DGS's Dizzying DVD Collection

[Trunk]

[MooNiNite]

 

8 Energy Set - Bagua Zhang "Awakening the Dragon Within"

 

"One of the main benefits is moving the lifeforce through the chakra system and activating the eight psychic channels."

 

- 28 minutes in total, produced in 2001, 20 minute is the main content, very light on talk and explanations, goes over the form at least 6 times

 

- 8 palm postures while walking the circle, each while centering your energy in corresponding chakra, also mentions the channel activated

 

- sacral pump walking

 

IMHO: Likely a very foundational set from a point of view of an experienced practitioner, but it doesn't cover any foundational basics of bagua zhang. Still it can likely be practiced by someone who has no bagua specific basics as a moving meditation - it mentions as possible using normal walk, or even using sacral pump walking whole set, instead of mud stepping. Ba Gua Circle Walking Nei Gong book by Tom Bisio covers about the same postures (but doesn't cover chakras, sacral pump walk, also in video you can watch smooth transitions between postures).

 

Here is an official description taken from elsewhere, but I believe it covers same DVD:

 

Hi Leif,

 

Does he teach opening the chakras, and their relation to awakening?

[Leif]

This DVD is very light on any verbal teachings, it only mentions which chakra relates to which posture. It's narrated while he's circle walking so there is just a little time for each posture. IIRC.

I don't know if he has any videos that would be specifically dedicated to chakras and cover what you are looking for, I'd recommend to ask him directly (as he covers chakras in more depth in other videos, so he might as well have one like that).

Edited August 24, 2015 by Leif

[Leif]

just realized the comment was giving wrong impression, thus a correction:

I meant to write "light on VERBAL teachings"

(that's particularly when compared to other videos he has, where it's a non-stop talk and I need to listen couple times each time there are new layers of understanding untangled, so compared to those other videos, this has relatively little talk)

[Trunk]

Ok, I guess I'm ready to talk about the DGS "8 Powers" videos.  I've been working with it for some months (4?) now, enough to establish some basis and - of course - it is still going deeper.  That's the cool thing with authentic methods of the internal arts: just keep going deeper.

Sifu Matsuo is offering an 8 Powers 2-for-1 for $108 (order as usual, via paypal to [email protected]):

1. 8 Powers ChienPi version w/ Mark Saito narrating.  This one is about 25 minutes long, has been mentioned earlier in this thread...  It doesn't offer much detailed teaching but just simple run throughs of the form with some commentary.
2. 8 Powers at the Lotus Center.  This one is a workshop that was given at a store and runs about an hour and a half.  It covers the same material as above (plus a few extra qigong moves) but in detail.

The basic material of these videos is the 8 basic palms that you see everywhere (monkey offers fruit, heaven & earth, etc.).  However, as usual, Sifu Matsuo gives inner teachings: how it works on the inside.  Where to focus and how that holds the posture together and lets energy flow through it.  The 8 palms flow one into the other, starting from the base chakra and ending at the crown ... a very natural flow that you can feel and the energetics are clear, working in a vertical progression from bottom up... emphasizing key points to focus energetically on, at least somewhat related to centers, at least somewhat related to eight extraordinary vessels... all very palpably coherent with the postures.  It works; you can feel it, and it is evident in stronger body integration.

Additionally, there is "sacral pump walking".  My one-liner on this one is that the sacral pump walking alone could be sold for 10x the price and it'd still be a bargain.  The details on "sacral pump walking" (and on the palms, and on some additional preliminary qigongs) are in the longer video.

My personal experience with the DGS 8 Powers is that - for me - it has been the most painful to learn and also one of my most favorite DGS teachings.
First the painful parts.  
1. The video and audio quality on the longer video is poor, consistently throughout the video.  I watch the videos on my iPad and wear high quality blue-tooth headphones.  The video is small and grainy on this one, and the audio is distractingly rough.  You are forewarned. 

2. Learning sacral pump walking was a big deal for me, produced *big* internal body changes that were difficult for my body to take in at first.  Didn't cause injury or anything like that, just a lot to take in.  It's a very strong method.

Why one of my favorites?
1. Sacral pump walking did a *lot* to change my body.  My legs and feet are more articulate, and considerably more rooted.  I can feel it even just walking around town, and lots of different times in daily life.  Both physically and energetically.  EVERY.  SINGLE.  TIP.  was killer, spot-on, made big differences.  My experienc of kidney-1 (bubbling spring) is greatly enhanced.  I could go on and on.  Like I said, that exercise alone, at 10x the price: still a bargain.

2. The palms.  I always felt when circle walking before with just 1 palm that it should change into things, that there was probably a progression.  There is, and they work together, interwoven, in sequence.  Like I said earlier, Sifu Matsuo's version gave the internal tips that allowed that to work for me, the internal stuff.  *Really* enjoyable.  Feels good, balanced, progressive.

 

And I'm getting *stronger* and more *integrated*... from these exercises that, on the outside, you'd not suspect would produce those kind of changes.

 

Ok, enough. 

cheers,
Trunk

 

p.s.

I also have Liu Jingru's dvd of the basic 8 palms.  Similar base material, but to compare...  I appreciate Liu Jingru's presentation...  My impression is that in his dvd I am getting standard detailed instruction of those 8 palms, really appreciated and worth the time, effort, etc.  Sincere gratitude and bow to Liu Jingru.

 

HOWEVER, with Sifu Matsuo's videos ... well, the *inner* stuff is there that (in my experience) makes it all work, that makes me *feel* (and think) THIS is what I got into this for.  And then there's the sacral pump walking, which is in Sifu Matsuo's videos and I've not seen at all elsewhere.  All just frickin' dazzling and progressively deepening, integrating, and that I want to practice over and over.

 

 

~ later edit ~

p.p.s.

A couple of notes regarding just my personal process...

 

The internal arts really make me feel like an idiot sometimes... not just sometimes, but over and over again.  I get shown a simple exercise and then it takes me months (usually about a season, 3 months) to feel like I have it on a basic level (and then, of course, it keeps going deeper).  I know that this happens, yet it continues to surprise me.  Compare it to learning push-ups, or how to work a weight machine: a few minutes and you've got it, then of course you get stronger, but to "get" the basic exercise: just a few minutes.  Internal arts methods that, on the outside, look fairly simple: 3 months.  Sometimes that's just for one exercise from a video full of exercises.  ... or for the most basic part of an exercise that provides foundation for more complicated maneuvers further into the video.

 

Also, I find that I really need to go through the videos in detail, repeatedly.  I go so far as to make detailed written notes of the whole video.  If I don't do that, I tend to miss a lot.

Edited April 13, 2016 by Trunk

[Mandrake]

Trunk:

 

 

Lately you've been going through some more of the practices and techniques from DGS: Does your recommendation for novices still stand, that is KYMQ and Bagua Circle walking?

 

 

Thanks for all the updates and shared experiences. I'm following with great interest.

Mandrake

[Trunk]

Lately you've been going through some more of the practices and techniques from DGS: Does your recommendation for novices still stand, that is KYMQ and Bagua Circle walking?

 

Yes, (and I would add kuji-in).

Edited November 15, 2015 by Trunk

[Trunk]

[Trunk]

Ok, I guess I'm ready to talk about the DGS "8 Powers" videos.  I've been working with it for some months (4?) now, enough to establish some basis and - of course - it is still going deeper.  ...

That was written in November, here it is late March and I have more to say ...

 

The "8 Powers" is mostly what I've been practicing all this time.  That's how satisfying it is for me, how I feel it is continually progressing, and that it aligns with what I'm driven by in the internal arts.  Undoubtedly it has martial application, but I've been doing it nearly entirely with a qigong orientation.

 

I've focused in on the specific acupoint that correlates to each palm position... which has led me to studying the acupoints and their relation to the 8 extraordinary channels, how they work with the palm postures, and so forth.  I find this to produce such strong results that, when I practice this out in nature I need to sit down for a while afterwards - my channels are circulating so pervasively strongly.  I feel that each and all of it connects to the energies of heaven and earth; it really puts me in a different mode of being to practice this set.  So: really, really enjoying it.  Very rewarding immediately and for the long long haul. 

 

- Trunk

 

p.s.

I do want to include the warning, repeat what I said before about the video/audio quality on the longer video (the one that contains all the goodies).  The quality is rough, especially the audio... I said at one point to a friend that it was like having my ears against a cheese grater.  I needed to use headphones to hear clearly enough, but at the same time: rough.  You are forewarned.  However, it has turned out to be one of my favorite practices... so, so glad I didn't miss this one.

[Trunk]

p.p.s.

The acupoints are all along du and ren, and also connect to others of the 8 extraordinary vessels, somewhat to the chakras ... and always (of course) including the arms, hands, legs, feet in connection ~ integration with energies heaven n' earth.  I've never felt my "orbit" integrate so well with my physical form... "points" on the orbit get emphasized over and over in ways much more comprehensively (as described above) than just sitting and meditating on them.  Since the arms and legs, heaven n' earth are involved, I guess you might call it the macrocosmic orbit ... but it is also more than that because other of the 8 vessels are involved.  The studying up in Deadman's "Manual of Acupuncture" and Kiiko Matsumoto's "8 Extraordinary Vessels" has really helped me understand, and consequently effectuate - experience more deeply - what I'm practicing.  Continuing to study all that.  Gonna be doing this practice for a long time, lol.

[johndoe2012]

I got the heart of bagua video recently and it is really good.

 

The kunlun dragon standing posture is a tough one but very good for legs, shoulders and overall stamina.

 

I skipped the mudras / vajra standings that come after this and went to the circle walking. Really good instruction. Afterwards I felt my back had been massaged thoroughly even though I had only walked the circle for about 20 minutes.

 

For us westerners that sit a lot we need something like bagua to unwind us :-)

[Vajra Fist]

Does it have any palm changes on it?

[Trunk]

Does it have any palm changes on it?

 

Yes.  Here's a preview of the dvd (with a demo including the palm changes at around 4m):

Edited January 24, 2017 by Trunk

[Jox]

I have some DGS dvd_s: Iron cloth, Fatigue flows Hirai shiki jin shin ho, Hirai Kuji Kiri/Kuji In, Kwan ying mangentic qi gong, Taoist 5 elements qi gong, Teamasters 5 elements, The heart of bagua, Wu family 5 elements point healing, Wu family water and fire points healing, Wu family Thunder & ligting whipping palms qi gong, Five elements medical qi gong / Tibetan Healing Mudras, Wu family 9 palaces system, Wudang snake seated qigong, Water dragon qi gong. Ok ..., last four I just ordered, lol ... 

 

Very valuable practices and info. Kowtow ... 

 

Edited September 9, 2017 by Jox

[Jox]

Hm ..., instead of water dragon, I got red dragon breath set ...   

Anyone have been practicing this?

[Marblehead]

No, but I have been told that I have bad breath.

 

[Jox]

12 hours ago, Marblehead said:

No, but I have been told that I have bad breath.

 

 

You can fix it easily ... lol ...  

[Marblehead]

49 minutes ago, Jox said:

 

You can fix it easily ... lol ...  

I fixed it.  I don't get close to people any more.

 

[Jox]

16 hours ago, Marblehead said:

I fixed it.  I don't get close to people any more.

 

And you are playing a troll a little ... 

[Marblehead]

5 hours ago, Jox said:

And you are playing a troll a little ... 

Not really trolling but I would stand accused of taking the thread off topic.

 

I will return to my silent mode for this thread now.

 

[Jox]

Just got Five elements medical qi gong, tibetan mudras. Interesting, this set, actually part of this set is thaught in KunLun system by Max in his book, it is known as Maoshan five elements zhang zhuan- five elements static postures. Now, Lao Xie teaches it in standing still and holding postures, then standing still and doing postures in dynamic order and walking in circles while doing dynamic movements. Movements are connected to breath, really to stretch the body, hands, legs and spiral/wrap the spine from bottom up to the neck ... Highly recommended   +++++  

Edited September 24, 2017 by Jox

[Jox]

On 12/28/2014 at 3:01 PM, Trunk said:

Vibrating and whipping palms has already been mentioned several times in this thread, I'm sure, but here's the promo clip that recently came out about it:

 

 

I have been doing this eight vibrating movements lately ... cool stuff ... 

[Aetherous]

I'm still super interested if anyone has the Kunlun flying needles DVD.

[Jox]

16 hours ago, Aetherous said:

I'm still super interested if anyone has the Kunlun flying needles DVD.

 

I have KFN 1 & 2 and I havent take a look yet, lol ... 

[Jox]

Does anyone practice Bonpo sacred toning? If yes, what experience do you have?