Shamanic Qigong

[doc benway]

I've practiced a variety of Qigong sets for about 10 years.

The two I have utilized most are Shiba Luohan Qigong for the more martial benefits and Gu Chuan Ba Duan Jin Qigong, which is basically a version of the 8 Brocades that is a bit more complex and purportedly older (aren't they all?). I've recently started practicing a set that my close friend and training partner created. He has extensive experience in shamanism and Native medicine, in addition to Taijiquan, Qigong, and Neigong.

 

I'm finding that the combination of Qigong with shamanic channeling is superb. The set I'm currently practicing is called Golden Eagle Awakens a Vision. He has also developed sets related to the deer, bear, and owl. I know that some of the earliest Qigong sets were derived from animal movements and, in particular, animals that are native to Asia or Asian culture and mythology. And it's also clear that Daoism has it's roots in shamanism so the combination seems very natural. On the other hand, I don't have experience with other animal sets other than swimming dragon and I've yet to meet any other Qigong teachers who emphasize shamanic roots.

 

So my observation is that practicing a well designed Qigong set with shamanic intent may well touch upon something that the early creators of Qigong had in mind. Furthermore, I think there may be real benefit to channeling animals that are native to one's native culture and geography.

 

Does anyone else have experience and observations, or historical knowledge about combining Qigong and shamanism?

 

Thanks

[zerostao]

surely

[Ya Mu]

Hi Steve,

 

Agree that these things go hand in hand. Even though I do not know your friend and haven't seen these particular moves, I think this is probably a very good thing he/she is doing. My Gift of the Tao movement sets are basically shamanic shifting techniques.

 

What I found out is that every time I was going to surprise my neigong teacher with what I had learned from shamanism he would say "Very good." "Now let me show you how we do it." And indeed, the system we practice does have roots in shamanic practices. One of the things the qi projection was used for was that ancient travelers would use the techniques to scare away large animals (the kind that would eat you) when traveling.

 

What I have found is that, on a certain level, there really is no difference and I utilize both. We even have a hand-me-down oral story of tribal shaman (where some of our techniques were handed down from) telling the tribe to go far far away over a strip of land to another country. Interesting was that he told them this pathway would not stay open long. This story goes in hand with the theory of Chinese migrating to the Americas. An anthropologist friend tells me that the Native American/Chinese characteristics are very close and that among (certain?) anthropologists this is accepted as a working knowledge. I personally wouldn't argue against that as some of the qigong and shamanic techniques are quite similar.

[Taomeow]

In very old martial sets, there's moves named not even after animals but after natural phenomena -- e.g. Level Clouds Slice the Peak (which I think is an open-palm blow to the Great Yang points on the temples) or Yellow River Breaks its Banks (no clue what that entails but sounds quite disastrous ) --

 

so it's not limited to qigong, it's all over the place. If you think of taoism as a living entity with "roots," and the "roots" are of course shamanic, it's easy to understand why one can travel back and forth between taoism and shamanism like sap travels up and down the tree trunk. Any system with no shamanic roots is a tree cut off from its roots -- in wuxing terms, "dead wood" (symbolized aptly by, e.g., a wooden cross stuck into the ground.)

[KoffeeKommando]

Any system with no shamanic roots is a tree cut off from its roots.

 

Dead wood. Perfect description.

[Aetherous]

It was interesting learning some of what appears to be authentic shamanic methods...much more powerful than any qigong out there.

[Universal]

Does anyone know where I can find information about the shamanic roots in Taoism? Very interested.

[Taomeow]

"An ancient text, The Spring and Autumn Annals, states that in mythic times a great flood covered much of China. Stagnant waters produced widespread disease. The legendary shaman-emperor Yu cleared the land and diverted the waters into rivers by dancing a bear dance and invoking the mystical power of the Big Dipper Constellation. As the waters subsided, people reasoned that movement and exercise can similarly cause the internal rivers to flow more smoothly, clearing the meridians of obstructions to health. Qigong-like exercises are found on ancient rock art panels throughout China. Chinese shamans used these exercises and meditations to commune with nature and natural forces and to increase their powers of healing and divination." (copied from Ken Cohen's site)

 

You can read up a bit more on that in Eva Wong's "The Shambala Guide to Taoism."

[Owledge]

This story goes in hand with the theory of Chinese migrating to the Americas. An anthropologist friend tells me that the Native American/Chinese characteristics are very close and that among (certain?) anthropologists this is accepted as a working knowledge. I personally wouldn't argue against that as some of the qigong and shamanic techniques are quite similar.

There's a guy named Menzies who wrote a book about alleged visits of Chinese in America, but it might have been later than what you suggest. (Sailing there with a fleet is the the theory I'm talking about here.) The reasoning was absolutely pathetic. Basically he had the idea and tried to construct an explanation based on no sound facts at all. At least Native Americans are genetically not at all related to Chinese of times where they could have sailed there with imperial ships.

I'm not even sure if the genetic comparison method is time-dependant.

Does anybody know what state of development humans were at when the continents drifted apart? (In case that scientific knowledge is solid.)

Edited March 29, 2012 by Owledge

[doc benway]

I just heard from Jeremy this morning that he intends to offer a 7 week workshop on this.

You can find more info here if you are interested.