I'm very interested in learning some qi training but i don't study an actual art and there's none anywhere in my area. I want to learn a few exercises so i thought i'd ask you guys. I have already tried a few things. Meditation, i'm not sure if i entered that state of being but my body went all sleepy and it became an effort to stop, even though i was actively concience. Forming an energy ball, managed to feel an invisible ball between my hands eventually becoming about 30cm radius. it felt like i was trying to put two of the same magnets together. Again, it required certain will power to stop. As i don't study an internal art i'm asking you to tell me if i'm really doing anything or just imagening it. it Certainly felt real. I managed to read a book called "Zhuan Falun", by a man named Li Hongzhi, if you've read it tell me what you think, if not, try to read it. /Xio
I'm in the same boat as you so cannot offer any real advice, will look out for the books though, these ones? : http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...&field-author=Hongzhi, Li/202-5896357-4138257 HJ.
You've started well! It's good to get that feeling of 'chi' with the energy ball trick (see my post "how to feel chi") - even if you don't believe in it, it's a powerful way of seeing how your mind can influence your sensations. Keep exploring, look on the internet for chi kung/qigong exercises. There are certain postures that are better for cultivating chi, and if you get more into it you'll want to find out how different exercises influence different parts of your body. Tai chi is just a continuous series of these qigong exercises. It's a martial art too but when you do the form, you are only implying the martial applications, the important thing is the energy work. Read some of the eastern classics. The most important thing is the breath. Circulate the breath and breathe from the stomach, not the chest. Sink your energy, keep concentrating on your posture and keep your spine straight. No matter if you get into tai chi, other IMA or pilates, yoga or standard meditation, the principles are all the same - breath, posture and a state of emptiness/no-mind.
What's the connection between all this and the Falun Gong sect in China and its "issues" with the Chinese govt? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3437041.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3358879.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2966412.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2280056.stm The list goes on and on....
Oh, wait I found this... What is Falun Gong? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/401268.stm
http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1137 Kundalini Yoga may cause a similar insanity, because Yoga focussess on driving the Prana( chi) from the lower back up the spine to the head ,stops and accumulates in the head. ( LINEAR PATH) Unlike Chikung ( circular path), where the focus is on circulating the chi ( Microcosmic circulations) and hence is safer than Kundalini Yoga. However since Falun Gong has strong Buddhist influence, perhaps some Yoga like practices are also practised. My Mainlainder chinese Qigong teacher says Falun Gong has caused mental Illness in many cases, causing peple to go "postal" and kill people randomly like in Columbine massacre incident. That's why the Chinese government is prosecuting/persecuting them. It's not to do with freedom of religion ( if that was so Christians and Muslims would be persecuted to the same degree) Most Falun Gong people especially Westerners are not aware of this and think it is Political/Religous persecution.
I've never looked further into falun gong than read one of the brochures they give out in Chinatown, but there are some people who do the meditations at the park near my house every morning. Seems ok - each to their own I suppose.
Grandmaster Ma Chuan Xu actually said the same thing during a discussion. He did not say anything about killing, but he did say that the energy work involved is in-correct/in-accurate, and does have the potential to cause severe mental disorders in those that participate in such practice. Xio: Yeah, I have a copy of this in my library. Was a while ago when I read it, but I remember it being a very messy read. Not sure if this was due to the translation or the actual subject matter, but I do remember feeling that it was just a mish mash of Chan Buddhism & Taosim, with alot of contradictions in between. Even still, I am not an authority on any of the above, it is simply my viewpoint. My advice would be to do as Nzric wisely suggested and read a number of eastern classics. Try not to read about one specifc subject, instead be diverse at the start to give you a broader understanding. Once you have find what works for you, whether it be Falun Gong or Qigong, go for it. Probably the smartest thing to do though would be to find yourself a knowledgable shifu/guru/sensei etc. Maybe it could be worth your while doing a little bit of travel, if only to pick up some basics (which are usually the most crcuial aspect anyway), untill you can find someone in your area who can guide you.
Nzric and Azrael Nzric, I hope you finally see that I'm not the only person saying that Falun Qigong may have health hazards, as per extended debate 1 year ago. Most of the Mainland Chinese TCM practioners in Sydney have that opinion. I'm only sharing that here. I don't like unnecessary violence, I don't like seeing old men and women getting clubbed black and blue. But this is the same Govt that shot 7000 of its own young people demonstrating at Tiananmen in1989. By compariosn, the Falun are getting off lightly. I don't believe the persecution is religion based . After all Muslim and Christian minorities are not getting the same torture. So maybe it is possible that the Chinese govt, however harsh or misguided , are treating Falun with the same fear as SARS or Chicken flu. Also, if the Falun want the beating to stop, they only have to renounce Falun practices in public and do it only in the privacy of their homes. Can't understand why they don't chose to control their destiny. Some may have matyr complex perhaps. They have a choice.
Well, I'm glad to hear what Grandmaster Ma had to say - I respect his opinion from meeting him a couple of times. He actually said the same kind of thing about another teacher. I hope you understand if I don't want to mention the name - serves no use. Personally, I have other opinions - more along the lines that people with that kind of tendencies gravitate towards certain practices... like certain martial arts are more suited to certain types of people. You can be fundamentalist about anything, from religion to political thought, to sports. While I accept other points of view, I personally think certain people are unbalanced in the first place (just look at the movie Shine. Did the piano make him crazy or was it just a catalyst?).
Nzric: LoL, yeah, I understand completely. Will soon be but a distant memory if you know what I mean. An interesting contrast of viewpoints. Personally I do not know enough about it to comment, but ultimately, I believe every one is responsible for themselves. I also believe that nobody has the right to take life. So I think I fit in somewhre in the middle. Thats an interesting observation. Although it would run the risk of becoming somewhat generalistic, that could prove to be an interesting thread. Maybe throw it up?
Yes Honest John, that’s the book(s). A cult? Who knows. Makes you go insane? I don’t know about that, the guy didn’t seem very insane to me when I read that book. But, who knows? All I wanted was a second opinion on the book cause I got a bit confused reading it….maybe I got a bit INSANE instead…lol. Some of the stuff in it seemed reasonable but a lot of it seemed to repeat itself. All that stuff about raising your XinXing was repeated about a thousand times. And then I wasn’t sure what was right and what was wrong. But now, I figure if it doesn’t seem right by my own standards I won’t do it. Especially when dealing with things like that. I think RobP has the right idea though, “Thank you, we will now return to normal broadcasting. I’ll try to look for some kind of instruction In qi gong, I have been for a while. I’m doing y10 at the moment but very much intend to travel as soon as I finish HSC-quite a while away. I tried the breathing thing. The problem I had when doing those first exercises was figuring out what to do with the energy. Especially with the energy ball. I started by bringing all my energy into a ball at my “Dantien” then holding my hands about 20cm apart and passing the energy between them. Forming a kind of thread. Then forming the energy into a ball which-after nearly half an hour-started to feel pretty big and solid. At one stage I though I could even see it but then I looked again and it was invisible. Then I reached my problem. There I was with this huge ball of energy growing with every breath, held between my hands, and me, poor me, with absolutely no idea of what I should do with it. I really didn’t want to waste it cause it took me a while to do so I tried to absorb it again(no success there. I had not the slightest clue how to do it). And eventually through my lack of concentration I guess, it just disappeared. To prevent this happening again could you give me some kind of hint of what I can do with a energy ball like that. Also, the only excercises I know of are the meditation thing and the energy ball. Please give me some to do as I’m to lazy to look myself. /Xio
The thing is, the energy ball meditation is just an easy way of feeling the energy around you. Visualise the energy not just as a ball in your hands but all around your body. That's when moving qigong and tai chi come in. After you can visualise the ball, try moving meditation. If you don't want to start a whole other system like tai chi, just learn a few simple moving qigongs - preferably one where the movements are continuous , so you can repeat the exercise over and over to feel the energy. Feel the energy inside yourself as chi, and try to circulate it throughout your body. The point of the 'chi ball' exercise is just to introduce you to the idea of chi, and how to change your own perception.
Draw your hands close together, concentrating the ball, whilst drawing your hands and the ball towards your dantian (3 finger widths below your navel) simultaniously. Once your hands are very close, fold the palms in towards you, with one hand over your dantian, and the other over that hand. Hold this for at least 5 minutes.
Thanks I'll try it next time. I'll also have a go at the movement too i guess. I'm open to try pretty much anything. /Xio
