Dr. Yang's Shaolin White Crane QiGong

[Art]

Dearest bums,

 

After being mired in a funk for some time I've managed to stop digging and crawl back out. With renewed vigor, I am interested in restarting my practice. I've ran across Dr. Yang before and was pleased with his approach and products. If I may, does anyone here have experience with this system that they would like to share?

 

http://ymaa.com/publishing/books/external/essence_of_shaolin_white_crane

 

http://ymaa.com/publishing/dvd/qigong_DVD/shaolin_white_crane_qigong_DVD

 

Deepest regards,

 

Art

[Sloppy Zhang]

Only have experience with his tai chi products. However, looking at the way he teaches, and looking at a few of his demonstrations, they have a very shaolin white crane "flavor" (other people have noted this as well). So perhaps directly learning the white crane would be beneficial, as that seems to be what he's most predisposed towards.

[Maddie]

Yes I do. I consider him one of my main "teachers" lol. I do his version of the 8 Brocades almost every day. I also learned the MCO from his books too. I do have his White Crane Qigong book and DVD as well, and have done it many times, though I have not made it a regular routine of mine as of yet. I initially got it because I do Karate and it is a good practice to do for that. I always feel very good afterwards, and would definately recommend it. ;-)

[joeblast]

Never picked up any of his white crane material, but I have a bunch of his other stuff, learned much especially from his embryonic breathing material.

 

If you're close enough, next white crane seminar up there is towards the end of January in Boston.

 

http://ymaa.com/seminars/boston/white-crane

[TzuJanLi]

Greetings..

 

I have trained with Dr. Yang directly and he is a gifted teacher.. his QiGong is effective, efficient, and reasonably uncomplicated.. while i do not favor his Taiji form, his understanding of applications integrated with ChinNa, are brilliant.. and, lastly, i find Dr. Yang to a man of honor and integrity, as i have been engaged with him in business arrangements that were mutually beneficial.. he is a good ambassador of Taoist Principles.

 

Be well..

[Baguakid]

I'm not a fan of YJM myself but others seem to like him. Personally I find his former co-writer Liang Shouyu to be more my way of thinking.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Qigong-Empowerment-Medical-Buddhist-Cultivation/dp/1889659029

[Sloppy Zhang]

I'm not a fan of YJM myself but others seem to like him. Personally I find his former co-writer Liang Shouyu to be more my way of thinking.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Qigong-Empowerment-Medical-Buddhist-Cultivation/dp/1889659029

 

Yang Jwing-Ming has a very analytical style of writing. He breaks a lot of stuff down and goes into a lot of detail. Sometimes there are so many details to things that aren't currently relevant to the text you are reading (still helpful, but it might not be what you wanted at the time), and sometimes he repeats lots of detailed things over and over (especially if you get multiple books of his on tangential subjects, a lot of material will be the same).

 

However, sometimes the detail in the subjects is GREAT. Sometimes that's exactly what I need. If I just want a clear breakdown of stuff, YJM is where I turn. He was the first resource I got when I turned to tai chi (co-written by Liang Shouyu), and he gave such a broad, yet detailed view of Taoism, that I felt that I learned a lot of really good material in a short time.

 

So, yeah, he does have a certain writing style, and sometimes the style is excessive, and sometimes the style is just what you need.

 

I'm sure anyone who's at least a bit familiar with his works know this, but for anyone else who is trying to get a feel for his products before purchasing, just keep that in mind.

[Maddie]

Yang Jwing-Ming has a very analytical style of writing. He breaks a lot of stuff down and goes into a lot of detail. Sometimes there are so many details to things that aren't currently relevant to the text you are reading (still helpful, but it might not be what you wanted at the time), and sometimes he repeats lots of detailed things over and over (especially if you get multiple books of his on tangential subjects, a lot of material will be the same).

 

However, sometimes the detail in the subjects is GREAT. Sometimes that's exactly what I need. If I just want a clear breakdown of stuff, YJM is where I turn. He was the first resource I got when I turned to tai chi (co-written by Liang Shouyu), and he gave such a broad, yet detailed view of Taoism, that I felt that I learned a lot of really good material in a short time.

 

So, yeah, he does have a certain writing style, and sometimes the style is excessive, and sometimes the style is just what you need.

 

I'm sure anyone who's at least a bit familiar with his works know this, but for anyone else who is trying to get a feel for his products before purchasing, just keep that in mind.

 

Well he does have a Ph.D in engineering / science lol, but I think the reason I do like reading his stuff is because he is that way, I'm sort of that way too lol.

[Baguakid]

Ok, let me clarify. I do like "some" of YJM's books, particularly on qigong, as a reference. I bought his yang style taiji books a long time ago and thought they sux'd.

 

I think, for the most part, he's a good author and/or translator. I, personally, would not seek him out to learn anything I'm interested in, particularly Qigong. I have no reason to believe he is a Qigong Master but it has been a long time since I've talked and delt with him so that status may have changed. Others, as stated, may have an interest with things they are interested in (ChinNa, etc) which he seems to satisfy.

 

Bottom line, IMO be selective and critical when browsing his rather large list of subjects.

[simply puzzled]

I have trained with Dr. Yang directly and he is a gifted teacher.. his QiGong is effective, efficient, and reasonably uncomplicated.. while i do not favor his Taiji form, his understanding of applications integrated with ChinNa, are brilliant.. and, lastly, i find Dr. Yang to a man of honor and integrity, as i have been engaged with him in business arrangements that were mutually beneficial.. he is a good ambassador of Taoist Principles.

 

I own his material on Chin Na too, and it's well worth the price. For others that aren't familiar, he uses a lot of White Crane Chin Na to reconstruct what we've lost in Taiji. Very good stuff.

[Sloppy Zhang]

Ok, let me clarify. I do like "some" of YJM's books, particularly on qigong, as a reference. I bought his yang style taiji books a long time ago and thought they sux'd.

 

I think, for the most part, he's a good author and/or translator. I, personally, would not seek him out to learn anything I'm interested in, particularly Qigong. I have no reason to believe he is a Qigong Master but it has been a long time since I've talked and delt with him so that status may have changed. Others, as stated, may have an interest with things they are interested in (ChinNa, etc) which he seems to satisfy.

 

Bottom line, IMO be selective and critical when browsing his rather large list of subjects.

 

I agree that in some cases I think the breadth of knowledge he conveys is much greater than perhaps the depth. And in a lot of subjects, he might have a more intellectual and academic understanding than experiential. But I do think that even information, in certain cases, can be valuable.

 

I think he is skilled in a few areas (such as white crane), but I do think he writes on more than he has personally experienced, and those subjects seem to be more academic oriented.

 

I too have his book and DVD on Yang long for tai chi. It is very distinctive, and unlike any tai chi I have ever seen. When comparing to white crane forms, it looks a lot like white crane. I think that in some instances, he's filled in tai chi and qigong knowledge from what he knows of white crane martial/qigong. So I think if you are learning other material of his, be aware of his background and personal leanings. But if you want to study his white crane specifically, might be a good bet.

 

But I haven't compared his white crane to other white crane styles, so there might be something that one should investigate.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Sloppy Zhang

[Maddie]

I agree that in some cases I think the breadth of knowledge he conveys is much greater than perhaps the depth. And in a lot of subjects, he might have a more intellectual and academic understanding than experiential. But I do think that even information, in certain cases, can be valuable.

 

I think he is skilled in a few areas (such as white crane), but I do think he writes on more than he has personally experienced, and those subjects seem to be more academic oriented.

 

I too have his book and DVD on Yang long for tai chi. It is very distinctive, and unlike any tai chi I have ever seen. When comparing to white crane forms, it looks a lot like white crane. I think that in some instances, he's filled in tai chi and qigong knowledge from what he knows of white crane martial/qigong. So I think if you are learning other material of his, be aware of his background and personal leanings. But if you want to study his white crane specifically, might be a good bet.

 

But I haven't compared his white crane to other white crane styles, so there might be something that one should investigate.

 

One of his main goals is to preserve Chinese arts and culture, so it makes sense that he would write about things he may have more of an academic understanding of, so that stuff gets translated, preserved, and shared. He encourages those who study his books to keep in mind that martials arts are indeed an art form and thus are evolving and not static. I really believe that a lot of what he may publish but not be too experienced in is so that someone else will be able to pick it up and run with it. He has shown a great concern for the loss of traditional elements of chinese culture in the last century, and that is one reason he is doing his retreat center project now.

[TzuJanLi]

Greetings..

 

I have 'crossed-hands' with Dr. Yang, i appreciate his skill.. i been instructed directly by Dr. Yang on corrections to QiGong and Taiji structure and movement, and found this to be beneficial.. i have learned his Taiji Symbol Training methods, and his Taiji Ball training methods, and find these to yield great depth and benefit.. neither is one's positive or negative opinions any actual measure of the subject, they are just opinions..

 

Be well..