  flow.

 

27 min  this morning ... 

 

have a dao weekend  present in the moment ...

 

charlie

Hi Charlie,

 

Thank you for that weekend wish for being momentously present!

 

I don't know,  Charlie, the change snuck by me over what period of time--I have no idea!  But it seems that Taobums--I mean Daobums--management has switched their romanization preference from Wade-Giles to pinyin.  I'm a traditionalist in some respects and a modern in others, but I prefer the older Wade-Giles spelling.

 

Best,

Sifu Terry

[zen-bear]

What is San Da in both contexts?

 

What is spiritual boxing exactly?

JinlinaPai,

 

"San Da" is the Chinese term that translates into "spiritual martial art" in English.  

 

In the first context, my intended meaning is that the energy employed by the Advanced Flying Phoenix Qigong is not limited only to the energy produced by human physiology, but also involves supra mundane, macrocosmic energies.

*In this first context, I was not referring or alluding to ritualized spiritual possession, which was what I was referring to in the second context:

 

In the second context, when I mentioned Huashan San Da, I was referring to the practice of spiritualism where the monks of that Taoist sect perform sacred oaths by which they invite their temple guardian spirit to enter their bodies at will in exchange for supernatural martial skill and powers--not super-normal powers, but supernatural powers.

 

Sifu Terence Dunn

 

 

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

Edited March 8, 2015 by zen-bear

[JinlianPai]

JinlinaPai,

 

"San Da" is the Chinese term that translates into "spiritual martial art" in English.  

 

In the first context, my intended meaning is that the energy employed by the Advanced Flying Phoenix Qigong is not limited only to the energy produced by human physiology, but also involves supra mundane, macrocosmic energies.

*In this first context, I was not referring or alluding to ritualized spiritual possession, which was what I was referring to in the second context:

 

In the second context, when I mentioned Huashan San Da, I was referring to the practice of spiritualism where the monks of that Taoist sect perform sacred oaths by which they invite their temple guardian spirit to enter their bodies at will in exchange for supernatural martial skill and powers--not super-normal powers, but supernatural powers.

 

Sifu Terence Dunn

 

 

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

 

Ok thanks for the clarification. 

[BluePhoenix133]

Hi, i just did monk gazing at moon and felt nothing. Usually when i do monk gazing at moon i feel little anyway, but when i do the seated monk gazing at moon it gets intense, im not sure why this is.

Im confused at to where my hands should be exactly, should my finger tips be at the level of my pupils or my nose?

Should the inside of my arms by at a 90 degree angle or should i have my forearms closer to my face?

Also how wide should the hands be? 

: L

[CrunchyChocolate555]

Hi BluePhoenix,

 

The following is from my personal experience, so it is no final word. That being said;

 

Try to do them as close as you can to what you see in the DVDs.   My understanding is that it is permissible to vary the distances and angles -slightly- depending on your morphology. So you can experiment with holding your hands a little higher or lower, farther or closer to your face, etc.   The important thing is to not cut off the energy flow with improper form.  

 

Don't worry if you sometimes you feel the energy more than at other times. There are many variables that come into play here including your current physical/mental/emotional state, stress levels, etc., while practicing. Healing and energetic re-balancing can occur on levels outside of your conscious awareness, and may shift in and out as you improve. As always, patience, consistency and equanimity are important in inner cultivation.

 

 

 

Hi, i just did monk gazing at moon and felt nothing. Usually when i do monk gazing at moon i feel little anyway, but when i do the seated monk gazing at moon it gets intense, im not sure why this is.

Im confused at to where my hands should be exactly, should my finger tips be at the level of my pupils or my nose?

Should the inside of my arms by at a 90 degree angle or should i have my forearms closer to my face?

Also how wide should the hands be? 

: L

Edited March 12, 2015 by CrunchyChocolate555

[rldawson]

When a particular meditation becomes less effective, moving onto a different meditation can be very helpful, later returning to the previous meditation. Reducing the speed can also be very effective.

[the fool]

Regarding BluePhoenix133....I agree with rldawson. It was very surprising to me how effective forms I had written off as not "for me" could be, once I came back to them.

I say keep practicing the other FP exercises and then come back and see if there is an affect later. Definitely find out for yourself and don't take anyone's word for it.

I believe SifuTerry Dunn has specifically advised everyone to find the sequence of exercises that works for them.....I personally try to do a seated and a standing every day, plus the long form in volume 4. The only constant is the long form.

 

Haven't been sick all winter. 

[zen-bear]

When a particular meditation becomes less effective, moving onto a different meditation can be very helpful, later returning to the previous meditation. Reducing the speed can also be very effective.

-RLDawson

 

I say keep practicing the other FP exercises and then come back and see if there is an affect later. Definitely find out for yourself and don't take anyone's word for it.  --TF

 

Thanks to you both for posting your common experience.  The Flying Phoenix Chi Kung transformative effects can be felt almost immediately, but it's lasting, long-term health and longevity effects, and power to heal others require dedicated practice and most importantly, correct practice of THIS ENTIRE BODY OF YOGA--i.e., all the exercises.  Again, this system wasn't made up by yours truly or my teacher, GM Doo Wai.  It was created more than 8 generations ago by a towering yogic genius at Ehrmeishan.  You've read Sifu Garry Hearfield's post here and on the Sunn Yi Gung thread that both systems, Flying Phoenix and SYG, are vast treasures.  And I'll take this opportunity to translate and apply part  of the Bok Fu Pai creed:  

 

"What appears to be only a brick (i.e., an FP exercise that you think at first doesn't suit you), is actually gold."

 

This oral teaching is reminder not to overlook anything in the FP system that has been handed down (and impeccably at that) from the time of Feng Tao Teh.   As I've taught regularly on this thread, beginners should "take the path of least resistance" and start out practicing those FP Meditations that resonate the most with them, that they find most agreeable and beneficial.  And then gradually add on the others to their training schedule.  BUT--and this is a big BUT:  FP practitioners must get around to practicing and establishing all the meditations as presented in the DVD series--and then perfect the standing Long Form Med. on Volume 4.  Otherwise, you've just gotten a smattering of this treasure.

 

Glad to hear TF has not been sick all winter!

 

Good Practicing to All!

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

Edited March 16, 2015 by zen-bear

[BluePhoenix133]

Ah thank god, i just want to practice the seated meditations on dvd 2 i must have misunderstood and thought i should be practicing the first three standing meditations everyday.

Its funny because when i first started bending the bows and the last standing meditation gave me strong energetic sensations, but now not so, when doing the last standing 'wind above the clouds?' i even had a small cloud of chi gather around my left jaw (which cracks allot) and then it happened again when i was just simply doing mindfulness meditation.

[ridingtheox]

today's practice so far:

 

long form standing 25 min  7 am

TCC teaching long form  series 3  which includes warm up with ba duan chin ..  1 hour 15 min .  8 am

Adv Seated M.  #3  ( i had to respond to spouse  after  5 reps   28 min )  11 am

 

lately I have been doing wu xing (5 elemnt qi gong)  a couple of times in the afternoon.

 

tonight: I will do  ASM  1  before bed ..  

Edited March 16, 2015 by ridingtheox

[zen-bear]

today's practice so far:

 

long form standing 25 min  7 am

TCC teaching long form  series 3  which includes warm up with ba duan chin ..  1 hour 15 min .  8 am

Adv Seated M.  #3  ( i had to respond to spouse  after  5 reps   28 min )  11 am

 

lately I have been doing wu xing (5 elemnt qi gong)  a couple of times in the afternoon.

 

tonight: I will do  ASM  1  before bed ..  

Hi Charlie,

Doing the Long Form Standing Med. in 25 minutes is a very healthful speed.  Good Work.

Advanced Seated Meds. in the evening--as you may have already discovered--imparts a huge constellation of health benefits that first manifests during the sleep cycle as well as one's waking hours.

 

Sounds like you're enjoying the FP.

 

Best,

Sifu Terry

[zen-bear]

• Last Saturday, after a jam-packed 100-minute Tai Chi class (in which taught William Chen's 60-posture Form, straight sword and broadsword forms), I led my students in practice in these more advanced FP Meditations from Volume 7 (full sets of 7 repetitions) and gave extensive corrections to their form:

 

A.    50  20  10       ("the Sleeper")

B.    70  50  20  10 

C.    80  70  50  30

D.    20  40  90  10

E.    the 22-movement long seated Monk Serves Wine mediation (not on DVD).

 

The goal of continuously doing one moving mediation after another is to reach that sweet spot of "Not-doing" where practice feels automatic and absolutely effortless--no longer something that you with complete volitional control command your and not, on the other hand, something that life does to you.  But something in perfectly between.  That is what Castaneda means by "Not Doing."

 

• This morning, in keeping with my daily practice of 3 seated FP (Monk Serves Wine) and an equal timespan spent on standing meditations from any of 3 systems--all in addition to 90 minutes of Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu practice,  I did the following FP Seated Meditations (full 7 rounds in each set):

 

1.  80 70 50 30  (Vol.7) 

2.  70 50 20 10  (Vol.7)

3.  22-movement FP Seated Mediation (not on DVD)

4.  the 14th Monk Serves Wine meditation (not on DVD)

5.  Bending the Bows

6.  Monk Holding Peach

7.  Advanced FP Standing Meditations 1 through 9 (40 minutes) 

8.  Eight Sections Combined, 3rd, 4th and 8th Sections.

 

The goal of training is to always be in meditation--i.e., with expanded consciousness.

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

• Last Saturday, after a jam-packed 100-minute Tai Chi class (in which taught William Chen's 60-posture Form, straight sword and broadsword forms), I led my students in practice in these more advanced FP Meditations from Volume 7 (full sets of 7 repetitions) and gave extensive corrections to their form:

A. 50 20 10 ("the Sleeper")

B. 70 50 20 10

C. 80 70 50 30

D. 20 40 90 10

E. the 22-movement long seated Monk Serves Wine mediation (not on DVD).

 

The goal of continuously doing one moving mediation after another is to reach that sweet spot of "Not-doing" where practice feels automatic and absolutely effortless--no longer something that you with complete volitional control command your and not, on the other hand, something that life does to you. But something in perfectly between. That is what Castaneda means by "Not Doing."

 

•••This morning, in keeping with my daily practice of 3 seated FP (Monk Serves Wine) and an equal timespan spent on standing meditations from any of 3 systems--all in addition to 90 minutes of Tao Tan Pai Kung Fu practice, I did the following FP Seated Meditations (full 7 rounds in each set):

1. 80 70 50 30 (Vol.7)

2. 70 50 20 10 (Vol.7)

3. 22-movement FP Seated Mediation (not on DVD)

4. the 14th Monk Serves Wine meditation (not on DVD)

5. Bending the Bows

6. Monk Holding Peach

7. Advanced FP Standing Meditations 1 through 9 (40 minutes)

8. Eight Sections Combined, 3rd, 4th and 8th Sections.

 

The goal of training is to always be in meditation--walking, working, sitting, sleeping.

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

 

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Edited September 28, 2015 by zen-bear

[Ace]

I have read this thread all the way through and am ready to begin my Flying Phoenix practice.

 

A quick question for Sifu Terry and/or any of the more experienced practitioners that might care to chime in:  if I recall correctly from previous posts, Flying Phoenix Chi Kung has a beneficial effect on Taijiquan and Baguazhang practices.  What effect might it have on Xingyiquan practice.  Would it likely have a beneficial effect on "external" Kung-Fu systems such as Wing Chun and Northern Praying Mantis?

[zen-bear]

Hello Ace,

 

Answer to your first question:   I can only speak with authority on the specific benefits of FP Qigong training in relation to Tai Chi Chuan training because I have never trained in Hsing-I Chuan but have trained exactly 34 years in both Yang Tai Chi Chuan and Liu He Ba Fa:   FP Qigong has equal emphasis on the relaxation principle relative to Tai Chi training, uses similar postures, involves similar circular movements, but goes far beyond any Tai Chi training method I know of with its emphasis on super-slow movement throughout all of it moving meditations--"approaching the speed of a shifting sand dune," as GM Doo Wai's oral teaching goes. Thus proper FP Qigong practice will accelerate one's progress in Tai Chi Chuan and any similar Chinese  internal martial art.

 

Answer to your 2nd question re benefits of FP Qigong in relation to external kung fu systems (which you describe Wing Chun and No. Praying Mantis as):  I can only say in general that FP Qigong wound benefit the practice of any authentic Kung Fu system.  As i stated earlier in this thread, FP Qigong was the very first discipline taught to GM Doo Wai as a "safety net" by his father when he was a youth, which prepared him for learning all the other complete kung fu arts under the Bok Fu Pai family name:   Bok Fu Pai, Omei Mountain Bak Mei, Tibetan Burning Palm, all the BFP healing arts and its vast pharmacopeia, and all the other BFP internal systems such as Sunn Yee Gung and Ten Thousand Buddhas Meditations.  Knowing what great Kung Fu systems Bok Fu Pai, Omei Mtn Bak Mei, and Tibetan Burning Palm are (Sifu Garry Hearfield is the inheritor and primary preserver of these 3 arts from GM Doo Wai, btw), I can say that Flying Phoenix Qigong would nicely complement any "external" Kung Fu system.  (btw, I do not consider Wing Chun nor No. Praying Mantis to be "external" systems, because every high-level practitioner of these systems that I have seen in person has  demonstrated high internal energy cultivation.)

 

Welcome to the FP practice community. Be sure to post any questions or comments you might have on the thread.

 

Best,

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

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[Ace]

Thank you for the reply, Sifu Terry.   I appreciate the insight and am eager to get my practice under way.

 

I sent you a PM on an unrelated matter so as not to clutter this thread with extraneous material.

 

 

Ace

[BluePhoenix133]

Hi, i was wondering why when doing mindfulness meditation i see people put the right hand on top of the left, a basic question but since it is done during the standing monk holding pearl meditation i thought i would ask here.

The reason i ask this is because i prefer having my left hand on top of my right, feels more comfortable, i hope this does not make me a Sith instead of a Jedi   

[rldawson]

When practising a mirrored Long form, does the hand cradling become reversed as well? (Left hand resting in the right hand)

[ridingtheox]

I do not reverse hand positions for the most part ...  following the males right over left on the dan tien  idea.   However,  sometimes the yin feeling of the form does feel more like  reversing the hand positions.   I do reverse if the 'qi' seems to have a strong leading to do so ....  this is not often.   

 

Early on I tried alternating hand position when I did the mirror image,  (and worried about it   a good deal).   At this point the qi almost always directs the position.

[rldawson]

Thank-you very much.    This clears it up and wanted to avoid "(and worried about it    a good deal)". lol

[BluePhoenix133]

I think im just going to have to embrace the dark side.... 

[ridingtheox]

practice a little sparse so far today  ,  a long trip to town and back driving too much in traffic 

 

however< 

 

early this morning did the mirror image of long form vol. 4  27 min

 

and early evening  the normal  style  .. vol 4  26 min

 

and the qi just keeps buzzingggggg

[zen-bear]

Am on Day 11 of practicing three Monk Serves Wine seated meditations in one session each morning followed by another 90 minutes of standing FP, Advanced FP,  8 Sections of Energy, or 10,000 Buddhas Meditations.  

Of the 3 MSW meditations, two of them are my favorites from Vol.7:   80 70 50 30 and 70 50 20 10.

Each time, the palpable brain activation is off the charts and it lasts through most of the day.

 

Prescription for beginners who want to become intermediate practitioners:  practice all the FP Standing meditations and Vol.4's Long Form Standing until you have perfected them.  Then do 3 seated MSW Meds during each practice session.  Practice doesn't have to be every day (although optimal!) but do 3 MSW meditations every session after you have become proficient in the Long Form Standing Meditation and you will begin to crack the code of FP Qigong and realize what you can do with the FP Healing Energy.

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

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Edited March 29, 2015 by zen-bear

[John Reinhard]

Hello,

This morning I did the long form. Standing first for 5 minutes before I started, then the BP, feeling the flow of energy, then the movements. Every movement from the center (Dan Tien) feeling the balans, the flow and the relaxation. This way I get information en sensations, material to explore and research for years.

have a nice day

[ZiRan]

Haven't posted in a long time, in spite of practicing, so I wanted to check in and share some of my experiences.

 

I started FP in June of last year, following the training regimen on Sifu Terry's website. I've continued and worked my way through the 2 intermediate forms, practicing every day with a few exceptions. I should add that I went ahead and bought volume 7, the advanced MSW, and have practiced those alongside the beginning and intermediate forms. I haven't started the long form or anything from volume 5. 

 

So all together, I've been practicing regularly for about 10 months. April 1 is when I will begin practicing the long form every day, and I must say that I'm really looking forward to it! Here are some random observations, in no particular order:

 

• Sifu Terry said in the beginning to find the particular meditation you were drawn to and practice it first. For me, this was the 3rd MSW warmup. I still do that any time throughout the day I just need to get out of my routine and breathe a little bit. I guess I've done that one more than any of the others.
• On a couple of occasions, I have  experienced the visual sensations of blue light against my closed eyelids others have talked about. One time I got the distinct impression I was looking at a blue ball of fire hovering over the surface of water. It was quite beautiful, and I must confess I've probably spent too much energy wishing for more conspicuous signs like this one.
• The 50-20-10 MSW is indeed great for sleep! When I practice that one very slowly, I sleep amazingly well and wake up with an almost sensuous feeling of being blanketed in vital energy. This often lasts well into the afternoon.
• Moonbeam Splashes on the Water is out of this world. I don't know how else to describe it. With all of the meditations I've learned, the first few times practicing it were slightly awkward, and then around the 4th time I would "find my groove." Then, it was easier to slow down, and the moves would kind of do themselves (to borrow a phrase from another poster). But Moonbeam took that to another level entirely. The second time I did it, it was like time slowed down. The moves were just so smooth and effortless, it was like the meditation was doing me (keep the snickering to a minimum, please).
• This is going to be a strange comparison, but the effects of Moonbeam are almost like a drug. I've had no experiences with drugs in my life, other than a prescription painkiller I was given after surgery several years ago. I was researching the effects of the drug class (it was an opioid), and the wikipedia page said that one of the reasons people became addicted to them was that they produced "an intense feeling of well-being." And when I took them after my surgery, I understood what they meant. Thankfully, I've had no need for any more surgery, so that feeling of "intense well-being" was repeated for the first time while I was practicing Moonbeam. It felt like a drug. I became acutely aware of my circulatory system, and imagined some strange new chemical process working its way through my veins and arteries. If I become addicted to this shen gong, I'm happy to consider myself an addict! Moonbeam produces feelings in me of peace, bliss, altitude, and just a sense that everything is perfect exactly as it is.

I haven't read the past couple dozen pages of this thread, but I'm looking forward to taking some time tonight and catching up. 

 

Special thanks again to Sifu Terry and Doo Wai for making these available!