Living proof that qigong works!

[blue eyed snake]

never let your heart close off or your spirit fall! It is our own choice you know?

 

and exactly that is where your story is helping me right now, the road is hard at the moment, it will take a long time before I'm well again. I accept that, but at that time the learning of keeping your spirit up ain't easy.

 

thank and you too, success with learning how to keep your spirit up in hard times. Today, I see it as a lesson to be learned,

 

BES

[RiverSnake]

Bumped for awesomeness. 

[Fa Xin]

Hope everyone is still strong and healthy !

[JaysahnzDao]

HELLO IM STILL HERE!  Actually found my way back.  Nice decor!  It's been awhile since I have shared much at all.  My father's death last year has completely altered my plans.  In retrospect making plans seems so silly now.  I just wanted to point out, A-I'm still alive!   B.-I got depressed!  YES I thought it was BS, to be honest, I thought depression was never going to be one of my problems, wow was I wrong!  I feel in a deep deep hole.  I am kind of glad it was so deep or I wouldn't have worked so hard climbing back out.

Now I have realized what an experience these years have been and all the wisdom I have aquired!  I thank each and every one involved in my kung fu journey as I was very juvenile when I first joined (lol as if im "more civilized" now) and posted some silly stuff, but all of my posts here have been from the heart.

There is no secret to the Ng Wuji system, but it's simple and it works!  

I am sticking with what works.  I also have two other routine meditations that are not bagua related but in my opinion they are bagua too, I am only slighly veering from a genuine unothrodox baguazhang system.    

With all that said, I remember wondering if I would still be posting honetstly and if I could maintain a balance in the ebb and flow of life.  Well, I could have done FAR better.  ...but I didn't do worse, so I still strive to improve each and every day!

[JaysahnzDao]

Can't remember if I inserted my getting ran over by a ford story in here, but I know I wrote about it somewhere.  I also was declared un-responsive for 26 minutes after a lesson took a left where i shoulda took a right kinda sorta thing.  I sure learned a with that lesson.  So I just wanted to throw in I have broken both shins since then as well, they are really tough now.  Mobility for me has not peaked out as I am still stretching and absorbing and contracting to get my bones re aligned from these accidents, lol.

[Learner]

I just practiced Circle Walking from a video by Hai Yang . 

https://youtu.be/tS85TvMzNYU?si=fLtx8NPeeGvY4rRL

 

I felt more open from the chest area. And I can relate to the letting go of the mental rigidity thing. 

 

After doing the circle walking I understood what it meant by "What you resist , persists"

 

Can anyone relate to this? 

 

Also what are the chances of injury if I practice at home by just learning from a video?

Edited November 1, 2023 by Learner

[Partez]

Can anyone recommend a good bagua qigong video on YouTube.

[Learner]

I just practiced Circle Walking from a video by Hai Yang . 

https://youtu.be/tS85TvMzNYU?si=fLtx8NPeeGvY4rRL

 

I felt more open from the chest area. And I can relate to the letting go of the mental rigidity thing. 

 

After doing the circle walking I understood what it meant by "What you resist , persists"

 

Can anyone relate to this? 

 

 

 

Can anyone recommend a complete bagua circle walking course or tutorial. I am not interested in the bagua combat stuff. Just the circle walking thing. Bagua Zhang seems so much dense compared to Xing Yi

[Learner]

.

Edited November 7, 2023 by Learner
Double post

[Gerard]

The problem with that instruction is the focus on the Palm. 
 

Let's see:

 

1. The Millstone Pushing Palm is advanced material. Only taught to students after at least one year of practice of the previous 7 Palms if the lineage contains this Palm as number 8; hence the name Eight Mother Palms.

 

Other Ba Gua lineages start the set known as Ba Da Zhang (8 Old Palms) with the Millstone Pushing Palm. Their 8MP do not include this one. I prefer this methodology and it's the one I learnt.

 

A better video to learn from is as follows:

 

 

 

Liu Jingru (Cheng style Ba Gua) teaches the whole 8MP neigong set + mud walking stepping (one method of walking the circle).

 

2. As a beginning student do not start learning any of thd 8MZl until walking is done correctly. I spent an entire month under my teacher's guidance before he taught me the first Palm.

 

DO NOT TAKE SHORTCUTS AS THE ENERGIES YOU ARR DEALING WITH ARE VERY POWERFUL. BE WARNED.

 

Also grounding work must be implemented. Refer to He Jinghan's YT Channel has he has released a ton on instructional material. Start from the very bottom (year 2005) and work your way up.

 

It's difficult to learn Ba Gua from a video so you know. 
 

Good luck. 

Edited November 7, 2023 by Gerard

[Learner]

@Gerard , Thanks for replying. I searched for Bagua on google and maps in the country I live but couldn't find anything. I live in middle east and here things like Bagua and TCM are considered a thing for people with extra money and many don't  believe in Chinese arts here.

 

I am learning mud walking from a Tom Bisio course. I will also lookup the video you posted. 

Edited November 7, 2023 by Learner

[Gerard]

Not a problem. You are starting to mix various teachings, which is a bad idea especially in the beginning stages. Stick to your original source (Tom Bisio) and nothing else. Check others only for reference purposes.

 

You need to combine circle walking with Foundation work if you plan to go deep. Check He Jing Han's video collection on YT.

Edited November 8, 2023 by Gerard

[Gerard]

And let me repeat again:

 

To really learn circle walking CORRECTLY you need REAL LIFE INSTRUCTION. 
 

There are way too many things going on, subtleties that are impossible to pick up by reading or watching videos.

 

Feel free to ask me for further advice. 

[Sahaja]

13 hours ago, Gerard said:

And let me repeat again:

 

To really learn circle walking CORRECTLY you need REAL LIFE INSTRUCTION. 
 

There are way too many things going on, subtleties that are impossible to pick up by reading or watching videos.

 

Feel free to ask me for further advice. 

Thanks for sharing this video. . I was familiar with his houtian form but not his xiantian form before. Helped me connect a couple of dots. 

[Pyramidalcow]

On 9/22/2011 at 1:16 PM, spiraltao said:

Ok, I must start this story in 2008, I was diagnosed with a liver disease that I don't care to name and the last stage of cirrohsis. The doctors done two different biopsi, but told me my liver was already too bad to take interfuron/riboviran combo. So I decide to go back to what had helped me get through the toughest times of my life, MARTIAL ARTS.

 

My old sifu had moved back after seventeen years and I seen him on youtube, so I called and told him my situation. I remember telling him "I am at rock bottom, teacher." He said, "THAT IS WONDERFUL! There is only one way to go and that is UP." This gave me some hope.

 

He introduced me to circle walking. I started to feel a bit less lethargic and my anger issues began to subside. I kept getting hepatic panels ran on a monthly basis and my enzymes and billirubin levels began to drop. The doctor at the University of KY told me that my liver tests would NEVER be normal again. He said that I might be able to lower them, but would never read as a healthy liver.

 

To make a long story a bit less long, I stuck to my training. I learned the eight mother palms and my inside and outside changes. In Feb I met Zerostao and he introduced me to some bagua qigong. Until this I had only been doing ZZ standing as chi kung. Zerostao introduced me to the iron shirt form and the single and double palm changes among other things that I have covered in my training log.

 

I made sure to play my bagua every day and actually think I know what song means!

 

Well, fast forward to last Friday, I had another hepatic panel done.

 

 

My sister is a AARNP (nursing practitioner) and she simply couldn't believe what she seen. She at first thought that my labs had gotten mixed up. They were the labs of a man with a healthy liver!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES! I NOW HAVE THE PROOF IN BLACK AND WHITE!

 

I AM PROOF THAT CHI KUNG IS REAL AND IT WORKS! I never had any doubt, but others were skeptical in the family but being that kung fu has been a passion of mine since I was four they were used to the combat part, but had never heard of learning to fight to improve your health, as my dad puts it.

 

 

 

THIS POST GOES OUT TO THE EVERY TAO BUM THAT HAS HELPED ME. ...and to Zerostao for leading me to this wonderful place. I feel at home now.

 

I can do ANYTHING with proper guidance and this is only the beginning. Where as before I really wondered if I would live to see my daughter graduate high school.

 

I am not being arrogant, but I feel better than I have since I was in my early twenties and I just slapped a cap block with no warm up to see if my metal element was still in order. Yeah, it broke with ease and my friend said the slap looked nearly effortless.

 

 

There is no way to hide my excitement and express the joy in my heart with words.

 

I must thank my god, my sifu, Zerostao, Lao Xie, Ray Carbullido, Kent Howard, Kenneth Cohen and Dr. Yang Jwing Ming and Master Liang Shou Yu. Not mention Frank Allen. Each person listed above played a pivotal role in my transformation.

Could you list in 1 paragraph with dotted points what you did (inlcuding the sifus) to reverse liver damage? I got stuck at the bagua part.

[Sahaja]

On 11/7/2023 at 1:07 AM, Gerard said:

The problem with that instruction is the focus on the Palm. 
 

Let's see:

 

1. The Millstone Pushing Palm is advanced material. Only taught to students after at least one year of practice of the previous 7 Palms if the lineage contains this Palm as number 8; hence the name Eight Mother Palms.

 

Other Ba Gua lineages start the set known as Ba Da Zhang (8 Old Palms) with the Millstone Pushing Palm. Their 8MP do not include this one. I prefer this methodology and it's the one I learnt.

 

A better video to learn from is as follows:

 

 

 

Liu Jingru (Cheng style Ba Gua) teaches the whole 8MP neigong set + mud walking stepping (one method of walking the circle).

 

2. As a beginning student do not start learning any of thd 8MZl until walking is done correctly. I spent an entire month under my teacher's guidance before he taught me the first Palm.

 

DO NOT TAKE SHORTCUTS AS THE ENERGIES YOU ARR DEALING WITH ARE VERY POWERFUL. BE WARNED.

 

Also grounding work must be implemented. Refer to He Jinghan's YT Channel has he has released a ton on instructional material. Start from the very bottom (year 2005) and work your way up.

 

It's difficult to learn Ba Gua from a video so you know. 
 

Good luck. 

My understanding of this basic form and the similar one that Sun Zhi Jun has on YouTube  is that, in addition to the external techniques of walking etc,  they are also intended to teach how internal energy is mobilized and expressed in each of the 8 guas or postures. The chi expression varies by the shape of the body in the gua and can be more yang, more yin or more wave like depending on the shape and the associated internal connections. They are meant to familiarize one with  these energies so they can be used in the more complex and applied bagua forms. Because they are simpler it is easier to connect with the energy and learn how to move without disconnecting from the energy, particularly if done slowly and repetitiously with awareness fully in the body.

 

Unfortunately in these YouTube videos only the external structure of the movements is shown. They don’t really mention much about what happens inside during the movement nor how that energy can be expressed.  I can only conjecture on why these masters of these forms leave out the internal instructions but I have a sense that it’s as much politics as it is secrecy.  It also could be that in order to express these energies it’s quite helpful to have some parallel practice in internal skill to open the body and familiarize one how to connect with the energetic body and the internal mechanisms used in bagua otherwise it can be frustrating.

I think someone wanting to study bagua should make sure the teaching is not limited to the external movements and should have some parallel internal skill process to energetically open palms, feet, tissues and create the necessary yin fields in the body. While my knowledge of bagua may be quite limited, I believe bagua potentially goes quite deep  but one needs to find a teacher that has the capability and willingness to take them inward beyond the external shapes. It’s easy to be impressed by smooth flowing complex external movements and chase this (mea culpa), but because it’s an internal art one should make sure they are not missing something important happening inside.