SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
FEBRUARY 2010 PART 1

Free Sparring

Tom and Chris, who acts as a Boxer, practice free sparring at an Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course

Question 1

I have been a life long practitioner of martial arts and more recently the deeper aspects of meditation and Eastern religions. I have been seeking the best route to further my martial abilities and perhaps peruse monkshood in may be China or wherever and am daunted by the difficulty in doing such. As an American, it seems the main interest seems be in my coin purse. Any advice?

— Scot, USA

Answer

I would not be able to help you with pursuing monkshood in China or any country, but if you want the best route to further your martial abilities, my advice is for you to attend my Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course held in Penang, Malaysia. Please see my website for details. If you wish to attend, please apply to my Secretary.

I am not interested in your coin purse, but you have to pay for the course as well as pay for transport, food and lodging. Depending on your perspective, the course fee, which is 1500 Euros, can be very cheap or very expensive.

Please note that application does not mean acceptance. You will be informed if you are accepted, and you will have the oppotunity to learn how to develop internal force and apply Shaolin techniques in free sparring in just five days.

You will experience deeper aspects of meditation, and if you are ready, you may even have a glimpse of Cosmic Reality. But you will probably find the meditation in the course very different from what you expected.

The course is highly spiritual, but it is strictly non-religious. Hence, aspects of Eastern religion will not be discussed unless course participants ask question on it. Particiapnts can of course ask questions on any other religion.

If you are not ready to make sacrifice to attend my Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course, I honestly advise you not to apply at all. As my disciple, Anthony, has rightly said, attending the course is probably the easiet part. The more difficult part is practicing diligently when you have returned home.

It is worthy of note that martial ability and moonhood are not related. You can become a martial art master, like a Shaolin master, without becoming a monk, and vice versa. It is incorrect to become a monk because you want to further your martial art abilities.

One needs to consider very carefully and thoroughly before deciding to become a monk. It calls for great sacrifice and renunciation of worldly affairs. The aim is to attain Enlightenment, or to return to God the Holy Spirit in Western terms.

Question 2

I believe working 9 to 5 and train to be counter productive, and seek the best live-in environment available.

Answer

This is your opinion, and of course you are entitled to your opinion. But in my many years of practicing and teaching Shaolin Kungfu and Taijiquan, I have not met a single master who only trains but does not work. Many of them work as professional martial art teachers.

It was the same in the past. Monks at the Shaolin Temple in the past as well as students staying with their masters trained very hard and worked very hard, and they were not paid for their work.

Our school philosophy is also in line with the masters' practice. We do not train for indulgence, but train to make our lives and the lives of other people rewarding, and this includes making us more cost-efficient in our work.

It is highly commendable that you find the best available teacher to train with and the best available environment to live in. But you must be prepared to pay the price, in cash or in kind. In today's conditions, it is easier and usually cheaper to pay in cash.

Spiritual joys

Chi Kung is non-religious but spiritual. Here students at an Intensive Chi Kung Course enjoy spiritual joys during Standing Meditation

Question 3

Must I just depart for the foreign country and seek these things myself? I have spoken with the purveyor of a temple in China but the price of training seems remarkably high.

Answer

It is wiser to find out some details before you set out to a foreign country in search of your dream. In today's age of information, this is fairly easy to do.

If you can't do such a simple thing, then your life-long practice of martial arts as well as your recent involvement of meditation and Eastern religions have been wasted. Practicing any martial art or becoming a monk is many times more difficult, but also many times more rewarding.

If you want high-level teaching and comfortable environment to live in, the price is of course high. Expecting you will be trained and fed well for free or for a low fee just because you desire so, is being unreasonable and unrealistic.

Question 4

I have been practising "Carrying the Moon", "Plucking Stars", "Big Windmill" and "Hula Hoop" 6 times each in the morning in that order. I practise "Merry-go-Round" sometime later in the day when I need it.

— Dr Vigas, India

Answer

Actually you can practice the exercises in any order, and for each exercise you can practice any suitable number of times. For example, it can be 4 times or 8 times, but not 2 times or 200 times.

You can also have extra practice for any exercise any time of the day, except between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Chi Kung, Qigong

Studnets at a regional chi kung course in Austria practicing various chi kung exercixses like "Plucking Stars", "Pushing Mountain" and "Big Windmill"

Question 5

I don't do visualization but do the movements and breathing fairly properly but what's more I really enjoy the exercises and look forward to it.

I also do "Taiji Qigong Eighteen Steps" at night (15 mins), yogic meditation (twice a day) and few yogic exercises. But I keep all these separate. I don't mix any of these together.

My medical problems are non-specific colitis, flatulence, abdominal cramps, sciatica, diaphragmatic spasm, mild insomnia and tendency to have mildly raised liver enzymes.

Answer

In your case when you learn these exercises on your own instead of from a master, it is advisable to keep them separate, and not to attempt any visualization. The best is that you enjoy the exercises.

Later when you have learnt from a real master, you can mix the exercises in any way you like. But most probably you won't be doing so many exercises. Performing one or two exercise well is better than performing 10 or 20 in a mediocre way.

It is obvious that you are dedicated. It is also obvious that you are not getting the results that you deserve. I am much impressed with your effort, but feel pitiful that it is not bringing you health benefit. I am quite surprised that you have put up with so many health problems.

You certainly have missed many good things in life that good health and vitality bring. But you don't have to continue like this any longer. Despite you having told me that circumstances prevented you from attending my course, I strongly advice you to attend my Intensive Chi Kung Course in Malaysia.

Make some special arrangement so that you can attend the course. I can safely say that you will find attending the course one of the best things you have done in your life.

Many people have told me that my courses are life-changing. I am now in Germany having completed some regional courses. Last night during a graduation diner, a student, who is a top executive in an international company, told me that practicing our chi kung had changed his life so remarkably that his colleagues were so surprised. Previously he was stressful and often in pain. Now he is pain-free and bouncing with energy.

Question 6

Presently my back spasm, insomnia and diaphragmatic spasm (more on the left side) are the ones which trouble me the most. Can you please guide me as to what can I do to be free from these complaints?

Answer

The answer is to attend my Intensive Chi Kung Course.

It is not what exercises you do, but how you do them. You have to acquire the skills personally from me. It is not possible to teach you the skills via an e-mail.

Once you have the skills, any exercise can overcome your hrealth problems. Yes, any exercise. This does not make sense to many people, but you can find out from direct experience once you have the skills.

Chi flow

Self-Manifested Chi Movement, as practiced by students at a regional chi kung course in Barcelona shown here, is an excellent chi kung exercise for overcoming illness

Question 7

I don't want to do self induced chi movement as I do not have access to any teachers. Is it very essential to do it? Is it ok to continue to do the exercises without it?

Answer

It is not essential, but it is the most effective for overcoming pain and illness.

Actually more than 80% of chi kung practitioners all over the world do not know how to induce chi flow. That is a main reason why many chi kung practitioners still have pain and illness.

But in my Intensive Chi Kung Course, students are able to induce chi flow within an hour into the course.

Question 8

When I do standing meditation or abdominal breathing after finishing the exercises I can feel a sensation of heat/heaviness in my sacrococcygeal area which is uncomfortable. Therefore I prefer to end the exercises by doing few minutes of mindful walking or sometimes by sitting meditation when I focus on my breath and attention is focused on in between the eyebrows. Is it ok?

Answer

It is alright in the sense that what you did was not harmful. But you would not be able to overcome your health problems.

The sensation of heat was an indication that you buildt up some chi at the area. The uncomfortable or even painful feeling was due to some blockage there, preventing the chi to flow.

What you did was also what most chi kung practitioners would do. They stop their chi flow instead of allowing it to build and break through blockages because they lack both the knowledge and the techniques. Hence, they may practice chi kung for years, yet they remain sick and in pain.

If you know how to generate a chi flow, like what our students do, your chi flow will break through blockages. After a few months, you will be healthy and free from pain.

Question 8

Is "Plucking Stars" the best exercise for food allergies?

Answer

As I have said earlier, when you have the skills any exercise can overcome any illness! Viewing this statement from the conventional medical perspective, it is ridiculous. But it is true. Viewing from the chi kung perspective, it is logical and scientific.

In your case when you cannot generate a chi flow, any exercises, including "Plucking Stars", will not cure you of your food allergies.

But if you can generate a chi flow, any exercises, especially "Plucking Stars", can cure you of your food allergies.

If the cause of your food allergies is at your stomach or spleen system, "Plucking Stars" is among the best exercises to overcome the problem. Another excellent exercise is "Merry-Go-Round". If the cause is somewhere else, like a gland somewhere in your body not producing the right chemicals to digest your food, "Self-Manifested Chi Movement" is the best exercise.

How is "Self-Manifested Chi Movement" excellent for overcoming any illness? It is because chi is allowed to flow freely and powerfully, sometimes resulting in comical movements. As problem areas are areas of low energy level (because there is insufficient energy to work the natural processes there), the powerful energy flow will enable energy to flow there, thus overcoming the problems.

Hence, one does not need to know where the cause of the illness is, in fact he may not even know there is a health problem, but chi will flow there to overcome the problem for him. This does not make sense in the conventional medical perspective, but it makes perfect sense in the chi kung perspective. Indeed, in our school "Self-Manifested Chi Movement" is regarded as the "platunum exercise to overcome pain and illness". You will learn "Self-Manifested Chi Movement", amongst many other wonderful chi kung skills, in my Intensive Chi Kung Course.

Question 9

If ever I have a healing crisis should I give a temporary gap in the exercises or should I continue to do them?

Answer

You should continue to practice your chi kung exercises. It will help you overcome your crises.

LINKS

Selected Reading

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