Suburi

Here's something to run by you guys. Anyone tried doing these meditations in a sauna? I have had very interesting results. I was alone in the sauna at my gym and started doing a supine Monk Holding the Pearl. I thought the breath sequence was in here somewhere but didn't know it so I followed my energy and went with it. Much to my surprise the energy from the sauna's rocks was quite symbiotic. Right away I could feel the heat around me taking on the properties of FP energy in addition to what is normally generated. Putting in a little effort I was able to alchemize the air into internal FP energy and absorb it. I tried a few standing meds too and found this to be true for them as well. With proper internal alchemy the effect of the meditations are greatly enhanced. This has held true three times in a row so I'm not as inclined to take it as a fluke. Anyone else ever try this? If it's old news from somewhere else feel free to say so. What I know about FP mostly comes from this thread. I've been calling it Flying Phoenix Soaring Through the Flames. Assuming it doesn't already have an official name.

I'm happy to help however I can, although I'm not sure I've been doing this long enough to start giving out advice. I am definitely at a point where every bit of progress only shows how much more I have to learn. Once I stopped following with the DVDs I did the breath sequence once at the beginning of every meditation. Do the breath sequence once, then MGAM. Breath sequence once, then BTB. This was the same for all meditations on the first two DVDs. For BTB I did the breath sequence once and then 18 repetitions time permitting. When crunched for time it gets cut down to 7. I am now doing breath sequence, one rep of BTB, breath sequence, one rep of BTB until I hear something different from Sifu Terry. I may not be the best measuring stick to compare yourself to, as there are a lot of things in my background that make me different from most people. For one, I have been deeply involved in the occult for years, and have what normal people would call psychic and magick powers. The truth is there's nothing special about it, barring some kind of serious mental problem anyone can do it, but it gives me advantages many people won't have. In a way Sifu Terry gained a lot of credibility with me by intelligently discussing Crowley's writings much earlier in the thread, even if I think he tends to be overrated by most people. Occultists are very much like kung fu masters in the sense that those who are truly powerful don't make grand displays of themselves and don't want the levels of attention Crowley actively pursued. You don't see GM Doo Wai proclaiming himself the greatest martial artist of all time to anyone who will listen. Although the specific FP energy is new and different to anything else I've experienced, I am not at all new to generating, manipulating or alchemizing chi. In addition, I firmly believe there is a 1+1+1=15 effect going on with me between FP, my men suburi and yoga (doing DDP Yoga if it matters, so it's all physical and zero spiritual). I'm not claiming to be a 1 in a billion genius when it comes to this stuff. I was using DDP's old program for months and spinning my wheels not making much progress, ended up getting the new DVDs and when combined with the other things I'm doing saw myself making progress I couldn't believe or explain. My half lotus now gets better literally every single time I do the hip workout on his extreme DVDs. I don't think splitting what you do it wrong. Sifu Terry said to do the standing meditations during the day and seated meditations during the evening, at one point I think recommending picking 3 standing and 2 or 3 sitting (I didn't put it in my notes since I'm doing more than that). You should not eat more, that is not going to help you. I can tell you without question the amount of fat I have on my body is a huge impediment holding me back. Chi does not flow through fat well. I do have a theory for why people who are overweight might be noticing the energy faster. People who are overweight (generally) tend to process things in a kinesthetic way (as opposed to primarily processing through sound or sight). They tend to appreciate the sensations of good food more than others, and a result eat more than is necessary or others would because they don't get the same satisfaction from it. This is 100% true in my case, there is no one to blame for my weight but myself liking the taste of good food. (This of course does not apply to people who don't think fast food is an oxymoron, or primarily indulge in foods equally unhealthy on several levels). I am going somewhere with this, I promise. That heightened sensitivity or appreciation that leads one toward eating for pleasure is utilizing the same type of sensitivity needed to recognize and process chi. It's not exactly the same thing, but from personal experience they're in the same realm. It's not as much of a transition. Thus far I've found that doing FP actually lessens physical hungers (because the body is getting the energy it needs from FP is my current hypothesis) which might help to explain why some people are experiencing weight loss without otherwise defined exercise routines or changes in diet. To be honest I started forcing myself to do the MSW after reading that it helps stop/reverse the aging process. I feel considerably more chi being generated in all of the standing meditations and was going to skip them for the time being. I get where your disconnect is but I'm not sure what to recommend other than meditation or studying martial arts as both have been known to get people in tune with these senses. It's like trying to explain how I talk. I just talk. Developyourenergy.net has a Qigong course designed to open your third eye, that might help. I should note that I haven't purchased anything from them so I have no idea if it's any good or not, but the theory behind what it claims to accomplish should help you feel the energy you are generating. Whether or not you feel it you are getting the benefits if you do the meditations properly. As far as I can tell there's no way not to get the benefits unless you're doing it wrong.

Sifu Terry, Thank you so much for taking the time you have over the years answering questions in this thread. I learned of your Flying Phoenix DVDs completely by accident when finding TTB by looking for information on other Qigong DVDs I was considering. I am doing FPCK now solely because of this thread (getting the first two volumes as birthday presents after revealing I was considering it didn't hurt either ). What I've learned here has been invaluable. I started taking notes on page 60 and now wish I started sooner. I've gone through it slowly over the last 3 weeks and have been completely blown away. Thus far I have practiced FP for 8 of the last 11 days, with the first 5 days of practice being only following along with the DVDs. The results have been nothing short of unbelievable. The energy generated is unmistakable and very noticeable. It is absolutely a different type of energy one has to experience to identify. It's impossible to deny a remarkable increase in my physical stamina. I do 1000 men suburi everyday which typically lead to enough fatigue in my arms or shoulders to require me to stop and breathe and/or massage something between my shoulder and hand a few times before finishing. A week ago I got through it without stopping and felt like I normally do around 300, but had no idea why. Stamina has also been greatly increased in my yoga practice. It used to take me ~80 minutes to do a 65 minute routine with added breaks to catch my breath. I suddenly started getting through in under 70 with no explanation. This from a guy needing to lose 100 pounds of fat so I'm not exactly a prime physical specimen. It took me a few days to notice that going through the FP meditations on vol.1 was the only thing that changed. To say that I'm sold is an understatement. Unfortunately, I am the type that realizes the more I know, the more I know I don't know, which has lead to a question or twenty, so I am hoping to be the next to impose on your generosity. I find the speed you go through everything on the DVDs to be very fast compared to how my body naturally wants to do them. I get between 1 and 2 repetitions in the time you do three on the DVD, so I thought I was doing well for a beginner until I saw you say that 12 breaths would be a good place to start on BTB and Wind Above the Clouds. I barely get 12 breaths in if I focus on it, but I do take long breaths. My shortest breath is 15 seconds. As a point of comparison doing BTB 18 times or each of the MSW from vol.2 7 times takes me a little over an hour. Do I need to slow down more? Due to the amount of time BTB takes, I don't have the time to do 18 everyday at the speed my body naturally wants to do it, although it is my second favorite meditation thus far (second to Wind Above the Clouds) so I want to continue doing it. When pressed for time is it better to do 18 repetitions quickly (in the sense that we're still talking 40 minutes) or fewer reps slowly? When I started doing BTB I only did the breath control sequence once until I read this thread, but seemed to get better results from doing it wrong. By staying it in, the energy continued to build on itself and increase with 18 BTBs being done in one fluid sequence. I do not notice the same effect when doing the breath control sequence between each one. Should I still do the breath control sequence each time? You're the expert, I'll take your word for it either way, it just really struck me as odd when I experienced something that appears to be contrary to how it's supposed to work. Somewhat related, when bringing my hands up to MGAM during BTB I can see a strong blast of blue light through my third eye. Once I'd swear I saw a Silverlight Phoenix fly in front of it. Is there a problem with staying there intentionally for a little while longer than BTB calls for to enjoy the energy? Also in BTB, when doing the breath control sequence starting from the third or forth repetition my hips will swing and draw an infinity sign if I don't consciously stop them. Is this bad? Should I let them or stop them? How many repetitions of Wind Above the Clouds should be done? I've been doing 7, should it be 18? Due to time constraints I will play music similar in style to what you have on your DVDs to keep track of time in the standing meditations to make sure I don't go too deep and let an hour or more pass by (this has been a valid concern with meditation in the past, sometimes I don't feel any difference between 3 minutes and 60). Will this cause problems? I know you said it would be better not to have music on if you can avoid it (and from my experience trying it I agree with you for what it's worth), however can't use "but I was Monk Holding the Pearl" as an excuse to be late for work. On the bright side, they probably haven't heard that one before. At what point has one learned FP enough to start exploring other forms of Qigong? Is it more of a judgment call? I'm sure I could continue with these meditations for the next 10 years and still discover new things in them. Last one (for now) I promise. I've felt drawn to the Tai Chi Ruler and Jian and am considering adding one of them to my routine. It wouldn't be daily, probably a few times a week. My experience with Tai Chi is casual, having played with a few tapes and DVDs I got from the library over the years. Realistically I'm not going to learn the Yang Long Form before taking up either of those if it's necessary; that amount of effort is better spent with FP right now. Would either/neither compliment FP? Sorry again for being such a nuisance. If you're ever in the Columbus, OH area I'll brew you some Golden Monkey as an apology (or buy you a beer if you prefer).

Funny you should bring up too much information, seeing as I now have way more material to go through than I can possibly use in the short term. I mentioned I was looking into Qigong to a few friends and ended up getting a ton of DVDs for my birthday. I got this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shaolin-Taoist-QiGong-Health-Preservaton-Series-15DVD-/320835602728?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab34ac928 a friend is letting me borrow Mantak Chia's 58 DVD set and says it's only an intro the Winn stuff?!?!? (she...likes to justify every penny she spends and may not be reliable on that) plus the first two Terry Dunn FP discs. I started going through the second FP disc and got quite a surprise. Half lotus is harder on my legs than I thought. Are there any recommendations for stretches to strengthen it? It's fine for the first 15 minutes, but after that my knees don't want to stay put. Even more than that, I found the muscles right around my spine in the middle of my back revolt after being straight up in half lotus after 15-20 minutes. It forces me to lie down for a minute so they can calm down. Any recommendations for strengthening that area of the body?

Thanks for the input, all is appreciated. Hadn't considered Zhan zhuang at all, definitely going to look into it more. I considered Taiji as well, and may look into it or some form of martial Qigong down the line. My intuition tells me that isn't what I need right now. I had Spring Forest on my list of maybes after reading about it here, but that was before their website drove me away. You wouldn't think it would be so difficult just to find the CD/DVD courses for each level. Their store would lead you to believe that the only thing they offer are short books for levels 1 and 3, with level 2 being the only thing that gets a DVD. Yet reading about them on the net there is at the very least CD courses for all of them and a DVD for level 1. I definitely need more than a book right now. If I could find what I would need to buy on their site, I would give it more consideration. I could probably find an instructor, paying for it and being able to commit to times when classes are held are different issues. My work schedule bounces around a lot and as a result much of my training gets done after 10pm. My kendo is completely from videos, the first DVD from Inoue Hidekatsu covered everything I wanted to learn. My interest there is internal, not in competition. There is definitely something that happens there with the number 1000, the last one brings a feeling over the body that is very different from the first 999, and I do that for me. My interest in Qigong is for similar purposes. George, you mentioned that you've done a lot of Mantak Chia's stuff. I'm assuming that's the 58 DVD set he sells? How is the instruction in that? I had some of his old stuff yeeeeeeears ago and found it practically unusuable. Between his accent, bad audio and slower than turtle's pace of teaching it crossed the line between patience and exercise in futility.

I want to add some form of medical Qigong to my daily routine, and would appreciate some input from you guys on where to start. I've done a good amount of research and reading online and narrowed it down to three. If somebody could give me advice on which one to start with and WHY it would be appreciated. I stress why because I have found people saying the first two are anywhere from good to amazing, but no reason behind it. My goals are long term health, feeling more energized my daily life and having the extra chi assisting in my occult studies. I'm new to Qigong, but not new to martial training. I wrestled for years, currently do yoga everyday and working my way through doing 1000 men suburi for 1000 days on the kendo path to enlightenment if that makes any difference. I thought the CG added into the discs from qigong.com was a novel idea and strongly considered getting those before reading up on them here. I feel like I dodged a bullet on that one. Anyway, I narrowed it down to these: http://store.99estore.com/hebarpa.html If anyone recommends this, I'd really like to know why. I've found a few people online raving about it when Googling it, then saw the first few minutes of the iron penis DVD on Youtube and was less than impressed. Taking advantage of the synergistic relationship between sexuality and health greatly appeals to me though. I would just like to know why 3 DVDs and a couple trinkets are worth 400 bucks because no one who says they are great addresses why. I'm completely willing to save up for it if it's worth it. http://www.healingtaousa.com Specifically, just about everything that comes after the Fusion set. Seriously. I wish I were exaggerating, it all sounds great and then some. Does anyone here use the higher level material? Something that is different and I don't know what to make of it is how much of it comes on audio CD. I'm used to learning by watching. Searching the forum I've seen people here recommend his stuff. Is anything lost with audio only, or is it all internal so there is nothing to see? Seeing as I'm interested in so much of his advanced stuff, should I just start here? The other two don't seem to overlap much with the Fundamentals and Fusion material so I'd have to start over from the beginning with these anyway. https://www.taichimania.com Also considering the Flying Phoenix discs, completely because of the 90+ page thread here. Still have about 70 more pages to read there but I've been extremely impressed with Sifu Terry thus far. Thoughts? Suggestions? Something else seem like a better idea? Thank you in advance for any and all advice.

I've had Taoism on my radar for a little over a decade, but never really went all the way with it. It's probably accurate to say I've been a Taoist for a long time and didn't fully realize it myself. I recently started on the kendo path to enlightenment (1000 men suburi for 1000 days) but haven't quite gotten to the starting line yet. I've been adding 50 strikes per day so my arms don't revolt on me and say no the next day. The only thing that fits under my ceiling is a near 4 pound monster of a sword, and if you don't think that sounds like a lot, well, you can say that after doing 1000 strikes with it properly. lol More specifically I found this site by accident. I recently added yoga to my routine (if you can call it that, it's DDPYoga) and have started incorporating qigong. I found some posts on here discussing Qigong discs I've been thinking about buying and doing a lot of reading. After I get through that monster Flying Phoenix Chi Kung thread I'll have either made up my mind or be imposing for some advise.