morning dew

I'm about halfway through Dr Yang's The Root of Chinese Qigong. I'm really enjoying it and finding it really helpful: it's answered a lot of questions I have and it's really tying together everything. What do you all think about this book or him in general? Also, has anyone read any of his other books in his series that have made a big impact on you?

A friend of mine on Facebook started a conversation about this and I responded that in my limited experience the bits and pieces I had read were all watered-down Eastern techniques and systems. Is there any kind of equivalent in Western/European esoteric traditions to (kundalini) yoga or Tai Chi or qigong, etc?

I'm currently enjoying Alfred Huang's The Complete I Ching. I was having a bit of a browse on Amazon, however, and I saw the most popular American review had this to say: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1O33T8U300R9S/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewpnt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1594773866#R1O33T8U300R9S I know we have some people who can understand Chinese in here. Would anybody with some experience like to comment on the criticisms levelled at Alfred Huang, especially his abilities to translate?

I was just looking at Damo's video and I noticed things like Heavenly Bow, which appears in the Brocades. He describes this as a fundamental exercise for maintaining health. I was curious if anyone knew how similar these two forms of medical Qi Gong are in terms of what they achieve?

I'm starting to read a little bit about this through Jwing-ming Yang's books. I'm not planning on doing it in the immediate future, but was curious to see if people have done/do it and what you got from it. There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of stuff in the archives on here. I found this video, recommended from about 10 years ago, which looks quite interesting:

Thanks. I couldn't find Alex's details. The most I could find was this: https://wulinmingshi.wordpress.com/2017/02/18/gordon-tso-and-song-style-xingyiquan/ It's okay, though. He's probably way too advanced for me right now.

Thanks to everyone for the input in this thread. It was really useful to help me make a decision. Damo seems to be based in North London. However, looking at their "training with us" section, I don't think it would be appropriate for me as I have a lot of muscular problems and a knee problem at the moment: http://lotusneigong.com/qi-gong-nei-gong/ I did tai chi and brocades last year, but my main interest is health at the moment. I think I'm going to go back to basics with this school and not get ahead of myself. I don't really know anything about them, but they seem huge and there will be several different classes nearby me: http://www.taichinews.com/classes/qigong

Thanks for the input. Yeah, looking at his biography, you may well be right that he's overdone it in the range of things he's studied, given his age, to call himself a master (if that's what he does call himself). I don't know enough about him, really. I was curious, because I'm moving up to London very soon and was wondering if his school was worth checking out. I'm guessing the answer would be 'No' from you.

I'm not sure I'm that much the wiser having read this, but here it is anyway: https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-gruesome-and-excruciating-practice-of-mummifying-yo-1515905564

ETA = edited to add I'm not hugely into Zen either. To me, it kind of reminds me of this thread in the sense that it's okay to experience life and not repress sensory input (i.e. it's okay to touch women, etc.), but on the other hand don't obsess about it either. It seems in line with Seattle's comment that I quoted: It's not a perfect match, though. I'm sure there are better Zen stories I could have found.

Well, I'm just a bumbling amateur, so I don't really have anything particularly deep to add to this thread (other than to agree with this and Kar3n). I would say, however, there doesn't seem much point in living if you're not going to experience life. ETA: actually, this thread kind of reminded me of this Zen story: http://www.kindspring.org/story/view.php?sid=63753

Thanks, Steve. That's fascinating.

I've been doing eight pieces of brocade in the mornings for a few years. I mainly learnt it off videos with the odd bit of instruction here and there in an actual lesson. A couple of months ago I showed my tai chi teacher this and he showed me BKF's medical Dragon and Tiger qigong form. We could see a few similarities such as glaring eyes, heel stamps and the ways the arms were waving. On the other hand, I noticed there were things such as moving hands/fingers through the aura that didn't seem to be present in the eight brocades. I was thinking of switching and asking him to teach me BKF's medical qigong form, mainly so I could have real life instruction on a medical form. Does anyone know what the difference is between these two forms? I know they're both medical forms and work on unblocking the main channels going through the organs. However, Dragon and Tiger seems to have extra stuff in it?

Thanks for the input. I think it's interesting, but I ended up taking on too much and I've dropped it now. I've basically stuck with the eight pieces. Have you been doing his version for long? Did you find any decent benefits from it?

Well, I'm just a bumbling amateur in these topics, but it seems to me the goal of creating the immortal fetus (or whatever it's called) through internal alchemy in some Taoist practices is probably in opposition to some Buddhist practices/systems that seek to dissolve into Nirvana on death? I don't know. Anyone have any idea?

Is that Maoris?

Can you remember any of the names of these Western systems?

I have *no* idea how that happened either.

Yeah, if he really can heal disease better than most forms of modern medicine, then that is impressive and relevant (to me, anyway). The rest of the stuff just seems like frivolous party tricks, I guess.

Thanks for the input, everyone. I'm not sure he's really going to find anything, apart from that Russian Systema (which looked quite brutal with all that standing on their calves haha!). I know he's done kundalini yoga and didn't really get into bagua, but that's about it. I'll drop him a link to this thread and see if he has any other questions. I think the only thing I've come across is runic yoga, but it just looks to me like a thrown-together system: make shapes of the runes with your body. I have to be honest, I don't think it's really going to do that much as opposed to something like qigong.

Well, even if he can do stuff like that, so what? I remember watching the (in)famous John Chang video and thinking "What's the big deal?" Making light bulbs turn on with your hands is only going to be useful in a power cut and, in any case, I can just use a torch. Or, if I want to make paper burn, I can just use matches or a lighter.