Miffymog

I think I remember that you’ve already mentioned this is a previous post. If you can only do one meditation, then that is fine. And I think I remember reading somewhere in this very thread where each individual meditation in its own way, consists of all the benefits of the whole system, or something like that. But just a couple of thoughts on this. Firstly, if you can’t do the whole of Bending the Bows, then its probably best not to do just half of the move, especially if you’re doing the breathing sequence before hand. If you are just practising the moves with out performing the breathing pattern, then it may be okay to just do half of the movement, but it doesn’t really feel the right thing to do. If you’re still recovering physically, then a really good meditation to do is Monk Holds the Pearl. This is a lovely harmonising and balancing meditation that can be done either lying down, sitting or standing. But again, I’m really half guessing these answers so listening to what Sifu Terry has to say would be much better. And just another thought, when it comes to Bending the Bows, I don’t think it matters too much if you cant go that low, as the strength will grow over time, and I never go that low either.

Interesting question. Because if you are going to only just follow the breath, then that could not only be okay, but possibly even a good thing to do immediately after an FPCK meditation, as it gives the chi an opportunity to settle. But to be sure, I wait for Sifu Terry to answer that one.

I do know that its named after the Long Form of the system, which is the capstone of all of the meditations. And often the names of the meditations do relate to the meditation itself, but I've never got that deep enough to really see the conections I'm afraid.

Hi there Ryder, Great to hear that you've taken up FPCK! The general rule about mixing FPCK with other spiritual practices is that it tends to be okay, as long as there is a gap of a few hours between sessions. And yes, after you've done the breathing pattern, just breath normally and naturally through the nose.

The question, what does FPCK do for you, is something I'm currently thinking about, as I've recently re-taken up the practice after having a brake for about 6 months, and it's given me the opportunity to compare it to other things. I injured a core muscle down my side playing badminton just before Christmas, and this prevented me from doing a number of FPCK meditations, so I decided to try some other things out instead. I did some simple sitting and following the breath. Did a bit of 30 mins of ZZ. And signed up for a 12 week online course of Tai Chi led by one of Lam Kam Chuens' son covering his simple short form, which consists of 'grasp the peignoir by the tail' and ' the single whip'. It was nice to have a change in practice after having done FPCK for about 3 years, but I was happy to return to it after my injury had fully recovered and I'd finished the Tai Chi lessons. So what do I find the benefits of FPCK to be, especially after having had 6 months off it? The first part of the answer is what effect does it have on the body. In this regard, I reckon it's kind of similar to other internal martial arts. When I give this answer to other people, I first compare it to more western kinds of exercise, such as weight lifting, cardio-vascular exercises like running, or stretching practices like yoga. I say that in all these regards it is does not give me a great deal of strength, when I run about on a play 5-a-side football pitch, I'm out of breath in 5 minutes, and I'm no where near being able to touch my toes. However, due to the way the practice engages your posterial muscles, when I go to play tennis or badminton, despite being in my late forties, I'm easily as fast around the court as people in their twenties, and this is combined with fast reactions and a good level of co-ordination. As I said, this will certainly be true of other internal martial arts, but it's a nice consequence of FPCK. And a mildly interesting one as I often try to move a slowly as I can during the moving meditations, but the consequence is that it actually gives me good speed over a short distance. Is this any better for you than having a good weightlifting regime, good cardio-vascular fitness or good flexibility? (although my flexibility is actually fairly good from this kind of thing, I just happen to have very long legs compared to my body and a slipped disc that prevents me from bending a lot) I don't know, but its something that for me engages my mind, and so I stay motivated to keep doing it. Also, one of the benefits of this kind of thing is that it keeps you relatively injury free. How about benefits that are more specific to FPCK? This one is a bit tricker to answer because the benefits you get from this kind of chi kung is of course similar to other types of chi kung. One simple answer here is that when doing a simple static seated meditation, the activation of the FPCK energy at the beginning of the meditation, which is achieved by performing a simple breathing pattern, means that the time always goes faster than I expect. If I just follow the breath with out performing a FPCK breathing pattern, sometimes a 30 minute sit goes quickly, sometimes it does not. But with the breathing pattern, every time it feels like only 20 minutes have passed, when its actually 30. And this extends to all the FPCK meditations. This isn't exactly a massive selling point to the practice, but is something that stands out. Coupled to this is that the energy generated is always pleasant and enjoyable. Again, something that I have found to be more of a variable thing in other practices. I'd also like to say that you can enter into some quite deep levels of mind/body integration, but I'm running out of energy writing this post right now, so that is all I'll say here. I may add more on this aspect later. Anyway, its a practice I keep coming back to and enjoy. It's also nice having this thread to turn to for support, inspiration and advice. So thank you Sifu Terry