What are the best Qi Gong or Tai Chi exercise/training DVDs?

[DreamBliss]

OK here is part of the list of the DVDs I can currently access:

 

Qi Gong for Beginners and Qi Gong for Stress Relief

By: Garripoli

 

Tai Chi for Fitness

By: David Chang

 

AM Chi, Lower Body Chi, PM Chi, Tai Chi Beginning Practice, Tai Chi Daily Practice

By: David-Dorian Ross

 

Energy Exercises for Emotional Vitality, Energy Exercises for The Beginner, Energy Exercieses for The Intermediate

By: Discovering Chi (series)

 

Tai Chi for Beginners

By: Samual Barnes

 

Tai Chi Inner-Wave

By: Joey Bond

 

Tai Chi Fundamentals

By Tricia Wu

 

Which of these, if any, should I use? If any of these are not something you would recommend, why exactly? For example, in another thread I started on another subject. Matthew Cohen's Fire and Water Qi Gong came up. The person that said the exercises were bad gave a couple of reasons, among them things like Mr. Cohen is flexing his muscles when they are supposed to be relaxed.

 

What I am looking for are energy gathering/purifying exercises, preferably in Qi Gong (AKA Chi Kung). I like the side effects of good muscle flexibility among other things. I always liked Cohen's workout because I could use that after a really hard day of work where I was stiff and sore and I always felt better. I could also use it after a draining day and feel energized. Furthermore I can "see" the flame at my center, even meditating on this now, and I know when it is blinding bright and full of energy or when it is dim with little energy. The amount of energy I see there is directly releated to what I experience in my body. So I am looking to, in essence, recharge myself.

 

I should also mention that it appears I am linked in some way to the earth or earth energy. I now see vines that come up and either connect to roots I put down from my feet or the vines just enter my body. This is all in my minds eye of course. Be kinda freaky to have vines come out of the ground into your physical body Anyhow this is symbolic, to me, of energy from the earth, while a sort of system or web or whatever of light rays or shoots - whatever you want to call them, connect to the energy of the sun/sky. Anyhow there is shamanic, magician and other energtic stuff going on here, and this should be considered in any DVD you recommend.

 

Yeah I know I'm weird OK, as for length 10 minutes is awesome, 20 is OK, 30 is bearable, 40+ is "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!" So somewhere between 10-40 minutes is best for me. Also the exercises/moves should be very well narrated, as in Cohen's DVD, so I can easily see and feel how my body should be placed, and know I have it in the right position. Whatever else you can say about Cohen, you can certainly easily follow the audio of his DVD most of the time. Any DVD that depends on the video to explain everything is not as useful to me. Because I can carry around and use an audio file with me. But I can't work that way with a video file.

 

Free is awesome, if any such creature exists. You give me the names of good teachers I'll gladly hunt around YouTube. Otherwise I will see what I can dig up at the library. Have a bunch of material there, something in it has to be of good quality.

 

As always your help is appreciated. I would really like to get it right this time, hope I don't have to unlearn anything Cohen taught wrongly.

- DreamBliss

 

P.S.

PLEASE NOTE! DO NOT RECOMMEND A CLASS OR ANYTHING THAT COSTS MONEY TO ME! I have no money to buy anything, so I have YouTube and the library. Of course I also have a birthday coming up on the 11th... Hint... Hint...

 

Right now on my birthday/Christmas list are Josephine McCarthy's "The Excorsit's Handbook" and Magical Knowledge books II and III, Shalia Catherine's "Focused and Fearless" and "Wisdom Wide and Deep." Prentice Mulford's "Thought AreThings," Franz Bardon's "Initiation Into Hermetics" and, last but not least, the "Kybalion" by the Three Initiates.

Edited November 19, 2012 by DreamBliss

[GrandmasterP]

Free stuff here..

http://jsqg.sport.org.cn/en/index.html

 

Enjoy.

And good luck with that Xmas list. I hope that Santa brings everything you wish for yourself.

[Trunk]

Some of the Spring Forest Qigong exercises are on youtube.

[Gemstone]

Free lessons:

http://www.youtube.com/user/StandStillBeFit

 

Accompanying book:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Energy-Mastering-Internal/dp/0671736450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353308131&sr=8-1&keywords=way+of+energy

[DreamBliss]

OK thank you for the links, I will look them over later. Waiting for someone's expert opinion here. Remember I am looking for teachers with instructions you can follow with the audio only, because the forms are that well described. Also I require those who are teaching and demonstrating the forms correctly.

 

Here are the YouTube teaches I found so far:

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/QiRevelation

http://www.youtube.com/user/markmauvais

http://www.youtube.com/user/azeban

http://www.youtube.com/user/ExerciseToHeal

http://www.youtube.com/user/shorechi

http://www.youtube.com/user/BethLeone108

http://www.youtube.com/user/PoWeRHoUsEUnleashed

http://www.youtube.com/user/MahaVajra

http://www.youtube.com/user/sanasadhya

http://www.youtube.com/user/taoistpathschool

http://www.youtube.com/user/ChenStyleJohn

http://www.youtube.com/user/DesdenDragen?feature=watch

http://www.youtube.com/user/innergeticsgt?feature=watch

http://www.youtube.com/user/thealanwinneracademy?feature=watch

http://www.youtube.com/user/AlchemicPath?feature=watch

http://www.youtube.com/user/Timewave2012?feature=watch

http://www.youtube.com/user/mxqigong?feature=watch

http://www.youtube.com/user/DharmaGus?feature=watch

 

Please help me narrow these lists and suggestions to the absolute best teachers. Thanks!

- DreamBliss

Edited November 21, 2012 by DreamBliss

[寒月 Hanyue]

OK here is part of the list of the DVDs I can currently access:

 

What I am looking for are energy gathering/purifying exercises,

 

I like the side effects of good muscle flexibility among other things. I always liked Cohen's workout because I could use that after a really hard day of work where I was stiff and sore and I always felt better. I could also use it after a draining day and feel energized.

 

Garripoli is the only one I've heard of. Have no idea if the dvd is any good never seen it.

 

I would not bother trying to learn taiji from a dvd, ANY dvd. The benefit you would get, would far more easily be got doing other things.

 

What you say in bold above you certainly are not going to get from Cohen's W/F dvd.

 

However, if you like what else you said above and found you were getting that from the dvd, then carry on! It ain't rocket science.

 

Personally those benefits IMO have little to do with actual qigong. Which are exercises regarding qi, not a physical fitness workout routine like Cohen presents. But if you like it, and you feel it gives you something, do it, simple. Just be aware of what it IS and IS NOT doing for you.

 

For joint mobility, dynamic range of motion and daily de-stress there are far better and easier fitness programs easily available on youtube or dvd (Sonnon's intu-flow for example). They don't pretend to be anything other than what they are. What ever rocks your boat and gets you doing it is great.

 

If you want to learn authentic qigong, sorry I have NO dvd or book to recommend. I am not a fan nor an advocate of trying to learn that way. My experience has shown it is a waste of time and potentially hazardous.

 

What you can do, which is what I did, is do what you can and learn patience. Allow your life to change and move to a place where you can study with someone. Some times this takes years. It isn't always easy and can be frustrating. I've been there.

 

However these days I have awesome teachers, and lineages. Be prepared to 'listen', follow your heart and to move city. You never know what doors will open un-expectedley.

 

Best,

[寒月 Hanyue]

"to move city"

 

snowmonki, you mean to relocate to be closer to a teacher or a group that resonates with you? talk about dedicated!

 

I've moved cities 4 times,

 

My latest teacher, though they live in China, comes to me . I think I've earned that one

 

It's why I don't have much sympathy for people whining about no teachers near them or no-one to study with and so on (this comment is NOT aimed at the starter of this thread, I have simply seen A LOT of people on various forums and boards doing this over the years).

 

One, you have to learn patience. You finding teachers, or them finding you (whichever way you want to look at it) doesn't happen over night.

 

But yes, be prepared to travel. I've visited 6 countries on 3 continents for various lengths of time. And no I'm not rich and not made of money.

 

Best,

Edited November 22, 2012 by snowmonki

[DreamBliss]

@snowmonki

 

Thank you for responding to my PM and coming in here to share your thoughts as I requested. I do appreciate it!

 

However I have to admit I am a little dissapointed. There should be at least one DVD or YouTube teacher who is showing the moves correctly, and is very detailed in their descriptions. There has to be a way to practice this properly, without a teacher, as I wait for one to appear. But I understand that I posted a lot of links and it would take a lot of time on your part to go through that. I guess I just feel that if I tell someone why they shouldn't do something, or use something, as in this case, that I am responsible to explian my viewpoint (which you have a little) and provide a viable alternative that is a feasible replacement (which you have not.)

 

I admire that you have moved around so much to be closer to your teachers. But please understand, I have no job, no money, and while I have not complained about the lack of teachers in my area, to the limits of my knowledge there aren't any, and this is a valid compliant. Also I can't wait to learn Qi Gong until some teacher appears. I am learning and practicing things that require a lot of energy, so I have to be properly purifying the energy in my body and re-energizing it. In other words, I'm on my own, teacher or not. So for now I have to learn via a video. It's that simple.

 

So how about this then to make things easier... I will go through the materials I can access at the library and YouTube. All I need is to know what I should be looking for in a teacher who is giving proper instructions. Do you think you could give me those details? That would be a very big help! So far all I have is that I should ignore any teacher who is unecasarily flexing their muscles or is demonstrating something other than what they are talking about. As you can see that's not a whole lot to go on. If you could give me the essentials I would appreciate it.

 

Thank you for your patience -

- DreamBliss

Edited November 22, 2012 by DreamBliss

[寒月 Hanyue]

But I understand that I posted a lot of links and it would take a lot of time on your part to go through that. I guess I just feel that if I tell someone why they shouldn't do something, or use something, as in this case, that I am responsible to explian my viewpoint (which you have a little) and provide a viable alternative that is a feasible replacement (which you have not.)

 

No I don't have time to go through all those links, and evaluate them and get back to you with a point by point analysis. I also don't have time to research and evaluate all of the teachers mentioned that have dvd's out that you have access to. We obviously feel different about this then. This is a forum, there is more valuable information on this forum providing qigong methods than you'll get on most dvds.

 

[Edit]

 

While not an actual practice, I am aware of this;

 

http://www.youtube.c...8?feature=watch

 

I think Charles does a good job of trying to get across that what you see on the outside is only a shadow of how the movement in taiji and good qigong occurs. Watch all of them, but start here;

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We3nu1dSfE4&list=UU0AAOqH-7s4B3esrfOCaqEA&index=10&feature=plcp

 

It'll also give you enough to work on this practice;

 

 

 

 

These don't go into Cai gong however, or the layers of energetic interaction between you and the environment, but it's a start.

Edited November 22, 2012 by snowmonki

[GrandmasterP]

@snowmonki

 

Thank you for responding to my PM and coming in here to share your thoughts as I requested. I do appreciate it!

 

However I have to admit I am a little dissapointed. There should be at least one DVD or YouTube teacher who is showing the moves correctly, and is very detailed in their descriptions. There has to be a way to practice this properly, without a teacher, as I wait for one to appear. But I understand that I posted a lot of links and it would take a lot of time on your part to go through that. I guess I just feel that if I tell someone why they shouldn't do something, or use something, as in this case, that I am responsible to explian my viewpoint (which you have a little) and provide a viable alternative that is a feasible replacement (which you have not.)

 

I admire that you have moved around so much to be closer to your teachers. But please understand, I have no job, no money, and while I have not complained about the lack of teachers in my area, to the limits of my knowledge there aren't any, and this is a valid compliant. Also I can't wait to learn Qi Gong until some teacher appears. I am learning and practicing things that require a lot of energy, so I have to be properly purifying the energy in my body and re-energizing it. In other words, I'm on my own, teacher or not. So for now I have to learn via a video. It's that simple.

 

So how about this then to make things easier... I will go through the materials I can access at the library and YouTube. All I need is to know what I should be looking for in a teacher who is giving proper instructions. Do you think you could give me those details? That would be a very big help! So far all I have is that I should ignore any teacher who is unecasarily flexing their muscles or is demonstrating something other than what they are talking about. As you can see that's not a whole lot to go on. If you could give me the essentials I would appreciate it.

 

Thank you for your patience -

- DreamBliss

....................

Not knowing what's on most of the DVDs listed here I can't advise one way or the other but the proprietary ones that I have seen over the years are a mixed bag. Some very good, some not so good .

I do bang the drum for the Chinese Health QiGong Association resources because..

A.. It is all good.

B.. It is free.

C.. It comes from the source with literally millions of people cultivating it each and every day.

Stick to one form diligently and once you have progressed beyond a certain point then a teacher will appear to help you further along the way.

Some people are drawn to proprietary method teachers sessions , travel a long way or even move house to get to those and pay such a lot of money when just possibly right down the road from where they are now there is some humble teacher running a little class very quietly with little fuss or much publicity who could help them progress far further than any of the big name and very expensive teachers might do.

The guy who taught me was a shopkeeper by day. We never knew much about his background and nothing about his lineage ( we didn't even know what a lineage was) until things eased off in China and he was able to go back there now and again.

Then we knew.

There are great teachers all over the place, some of the very best don't need to advertise, they just do what they do.

Keep at it buddy and , when it's the right time; you'll either find a teacher or one will find you.

[寒月 Hanyue]

Some people are drawn to proprietary method teachers sessions , travel a long way or even move house to get to those and pay such a lot of money when just possibly right down the road from where they are now there is some humble teacher running a little class very quietly with little fuss or much publicity who could help them progress far further than any of the big name and very expensive teachers might do.

 

Did you want a bigger spoon??

[DreamBliss]

@snowmonki

 

Thank you very much for the links!

 

@GrandmasterP

 

Thank you for the advice!

 

Checking out those videos now...

- DreamBliss

[johndoe2012]

.

Edited August 18, 2013 by chris d

[DreamBliss]

While I can not deny the possibility of past lives, I will not consign myself to endless recycling if this is just another belief and not a reality as defined by The Source. But I must admit it is intruiging to think about the implications of what you have said!

 

@snowmonki

 

Mr. Tauber's videos are very well done, they break down the movements very well and explian many things to me I needed to understand. I feel I now have the tools I can use to sort through the teachings I have available and find the good ones. I have also contact Mr. Tauber about the cost of his videos.

 

@All

 

OK, adding Charles Taubers Taijichuan videos to my Birthday/Christmas list!

 

Namatse -

- DreamBliss

[tao stillness]

I just had my medical clairvoyant test Matthew Cohen's Fire and Water Chi Kung and it tested very well for me. He said it opens the third chakra so it will improve my digestion and immune system. It will also work on 1st and 2nd chakras and then over time it will reach to the upper chakras. Probably am not going to order it as it is 30 minutes to do each of the 2 forms. I am sticking with powerful Pangu Mystical Qigong which takes 20 minutes.

[tao stillness]

Chi kung seekers will be satisfied with Terry Dunn's Flying Phoenix dvd series and also the dvd downloads from Garry Hearfield who is in Australia and teaches Sunn Yee Gong. Both of these teachers had the same Grandmaster Doo Wai. The postures and movements can definitely be learned accurately from the dvds and the resulting chi and other benefits are noticeable right from the start.

Edited February 12, 2014 by tao stillness