Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

[Miffymog]

4 minutes ago, Earl Grey said:

 

Incorrect. Only Monk Holds Pearl, 50-40-30-20-10 can be done standing or supine. The rest can't be done seated or supine and only can be done standing.

 

 

 

Thank you very much.

[Miffymog]

Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

 

10 day review.

 

Overall very happy with this practice and I’m looking forward to continuing it for the next few months to see where it goes.

 

Initial comparison to my previous practice which was simply based on Lam Kam’s ‘Way of Energy’. FPCK combines standing static, standing moving with sitting static and sitting moving meditations. This all round combination, for me, much better then just doing the 8 Brocades and then standing for half an hour. The is a potential downside of this however, but that will be addressed later on.

 

Ease of learning

The idea is that you are able to learn, without too much difficulty, from a DVD and the fact is these quite powerful/profound techniques that can be. There is an argument that it would be REALLY nice just to have someone else confirm you’re doing it right, and also some one to talk about some of the effects of the practice. But if you can’t travel to see an instructor in person (nor afford the $250 an hour private zoom lessons), the DVD will have to do. There are $40 per two hour group zooms lessons, so that’s an option too.

 

Exercise

 

It’s quite nice when learning a new practice if you can personalise it in some way to gain a little bit of ownership over it. In this regards I’m seeing the meditations as more of an exercise to begin with than a meditation. They do require physical movement and the initial stages is developing the muscles to do this, so to start with you are having to physically push yourself a little until you can do them with ease.

 

The second thing it is often recommend to do one moving exercise followed by another. At the moment I don’t really have the physical strength to do this, but there are a couple of reasons possibly not to do this. One, is that once I’ve set up one energy movement in my body in practice session, currently it does not feel quite right moving onto another moving practice. Instead, I’d rather just push myself as much as I can on one. I’ve found that doing one exercise longer gets me closer to that effortless mind/body integration better than switching it up. Once I’ve got more strength, this may change.

 

I was going to write loads more, but I’ve suddenly lost the motivation, oh well.

 

[Miffymog]

Firstly I want to say an absolutely massive thank you to @Earl Grey all his hard work over on the Alchemical Garden. I have spent many, hours over the last month reading every post in the FPCK thread and it is full of useful information.

 

The sense of relief when I finished it would have been really tarnished if it was not for Earl Grey, because having to look back through the thread and find all the interesting and useful comments would have taken even more time.

 

Instead, Earl Grey has already done all this and accumulated and divided all the information here. I myself am incredibly grateful to him for having done – so thank you Earl Grey

 

https://forum.alchemical.garden/branch/zenbear/

 

 

Secondly, I was very excited when I got volumes 3, 4, 5 and 7 in the post a couple of days ago. Unfortunately, although I got the box for DVD 3, there was no disc inside it. Now, having set up a basic practice based on the first 8 meditations, I was looking to start learning the movements of some further seated and standing ones. As I don’t have the standing ones from DVD 3 yet, is it possible to start on the ‘flash’ ones on DVD 5?

 

 I know that its fine to slow them down so they take 5 mins instead of 90 secs BUT is it normal practice / ok to just repeat one of them 4 times during a 20 minute session? On the DVD it says you just do each one once, but I’m guessing it’s ok to repeat them, as long as each one is top and tailed by the 3 breath and the breathing sequence?

Edited October 14, 2021 by Miffymog

[Earl Grey]

9 minutes ago, Miffymog said:

Secondly, I was very excited when I got volumes 3, 4, 5 and 7 in the post a couple of days ago. Unfortunately, although I got the box for DVD 3, there was no disc inside it.

 

I will alert Sifu Terry immediately to rectify this.

 

10 minutes ago, Miffymog said:

As I don’t have the standing ones from DVD 3 yet, is it possible to start on the ‘flash’ ones on DVD 5?

 

These were initially taught at the beginning when Sifu Terry was learning what amounts to Vol. 1 exercises, so you can jump right to them if you want to follow his original progression. No need to worry about where you start with the DVD series, as you can do any form from any DVD volume and still reap massive benefits from the practice.

 

11 minutes ago, Miffymog said:

I know that its fine to slow them down so they take 5 mins instead of 90 secs BUT is it normal practice / ok to just repeat one of them 4 times during a 20 minute session? On the DVD it says you just do each one once, but I’m guessing it’s ok to repeat them, as long as each one is top and tailed by the 3 breath and the breathing sequence?

 

Yep! Totally fine. 

[Miffymog]

Curiously enough, just as I was working out what to write here, Roots of Virtue has nicely listed all the problems I was finding myself facing while trying to learn some Yi Quan from a book. Fortunately, I saw sense and dropped that practice. However, I did gain a nice beginners level of understanding behind some of the simpler principles behind the internal martial arts, which leads on to what I've been discovering about FPCK.

 

https://forum.alchemical.garden/threads/188/

 

 

'Slow movement is better than fast movement, no movement is better than slow movement.'

Wang Xiang Zhai

 

 

One of the first things that struck me when learning how to do FPCK, was that the dynamic meditations require you to 'move as slow as a sand drift'. Gaining your own understanding of how to interpret this is something that all FPCK practitioner have to reach. Just how slow is slow? And what are the consequences of going more and more slowly?

 

 

Performing a Tai Chi form slowly is one thing, but when you start imagining you are doing it in water or oil, a different type of development starts to occur.

 

One of the principles of the internal martial arts is to start using the subconsciously controlled postural muscles to move you rather than the consciously controlled mobilising muscles, but how do you engage them? Well, there are a number of ways to. Firstly, performing movements that allow them to become easily engaged. Secondly, moving slowly and smoothly in a relaxed manner. But this only takes you so far. So you then start to imagine you are performing a form in water or oil, and when you do this the subconscious mind suddenly provides this extra resistance by engaging these difficult to control postural muscles. Then, in a relative short time, all of these muscles develop greater strength and the body starts to develop a weightless quality.

 

Now, proper training in this I don't have, so I can't go much further on this topic, but what I do know is that moving against imagined resistances can generate a large amount of internal energy, and by increasing this imagine resistance, more energy is generated and it goes 'deeper' in to the body.

 

So what has this all got to do with FPCK and moving 'as slow as a shifting sand dune'. Well, while moving very slowly, you are actually engaging the postural muscles and you enter into a mental state where there is a very high level of mind-body integration. However, you don't do this against any resistance, so in order to get the energy to sink into the body you go slower and slower, the question is though, how slow should I go?

 

AARRGGHHH

 

The answer to this is something each person kind of has to work out by yourself. In one post on the FPCK thread, Sifu Terry Dunn does say that if you can, you actually start of moving so slowly that it is barely perceptible, and in time once the energy has started to flow, you can then start moving faster and still get results. The only problem with this speed is that it actually becomes very difficult to maintain as it can induce quite strong mental and physical challenges, and if the practice is too difficult, you're not likely to keep doing it. So instead, you start off moving at a rather faster pace, and when you body gets used to it, it will want to slow down some more on it's own accord.

 

At the moment, I am still learning what is the best speed to perform each moving meditation. I like to start off the session with 15 mins of static meditation, and then I follow it with a 20 minutes of moving meditation, any longer and it starts to become hard work. In order to go as slowly as possible I'm trying to perform whatever action I am doing once in that period. This is actually uncomfortably slow for me and I may well look into speeding up when my motivation levels start to dwindle, but as I only do one moving meditation per session, I'm managing at the moment.

 

How long will it be until/will I ever get to the point where the energy flows more easily? Don't know yet, apparently it is a function of how much negative karma you've got to burn off - which means I've got a very long wait indeed.

 

Short extra point 1 - this is actually a physically challenging practice in some ways, but I quite like that aspect.

 

Short extra point 2 - the energy it generates is quite 'yin'. However, to miss-appropriate some Neigong terminology, pure yin is required to cultivate pure yang, so I tell myself cultivating a yin type energy is no bad thing.

[Zouina]

First I want to express my gratitude for this wonderful practice. I have ADD and doing the basic meditations every day has changed my life. I can concentrate, I'm optimistic, clear headed and have energy. I also look much younger.                                                                                                                                                        I have a question. A friend has a 9 year old daughter who has ADD. I suggested trying meditation to help her concentrate in school. Does anyone have any experience or ideas about teaching FPCK to a child? Would this be a good idea? 

[ChiGungPractitioner73]

4 hours ago, Zouina said:

First I want to express my gratitude for this wonderful practice. I have ADD and doing the basic meditations every day has changed my life. I can concentrate, I'm optimistic, clear headed and have energy. I also look much younger.                                                                                                                                                        I have a question. A friend has a 9 year old daughter who has ADD. I suggested trying meditation to help her concentrate in school. Does anyone have any experience or ideas about teaching FPCK to a child? Would this be a good idea? 

 

I've walked my younger sister through FP practice quite a few times, it benefited her quite a bit though she never took up practice on her own. FP is probably the safest Qigong she could learn while also being extremely powerful. The main tricky part is the breath control sequences, you might have to walk her through the meditations several times to make sure that she will do them correctly, exit the breath control sequence and restart if she makes a mistake, and hold the postures the whole time.

[Earl Grey]

5 hours ago, Zouina said:

First I want to express my gratitude for this wonderful practice. I have ADD and doing the basic meditations every day has changed my life. I can concentrate, I'm optimistic, clear headed and have energy. I also look much younger.                                                                                                                                                        I have a question. A friend has a 9 year old daughter who has ADD. I suggested trying meditation to help her concentrate in school. Does anyone have any experience or ideas about teaching FPCK to a child? Would this be a good idea? 

 

From Sifu Terry just now:

 

No, In general, FPCK is not indicated for 9 year olds and children who still have surges of growth ahead of them. Unless the parents are yogically astute and can accurately see and monitor the effects of the FP qigong in their child. I would say earliest time to learn FP WOULD BE 14-15...and then only with other regular aerobic physical exercise, preferably BFP kung fu.

[zen-bear]

On 9/25/2020 at 3:11 PM, asavakkhaya said:

Today I received Vol 1 & 2 and started of with learning BTB. It felt great!

 

But a question came up. Is it ok to wear gloves when practicing forms where the fingers usually touch? I like to practice in the forest, but it's getting colder nowadays. So without gloves my hands get a little cold. That in itself is not a problem for me, but i suspect cold hands might be bad energetically while doing FP.

Asavakkhaya,
So sorry to take a year and one month to answer your question...but here it is:  It's quite alright to wear gloves while practicing for several reasons:  

1.  For the vast majority of FP Qigong practitioners, covering on the hands will not reduce the neuro-physiological and energy effects of the various mudras one is assuming.
2.  If there is any diminishment of the yogic effects of particular exercise, that is a nominal price to pay to void exposing oneself to cold wind, cold rain or freezing elements while one is in the highly sensitive and vulnerable allostatic condition induced by the FP meditations.

3.   The circulatory benefits of FP Qigong will warm up cold hands under normal circumstances over time or, for many, instantaneously.

Again exposing oneself to extreme cold is not advised under an circumstances, especially while doing FP Qigong.

 

btw, there are certain Qigong exercises in other systems such as in Tao Tan Pai Basic 31 Meditations, in which one uses shen Qi to direct energy to specific parts of the body such as the spine, the head, or (most frequently) the hands.  FP Qigong  warms or cools the entire body uniformly as needed to bring it back to homeostasis.

 

Let us know how you are doing with FP Qigong during this next cold season.

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

^{http://www.taichimania.com/taichi_catalog.html}

[zen-bear]

On 2/15/2021 at 6:18 PM, Vajra Fist said:

Agree with this completely. Its definitely one of the most uncomfortable ones, in that the breath percentage is easy to mess up, and the arm movement is relatively tiring. But also, I found it quite excellent at breaking down tension in the neck and shoulders. But yes, definitely feels more like a practice session in itself, than a quick and easy warm up.

Hello Vajra Fist,

 

Sorry to take 8 months to reply to you comment, but my life and workload has been that extremely heavy.

 

"But yes, definitely feels more like a practice session in itself, than a quick and easy warm up."

 

In my classes (but not on the DVD volume), I always tell my students in live classes that the 3 "warm-up" meditations (at the start of Vol.2) are not really "warm-ups" per se, but very powerful conditioning exercises.  GM Doo Wai did not refer to them as "warm-ups";  so it was my fault for categorizing them as such for the purposes of the DVD program.  They are different, of course, because they do not involve pre-choreographed sets of movements that are repeated  7x.  But because each one has an esoteric breath-control sequence, especially the 5  60 80 40 30 Med., each is a powerful Qigong practice in and of itself.

 

I hope you are continuing to practice this particular meditation along with the other 2 "warm-ups".

 

Sifu Terry

 

^{http://www.taichimania.com/taichi_catalog.html}

[Miffymog]

2 sessions a day has settled down, stand in the morning, sit in the evening.

 

15 min static meditation followed by 20 to 25 min moving meditation. If I push myself further during the moving meditation, it just feels too much at the moment.

 

Considered dropping the moving meditation down to 15 mins and then adding another one after, but I just don’t really know enough of the meditations well enough to do this yet.

 

Having slight issues with my knee during the sit, so having to experiment with different sitting postures.

 

Not sure if Wind Above The Clouds is aggravating my sciatica. Was considering dropping it, but as I only do it once every 4 days, it might be ok.

 

I rotate between 10 different static and moving meditations over a three day period. Initially I liked the variety, not sure now if I’m trying to learn too much in one go.

 

Some energy practices, while energising everything, can also end up ‘energising’ your sense of self. But FPCK is particularly absent of this quality, and so naturally compliments Buddhism.

[LumenOfTime]

Hello there!

I would like to ask if one could use FPCK in a somewhat loud environment, as there are often the sounds of cars and loud vehicles across my home. Another question is would it be possible to listen to any music/white noise while doing FPCK?

[Miffymog]

1 hour ago, LumenOfTime said:

Hello there!

I would like to ask if one could use FPCK in a somewhat loud environment, as there are often the sounds of cars and loud vehicles across my home. Another question is would it be possible to listen to any music/white noise while doing FPCK?

 

I've only been doing it for a short while, but when I started I did experience extra sensitivity to background noises, however, that phaze has passed quite quickly. I also have quite a few background noises during my sessions which now no longer really bother me.

 

I think you can definitely experiment with putting some music or white noise in the background during your practices, and then just see how it goes. For example, I'm still very much in the period of experimenting with different seated postures which don't hurt my knees. I simply try out different postures and see what happens.

 

[Earl Grey]

1 hour ago, Miffymog said:

 

I've only been doing it for a short while, but when I started I did experience extra sensitivity to background noises, however, that phaze has passed quite quickly. I also have quite a few background noises during my sessions which now no longer really bother me.

 

I think you can definitely experiment with putting some music or white noise in the background during your practices, and then just see how it goes. For example, I'm still very much in the period of experimenting with different seated postures which don't hurt my knees. I simply try out different postures and see what happens.

 

It was once written somewhere here that basic cross-legged sitting is okay if you can’t do half lotus, and if all else fails, sit in a chair.

[Earl Grey]

3 hours ago, LumenOfTime said:

Hello there!

I would like to ask if one could use FPCK in a somewhat loud environment, as there are often the sounds of cars and loud vehicles across my home. Another question is would it be possible to listen to any music/white noise while doing FPCK?

Noise sensitivity is common especially in the beginning.

 

Using music and white noise is fine, just not with headphones or earphones.

[ridingtheox]

Day 99 of a long form daily practice.   Each  day  has produced  energy flows that often surprise.    I  will finish very close to my 81st birthday.   Commitment and persistence produce incredible energy.  

 

 

[zen-bear]

On 11/15/2021 at 2:16 AM, LumenOfTime said:

Hello there!

I would like to ask if one could use FPCK in a somewhat loud environment, as there are often the sounds of cars and loud vehicles across my home. Another question is would it be possible to listen to any music/white noise while doing FPCK?

Hello LumenOfTime,

 

Miffymog, although he started practicing FP Qigong recently, is correct in stating that it's okay to experiment with music and a low level of background white noise when one is practicing FP Qigong.  He also shared his experience of being extra sensitive to background noises when he first started FP Qigong practice.  FP Qigong not only sensitizes hearing, but it does the same in not only restoring, but enhancing the function of all the sensory apparatus:   eyesight, taste, smell, tactility, and the totality of brain function.  All this structural sensitivity is imparted by the process of allostasis that FP Qigong induces in a big way.  That is why I constantly warn and admonish all FP practitioners--at all levels of experience--to always practice is a safe, secluded, quiet environment where there is absolutely no potential or threat of being subjected to loud noise, extreme temperature, or any type external physical contact or impingement.  If you get knocked hard while doing any of the FP meditations, because FP Qigong is so sensitizing and deeply restorative, that impact could seriously damage your internal energy and damage the nervous system and organs.  That is why I haven't certified any instructors in FP Qigong, for any instructor in FP Qigong must be able to heal serious energy sickness---and that requires years of training.

 

When I teach first-time beginners in my classes and workshops or in the first class of my FPCK courses for Emperor's College of TCM, it's always taught indoors and with no music or any other type of sensory stimulation...because I want each student to clearly experience--on a cellular level--how each FP meditation effects his/her mind and energy body.

 

Again, the unique feature of FP Qigong is that it requires no visualization(s) whatsoever to impart its wonderful health benefits.  Once the practitioner is in the correct posture of a particular meditation and has correctly done the breath-control sequence, one can mentally go anywhere and engage in any form of mentation.  One will derive the same restorative, healing effects as anybody else who as done the same FP exercise correctly.  Very, very few Qigong arts--if any-- outside of the Ehrmeishan Bok Fu Pai tradition work this way.

 

Bottom line: background music is fine to play any time one practices FP Qigong, once you've become very familiar with the effects of each FP meditation (become "saturated" in it).  But it is best to practice in silence when one is learning each FP Qigong exercise for the first time.  Of course, if your home /abode has uncontrollable street noise coming in, then you just have adapt to it and find the quietest place in your dwelling to practice.

 

I will add this recommendation, which, to the best of my memory,  I have never made before on this thread nor during my long history of teaching FP Qigong since 1992:  Learn and memorize every exercise in the entire  FP Qigong system in silence and without sensory stimulation--including Moonbeam Splashes on Water (Vol.3) and the capstone Long Form standing meditation (on Volume 4 that bears the name of the system,  the "FPHHCM")--in silence. ( For that is how GM Doo Wai trained me and my classmates in the early 1990's.)  Be able to do every sedentary and moving FP meditation with eyes closed before you start practicing with music or other sounds in the background...so you can feel the full sensitization and parasympathetic tone.

 

Good discussion.

 

Wishing all excellent continuing FP practice.

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

^{http://www.taichimania.com/taichi_catalog.html}

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by zen-bear

[zen-bear]

11 hours ago, ridingtheox said:

Day 99 of a long form daily practice.   Each  day  has produced  energy flows that often surprise.    I  will finish very close to my 81st birthday.   Commitment and persistence produce incredible energy.  

 

 

HAPPY 81st BIRTHDAY IN ADVANCE, CHARLIE!!!

 

Sifu Terry

[zen-bear]

On 9/13/2020 at 1:05 AM, centertime said:

I think It would be a good idea to collect what health problems Flying Phoenix helped so far and which exercises were used and how long and make a list/table, may be even a graph.

Some other people did it for other Chi Kung.

 

Hello Centertime,

My apologies for taking one year and 2 months to respond positively to your excellent idea.

But I've been far out of pocket due to my overwhelming work on a massive business project compounded by having to adapt to the "new abnormal" lifestyle brought on late last year by Covid.   I have been slowly catching up on the backlog of good postings and suggestions that have gone unanswered by me or Earl Grey.

 

Taking a survey of all FP Qigong practitioners' healing experiences and mapping what health problems FP Qigong has helped would be a most interesting and valuable record to create for the growth and preservation of the art.  The type of survey I'm thinking of would be professionally designed--as by some one with a Master's in Public Health (MPH) who is good at survey-taking and  biostatistics.

 

I will bring this up with Earl Gray and Dr. Emil Mondoa, one of my workshop students since 2017 who's an emergency room physician in Bear, Delaware.  To anyone else who is in medicine or public health, your ideas and suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

http://www.taichimania.com/taichi_catalog.html

Edited November 16, 2021 by zen-bear

[LumenOfTime]

16 hours ago, zen-bear said:

I will add this recommendation, which, to the best of my memory,  I have never made before on this thread nor during my long history of teaching FP Qigong since 1992:  Learn and memorize every exercise in the entire  FP Qigong system in silence and without sensory stimulation--including Moonbeam Splashes on Water (Vol.3) and the capstone Long Form standing meditation (on Volume 4 that bears the name of the system,  the "FPHHCM")--in silence. ( For that is how GM Doo Wai trained me and my classmates in the early 1990's.)  Be able to do every sedentary and moving FP meditation with eyes closed before you start practicing with music or other sounds in the background...so you can feel the full sensitization and parasympathetic tone.

Thank you Sifu Terry for the response! My DVDs are on the way and I am excited to practice this Qigong system.

I would like to ask if the use of ear plugs may also be considered, as they are able to block out external noise?

[Equidivium]

On 11/15/2021 at 5:19 AM, Earl Grey said:

Noise sensitivity is common especially in the beginning.

 

Using music and white noise is fine, just not with headphones or earphones.

This is a little surprising to see as I've been practicing with earphones while listening to music in order to block out background noise. I read elsewhere in this thread that practicing with music is OK, so I assumed earphones were fine.

 

I pretty much learned the whole system this way (I'm in the process of mastering Moon Beam Splashes on Water). Hopefully I didn't damage anything in my ignorance.

 

I'll remove the earphones then. Thank you for letting us know as I don't think it's been mentioned before.

[Miffymog]

Flying Phoenix 2 month long review

 

I’ve been practising FPCK for over 2 months now and I’ve been meaning to write up about my progress for some time. It just so happens that I’ve recently found some time to write up about my progress just when my practice is stabilising. This point in time has been defined by two major issues, firstly, I have finally worked out how to do the exercises with out hurting my knee, and secondly, I have also discovered a speed that I am happy to use with all of the moving meditations which is fairly constant and allows me a good level of body mind integration.

 

I know that there will be further developments as I continue, and this is only a snap shot of my experiences in time, but I always find it quite informative looking back on these posts so I can see where I’ve come from in the future.

 

I’ll first go over the two issues of the knee and speed of movement, and then I’ll go over my experiences of each meditation. There will be a little bit of overlap with these two approaches.

 

Firstly the knee. I always have to adjust a new practice so that it does not hurt my right knee. There is actually very little wrong with it, and in some ways its weakness is simply a feed back mechanism to ensure I have good form. The two issues I have had with with relate to both the sitting and standing exercises.

 

Briefly, the pain I experienced with it from the sitting meditations was trying to go into half lotus when my muscles are not limber enough. The simple solution here has been to just sit on a chair. The energy flow is not as good as in half lotus, and I feel that the fact the heart has to pump blood all the way down to the feet is mildly detrimental, but I have still managed to make progress.

 

I also experience pain in the knee during the standing exercises, this has been resolved by just having a very small bend in the knee, if a bend is required. I have learnt from following Lam Kam’s ‘The Way of Energy’ that initially you only need the smallest of bends, and in time, as the muscles strengthen you can naturally go lower if the stance requires. Also, if I maintain a very mild bend, then the standing positions can be maintained with less strain. The first advantage of this is that if the muscle is working but not straining, the whole body is more relaxed, and then the energy flow is better. The second advantage is that I know from experience, the main contributing factor to my knee pain during a stand is when my muscles and legs start to shake and vibrate a bit. If there is no vibration, then the knee is fine.

 

Now, in regards to the speed at which I move. This issue had almost constantly occupied my mind since I’ve started, so I’m now pretty happy that it’s seems to have settled down some what. One piece of advice to so move a slowly as a shifting sand dune, but there are others, such as move one third the speed of a Tai Chi form. There is quite a bit of difference between these two speeds and it really is a case of finding your own speed which you are comfortable with.

 

Going really, really slowly puts too much strain on the practice and it’s possible to start losing interest in it. Also, when going really, really slowly, the movements start to become jerky rather than smooth. So a simply rule of thumb is to go as slowly as possible while still being smooth and while not getting too bored. Like a Tai Chi form, your speed also reflects your mood at the time and along with what your body and mind need in the moment.

 

I was always impressed with Tai Chi that when I was feeling for example sensitive, the form would naturally be very gentle, but if I was emotionally stressed, the form would become very muscular and would effectively burn off some of the stress. There is not quite that range of feeling in FPCK, but there is some scope. For example, if I am stressed, the speed naturally wants to go particularly slowly, as it is in this way that it gets to burn off tension. However, my speed has seemed to settle down to a fairly constant rate regardless of the exercise.

 

The mediation that helped me most here was the basic warm up 2, where you take a seated posture and simply raise and lower your arms. I started off doing 5 in 20 minutes, but over the course of practising this once every other day for two months, it naturally slowed down to just one up and down movement. This was due to in creased strength in the arms, and also in the back. But it was also due to the fact that the simplicity of the exercise allowed me to really focus on the movement of the muscles involved. I would put all my concentration on the muscles that were moving, and in time I became more aware of them, and their nature seemed to become softer and softer. In reality, my current speed of movement is 3 to 4 times faster than this, but investigating just how slowly I could move, while developing the muscles required, was a really important part of the practice and, fortunately, could be done on a chair. The length of time it has taken to developed the muscles in FPCK has, of course, equated with roughly how long it would take to my muscles to become pain free in a new ZZ posture.

 

There have been various other things I have discovered over the last couple months, but I’ll now discuss them on a meditation by meditation basis in future posts.

 

[Equidivium]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I interpreted Sifu Terry's advice to "move as slowly as a shifting sand dune" is that it's a state we should gradually work towards rather than trying to "force" that speed from the very beginning when we're just starting out. Like you eloquently put it Miffymog, the movements can become jerky and uncoordinated as well as tense if you aren't properly conditioned enough.

 

In terms of what to prioritize, this is how I approach my FP training:

 

1. Learn the postures

2. Add the breath control sequences

3. Perform the breath control sequences and movements with eyes closed

4. Memorize the breath control sequences so you don't need to follow along with the DVD

5. Deepen your practice (for example, achieving a slower speed)

 

As a side note, and I'm sure others have done the same, I still find myself going back to the DVDs after stage 4 to bask in the sublime FP energy that's been imprinted on them by Sifu Terry. I also remember keeping the packaging and hand written note Sifu Terry sent along with the DVDs for a while as the energy on it was jumping out at me.

[Earl Grey]

5 minutes ago, Draco said:

The secret of the 'breath percentages' is that they represent different keys to more efficiently access the different levels of the Nine Heavens.

 

Who told you this? Do you practice Flying Phoenix?

 

I'd prefer we only keep information here canon--that is, whatever has been taught via GM Doo Wai or Sifu Terry rather than through your conjecture. This will confuse students and prospective students alike.

[Zouina]

On 2.12.2021 at 1:12 AM, Equidivium said:

This is a little surprising to see as I've been practicing with earphones while listening to music in order to block out background noise. I read elsewhere in this thread that practicing with music is OK, so I assumed earphones were fine.

 

I pretty much learned the whole system this way (I'm in the process of mastering Moon Beam Splashes on Water). Hopefully I didn't damage anything in my ignorance.

 

I'll remove the earphones then. Thank you for letting us know as I don't think it's been mentioned before.

I would like to know too if earphones are not ok to use while practising. Is this what Sifu Dunn teaches?