ridingtheox

I did 0ne hour standing zhan zhuang mon night (10 min each of the five positions ). Tuesday am did 28 min long form disk 4 90 60 5 50 40 and 15 min ba duan jin Wed am third section yang long form TCC & late night 11:40 -12:20 seated disk 7 Adv 50 20 10 Thurs: thanksgiving today nothing so far (

two days absence from practice ... travel yesterday recovery today my age is catching up with me ... although I did play with my grandson for almost 2 hours today so does that count as practice of qi gong ... imho sort of LOL

hurray ... nice to discover this forum .. i practice flying phoenix almost daily ... yesterday we drove from tucson to calif ... 9 hours no practice the first time in several weeks i have not oh also today was a recovery day so no practice except for a little cloud hands ... chen and yang style maybe 15 min i practice FP nearly daily 20 min, Ba duan jin 15 min TCC 1 hour (teaching) and some other Fp forms finally 2 -3 times a week i do some standing Zhan Zhuang up to 45 min per session. I am trying to keep a diary and will post here when I can thanks for starting this forum

of the last 5 days practiced "back-to-back" complete 4 days including today 35 - 45 min practice I have experienced an intensity of flow during and after each session ... even the half session which occurred yesterday. Very nice ... I continue to do the long form daily, early morning, it is still the most efficient and intense form esespecially if i do it twice during a day that's about 45 min of FP practice by itself. I am now up to a 1-1/2 hour daily FPCH ( also do Ba Duan Jin and TCC Yang long form almost daily ) Thanks so much to Terry Dunn for FPCH I keep hoping the last disk will appear soon!! Charlie

finally i have made some in roads re: the back.to.back performance of Adv Seated 80 70 50 30 and 70 50 20 10 three days in a row of completing these two meditations. The qi flow is virtually continuous in each. I am able to focus on the breath thru out, i.e. my "I" is focussed on the breath. I feel quite positive about maintaining this part of my daily practice for some time even if not every day. (tomorrow is hay moving, pasture work and a cow issue I have to address ) my practice continues to focus on the long form 90 60 5 50 40 ? Tai Chi long form teaching, and Ba duan chin.

I have been attempting to do the back to back AMSW 80 70 50 30 / 70 50 20 10 since it was first 'advertised' here. So far it has been interrupted frequently and only a couple of times have i managed to do 80 70 ... take a break and do 70 50 ... If i do the forms at the speed I normally do these two it would take at least an hour to hour and a quarter. Which is hard to get that time un-interrupted. Finally I managed yesterday a complete 'back to back', but not at the slowest speed. I took about 40 min to perform the two forms. Doing them 'faster' did not seem to affect the feeling of qi, which was continuous (well almost). We are at our daughter's home so the kids are often an issue, with completion ... Still the breath and awareness of qi storage in the dan tien are palpable ... best to all who practice and encourage each other on this thread!

Cloud hands ... at this point I should be including cloud hands as a practice and keeping a little notice of how long and often i do it each day.. i have regained my ability to do the chen style CH smoothly

Today I did a review of all the Advanced seated meditations from volume seven. Checking breath sequence as well as the movements. in the course of reviewing of necessity I had to have my eyes open and watching carefully. I was surprized at how much qi developed in each abbreviated performance. I had both internal flow and external energy sensations in each posture. I am not recommending this necessarily, just reporting what I experienced. It was significantly more powerful than I expected

actually I do several 'reverse direction' cloud hands to correct position. This is reverse step commonly done by Chen stylists eg. George Xu. And in fact since we do the Cheng man ching style repulse monkey the step back is much shorter than the side step in cloud hands in my practice. I do make a practice of doing multiple repulse monkey as an exercise. Helps me keep my stepping with a nice 'channel' as well as the shorter step.

One thing that really boosted my TCC was increasing the number of repetitions of 'cloud hands, wave hands in clouds' . Those extra few movements were quite productive. I get a good deal of energy out of just doing cloud hands for 5 min & or the 'cradling move' from FPCH.

Comment on standing long form vol. 4. This was my introduction to FP. I had bought Sifu Dunn's Long form Tai Chi in the 90's? At that time I had been doing a very similar long form TCC since 1976/7. I found the teaching technique of high quality, but even more important the spirit that shone through the whole tape was of great inspiration to keep after TCC. In the mid 90's we moved to the desert to herd cattle on open range, the essence was to experience really living on the land with animals. This was indeed a spiritual journey of 15 years. Then I realized that I needed to retire from the psychological commitment to animals and land. At that Point I googled Terry Dunn, taichimania etc. and just stepped in to the long form. I have rarely missed a day of practice since. The power that long form brought to my Tai Chi and other qi gong practices continues. There continues to be level after level of experience within the long form for me. Gradually I have added all of the dvd's except #3. The integrity of the system makes ultimate and supreme (tai chi ). My long form takes 20-25 min first thing in the morning. Almost all the sections are practiced each week, In addition the TCC Yang Long form is almost daily performed. Ba duan jin helped me get through several kidney stone episodes so I do that regularly. Finally some form of zhan zuang happens 2 -3 times per week between 40 min and an hour per session. Again I credit this commitment to practice qi gong/ tai chi to Sifu Dunn's dvd #4 long form setting the tone of the rest of my day.

Quoting Sifu, In other words, y'all out there who haven't done 30 Minutes of the Seated, Forearm-Tweaking Version of Monk Gazing At Moon, it's time to do it. And don't be wimps, for it gets better...much better. Well, today's session completed 10 consecutive days of complete Monk Gazing at Moon while twerking ...oops i mean tweeking the forearms. I have been working at cutting weeds so my shoulders are getting a real work out. This has been a good challenge .. i am hoping for 90 more days ..

nailed it 30 min practice >>> now I just need to do about 30 days consistently to see where it leads. must comment ... for me there has been nothing as powerful nor as quick acting as the standing long form FP. I continue to have intense sessions both right side and mirror image with this power house practice. The flow of qi still guides those sessions and intention focused on the dantien breath/storage is just unexcelled. If you keep following FPCK disk 4 is the ultimate. do it twice a day ... every day along with your tai chi or nei gong thanks Sifu Terry Dunn!

This has been more of a challenge than i expected. There have been more than the usual number of interruptions of this meditation... what does that have to do with anything? I have only completed 4 sessions. Was unable to hold/execute the forearm tweeking movement for 13 - 15 min the first couple of times ... shoulders gave out. Finally today I managed a 30 minute session although that included the 5 min breath regulating session. So in fact I was 5 min short of the half hour session as described by Sifu ... Maybe tomorrow I will complete a 'full' practice of this interesting challenge. charlie

Blue Phoenix; I have posted several recent accolations of FPCH as a total health system. It is extremely powerful. In this case I offer two immediate alternatives: 1) the practices actually begin at 3:50 min in a 12 min presentation. 2) the 3rd section of the 8 pieces of brocade one example of which is: i have had personal experience of 8 pieces addressing kidney stones and pain (section 6 for kidney) I am suggesting these might work quickly. However do not slack off from your practice of FPCH ... Hopefully Zen Bear will see your message and respond ... he is very good about addressing issues such as yours. Finally, it is compulsory that you practice dan tien breathing in and of itself as well as incorporating dantien breathing in all your qi practices no matter what they are. sincerely,

zenyogi, i started with Tai Chi, but soon found qi gong and nei gong practices were almost universally suggested as complementary practices to Tai Chi. Nei gong cultivates patience and reveals the nature of 'internal' arts. Qi gong is also internal with clear emphasis on qi cultivation and storage. The movements are simple and easily learned. There are however levels of practice so that I continue to experience new aspects of these arts after decades. Tai Chi is more vigorous in form, movement and balance and harmony ... while retaining the core emphasis on breathing and qi. My advice is to start simple and really invest in daily practice treasuring each new experience. Be patient and persistent, the results are worth investing in over the long term. To answer your question I strongly advise practicing both... and to keep open the door for future experiences

ok i should have addressed the former to zenyogi and it might have been appropriate to mention that my experience spans almost 40 years of tai chi and qi gong ... thus giving context to my appreciation for the Tai Chi taught by Sifu Dunn

the tai chi dvd's are excellent .. i have recommended them to my students and friends ... so far I have had only very strong support for the efficacy of Sifu Terry Dunn's Tai Chi discs ( btw I always recommend the long form as I have direct experience with that. I expect the short form to be equally excellent) Several students have tried other discs and report Sifu Dunn's to be very good teaching discs I have used them for two decades so I am biased. And I have found other forms of Tai Chi that i find very interesting ... exhibiting obvious mastery ... still as a place to start Sifu Dunn's are tops in my book.

resting palm down on the table ... not splayed flat, but resting . the hand itself is curve as if resting on a 'basketball', hence the palm is not flat on the table, the alignment of the finger tips, thumb, base of the palm and forearm lying on the table

Pitisukha: nice practice! this is slower than I move, quite lovely .. the energy in the dan tien is not as obvious as if the lighting were more from the front and breath motion could be seen directly. On a subtle level it appears to be present to me even so. nice work. one small observation thumb alignment. Fair lady hands. place your forearm and hand on a flat surface (table), relax let them sink onto the surface not pressing down just resting ... now lift the hand/forearm without changing alignment of fingers, thumb, wrist ... look at them feel them this is correct Fair Lady wrist/ hand. In your video the thumb alignment is 'lifted from the plane of the fingers' it is a small thing, but you will also note that you have to shift the thumb position to get into correct earth mudra hand postion. a subtle shift in energy peace charlie

I had decided to document some of my practice and thoughts about practice. Having done it I thought it might be useful here to some others. my take on it is to remember thought out we are cultivating qi and directing it to the dan tien as 'core' energy. We, humans, can and do distract ourselves even from our most central intent. Meditation is difficult, the mind wants to wander. Keep your focus, cultivate your focus ... FPCH is our path. The practice is the objective. It is the goal. I have now been practicing FPCH Qi Gong for almost 3 years. I try to do one form daily; the long Form Disk 4, 20 min. Recently I have been doing 2 repetitions, about 40 min. I do one or more seated Adv. MSW from disk 7; occasionally I do the Short Standing at intervals when more time is available. My daily practice is about one hour minimum and may reach two hours. I also am doing a long form Tai ji quan, yang style which has much in common with Sifu Terry Dunn's long form, but continues to be influenced by the form I learned 40 years ago while at UBC Canada. I also try to do 15 min of cloud hands or variations daily. I have done and continue to do variations on the Ba Duan Jin, which I learned 35 years ago in New Orleans LA. Currently I am close to Faye Yip's form as found on youtube. Lately I have been able to do this form daily as well. Finally, I am doing Zhan Zhuang 2- 3 times a week. 30-45 min, five variations. After years of dabbling and intervals of lack of time, I am putting a great deal of practice into qi cultivation. And isolation in an off the main cultural highway, has most recently limited my contacts with Masters.. Sifu Dunn has been the only teacher I have had, other than youtube. LOL. Current Observations: Qi is present in all these practices now, thanks to FPCH and specifically the long form (LF), disc 4.. I do appreciate the breath regulation. My personal mantra at the beginning of LF is Y guides the breath qi moves the body. Thus I proceed slowly but with awareness that too slow often breaks the flow of qi for me. For months now a 20 min session is usual, occasionally it may reach 24 minutes. My mind still wanders but much less that ever before. I have learned to accept that progress is being made, but label wandering mind 'just thinking.' I continually focus on breath as the physical inhalation exhalation, but also as the cellular process of oxygen uptake from the blood and carbon dioxide waste removal from the cell as a by product of metabolism and 'life.' For me whole body breath is a real process that FPCH has opened my awareness. There is no mystery, that is unknowable, about qi at my level, and probably not in my lifetime. For some time I have noticed that when arms rise up, body sinks slightly deeper into the stance. When arms move down sacrum, back, neck rise along with knees straightening … perhaps a couple of centimeters. Sometimes there is more the feeling than actual rising and sinking. There is also a small rotation of the head/neck when turning the torso. At 73 I have some stiffening in the neck and the slow rotational movement seems to relieve the discomfort of turning the head in normal, daily activity. I review the cd at intervals to assure myself that I am doing what the form is supposed to be! The efficacy of the seated forms is much more variable for me. I enjoy them and continue to experience waves of qi while practicing. My opinion regarding speed of form is that : the flow of qi defines slow. Too slow exists just as too fast does, but persistence in seeking awareness of and storing of qi in the dan tien is correct. Color and Synesthesia: I have never experienced color association. I remain open to it, but doubt it will occur. My understanding of seeing blue or gold, is by analogy to those who see color associated with numbers or letters. Vladimir Nabokov, one of my favorite writers, has a description of his synesthesia in Cyrillic and English alphabets in Speak, Memory. The recognition of the validity of that experience and acceptance that it just does not occur for me helps to understand the genetic and physiological variety of the human condition. I do sometimes experience a whitening, brightening of the light, but that is almost always associated with Quaker worship. Quakers express holding people in the light and walking in the light as the presence of the divine. Speaking of Quakers, Sunday's practice (a n example of my general description above) consisted of Seated MSW, Long form, ba duan jin, 45 min Zhan Zhuang and a 15 min practice of stationary low stance cloud hand movement. About 2-1/2 hours spread over 4 sessions. Peace friends. And thanks again to Sifu Dunn for his teaching charlie thomas

in the mid 60's I worked at Motorola as a chemist/metallurgist we built communications to be used in Apollo missions. I discovered that one of the electronic chassis was plated with cadmium (post plating treated with iridite) . The specs called for gold and cadmium is a highly poisonous metal. It had the potential if inside the module of outgassing Cd. Not good, even if very low probability. The Chassis was replaced. One small contribution.

World Tai Chi Day is coming to a location near you soon Sat Apr 26th I am hoping to be in Santa Monica that day

Long form right and left side today, no MSW so far, likely will do Adv MSW#3 at end of day. Recently, I reviewed the 5 short standing . Have been working on 1 -4, again. I have had the disc for at least 2 years, but never really mastered them. They simply did not seem to pack the energy in like the long form. Voila'. This time they are much more intense and satisfying. To some extent i have put off Adv MSW to do these short forms this last week. btw what is the 90 seconds in the title about ... the shortest one #2 takes > 3-1/2 min all the others are > 5 min, when done at the speed i normally do the long form (>20 min). Also I worked on those short forms in the early afternoon on Fri. about 1 hour, watching the video for form correction and performing 1 - 4. I will take up #5 soon. That would have been contemporary with the group, if not the forms they are doing, I think. Lots going on these days ... peace to all beings. charlie

I will try to do some FPCK this friday around noon ... daughter's new baby may make this difficult to make time for will definitely be doing some deep breathing ...