Issue 37 - Tse Qigong Centre

Cover Master Ma YueQi Magazine is published by the Tse QigongCentre. Its aim is to bring you information not readilyavailable in the West.Editor:Deputy Editor:Ads Manager:Editorial Assistants:IllustratorMarketing/DistributionUSASwedenMichael TseDarryl MoySheila WaddingtonJohn HayesSarahBloomfieldSimonBedfordCaroline GarveyJamie MaslinJessica BlackwellAdam WallaceBarbro OlssenConsultants (Listed in alphabetical order):Columnists:Grandmaster Chan Chi HoGrandmaster ChenXiao WangGrandmaster Ip ChunGrandmaster Yang MeijunDr. ShulanTangGlen GosslingTse Sin KeiDaniel PoonWe encourage all our readers to contribute articles,letters or questions for possible inclusion in futureissues of Qi Magazine.Articles appearing in Qi Magazine do not necessarilyreflect the opinion of the editor.Adverts appearing in the magazine are not necessarilyendorsed by it or the editor.Exercises appearing in Qi Magazine are for referencepurposes only. Thus anyone wishing to study shouldseek qualified tuition.Michael Tse 1998.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced, stored or transmitted in any way withoutthe written permission ofMichael Tse.Advertising:Qi Magazine has proved to be aneffective way of reaching a wide variety of people. Allenquiries welcome.Contact Sheila Waddington.Subscription: Costs per year:U.K.EuropeWorldwide£20 inc. p&p.£25 (airmail) inc p&p.£30 (airmail) inc p&p.Please send payment in Pounds Sterling. Paymentcan be by Credit Card or Cheque, drawn on UK bank,payable to Qi Magazine:Qi MagazinePO Box 116Manchester,M20 3YN, U.K.Tel:0161 9294485 Fax:0161 929 4489email: editor@qimagazine.comhttp://www.qiamgazine.com(International Tel: +44-161 9294485)(International Fax: +44-161 9294489)ISSN 1358-3778Wong Ting Gee’s book aboutwitchcraft in China is very interesting. Hisbook helps us to understand that in the pastthere were a lot of tricks being played on thepublic. History mentions many immortals,and in his book Wong Ting Gee does not denythat many of them had a very high level ofskill in Qigong. Although some were genuine,there were some others who were frauds.His book teaches us that we need to openour eyes to look at things clearly, otherwisewe would have to treat David Copperfield asa high level Qigong master.One story Wongdescribes happenedin Hawaii.There weresome peopletrying todevelop someancient Hawaiianwitchcraft. Oneman claimed to bea wizard and hewould use a stick inhis witchcraft. Hewould insert his stickinto the sand and thencast a spell on it. To dothis he had toconcentrate all his energyon the stick and he alsoneeded the power of thesea, which was why hepractised on the beach.Sometimes he would sit for awhole day concentrating his energy onthe stick and at the same time the sea wouldgive him a lot of energy.All the people knew about this kindof training and no one liked to come near thewizard. Even after the wizard had gone, noone dared to come and take the stick out ofthe sand.One young man did not believe inwitchcraft and the tales the people told aboutit. While the wizard was not there he wentand pulled the stick out of the ground andbroke it. However, the wizard returned andsaw what the young man had done.He said to the young man, “You will die inseven days.”The young man went back home andtold his family what had happened. Everyonewas afraid of the wizard’s spell. Some evensaid they knew people who had died whenthey caused a problem with the wizards. Theyoung man grew more and more afraid.The young man’s parents asked manypeople if they could help solve the problem,but no one could help. However, anotherwizard said that the young man should go asfar away as possible and not stay in Hawaii.The young man listened, bought a ticket andflew to Austria. But at the end ofthe seventh day he died in a busaccident.Stories like this arequite frightening aren’t they?The young man had alreadysuffered from the wizard’scurse, and his family andfriends were also giving himtheir curse by making himmore and more afraid. Hehimself created all thisnegative energy sothat bythe end of the seventhday he was quitevulnerable. Perhapsthe wizard did havesome power to affectthe young man, butif he had remainedcalm, did not treatit too seriously, and builtup his own positive energy, then hemight have just become ill but would haverecovered quite quickly. Maybe even nothingwould have happened to him.It is important to remain calm, clearyour mind, develop the proper energy andtrain in a natural way. Then other things willnot easily affect you. We practise Qigong andthe most important thing is to be healthy andkeep your centre and not lose your ‘balance’.External things are not important, you cannottake them with you when you die.However, if the young man had notbroken the stick nothing would havehappened. So do the right thing.

Contents Issue 371. Editorialwith Michael Tse.4. PO Box 116News, views, short items and questions.7 Taiji Concepts of MovementWhen you watch a highly skilled person there is always something about their movements that you cannot grasp, but if youcould, then your own practice would improve immensely.By Glenn Gossling9 Feng Shui and the Millennium BugThe arrival of the new millennium is very exciting. For businessesworldwide it also brings in the worry of the Millennium Bug. Butdid you know that Feng Shui calculations also have a MillenniumBug?By Daniel Poon11 Daoist YogaMany people know that Yoga has its roots in Indian culture.However, China also has its own forms of Yoga and these exercisesdate back many thousands of years.By J. Reynolds Nelson14 Shaolin UKMany a martial artist dreams of training at the Shaolin Temple inChina. Some actually make the trip but are disappointed that theycannot learn the genuine skills. Now there is a real Shaolin monkteaching in the UK.By Alan McKenzie16 Dayan Gong 2 nd 64 part 2Continuing from last issue; Releasing Sick Qi to Turn the Bodyand Recover Qi.19 Mysterious Fire Dragon QigongMaster Zhang Yuanming is the inheritor of Fire Dragon Qigong.He began training at the age of three and it is claimed he cansummon a dragon!By Sparky He22 Cover StorySensing the Dragon QiFeng Shui Master Chan Kun WahMaster Chan Kun Wah has a fascinatingbackground. He was chosen at the ageof thirteen to begin his studies that havecontinued for nearly forty years.Though he has been in the UK for manyyears, only very recently has he revealedhis skill.Interview by Jessica Blackwell28 New InstructorsAt the beginning of the year, a group of keen enthusiasts qualifiedas teachers of Taiji Qigong. During the course they discoveredmuch about themselves, faced and overcame many fears.34 A Professional Martial Artist – Ma Yue Interview part 2Master Ma Yue is a professional martial artist in every sense of theword. Not only is he recognised as such in the UK, but also inChina, which is a very difficult thing to achieve.Interview by Darryl Moy & Daniel Poon39 Smoking & AcupunctureAs the 90’s come to an end, more and more people want to quitsmoking but find it very hard to do. Perhaps they should turn toancient remedies to help with their modern day curse.By Dr Shulan Tang40 99 Years of Practise –The Story of Grandmaster Yang MeijunChina has had a very turbulent history. The last hundred or soyears have been some of the worst and Grandmaster Yang Meijunhas seen most of it with her own eyes.By Michael Tse42 Reiki & QigongReiki is a Japanese method of healing. Its practitioners channelenergy through themselves to help others.By John Spinetto44 24 Step Simplified TaijiquanThis style of taijiquan is one of the most popular in the world andwas specially created for newcomers to taiji.45 Wing Chun Table MannersIt is rare to see a fight break out on a tabletop. However, if you goto a Wing Chun class that is what you might see. But what are theyreally doing?By Darryl Moy46 Shaolin Damo StaffDamo is the monk who came from India to the Shaolin Temple.Although he did not create Shaolin martial arts, he taught themmany things and today there are many exciting skills that bear hisname.By Michael Tse48 What’s On with Michael TseClasses and seminarsQi Magazine 3

If there is anything you want to discuss, if there is anything you want to share withothers, any news or any announcements you would like to make, send them to us:Qi Magazine, PO Box 116, Manchester M20 3YN.Tribute to Bao Nai-JianIn the early hours of the 12 th ofFebruary 1998, Bao Nai-Jian was taken illand died suddenly.Known to many simplyas Bao, he brought relief to those sufferingfrom all manner of injuries and illnessesthrough his skill as a practitioner ofTraditional ChineseMedicine. He was alsowidely reputed as a taiji teacher.Bao was born in the Chinese cityof Tianjin, on February 26 th 1936. Hisfather, an enthusiastic practitioner ofmartial arts and Traditional ChineseMedicine, introduced his son to bothskills. At school, Bao showed earlypromise of his future brilliance ingymnastics, and at age 16 he becamethe youngest member of the ChineseNational Gymnastic Team. He wenton to become the all-roundgymnastics champion of China for 8year. He was the first Chinesegymnast ever to take the gold medalin an international competition, andwas named the first ever “Master ofSport”, the highest honour given to asports person in China.In 1962, Bao became aChinese NationalGymnastics Coach,going on to train many medalwinninggymnastsin his own country,and later in countries around theworld, including Indonesia, Iraq andIceland. He also doubled as teamphysician on many occasions.On January 1 st 1964 Baomarried Men Xiao Min, who was alsoa memberof theNational GymnasticsTeam and together they continuedtheir career as coachesin internationalgymnastics. At the time of theCultural Revolution, like many otherQi Magazine 4‘international’ Chinese, they were sent tothe countryside for ‘re-education’.In 1986, Bao obtained one of thefirst private passports ever issued in Chinaand brought his family – now includingdaughter Bao Jie and son Bao Feng- toEngland. For the next 6 years, Bao andMen taught gymnastics at Port RegisSchool near Shaftesbury in Dorset which,during their time there, became on of thebest schools in Britain for gymnastics,producing exceptionalcompetition resultsand a national gold medallist. In 1991, theQueen visited the school to open the newgymnasium, the interior of which wasdesigned by Bao.During his time at Port RegisSchool, Bao was persuaded to teach taiji.He also used his extensive knowledge ofphysiology and Traditional ChineseMedicine in the treatment of sportsinjuries. Word of his skill spread and soonhe was spending as much time treatingpatients as he was teaching gymnastics.In 1987 Bao and Men set up theLung Fei Taiji Club, which introducedhundreds of people to the unique art iftaiji. Five years later, Bao moved toShaftesbury to open a full time clinic,where he practisedtraditional Chinesetreatments, including acupunctureand therapeuticmassage. Shortly afterthis, he returned to China to gain thehighest qualifications available inacupuncture and related healingtechniques. He treated hundreds ofpatients, from all walks of life, manyof whom travelled from distant partsof the country. Countless letters ofgratitude testify to his success andoutstanding skill.Bao was loved and respectedby his friends all over the world.Gymnasts, coaches, and martial artsmasters from China and othercountries made a point of coming tohis home in Shaftesbury to visit thischampion of champions. He will besorely missed by many, and hismemory will remain with those whocount themselves fortunate to haveknown him.byPatrick HarriesQi Magazine would like to offer itscondolances to all of Bao Nai-Jian’sfamily, students and friends.

So Happy!Dear MichaelCan you print this inyour letterspage?I would like to saya big thank you toall those at ShizhenTCM UKLtd who’sherbal tea ended nearly30 yearsofunhappinesscaused byeczema. I cannot express mygratitude.Thanks also toQi Magazine,which iswhereI saw Shizhen advertised.J. FDear J,I’m glad to hear your good newsand we are all happy to be of help.M.T.Wing Chun CallingDear Michael,I recentlybought ‘WingChun’byGrandmaster Ip Chun and yourself, and Iwould loveto knowmore aboutWing Chun.I havealways been fascinated bymartial arts and decided to join aWado RyuKarate club near to where I live. I have onlyhad six lessons and, sadly,myviewof martialarts is not a good one as in the first lesson, Iwas put into a class of25 students who weremanylessons ahead ofme. I feel that I havecaught up bywatchingother students,but Istill donot feel the confidence that I thought Imight have. Idon’t reallyfeel asif I can talkto myteacher as he never makes anyone feelat ease, and after reading myWing Chunbook Iunderstand thatthe relationshipbetweenteacher andpupil isveryimportant.I would dearlylove to studyWingChun and learn howto control my‘innerenergy’ and also for self-defence. I live inSheffield and cannotfind anyWing Chunschools or teachers. I have a car and wouldreadilydrive tothe nearest place whereI maylearnWingChun. I enjoymyKarate butwould love to develop mymind instead ofusingforce in everylesson.L. H.Dear L,Thank you for your letter. I amglad that you like the Wing Chun bookand that it has helped you in some way.You are quite right, the relationshipbetween teacher and student is veryimportant. However this does take a whileto build up. What is important at the startis that you feel comfortable in the classand that you like what you are doing andhow the class is run. Six lessons should beenough time for you to know whether theclass suites you or not. Different teachersteach in different ways and differentteachers suit different students.M.T.Seeking ChineseMartial ArtsDear Sifu Tse,First of all, mayI just saywhat anexcellent magazineyou andyour teamproduces. Ifound itfull ofinformation, andliterallycouldnot put it down.I don’t studyanyChinese martial artsat the moment, but I train in ShotokanKarate, andhave recentlystarted ShorinjiKemp (for the grapplingtechniques). Thereare no Chinese style teachers in my areathat I know of but I have promisedmyself that one day I will learn Kung Fu.From what I have read, andthe littleI have seen, I would like to learn both theinternal (TaijiquanandQigong) and externalKung Fu. I think Wing Chun Kuen is thestyle for me. From what I have read itseems to combine both internal andexternal principles. I particularly like theconcept of Chi Sau, probably because Idon’t like getting hit all that much!I know you cannot learn froma bookalone, I need a good Sifu to teach me, but Iwould like a copyof your book. It would atleastgiveme someinformation onWing Chunprinciples and the first formSiu LimTao. Icould practise this at home until I find a goodteacher, I just hope I don’t pick up too manybad habits bythen.D. D.A RecommendationDear QiMagazine,A friendwho Imet while attending aQigong classrun byDr. Hwang, at SaleLeisure Centre, hasjust introduced me toyour magazine. Iwould like to share with youand your readers the admirationand gratitudethat I have for the teachings ofDr. Hwang.I discoveredthe healingbenefits ofQigongafter developinga viralcondition thatcould, accordingto Western Medicine, onlybe controlled withthe use of steroids. After ashortperiod ofinstruction Iwas able to ceasetaking medicationand three years later I amDemonstrating New& Old.Chinese new year saw thetraditional celebrationstaking place in LeicesterSquare in London. Overone thousand people therebraved the Winter weather to watch the liondances and demonstrations.Chi Man Tang of the Tse Qigong Centre gavea fine demonstration of Wild Goose Qigong.He should be congratualted as this was thefirst time he had demonstrated in public, andin front of such a large audience.He does however asure us that the shiveringhe did before he went onwas due to the coldweather.More recently, MichaelTse was invited by thewell known Thai Boxingteacher Master Sken togive a demonstration atthe British Thai BoxingChampionship on behalf of the Children’sHeart Foundation.Michael performed Wild Goose Qigong andChen Style Taijiqun. This was very wellrecieved by the audience and gave them arelaxing interlude between the tension of theThai Boxing fights.The demonstrations actually took place inthe boxing ring errected for thechampionshipfights. Presumably the fighterswho were next in the ring benefited fromthe positive Qi that was created.Michael will also be giving a lecture andworkshop at the annual Conference ofCancer Self Help Groups. This organisationis dedicated to offering help and support toall those who are suffering from Cancer.This year the conference will be held atOwen’s Park, University of Manchester,Fallowfield, Manchester, from the xxxxth tothe xxxth of xxxx. If you would like moreinformation please call organisers direct on:01xxxxxxxxxxxxx.Remember Last Time?In last issue of Qi Magazine we had anexcerpt from a Hard Qigong training dairy.If you were wondering who the person was,it was Helen Howes from Norwich.Also in the Dayan Gong 2nd 64 the textreferred to an acupuncture point ‘Jing Jing’,this should have read Jian Jing point.Apoligies for any confusion.Qi Magazine 5

stillhealthywith nosymptoms ofillness. Inow take myseventy-one year old mother tothe same class and she has also found animprovement inher severearthritic condition.Shouldanyone, likeJ.Y (January/Februaryissue), be searching for a goodQigong teacher I canrecommend thisparticular class.P. N.Sharing Good NewsDear Michael,I am a 68-year-old ladywho hassuffered fromME for over twentyyears now.Recentlymyolder sister gave meyour tape.I suffer with manycomplex symptomsand illnesses.A few of themare totalexhaustion, disorientation,sleeping disordersand irritable bowlsyndrome, water in faceand eyes and others too numerous tomention.This M.Eseemed tocoincide withmeweaningmyselfoffprescribedValiumafter a hysterectomy. I now think thisoriginated fromproblems causedbyafall asa child when I injuredmyhip and broke a legand wore acalliper for a while.This couldhave causedan imbalance.However, since I have been occasionallylisteningtoyour tape anddoing thefacial exercisesyou recommendI wasrelieved to be told, when I attended anopticians for eye tests, that the cataracts hadcleared. Ifeel you should know this, asit issomethingpositive to share. Iwas wonderingifthere was anyother advice thatwould helpme. Myimmune systemhas packedup andeverything doesnot seemto functionproperly. I just needsome lightexercise andrelaxation,nothingtoo demanding.M.J.Dear M.I am glad to hear that the exerciseshave helped your eyes to recover. To helpyour M.E you need to do some Qigong tobuild up your energy. When people sufferfrom M.E their energy drops to a very lowlevel and this is why they feel tired muchof the time.I recommend you do the exercisesdescribed below. These exercises are partof a set called Balancing Gong. I haveactually covered these exercises in somedetail in my book “Qigong for Health andVitality”, pages 60 to 81.Try doing these exercises verygently. At first just do one or two a fewtimes until you feel stronger, then do more.Afterwards do a little meditation. I amsure you will start to feel much better.M.T.Holding the Dantien.i. Stand naturallywith your feet as wide as yourshoulders. Keep your back straight, relaxyour shoulders and neck, keeping your headin an upright natural position. Fig i.ii. Men should place their left hand on theDantien and their right hand over their lefthand. Women should place their right handon the Dantien and their left hand over theirright hand. Relax your whole body. Fig ii.iii. Slowly bend your knees and breathe outthrough your nose, but keep your backstraight. Fig iii.iv. Slowly straighten your legs and breathe inthrough your nose.Up and Down with the DantienStand as in i. in the first exercise.i. Separate your hands so the palms faceupward and the fingertips point towards eachother. The hands should be level with theDantien. Fig i.ii. Slowly raise your hands from the Dantien tothe chest, as high as the Qihu points on theupper chest, do not lift up your shoulders,just open your chest. As you lift up breathein. Fig ii.iii. Turn your palms down so the Hegu points onthe hands face the Qihu points and loweryour hands back down to the Dantien whilebreathing out and bending your knees. Fig iii& Fig iv.Opening and Closing the Dantieni. Stand naturally with your hands facing theDantien (as if you were holding a small ball).Fig i.ii. Turnyourpalmsout (thumbspointingdown)and push your hands forwards and out.Meanwhile breathe in. Fig ii.iii. Turn your palms in and bring yourhands backin towards the Dantien (as if you weresqueezing the Qi into the Dantien); bendyour legs and breathe out. Fig iii.Dantien Gong (From Balancing Gong)Holding the Dantien.i ii iiiUp and Down with the Dantieni ii iii ivOpening and Closing the Dantieni ii iiiQi Magazine 6

Taiji and Concepts of MovementIt is extremely rare to see someone moving with completeco-ordination, focus and relaxation. Very few people move inthis way but more importantly such movements are sounobtrusive that they easily escape the attention of the eye.Taiji sets out to train the body to movein ways that are completely alien toWestern convention. It is not just thatwhen one part of the body moves the wholebody moves with it. It is perhaps even amistake to consider movements in terms ofthe individuated body.Western analysis tends towardssegmentation and division. We tend to viewmovements quite mechanically. Newtonianphysics is still the foundation on which webase our understanding. Typically, movementis explained in terms of effort, resistance,levers and starting points.Such an analysis has allowed the Westto understand and refine particular kinds ofmovement, such as those in traditionalOlympic sports - running, throwing, etc. Itis a powerful tool and it has allowed the Westto quickly come to terms with the principlesof ‘hard’ martial arts like Karate.Such hard arts can effectively beanalysed in terms of simple mechanics. Youhave a starting point for the movement and afinal point of contact/impact. The mainconcerns are the speed of the movement andthe most efficient means of delivering themaximum power. This kind of analysis isparticular. It isolates an individual movement(occasionally it might examinethe way that movementsinterrelate but usually onlyin terms of how oneseparate, individual movement providesa good basis from which tolaunch the next separate, individualmovement). With this form ofanalysis the target might as well be, and oftenis, a static piece of wood. Interest in, andunderstanding of, the target is often definedin terms of the ability to break it. There isnothing wrong with such forms of analysisin so far as it goes.Many students’ push hands could beenormously improved by a rigorousmechanical analysis of the application ofstrikes, locks and throws. A basicunderstanding of the structure of theskeleton, tendons and musculature isessential for any serious martial artist.However, if you want to develop your taijito higher levels you will also need to developother concepts of movement than those thatseek to break it down into discreet units witheasily identifiable beginnings and ends.These concepts define movementless in relation to a point of leverage or astarting point than as an entry into an existingflow. Taiji is notconcerned just with themost efficient way ofdelivering the maximumforce in the form of animpact. The mostimportant part of Taiji’smartial strategy is theway that you merge withthe other person’smovement. In this senseTaiji has more incommon with surfing orhang-gliding than a sportlike boxing.In surfing thesurfer is not the sourceof the movement, thesurfer has to enter into arelationship with anexisting wave. How, why,and where the wavestarted moving isirrelevant to the surfer. Its source could befive miles out to sea, ten miles out to sea, orthe moon. It really does not matter. Thekey point is how to get taken up in themovement of the wave and this depends onobservation and sensitivity. You have to feelthe energy, speed, force and direction of themovement. Of course, Taiji does a little morethan simply ‘surf’ the opponents movements;but the little more that it does would not bepossible without sensitivity to the energy,speed, force and direction of movement.The way that a flow sustains itself isby moving in a circle. Within the cycle ofthe circle there are points at which the circlecan logically extend itself into a spiral or anellipse. There are sections of the ellipse thatcan behave and look like a line but thedifference is that an ellipse returns withoutstopping, while the line has an end point andcan be over-extended or broken (which iswhat happens if you make your arm into aline). The key to all of this is understandingwhere the limits of the circle are, and that isachieved through practice.To raise the level of your taiji involvesunderstanding the ever more subtledifferentiations between yin and yang andhow to merge with the flow as they changefrom one to the other. In push hands youhave to learn how to merge with the flow ofan opponent with the practice of the formleading to even greater sensitivity: sensitivityto the yin and yang movements of the form,sensitivity to the yin and yang movements ofbody and breath. Finally, with enormouspatience, perhaps your movements canmerge with the yin and yang flow of theuniverse at which point perhaps it is not youthat is moving at allby Glenn GosslingQi Magazine 7

Feng Shui and the ‘Millennium Bug’8 Houses Feng Shui is a very popular method, because it is easy tocalculate and you can get a rough idea about what is good and badwithout initially having to go into too much detail.This method is connected with thehoutian (postnatal) bagua, since thehoutian bagua is more connected withthe compass and the wuxing (5 elements).If you have a solid understanding ofthe houtian bagua and the wuxing, you caninstantly get an overview of the feng shui ofa place and how it relates to a person. In 8Houses, people are divided into two kinds:East For Life and West For Life.East For LifeEast For Life people prefer theelements wood, fire and water. There are fourgua that have these elements: Sun, Chen, Liand Kan, which occupy the directions SE, E,N and S. These directions lean towards theeast, hence the name East For Life.West For LifeWest For Life people prefer theelements metal and earth. There are four guathat have these elements: Qian, Tui, Ken andKun, which occupy the directions W, NW,SW and NE. These directions lean towardsthe west, hence the name West For Life.Once you know which group youbelong to, you can see which directions arePre NatalBaguaD rirection: EastGua : Ch enElement : Yang WoodN umber: 5East For LifeDrirection: NortheastGua : KanElement : Wet Eart hNumber: 8West For LifeDrirection: SoutheastGua : Su nElement : Yin WoodNumber: 4East For Lifebest for you. For example if you are a WestFor Life person, and your house faces NE,then this is good. If however you are an EastFor Life person, and your house faces West,then this is potentially a problem. But don’tworry too much, since there are other factorsinvolved, and you can always do somethingto rectify any problem.To find out whether you are East ForLife or West For Life, you have to find outthe gua of the year that you were born in andsee if this gua belongs to one of those favouredby the East For Life group or the West ForLife group.Finding the gua of a year is done bytaking the last two digits of the year, dividingby 9, and taking the remainder. Now formales, you then take this number andsubtract it from 10. For ladies, you add 5.Then you take this number and look up thegua using the Lou shu.Each position on the Lou shucorresponds to a gua using the houtianarrangement (Pre Natal Bagua).For example 1967 becomes:67 / 9 = Remainder 4For a man = 10 - 4 = 6 = QianDrirection: SouthGua : LiElement : FireNumber: 9East For LifeElement : EarthNumber: 5East For LifeDrirection: NorthGua : KenElement : FireNumber: 1East For LifeDrirection: So uthwestGua : KunElement : Dry EarthNumber: 2West For LifeDrirectio n: WestGua : Tu iElement : Yang MetalNu mber: 7West For LifeDrirection: NorthwestGua : QianElement : Yin MetalNumber: 6West For LifeThis means he is West For LifeFor a lady = 5 + 4 = 9 = LiThis means she is East For LifeWhat has all this got to do with theMillennium bug? The problem is that thecalculation only works for dates in the 20 thcentury. We can adust the formula so that itworks for all years. As before, divide by 9and take the remainder, but this time use thewhole year(not just the last two digits). Nowfor males, subtract from 11, and for ladiesadd 4. If the result is over 9, then divide by 9again and take the remainder.For example 1967 becomes1967 / 9 = Remainder 5For a man = 11 - 5 = 6 = QianThis means he is West For LifeFor a lady = 4 + 5 = 9 = LiThis measn she is East For LifeThis is all well and good, but tryingto divide a 4 digit number by 9 in your headis a bit beyond most of us. Fortunately thereis a bit of mathematical magic you can use.Simply add all of the digits together, and keepadding them together until you get a singledigit. Then use this number to subtract from11 (for men), or add 4 (for women).For example 19671+9+6+7 = 23 = 2+3 = 5 (remainder)For a man = 11 - 5 = 6 = QianFor a lady = 4 + 5 = 9 = LiAnd the year 2008 becomes2 + 0 + 0 + 8 = 10 = 1 + 0 = 1For a man = 11 - 1 = 10 = 1 + 0 = 1 = KenFor a lady = 4 + 1 = 5 =2 = KunIn the example above, the male gua is10. To convert this to a number between 1-9, the two digits were added together.This is exactly the same as dividingby 9 and taking the remainder. It works toofor any number, no matterhow large. I’ll leaveit to you to work out why. One things forsure, its no coincidence that the ancients used9 as the magic numberbyDaniel PoonQi Magazine 9

Daoist Yoga“The GentleArt of Openingthe Body”The Practice of the Internal Arts is the studyof the science of Yin & Yang. Students are oftentold to achieve a distinction between those Yang attributes of focus and concentration and the Yincharacteristics of relaxation and openness. Opening however is not always an easily achievedquality and with the stresses of Western Society our bodies tend to recoil and close from theconstant bombardment of stimulation we receive.It is important to our practice of the Internal Arts to have a toolwith which we may loosen the joints, sinews, and muscles ofthe body to allow for the free flow of energy and the quick andfree extension necessary for application.Daoist Yoga emerged from earliest times in China and is allied withthe Daoyin, or energy induction exercises. They were first specificallymentioned in the Chang Tzu in the 4 th century BC when it was saidin part, “stretching like a bird is only for longevity”. However it isobvious that the practice predates even this mention and was part ofthe cultural heritage of the ancients. Verse 76 of the Lao Tzu illustratesthis legacy when it was written;“A man is born gentle and weak,at his death he is hard and stiff.Green plants are tender and filled with sap,at their death they are withered and dry.The stiff and unbending is the discipleof death, gentle and yielding is the way of life.”During its long and complex evolution the systemdeveloped many off-shoots and branches, and some of these maystill be witnessed in our traditional Internal practice, for example theK’ai Men training. However the root of Daoist Yoga remains, in itsmost basic form, as simple sets of single seated or standing stretches.One might recognise these stretches in modern western exerciseprograms like the Palates system, the Alexander Technique, or evenperformed by runners before the London Marathon. In fact theChinese have no direct translation for the word Yoga which arisesfrom the Hindu Sanskrit word for union. And it is easy to see howdivergent systems of body opening exercises might become confusedin western minds with similar terms.The focus then of all Daoist Yoga, or stretching exercise,is to open and relax the body, specifically the joints of the spine, thehips, and shoulders, as well as the sinews of the arms and legs, feetand hands.Daoists, whose philosophy is based in part on theobservations of animals, believed that in order to be in harmony withthe environment, the body must be balanced and free from tension.The tiger’s paw will fall loosely and with sensitivity when stalkingprey, yet suddenly explode with power when closing for the kill.This could not occur if the tiger’s paw was as stiff and unyielding asmany of our hands have become. Sensitivity and tension arediametrically opposed and are a hindrance to our art. Moreover, asan Internalist, it is fundamental to our research to develop thissensitivity inwardly, to develop the ability to look deep insideourselves in order to direct our energy correctly for our structure.Without subtracting anything from the valuable body ofsubcontinental, or Buddhist yoga, it is important at this point to revealsome of the fundamental differences between the two. Indian &Tibetan styles of Yoga have been codified since the 2 nd century BCwhen the Yoga Sutra first appeared. This style of stretching exerciseseeks the liberation of limitations of the flesh, delusions of the senses,and pitfalls of thought, as some of its ultimate goals. This style seesphysical & mental training not for its practical application but ratheras a means to spiritual ends. The Asanas (postures) and methods ofPanayama (breath control) guide the practitioner towards Pratyahara(a higher consciousness in a Buddhist sense). Yogis assume posturesQi Magazine 11

that afford the most stability and least effort so that they may focusintensely on a single thought and breath. This enhances thismeditation so that they might transcend or withdraw from the body.(Samadhi)Daoist Yoga on the other hand is concerned with using theintention or Yi more proactively, to guide the spirit and energy tospecific areas of the body to affect change for different purposes.These purposes may be as diverse as relaxation, healing, structuralmanipulation, or cleansing. Rather than use the postures as a methodof meditation, to rise to a higher plane of consciousness. Daoist Yogais concerned with developing the body itself, to become more openand balanced so that the individual may be in greater harmonyregardless of circumstance.As a tool within the practice of the Internal Arts some formof Daoist Yoga is necessary, at some point in a career, to reach thehigher levels. Rigidity and tension must be dispelled from the body,so that joints and sinews work together in a flowing and even manner.We often hear the Chinese saying “power adheres to theSpine” but in order for that power to come, proper alignment is aThe exercises also uses the breath to exhale deep tension fromthe body that we often don’t even know we are carrying. We allknow that we seem to sink or fall when we sigh and this is a naturalway to release tension. Daoist Yoga uses this natural mechanismduring the set to exhale not just toxins but the poison of tensionfrom our being.Toxins are often accumulated in the body and are stored infat cells and the inter fascial layers. Daoist Yoga, by stretching thesetissues, often flushes these toxins out into the blood, urine, or breathand it is important to take in fresh air and healthy water toaccommodate this while stretching.Some of the more important principals of the art are:· Sacrum remains under at all times.· Spine stretches open to crown point at all times.· Practitioners seek to develop awareness of distinction betweenthe skin, muscle, fascia, tendon, ligament, and bone.· Breath is used to guide the practitioner to the site of tension andthen as a vehicle to expel the tension from the body.prerequisite. An aid to correct alignment of our posture is the spinalopening stretches of Daoist yoga.We often hear our teachers’ emploring us to “sit on the chair”but unless we can actually feel the hips open and sit into them theallusion often escapes us. The Daoist yoga stretches for the hips(inguinal fold, and sacra-iliac join) sensitise this area and help guideus to our destination. Further by opening these areas through specificstretching exercises our internal range of motion is greater, our rootcan sink deeper, and our energy circulate quicker.Flexibility and suppleness help us to become more responsive,sensitive, and aware not just of our bodies, but those of our trainingpartners or adversaries. Moreover it can increase our speed of reactionwhether following, sticking, or adhering. This flexibility gives us theopportunity to hide deeper inside, to disappear or suddenly appear.The health benefits of the system are many. Stretching openan area allows free circulation of the humours and energy. Osteoarthritisis often characterised by the lack of blood supply to thebone. This sometimes comes about because of a lifetime of tensionbeginning in the muscle, then affecting the sinew and finally the boneitself. These tensions choke off the supply of life-giving circulationand cause the body to tighten and wither.· Joints are worked to relax the sinews and tissues so that energymay move more quickly and evenly, without blockage, to enhancespeed of discharge rather than for mere flexibilities sake.· The practitioner seeks to identify, through sensation, themovement of energy prior to, and following, a stretch in order toenhance its effect.· The practitioner works towards fundamental changes in thestructure of the body to affect change in the spirit or Shen.While the practice of Daoist Yoga may not immediately alterus into great and powerful fighters it will relax and open the bodyand allow for the development of better rooting skills and increaseour ease and speed of discharge. Moreover it will open and sensitisethe joints and act as a guidepost to direct us into proper martial stancesor static postures.Daoist Yoga, as with many of the Daoist arts, has a long,convoluted, and esoteric tradition and must be practised with properpurpose and guidance. However with perserverence the system willbalance and harmonise the body, allow free circulation of energy, andperhaps repair conditions, which interfere with the practice of theInternal Artsby J.Reynolds NelsonQi Magazine 13

ShaolinUKThe Shaolin Temple is on Songshan Mountain, Hennan Province, China, and a dream to manymartial artists. It is thousands of miles away from us here in the UK. Fortunatley it is not as far out ofreach as you might think.It was an historic day for British MartialArts. An instructor monk, Shi Yan Tze,from the world-famous Shaolin Templein mainland China, was to begin histeaching program at the Temple School ofKung Fu in London’s Islington, marking theculmination of almost eighteen years ofnegotiations between The Temple School’sSifu Leung Yang Lon, the ChineseAuthorities and the leaders of ShaolinTemple.At three o’clock on theafternoon of Sunday 15th February 1998,Monk Yan Tzestepped out infront of anaudience ofover three hundredpeoplepacked into the Temple School and began toread a prepared speech in Mandarin Chinese.Understandably, a large proportion of thegathered audience were anxious for MonkYan Tze to begin his demonstration of ShaolinKungFu, all too rarely seen outside ofmainland China. What they didn’t know wasthat the Monk was actually stalling for time.Because at that same moment, a plane wastouching down at Heathrow carrying theAbbot of Shaolin, Shi Yon Xian, on a surprise,last-minute visit.Sifu Leung had made a dashto the airport to meet the Abbot personallyand now the race was on to bring the Abbotto the Temple School before any of theaudience realised they were being stalled.The journey from Heathrow to Islington wasmade in a tidy forty minutes and though thereplace, Monk Yan Tze surprised everyone bypaying respect to his master with a full kowtow,his forehead placed to the floor threetimes. Then after a brief address by theAbbot, in which he affirmed his intention tobuild a branch of Shaolin Temple in theUnited Kingdom headed by Sifu Leung YanLon, Monk Yan Tze was permittedto proceedwith his demonstration.The Monk began with a highlevel Shaolin form, not unlike a Hung-Garform, incorporating many familiar arm andleg techniques. The difference was in the rawpower display by Shi Yan Tze. Eachmovement was precise and focused and youknew that if you got in the way of one ofthose punches or kicks, you wouldn’t begetting up again in a hurry. Translating, SifuLeung told us that Monk Yan Tze wouldn’t“The Monk began witha high level Shaolinform, not unlike aHung-Gar form.”was a little restlessness among theaudience, this was more thanmade up for with theappearance of AbbotYon Xian.When theA b b o twas ledto hisbe teaching this form during his classes as itwas way too advanced. In fact, it is the formlearned by Monks just before they are calledupon to “fight” their way out of the Temple,a test that has been portrayed in countlessShaw Brothers films of the Seventies andEighties.Next, Monk Yan Tze askedfor a strong volunteer from the audience.SteelWire Mantis instructor Tony Clementsstepped up. The Monk asked Tony to hit himin the stomach as hard as he could. Using anespecially destructive Mantis hammer-fistQi Magazine 14

technique called Gow-Choi, Tony deliveredthree or four blows which would have flooreda lesser opponent. Monk Yan Tze shruggedthe punches off without so much as a changeof expression. Then he asked Tony and a fewothers to pick up a handy tree trunk and usethis as a battering ram on his stomach.Amazingly, Monk Yan Tze withstood this,again with no sign of discomfort.Yet, aside from the sheerquality of Monk Yan Tze’s WuKung, none ofthis was very new or different. We’d all seenthis kind of thing before, most notably in thetwo recent UK tours of the “Shaolin Monks”- actually students of the Dengfeng WushuAcademy - during 1996 and 1997. It was thenext part of Monk Yan Tze’s demonstrationthat really caused something of a stir.In Roots of KungFu we’vespoken many times of the incredible powerof ChiKung. I myself have seen manyimpressive demonstrations of this arcaneChinese art and I’m currently underinstruction from Sifu Leung, learning to addthe power of ChiKung to my SteelWireMantis training. But none of this had preparedme for what I saw next.Monk Yan Tze took twovolunteers from the audience and made themstrip off their shirts. He then positioned themin a sort of bowing position. This, he said,was for their own safety. The Monk thensummoned up his Chi Power. This took twoor three minutes. Standing a good eight feetfrom the two volunteers, he reached out hishands and made a slow downward clawingmotion. When the volunteers turned around,each had a clearly visible red claw mark downhis back. A murmur of surprise went aroundthe room and the Chinese camera crewmoved in to take close-up shots of thephenomenon. When I quizzed one of thevolunteers, Steve, afterwards, he describedthe sensation as being like the feeling youget when you hold your hand a little too neara candle. Not hot enough to cause pain, butcertainly enough to cause discomfort. Thecurious bowing posture the two volunteerstook up was so that the Chi power projectedby Monk Yan Tze wouldn’t strike thevolunteers square on. If it did, they wouldhave almost certainly been injured by thedemonstration.Even after this remarkabledisplay of inner power, Monk Yan Tze’sdemonstration wasn’t over yet. Choosingfrom a pile of bricks, the Monk built a bridgewith three bricks that he could use as a pillow.He then went through a short serious ofexercises to focus his Chi power in his headregion. He laid his head down on his brickpillow and placed another column of threebricks on his head. He then asked Sifu Leungto bring another brick down as hard as hecould onto the three brick column. SifuLeung counted to three then brought hisbrick down on the stack on Monk Yan Tze’shead with a mighty crash. Incredibly, all threebricks on top of Monk an Tze’s head and thebrick beneath forming the span of the bridgeshattered. To tumultuous applause, Monk YanTze bounced to his feet, smiling and wavingand completely unharmed by the massiveblow delivered by Sifu Leung. It was aspectacular display of the defensive powersof ChiKung.This last feat signalled theclose of the display. The Abbot, who hadwatched impassively, was led away to a sideroom, accompanied by Monk Yan Tze andthe audience filed out, discussing what they’dseen.As we have stated severaltimes already, Monk Yan Tze will be teachingShaolin WuKung at the Temple Schoolthroughout 1998. This is a uniqueopportunity. While there are many martial artsschools both inside and outside China thatclaim to teach genuine Shaolin KungFu, theonly place in the United Kingdom to learnthe real thing is at the Temple School. Whileno one can guarantee that even the hardestworkingstudents will be able to take blowswith bricks to the head and tree trunks to thestomach and still come up smiling, trainingwith a real Shaolin Monk is a chance thatcomes up only once in a lifetimeCaptions:Top. Shaolin monk Shi Yan Tze gives anamazing demonstration of his Chi power,burning red marks appear on the skin of twoluckless volunteers from a distance of threemetres, without touching them.Centre. The gathering of ChiKung masters- fromleft ShaoLin instructor Monk Shi YanTzi, ShaoLinAbbot Shi YonXin, 5 Animals ChiKung SiFuWang GuanQiu and SteelWire Mantis SiFu LeungYanLon.Bottom. Sifu Leung prepares monk Shi YanTzefor his incredible ‘breaking bricks over thehead’ feat, the actual strike was too fast for thecamera to catch.Qi Magazine 15

Dayan Gong 2nd 64 Dayan Gong 2nd 64 Dayan Gong 2nd 64 DayanDayan Gong 2nd 64part 25 Release Sick Qi.i. Using the back of the hand, dropyour right hand from the Jianjingpoint down to the Daimei point. Fig13.ii. Pause for a moment, and then flickyour hand away from you so yourfingers point away from you and yourpalm faces down. Fig 14.iii. Repeat i & ii for the left hand. Fig 15.Using the back of your hand connectstheyangchannelsof yourhand tothe StomachChannel. Thus your hand passes from theJianjing point, through the Qihu point tothe Daimei point.The flicking motion releases negativeQi.6 Twining Hands.i. Shift your weight to your left foot andclose your hands over each other, soboth your Laogong points are linedup, left over the right, facing yourDantien. Fig 16.This gathers and stores the Qi at theDantien.Fig 13. Fig 14.Damei PointDameiFig 15. Fig 16.

Dayan Gong 2nd 64 Dayan Gong 2nd 64 Dayan Gong 2nd 64 Dayanii. Keep your weight on your left footand step forwards with your right.Fig 17.iii. Move your right hand from insideyour left, forwards in front of you.Still keep your weight on your leftfoot. Fig 18 & Fig 18a.iv. Slowly shift your weight on to yourright foot and slowly move your righthand back towards your left hand.Fig 19.v. Repeat ii to iv for the other side.Fig 20 & Fig 21.vi. Again keeping the weight on your leftleg, step forwards with your right footso that the toes of both feet are in line.Meanwhile, move your right handforward in front of you left hand sotheLaogong pointsare still facing eachother. Fig 22.Fig 17. Fig 18. Fig 18a.Fig 19. Fig 20.Qihai Point - DantienQihaiFig 21. Fig 22.

Dayan Gong 2nd 64 Dayan Gong 2nd 64 Dayan Gong 2nd 64 Dayan7 Turn the Body andRecover Qi.i. Turn both palms down. Fig 23.ii. Come up onto your toes and turnyour body ninety degrees to your left.Meanwhile, open your hands out toyour sides. Fig 24 to Fig 25a.iii. Bring your hands to your chest so theLaogong points cover the Qihupoints. Lower your heels to theground. Fig 26.Fig 23. Fig 24. Fig 25.Fig 25a.Qihu PointQihuFig 26. Fig 27.iv. Keeping your legs still, turn from yourwaist ninety degrees to the right.Fig 27.v. Turn 180 degrees to the left. Fig 28.Then turn back to the right. Finallyface the front. As Fig 26.Fig 28.This movement is very good for yourkidneys and back; it also makes the Qi goto the Qi Hu points.

Fire Dragon Qigong has a history that datesback about 5000 years. It was passed on bygrandmasters personally from generation togeneration. Master Yuanming Zhang began hisintensive training at the age of three. He wastaught this fantastic technique by his masters atMt. Qingcheng, the birthplace of Taoism andQigong.In 1992 Master Zhang first revealed this secret method tothe general public at a lecture & demonstration in the United Nations.In l995, Hou Long Cheng Jing Gong, ”Arousing the Dragon in thebody’s energy pathway”, was released as an instructional video andwas published in both English and Chinese. As one of the mostimportant methods offered by International Qigong & MedicalResearch Institute, it is part of the continuing education program forAcupuncturists and is favoured by many healers and practitioners.Fire Dragon Qigong is a series of various methodologies. It combinesthe essences of Scholar’s, Buddhist, Taoist, Chinese Medicine andMartial Arts. It includes the sitting form: Hou Lian Jing Dan (usingthe spirit of fire to build up internal Alchemy, the power of life), thestanding form: Hou Long Cheng Jing Gong (Arousing the dragonin the body’s energy pathway), the Boxing form: Hou Long Quan(Taoist Taiji Boxing, Internal Kung Fu),the sword form: Fire DragonSword (a special method to heal and drive out evil spirit) and the QiNeedle: a unique healing method with Qi to conduct Acupuncture tomany people at the same time). Fire dragon Qigong originated onMt. Qingcheng which is part of a massive mountain range in SouthwestChina. Today, exiled Tibetans consider areas of this region to be apart of Tibet. Due to its special geographical features, it has beenconsidered as a unique and powerful energy field. Grandmastersdown the ages attained incredible results when they cultivated there.In 1994, Master Zhang Built his centre, the Palace of the HeavenlyDragon on Mt. Qingcheng to fulfil his life-purpose of giving peopleboth in China and abroad a base to systematically study traditionalWushu, Qigong, Chinese Medicine and other aspects of traditionalOriental Culture. Master Zhang’s current teachings incorporate arich mixture of 36 grandmaster’s secret techniques. Among theseare those of Emperor Xuan Yuan, the earliest ancestor of the Chinesenation. These secret methods include “Wind & Fire Shen Gong” &“Wind & Water Shen Gong” which he practised in the Holy SpiritCave on Mt. Qingcheng which still exists to this day. Fire DragonReal Man, Master Liu Dong Bin, was one of the Eight immortals inthe Tang Dynasty. Master Liu passed on the techniques of both FireDragon Internal Alchemy Qigong and Fire Dragon sword to thehistorical figure, Zhang Dao Ling (who organised the first full-scalereligious expression of Taoism in Sichuan province.) These werefurther passed on to Zhang Shan Feng, Zhang Peng Xiao, Zhang Yingand Zhang Peng He and have ultimately reached Zhang Yuan Mingor Master Yuanming Zhang. Building upon the back of shamanism,Zhang Tao Ling, founder of Taoism in the Dong Hao Period, combinedthese methods in the “Qi water” method with primitive like“witchcraft” and “incantation” water, mountain spring water was filledwith universal energy via calligraphy and painting to heal people andto exorcise ”evil spirits” during the Dong Han Period. Zhang ShanFeng, founder of Wudang Taoist Taiji Boxing, createdhis unique technique, “Fire dragon InternalAlchemy of Taoist Taiji”, in the MingMysteriousFire DragonQigongQi Magazine 19

Master Zhang training “Fire of Internal Alchemy “Qigong at his Mt Qingcheng centre.Internal Fire Dragon BoxingDynasty. Zhang Peng Xiao, Zhang Ying Yang, Zhang Peng Yu taughtthe Fire Dragon Secret Method to Emperor Qian Long, Tao Guangand the royal family in the Qing Dynasty. As a part of their training,all the Lineage holders of ’ Fire Dragon Shen Gong were broughtinto the secret “Fire Dragon Cave” on Mt. Qingcheng. There, theydid the “49 days Ritual Purification Fasting” under the personalguidance andinstruction of their own Master. As a result, they reachedthe highest level possible. Following in these footsteps, MasterYuanming Zhang has been brought into the Fire Dragon Cave onceevery three years, since he was 3 years of age, by his Master. Thecultivation during these times began at midnight on August 15, thefull moon day. What follows is a description by Master YuanmingZhang of what one feels like when performing the 49-day fast in thecave. “During the first week, you will feel like you are near a volcanoor having a Sauna.You will sweat alot and with thesweats the wholebody and mindwill be cleansedand purified andall the ill “Qi” and“evil spirits” willbe dispelled. Inthe second week,you can feel as ifthe lower Dantienwere a Volcano orsteel-smelting“It looked alivewith a head, waistand entire bodylooking just like afire dragon”furnace, withbright-red energy flowing to all parts of your body. Instead ofsweating, the hot feeling in the abdomen rises upwards. The thirdweek brings the feeling that genuine Qi in the abdomen is turninginto a fire dragon floating along the circulation track of the body’senergy channels. All the energy channels and meridians open up, thecirculation of both microcosmic and macrocosmic orbits is runningsmoothly; It’s as if one’s entire body is floating in the space. Thehappiness and “lightness” of being in this “fairyland” cannot beexpressed in words. By the fourth week, the third eye will be openedand special abilities appear. You can actually see the fire dragontravelling along the body’s energy channels when you “look” insidethe abdomen. When your master emits energy directly to yourHeavenly Eye Acupoint, you will see a bright red and yellow colourspot gradually growing into a “Fire Ocean” in the darkness. Colourfulscenery can be seen with mountains, rivers, pavilions, buildings, birds,animals and Immortal Images from ancient times. It’s exactly thefeeling of being linked with Universal Spirit and Energy. Over time,you can receive the highest level energy from “viewing” those scenes.This leads to improvement your health, develops intelligence andopens latent abilities. After the 49 days Cultivation, 80% ofpractitioners are able to see the “Qi light” in the sky with their nakedeye. The “Qi light” looks like sperm and ovam. Master Yuanmingnamed this “Qi Light,” “Dragon Sperm.” A few people can even seea giant dragon image in the sky.”On December 9, 1994, 200 or so representatives fromdifferent provinces in China attended the “China Yuanming QigongAcademic Research Conference” in Beijing. At one point during theconference, Master Yuanming was givinginstruction in “Fairy-walking Qigong”, outdoors.Although it first went unnoticed, a dragonappeared near the sun. It looked alive with a head,waist and entire body looking just like a firedragon. Fortunately, it was recorded both on videoand by photographs. It’s not a coincidence thatthis fire dragon appeared. Firstly, Master ZhangPractising on Mt Qingchengwas using amethodto gatherthe energy fromthe Universe toboost the energyof the people gathered there. He was using the same method be hadbeen taught since the age of 6, when he began his Fire Dragon QigongTraining by the hermit, “Fire Dragon Man.” Secondly, 200representatives were practising this method for several days duringthe conference and everbody’s mind was focused on the “fire dragon”.Thus, the strongest brain waves affected the atmosphere and ensnaredit. In addition, it occurred around 5.00pm, when the sun was firelikeredbySparkyHeQi Magazine 21

Feng Shui MasterChan Kun WahQi Magazine 22

Sensing theDragon QiAs I waited for my interview with Master Chan Kun Wah, I tried toimagine what type of person he would be. Later, as we shook hands and introducedourselves, I was first struck by his tallness and his young looks. He looked at leastten years younger than his 52 years and he was quite softly spoken and humble inhis manners, not having any of the arrogance one often associates with those whocall themselves Master.He began to study Feng Shui when he was fourteen with a Chinese masterwho searched him out. He tells his story below.QM: You began studying Feng Shui when you were fourteen. Did youhave an interest already?No, no interest at all. The first two years, I was totally un-interestedbecause at the time I was still too young. The way it happend was mymaster picked me, I did not pick my master. He wanted me to learnFeng Shui, but at that time I did not understand what Feng Shuimeant. You can’t see it. You can’t smell it. I did not know my masterbefore at all. He found me and picked me.There were other people who wanted to learn, but my Master justignored them. I was so annoyed with him. I said, “Why don’t youpick them, if you pick them I won’t need to follow you every day.Maybe they will not follow you instead of me, because it is not funin the morning.” When you are walking up in mountains in themorning, your whole trousers are wet, especially when you arefourteen. At fourteen, a young boy should be chasing girls not chasingthe dragon.During the hours three to five in the morning, however, the Qi isquite pure and there are no distractions. That is why this is the righttime to sense the Qi, no pollution, no nothing. Also it is quiet andyou can hear things more clearly.QM: I can see that you respect your Sifu, Master Chue Yen, a greatdeal. Would you want to talk a bit about him?He was a very talented and clever man. He grew up a very wealthyman. During the Qing Dynasty they had imperial examinations andif you passed them you would get a wealthy job in the government.That is why he studied very hard, the philosophy, the history,everything. During his last year of study, before his examinations,the Qing Dynasty was demolished and there where no more examsof this type. This meant he could not get a wealthy job. He was so fedup and sad, all his hopes were finished.Afterwards, his whole character totally changed and his parentsbecame worried because he was the only son in the family. Hismother said that perhaps he should get a young lady and get married.If they had a family, maybe it would change his character. As soon ashe heard this, he ran away. He was scared, so he just ran away to atemple in the mountains. He wanted to be a monk, but as soon as themonk saw him, he said, “You can’t be a monk, no way can you be amonk.” He told him to go away but, my master said, “I do not wantto go away. Can you give me a job, any job?”“Okay,” the monk said, “You can work in the kitchen, choppingwood and doing cooking.” So he worked in the temple for about fiveyears to follow this monk, who during this time began to teach himFeng Shui skill. After five years, very early one morning, the monktold my master, “Today is the last day you can stay here. After lunchyou should go.”Then my master said, “But where do I go? I have no where to go.”The monk said, “Follow the direction that I will tell you and you willfind your next Sifu.” So he told my master to go in a particulardirection and to look for a pagoda at a crossroads. This was a placewhere people would rest in the hot weather. At this place my mastermet his next Sifu, he met a Daoist master who took him and taughthim Feng Shui. He stayed with him until just before Mao took overChina, then my Sifu left and went to Hong Kong.QM: How are Daoism and Feng Shui linked?Qi Magazine 23

They are both based upon the Qi. The Daoist would use the Qiupside down. It was called ‘upside down Qi to press the Qi and thenpress it down again’. Feng Shui is also the same, but most of thepeople in this country learn their skill in Hong Kong and they do notrealise that the Earlier Heavenly Sequence Diagram (Pre-natal Bagua)is going backwards not going forwards. They do not learn this and sothat is why they can’t get much from Feng Shui. You see, they shouldknow the Earlier Heavenly Sequence and then the later one. Butthey are already one step too far forward. If they do not know theEarlier Sequence, there is no way they can control the Qi, no waythey know where the Qi comes from.The same as Daoists, if they do not know how to control the Qi,then there is no way they can improve their energy. Feng Shui andDaoists both need to know about the Qi element. Daoists know whattime the Qi is strongest in the body. Feng Shui also finds whichmonth the Qi is strongest, and which month it is softest. The samewith the house, you need to find which position the Qi comes from.This is only basic but the people do not know that in this country.This is a very basic element and common sense. Feng Shui is aboutcommon sense and is not superstitious at all.QM: How do you know when you have reached the level at which youcall yourself a Feng Shui master?My Master was also very good at horoscopes. Before I came to thiscountry, he had already pointed out which year I would become veryfamous. He warned me that before I reached the age of 50 I coulddo Feng Shui for people but Icould not charge them. If thepeople were happy, they could giveme some money, but I could notcharge. Also, I needed to do moreresearch and study. He told me,that in any one year when I shoulddo ten consultations for research,not for making money that if sixof these have good results, thismeans I pass. If five have goodresults, then I do not pass, but ifseven have good results, then I canbecome a master.So for the past 36 years, I alwaysdo research. But nowadays somany people learn for one year andsay they are a master. They still donot know what they are doing.QM: In the West, Feng Shui is becoming very popular. Perhaps thereare some things that you see that are not being passed on quite properly.How do you translate Chinese skill?Nowadays people have no patience to learn because they wanteverything quick and instant, like hamburgers, instant food, instantcoffee, instant tea. They want everything instantly, but Feng Shui is avery, very difficult philosophy. It is not something that you can finishin a course of one or two days, or one or two months. Even to sensethe Qi takes time. It took me more than two years to know how tosense the Qi.Every morning around three o’clock when I was fourteen I wouldfollow my master from mountain to mountain, climbing themountains to find out how to sense the Qi. This is called “DragonQi”, Lung Hei. So many books that you read have no idea what FengShui means. They think that hanging wind chimes or placing crystalscan change their future. It is not that easy. The thing is that outside ismore important than inside. It does not matter what you do inside, ifthe outside is wrong everything is totally wrong. If you block yournose, you can’t breathe. If your block your mouth you can’t eat.That is the key issue.QM: So for someone in the West who wants to learn proper Feng Shuiskill, do you think that it is possible for them to learn?For myself, I always teach real Feng Shui. Some of the things that Iteach, you will never learn in a book. I do not worry that my studentswill learn my whole skill because at the moment I am still learningeveryday.QM: Do you teach in the same way you were taught.It is very difficult to have my students follow the way I was taughtbecause mostly I was taught day by day. Mostly we wereoutside,learning how to see the form school, how to sense the Qi. But in this country you cannot do it like this because itis too slow and people will not have the patience to learn it. That iswhy I have had to find an easier way for them to absorb the knowledgeand translate it from one culture to another.So much today is not real teaching, just telling their students what todo in a consultation. This is not the way to learn. You see, if you areteaching people, you should pass the real skill to people, from thebeginning and then go on step by step, not just telling how in aconsultation you changed this and that. If they have not got the basicskill, have not got the basic foundation, there is no way that a personcan learn Feng Shui.One of my students“Every morningaround three o’clock Iwould follow my masterfrom mountain tomountain, to findDragon Qi.”said to me after aseminar, “I havelearned more fromyou in one day than Ihave learned from myteacher in one year.”Maybe when some ofthe Chinese Sifu’sknow my way ofteaching the student’s,maybe they will hateme because of all thesecrets I am teaching atthe moment. All thesecrets not in thebooks. If they know,maybe they will hate me but I don’t mind. What I teach in my seminarsyou will not find in a book and I don’t think they can even get it inthis county. Only through me can they learn it. Many people call thisgiving out secrets, but for me it is skill, not secrets.QM: Are there different schools of Feng Shui?There are many different schools of Feng Shui. I learned threedifferent kinds of the Feng Shui. There are three basic schools, thereally powerful one is Yeun Hong. Yeun Hong means nothing, butcan also mean everything. Same as if you have ten, but by adding azero it becomes one hundred. The Yeun Hong style is based uponthe 64 gua of the Yi Jing. Each gua has its own element. Most of thepeople use only the eight gua on the compass. Using all of the 64 isthe hardest and most complicated method. It used to be used by themperor in his court. The ordinary people were not allowedto use it.However, one of the Feng Shui masters in the court found out thatthe Emperor was very bad to the people. He escaped and began toQi Magazine 24

Qi Magazine 25

pass on the skill of Yuen Hong. But there are not many people whocan learn this type of Feng Shui. It is too complicated and too difficult.Another type of Feng Shui is called Sam Hup which means threecombinations. According to Sam Hup, each mountain character canbe changed to change their elements. Then there is also Sam Yuenwhich means three fate: upper fate, middle fate and lower fate. Eachfate (era) is 60 years but there are also three stages in each of theseera’s lasting twenty years each. The upper stage has one, two andthree stages. The middle stage has the four, five and six stages. Thelower stage has the seven, eight and nine stages. We are currently inthe seventh stage. Inside of these there are many philosophies. Thisis only a long story cut short.Before in China, if you learnt one style you could not learn anotherstyle. If the Masters knew that you were learning another style hewould kick you out. He would not allow you to follow him, butnowadays it is different. I teach all three styles, separately, and letthe students judge and let them do theirresearch and see which style is better. Iwill not tell them which one is good. Imyself, use the three together which ismore powerful. At the moment I couldcall my Feng Shui style, “combinationstyle” as I use them all together.QM: What does being a Master mean toyou?It means you have passed your degree.You need to do more research. Maybeone year you do ten consultations. If outof the ten consultations, seven get goodresults, then you pass. If only five, thenyou are still not at that level. I alwaysfollow what my master told me to do.He always said to me, “Before you are50, you can’t be a Master.” Even when Iwas younger than 50, I trainedtwo youngstudents, one for horoscope and one forFeng Shui, they wanted to call me Sifu. Isaid, “No, I am not Sifu. Better you callme Mr.Chan. Don’t call me Chan Sifu, Iam still not Sifu.” This is because at thattime I knew I was still not qualified. Aperson should know whether or not theyhave reached that standard and whether they are qualified or notqualified. Don’t put people’s lives at risk. This is very important. Ifpeople ask you to do the consultation, they put their hope, theirfuture on your compass (skill).For the Feng Shui master, when people ask you to do things, youmust do it right. If you can’t do it, just tell them you can’t do it.Don’t ruin people’s lives. Some of the practitioners today do notknow what they are doing because they do not really understandFeng Shui. That is why they do not understand the danger and thatthey can harm a person’s life.In Hong Kong, it is very difficult to change the Feng Shui of all theapartments. Last year when I was in Hong Kong, a very famoussolicitor and barrister asked me to do their Feng Shui. Sometimesthere is just no way to do it, no way you can change the Feng Shui.So in this situation, what do you do? Do you tell them that it isbetter to move?I told them straight away that I could not do it because of the building.In this situation, I always do this. If I know I cannot do it, I tellthem. Maybe I can build up their energy, change a few things andthen they can move. Even if they stay there for long it is no use. It isjust draining their energy.Feng Shui is just like Qigong. If you can’t get the energy in, there isno energy to support you. If it is the other way round, if you supportthe house, this is wrong. It should be the house that supports you.Not you support the house. If there is no energy inside the house,how can the house support you? Feng Shui is based on the principleof yin and yang, feminine and masculine. It is said that when the yinQi and the yang Qi meet together, then the second generation willcontinue. If they can not meet together, then this is no use. Negativeand negative result in nothing, the same as positive and positive, alsonothing. It must be negative and positive.QM: Can a person change their destiny?When you talk about destiny, you are saying, can the person changetheir horoscope?. Now if you know the Chinese horoscope (Ba Zi),you can change your life. If you havebad fate you cannot do anything aboutthat but you can use Feng Shui tochange it. If you know both Feng Shuiand Ba Zi, this is the most powerfulbecause you can use both. If you onlyknow horoscope, but don’t know FengShui, and you are in a period of badfate, then do not do any investments.But if you also know Feng Shui, youcan change from bad to good.QM: If I said to you I want to be rich,but maybe it is not in my horoscope thatI am to be rich, can I make it possible?Let me give you an example of a couplewho came to me for a consultation.Both herself and her husband were ina bad fate period and contacted meabout their business which was doingpoorly. I used a very special skill thatwas taught to me by my Master whowarned me not to use this skill morethan six times a year as it uses a lot ofenergy and only then to help specialpeople. I used this skill to change theirluck for the better and soon they hadan increase in business with orders coming in.I used this skill because I knew they were a very nice couple andthey had put all their hope on me. It was a hard time for them aseveryone around them was looking down on them. Their place ofbusiness did not have good Feng Shui, and their house was not sogood either. I fought with myself inside as to what I was going to do.If I was going to use this skill, I knew it would drain me of muchenergy as I was very ill at the time with the flu. So I was thinking,thinking, and thinking, until, at the last moment, I decided to do it. Iknew that they were the right people to do this for as I had seen theirhoroscope and I knew that they were honest people. Also, whendoing a consultation, you can tell easily what type of person they are.You can tell straight away whether they are wealthy or not, andwhether you can trust them or not.At the end of the day, you should use Feng Shui skill for helpingpeople. I think that many people practise Feng Shui with the wrongheart. In the old ancient days, the master would choose the pupilfirst and the pupil must have a good heart. Second they must behonest, and third they must always respect their masterinterview byJessica BlackwellQi Magazine 27

TAIJI QIGONGINSTRUCTOR’S COURSEThis has been the only Qigong course to which I have attended in whichthe stress level increased as the course progressed rather than decreased.Friday began with a lovely dinnerlaid outwith shining cutlery andsparkling chinathat ended in groans after threegenerous courses which concluded in a fartoo tempting array of delicious puddings.There were worried looks at our leaderMichael Tse hoping that there was not goingto be any strenuous training on full stomachs.There were relieved sighs when the coursefinally began and notebooks were producedfor notetaking during his lecture. Some wereeven making detailed annotations in themargins of their study copy of Michael Tse’sbook, Qigong for Health and Vitality.S a t u r d a ymorning sawmany earlybirds out practicing inthe gardens, making thestaff wonder what theywere doing although itwas said, “it was quitepleasurable seeing all thedifferentexercises goingon.” Luckily, theweather was fine formost of the course soeven those delegateswho had come from asfar as Texas and NewYork to see the famedManchester rain weredisappointed. Of all thenearly 40 would behopefuls attending,everyone who was tested on the coursemanaged to pass. This involved doing theTaiji Qigong exercises chosen, being able toname three benefits of each, and thenanswering six practical questions relating tothings that had been discussed in the courseand that were in Michael Tse’s book. Someof the newly qualified instructor’s were thenchosen to help form a panel to ask questionsof their peers as they were tested. Highmarks must be given to Ian Woollards whowas the last person tested. Having sat throughnearly three hours of watching his peers betested, he was calm as he faced the inquistionand peeled off the answers to questions as ifhe had been a Qigong instructor for years.Everyone did very well and studiedextraordinarily hard. We have already hadfeed back from a student of Gill Hughes whosaid that she was enthusiastic upon herreturn, as she talked to her students aboutloyalty and discipline.This is the first course for TaijiQigong Instructors that the Tse QigongCentre has offered but judging from itssuccess and the good feeling of family that itcreated, we know that it is the first of many.Michael Tse said, “It is the right time for theCentre to grow and let the skill spread out,so that more people can benefit.” Thesecourses will help new instructors train sothat people in other areas can have theopportunity of studying good Qigong skill.All authorised Taiji Qigong and Wild Gooseinstructors have beenissued with a Tse QigongCentre Instructor’sCertificate which showsthat they have been testedon the skills they areteaching and that theyhave been shown to haveproper understanding andproficiency of these skillsfor teaching.Anyone interestedin finding moreinformation about futurecourses (the next is oneplanned for 6th to the 8thof November 1998 -Balancing Gong) orinstructors can call theCentre for information.To let you know how some of the instructorsfelt about the course, here are some quotesfrom their corraspondence to us below:“Thank you so much for awonderful weekend. I learned such a lot– about my courage…I really feel I knowsuch a lot more, feel more rounded andsure of myself.”“I appreciate the deeperunderstanding of the movements and youremphasis on the attitude for practise. It wasalso a treat to relax and get to know otherswho practise Qigong in other parts of theworld and it was uplifting to practiseQigong in beautiful surroundings.”“Everyone was so helpfuland supportive of each other – a wonderfulexperience. Thank you.”“Thank you for making thecourse so enjoyable.”Taiji Qigong IntsructorsBelow is the list of qualifiedTse Qigong Centre Taiji QigongInstructors.Peter AndersonAnne Maria AprilePeter BarkerCharlotte BergKate BrittonSue BurgeSue BurtonDody CarterKrishna ChaudhariSharon ClarkeChris CullenYvonne DixonLynn GalePaul GascoyneTarif GhaziSam GibsonYveline HandsGunnar HookGill HughesEdward MackenzieHelen MasseyJudith MatthewsDaniel McCristolTony McDonaldRicardo MorenoHelen PhilpottSteven PullarEamon ReganSylvia RoyleRob SheilJohn ShieldsAndy SilverNadia Smith de Neckledoff,John SpinettoRichard SweetIan WoollandIf you would like informationregardingclass locations,please contactthe Tse Qigong CentreTse Qigong CentrePO Box 116Manchester M20 3YNTel. 0161 929 4485Fax. 0161 929 4489Email. info@qimagazine.comQi Magazine 28

Ma Yue Interview part 2In the first part of this interview,Master Ma Yue told us of his familystyle of Tongbeiquan, his training as achild and how he is trying to promotetaijiquan.In this, the concluding part of hisinterview, he describes what it is liketo be a professional martial artist inChina, how you become recognised,and what it means...A ProfessionalMartial ArtistQM: Whatwas the first thing you had to do when you started training?MY: My training started with Tongbei foundation and also a Wushufoundation because when I was six or seven, the Chinese governmentwas promoting modern wushu. If you did not have knowledge ofwushu, you would not be able to survive in the wushu world, andtoday it is still the same. You have to have knowledge of wushu aswell as your own family style. So I trained both together as this wasthe only way to survive at a professional level.Qi Magazine 34

QM: How hard did your father make you train, was he very tough onyou?MY: Oh yes, that was the traditional way. We all know that when youare young you want to play, and you have friends you want to go outwith. Also when you are young you don’t understand what it is andknow whether you want it. Now I understand why my father washard on me. At that time I didn’t, I just thought,”Why can’t I go outand play, why do I have to stay in and train? But afterwards, when Iachieved something, I felt very thankful for what my father haddone, for giving me dignity and helping me to achieve something.When I first picked up a gold medal in a championship, I realised thateverything was worthwhile.QM: So did you only study with your father and grandfather?MY: No, I studied with them from the age of six up to around sixteen.At sixteen I decided to go to a sports university. At that time therewere eight major sports universities in China. I was prepared to gothrough all the entrance examination, including Chinese, mathematicsand wushu. I passed all that.At that time I was in Xian and around one hundred people took theexaminations who were professional wushu people already, becauseyou had to be professional first. After the examinations we weregiven a final average mark from all the subjects. I think I was numbertwo with an average of ninety-seven. Somebody else had ninety-eightout of one hundred. This guy was twenty-six and I was seventeen. Ithought he was going to choose the bestuniversity because the numberone had the choice of where to go. He chose Peking Sports Universitywhich out of the eight universities was the number one. I thought Iwould be left with second choice. At the same time because I had justfinished high school, I had to go to the countryside because of Mao.You know everyone had to go and my year was the last that had to goto the countryside.I went to the countryside disappointed that I had missed the firstchoice. I had been there nearly one year. At Chinese New Year Icame back from the countryside to my home and there was a bigenvelope waiting for me and it said“Peking Sports University”! Ithought this had to be a joke, howcould I get into this university? Butit was true and it included the firstmonth’s money to go to Beijingbecause I was in Xian. I was so happyand it changed my life.Everything happened in my year. Iwas the last who had to go to thecountryside and I was in the first topass all the examinations to go to areal university. Before that, if youwere in Mao’s Communist party andthey liked you, then they couldchoose to send you to study wushu,even if you had no background inwushu and you didn’t have to passany examinations. If the party likedyou the party could send you to any university you wanted. So I wasin the first generation after the Cultural Revolution, from 1966 to1976, to go to university on their own merits. Yes, I was very lucky.The situation was even harder than before 1966. Now everybodywanted to go to a real university because for ten years nobody had achance.Now I felt I had a future, because Peking Sports University was likeCambridge or Oxford University over here. Everybody knows inChina that if you come out of Peking Sports University you are thebest.I don’t know if you know in the West how they judge a professionalmartial artist in China. There are three ways, the first way is by beinga professional wushu player for your home town, or city, and youhave been in the top six ofthe National WushuChampionships at least threetimes. The second way is bybeing born into a popularmartial arts family, then youare a real blood inheritor andpeople will believe that youhave been training with yourfather or your grandfatheror whoever. Then you willbe recognised as aprofessional martial artist.The third way is by recievinga certificate, or diploma, toshow that you have aMaster’s Degree in ChineseWushu. Then you will berecognised. Those are thethree ways and you only needone of them. Mostprofessionals have one,maybe two, of them. I have all three, I have a diploma from PekingSports University, I twice won at the National Championships (1979and 1983 for Fanze and Piqua) and I was born into a popular familystyle.QM: When you were training wushu, did they relate the exercisesback to their traditional roots?MY: No, when you train wushu you just train wushu and it falls inbetweengymnastics and Chinese Opera. The martial arts side is verylimited because you have to think about the competition all thetime. You have to think if the judges will like it. You cannot think“I’ll do it my way I don’t care! I’ll do my family style.” If you dothis, you will lose. So you have to follow the rules and what thejudges like. Each year there are new rules, so you go throughthem with your coach and then prepare. That is the wushu way oftraining.Now I do not like modern wushu because after a few years I thinkit is so boring! Everybody does the same form, the same way ofjumping, kicking, punching and even the forms are the same.Can you imagine thirty teams coming for a championships andwatching twenty people do the same movements, then the nexttwenty people doing the same thing all the time for two to fourhours. Can you imagine watching one hundred people doing theYang Twenty-four step one after another?That is how wushu competitions are, but when you get to thefree style then things get interesting because you can make upyour own form. When you come to this subject, you get a lot ofpeople watching them.QM: Did you study any Qigong?MY: Yes, when I was at university for four years we studied all subjectsrelating to many different styles. That is why if you study wushu ata sport university you are unique. If you are only a professional wushuplayer, like Jet Li, then you are not unique. All their professionalcareer is concentrated on the wushu championships. When you comeout of a sport university you are like a Chinese martial arts doctor,Qi Magazine 35

you are not a nurse. You have a unique knowledgeand you could become a top coach for a wushuteam, or you could become a top teacher in auniversity to teach wushu. That is what these fouryears prepare you for. You have to be able to dealwith different people’s needs in martial arts. Youare no longer a player.To get into Peking Sports University you had toalready have a very high level career in martial arts.So if you are in the same year, you know that inmartial arts you are all around the same level.There were thirty-nine of us in my year. We livedtogether, ate together and slept together for sixdays a week, and for four years.QM: Was there much competition between you all?MY: Yes a lot, but we all had a good relationship,even now I recently met with two of my universitymates in America. We have a special relationshipbecause we have strong memories from those fouryears.In the whole of China graduates from the PekingSport University are known as the most arrogantmartial artists you can get, because they know theyare the best. So they upset people and some peopledon’t like them.QM: You studied taiji at university as well?MY: Yes we had to study taiji. Yang Style and ChenStyle were the main styles and we also studiedXingyi and Bagua. All the teaching teams comefrom different parts of China. For Nanquan theteachers came from Guangzhou from the Nanquanchampionships. If we could not get a teacher then“Everybody knChina that if yoout of Peking SpUniversity thenthe best.”we would invite them from the professional teams.For example when it came to my own subject ofFanze and Piqua I was the teacher. My teachers,all these top level teachers said to me, the nextsession you are going to do it. So I had to teachmy friends.QM: How did you find it?MY: At that time I was really embarrassed, I wasyoung and I thought, ‘How can I teach them?’ Butit was true, nobody else could teach it.Qi Magazine 36

QM: How did your friends react to you? Did they tease you?MY: Yes, it was very hard to be serious, but the good thing was thatour real teacher was always there, watching from behind, so theyhad to act very serious.QM: What do you think of San Shou?MY: I like San Shou very much. I was chosen for the University’sSan Shou team. Another subject was Dwan Bing. Dwan Bing is swordfighting. I was the number one at this. The sword is made from softbamboo wrapped in leather, a little bit like the sticks in Kendo, butlonger. We started this in 1979 because we were getting a lot ofpressure from the west. People were doing similar things in the westand we had lost it. San Shou is the Chinese way of kickboxing andthe Dwan Bing was like real sword fighting. Everyday when I wentback after we had finished the whole of my back was covered in bluelines. For San Shou and Dwan Bing twelve of us from all the wushustudents were chosen. Over the four year period there were aroundone hundred and fifty, to two hundred people. To be chosen you hadto fight your way in.QM: In terms of San Shou, did you find that you used a lot of yourfamily’s techniques, or did you learn new wushu ones?MY: Yes, that was the time I realised that my family style had somany techniques that could be used for real fighting. Before that Ididn’t realise, we were not allowed to fight, only when I joined theprofessional San Shou team. So I used a lot of Tongbei and Fanzetechniques. Also another time I was in the western boxing team. Ifound that this helped a lot in the professional San Shou team. I likethe way boxers protect themselves and at the same time not lose eyecontact, because in the San Shou fighting a lot of people lose eyecontact, they may look this way or that way, butin boxing you cannot.In boxing it does not matter how much you get hit you always lookat your opponent. Also the reaction to a punch from boxing helpedme a lot. When I started I foundevery timethe opponent punched me, I blinked. Ithought, “How do I stop this?” Boxinghelped me and eventually when I was hit Idid not blink my eyes. This is importantbecause if you blink all the time you canget into big trouble. Secondly, boxinghelped my footwork. So boxing helped mestay calm and not have a scared reaction.If you are calm, no matter how fast youropponent is you can protect yourselfbetter. If you are not then you will alwaysbe thinking, “When is he going to punchme? When is he going to kick me?” thismakes you nervous and your opponentknows this and will knock you out. If you are experienced at fightingit is easy to find out if your opponent is nervous or calm. If he isnervous, then it is easy to attack him because his reaction is tooquick, he over reacts. You can fake him and control him. When hetries to slow himself down that is the time I attack him because hewon’t move. Boxing helped me a lot with this.When you have sorted this out then you can use all the martial artsskill you want, any style. You can try this style or technique, try thatangle, whatever!QM: Changing the subject slightly, you mentioned that you studiedBajiquan. Is that an internal style, is it similar to taiji?MY: Baji is more similar to Xingyi. The movements are more powerfulwhereas taiji is more relaxed and looser. Baji is like Xingyi, very tight,but it comes a lotfrom the inside andthen comes out. Incertain styles youhave to perform themvery quickly and youdon’thave time to feelthem, Baji is not likethis, it is internal.Baji has a lot of YinQigong (HardQigong) so you don’tfeel pain. You have totrain so the energycomes from theinside out to yourskin, to you muscle,to your bones.QM: Do you ever losesome of the things youhave learnt?MY: It is true it ishard to practiseeverything. I can’t do it in one day. But luckily I started very young.So even if I don’t do something for two years, with a little practise itcomes back and I have not lost too much. At the same time I grew upin a martial arts world. Everyday I listened to my father andgrandfather and all my friends were all involved in martial arts, sothat has gone in very deeply. So now it is not so bad if I don’t practiseregularly. What does matter is the level of health and physical fitness.QM: I suppose we have to ask about Jet Li.MY: Oh yes! When I was at the Peking Sports University, Jet Li wasin the Beijing Professional Wushu team. Often the team would cometo Peking Sports University and train with us. Actually at that timeno one knew he was going to be a big star. There were so manypeople in the martial arts. It was a long time ago. He was a very quietperson. He came to my father’s house for a meal with a film director.Yes he was very quiet, if you did not ask him anything he would notsay anything. I don’t know about today because people change asthey get older.QM: Was he involved with your father?MY: Yes, on the film Shaolin Temple. There were four coaches whohelped arrange all the movements, plus my father. My father was incharge of these four. So all the movements he did in that film camethrough from my father.QM: So can we see Tongbei in that film.MY: Yes. After that film Jet Li became famous throughout China andthey made a documentary about his life. The first form he did wasFanze, my family form. Last year he came to London and I saw a littlebit of his interview on video and they asked him to show somemovements and he did Fanze again. So from that, because we haven’tseen each other for many years, I know he still has a high respect formy family style, otherwise he wouldn’t show it. He was five timesChinese champion and is now such a famous person. If he has chosenmy family style to represent himself, then in his mind my family stylemust be number oneinterview by Darryl Moy & Daniel Poon.Master Ma Yue can be contacted on 0116 255 0124.Qi Magazine 37

Smoking & AcupunctureSmoking not only costs money, it is anti-social and affects yourhealth seriously. A smoker is easily prone to catching sore throats, skin rashes,chest infection, asthma, stress, migraine and many more illnesses. When you arepregnant and you risk smoking it can easily harm your baby and there is a higherrisk that your baby will be born premature or underweight.Every day 300 people die as a directresult of smoking - the equivalent of ajumbo jet crashing every twenty-fourhours. As an average smoker your habit maycostyou over £800 a year, but nowadays moreand more of Britain’s fourteen millionsmokers want to give up the habit – yet givingup is not going to be easy.Even if you are really determined tostop youmay have found that willpower aloneis not enough. All over the world people havetried different methods to stop smoking.Nicotine Patches, Hypnosis, sometimes theywork, very often they don’t.Acupuncture is a tried and tested,proven way of providing help to stopsmoking. Acupuncture is a system ofmedicine which restores and maintains healthby the insertion of fine needles into specificpoints on the surface of the body to rebalanceand strengthen self-healing power.It can treat many conditions especiallyaddictions, such as tobacco, alcohol, drugs,etc. Over the last seven years I have treatedin the UK over 1000 patients with tobaccoaddiction whose smoking histories varyfrom 2 years to 40 years. Among thesepatients about 700 of them stop smokingcompletely after one session, about 200 ofthem reduce the amount of cigarettes greatlyafter the first session and stop smokingcompletely after two or three sessions. Therest of them needed a few more sessions orregular treatment such as once every 3months to help control the craving forNicotine which depends on theirlifestyle andhow stressed they are.Usually if other family members arestill smoking it may affect the desire ofwanting to stop smoking. It is far better if afriend or colleague is trying to stop: thereason being that you can have treatmenttogether and encourage one another day byday. Sometimes one may find it difficult tomake a decision to seek for help/guidance.Quite often a husband will make anappointment for his wife to haveAcupuncture treatment to stop smoking as aBirthday Present, or a couple may come tostop smoking for Christmas. Life isinteresting isn’t it?Acupuncture treatment,besidesstopping smoking, helps the sufferer feelcalmer, relaxed and happier, even releasingsymptoms of Sinus, Asthma, Migraine, Stress,insomnia, etc. This is because Acupuncturere-balances the vital energy of the body - theQi (pronounced “Chee” in Chinese) whichflows continuously around the meridiansystem. An energetic network ofchannels that not only connects theacupuncture points to each other butalso directly influences the functioningof the internal organs and othercontrolling systems of the body.There are14 channels and361 points in thebody, with eachpoint havingd i f f e r e n tfunctions to treatd i f f e r e n tproblemsIn thetreatment ofs t o p p i n gsmoking weusually choose6-7 points whichconnect to thelungs to rebalanceit’sfunctions tostop the craving for nicotine. Thecommon points used are Quchi (LI 11), Hegu(LI 4), Liequ (LI 7), and Yingxiang (LI 20).Add points Neiguan (P 6) and Shenmen (H7) for stress, nervous, or insomnia. Addpoints Taixi (K 3) and Sanyinjiao (Sp 6) forgeneral fatigue, tiredness. Add points Baihui(Du 20) and Zusanli (S 36) for Qi deficiency.Add point Taichong (Liv 3) for depressionof liver energy.Liequ (LI 7) is the 7th point of theHand Tai Yin Lung Channel. It’s a “Lu”(collaterals) point. ”Lu” points connectinternal to external, allowing the free flow ofthe energy.Hegu (LI 4) is the 4th point of theHand Yang Ming Large Intestine Channel.It is a ”Yuan” (root)point. The body’s energygathers at ” Yuan” points. Disease in theinternal organs is usually shown at ”Yuan”points. By stimulating a ”Yuan”’ point, thenormal function of internal organs can berecovered. Hegu (LI 4) should be avoided,however, for pregnant woman as its use cancause miscarriage.Quchi (LI 11) is the 11thpoint of the Large Intestine Channel.It is a ”He”(meeting) point.Both Hegu (LI 4) and Quchi(LI 11) are points of the LargeIntestine Channel. In terms ofTCM theory, the lung and the largeintestine are co-ordinating togetherthe body’s internal and externalfunctions. This is why these pointsare chosen for lung relatedimbalance.Some people imagine thatacupuncture is a very long needle,sometimes even with a machineinvolved. It sounds painful andtherefore very frightening. This ismaybe why many people will not goto see an acupuncturist. In fact,people who have been treated byacupuncture don’t feel this way.They think it is a very relaxed wayto help them stop smoking, it worksfast and there is no pain or side affects. Butbefore they go to see an acupuncturist youshould make sure that the person is fullyqualified and affiliated to one of theprofessional bodies, such as BritishAcupuncture Council, etc, and that they haverelevant experience, also make sure that theneedles used are pre-sterile disposable ones.As I have said, sometimes willpoweralone isn’t enough. Why don’t you seek helpand guidance. Make a decision now and tryto stick with it. Just take one day at a timeand think of all the money you could save, itmay lead to a new lifeby Dr.ShulanTangFor furtherinformation contact; - Dr. Shulan Tang,50 SandyLane, Chorlton, Manchester. M21 STN.Tel: – 0161 881 8576Qi Magazine 39

YearsofPractiseThe Japanese were invading Chinaand it was very common for themto abuse and insulte the Chinese,you could see it all around. Theiractions and attitude made YangMeijun very angry towards them. One dayshe hoped she would have her revenge. Butthis sadness and anger brought out a positiveenthusiasm to practise her family’s Qigongskills. This made her more emotionallybalanced and she calmed down. Now sheunderstand the instruction she had receivedfiom her grandfather: “Anger will damage theliver”, “Overjoy will damage the heart”,“Sadness will damage the lungs”, “Fear willdamage the kidneys”.One day she remembered her auntwas living in the Kam Shuk Province. So sheleft Beijing to find her aunt hoping a changein situation would change her fortunes. Onarriving at Kam Shuk she received the badnews that her aunt no longer lived there. Shedidn’t know where to go, or who she couldrely on. She lost her direction and now shefelt lonelier than ever.In the Kam Shuk province the mostpopular business was salt trading. She said toherself “I have to find a way to survive”. Soshe disguised herself as a young boy andjoined the salt traders.In China, society was in a state ofdisarray. There were many gangstersespecially within the salt trade who controlledthe salt and made a lot of money. Yang Meijunfound that with her years of practisingQi Magazine 40

Qigong she could withstand the situation andwork as well as the men.There was one particular gentlemannamed Chen Gwor An who worked with herand treated her very well. He was a man ofgood character but he did not know that YangMeijun was a girl. Over a period of time theybecame very good friends.Then for a couple of days Yang Meijundid not see him at work. She began to misshim and started to worry.Maybe it wascoincidence, maybe itwas fate but she went tosee an opera and thereshe discovered the mainactor was her missingwork partner! He wasacting in the play and hecould sing and dancewhich greatly surprisedher. When the operafinished she went to seehim. Chen Gwor An wasvery happy to see her, somuch so, that he invitedher to come and workwith him in the opera.Yang Meiljun wanted tobe with him wherever hewanted to go. So sheagreed to join eventhough the work was very simple.After some time her female characterslowly started to show and she wanted todress and behave like a lady again. Chen GworAn was very pleased to discover his bestfriend was a girl. Their relationship changed:from best friends they became lovers. Verysoon they were married and started a family.One year later they had their first child, ababy boy. They were a happy family.One night, around midnight ChenGwor An discovered his wife was missing!He was very worried and went out into theback yard in search of her. But all he foundwas a shadowon the roof! The shadow movedvery quickly, sometimes jumping up,sometimes jumping down, like a bird. As hegot closer his fear grew stronger. But thenhe realised it was his wife Yang Meijun! Herskill and movements greatly impressed him.He asked her “How did you learn such askill? Why didn’t you tell me about it?” YangMeijun realising her husband had discoveredher secret and said, “This is my family’sQigong and I am not allowed to divulge it,that is why I did not let you know. Probablyit is fate that you have now found out, butthis is good, so if anything should happen inthe future you won’thave to worry aboutme or our son.” Afterthat night Chen GworAn got used to her skilland treated it as quitenormal.Around thistime the Japaneseinvasion of China wasgetting more serious.They had conqueredmany provinces andthe Second World Warwas breaking out. YangMeijun and herhusband joined thevolunteers to helpdefend against theJapanese invaders.Because of their workshe had more opportunities to travelespecially to the countryside. There shevisited many high level Daoist and Buddhistmonks and nuns. They all gave her a lot ofgreat help with her Dayan Qigong. OneDaoist told her of the principles ofacupuncture points and channels. He said,“Your body is like the universe.” There aremany orbits and tracks crossing it. Theseorbits are our acupuncture channels. Theybring the Qi to different areas to balance thebody and make the internal organs strong.“High level Qigongmasters have strong Qiand spirit, you can see itin their faces!”This makes the body warm and function well.When we feel pain, or are stiff and unwell, itmeans the channels are blocked and need tobe smoothed. The acupuncture points are likethe planets spread out over the body. Theseallow the Qi to enter, pass through and leavethe body, so the Qi passes in and out. If onepoint is blocked this affects the whole systemand illness will occur. This valuableknowledge helped her in the future when shedeveloped her treatment skills.Yang Meijun also met a nun whocould meditate for hours and hours and whocould stop menstruating. This meant shecould transfer all her blood to Qi.Some of the monks she met did notsleep at night instead they sat on cushionsand meditated until daybreak so they neverlost their Jing.With the development of vital energyyou first get sexual energy ‘Jing’, for womenit is connected to their blood and for men totheir sperm. Jing will develop to become Qi.If you keep practising and maintain it, Qi willpromote ‘Shen’, this is ‘spirit’. and this willshow on the face. High level Qigong mastershave strong Qi and spirit, you can see it intheir faces!When the Shen develops it reachesanother, higher state: it becomes ‘Hiu’, thismeans ‘emptiness.’ Your potential will bedeveloped, the Sky eye will be opened, youcan see the colours of Qi, orpeoples channelsand their internal organs. You can transmitstrong Qi to cure sick people or use it tochange molecules and electrons. The ‘SkyDoor’ (Bai Hui point) will be opened andyou can receive messages from greatdistances.It takes a great deal of nutrition andrest to create Qi, blood and sperm. So‘ordinary’ people will become tired if theyrelease too much. Practising Qigong cancreate the vital energy needed to maintain ahealthy body.Once during the war Yang Meijunwas buried by the Japanese! Like many shepretended to be dead to escape the enemy.She held her breath, playing dead until theyhad left. She then emerged from the groundand dug somebody else out and saved theirlives. This she could do because of her DayanQigong practicetobe continued...byMichael TseQi Magazine 41

Reiki (pronounced Ray-Key) is aJapanese word meaning simply ”energy”. Reikialso refers to a system of natural healing whichwas discovered and developed by a Japaneseman named Mikaomi Usui, of Kyoto, Japan,towards the end of the nineteenth century.Reiki&QigongIt is thought Mikaomi Usui was apractitioner of Ki-Ko, the Japaneseversion of Qigong, and that he waslooking for a way for Ki-Kopractitioners to transmit Ki(Japanese for Qi) for healing withoutdepleting their own energy when hediscovered Reiki.Frank Arjava Petter in his book”Reiki Fire” states that Reiki is one of themany methods that stem from theChinese family of Qigong. He goes on tosay that Reiki is one of the Buddhistoffshoots of Qigong, with a lot of Shintoinfluence. Shinto is the native religion ofJapan, andPetter says thatJapanese Shintoand Buddhismareso intricatelyi n t e r t w i n e dthat it isimpossible toseparate them.His research inJapan has ledhim to believethat even the word ”Reiki” itself is anancient Shinto mantra for protection, andhasbeen passed down from Shinto Masterto student by word of mouth forcenturies.Mikaomi Usui travelled to severalcountries to study, including China. Heliked to read, and had a vast knowledgeof many subjects, including medicine,psychology and religionsof the world. Heused to meditate regularly at MountKurama, and one day went there on a 21-day retreat to fast and meditate. At theend of this period he suddenly felt theReiki energy at the top of his head andfrom thenceforth was able to transmit Qithrough himself without depleting hisown energy. He spent the rest of his lifehealing others and attuning them to theReiki energy.Reiki is learned by being attunedto the energy by a Reiki teacher. Thesepeople are usually referred to as ReikiMasters, but westerners do not in generalunderstand the concept of the student/Master relationship as it is understood inthe east. A Master is someone who hasmastered him/herself, whose life is aconstant example to others, not someonewho has paid $10,000 and completed aweekend workshop or trained for one“It is not a rephilosophy, neitdepend on intelor special abilityear. In the east, the Master title is not soeasily available. Either the teacher is calledMaster out of respect by his/her students,or the student is given the title Master byhis/her Master after having masteredQi Magazine 42

themselves. For this reason, some Reikipeople who have trained to Mastershiplevel in Reiki prefer to call themselvesReiki Teachers, including Frank ArjavaPetter, author of ”Reiki Fire”.Some people are born with a talentfor healing, others develop the ability bypractising it, or, as is the case with Reiki,it can be acquired by initiation. Initiationis an ancient way of transferring energyor knowledge that can’t be passed toanother orally. The Reiki initiation opensa channel for the universal energy (the“Rei-Ki”) to flow through you. Onceopened, you remain a channel for Reikifor life, even if you never use it. However,like Qigong, the more you use it, the moreyour understanding deepens and thestronger a channel you become. It is nota religion or philosophy, neither does itdepend on intellectual capacity orspecial ability, so anyone can easilylearn. It is simply passed on fromteacher to student.Reiki was brought to the westby a Hawaiian woman named HawayoTakaia in the late 1930’s. She had travelledto Japan seeking healing for a tumour,gallstones and appendicitis. In fourmonths, after daily Reiki treatments in aReiki clinic run by a Dr. Hayashi, she wascompletely healed. Dr. Hayashi was astudent of Mikaomi Usui. She was soimpressed by her healing with Reiki thatshe begged Dr. Hayashi to initiate her.He refused, explaining that Reikiwas Japanese and could not betaught to an outsider. Takata persistedand eventually Hayashi relented. Heinitiated her as a Reiki Master in 1938, butit is now believed he didn’t pass on thefull energy of the Reiki system. After all,she was not only a foreigner, but a womantoo. Takata in turn granted twenty-twoMasterships before her death in 1980.These people too have spread Reiki acrossthe west, so that now there areliterally thousands of ReikiMasters. However it mustfollow that if Takata didn’treceive the full initiation, shecouldn’t pass it on to herstudents. Therefore all thosethat have come after aren’tworking with the full powereither. Fortunately thisrealisation crossed the mind ofa woman who took the Reikiinitiation in 1983. Her name isKathleen Milner, and after aseries of consciousness-raisingjourneys similar to Usui’s onMount Kurama, she retrievedthe full initiation procedure intoReiki. To safeguard it anddistinguish it from the Reikialready being practised, shetrademarked it and called it”Tera-Mai” Reiki.Reiki is learned in threestages, or degrees. The firstdegree attunes you to theenergy and you are shown handposition’s for passing theenergy to yourself and others,animals, plants or anything thatneeds healing. For many peoplethis first degree is enough, foronce you have been attuned tothe energy it is with you for lifeand you can use it anytime. Thesecond degree involves anotherattunement, which increases theamount of energy flowingthrough you, and you aretaught healing symbols whichfurther empower the healingenergy you are channelling. Thethird degree is the Mastershiptraining, which involves themost powerful attunement ofall. You are shown how to passthe initiations to others, enablingyou to teach Reiki aswell as healwith it.Qigong and Reiki workwell together in a therapeuticway, as you can teach simpleQigong exercises to your clientsthus empowering them to takea hand in their recovery.Hopefully, they will notice the benefitsof their regular Qigong practice and wantto learn more! Learning Reiki and Qigongis a wonderful way to help you and othersto live healthier, stronger, happier livesby JohnSpinettoQi Magazine 43

Simplified Taijiquan Simplified Taijiquan Simplified Taijiquan24 Step Simplified TaijiquanThis form ofsimplified taijiquan wascreated as a means topromote taijiquan to thegeneral public. It hasbeen promotedthroughout China andthe world by the Chinesegovernment, and is nowpractised by millions ofpeople.Its movements arebased on Yang Styletaijiquan and they havebeen chosen to makelearning easier forcomplete beginners, butat the same time givethem a taste of real taijiand to benefit in terms ofpromoting their health.Starting PositionFig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3 Fig 4 Fig 5Fig 6 Fig 7 Fig 8 Fig 9Parting the Wild Horse’s ManeFig 10 Fig 11 Fig 12 Fig 13 Fig 114Qi Magazine 44Fig 15 Fig 16 Fig 17 Fig 18 Fig 19Simplified Taijiquan Simplifi

GOOD TABLE MANNERS.You might be relieved to find out that this is notanother article about how to hold your rice bowl and eatyour dim sum. No this article is about a very special type ofWing Chun training.“The good thingabout WingChun is that youdo not need a lot of space. You can even do itin a telephone box!”Iremember hearing a very enthusiasticstudent say this, and at the time I couldnot help laughing a little. However, agood thing about Wing Chun is that you donot need a lot of space and in fact, you cando it balanced on a small table!Now you may think I have beenwatching too many movies (and to be fair Ihave seen my share of them), butthis type of training is actually veryclever, and if you can do it wellthen your Wing Chun is definitelya very good level.Many of you may haveseen Chi Sau (sticking hands)performed blindfolded. Thisexercise shows how sensitive andhow good a person’s footwork is.Without the aid of their eyes theWingChun practitionersmust feelwhat is going on and be able toavoid their partner’s attacks withgood technique. The worse thingyou can do when you cannot seeis use brute force.This training is very good,but to be honest, if you aresensitive and do not rely on youreyesanyway thenit doesnot makethat much difference. Actually,when you try it, treat it exactly thesame as normal Chi Sau, then you will findthere is not that much difference.Personally, I find training Chi Sautraining ona tablemuch moreinteresting anduseful. Why trainChi Sau on a table? Trainingon a table greatly limits the amount of spaceyou have. Not only can your partner hit you,he or she can also push or pull you off thetable. To avoid this happening to you, yourpositions must be very accurate and your useof energy must be very controlled.When training on the floor, you canmove and step in many directions to avoidyour opponent’s attacks and release hisenergy (the force of his strikes). This meansthe amount of energy you need to apply canbe very little. When you are on the table youdo not have the option of moving back torelease the pressure. You can avoid thepressure, but only up to a certain point, thenyou havetouse someenergy tomaintain yourposition when stationary and when moving.The energy you use should be applied fromyour wholestance, not only fromyour arms.This energy (or strength) you use is moreThe late Master Wong Shun Leungshowing impeccable table manners.internal and you can apply it in varyingdegrees or strength very quickly and can alsostop itquickly. If the energy you useis correct,then you can remain relaxed and sensitive.When you start to train on the tableit is important to remember what you aredoing. Often less experienced people forgetalltheir WingChun and begin trying to shoveeach other off the table and this looks veryugly and you should avoid it. It is still ChiSau, and Chi Sau is not a fight or a contest.Also, if you find you are starting to fall, thenit is best to jump down to avoid hurtingyourself or your partner.You should start to roll arms thenstart to play as you would normally. You willquickly find out what you can still do andwhat you cannot. The lack of space can bevery disconcerting at first, but with timeyou will get used to it. What is mostnoticable, is that this training highlightsyour basics a great deal. Any mistakes thatyoumight havebeen ableto ‘getaway with’before won’t be so easy to cover up, andso you have to correct yourself. If you arenot accurate enough you will be ‘hit’, ifyour reactions are not quick enough youwill also be hit or pushed off. If you panicor over-react, then you will lose youbalance and fall off.If your opponent is using a lot ofstrength, then you will haveto ‘let this go’.However, you will haveto usethe smallestand most efficient way of doing thisotherwise you will be pushed off.As your opponent starts to pressforward, you will need to turn to avoidhisstrength. Your turning must be smoothand allow your weight to shift smoothlyfrom one leg to the other. Sometimes youwill have to turn and shift all your weightonto one leg. To do this you will have tosink down onto that leg a little. This sinkingwill allow you a little more room to moveand help to maintain the distance betweenyour body and your elbow, and althoughit isonly a very small amount, it is often enough.This though requires good strong legs.When you train on the table justremember to follow correct Wing Chunprinciples. If you can do this you will learn agreat deal and have a lot of fun. When youget back down on to terra firma, you findyour Chi Sau is more compact, correct andaccuratebyDarryl MoyQi Magazine 45

ShaolinDamoStaff“Staff strikes in a whole piece and the spear hitsin a straight line”This poem describes the principle of the staffand the spear. The spear and the staff are the kings ofthe long weapons, although other weapons like the swordand the broadsword are more popular. This is becausetheir use is more varied covering different distances.However, today the staff is a more convenient weapon.Just carrying one to and fromclass is easier as hardly anyonewill look at you and most would not even notice you werecarrying it, but if you were carrying a sword, then thepolice would definitely look at you and will ask you whyyou are carrying it.Although it is a long weapon, the staff is shortcompared to a pole. However in Chinese a staff and a poleare both called ‘Kwun’, short or long are both the same. A shorterkwun is sometimes called a “Two Head Kwun”, this is because youcan use both ends to attack and defend. It is also called an “EyebrowHigh Kwun”. Thus its length is the same distance from your feet toyour eyebrows. They can sometimes be a little shorter or a littlelonger, though it should not be higher than your head or shorterthan your mouth. If it were, it would not be right for the way it isused.A long Kwun (pole) is usually about seven, eight even ninefeet long. This is called a “Single Head Kwun” because you only useone end. You cannot use the other end as it is too long. To use a longkwun you need more energy. Sometimes you only use it on one sidethe left or the right, you cannot change round as it would be toodangerous. Therefore the applications of the long pole are differentto those of the shorter staff. For the pole you need to be very strongand grounded with strong legs. For the staff you need to be more“Doing thto correct baparticularlyand spine.”Qi Magazine 46

flexible and lighter. When you are using it you even sometimes needto kick, tumble, jump using a lot of high and low movements. So thepole is stronger and is more Yang; and the staff, which is lighter,belongs more to Yin. In fact all weapons usually have both Yin andYang ways of developing.I have been studying the Damo Staff for over ten years withmy teacher Master Wu Chun Yuen. Heis a very talented teacher who has a verygentle nature. He is very good with thespear, nine-section whip, Spring andAutumn Big Sword, double sword anddouble broadsword. He is also verygood at bare hands forms. He can dothem all very well even now when he isseventy years old! He is healthy andflexible and he can do things not manyother masters can do at his age.He practises everyday for atleast three hours in the morning. Thenhe goes home and watches a littletelevision. In the afternoon he has a napand in the evening he goes out and flieshis Chinese kites. Almost everyday herepeats his routine, unless he hassomething special he needs to do.You can see many famousmasters that reach fifty to sixty years ofage who hardly ever exercise everydayand even have health problems. Forsome of them their environment doesnot allow them to do the things theylike everyday. For others their exercisesare too difficult for them now they areolder. Some are even a little lazy and think they are good enough andthey do not need to practise that much, they just enjoy being a masterand being respected by other people.I always think that when a skill is good you should be able topractise it even when you are old and that it is not only for youngpeople. Today we see a lot of wushu competitions, the performancesare very spectacular, but they are only for people under the age oftwenty and are too difficult for people older than thirty. Older orweaker people cannot do a lot of the difficult movements.The Damo Staff is one of my favourite weapons, this is becauseit can help make your body fit and flexible. After all the trainingyour whole bodyfeels light.To practisethe Shaolin DamoStaff you need tounderstandthe staff,this is becausesometimes you willuse the head andother times you usethe bottom of thestaff, you also have to know where the centre of the staff is. This isso you can balance the staff when you are rotating it, otherwise oneside will be longer than the other and feel heavy which can be quiteuncomfortable during training.For beginners who have never practised the staff before it isbetter to start to play with the staff everyday and become familiarwith it. You should treat it like a friend. Many people who practisefeel awkward, this is because they treat their staff like a stranger. Itreat my staff as if it is my friend. I play with it rotating it one way andthen the other, with one hand, then two hands, walking forwardsand backwards. Sometimes you can make up your own ways of playingwith it, and after a while your staff while be like your friend andwhen you use it you will feel very comfortable.When you begin to practise with the staff, you do not startby learning the form. At first you learnhow to spin the staff individually.The first exercise is very simple.Standing still, you use two hands to spinthe staff clockwise and anticlockwise. Thenyou move onto spinning the staff in frontand behind you. This is done by starting tospin the staff in front of you in one hand,then passing it to the other and turninground so that it spins behind you, beforeturning round again, passing it to the otherhand and spinning it in front of you. Thisis repeated until you can spin the staff andturn in a smooth continuous movement.After this you combine thismovement with stepping, moving forwardsand backwards and changing fromone handto the other. Then, step by step, you cando a whole circle, running and jumping andyouwill like the staff more and more. Onceyou pick up your staff you will feel veryhappy.When practising the staff there aremany techniques which you can use:hitting, breaking, circling, scooping,sweeping, covering, rotating, pointing,shooting, blocking, spinning and stopping.In all there are twelve techniques. Different forms have differentmovements, but all are based on the same techniques.With the staff, beginners need to understand how to use thebody and the staff together. This involves a lot of co-ordination. Tostudy the staff you do not have to be big or strong, you need toconsider flexibility and co-ordination more. Each movement relatesto energy and posture. Doing the staff will help to correct bad postureparticularly with the back and spine. You will find your energy israised up and your spirit is high.When you are familiar with the form and can do it withoutthinking, you should concentrate on the Qi and how to use the energyand the staff together. This is the same for other weapons as well andit makes the weapon come alive.In China’s history, the Shaolin staff is the most famousweapon, you could almost say the staff comes from Shaolin Temple.In the Tang Dynasty, thirteen monks saved the Tang Emperorwhen he was captured by the enemy and thrown into prison. TheShaolin monks fought the enemy army with their staffs, even thoughthe enemy had more powerful weapons. Also during the MingDynasty Shaolin was ordered by the emperor to send monks to fightJapanese pirates who were hijacking Chinese ships and attackingpeople. Again Shaolin sent monks armed with staffs.During the Tang, Song and Ming Dynasties, Shaolin alwayshad many monks who were trained like an army so they could protectthe country when they were needed.For the monks, the staff was the most common and usefulweapon. However staff training is not only for self-defence. It is alsovery good for improving your health, particularly the posture andthe balance of the mindbyMichael TseQi Magazine 47