Floating Monk

First of all, nothing could be further from the truth. The Solar Salutation, a.k.a. Salute to the Sun, is, has been and will be the foundational movement for Yoga of various types.  For the measure of recorded time, 2 + 2 = 4.  The Sun rises in the East and sets in the West.  The point I am driving at is one of foundations, there are fundamental bases for mathematics and chemistry (H2O = Water), just as there are fundamental elements to practices such as Chi Kung (Qigong).  Many Qigongs were developed for specific reasons, whether medicinal or martial.  On some occasions the two were combined, i.e. strength, long life, health and internal power were brought together in one place.

In what martial artist call “A Complete System” there is Internal Qigong and External Qigong.  The Internal practice(s) were for health, long life and even the “real power” within the Kung Fu System.  The external was comprised of forms, fighting and weapons.

I recently answered questions relating to foundational Chi Kung, specifically; what more is there and when will I learn it? As a rule one learns to add, subtract, multiply and divide, once these are effectively developed the process moves forward to algebra, geometry and the like.  One does enter Juilliard because they “know” how to dance, act, etc’  they enter because they want to learn, grow, develop and perfect.

Imagine a first week student, never having danced before, waving his or her arms and legs about as they run across the room in front of Mikhail Baryshnikov proclaiming loudly: Look…I am doing ballet!

I agree, it is an uterly imcomprehensible thought. Yet just yesterday I read about some fitness instructor in L.A. who had incorporated Qigong (from whom and how long this person studied was never stated) into weight lifting and other exercise. Actually, this can be done and we at Chi for Health have programs to prove it, however, this person was quoted as saying this about Qigong:  “It’s just breathing and movement, you just move and breath freely”

I am so mad at myself, if I had only known that I just had to move and breath freely I would never have spent the last 30 years practicing and teaching “how” to do Qigong.  I guess all those years under the watchful eye of the Grand Master, waiting for one of his “tips” and being amazed at the insight and the changes those little bits of information brought to my practice were time wasted. Dang!

I guess I’ll book the next flight to L.A. and start fresh, or…perhaps I will prepare my audition piece for Julliard where I will run about the stage flailing my arms and legs about and exclaim, look: I am moving and breathing, I am doing Chi Kung!

Sifu Jeff larson teaches Chi Kung (Qigong) in Atlanta, GA and Minneapolis, MN and is an Enter the Gate Disciple of Grand master Henry Poo Yee (see  CKFA.com)  For Sifu Jeff see “chiforhealth.com”