Issue 57 - Tse Qigong Centre
Issue 57 - Tse Qigong Centre Issue 57 - Tse Qigong Centre
Coming back to the reasonwhy different cultures have differentelements and explanations; some willuse wind and some air. This is not thesame as the Chinese Five Elements,why is this? The answer is quitesimple. Each culture has a differenthistory and background based onwhere they developed and grew. Sothey will look at nature and base theirphilosophy on what seems to explaintheir experiences. Throughout theentire world there are differentcultures that use different numbers ofelements, some will have only threeetc. But if you look, we are all talkingabout the same thing, so do not letthe elements affect yourunderstanding. All these elementsand systems are to help youunderstand the universe. All theseelements are the keys to open thesecret door to the universe. Once youhave opened it, the key is not thatimportant. What is on the other sideof the door is more important.We can use the Five Elementsin different ways. For example, wecan use the Five Elements to describepeople, let us say that some one isThe Five ElementsIn the NorthernHemisphereThe Five ElementsIn the SouthernHemisphereWestMetalWestMetalNorthSouthNorthSouthWaterFireFireWaterEastWoodEastWood“Once opened the keyis not important whatis on the other side ofthe door is.”Fire. This means that he/she is full of energy, is outgoing andlikes attention. They like colourful things and are easy to geton with when you first meet. On the other side though, theycan become exhausted, depressive, be too pushy and botherpeople, etc. I am sure we all know someone like that.The colour green relates to wood, so if you have a greencarpet you will find more peace. This is because the green carpetwill remind you of green grass and when you see the carpet itwill trigger the memory and feeling as well. This is how colourrelates to our feeling and this can also be explained throughthe Five Elements.The direction North relates to water. This is becauseNorth is cold, with ice and snow. These things are made fromwater. The opposite of this is Fire because it is warm or hot.When you consider the directions,some of you may ask, “What if you are inAustralia, South America, Africa etc. theNorth is hot and the South is cold?” So howcan we work this out using the FiveElements? First we need to understand whyChinese people use the Five-Element Theory.The East is the first to see the sun asthe sun rises in the east. So all the trees andplants will grow quickly as they catch theenergy first. So the East is the element Wood.The West is where the sun sets, which isopposite to sunrise and the East. So the Westis cooler, has fewer plants growing than theEast. This is opposite to Wood and so this isMetal. In the West all the “Metal” things havebeen created, like cars, trains, planes,televisions etc.In China the North is cold and therefore Water and theSouth is hot and the opposite, and so is Fire.This theory fits in the Northern Hemisphere. TheSouthern Hemisphere is different because the Equator is hot.So the North is hot and the South is cold. So in this situationEast is still wood and West is still metal, but North becomesFire and South becomes Water. It is the same as our two palmsthe left is opposite to the right to balance each other.When we study the Five Elements things are not alwaysas simple as we think. At one level, one plus one equals two,but at higher levels one plus one might equal three or minusone. We can have many different answersBy Michael TseQi Magazine 37
Chan and Ma had gone on a trip for a few days. Their teacher oftenencouraged them to go out and see what the world had to offer. After theyhad been travelling a few days, they came across a beautiful hill next to alarge mountainClimbing the MountainKeep MovingThe hill was covered in manybeautiful flowers and plants andhad lots rare of wildlife living there.They decided to explore it a little, so theybegan to climb it, admiring the sceneryas they went.About half way up they came toa clearing with a small inn offering foodand a place to stay the night. They wentinside and were met by a smiling youngman in his mid twenties. “I am afraid weare completely full,” he told them, andlooking around they could see forthemselves. Every table was taken andalthough people were packed in they allseemed to be enjoying themselves.“Unfortunately,” said the young man,“we are always full and you have toreserve a table many days in advance.”Chan smiled, “It’s alright,” he said, “youseem to be doing very well.” The youngman nodded, “My family has to workvery hard at it and soon it will be myturn as well.” Not wanting to interrupthis work, Chan and Ma said farewell andleft. “That did not seem like too muchhard work to me,” said Ma. “No it didn’t,but you never know how much peoplehave to do,” said Chan.They decided to climb a littlefurther and after a while they neared thetop of the hill. The terrain becamerougher and there were fewer plants.The ground was quite loose and it washard going. Just then they came acrossa man with a horse and cart. The cartwas full of mud and the man wasshovelling it out.Chan and Ma greeted the manwho smiled and nodded at them. Chanwas curious as to what he was doing sohe politely asked, “Excuse me sir, can Iask what you are doing?”The man stopped and climbeddown. “I’m making the hill bigger,” Hesaid. Chan was surprised, as he did notexpect this answer. “Why do you wantto do that?” he asked.They man beckoned them to sitdown. “Have you ever heard of thefoolish old man moving the mountain?”he asked them. Ma nodded and said,“Yes he wanted to go to town everyday,but there was a mountain in the way. Hedecided that if he could move it out ofthe way, then it would make the trip totown much easier. But when people foundout they laughed at him and told him itwas impossible and he was a fool. Buthe did not mind and said that if he couldnot do it, then his sonwould carry onand then hisson wouldtake overand theyw o u l dkeep goinguntil themount ai nhad beenmoved. OurSifu told usthis story tomake uswork harderand keepgoing.”T h eman smiledagain andn o d d e d ,“That oldman wasmy Great,G r e a t ,G r e a t ,Great, GreatGrandfather.” He pointedto the mountain that was next to the hill.“I am moving that over here!”Chan and Ma looked at each otherin shock. “You mean you are really tryingto move the mountain?” asked Chan.“Certainly we are,” said the man with asmile. “I don’t understand,” said Chan,“I thought that was just a story to inspireus, I never thought anyone would evertry to move it!”The man pointed back down thepath where they had come from, “Did yousee our Inn?” He asked. They bothnodded. “We have had that inn for a fewgenerations, and we make a very goodliving. In fact we don’t needto worry about anything.Many people come here toenjoy the hillside, see thesights, flowers and animals.When my ancestor started tomove the mountain he neverimagined he would createsuch a beautiful spot, andnow we are enjoying the fruits of hiswork.”“But if you are so wealthy, why doyou keep moving the mountain?” askedChan. “You see, young man, without myancestor’s idea, we would neverhave gotten all these benefits.He gave us the task of movingthe mountain, and although itis not an easy one, it is nowmy duty and I should do itotherwise it means I takeeverything for granted. TheInn and this beautiful hill arenot mine nor my father’s,they have been passed to usto look after and then I willpass the down to make thefollowing generation’s livesbetter. Of course we need towork at it, but if I shirk myduty, then it will fall to mysons, and they will have tosuffer more because of it. Soit is better I do my bit noweven though you may think Iam foolish to endure suchsuffering. If I just take the fruitand do not tend to the plantit will die and what sort ofman would that make me?”Chan and Ma did notknow what to say. After theyhad left the man to his work, they walkedback down the hill in silence. After a whileChan said, “I suppose it is like the skillSifu has taught to us. Although we haveit, it is not ours. We only look after it andwork on it so we can pass it to the nextgenerations.” Ma nodded and said, “Yes,and while we look after it, it looks afterus, so it is our duty to look after it more.”Eventually they came to the footof the mountain and could see where ithad been dug out for so many years. “Dowe climb it or wait until it has moved outof the way?” asked ChanBy Darryl Moyemail darryl@qimagazine.comQi Magazine 38
- Page 3 and 4: 1 Editorialwith Michael Tse.3 PO Bo
- Page 5 and 6: what the results will be. It is the
- Page 7 and 8: Dear ML,This type of experience is
- Page 10 and 11: Pushing Hands is a unique skill fou
- Page 12 and 13: Five Levels ofQi Magazine 12
- Page 14 and 15: movement that starts from the insid
- Page 16 and 17: In the last issue of Qi Magazine, I
- Page 18 and 19: JumpingTrainingEverytime when we wa
- Page 20 and 21: Learning Wing Chun and especially C
- Page 22 and 23: Qi Magazine 22
- Page 24 and 25: ecause in the past, the life of the
- Page 26 and 27: Comfort and QuietLying Down QigongN
- Page 28 and 29: Just over Suzhou Creek in north cen
- Page 30 and 31: PreservedEggsSometimes called Thous
- Page 34 and 35: Shou GongShou Gong is the ending mo
- Page 36 and 37: The Dragon is a symbol of China, as
- Page 38 and 39: Qi MattersWhile books are informati
- Page 40 and 41: No support for the people who sleep
Chan and Ma had gone on a trip for a few days. Their teacher oftenencouraged them to go out and see what the world had to offer. After theyhad been travelling a few days, they came across a beautiful hill next to alarge mountainClimbing the MountainKeep MovingThe hill was covered in manybeautiful flowers and plants andhad lots rare of wildlife living there.They decided to explore it a little, so theybegan to climb it, admiring the sceneryas they went.About half way up they came toa clearing with a small inn offering foodand a place to stay the night. They wentinside and were met by a smiling youngman in his mid twenties. “I am afraid weare completely full,” he told them, andlooking around they could see forthemselves. Every table was taken andalthough people were packed in they allseemed to be enjoying themselves.“Unfortunately,” said the young man,“we are always full and you have toreserve a table many days in advance.”Chan smiled, “It’s alright,” he said, “youseem to be doing very well.” The youngman nodded, “My family has to workvery hard at it and soon it will be myturn as well.” Not wanting to interrupthis work, Chan and Ma said farewell andleft. “That did not seem like too muchhard work to me,” said Ma. “No it didn’t,but you never know how much peoplehave to do,” said Chan.They decided to climb a littlefurther and after a while they neared thetop of the hill. The terrain becamerougher and there were fewer plants.The ground was quite loose and it washard going. Just then they came acrossa man with a horse and cart. The cartwas full of mud and the man wasshovelling it out.Chan and Ma greeted the manwho smiled and nodded at them. Chanwas curious as to what he was doing sohe politely asked, “Excuse me sir, can Iask what you are doing?”The man stopped and climbeddown. “I’m making the hill bigger,” Hesaid. Chan was surprised, as he did notexpect this answer. “Why do you wantto do that?” he asked.They man beckoned them to sitdown. “Have you ever heard of thefoolish old man moving the mountain?”he asked them. Ma nodded and said,“Yes he wanted to go to town everyday,but there was a mountain in the way. Hedecided that if he could move it out ofthe way, then it would make the trip totown much easier. But when people foundout they laughed at him and told him itwas impossible and he was a fool. Buthe did not mind and said that if he couldnot do it, then his sonwould carry onand then hisson wouldtake overand theyw o u l dkeep goinguntil themount ai nhad beenmoved. OurSifu told usthis story tomake uswork harderand keepgoing.”T h eman smiledagain andn o d d e d ,“That oldman wasmy Great,G r e a t ,G r e a t ,Great, GreatGrandfather.” He pointedto the mountain that was next to the hill.“I am moving that over here!”Chan and Ma looked at each otherin shock. “You mean you are really tryingto move the mountain?” asked Chan.“Certainly we are,” said the man with asmile. “I don’t understand,” said Chan,“I thought that was just a story to inspireus, I never thought anyone would evertry to move it!”The man pointed back down thepath where they had come from, “Did yousee our Inn?” He asked. They bothnodded. “We have had that inn for a fewgenerations, and we make a very goodliving. In fact we don’t needto worry about anything.Many people come here toenjoy the hillside, see thesights, flowers and animals.When my ancestor started tomove the mountain he neverimagined he would createsuch a beautiful spot, andnow we are enjoying the fruits of hiswork.”“But if you are so wealthy, why doyou keep moving the mountain?” askedChan. “You see, young man, without myancestor’s idea, we would neverhave gotten all these benefits.He gave us the task of movingthe mountain, and although itis not an easy one, it is nowmy duty and I should do itotherwise it means I takeeverything for granted. TheInn and this beautiful hill arenot mine nor my father’s,they have been passed to usto look after and then I willpass the down to make thefollowing generation’s livesbetter. Of course we need towork at it, but if I shirk myduty, then it will fall to mysons, and they will have tosuffer more because of it. Soit is better I do my bit noweven though you may think Iam foolish to endure suchsuffering. If I just take the fruitand do not tend to the plantit will die and what sort ofman would that make me?”Chan and Ma did notknow what to say. After theyhad left the man to his work, they walkedback down the hill in silence. After a whileChan said, “I suppose it is like the skillSifu has taught to us. Although we haveit, it is not ours. We only look after it andwork on it so we can pass it to the nextgenerations.” Ma nodded and said, “Yes,and while we look after it, it looks afterus, so it is our duty to look after it more.”Eventually they came to the footof the mountain and could see where ithad been dug out for so many years. “Dowe climb it or wait until it has moved outof the way?” asked ChanBy Darryl Moyemail darryl@qimagazine.comQi Magazine 38
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