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Qi Magazine is published by the Tse Qigong Centre.Its aim is to bring you information not readily availablein the West.

Editor: Michael TseDeputy Editor: Darryl MoyDesign Assistant: DavidDrennanAssistants: SarahBloomfield

John HayesMartin Gale

Subscription: Gill HarbachLegal Adviser: Tony Walsh

Proof Reading: Yvonne Dixon

Marketing/Distribution: Jessica BlackwellSweden: Barbro Olsson

Consultants (Listed in alphabetical order):

Grandmaster Chan Chi HoGrandmaster ChenXiao Wang

Grandmaster Ip ChunGrandmaster Yang Meijun

Columnists: GlennGosslingJ. Reynolds NelsonDr. ShulanTangSihn KeiAdam Wallace

Readers may contact any of our contributors c/oQi Magazine.We encourage all our readers to contribute articles, lettersor questions for possible inclusion in future issues ofQi Magazine.Articles appearing in Qi Magazine do not necessarily reflectthe opinion of the editor. Adverts appearing in themagazine are not necessarily endorsed by it or the editor.Exercises appearing in Qi Magazine are for referencepurposes only. Thus anyone wishing to study should seekqualified tuition.

Michael Tse 2002.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored or transmitted in any way without thewritten permission of Michael Tse.

Advertising: Qi Magazine has proved to be an effective wayof reaching a wide variety of people. All enquirieswelcome.For UK call: 0161929 4485For USA call: (808)528 8501

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http://www.qimagazine.comISSN 1358-3778

Continued on page 7

Studying Qigong and martial arts, suchas Wing Chun and Taijiquan is my life.Teaching them is my job. I did not thinkabout that in the beginning when Ibegan, though. When I first began mystudies, I was just a teenager. I justwanted to learn martial arts andunderstand the philosophy behind it. Ifit was just fighting, then for me it hadno meaning and made the martial artscheap. Bruce Lee was my hero whobrought me to be interested in all of that.Both his writing and talking were aboutmartial arts related with philosophy. Bothtogether is what makes it interesting andprofound.

To understand Chinese philosophywe need to understand the Yijing whichis the classic book and the source of allthe Chinese culture and people’sthinking. People call it The Book ofChanging . It is a very difficultbook to understand.Without a goodteacher to teach you,you will not fullyunderstand it. Thisbook dates backover 3000 years,but the knowledgein it is over 5000years old.

Yijing is thesource of the thingssuch as Wuji, Yinand Yang, FiveElements and Bagua.All these names weshould be familiarwith if we arestudying Chinese skillssuch as Taijiquan,Qigong, Daoism andTraditional ChineseMedicine, etc. Inparticular, if we want tounderstand about Chinesephilosophy, then we mustknow some more about Daoism,Buddhism and Confucianism. Theysomehow connect with the Yijing becausethis is the source for all the Qigong andChinese martial arts we study.

I have been asked so many timesabout those philosophies. In trying tounderstand more about Chinesephilosophies myself, there are somequestions that always come to my mind.

These are, “Why are we here? “, “Whatis the meaning of our lives?” and “Whyis it that some people are in luck andsome people are suffering?“.

Thinking about these questionsmakes me realise that actually I likephilosophy very much, not only justQigong and martial arts. I want to knowmore about it and so I read and studyhistory and philosophy a lot. Maybewhen you are young, you will not botherwith this and will just concentrate on thethings you can see and that you canrelate with.

But when you get older, you mightwant to understand philosophy and lifemore. Understanding will also improveour Qigong, Wing Chun and Taijiquanmore. If we want to study Daoism, thenwe must read the Dao De Jing which isthe original book on this. Dao means The

Way. De means Morality, Jingmeans Classic Book. So

the Dao De Jing meansthat this is a book forthe way of morality.

What is themoral way? It isthe way every-body likes andthinks it isright. Forexample, ifyour friendtells you hisp e r s o n a lsecret, thenyou shouldnot tella n y b o d yelse, even ifyour frienddid not askyou to dothat. You

know thisb e c a u s e

what he toldyou is his secret. He

has treated you as his close friend bytelling his secret to you. If you can keepthe secret, then that is the moral way.

But the whole idea of Dao is tobe normal as air, as water. They bringbenefit to everything; they exist but donot interrupt anything. The main principleof Dao is being normal. Lao Zi also saidthat there is no beauty, no height, and

Qi Magazine Nov/Dec 2002 page 1

Cover Feature...Cover Feature...Cover Feature...

Cover Feature...Cover Feature...Cover Feature...22 Training Young to Old

A good skill should stay withyou for life. The older you getthe more mature and betterthe skill should become.However, this does not meanyou approach the skill thesame at different stages inyour life. So a young childshould train differently froman older adult. The secret isknowing how to do this.By Michael Tse

1 Editorialwith Michael Tse.

3 PO Box

10 SwordsThe sword is an integral part of Chinese martial arts. It isused not only as a weapon, but also as a means to train thebody and increase internal energy.By Glenn Gossling

12 A beginners Guide to Chinese Herbs:Gou Qi Zi – the Wolfberry fruitContinuing a look at herbs used in TCM that can be foundgrowing in your very own back garden.By Dr. Shulan Tang

13 Culture Shock Part 2Continuing his amusing description of his experiences livingin China.By Peter Andersen

16 Strong Bonds“Once your teacher, forever your father.” This is a Chinesesaying which describes the strong bond between a teacherand a student. But what does this mean in the real world?By J. Reynolds Nelson

18 Wing Chun Stance – Yee Chi Kim Yuen MaThere are many tales surrounding the origins of Wing ChunKung Fu. There is even a discussion of the history of thebasic stance. How did it come about and why is it the way itis? Read on if you want to know more.By Michael Tse

30 Instructor InsightA look at two more instructors of the Tse Qigong Centre.

33 Squash Stir FryA delicious dish that is simple to make yet good to eat.

33 Roots of the DragonHave you ever wondered how different Chinese characterscame about? In the first part of the series we see how thecharacter for dragon evolved.

34 To and not to be – That is the PointBalance is an easy concept to understand, but how manyof us can actually achieve it? Often we cannot even seethat we are out of balance, and this is really the problem.By Darryl Moy

35 Healthy Living Gong Part IIContinuing our look at the exercises from the second levelof Healthy Living Gong.By Michael Tse

39 No Greener GrassNature shows us everything. It can tell us how to live andalso how to behave. You only need to look for the lessonsthat it is showing you.By Tse Sihn Kei

40 Basic Self Defence: Qin Na LockingContinuing our series on basic self defence techniques andlockingBy Xai Bai Hwa

43 Principles of Qigong PracticeThere are many different styles of Qigong, but the underlyingprinciples are always very similar, if not the same. So longas you know what they are, then you will get the most benefitfrom your practice.By Adam Wallace

44 Pre-Emptive SurgeryAn amusing tale a man’s gullibility.

45 Feng Shui for the Living Room Part iiiContinuing our look at what makes the energy of your livingroom good and how it will affect your energy and your life.By Michael Tse

page 2 Qi Magazine Nov/Dec 2002

POBox POBox POBox...

Right Direction?Hello

I am in the process of buying ahouse and I would like to know if youhave information on the direction of thehouses for good luck or bad luck. Pleaselet me know how I can find outinformation.Linda

Dear Linda,It is a very big thing when

considering a house to buy. A good house

does not just depend on the direction it isfacing. There are many other factors aswell that need to be considered. Forinstance, if we say a house should facesouth but in front of the house is a verybusy highway, then this would not be goodfeng shui.

The outside environment is moreimportant than even inside the house asit is most difficult to change and has alot of influence on the energy. Thereforeit is best to have someone who is qualifiedin this art to come and look at the home

and go from there. Feng Shui is muchmore than hanging some crystals andmirrors.

If you are unable to find anyoneto help you, then use your sense to findout how you feel when you go to a newhouse. Do you feel stressed, peaceful,irritable? Do you hear a lot of noise or isit quiet? A noisy place can give you a lotof stress and make you ill. How are theneighbours? Do you find any bad smellsor any other pollution around whichmight affect your health? Is it settled or is

2003 SeminarScheduleWith the year quickly drawing to a close, many of youmight be thinking about what courses you would like toattend next year in 2003. After much thought andplanning, the Tse Qigong Centre is pleased to announceits seminar programme for next year. It offers somethingfor everyone, giving you a chance to study rare and exciting skill and also the scopefor improving on some things you might have studied already. Look forward toseeing you there. For more detailed info and for courses outside the UK, see theflyer in this issue of the magazine or our website: www.qimagazine.com

Weekend Courses

Twining Hands BaguaPart I : London 18 Jan/ Manchester 19 JanPart II: London 15 Feb/ Manchester 16 Feb

Intro to Taiji, Qigong & Wing ChunLondon 1 Feb / Manchester 8 Feb

Hard Qigong Level I Exam1 March, Manchester

Wing Chun Baat Jam Dao22 March, London

Jade PillarGothenburg : 29/30 March

2nd 64 Wild Goose Qigong5/6 April Edinburgh

Polishing Swimming Dragon12/13 April, LondonChen Taiji SwordNorwich 26/27 April / 11/12 October

Balancing Gong,Healthy Living Gong I,II,III Polishing24/25 May, London

Hard Qigong Level II17/18 May, Manchester

Shaolin Great Sadness Gong14/15 June, London

25 Step Chen Taiji Short Form21/22 June, London

Falling Leaf Gong Part IILondon 13 Sept / Manchester 14 Sept

1st/2nd 64 Wild Goose Qigong25/26 Oct, Edinburgh

Plum Blossom Gong1/2 November, London

Wing Chun Baat Jam Dao22 November, London

Stretching & Healing QigongMeditationLondon 6 Dec/ Manchester 7 Dec

Residential CoursesWing Chun Residential24-27 July

Wild Goose Residential 1st 641-4 August

Instructor CoursesHealthy Living Gong Part I & IIResidential Instructor CourseAug 2003

Chen Instructor Course15/16 March Manchester

Wing Chun Instructor Course4/5 October Manchester

Wild Goose & Chun Yuen InstructorCourse – Residential18 to 22 July Shropshire

XmasCelebrationsAs a bi-monthy publication we arenever able to wish you all seasonsgreetings when the season is uponus. Our only advantage is that we arelikely to be the first. So we would liketo wish all our readers a “Very MerryXmas and Happy New Year!” We hopeyou have enjoyed the last year. It hascertainly been a busy one for us here,but without your support it would notbe possible and most certainly not asrewarding.

Why not join us for our annual Xmasparties in Manchester, London andHawaii? The details are:

London13 December, 7.00pmNew Loon Fung RestaurantGerrard Street, China Town,London

Manchester14 December 7.00pmNew Hong Kong RestaurantFaulkner Street, China Town,Manchester

Hawaii14 December 7.00pmContact Hawaii office for details

We hope to see you there as wealways have a good time and loadsof great Chinese food.

See you all in 2003!


there construction goingon in the area. This couldaffect your relationship. Ihope this helps.Yours sincerely,Michael Tse.

Taiji / HardQigongCompatibilityDear Michael,

Unfortunately Ishall not be able to makeSigong Chen’s seminarsagain this year and as wehave not met in the UK fora while I have a couple ofquestions I would like toask. First, there have beena couple of articles recentlyabout Hard Qigong in themagazine. Is HardQigong compatible withtaijiquan? Is it necessary tostop taiji practice whiletraining? Is it a good ideato begin Hard Qigongtraining before a certainage or at a certain levelof martial proficiency?

Secondly, I havenoticed that you neverseem to discuss oradvertise taijiquancompetitions, whereasmany other teachers andorganizations are involvedwith them and, of course,they are of considerableimportance in China.How do you feel aboutform and pushing handscompetitions? Do youconsider them as a usefulway for a student to testhis/her level ofachievement or do youthink they introduce anundesirable com-petitiveness into the studyof the art?

Hoping to see youin the UK soon.Your studentAndrew Howard

Dear Andrew,Thank you for your letter. Regarding

your question about competitions, I liketo study for my own benefit. Competition

Healthy Feng ShuiHealthy Feng ShuiDear Master Tse,

I am an architecture student from Curtin University, WesternAustralia, currently I am doing my thesis research on ‘feng shui for theelderly’. In regard to my thesis topic, I am trying to focus the function offeng shui towards the health, because health is the most importantthing to the elderly. I am trying to explore how feng shui can create orimprove a better/ healthier living space for the elderly. At the end ofmy research, I will be proposing a retirement village in accordance tofeng shui principles.

I have a few questions, they are:-1. The retirement village I am proposing is not designed for a

specific person but for a group of people and it ihas impermanentdwellings, therefore the Bagua system (to calculate the date of birth of the tenant) will not beapplicalbe. In this case, what sort of factors should I take into consideration? I have some ideas inmy mind, I will take into consideration the site, the orientation of the dwellings, the interior layoutof each unit (the organising of interior spaces) and the shapes and angles of the dwelling . Arethere any other factors that I should be aware beside those factors I had mentioned above? Allthe resources I am having now are very limited in focussing on the elderly, could you please givesome advice on my topic. I will be very appreciative if you are willing to advise me. Thank you.Chia, Leng Yai5th year Bachelor of Architecture student Curtin University of Technology, WA

Dear Leng Yai Chia,Thank you for your letter. Basically, there are four methods in doing layout using Feng Shui

guidelines:One is objects (what you can see), one is calculation (which includes timing and direction,

horoscope and calculation), one is your sense (how you feel, the environment) and the fourth isother things (for example, the occupant’s horoscope).

For instance, if you find the timing and calculation is okay, but still the feng shui is bad,it means that something else is affecting the feng shui. It may be something like some pollution,noise or other things you cannot see. So you also need to consider how you feel when living in thatplace.

For the shape, generally in feng shui, a square or rectangular shape is considered the best asthis means solid and stable. So for living, this shape is the best. Many houses nowadays areirregular shapes or have lots of odd angles. This can affect the physical and mental health of thoseliving there.

For elderly people, you should consider what is good for them at this time of their life. At thistime, it would be their health rather than trying to make a career or good living.

The occupants should have good air, be able to connect with nature and see good views. Ifthere are gardens where occupants can walk and also rest off the paths, this will give them theopportunity to gather fresh air for their health. This will help make them peaceful and feel good.

Interior decorations should also be peaceful, no flowery pictures or too bright or colourfulthings and shapes. This can make the occupants too excited and could even give them a heartattack or stroke. There should be more plants and good, fresh air and good light. If you concentrateon these methods, then you should be okay. However, if you have any further questions, please donot hesitate to contact me.Yours sincerely,Michael Tse.

is like a game and we want to find outwho is the best one in any differentsituation. Competition is also sometimesfor certain organisations to be able topromote themselves. So competitionsbenefit different kinds of people, thewinners and the observers. So this is notmy direction or my purpose for studying

Taijiquan. I study Taijiquan is because Ilike the art and philosophy and I want touse them for my life.

Hard Qigong is compatible withTaijiquan training, just look at myself,Darryl, Adam and other students. It willhelp develop your physical strength in ahealthy way. If you have a strong, physical


REMEMBERING GRANDMASTER YANGMEIJUN

REMEMBERINGGRANDMASTERYANG MEIJUN

A small selection of the many kind letters and messages sent in...Sifu Michael Tse,

I just read the Qi Magazine Issue63 it was very sad to hear that Sigongjust passed away two months ago. Inever even realised but I was touched tothe core of my heart “may her soul restin peace”. It is a real shame I never gotto meet her, also I havenot trained for a longtime, but what I havelearned from you hasmade me a lot betterperson and I still have alot of respect for the artand yourself. I read allabout the signs after shepassed away I really thinkshe would become anImmortal as she hascultivated her heart to avery high level and her Qiand mind seem to bevery stable.One thing you said to meonce when I startedtraining Hard Qigongwith you, I was a bitworried and you said tome to rememberBuddhists and Daoistfollow different trainingbut the goal is the same.Buddhist call it Emptiness and Daoists callit Dao or Wuji. As Sigong alwaysworshipped Guanyin, the path willdefinitely be smooth for her. Youmentioned about a rainbow being seenafter the ceremony of her death I mustsay as a Buddhist this is a very auspicioussign it is usually observed when sages orsaints pass away. I am sad and happy atthe same time but she has left somethingvery precious for us all in her DayanQigong skills. I hope to return to trainingsometime in October as I am moredetermined than ever I would like to givesomething back to the Centre. In orderto do that I must develop myself andthen in the future help others. Thank youSifu Michael for being kind and helpful.Yours TrulyLadi

Dear Sifu,We wanted to express our deep

sorrow on the passing away of MasterYang Meijun. We are continually amazedthat a woman whom we have never metand who lived on the other side of the

world has had so muchimpact on our lives.

On the eveningof her death whilstsitting in a meditationfocusing on her, ourlocal town suddenlyerupted with fireworks.It was like a wonderfultribute to an extra-ordinary woman. Ourthoughts are with youat this time.With all our love,David, Aspen, Samuel

Dear Sigong,I am deeply

grateful for her sharingWild Goose Qigongwith the world and I willcherish her memory.Yours, Yifat

Dear Sifu,Although I was not privileged to

meet her,…I think of (Sigong) withthankfulness for all we have and treasurefrom Qigong coming from her teaching.I will pray for the passing of her spirit.Yours sincerely,Jean

Dear Sigong,Words seem inadequate to

express my feelings at this time, soplease accept this card as an expressionof my gratitude to you and to Tai SigongYang Meijun in celebration of her life andthe renewed life she has given to so manyof us. She will always have a place inour hearts.Warm regards,Helen

body, it will be good for your martial arts.It will be also good for your balance, andyou will understand hard and soft. Youwill know that you need to do bothmeditation and movement to make thingsbalanced.Yours sincerely, Michael Tse

Help NeededHello all at Qi magazine!

I hope you and loved ones arehappy and well. I was wondering ifanyone could help me with a problem Ihave. To be honest I am prettydesperate. I have recently beendiagnosed with ulcerative colitis. I amextremely ill, and cannot even leave thehouse anymore. I hate living like this, Ihave studied Tai-chi and Qi-gong in thepast, but stopped doing it a few yearsago (I am 26). I have a copy of yourBalancing Gong video, and will startstudying that again. I was wondering ifyou could give me any other exercises,or advice concerning this horribledisease. I really want to be well again...Iam so sick of this. I am very scared.Anyhow, I will stop wasting your time,as I know you are all very busy. Thanksfor listening. Take care all.Kris

Dear Kris,It is hard when we are ill as our

outlook becomes not so positive,especially when we are in such pain.However, when we are ill, Qigong canhelp. I have seen Qigong help manypeople, even when diagnosed with aterminal illness. Just start slowly and workon building up your Qi.

I would suggest that you do moremeditation as ulcers are often broughton by too much stress and too muchthinking. Meditation will help you to calmyour mind and let the body relax as well.Then slowly start with the first BalancingGong exercise, Holding the Dantian. Dothis everyday for a week with yourmeditation. Try a sitting meditation in thebeginning and let your mind and bodyrelax.

Qigong will help your body tocreate more Qi which will help nourishthe spleen and stomach. Later you cando more of the exercises when you havemore energy and feel better. Just keeppractising and I am sure you will findthings better.Yours sincerely,Michael Tse

Everyday we receive many letters from people all over the world, sometimes asking for advice,sometimes just sharing their experience. Unless specifically asked otherwise, we will considerthese letters for possible publication in Qi Magazine. In this way, we all come together like afamily and share and help each other. That is the reason I began Qi Magazine and particularlythe PO Box. - Michael Tse

If there is anything you wish to share with others, any news or any announcements you wouldlike to make, send them to us. We also welcome articles (800 - 1000 words in length) on topicsappropriate.

Please write to:

UKQi MagazinePO Box 59,

Altrincham WA15 8FS. UK.email [email protected]

USATse Qigong Centre

PO Box 15807,Honolulu, HI 96830. USA.

email [email protected]



Dear SifuI have read in Qi Magazine the

sad news about the passing of yourbeloved Sifu (and my Sigong)Grandmaster Yang Meijun. I have readabout her life in your Wild Goose Qigongbook and I envy you because you hadthe chance to meet, love and learn fromthis great woman. But, I am happy thather life and teachings are alive in youand so I can benefit from it together withmany other people. This I think is theessence of the word “Lineage”. Pleaseaccept my heartfelt sympathy on yourSifu’s death. Her life will be forever anexample of dedication and commitmentto her practice for thousands of people.Yours sincerelyCandido

Dear Sigong TseA note to

say how sorry Iam to learn ofthe physicalpassing of yourSifu –G r a nd m a s t e rYang Meijun.

The articlein the QiMagazine abouther passing and life and work is warmingto our hearts.

I am sure I speak for many pupilsof the Tse Qigong Centre when I say thatthe photographs of her and the wisdomand strength which shines out from hereyes is truly inspirational.

I have always treasured news andarticles about here and rememberlooking forward to her “hoped for” visitto England several years ago.

That was obviously not meant tobe and no matter because her influencelives with us now and indeed we are aprivileged family.Yours sincerelyFrances

Dear Tse Qigong CentreAs a former student of the Centre

and continuing practitioner of DayanQigong, I was really saddened to hearof the passing of Grandmaster YangMeijun. My condolences to all who knewher personally.

Having benefited so much fromthe heritage of her teaching I am sure Iam not alone in having been touchedby her depth of spirit and warmgenerosity and I look forward to the

continuation of her legacy and “oneheart” vision.Yours sincerelySusan

Dear SigongWhen my Sifu announced the

passing of Grandmaster Yang Meijun atour Norwich class we held some minutessilence in respect and in memory of her.I felt sad for the loss to our whole Qigongfamily, but especially for you as head ofthat family.

I opened up my next issue of QiMagazine in a rush as I was keen to readyour article about her. I appreciated all

the detail about the Buddhist ceremonyyou held for her in Hawaii.

That weekend I went out early todo my practice in an open green fieldsurrounded by mature trees, behind aprimary school close to my house.

Clouds raced across the skyalternating with glittering bursts ofsunlight and streaks of blue. It was awonderful fresh and peaceful morning.Just as I was half way through the WildGoose form something caughtmyattention over my shoulder. I almostnever look away when I am doing theform, but I had to look back at this

moment. A most glorious rainbow wasforming in a giant arch right over thefield I was standing in.

My habit of practice wasreminding me not to lose concentrationso I carried on but the rainbow quicklybecame wide and fully formed with suchluminous, translucent colours I wasoverwhelmed. I then remembered yourarticle and mention of a rainbow and myheart was touched.

I was conscious of Grandmastersskill and wisdom arching over andembracing us all.Best wishesRuth

“The rainbow quickly became wideand fully formed with suchluminous, translucent colours I wasoverwhelmed”


no listening andno telling untilwe put twothings together.It is true that weall try to makeourselves betterthan othersbecause wewant to findourselves morespecial thanothers. In thatway we have toclassify things tobe a beautifulone or an uglyone.

However,to be a high level of Dao, then thismeans being nothing and means to bea part of nature. There is no hard timeor good time. There is no benefit or loss.We can look at Lao Zi’s life. He initiallywas a librarian until the Zhao dynastybegan to collapse in chaos, and then heleft to retire. When he passed the gateto leave the city,there was aguard whorespected himvery much. Theguard asked LaoZi to write a bookof hisk n o w l e d g e ,which he did. In50,000 words,he wrote thebook which is theDao De Jing. Hedid not ask forany copyrightand royalty. But his book was reprintedagain and again, and still, even after2500 years later, it is still being reprinted.Apart from the Bible, the Dao De Jingmust be one of most reprinted books inall time.

Lao Zi then disappeared. He didnot do anything, apart from writing thisbook. He did not fight for his country, hedid even go out to do some charity. Hehad no student. He was part of nature,part of society, and part of the universe.He did not ask for anything, but hebenefited a lot of people including goodpeople and bad people. His physicalbody has gone, but his spirit lives forever.He is what can be said to be a Daoistimmortal.

If you talk to people about thenative Americans, you can see that theyhad very high level of Dao. They lived inthe land for thousands of years, but theydid not interrupt or damage anythingthere. They left no traces, and it seemsthey respected nature more than theChinese.

Another Chinese philosophy isConfucianism. The name is veryconfused, as whoever translated Kong Zimethod as Confucianism, did a poor job.Kong Qiu (“Q” is pronounced as “Ch” inMandarin language), was the founder ofConfucianism. People called him Mr.Kong in Chinese as in the old time Misterwas the same as “Fuzi” or just “Zi”. Soactually, in Chinese he is called, “KongFu Zi”, or “Kong Zi”.

Kong Zi was a teacher and taughtpeople how to behave, how to be a goodperson. He believed that if everyone isa good person then society will be inorder and everybody will be happy. Hiseducation calls for Ru. Ru means to bepolite and behave.

Kong Zi educated people howto behave and how to be good people.For example, he said that we shouldrespect our parents and love our children,

which is the same as respect theseniors and take care ofjuniors. He also said that youshould treat others the sameas you wish to be treated.This we call, Ru Jia (Jiameans style or family).Kong Zi believedeverybody is born withkindness and that thereare no bad people untilthey have beenaffected by outsideinfluences of theirenvironment. He feltthat if everybodyknew how to behave,then the world be

“If everybody knewhow to behave theworld would be aperfect place.”


harmonious. Ru Jia taught people to beloyal, honest, compassionate, respectfulto parents, love others, and to be faithfulto your word. Ru Jia has been used forover 2000 years in Chinese society, andevery dynasty used the Confucianmethod as the basis for education inschools and the fundamental principle ofthe culture and relationships. Ru Jiateaches people how tobe humble and polite.That is why you oftensee that Orientalpeople are more quiet.Ru Jia does not justinfluence the Chinesepeople but alsoJapanese and Koreansas well. At that time,all Asian people werefollowing this way.

The otherprinciple of Ru Jia isthat of being Centred. This means thatyou do not go too much on either side.For example, everybody should thinkstraight, sit straight, walk straight, respectthe Heaven (which means Nature as well), and Earth. When mankind is livingbetween heaven and earth, then Naturegive us everything we need. Therefore,the Chinese government rule is that theywould not execute any prisoner from thebeginning of spring to the end ofsummer. This was because spring is atime of giving birth and summer is atime for growth. The energy in Natureis that of new life. They would evenrefrain from hunting in thoseseasons, as it could easily kill apregnant animal, that meansyou kill two lives, not just one.In the old time in China, killinga pregnant animal or womanwas a very bad thing to do.

Daoism and Confucian-ism were not the onlyphilosophies that developedlong ago in China. Buddhismwas another and is over 2500years old. Buddha’s name wasShakamuni. Shaka was thetribe to whom he belongedand he was later called Muniwhich means holy man.

He was born in a smallcountry in India around 565B.C. and some even say

624 B.C. His father was a king and hewas a prince. He was taken care of verymuch in his childhood. He had all theknowledge he could study, but thesethings still left him with a question whythere were people suffering in the world.He was so concerned with this that heleft his palace even though his fatherwanted him to be future king of the

country. He met somemonks, following them

to learn the sufferinglife. But he still could not

find the answers. One day he sat belowa tree and he said to himself that hemust find the answer as to why peoplesuffered. Otherwise he would rather diethere. At the end, he was enlightened.He understood why and became aBuddha. Buddhism means understood.It also means enlightenment.

Do you understand life and whysome people suffer, some are lucky, some

are unlucky? It is because ofcause and effect. Everythinghappens for a reason. Somepeople are in luck and somepeople are in bad luckbecause of what they didin their past lives. Whatwe see is only now. Justlike you read a storybook. What we see atthis moment is likereading the middle of

the book. You will notunderstand why thingshappen until you readthe beginning of the story.Then you will understandwhy things happen now.What happens in thefuture is because of whatwe do now. Buddhismbelieves in

reincarnation andthat most all of

we are in a cycle. Until you understandand do not get involved, then you donot need to come back in the cycle.

All creatures are equal, it does notmatter if you are human, chicken or evenan insect, all are governed by cause andeffect. What you do now will be yourfuture effect. Sometimes the effect willcome straight away and others may take

longer. For examplewhen you helpsomeone, you feelgood, you mighteven get help fromsomeone else. Its justmatter of time untilthe effect comes. InBuddhism fate, isbased on cause and

effect. In Buddhists suggect not to causingtrouble for others, then you will notexperience trouble yourself.

Some people always like tocomplain about things or others, actuallyall the trouble is made by themselves.Everything that happens to you is becauseof yourself. If you use your credit card,eventually you need to pay it back if youare late you will even need to payinterest. It is all about cause and effect.

At the end I myself look at lifebased on cause and effect, follow theflow, be water and air, think straight, dothe right thing, act the right way.

They all explain the things thathappen in the world, the things thathappen to us, even Qigong, martial artsand taijiquan.

Qigong needs to be relaxed, itfollows the principle of “follow the flowand do not create the tension”. Onemovement open, one movement closes,this follows the principle of Yin and Yang,it is same as cause and effect. When wemeditate we empty our mind, it meanswe do not involve with anything.

When practising Wing Chun andTaijiquan, we deend to keep the backstraight and this follows the Ru Jiaprinciple. When someone attacks you,you avoid the attack until it is finishedthen you hit back, and this follows theprinciple of Yin and Yang.

Everything is there, it just dependson whether we can see it.

“All creatures are equal,it does not matter you arehuman, chicken or evenan insect.”


One of the most common and influential weapons the world over is thesword. Down through the centuries it has played a major role in shapingsocieties and history.

The sword has enormous symbolicsignificance in many cultures. TheVikings named their swords - ‘grey

side’ and ‘serpent’, while in England itis still used by the monarch to confer titlesand ranks. The Chinese also have manytraditions and uses for swords. In myth itcan be a wand as much as a weapon. InBuddhism the sword is emblematic ofwisdom and insight, while in Taoism it issymbolic of victory over evil, and thereare many folk tales relating to Lu Tung-pin (one of the eight immortals) and hismagic sword.

As a weapon the sword could besaid to be an extension of the arm. Itallows the user to strike more powerfullyand it extends their reach. In evolutionaryterms one can see the sword as aprogression from the stick, cudgel andaxe, but a sword is a major technologicaladvance from any of these crudeweapons. A sword is much more thanan iron bar with an edge and a goodsword will have its own personality andenergy. It is almost a living thing.

There are two basic kinds of swordused in Chinese martial arts - the straightsword and the broadsword or knife.There is also the Big Broadsword (DaDao) but this really belongs to thecategory of long weapons, being closerto a halberd or spear than a sword. TheTaoist priests also have coin swords, butthese are more ritual objects thanweapons in the common sense.

For anyone who wants to useswords in their martial arts - even if it isonly for formspractice it isimportant tounderstand atleast a litt leabout swordsas weapons.For the pur-poses of fight-ing, a swordhas a maximumof three uses: to cut, thrust and parry.The way that a sword cuts depends onthe shape and quality of the edge of itsblade. The way that it can be used to

thrust depends on the shape of the point.The flat of the blade is used for parrying.

The world over, there are twobasickinds of swords: straight swords andcurved swords. In the past these were ofcourse useed as weapons of war. Straight

swords are usually more effective forthrusting and curved swords are betterfor making slicing cuts. This is becausestraight swords tend to be narrower atthe point making penetration easier,while a blade with a curve will usually

make an angle when it impacts andbe drawn along to make aslicing cut rather than achop. To slice with a straightblade requires a more skill.

Another distinctionthat can be made isbetween double edgedand single edged swords.Thus even with just thesetwo basic distinctions itis possible to define thefundamental differenc-es between the twotraditional Chineseswords. The broad-sword is curved andsingle edged (which iswhy the Chinese callit a knife) while thestraight sword isstraight and doubleedged. Other culturescan also distinguishbetween single handedand double handed

swords but both of thetraditional Chinese swords

are single handed.Technologically the

Chinese straight sword is farin advance of thebroadsword. It is also a lotmore complex and subtle in

its uses. The straightsword is yin and thebroadsword is yang.If we understandwhat the shape ofthe sword is for,then we can betterunderstand theenergy of our forms.The Chinese saythat it takes a

hundred days to learn the broadswordand a thousand to learn the straightsword

to be continued...by Glenn Gossling.gle nn@qimagaz ine . com

SwordsSwords

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“There aretwo basic kinds of sword usedin Chinese martial arts.”


Having covered many ailments over the years that can be treated by Chinesemedicine, I thought it would be a good idea to focus on individual herbs that arecommonly found in the English countryside and gardens. You may be surprised by howuseful they can be!

To continue with the new series onpopular individual Chinese herbs, Iwill discuss the sweet tasting fruit

called Gou Qi Zi, or Wolfberry fruit. Thisherb is the ripe fruit of Lycium barbarum,which is chiefly produced in Ning Xia,Gansu and Qinghai provinces in China.Gou Qi Zi is picked in summer andautumn, dried in the shade until the skinbecomes shrunken, and is then exposedto strong sunlight so that the skinbecomes tough with the inside pulpremaining soft.

Each fruit is about the size of apine nut, while the colour is brilliant redinside and out. The bigger the size andredder the colour, the better the quality.High quality Gou Qi Zi is therefore called“Da Hong Qi Zi”, “Da” meaning big,and “Hong” meaning red.

Gou Qi Zi is sweet in flavour, andis one of a small group of medicinal herbsthat can be eaten as a snack or used insweet and savoury cooking. It is alsoregarded as neutral in property,which means that it is neitherheating nor coolingto the body. Thismakes it suitable formore orless allkinds

of bodyconditions.In Chinesemedicine,Gou Qi Ziacts on the Liver, Kidneyand Lung channels. Itse f f e c t s i n c l u d estrengthening the kidneys, replenishingthe vital essence, nourishing the Liver toimprove vision, and nourishing Yin tomoisten the Lung. It is interesting to notethat modern medical research has shownthat Gou Qi Zi can be used to treat

Diabetes, as it has an action in reducingthe blood sugar.

Indications:1. For deficiency of the Kidney andvital essence, with symptoms of weaknessof the loins and legs as well as seminal

emission. Gou Qi Zi can be usedtogether with Huang Jin.

2. For deficiency ofboth the Liver Yin andKidney Yin marked bydizziness and blurredvision. It is used withBaiJu Hua, Shu Di Huang,Shan Zu Ye and Shan

Yao in the Chineseherbal patent Qi Ju Di

Huang Wan.

3.For Lung Yin deficiency withcough. It can be given withBai He, Zhi Mu and Bei Mu.

Apart from theclinical indications, Gou QiZi is delicious on its ownor included in the diet. Itcan be found in mostChinese supermarkets,and seems to be makingan appearance in manyhealth drinks and teas.The fruit can be eaten onits own like raisins, or

steamed for inclusion in

soups, desserts or even as a colourfuladdition to rice. It is also very good as apleasant tasting tea, for which the normaldosage is 5-10g. Boiling water may bepoured over the fruit, and left to standuntil the fruit is swollen

by Dr. Shulan Tang.shulan@qimagaz ine .c om

“It is making anappearance in many

health drinks and teas.”

Gou Qi Zi - Wolfberry FruitA Beginner’s Guide to Chinese Herbs

Gou Qi Zi - Wolfberry Fruit

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SHOCKExperiences of Teaching English

in Wuhan, China – Part IIExperiences of Teaching English

in Wuhan, China – Part II

CultureCulture

SHOCKQi Magazine Nov/Dec 2002 page 13

SHOCK

Culture

Under AttackWe arrived in Wuhan on 23rd August 2001. The jet lag

took almost two weeks to get over, but having got over it wedid what most foreigners who come to Wuhan do sooner orlater – we got sick. I had not had the flu for over 4 years but inmy first 6 months here I got it three times. I thought I wasdoing badly, until I took a look around me. I was teachingover 100 students each week, and they did not seem to befaring any better, the classroom floor was often an ocean ofcrumpled tissues; in fact this may well have been part of theproblem (despite the fact that I had done my best to enforcea ban on spitting in class).

The fact is that Wuhan is a big, crowded city (not, in myexperience, an unusual phenomena in China), classes at theuniversity have up to 50+ students, and the students all live

in small rooms with 6-8 to a room andshared facilities for the whole block.Temperatures here range from 40+degrees C in summer to Zero or just belowin winter, and because it is ‘south of theYangtse’ there is no heating or airconditioning for the average person. Peopleare, in general, very exposed to both theclimate and each other. All the same I wasstill disappointed that my immune systemdidn’t put up more of a fight, especially asI had been pretty regular with my Tai Jiand Qigong practice. It was only later thatI discovered that the handful of otherforeigners at my university had succumbedto the likes of bronchitis, pneumonia and even amoebicdysentery, so maybe the Qigong was working after all!

A little about the seasons in Wuhan:

SummerWuhan is known as one of the ‘three ovens’ of China

(Chongqing and Nanjing being the other two), and as theworst of the lot because it doesn’t cool down much at night.Since it is surrounded by the flood-planes of the Yangtse it isalso very humid, which, in summer, makes it not unlike being

in a sauna 24 hrs a day. Don’t bother bringing anti-perspirant,most people just carry a flannel. Amazingly, we did discoveran actual sauna not far from our university – I wonder whatthey use it for in summer? Every cloud has a silver lining,however; the constant sweating means that the people ofWuhan have great skin, so I’m told. I look forward to sheddinga couple of years.

A final note on the subject of summer fashion: InWuhan they sell men’s underpants (the classic, baggy,granddad, Y-front type) that have little pockets with zips atthe front, these are for your money or lighter or whatever,since it’s too hot to wear anything else most of the time –watch out Paris!

AutumnWeather-wise, the best time of year.

This was when I was ill the most. Why? Well,being in a new environment might accountfor some of it. A second factor may be dueto another infamous aspect of Wuhan’sweather, its changeability. One moment it issweltering hot, the next pouring with rain,the next the wind is blowing through you.You need a sort of thin, breathable,waterproof wind-cheater, (or, as they callthem in one department store here, a ‘wind-breaker’).

WinterIt never really goes lower than zero

(we had snow once, almost twice), but thereally wearing thing is that you can neverget warm as there is no effective heatinganywhere. It was at this point that Idiscovered the beauty of Chen Tai Ji. Everytime I got cold I went through all or part ofthe form, so I got plenty of practice and, ithas to be said, some funny looks – which isanother interesting point, namely that whenyou take into account the size of thepopulation it’s actually amazing how fewpeople do Tai Ji.

SpringYou know how we look forward to

Spring in Britain? Well I made that mistakehere. It rained for 2/3 weeks solid, withoutstopping. I noticed even the most leveltempered people developing nervous ticksat the end of the second week. OK, so I’m

talking about the weather. Well, I’m English aren’t I?

This is where I try to justify talking about the weather,as the climatic conditions are said to have a forming effect onthe Wuhanese character. Generally speaking people don’t talkin Wuhan, they shout, and as your language skills improveyou realize that what is being shouted is mostly insulting. Itturns out that Wuhan has the dubious distinction of being theswearing capital of China. There are ways to insult people


Tse Qigong Centre UKPO Box 59

Altrincham WA15 8FS0845 838 2285

+44 161 929 [email protected]

here that would make a prop-forward’s hair stand on end,especially as you’d most likely be discussing his mother.

Exchanging insults is not, of course, the only source ofnoise in modern Wuhan, there is also the ubiquitous car hornand Karaoke machine. The invention of the mobile Karaokecenter is only a matter of time. Using a car horn or bicycle bellis more like saying “here I comeeverybody” rather than “oi, watch whereyou’re going, stupid”. We have anAmerican friend who initially couldn’t standthe noise but ended up putting three bellson his bike. He only has two hands so Iguess it was a kind of statement…

People in Wuhan also have areputation for being cunning and canny.By which I mean that if they have thetiniest opportunity to rip you off they will.So you have to drive a hard bargain toget any respect - even if it doesn’t makeyou popular. I see it as a kind of GongFu.

A simple walk down the street is afull-scale assault on the senses. Apart fromthe pollution, which leaves a permanentmetallic taste in your mouth and lurks somewhere in everyolfactory sensation, one moment you will inhale the fragranceof a tree in blossom, the next will bring the waft of opensewage closely followed by the enticing aroma of a Mongolianbarbeque. If you look up and ahead, you can see garishcoloured signs and clothing by day and neon signs by nightfighting for visual ascendancy over their neighbors.

If you look down you may see people lying contortedand/or limbless begging, or kids in their regulation crotch-lesstrousers going to the loo or see the remains of someunfortunate animal that has been executed for dinner. As foryour ears; there is the ubiquitous shouting, the unceasinginvitation to buy, buy, buy, the white noise of constantly blaring

car horns, not to mention that horror ofhorrors – Karaoke. Add to that the constantcalls of “hello”, “lao wai” (foreigner) and “waiguo ren” (foreigner) aimed in your generaldirection and you just about have it. The onlypeople who don’t make a racket are,amazingly, babies, who sit wide-eyedgawping at it all. They probably can’t believewhere they’ve landed. I know how they feel.

In short, there is no peace, except, youguessed it, between about 3am – 6am. Forthe first time in my life I have been eagerlyjumping out of bed at 5am! It simply has, forme, become one of life’s sanity preservingnecessities and not an issue of choice.

I can’t believe I’m writing these wordsnow but with all the abrasiveness, noise, dirtetc. there is something about the spirit and

life of Wuhan that I’ll miss..…honestly. I think one of the biggestcontrasts to English society is the sense of community, the factthat people are more socialized, and that even though peopleinsult each other all the time they actually also seem to caremore about getting on with each other. Everyone is aware oftheir dependence on others and the terms ‘brother’ and ‘sister’are commonly used to describe people outside the family unit

by Peter AndersenPeter is recently returned to Wuhan...


A break in routine can often be seenas a signal of danger to thoseaccustomed to regular practice. On

the other hand, depending upon thecauses of ones interlude, it can bean opportunity to reflect on theinformation learned in thatparticular cycle as longas individual practicecontinues. A completeloss of instructionandregular grouppractice willultimately lead theserious pract-itioner away fromtheir art anddissolve theirinterest in thesport.

In mylibrary, back in theUK, I have refer-ences to thisphenomenon in avariety of sourcesincluding ChenWei Ming,Da Liu,and JouT s u n gHwa. Writ-ing fromtheir moretraditionalviewpointsthey view-ed, withremarkable clarity, what we see in thetwenty-first century as life changingevents; birth/death, marriage/divorce,loss of child or sibling, deterioration ofhealth, change in career, relocation.Granted the latter two were rare in pre-liberation China they did occur oftenenough to arouse comment in thesources alongside that of the mostserious stressors.

I have witnessed this occurrenceoften enough, both as a student and ateacher to believe wholly in its principle.Indeed this past year has been a constantordeal for me after more than twenty

years of practice. As a teacher in the UKI often wondered what further measuresI might take in order to restore mystudents and others who had fallen by

the wayside. I must admit, it wasdifficult for me to arrive at

any viable solution overthe years.

Here in China as a student I havelearned firsthand that the traditionalbasis of their society has a great manymethods of addressing this dilemma tolend its teachers. The best teachers willalways show what we westerns wouldconsider extended concern for theirdisciples once they have been acceptedas a student. In fact, the teacher-studentdynamic here is much different from thewestern model. Here the teacher andstudent develop a hand in gloverelationship that extends to their family,lifestyle, and vocation. They mayregularly suggest counsel to head off

Sha

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al

problems before they arise. Shouldadversity befall they are as available asany member of the family to offer solaceand diversion.

I have often had my teachers ringme, come to my home, take me out fordinner or to their house in order to sustainmy spirits through difficult times. Once,while in hospital, our late GrandmasterFu’s 78-year-old daughter came to sit

with me. As a foreigner here,I have been greatly

honoured tohave theirpastoralcare. Asa west-e r n e rhowever,a privateone atthat, itcan beshockingto see thecandidness

and level ofi n t i m a c y ,

which myteachers and their

families are willing toshare.

It is just because of thisclose family bond and continualencouragement that the teacher

student relationship here canremain throughout a lifetime,

even during its more trying times.It is not rare to see an octogenarian stilllecturing seventy year olds on properconduct, form, or application in Shanghaiparks. I have learned a valuable lessonover this past year on how to deal withthis challenge if I should ever return tothe west to teach, and it has opened upmy spirit more to allow the guidance theyhave so generously shared take root andkeep me on the narrow path. Perhapsthe reserve and aversion to intruding welearn in our western culture could beviewed in a new light with regard to ourstudents of the internal arts in the future

by J. Reynolds Nelson.JRN@qimagaz ine . c om

As we move further into the 21st Century, you would imagine that the oldways would become less relevant. However it seems that when it comes tohuman relationships, there are only ways which work, and these were found along time ago.

Strong BondsStrong Bonds

“The teacher-student dynamichere is much different to thewestern model.”

“The teacher-student dynamichere is much different to thewestern model.”


Yee Chi Kim Yuen Mapage 18 Qi Magazine Nov/Dec 2002

There is a story, that one day in China about 400 years agoa martial artist was walking in the countryside, where mostof the land was used for farming. As he walked he cameacross a farmer who was trying to pull a goat with a ropetied around its neck. The goat had jumped over the fence

and the farmer was trying to get it back on the other side. However,the goat did not want to go back and so it sat on the ground andused its front legs to brace itself. Its was so strong that the farmercould not move it no matter how hard he tried pulling on the rope,the goat would not move and just sat there.

The made the artist curious. He thought, “how come thefarmer cannot move the goat, even though he is much strongerthan it? There must be a secret behind this.” He looked at the goatand realised that the goat had its front legs turned in and thismade them very strong. This was why the farmer could not moveit.

Because of this, the martial artist changed the stance of hismartial art, and instead of sinking down into a normal horse stance,he clamped his legs in and just slightly turned his toes in and slightlybent his knees. This stance he found was very powerful and hecould do it without using too much of the body.

This is one of the stories of how the Wing Chun stance wascreated. It is called “Yee Chi Kim Yuen Ma”. It means “Two wordsgrabbing goat stance”. The name should just be, Goat GrabbingStance, so what does the character “Two words” mean? It mightmean that the two legs look like the Chinese character two.Personally I do not find that this makes a lot of sense.

Some people believe that this stance is a woman’s stance.Usually a man will do a low stance, like a horse stance. For ladies, Yee Chi Kim Yuen Ma

however this is not convenientparticularly when they wore traditionalChinese dresses. It does not look good.So bending the knees, closing the legsand turning the toes in looks better. It isalso strong and flexible.

You might see some old Chinesemovies in which the ladies practise WingChun Kung Fu, they use the stance tocatch a mans head, or leg as he tries tokick her, between her knees. In themovies this grip is always very strong.

Another story tells that WingChun people were originally from theChinese Opera. At that time, 300 yearsago, during the Qing Dynasty, therewere no means of transport, no cars,trains or planes. People still had to traveland carry all their belongings and a lotof equipment. When they travelled theywent on big boats. These boats werecalled “Red Boats”. The story says thatWing Chun was developed by the peopleof the Cantonese Red Flower Opera.They performed a lot in Canton Provincethe city of Foshan. Within the operagroup there were a few Wing Chunmasters. At that time Wing Chun wasnot popular sonot many people practised

There are many myths and legands in the world of Martial Arts.The problem comes when you decide you really want to know whysomething is the way it is. Most things were passed down by word ofmouth and often, the stories have been told so many times and for solong, no one knows what is truth or fiction. Then we have to let ourjudgement and common sense lead the way.


it. These master included, Leung Yee Tai, Wong Wah Bo, Tai FaMin Kam and even the Shaolin Abbot (Chief) Ji Sim. Ji Simhad escaped from the burning of the Shaolin Temple by theQing government. He hid himself in the Red Boat anddisguised himself as a cook.

As these people practised their Wing Chun theydeveloped their stance so that is was most effective when theboat was still moving in the water. Plus they did not need tomove the body too much whilst they practised defendingthemselves.

These are the three stories of how the Wing Chun stancecame about. Basically the Wing Chun stance is very differentfrom most other styles of Chinese martial arts. Most styles usea wider, lower stance like the horse stance and bow stance.

In Wing Chun the stance, Yee Chi Kim Yuen Ma isvery different and it is not as solid as the Horse S t a n c e .People will find that Hung Ga or Choi Li Fut (these aretwo other famous southern Chinese martial arts) andother Chinese styles will concentrate more on the Horsestance.

However, Wing Chun training is not like this. It isimportant to have a strong stance, but it is also veryimportant to have very flexible and quick f oo t w o r k .This is because the principle of Wing Chun is to considerthat some one will be stronger than you and so you haveto move faster. To be able to make your f o o t w o r keffective and move quickly, you cannot keep your stancetoo low and wide. So in this circumstance, the WingChun stance is ideal.

The principle of Wing Chun is to avoid the strength ofyour opponent. To do this you need to move quickly, ratherthan blocking his attack and using strength. So the footwork isemphasised, but you still need to be strong enough to stop alittle of their strength and when their power has gone, youneed to be strong enough to fight back and injure or controlthem.

When training Wing Chun, we require the stance to bevery strong. So to make it strong we stand there for as long aspossible. Sometimes yourlegs will shake or go sonumb that you cannot feelthem. This develops thestrength of your bones. Thenyour legs will be very strongand the power will comewhen you need it, but at thesame time, the upper bodywill remain relaxed. This ishow we make the bodymore sensitive and thereflexes good.

I do not believe thefirst two stories about thegoat and lady are real.Goats are very sensitive,they are not like dogs anddo not like you tying ropesaround their necks and so it

“They developed theirstance so it was mosteffective when the boatwas moving in the water.”

“They developed theirstance so it was mosteffective when the boatwas moving in the water.”


would be very rare to get a rope around their necks and thenpull them. I believe that this is just a story about the name ofthe stance.

In the second story, the lady might be the founder ofthe skill, Yim Wing Chun. If you have trained for long enough,you will know that if someone tried to kick you, you would nottry to stop it by grabbing their leg by closing your thighs. It isnot possible (you can try it with a friend) and very easy tomiss.

To grab someone’s head, you do not need a stance likethat and besides, this is not part of Wing Chun training andthere is no other Wing Chun leg technique like this.

So I do not believe that either of these stories is true,but the third story about the Wing Chun people training on

the Opera Boatis reasonableand sensible. It istrue that thestance workswhen you aremoving, not juston a boat, itworks very wellon buses, trainsand othermoving floors,you can try itand you will findthat it works andis effective. Ifyou lose yourbalance, it isbecause yourstance is toohigh and youare not lockedon the ground.You can also

move your feet easily and this isperfect for the Wing Chun principle,direct, effective and fast.

However, some beginnerwill worry about the Wing Chunstance. They think that because westand like this you will not be ableto defend yourself if someone wasto kick at your groin. This is a goodquestion for beginners, it meansthat they do not know enoughabout the Wing Chun stance. It istrue that it is open to a kick to thegroin, but so is a horse stance ofthe other styles of martial art. Theydo not keep their stance facing theopponent, they turn to the side andso have one leg forwards and oneleg back, but when they train theytrain facing the front. This is thesame as Wing Chun. You will notface your opponent from the frontas this is not safe.

In any good martial art,these things have been considered. Our seniors in Wing Chunand founder were not stupid. They knew how to protectthemselves. Facing the front is only for training. Why is this?Why do we not train with one leg forwards and one legbackwards like in Tsum Kiu and Biu Jee?

If you trained like this, then you would need to trainboth legs and both sides. Then you would need to keep moving.However most people will always concentrate more on oneside than the other and so one side is stronger than the other.It is better to train both sides equally as this is more balanced.Then both legs will have the same strength and training,otherwise one leg might be bigger than the other. After tenyears of training one side more than the other they will bevery different. Our founder and seniors were very clever. Tneyconsidered that they should train both the legs equally and sothe stance faces the front and both legs bear equal weight.Then, even if you practise over ten, twenty or thirty years,both legs will be equally as strong and as powerful as eachother. If your legs are equal, then your arms will also be equalas will your eyes, ears, lungs and kidneys. This is one of thehealth benefits of Wing Chun training. Wing Chun philosophyis about balance and the Centre line. You find the centre ofyour body and your opponent’s, then you can make both sidesequal and so everything is balanced. Then your Wing Chunwill be good and your thinking will be right, your behaviourcorrect and your health will be good. Then you will be lucky.

Good Chinese martial arts have thousands of years ofhistory and follow profound philosophies like Daoism, Buddhismand Confucianism. All training is related to life and so give usa means to defend ourselves, train our bodies and minds tobe strong and healthy. This is balance.

Besides, if some one can kick your groin when you standin your Wing Chun stance, then you have forgotten the mostimportant rule. When you are defending yourself you shouldnot let anyone who might harm you close enough so theycan reach you. You should always stay away from suspiciouspeople, otherwise you are very foolish and no one can helpyou

by Michael Tse


Qi Magazine Nov/Dec 2002

M any times people ask me how earlysomeone can start Qigong or martialarts training. I say as long as they canlisten and do what they are told to do,then it means they can start very early.

My son Anthony started at two years of age, but he justcopied for fun when he saw me to practise. He did nottake it seriously.

Actually, I would say that to begin training at theage of six or seven would be the earliest, as at least atthis age the child knows what is going on. When a personis this young, they are full of enthusiasm to learn andeasily listen and believe whatever their teachers tellthem. Children are different from adults. Somehow,adults have difficulty for learning because they tendto fix a certain way to learn and also they have theirown ideas. So they need to empty their cup of teabefore learning whereas children already come withan empty cup.

Children are perfect to begin with anything.Studying Qigong and martial arts involve quite a lotof physical movements and children are delighted todo that. It is also a kind of game to them. I rememberwhen I was in Hong Kong, a friend of a friend wantedme to teach her children who were ages eight and nine.One was a girl and one was a boy. They just followed and didwhatever they were told without questioning.

Youngto Old

Youngto Old

How often have you thought, I wish Ihad started studying when I was younger?But when is the best time to start and whenyou get older, can you still train and begood?

In Chinese society, children are educatedto behave, particularly with their teachers. They

somehow are afraid and respectful of them aswell. That was my only time to teach children so

far. In the beginning, I just tried to find out some ofexperience with children. It was very easy. They did

not ask any questions. It is different today now that Iam teaching people in the West, where people ask lotsof questions. However, somehow I like it more because itis more fun and challenging. Each question they ask ishelping me improve my knowledge.


Therefore a good teacher should not be afraid ofquestions and should even like questioning. My teacher, IpChun, loves people asking him questions in his seminars. Ilearned a lot from of him in this way. So teaching children isdifferent adults. They do not ask question usually. However,the good side of this is that they can generally do the movementsbetter than adults because they are flexible and young. Theyare hungry for everything.

When first beginning to study, children should notconcentrate on the forms and or developing deep knowledgeif they are from ages five to fifteen, because they might losethe time to do what they are good at, which is more physicaltraining and developing flexibility. Too much explanation anddeeper knowledge will make them confused and eventuallysome might even give up. For younger aged children, we shouldmake every explanation simple and clear. However, mostly asthis age, they should be doing the splits, jumping, handstands,tumbling, and all kind of acrobats and stretching. At this age,their bodies are perfect for this kind of thing and they willusually enjoy very much.

Next, they should begin training strength andcoordination. Then can train forms from bare hands to weapons.In the Qigong training, apart from movement training,meditation is very important, as this will help them to developa lot healing power and psychic abilities as well.

In traditional Chinese martial arts and Qigong training,there are some specialmethods used for trainingchildren. They are calledChildren Gong . Thistraining can begin even asearly as the age of two orthree. At this age, theparents or teachers willtrain them to stretch theirbodies, using someposit ions that adultscannot do and that areonly for children. It is basedon their flexibility. Childrentrained daily. Also herbswill be involved as well aspart of a bath.

Beginning trainingat a young age helps to develop their potential early, becausechildren can have some ability that adults will take longer todevelop. For example, they are more flexible, their memory isbetter than adults, and they can see things some adults

sometimes cannot see.They can also sense thingsadults cannot sense thatmuch.

The second area ofdevelopment is theirmemory. Often when youshow children somemovement, they will pickup better than adultsbecause children’smemories are very good.After they remembersomething, then theyshould repeat again 20 to30 times daily. That willmake them remember it

for the rest of their life. All Chinese skill is based not only onthe practise but is based on remembering.

A lot people when they learn skills will not practise verymuch when they first learn because they think that they canremember it. It means they may know it, but actually that isjust beginning for the skill. Doing it many, many times willhelp to make us an expert. It is like when we drive a car, youmay know the basic skill of how to drive, but it does notnecessarily mean you are good at it. All the Chinese skill isbased on a lot of practise. It is like a drop of water which keepsdripping onto a piece of metal. Eventually, the water will makea hole on the metal, the same as practising makes a skillright.

Sometimes when we learn a form, you copy exactlywhat your teacher did, however when you teach the samething to a child, who has more flexibility and power than you,they will perform it even better than you. This means that theform can even be practised in different way as long as it stillfollows the proper principles.

“Their movements betterthan adults generally,because they are flexibleand young. They arehungry for everything.”


There is story of a famous Taiji master whowas in his 90’s. He was invited to a country toteach Taijiquan. Everybody was very excited to learnfrom such a great master. After a month they haveall learned the form and the master then wentback home. A year went by and that countryinvited another master to come teach themanother Taijiquan form. This master was muchyounger than the first master. However, the peoplewere very happy to learn from a young master.

The young master taught them a differentTaiji form but his energy is very fast and powerful.After learning the form, they asked the youngmaster whether he knew the other Taiji form thatthey had learned from the older Taiji master. Theyoung master said yes. They then asked if theycould see his Taiji form. When the young masterdemonstrated the Taiji form, they all recognisedthat it was the one they leaned from the old master,but it looked very different. Some of people thoughtthey did had not learned the form correctly. Someeven thought the old master not taught themproperly. At the end they had to ask the youngmaster which forms was right, the one they hadlearned from the old man or him. So they showedthe young master the form they had previouslylearned. The young master laughed after saw theirform. The young master said, “Well, we are bothright. Actually, I know the old master very well. Wehave discussed Taijiquan a lot. Although we bothare doing the same form but in a different way, butwe are both following the principles of Taijiquan.”

He carried on “ It is like writing, no one willhave same kind of writing, because we are alldifferent. Just like all of us have eyes, a nose andmouth, but we all look differently.” Sometimes youdo the form like that when you are young, but whenyou are older you will do the form different. This isbecause our physical body has changed. If you dothe form the same as when you are young, thenyou might be injured. It is same when you are young.If you do the form like an old man, then it mightaffect you as well.”

The young master had reached a high levelof Taijiquan and also a high level of Dao. It is verytrue. We practise forms in a different attitude atdifferent ages. Therefore when we are young we cando the forms in a more dynamic and powerful way.We can train harder because we are still a rough stonewhich is has not been polished to be jade yet.

Memory training is another skill practised. Oneway to practise memory training for children is to startreading all the Chinese classic poems of the forms andskill. This is because children are good at memory andonce they can read something by heart they andremember it forever. In old time China, all the skill waswritten in poems which could explain all the meaningand principle of each one. For example, there are morethen one hundred poems to explain about Taijiquan andto teach them how to practise it. But today how many peoplewill be able to practise and use this kind of skill. Of course, allthese poems are in Chinese, so we need someone to translatethem for all Taijiquan practitioners.


When we study Dayan Qigong, there are also manypoems involved. Each form has its own poem, sometimes evenmore than one poem. So everybody needs to learn the formsand read all poems by heart. It is same as studying WingChun Quan and other martial arts, even Chinese medicineand Feng Shui. In the old time, making poems was necessaryin school. If anyone could be good at poetry, then they wouldhave a better position for their job. In the old Chinese society,people respected someone who was good at literature andcalligraphy. It is the same as in the West. In the old times, theyrespected people good at literature and writing.

Chinese poems are a bit like a song. Each end of thesentence will sound similar and each sentence will have thesame number of words in it. It makes them easy to readbecause they follow certain rules. Therefore, once you read afew times then you can easily remember them, particularlychildren. In the old times the children were forced to read allthese poems by heart, so they could remember when theywere older. The other good thing was that once they rememberthem they did not need to carry books with them whereverthey went. At this time, it was not easy to get a book, usuallythey were just borrowed from the teacher and then had to bereturned.

Another reason was that around a thousand years ago,books were still made by carving characters on pieces ofbamboo as paper had not yet been invented. With all thewriting being carved on the bamboo, the whole book wouldbe very heavy, so short and brief sentences were the perfectfor this kind of book. So many Chinese classic books are short,

not long like today’s books. We cannot easily read today’sbooks by heart. The old classic books were quite easy toremember, particularly for children.

By the time the children reached the age of fifteen andhave finished their memorization, then the teacher could beginexplaining the meaning of the poems and classic literaturesfor them. It should be the same for martial art and Qigongtraining.

Children they should practise harder, particularly forphysical training, when they are young. They should read classicliterature by heart until they become teenagers. In other words,they learn by copying movement and repeating things overand over. They do not yet need to understand why they aredoing something, just do it. Later they can begin to learn theprinciples of the skill. When they reach their twenties, they willbe very talented for the skill they have learned and they willunderstand the principles of the skill. However, they will stillnot be good enough because they have not gotten enoughlife experience for applying the principles of their Qigong andmartial art skill.

Younger people will not necessarily have the wisdomthat life can bring and so will use their skill for their ego. Maybesomeday someone will want to challenge your martial art skill.When you are young, will may even accept the challengebecause you think you are invisible. If you win the fight, youwill be happy but maybe the next time, there will be someonebetter than you and they will win. This could leave you injuredor even disabled. You could even die for that. Chinese say“There is always a higher mountain.“

“When you are older youwill do the form differently

since your physical bodyhas changed.”


A wise man will not fight like this, just for ego. Martialart should be for defense, not proving oneself or beating upothers. A true master only fights for defense not for ego. If amartial art is for fighting for ego, it will not be a high levelmartial art. It might as well just be called fighting, not an artat all. This is the difference between a youngand an old master.

Later, after the age ofthirty, it is time not just totrain your physical body,but also it is time forlearning thephilosophy of the artyou are studying.You should be ableto apply thephilosophy of theskill to your dailylife and to use itfor guiding youractions andsolving yourproblems.

F o rexample, in thepast, when I wasa policeman in theHong Kong force, ifsomeone did notlike me, I would tryto make friends withthem for a few times. If theystill did not like me after that,then I would think about him as my opponent ina game of Wing Chun Chi Sau. In Chi Sau (Sticking Hands),you always try to find your opponent’s weaker area beforeattacking. You also keep your Wu Sau (Protecting Hand) inplace to cover your own weak areas. So unless there was someway of going forward clearly and without harm to myself, Iwould keep my distance from him but still keep an eye on himso that way could be prepared for whatever happened.

From that time on, I did not try to cheer him up or talkwith him again, but if we did happen to be in the same place,I kept my eye on him. It would be up to me to take a chanceto attack him if he made a mistake. But I changed the method.Instead of attacking him, I watched to see if he ever neededanything or help in a situation. If he did, then I helped him.Once his pen was running out of ink in a briefing meeting. Ofcourse, he needed a pen to write down information, so I gavehim my pen. He looked at me and I just looked at him withlittle smiling. Eventually, we were okay together because weall knew it was better to not have an enemy in your work,even you do not like someone. Today, I still apply the WingChun Chi Sau principle on daily life but for helping instead offighting.

As we grow older, when we are forty, it can be the timeto see other styles of Qigong or martial arts, but not forstudying. If you are already good at your style, then there isno point to learn something new. However, by looking we canstill can learn. We are always learning either from a person,events or nature. I have learned a lot from nature and bytalking to both seniors and juniors.

By observing you can see the differences and similaritiesof what you have learned. Eventually, you will find out all thethings in the universe and the principles are the same. If youare good at what you learn, then why do you need to learnsomething to affect what you are good at. Instead, by observingothers, you can prove the worth of what you already have. If

you can see this, then you definitely are a master.However, maybe you find other styles are

better than what you have, then you need tolearn from them because it will improve

your own level. Kong Zi said, “In threepeople together you will f ind a

teacher.” That means you alwayscan learn something from at one

of three people together.From the age of fifty

onwards, you do not need tosee too many other things.You should go back to enjoyyour training. By enjoying, Imean do not practise toohard. It does not mean youshould not learn otherthings. You should take iteasy for other things but putwhat you want to be goodat to be the first priority. Thisis because you are avaluable sword. Your already

have your shape and power,but if you still train as if you

are young, then most likely youwill injure yourself. A good sword

only needs to polish to maintain, notremold again.

At this time training should concentrate more onflexibility, coordination and skill and less on strength. You shoulddevelop more soft than hard and do more meditation. Youshould do slower movements than fast movements and higherpostures rather than lower postures. This is why your forms willbe changed in attitude from how you practisedwhen you were younger. On the self-defenseside for martial arts, you can use more skill,sensitivty and footwork andless strength. However,other people will still findyou powerful and skilful.

In the end, healthis more important thanfighting. If you starttraining when you arethirty, forty or maybe evenolder, then you can stillconcentrate on skill,philosophy and healthrather than power. If youpractise properly, you caneven find yourself morepowerful than when you wereyoung and maybe live to beeven one hundred years old

by Michael Tse


Instructor Insight

Martin is qualified to teach theDayan Qigong syllabus. He can becontacted on 01434-689551 orcmhird@aol .com

Derek is qualif ied to teach Wing Chun KungFu. He can be contacted on (206) 229 3738.

I live in Seattle, Washington, which is located in the Pacific Northwestof the United States. Martial Arts are very popular here and so there aremany things from which to choose. In the past, I had taken some classes indifferent arts and yet I always felt as if something was missing. It took a longtime until I was able to identify that missing link. I realised that I just neededa teacher that walked the talk; that was right before I met Tse Sifu. I had afriend that had been studying Wing Chun and he said he had found thatthere was a new teacher in the area. More specifically, a teacher that wasdifferent from the others that he had met. So, one day, he handed me aflyer for Tse Sifu’s class and told me that I should go and have a look.

So that next week, I went over to the University Heights communitycentre to see what the class was like. I remember the first day that I walkedinto Tse Sifu’s Wing Chun Kuen class, I thought that I knew a great deal.However, within the first five minutes of the class, it was clear that I had a lotto learn. So I continued to come to class and make the most of my newfound opportunity.The classes were unlike other classes I had taken in thepast. The skill was clear and I could ask any question. With each class, TseSifu made me feel welcome. He even invited me out to dinner with theother students after my first class. So it became clear that each week wasmuch like a family gathering. That is unique and something that you do notfind with most instructors. I knew that I was in the right place and did notneed to look any further for a teacher. From that day on, I have tried tomake the most of my studies with the Centre and in turn help out whenever there is an opportunity. I look forward to seeingthe Centre grow and I am thankful that I can be a part.

Thank you Sifu and all the others for helping me to understand what is important and how to incorporate it in my dailylife. It is a great honour to be a certified instructor for the Tse Qigong Centre, and I will do my very best to help people asmuch as the Centre has helped me.

When I first met Tse Sifu, I was impressed by his presence, the clarity of hismovements and his straightforward manner. A few years went by before I was ableto attend a class regularly. I had been practising Taijiquan for several years andthought I was pretty good. I started to learn the Wild Goose and after some timebegan to see that I had a bad attitude. I wanted to learn only from Tse Sifu, thinkingthat I was too good to learn from my more senior brothers and sisters in the centre.This was a true sign that I wasn’t much good!

Since then I have attended the classes in London and Manchester and havebeen grateful to be instructed by many of the centre’s excellent instructors, in particularMoy Siheng. Last year I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Wild Gooseinstructor’s course. I took this as I a sign that my attitude must have changed! Theinstructor’s course is one of the best things I have ever done. The instructors positivelyglowed with health and their commitment to learning, practising and teaching Qigongwas inspiring.

Last month I started to teach, which is really a great privilege. I hope that I amable to pass on the skill to my students, with respect for the tradition that has brought

the skill to us, through so many centuries.The more I practise Qigong, the better I feel. It’s hard not to be enthusiastic about such a positive thing!

Derek Fowler - Seattle WA.

Martin HirdNorthumberland


You can use any kind of the squashesthat are seasonally available throughoutthe year. I have used acorn, butternut,pumpkin and others. You will not need alarge amount. A small squash will maketwo handfuls which is ample.

First wash the outside of thesquash thoroughly. Cut open and removethe seeds and chop into bite-sized pieces.I generally leave on the skin as thesteaming will soften it nicely. If you wishit peeled, it is easier to remove once thesquash is cooked.

Place the cut-up squash in a bowland set in a steamer over a pan ofboiling water. Alternatively, if you do nothave a bamboo steamer, you can makean improvised steamer by placing a ricebowl or china cup in a large pan. Poursome boiling water into the cup/rice bowlas this will stop it from wobbling aroundwhile the squash is cooking Then add therest of the water to the pan so that itcomes up to half way up the side of thecup/rice bowl. Set the squash in the largerbowl on top of the cup/bowl already inthe pan and cover with a lid. Leave heaton high and let steam until both squashand skin is soft but not soggy.

Remove and let cool when done.Heat 2 tsp oil in wok/pan and add pinchof salt. Let oil get hot then add beansprouts and half of the garlic. Let cooktill slightly transparent, stirring constantly.Remove from pan and wash with waterand dry.

Small squash2 spring (green) onions chopped into 1cm piecesHandful of bean sprouts, washed and drained3 fresh garlic cloves chopped1 tsp fresh ginger thinly sliced and chopped. (If youdo not have, just omit, no problem)Oil/saltSoy sauceSugar

Add another 2 tsp oil and pinchof salt. Let heat till hot. Add the squashand garlic and ginger if you have. Keepstirring till coated and hot. Add in thespring onions and stir till slightly wilted.Add in one tsp sugar, the cooked beansprouts and 2 shakes of soy sauce. Stirfry quickly until sugar dissolved andeverything evenly coated. Remove fromheat and enjoy with some white or friedrice.

SquashStirfry

The dragon is a frequently usedsymbol in China. It is a remnant ofancient tribal totems. The originalform of the dragon may have been asnake used as a totem by a powerfulclan. This clan conquered weaker clanswhose totems were deer, tigers oreven fish. The dragon, which boremany features of these othercreatures, eventually appeared as anew unified emblem for the new andlarger clan or nation. The dragon inChina indicates an emperor the yangor even a bridegroom.

Rootsof theDragon

SquashStirfry

SquashStirfrySquashStirfry


Chan and Ma were sitting on a hillsidehaving a rest and enjoying theirnatural surroundings. They were

watching some birds swooping low overthe ground. They were amazed at howquickly they flew, but were so agile theycould turn in the blink of an eye and justskim the ground. Then, as one of thebirds swooped low a cat suddenly leaptup out of the long grass and caught it inits mouth.

“Wow!” exclaimed Chan, “Did yousee that!” he asked. “What is moreamazing, the birds that can fly so quicklyor the cat that can wait so quietly andthen move so suddenly?”

“I don’t know,” repliedMa, “I just think it’s a bit cruelfor the bird,” he saidglumly. Chan shovedhim playfully, “Cheerup, its only nature,”he said. “I know, butwhy is nature soharsh?” said Ma. “Iknow a story, thatdoes not explainthe world, but ithelps me tounderstand it alittle more, wouldyou like to hear it?”he asked. Manodded and so Chanbegan.

“Once, there were twomonks who were very well knownand considered to be very wise. Onemonk told the other how he liked to goto meditate in the jungle, as he felt soclose to nature. “Really!” said the othermonk, “is that not dangerous? The jungleis the home to many wild tigers, youmight be attacked and eaten!” The firstmonk nodded and said, “This is true, butI want to follow nature and if my fatedetermines that a tiger is to eat me, thenwho am I to try and cheat fate.”

The second monk nodded andsaid, “You are very wise, this is reallybeing at one with nature”. Just then anold scruffy beggar snorted with laughter,“You are both mad!” he chuckled. “I beg

you pardon what would you know aboutbeing at one with the world?” asked thefirst monk.

“Me?” said the beggar, “Oh I amno one in particular, but I have seen alittle of the world. You say you are livingwith nature. We are all living with nature,just as a fish swims in the water. Thetruth is, nature isvery cruel andwants totake

b a c kwhat it has given. This is why only thestrongest survive. The question is really,how do you live with nature? Men canchoose how they live with nature. Mostpeople try to live above nature, and sofight against it. This damages themselvesand the world and has no long termfuture. Others like go along with natureand are swept along in its wake, theydisappear quickly as they cannot standthe ravages of it. There are some thoughwho can live with nature and also standagainst it.”

“What do you mean?” asked thesecond monk. “Well, if you are

meditating and it is too coldwhat will you do?” asked thebeggar in return, “I wouldput on more clothes.” Saidthe monk. “Exactly!” criedthe beggar “It is not wrongto put on more clothes when you arefeeling cold. Only a foolish man wouldthink, it is his fate to be cold and freeze

to death! In fact, you are both monks,you should not just think of

developing yourselves, you shouldalso consider others as well. Howmany people can you help whenyou are in a Tiger’s belly? I amnot as educated as you, but Idon’t think this is the rightway to follow nature.”

The two monkslooked at each other, thebeggar was right. Theyhad just been thinkingabout their owndevelopment and hadbeen quite selfish. Nowthey realised that they hadto live in harmony withnature, but be strong

enough to stand against it.The first monk bowed his

head, “Wise teacher, please…” but when he looked up the

beggar was gone.No one knew who the

beggar was and he was never seenagain. Some people say he must have

been an immortal who was waiting toteach the monks. In the end the monksbecame very famous teachers anddeveloped a very high level. The livedlong lives and helped many people.”

Ma looked at the remaining birds,“So you are saying, life is like that.Nature is both wonderful and cruel, ithas to be to balance. And to live we alsohave to find a balance.” Chan smiled,“Yes that’s right we all have to live withnature, follow it and also stand againstit. Now, nature is telling me it time fordinner.”

And with that the two friends gotup and made their way back to townby Darr yl Moy. darr yl@qimagaz ine.com

To be and not to be ...That’s the Point

To be and not to be ...That’s the Point

How you look at the world determines how you live with it.Is there an answer to life and if so what is the real question?


Flying White Crane

Healthy Living Gong Part IIHealthy Living Gong Part II4. Flying White Crane

i Stand straight with both feet together and your handshanging by your sides. Fig 1

ii Lift both arms up to the side like they are a pair of wings,and at the same time lift up your leg so your knee is atwaist height. Fig 2

iii Slowly drop your arms, but do not close them against thebody completely. Make sure you leave some space. As yourarms drop, slowly drop your left leg and slightly bend yourright leg so the movement is controlled and gentle. Fig 3to 5

iv Repeat the movement alternating with the right leg andthe left leg. Every time you drop your leg, drop your armsas well.

BreathingAs you lift up your arms and leg, breathe in. As you

drop your arms and leg, breathe out.

ConcentrationDo the movements slowly, particularly as you drop your

leg. Try to control your weight and balance as you go down.You must bend your knees as you go down as this will create atremendous amount of Qi. Make sure to leave some spacebetween your arms and body when you lower your arms.

Fig 4 Fig 5 Fig 6

Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3

Continuation of Part II


Flying White CraneBenefit

This is good for your lungs, breathing and balanceand also good for problems such as asthma. Balanceconnects with your brain. As you practise, you should breathein and out through the nose as this will help to strengthenthe lungs. In Qigong, we always hear that the exercisesconnect with the breathing. So if you want to develop thebreathing, you must breathe through the nose and connectit with the movements. This makes the breathing strong,but you must also make sure the breathing comes naturally.When you do this movement, you will find you breathedeeply but the upper body should always be relaxed.

This exercise is the same as others where you needto stand on one leg. This is important for your health asbalance is a key to good health. If someone’s balance failsthem, then it means their health has some problems. Sothey need to work on it and eventually they will be able todo the movements and their health will have improved.This is one of the secrets of Healthy Living Gong. You mustface your problem or weakness and practise regularly andthen your health will improve.

i Step the left foot forwards in a bow stance, weight on the back foot. Hold bothfists loosely with elbows bent and facing to the side. Fig 1 and Fig 2

ii Lean forwards with the weight on the left foot, and extend both arms. The leftleg should be bent and the right leg straight. Fig 3 and Fig 4

iii Push your arms forward as if digging with a shovel. Fig 5iii Shift the weight back onto the right foot, open your hands and bring both

arms up level with your chest and lungs. Fig 6 and Fig 7iv Repeat the movement again as many time as you feel comfortable.v Now repeat the movement on the other side of the body. Fig 8 to 11

History/BackgroundThe famous Chinese medical doctor Hwa Tou (220 BC

to 280 BC) created an exercise called Five Animal Play. Thiscontained movements called the Deer, Bird, Monkey, Tiger andBear. These were very spiritual animals who were very sensitiveto nature and lived in harmony with it.

The Bird exercise is particularly good for the heart, soHwa Tou suggested that we should be like those animals andthen we would be healthier. These movements can heal andprevent many diseases and eventually help us to live longer.So we can see that Chinese Qigong has a lot to do with animalsas does Kung Fu as well.

Whenever an artist draws or carves an animal the mostimportant thing is to catch their spirit as well as their looks.“Flying White Crane” relates to a bird’s movements and so isnot just good for the lungs, it is also good for the heart.

The crane is most commonly seen as representingspiritual energy, while others like the phoenix, peacock andwild goose are also very respected and their movementsmimicked. In China animal movements are often used in bothQigong and martial arts.

5. Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountain

Fig 1 Fig 2

Fig 3


Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountain

BreathingBreathe out as you lean forward;

breathe in as you stand up. When you turnthe body, you can just breathe naturally.

ConcentrationWhen you are standing up, your

weight must be on the back leg with theBaihui and Huiyin point vertical. When youare leaning forward, your weight must beon the front leg with the head, body andback leg forming a straight line. A lot ofpeople will lean the body to the side anddo not form a straight line. This is becausemany people just think the upper bodyshould lean forward and not think of thewhole body. The whole body means fromthe head to the feet. In all movementsfrom Balancing Gong to Dayan Qigong,movements should relate to the wholebody, only sometimes we do not see that.Another thing we need to concentrate onis while leaning forwards we should extendthe arms. When we stand up with palmsopen we need to bend the elbows and alsokeep the arms wide. This is not a simplemovement you need to pay more attentionto the details and then you will be alright.Just remember that all movement shouldcome from the waist.

BenefitThe bigger benefit in this movement is that the Qi will be strong.

This is because the Qi is eventually stored in the bones. A healthyperson will not have weak bones. The bones are the foundation of thebody. It is like the metal bar in the concrete buildings, like the roots ofevery tree. Bones are the support and framework for the body. Wecannot live without bones, although we can live without hair, skin andmuscle. We can even live without some organs, but not without thebones, particularly the spine and the hips. These are central. Westernmedicine still separates the body, treating all the diseases individually.That is why they still use a lot money to develop medicines to curediseases, but they still have a lot trouble. They do not realise themedicine they have invented can become another new disease. Soyou can imagine what would happen in the future. There will be moreand more new diseases. Science is always waiting for a good person tocome forward with illness cures, but I suggest that everybody practisesQigong to strengthen their body. This will save a lot money whichcould be used to help the poor people and countries. Then the worldcan be changed to be a better place.

Developing the bones comes from strengthening the legs. Todaywe sit too much, always in very comfortable chairs. As a result, ourbones are weaker, and so we can become ill easily. In the old timespeople walked a lot and so they did not need to do so much exerciseas they were automatically healthy. Nature is very fair. Rich people donot need to do too much physical work, they enjoy at better livingenvironment, have the best food, but they will get ill more easily thanpoorer people. Often poorer people have less money but less illness.This is because movement make us healthy and make the whole systemof the body works better.

This exercise is good for the bones and the hips. It creates heatin the body and sometimes you will sweat. When this happens yourelease negative energy.

Fig 4

Fig 5

Fig 6

Fig 7


Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountain

History/BackgroundOnce upon a time, there was a 90 year-old man, who

was living in front of two big mountains, called Taixing andWangwu. Every time he went out, he needed to climb overthose mountains to get to town. He then gathered the wholefamily to talk about moving the mountains. His wife laughedat him “You are too old and weak. You can’t even move asmall hill. How can you move those two mountains? Also wherewill you dump those soil and rocks?” Some of the family said,“We can dump it at Bo Sea and Yin Land.” The rest of thefamily agreed with the old man. Then they started to movethe mountains. In the village even some of widows and childrenbegan to help him.

There was a wise man who laughed at him and said“You are foolish. How can you move those mountains. Youcannot affect them." The old man looked at the wise man said“ I know I can’t move the mountains in my lifetime, but mysons will carry on. My sons have sons, their sons will also havesons and so on, but the mountains will not get more and

bigger. In the end the mountains will be moved.” The wiseman could not answer the old man because he was right.They moved the soil and rocks month after month, year afteryear. The King of Heaven was impressed by the old man andtold his two sons to move the moutain, one to the west andone to the east. Today you can see these mountains. One ison the east and the other is on the west of China.

When I was in the primary school, we all studied thisstory so we could learn Chinese vocabulary. First we listenedto the story and then we had to learn it by heart. We did nottake it seriously, but today I am impressed by the story becauseit teaches us that hard work leads to success even if someonethinks you are foolish.Some people may think a thing foolishwhen it is not and some people may think a thing wise whenit is really foolish. Chinese education tells both sides.

The movement cames from this story, so it is not justfor health, but also learning the philosophy behind it. It tellsus not to worry so much about what others think but trustourself if we know we are right.to be continued... by Michael Tse

Fig 8 Fig 9

Fig 10 Fig 11


I find that gardening is one of the fewthings in which I can lose myself andempty my mind. I feel at peace sitting

under the mango tree and getting dirtyfrom head to foot as I transplant, andweed and plan borders. It somehow islike going back to being a child againbut with an adult’s wisdom.

Last weekend I was surprised tofind I had spent six hours straight doingthe gardening. I had not even noticedthe time going as I was enjoying so much.Later, as I swept up the debris and gavea good drink to the new members ofthe family, I could not help but wanderaround touching the leaves of old andnew friends alike. I loved how therosemary was reaching ever higher,almost as if it knew I liked to strokeits leaves on the way to my morningpractise, enjoying the fragrance ofits clear scent.

I was pleased to see thenight blooming jasmine producingblossoms yet again, and I kepttouching the allspice tree whoseleaves smelled of cinnamon andcloves, wondering how large itwould reach in the days ahead.

But these are the successfulsand hope to be successes. Thereare many others I have mademistakes with, like the palm trees Igot to be a barrier between mybedroom and my neighbor’s grimstone wall. They had gotten so largethat they kept scraping against thewindow at night and it was verydisturbing. So I thought that it would begood to separate the five pots of them,which had been stacked cheek andcheek, further away from the window.They would still block the wall, but havemore space to spread and grow. The firstthing that happened was that the windkept blowing them over. And as the windblows up that side of the mountain almostcontinuously, it also took its toll on notjust the end plant, but on each one ofthem as they all been separated fromits buddy.

Three weeks later, they havebecome yellowed and scraggly and losing

their vigour. They do not retain water asthe wind dries them too quickly. I feltbad, of course, and today moved themback together, all them looking weatherbeaten and a bit miffed with me. It mademe see that there are many lessons oflife to be learned from natureif we stop to look, listen

and absorb.Together, the palms had done fine,

even in adverse conditions because theyall could draw strength from each other.Humans are the same. We all needsomething or someone. Buddhism andDaoism say we have to go through thingsalone, that ultimately we die alone aswe are born alone. However, I find thisnot quite true. Even in that aloneness,there are ancestors and sages to protectand sutras and teachers to guide. Weneed to find our own centre and need toface and solve our problems ourself, butthere is a connectedness with everything

in the universe and that is why each andevery action we think and do has itsresult.

When another person has wealthand abuses the priveleges that wealthhas brought, then it will create jealousy

elsewhere. So the person who hasthat wealth should be mindfulof the gift he has been givenand think how not only he canbenefit, but can he helpothers.

Sometimes I wonderwhat is my purpose here.How can I help others?Sometimes I offer to helpsomeone and find that theyalready have someone tohelp. I see others doing kindthings but find that I have notdone enough myself. Then Irealise, I am looking in otherpeople’s gardens and notoffering the fruit from owngarden. My own garden is notperfect and it has weeds andslugs but it also has thingsthat other’s gardens do nothave. If I look at what I haveto offer, it seems that ishelping others to be healthy.

Being close to a Master,sometimes I find I look at hisgarden and think my garden will

never be as beautiful as his oreven as nice as those of my seniors.

I see people enjoying the fruit fromtheir planting and think what I have tooffer is not ripe enough or too ordinary.But as one of my friends said,‘Comparison leads to misery’. I firmlybelieve this and I believe that we cancreate our own suffering through ourwrong thinking. So I have to learn howto get rid of my weeds and make theflowers and fruits in my own garden grow.I need to learn not to want things thatwill not grow in my own garden but becontent with what does grow best andthen share it with others. Gardening isnot just for outside, but for insideourselves as well

by Sihnkei. Sihnkei@qimagaz ine.com

It has been many years since I have had a garden to play in andpretend I know what I am doing, so I feel fortunate to be living in a placewhere I stick my hands in the soil once again.

No Greener GrassNo Greener Grass


We continue our series on basic self defence and introduce some Qinna or lockingtechniques. Begin by practising slowly and always take care not to use too much force otherwiseyou can hurt your partner.

Basic Self DefenceQinna: LockingBasic Self DefenceQinna: Locking

Elbow Roll

i Your opponent throws a straight left punch towards your chin. Fig 1ii Catch his wrist with your left hand and grasp it firmly. Fig 2iii Pull his arm towards you whilst twisting your wrist so the palm is up.iv At the same time, contact his elbow with your right wrist and roll his arm over whilst putting downward pressure

on to it. Fig 3Repeat the technique on both sides until it is smooth and natural.

i As your opponent punches you with his right hand,block it with your right hand and grasp his wrist. Fig 4

ii Throw your left hand outside his right swinging it overhis arm.

iii Sink your weight down and press down on his shoulderwith your left hand. Make sure to use your left handto help control his right arm. Fig 5Again practise on both sides until you feel comfortable.

Arm Bar

i Your opponent punches towards your stomachwith his right hand.

ii Block this with your left hand and control hisarm with a firm grip. Fig 6

iii Having been blocked, he will then try andwithdraw his arm, as he does so, step forwardswith your right leg and quickly throw your rightarm up under his right elbow. Fig 7

Shoulder Lock

Fig 1

Fig 2

Fig 3

Fig 4 Fig 5

Fig 6 Fig 7


Fig 8

Fig 9

Fig 10 Fig 11 Fig 12

Fig 13 Fig 14

Fig 15 Fig 16

iv Continue stepping round with your left foot, so that youmove around him and are now facing his back. Fig 8

v Push his arm up with your left hand whilst putting outwardspressure on his shoulder with your right arm. Fig 9This technique requires careful timing and quick foot work.

Head Lock

i This time instead of trying to strike you, your opponent attempts to grab your left leg so he can throw you down. Fig 10ii Quickly reach over with your right hand catching hold of his chin and place your left hand on the top of his head. You must

keep a firm stance otherwise you will lose your balance. Fig 11iii Use both hands to twist his head round, thus he will release his grip of your leg. Fig 12

This technique requires great care, to use it is dangerous to both yourself and your opponent.

Neck Choke

i As your opponent punches towards you, block with youropposite hand and grab his wrist. Fig 13

ii Quickly step behind him, reaching round his head so youhave a good hold.Fig 14

iii Place your leg between his and at the same time pull hiswrist back and put pressure on his throat. Fig 15 - 16Once again, great care must taken when using this technique

as it is very dangerous. You should seek proper tuition in orderto use it.

by Xai Bai Hwa


Qigong trains the mind, breathing,and body (posture) so these are thethree essentials. The mind must

remain calm and clear with a positiveattitude. This is dependent on sinking theQi to the Dantian, where it is stored anddeveloped. If Qi remains in the upperbody you may feel pressure in the chest,causing difficulty with breathing, whichleads to anxiety. If it remains in the headyou will feel pressure, and sufferheadaches or insomnia, and find totalrelaxation impossible to attain. Onlywhen Qi is stable within the Dantian doyou feel comfortable and balanced.

Without proper breathing Qigongis merely stretching exercises, and thebenefits are limited. Generally, breathingis through the nose, which connects withthe Dantian, facilitating deep respirationand sinking of Qi. The mouth shouldremain closed to help reconnect the Renand Du channels (broken at birth) andreform one unbroken channel, Xiao ZhouTian (Small Heavenly Circuit). A maximof Chinese medicine also states, “Alldisease enters through the mouth”. Thenose filters the air and warms it before itreaches the lungs.

When the back is straight theinternal body can relax. The Baihui point(at the crown of the head) and the Wuyinpoint (between the legs) should form astraight line. This smoothes the Chongchannel (running through the very centreof the body), which connects with theDantian. Chinese medicine states,” If theposture is not correct, the Qi cannot flowfreely. If the Qi does not flow freely themind cannot become tranquil. If the mindis not tranquil the Qi will disperse”.

The body’s fluids belong insidethe body, especially the vital substancessuch as the blood and semen. Theseessences are the foundation of health;there is no spirit without vitality, and novitality without essence. Physical exercisewhich causes dehydration, throughprofuse sweating, is contradictory toQigong theory, and even excessive boutsof crying leave a person feelingexhausted.

For the best results Qigong shouldbe practised at regular times (so yourbody becomes accustomed to theroutine) and at the same place (as youcreate a Qi field which benefits yourpractice). Ideal times are early morning(when yin energy changes to yang) or

evening

( v i ceversa). These hours are more conduciveto Qigong as the air is cleaner, theenergy is calmer, and the environmentis quieter.

Persistence is the key to success.This requires self-discipline. It is said thatQigong masters practice 24 hours a day,which is not to be taken literally butmeans that even when they are notexercising or meditating they arefollowing the principles (i.e. maintaininga calm mind, deep breathing, and goodposture) whether at work or at homerelaxing, while walking and eating etc.

Qigong training means to testyour Qi and occasionally experienceadversity. This makes the body strongerinternally and enables the body to adaptto changing situations. Too much comfortmakes the body weak and dependenton certain conditions. Experiencepractising in the cold or in light rain, trainhorse-stance etc. Begin in small amountsand increase as your body becomesstronger. Between 3 and 4 a.m., when

most people are sleeping, the body isat its weakest. If you can practice at

this time you will find it beneficialand your level will improve.

Also it is vital to cultivategood moral character. You musttrain with a good heart and apure mind. Benevolence,humility, honesty, and othervirtues must be maintained.Over time Qigong does improvethe student’s character andnature, but a bad student (one

who cannot give respect or isselfishly motivated etc.) without

strict guidance will never developa high standard.

You should never beimpatient for quick results as this

causes restlessness and anxiety, whichis contrary to the principles andtherefore impedes your progress.

There are no short-cuts. Qigong is anevolving process, not a quick fix like aweight-loss or body-building programme.The hardest lesson is to just relax, andlet everything come naturally, in its owntime. Also, even if your time is limitedyou should never rush your own practice.

Save your energy, using it onlywhen necessary, and balance rest withactivity. If you always follow the naturalway, maintain a balanced and positivemental attitude, and adhere to theprinciples then you are assured successwith Qigong which is a long life spent ingood health and happiness. Qigong ismore than exercise: It is a philosophy, away of life

by Adam Wallace.adam@qimagaz ine .c om

Success with Qigong depends on following certain principles. Failure todo so not only diminishes the positive long-term effects but can even causeunwanted side-effects.

Principles of Qigong PracticePrinciples of Qigong Practice

QiM

att

ers


Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty loved to hearstories from those who had travelled afar. Oneday a man came and talked over wine. One of

the things he said that he had heard caught theEmperor’s ear. The traveller asserted that the liver of ahorse is highly toxic and capable of poisoning people. YuGong, who was listening to their conversation, laughed andsaid, “How ridiculous! When in the body of horse, the liverdoes not cause the horse to die does it?”

The stranger retorted in jest, “Well, I have never seena horse that lives as long as a man, say one hundred.Have you?” he asked Yu Gong. “This is due toits liver,” the stranger said.

Yu Gong was suddenly won over. Sincehe had a horse himself, he went out andremoved its liver and promptly the horse died.Yu Gong then threw down his knife andremarked with a sad sigh, “Indeed, its livermust have been poisonous, since the horsecould not live long after its removal.Obviously, it would have been even worse ifthe thing had been allowed to remain insidethe body of the horse!”

Pre-EmptiveSurgery


31. In the living room, if yourtelevision is diagonal to two walls orparallel to the wall where no one canwalk behind, this will bring up thehappiness and harmony with the peoplewho live there.

32. If your television is next to thedoor beside where people walk in andout, then it will create disruption andargument in your life.

33. If your television is in the middleof the living room, it will make you losedirection and concentration.

34. If your television is hung on thewall, this will create a balance for peopleliving there. However, it should be a wallyou are not going to use for other things.

Your living room is one of the most important rooms in your house.Often your home is centred around it and you spend most of your timewith your family init. So it is important that the Feng Shui is right.

Feng Shui for the Living RoomPart III

Feng Shui for the Living Room

The TV in the corner

The TV in the middle of theroom is both strange andbad for your Feng Shui

The TV with no wires showing

The TV with messy wireson show


35. If your television has a lot of wiresand cables visible, then it will create alot of confusion and wasting time in yourlife. Things will not be smooth.

36. When you are watching yourtelevision and you cannot see any cablessticking out, then everything will besmooth.

37. If your living room has a lot ofpaintings and decorations on the wall andyou can hardly see any space, then itmeans your life will be very busy andwill not have very much rest.

38. If the painting and decorations onthe wall have a lot of active themes, suchas sports, popular actors and stars, itmeans your life will go up and down,sometimes good, sometimes bad.

39. If the paintings have a lot ofscenery and nature themes, it will bringyou good health and harmony and bringup the spiritual side of your life.

40. If your wall has nothing on it, onlya few things, it shows your finances willhave problem and you will have a limitedsocial life

by Michael Tse

Fen

gSh

ui

“It means your life will bevery busy and will nothave very much rest.”

The TV inext to a doorway

Too many decorations will affect your energy

A sporting picture like a racing car willmake your energy go up and down.Whereas a natural scene will have abalancing effect on your Feng Shui


TWINING HANDS BAGUAPart I : London 18 Jan / Manchester : 19 Jan

Part II : London 15 Feb / Manchester : 16 Feb 12-4pmIn Chinese medicine, the liver relates to the emotion of anger. This form helps

to release any stagnant liver Qi and improves blood circulation in the body.For ladies particularly, the liver is a very important organ. Its normal function

will help maintain good health and will help balance the emotions.

TAIJI, QIGONG ANDWING CHUN INTRODUCTIONLon: 1 Feb 11am to 12.30pm / Man: 8 Feb 1 to 2.30pmIf you have always wanted to try one of these martial arts or sample some Qigong, this is your opportunity. You can try all or focus on onediscipline in this short course. All are welcome, even advanced and current students.Qigong: Ancient Chinese health exercises which will help restore harmony in the body by getting rid of sick Qi (energy) and replacing withfresh Qi. Meditation also included.Taiji: Everyone has heard of Taiji and seen it as well. This style is from the Chen family and differs some from other styles as it utilises morespiral energy from the waist. It creates a lot of warmth in the body and can also be used for self defence as well as a health exercise.

SWIMMINGDRAGON GONGHawaii: Part I: 25 Jan, 12-4pmHawaii: Part II: 1 Mar, 12-4pmIf your back is stiff and tired, maybe your kidneys areweak. The kidneys are very important as they create your “Jing” andstore your Prenatal Energy. Swimming Dragon can strengthen thekidneys and also develop the hidden potential. A very dynamic form

JADE PILLAR GONGGothenburg: 29/30 March

Jade Pillarrefers to the

spine which isvery important forour flexibility. We

should be able to moveup, down, forward,

backward, low or highwith ease even as we grow

older. This forms helps tomake the legs stronger and

loosen the spine bycombining strong and low

postures with light andgentle postures.

Barbro Olsson & Stefan Eekenulv31 711 98 08

For more information contact:Tse Qigong Centre (UK)

PO Box 59 Altrincham WA15 8FSTel 0161 929 4485 /Fax 0161 929 4489

[email protected]

Tse Qigong Centre (USA)PO Box 15807 Honolulu HI 96830

Tel (808) 528 8501/Fax (928) 441 [email protected]

FALLING LEAFGONGLondon: 7/8 DecemberPart Qigong, partTaijiquan and partDrunken Fist, thisform is like a leaffalling from a treeto a river, spiralling,letting go and free.It uses imbalanceand letting go toimprove balance,good for the joints,knees and the brain.This is the first time this formhas been taught.Cost in adv: members of Tse Qigong Centre £140.Non-members £185. On day add £10.

XING SAUNorwich: 23/24 NovemberXing Sau is an exciting and dynamic form from theNorthern Shaolin Chunyuen System. It is very goodfor improving the posture and makes the body fithealthy and strong. When you are healthy you willfeel light and this means your body is younger andmore energetic.Contact Julian Wilde on 01603 465189

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