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
