UNDERSTANDING QIGONG DVD 4


 4 SEASONS QIGONG

YMAA PRODUCTION • DR. YANG, JWING-MING • “UNDERSTANDING QIGONG DVD4” • WRITTEN & PERFORMED BY DR. YANG, JWING-MING • EDITING AND DVD AUTHORING BY OCEAN SILVER • PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY DR. YANG, JWING-MING AND DAVID SILVER

 

Understanding Qigong DVD4 is the latest and most bountiful DVD of the Understanding Qigong series.    Master Yang's understanding of Qigong has grown exponentially over the years, evident in the fruits of his labors, DVDs, videos and books that he has shared with his students and readers.   Fortunately, along with his growth in knowledge is equally strong growth in passing along the knowledge in ways that the average student can assimilate and find useful in their lives.   I've always believed that true teaching involves being able to bring the student to an understanding of the process involved, as opposed to being able to merely recite the correct answer.   

Over the years Master Yang's ability to pass on an understanding of the "key" to the knowledge being presented, has grown along with his own understanding.   Many people claim to extensively study or practice the particular art or skill that they profess to embrace.  Yet when you see the fruits of their efforts, they are not healthy or bountiful. 

Master Yang cites the numerous ancient texts that he has studied in his quest for mastery. When his teaching products are reviewed, it becomes obvious that he can "walk the talk".  He is able to link the ancient Eastern knowledge with equally valuable modern Western knowledge.    Master Yang is truly a dynamic and committed teacher.   His dedication to the sharing of correct knowledge is something I am so thankful for. 

One basic theme of this DVD is "Use it or lose it".   Just as stagnant water is not healthy, the body also needs to have movement to keep itself healthy.   Due to today's modern society the majority of people have lost their daily contact with nature and live in an artificially designed world.    Master Yang explains how in the past roads were not flat and smooth, but were hilly with rough and bumpy sections.   Walking on this uneven surface helped the ligaments, tendons and connective tissue to stay strong and flexible.  

The roads that many people use today for jogging and exercising are perfectly smooth and flat, consequently resulting in only a small part of the connective tissue being used and strengthened.    In a similar vein, I've always believed that people that work out with free weights are stronger than those who use weight lifting machines.    In free weights, the person has to balance the weight from side to side and forward to back, as well as lifting the weight vertically.   With a weight lifting machine, it balances the weight for you, resulting in less of a workout for the connective tissue. 

Over the years I've found that persons who lift free weights have more ability to neutralize a Qin Na move on their wrist than those who use machines for weight lifting.    This is due to the strengthening of the connective tissue and muscles when having to balance the weight as well as lift it.

Master Yang provides very powerful arguments for linking lack of movement to modern day medical problems, such as cancer.    Someone very close to me who was not exercising had reached the point where she could not lift her arms above her head.   Within a year or two she developed breast cancer.    Master Yang talks about how important it is for women to learn upper body exercises to heal the body and prevent cancer from developing in the first place.    Men are advised to use their legs properly in order to help prevent colon cancer.    Corresponding exercises are demonstrated and explained for the various yin organs of the body.

The exercises on the DVD are excellent.     Even if they were just demonstrated, with no explanation, it would be a wonderful collection of valuable, effective and useful exercises.  But Master Yang goes much further than just a demo tape, he provides extensive and thorough explanations of the various movements and their specific health benefits for the various yin organs.   This is not someone just mimicking the movements and putting out a video, but rather a master who is taking the time and energy to properly and fully present the material.    Master Yang's growing understanding of these concepts is so very much in evidence while watching this DVD.

Master Yang tells a personal story about his mother experiencing the beginning stages of Alzheimer's Disease and how she began to lose her memory.    After not seeing her for a few years, he was surprised to discover that she was no longer having problems with her memory.    His mother told him that when she realized she was beginning to have memory problems, she would make a practice every day of trying to memorize phone numbers of all their friends and relatives.    From using her brain every day in such a manner, it became more active, more electricity (Qi) was reaching the brain, and her memory became healthy again.   When you use your muscles or your brain, you make electricity and oxygen move in your body.   This leads to a healthy organism and helps prevent problems from arising as you grow older.

 Master Yang provides information about the role of fascia, which being a poor conductor, separates and shields different parts of the body which operate at different energy levels and different functions.    Fascia surrounds the diaphragm, which is a good conductor, expanding and contracting constantly second by second throughout the day and night.    Master Yang points out that a good conductor sandwiched between poor conductors satisfies the definition of a battery.    This is the middle dan tien.

In the upper half of the body are found the lungs and the heart, surrounding the heart is a sac, which is referred to in Chinese Medicine as the pericardium.   The Chinese doctors believe that the pericardium is so important that it is not part of the heart, but rather a separate organ.

Master Yang explains that the heart is like an engine, and the pericardium is like the cooling system.  

I like the fact that master Yang does not denigrate the Western modern science alternative, but rather, showing that it is a part of the whole, it can be used to further our understanding of how the channels in the body work, or to better see the structure of the meridians and the vessels.   Master Yang states that the Chinese theories on energy are two thousand years old, and he believes that modern technology can enhance this ancient knowledge.

Even if you are experienced in Qigong, or a beginner, start with DVD1 of the series and watch them in order.    And then, most importantly as Master Yang points out, "just do it".   A wonderful series on Qigong and a necessity for anyone studying internal martial arts/external martial arts or body energy work, such as Qigong.

 

The table of contents is as follows:

  1. Herbs and Food

  2. Sounds

  3. Breathing

  4. Meditation

  5. Exercises

  6. Chinese Documents

  7. Song Dynasty

  8. Yuan Dynasty

  9. Ming Dynasty

  10. Qing Dynasty

  11. Qi and Qigong

  12. Upper Body and Lower Body

  13. 12 Qi Channels

  14. 6 Yin & 6 Yang

  15. 12 Qi Channels Circulation       

 

  1. Both Hands Hold up the Heaven

  2. Large Dragon Loosens its Neck

  3. Buddha Explores the Sea

  4. Circle the Waist Horizontally

  5. Regulate the Middle & Lower Burners

  6. Loosening the Upper Burner

  7. White Crane Loosens its Wings

  8. White Crane Shakes its Wings

  1. Forward and Backward Swinging Arms

  2. Left and Right Windlasses Turn

  3. Feudal Lord Pulls the Bow

  4. Immortal Pushes the Stone Tablet

  5. Large Roc Arcs its wings

  6. Large Roc Spreads its Wings

  7. Shake the Head and Swing the Tail

  8. Baby Bird Receives the Food

  9. Crane Shakes its Wings

 

  1. Two Hands Hold the Toes

  2. Phoenix Spreads its Wings

  3. Turn the Head to see the Moon

  4. Large Bear Softens the Waist

  1. Left Right Single Lifting

  2. White Ape Picks up the Peach

  3. Loltan Bows

  4. Zhong Wan Up and Down

 

Copyright 2007 Patrick H. Dickson • All Rights Reserved