What Is Qigong (Chi Gong Ki Gong) ?

Ask The Shifu - Part 1

These are some of the questions I regularly get asked via email from my students. You can ask me questions by email: info@shifuyanlei.co.uk. 

Q: What are the proper times to do Qigong?

A: The only times that are not optimal for practicing Qigong is between 11- 12 in the morning and 11  - 12 in the night. If there is heavy rain or thunder then you should refrain from doing Qigong.

Q: How many times should I practice Qigong if I'm a beginner?

A: This depends on what you want to get out of Qigong. The first thing is you need to remember the movement and secondly you need to make the movement correct. If you don't spend enough time mastering the movement then you can't reap the benefit of the practice. Qigong is for your health so you should do it at least four times a week. Quality is better than quantity so a 20 minute fully focused session is better than one hour. It's best if you can make Qigong into a daily routine the same as if you eat your lunch or dinner and then it will be automatic and you don't need to think about it.

Q: Should I wait a number of days after sexual activity before doing Qigong?

A: Qigong builds up your Yang energy and sexual activity uses Yang energy so many people believe that there needs to be a number of days between practicing Qigong and having sex but this isn't necessarily true. For the Qigong that I teach in my DVDs and book , having sexual activity and doing Qigong is not a problem unless you are very weak. If you do practice Qigong then it is necessary that you don't have sex for 100 days. If you are not very strong and you want to build your Yang energy then it's good to stop having sex for at least 30 days when you are building up your practice. People's bodies are different. Focus on what your body is feeling. There are no rules.

Q: How many times should I be practicing the Qi Gong from the beginner DVD before I can move onto the next DVD?

A: Once the movement feels natural and your body feels as if it is getting the benefit and you will never forget this movement so you can swap the movements around  and you know exactly when to inhale and exhale then you are ready to move onto the second DVD. Once you know the forms from all of the Qigong's you can then practice different forms at different times.

Q: Is it safe to practice Qigong without the supervision of a Shifu?

A: It depends on what Qigong you practice. The qigong I teach on my DVDs and books is safe but there are some Qigongs that you can't learn from a DVD or book such as Shaolin Steel Jacket and other hard Qigongs.

Q: Most Shaolin masters seem to be vegetarian, is this true?

A: The Shaolin masters who I know that do martial arts are not vegetarian but they are very in tune with their body and know what food they need to eat to get a proper balanced diet optimal for their training. In the temple we are vegetarian but if we go out of the temple grounds then we do sometimes eat meat.

Q: Do you do weight lifting? Is weight lifting good for martial arts?

A: I don't do weight lifting. I use my body weight to do exercise. Lifting can be good but it depends on how you use it. You need to be clever. If you are a martial artist you need to be flexible, your punch and kick need to quick and strong so you need to make your body lean. When you use weights you have to know what you want. If you want to build up power then you need to use light weights & do more reps. If you want to build up strength then you have to use very heavy weights for a short time.

Q: What kind of diet do you have?

A: Your diet depends on what your are doing, are you training or not? All my life I have trained so my diet is very simple. If I train very early in the morning this means I can't cook breakfast and wait an hour before training so I make an energy drink with four or five different nuts, milk or soya milk or coconut milk, four of five fruits and vegetables like banana, carrots, or apple. I put this all in a food processor and drink it. Then I train for two hours. This gives me enough energy to do my training. Throughout the day I eat nuts and fruit to keep my energy up. For lunch I eat a very big meal which usually consists of meat, rice and vegetables . I eat less for dinner, sometimes just five different fruits. If I train later in the morning then I will eat my dinner for breakfast. I think it's best to eat heavy food earlier rather than in the evening. 

Shaolin Xi Sui Gong

“Bodhidharma travelled to the East to teach these two Yi Jin and Xi Sui classics. A bird like the crane is able to live long, an animal like the fox can be immortal, a human who cannot learn from these classics is worse than the birds and animals.”

The Mind and Body of a Buddha

Ee Jin Jing makes your muscles and tendons strong, flexible, fast and powerful while building up the health of your internal organs. Xi means wash and Sui means bone marrow.  Xi Sui  means clean your bone marrow. The aim of Xi Sui Gong is to detoxify the body and cleanse the unhealthy aspects of the mind. The highest aim is to help us reach enlightenment and give us the mind and body of a Buddha. But even if we can’t gain enlightenment in this lifetime, the least this Qi Gong can do is give us a long, healthy, and peaceful life.

Connecting With Our True Nature 

It is vitally important that we use our heart to train, not just our body. We can train as regularly and as hard as we like but if our heart isn’t present then we will never improve our skill or get the benefit from Qi Gong or Kung Fu. Whether it’s Shaolin, Karate or Taekwondo, the aim of any martial arts is to awaken us to our true nature. Our true nature can only be found in the here and now. Our martial art helps  to plant us in the present moment. This can sometimes be uncomfortable because it confronts us with who we truly are. But once we’ve broken through our smaller self, Qigong helps us to go beyond our small individual selves and find a connection with the very fabric of the Universe. It does not give us anything new; it simply connects us with the body’s internal power and automatic wisdom that already exists within us.

If we train mindlessly then we may as will join a gym and watch TV while listening to music and running on the treadmill. There’s nothing wrong with that kind of training if all you want from your workout is to get fit but it’s certainly not the type of training which will increase our martial arts skill and power.

The Power of Concentration

The more we can concentrate, the more benefit we can gain from Qi Gong. Every movement of Xi Sui Jing is done from a sitting position, this sitting position helps us to develop patience.

When you begin to run through the movements, your mind will be busy at first. This is natural. But as you focus on the breath and the movement together this will calm the mind and you will begin to feel peaceful. This calming of the mind cleanses the mind. With a clean mind, the mind and body can then begin to work in harmony. Once the mind and body are working in harmony, the body can start to self-regulate

itself, unblocking the channels and preventing disease from building up in the body.

Our Body Is Our Own Doctor

This is why we say that our body is our own doctor, the Qi Gong gives us access to the medicine. But this all happens unconsciously. Our body will start to feel better of its own accord without us having to intervene in any way.

This has led many people to shun conventional medicine in favor of Qi Gong or other alternative medicines but I believe we should use the best of both worlds. If a person is suffering from an illness I recommend that they combine  Western medicine with Qi Gong so that it’s not an alternative approach but more of a complimentary approach.

The Challenge

There is a famous story in China about a Ch’an master who was famous for his meditation and a Shaolin martial artist who was famous for his martial arts. One day the Shaolin master challenged the Ch’an master as he belived his skill was much better than that of the Ch’an master. The Ch’an master chose a narrow ledge at the edge of a high mountain, one wrong step and the person would fall to their death. Because they were both unskilled in archery they decided it would be fair if they challenged themselves in this way. The Shaolin master went first, he stood at the edge of the mountain but when he placed the arrow into the bow he couldn’t stop himself from looking down and he became scared at the thought of plunging to his death. This fear meant that he failed to hit the target. The Ch’an master took the bow and arrow, stood at the edge of the mountain, and hit the target perfectly. The Shaolin master was amazed and asked him what his secret was so that he could improve his skill. The Ch’an master said, “No thinking. No reason. Just do.”

No thinking. No reason. Just do.

This is exactly what we must apply to our practice. EE Jin Jing makes our body like stone. Xi Sui Jing turns our body into a Buddha. But we need to practice and find this out for ourselves.

Qi Lifting

Higher level students learn Qi lifting which mixes internal and external together. They practice Qi and at the same time they use Qi. This kind of Qi Gong can only be transmitted master to master. This takes karma and the student needs to be ready. In China powerful businessmen and politicians learn this Qi Gong because they know that the health of their mind and body is the most important thing. But this higher level can never be reached without first learning the authentic Shaolin forms that I teach on my Qigong DVDs. Without learning these forms we can never reach the higher levels.

Shaolin Xi Sui Jing Qi Gong is taught on The Way Of Qi Gong Volume Two. 

The Power of Desire: How To Find A Way To Love The Things You Hate

In order to shoot my book: Instant Health: The Shaolin Qigong Workout For Longevity, I had to train harder than I usually train because I knew that I had to climb mountains with heavy camera equipment and lights and when I got to the top I had to perform Shaolin movements and jumps and kicks over and over again so it would look perfect for the book.

Before I left for China, as well as my regular Shaolin training I stepped up my stamina training. At six am in the morning there I would be on the treadmill running for one and a half hours. I began to dread the treadmill and half-way through my training I really felt sick at the sight of that treadmill!

In order to continue my training, I had to find a way to replace hate with love. I did this is by setting daily challenges for myself to run faster or further and when I achieved them I felt happy. If I had kept up the "I hate the treadmill" attitude then I would have lost my physical strength and energy. From this experience I realised an important lesson. My desire to make a good book over-ruled any objections that I had to training hard and that is the reason I found ways to keep going.

We are ruled by desire. Desire is a powerful energy which we can use in our training. Whether you are a serious martial artist or you have just picked up my martial art's DVDs with a vague interest in Qigong or getting fit, the desire is the same. We all want to live long, healthy and happy life. Shaolin training helps us to achieve this.

You may have other goals: self-defence, lose weight, get fit or be a great martial artist. Shaolin can help you do this too. But these are long term goals and we need to use the energy of desire that is right here now.

Utilise this energy into small goals and achievements. Replace negative self-talk with positive attitudes. Try swapping " I hate" to "I love" and let your mind find a way to love what you hate. Let your mind be as flexible as your body. Challenge yourself. Even if you only practice a little Qigong every now and again, begin to see yourself as a true Shaolin warrior and keep in touch with the real warrior not only when you train but when you are at work or with your family or at play.

Shaolin Qigong and Kung Fu is not just for martial artists but for anyone who wants to live a long and healthy life. e>