Why You Shouldn't Practice Iron Shirt Qigong

The Shaolin Temple is famous for its hard Qigong styles such as Iron Shirt or Shaolin Steel Jacket. When a student comes to me and asks to learn, I ask, what is your motivation? Our motivation is one of the most important aspects of this practice. Some people think of Iron Shirt as something cool to do or an experience like sky diving or a way for their ego to believe this is a high form of Qigong and therefore by doing Iron Shirt they're an accomplished martial artist

Iron Shirt can only be practiced after training in the preliminaries. The student must have exceptional fitness, mastered - at a minimum - The Eight Treasures Form and all of the Shaolin stances. If a student can run 10k then train intensively for an hour afterwards, only then, may they be ready to learn.

Shaolin training is some of the hardest in the world. Anyone who trains with my kung fu DVDs experiences this first hand. If they become disheartened this means they are not training with belief in themselves. If we don't challenge our mind and body then our mind and body will never achieve inner peace and internal and external strength. Under no circumstance should you lose hope in what your mind and body can accomplish. Shaolin training is like the fire that forges metal, forging our mind and body, cutting away our ego and our desire for an experience. It's only then that we enter the real practice which is to practice just to practice.

I made my Iron Shirt DVD with reluctance. Disturbed by the misinformation I saw on the internet and encouraged by my faithful students who have been studying with my graded DVDs for  many years, most of whom I've never met, I decided that it was time to share my more than twenty years knowledge of Iron Shirt.

Iron Shirt Qigong is only for those martial artists who dedicate their life to the art. It's boring. It's lonely. It's tough mentally and physically. It teaches us the limits of our mind and body and how to go beyond them. It's potentially dangerous and if we're not careful we can easily get injured.

If you're thinking of learning, ask yourself, what is your motivation? Have you mastered 8 Treasures so you know it so well you can do it backwards? Have you trained in Upper and Lower Body Qigong? This is a combination of hard and soft Qigong. You can still use the metal brush for these practice as a massage before moving on to Iron Shirt so long as you warm up with the bamboo brush. This will give you a taste of what hard Qigong is. We live in a shopping market culture where there are many things on offer. We must use this information wisely and not get lost in it. Learning lots of new things only keeps us busy. It's best to master one thing and know it well.

For more information on the graded path to Shaolin please visit: www.shifuyanlei.com

Body Conditioning & Qigong Self-Massage - Metal Massage Brush

For many years, my on-line students have asked me to provide them with the metal brush they have seen me using in my book and DVDs. I have been reluctant to do this without seeing the student first because this metal brush is not like the bamboo brush, if used incorrectly, it can cause damage to the body.

The person who uses this brush needs to be trained correctly and train with responsibility. But now that many of my students have followed all of the training from my first DVD through to my fifteenth, I feel, if their body is telling them they are ready to use this brush, then they are.

This is a professional brush, only to be used by highly trained martial artists, fighters, Qigong masters. It is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18, pregnant women, old people or health seekers. The Instant Health bamboo massage brush is perfect for most people and they should continue to use this rather than change to this metal brush.  The bamboo brush is safe to use for all people.

I had this metal brush hand-made to my specific specifications. It was difficult to find someone who could make it for me, and I only have a limited number available. This is a very heavy metal brush, it weighs about 1.6 kg and has 108 metal rods. Shaolin Temple is carved in Chinese on the end of the brush. If used correctly, it will last a lifetime.

Safety Guidelines for Using The Metal Massage Brush

1) The brush needs to be cleaned with a soft cloth before use. 


2) The brush must never be used on the head, face or any other sensitive area.


3) Keep the brush in a private place away from children and adults.


4) Never share the brush with another person.


5) Never use this brush without doing Qigong first. 


6) Warm up with the bamboo brush first then move onto the metal brush.


7) Do not use this brush for body conditioning unless you have had direct training from a qualified master.


8) Only use this brush for self-massage after the Qigong Forms that I teach on my DVDs.


9) Your body should feel happy when you massage. Listen to your body. If something feels wrong or there is any pain, stop immediately. 


10) Exercise extreme caution. Remember, this brush has the potential to damage your internal organs. Make sure you know and understand what you are doing. If in doubt, seek advice from a qualified instructor. 

I teach five Qigong forms that can be used with this brush. They can be found on the following DVDs:
The Way of Qigong Volume 1,2, & 3
Qigong For Upper Body & Lower Body
And in my book:
Instant Health: The Shaolin Qigong Workout For Longevity 

I also teach Iron Shirt for advanced practioners.

Apart from Qigong Volume 1, all of the above give precise instructions as to how to do the Instant Health Massage. The instructions are the same for the bamboo brush and the metal brush. If you are using the metal brush, warm up with the bamboo brush first. The metal brush gives a deeper vibration to the bones.

I've also made this video to give more clarification on the different uses of the brushes. This is only for a guide and is not a teaching video. Please refer to my teaching DVDs and books for correct instructions on the self-massage.

The metal massage brush is available from my website.