By Senior Instructor Paul Cavel

Ba gua is a pure Taoist energy art primarily practised by those interested in the I Ching or Taoism--having been derived as a physical manifestation to realize the teachings of the I Ching. That is, ba gua is an embodiment of the universal principles of change.

Some years ago I had a minor operation that was supposed to help me with a varicose vein problem in my left leg. The prospect of the operation was worrying because I had heard of various ways in which it had affected peoples' ability to practice afterwards. For me the lead up to having the op was horrific. In the end it was a one day ordeal and was over quicker than I expected. The operation I had was not a whole-scale stripping of the affected vein, but a selective cutting away of the worst tissue.

Hi folks,

In ancient China, the Chen village kept tai chi a closely guarded secret for over a century and refused to teach it to a single outsider. Having a superior martial art enabled the village to stay safe from marauding bandits and securely conduct business without their goods being stolen or having to pay protection money. The villagers developed this internal martial art to a very high level.

The most important thing in martial arts is not what style you study, or the brand name, but rather the level of fighting skill of the individual. A world-class racing driver in a so-so car will beat a poor driver in the world's best car. Only when two drivers are of equal skill will the technology of the car be the determining factor in who wins the race.

Each martial arts school has its special kung fu or "skill technology." For example, the lineage of Tung Hai-Ch'uan became famous for its special kung fu techniques. All students could learn the movements, but only a few learned the kung fu techniques that had ba gua's unique flavor and power. This kung fu is genuinely internal and is a subject of doing, not talking. Many people today, even so-called famous teachers in China and the U.S., cannot apply traditional ba gua techniques to unrehearsed fighting. Either they perform movement arts or they do ba gua movements using the power, flavor and kung fu techniques of Shaolin. An excellent external martial artist will beat a poor or so-so ba gua practitioner. There are monastic forms of ba gua that are purely about chi cultivation and meditation, making no claims to be martial arts, although some also make those claims.

I have had the good fortune of practicing a discipline of martial art continuously since 1962 beginning with wrestling, then karate. In 1974 I began Kung Fu and "chi" (energy) practices and in 1977 I started the study of Tai Ji. Since then, I have with almost religious fever practiced and applied Yang and Chen fighting Tai Ji. I have toiled in several different systems and schools of Ba Gua since 1983 and later studied and practiced Hsing Yi like a "man on fire" during a very concentrated period of eighteen months.

Words from the Tao Te Ching speak of the space within the walls of a vessel as being useful. The human body is like a vessel and the space within our body is therefore useful.

Our practice of the Water method of Taoist internal arts centers on discovering within our bodies where space is clear, blocked, constricted, stressed, dead or non-existent. Using the methods of dissolving and letting go, we gradually come to a deeper experience of our "vessel" and the depths and usefulness of the space within us.

So you've got the yawns, uh? Your eyelids are drooping. Your mind is sluggish and running on empty. It's way-y-y-y too early in the day...

One of the questions I get asked fairly frequently is: What should I do to combat exhaustion at my desk?

Try this: Stand up. Take a deep inhale. Then bubble the exhale through your lips. Make them shake, rattle and roll. Do this 10 times. Caution: You might laugh a little, and that wouldn't be so bad, uh?!

The healing of others is one of the five basic applications of Chi Gung, the other four being one's own health and healing, martial arts, sexual practices, and practices to address the rigors of meditation. Tui Na is the general term for all the hands-on therapies developed by the Taoists, and in some form is a part of most acupuncture school curricula. Chi Gung Tui Na refers to the energetic therapy techniques, which are rarely taught or understood anywhere in the West. We are fortunate to have received some of these basic techniques through Bruce's occasional offerings. In this article I hope to concisely describe several essential techniques in a way that will enable the benefits of this Taoist art to reach our clients, friends, and family.

Shou-yi or shou-i means "embracing the one." This is very tricky because embracing the one means embracing the Tao. The one is the Tao. Lao Tse writes in the Tao Te Ching, "From the one came the two, came the three, came the 10,000 myriad of things."

To embrace the totality while doing an everyday mundane task means you never leave the totality regardless of the action you might undertake. This is the principle of shou-yi, which is extremely difficult to do. Initially it requires that you are able to embrace the whole--that you have the internal motivation to become capable of embracing that which is invisible yet connects everything, including the underlying currents. 

A classic Taoist technique is to gaze at something, be it a river, stream, fire, or any of the elements (or even watching a branch grow) and rather than just see the object, penetrate into it and see the emptiness within. This technique is by no means exclusive to Taoism (for instance the Hindus refer to it as Samādhi). In this sense of emptiness, the name of the object drops away, as does its form, appearance, and even the meaning one attached to it. The core essence within the emptiness is something that is in a continual state of flux (and differing from one split second to the next). This can be analogized to the quote that "one can never step in the same stream twice."

Here are some reflections on how we learn.

Just as important as what we learn in the internal arts, which particular forms we study etc., is how we learn them. Though this is true of learning anything, the effects of the method of study are more apparent here than in many other disciplines. This is because internal practices affect every part of us, from the physical to the universal.

One way of looking at our practice is as a way of establishing and developing patterns of flow. Care must be taken both at the beginning, when establishing these patterns, and as we further develop them.

Wu wei is a very fundamental concept in Taoism, similar to wu wei wu, which means action, non action. Wu means nothing and wei means action.

In the West most people have clear agendas and they set out to accomplish specific goals. However, in Taoism one of the central themes is not acting until the timing is right. In fact Taoists say that until the time is right nothing will happen anyway, so a large part of wu wei is the ability to be as connected as possible to the universal flows of the TAO. When all of a sudden it becomes obvious that the time has arrived, only then do you take action.

While many differing interpretations for the Taoist texts (ie. The Book of Chuang Tse and Lao Tse's Tao de Jing) exist, this article only concerns those that relate to Taoist meditation. Some concepts of Taoist meditation overlap with the Taoist view of how society should function (a core concept of the Tao de Jing), but this aspect will not be the primary focus. Instead, the aim is to explain the fish story, and prove it is not the only reference to Taoist meditation.

In each Taoist text, a few major meditative principles or techniques are focused on and restated, normally in continually differing ways. Generally the point is taught through analogy. A good example of this is Lao Tse's 70% rule in the Tao de Jing.
Both Lao Tse and Chuang Tse belonged to the water tradition of Taoist meditation. One of this method's primary defining traits is to never push or force things to occur. This represents a radical divergence from most other meditative systems, which force pathways in the mind to open up and shape themselves according to the intention of the practitioner. The 70% rule itself is quite simple: Don't push anything beyond 70% in your body or mind. In the Tao de Jing, Lao Tse writes numerous passages to show the negative results of strain, in essence indirectly teaching the 70% rule. An example of this appears in Chapter 2:

Everyone in the world knows that when the beautiful strives to be beautiful, it is repulsive.

Everyone knows that when the good strives to be good, it is no good.

How to Promote Tai Chi to Physicians and Their Patients

Last month, Chi Talk discussed the importance of clinical research in demonstrating the health benefits of tai chi. This article discusses how best to promote tai chi within the medical community.

The first step in getting physicians to recommend tai chi to their patients is to make sure that you have enough basic knowledge so that you can accurately educate them about tai chi and to have good leave-behind material both for the physician and for their patients.

In most cases, you cannot expect to get much time with physicians, so any materials you give them will need to be very clear and succinct.  Having more detailed, back up material is needed, but there should be an expectation that many would only read the summary and spot check the rest. It is important for the material to be accurate since if they look up a statement and find it checks out they will feel more confident with the rest of the material. If not they will not consider it credible.

We hope that the research being compiled on the Energy Arts website will provide the foundation for such material. Eventually the intention is to provide Energy Arts Certified Instructors material to use. This material would include, summary information targeted to the specific type of physician and information about the instructor and their tai chi classes.  One component would need to be flyers the physician could give to the patients themselves. 

At some point in the future, Energy Arts will likely format the information in the research section of its website into a brochure that can be left behind for physicians and their patients.

Since the early 60's I've been exposed to many different types of meditation techniques. Many were of a superficial nature used for stress and health, while others had spiritual attributes. From that experience, my general sense has been that what has crossed over from the east has been lost in translation or watered down, primarily to make the practices more acceptable to the general public.

What makes a meditative mind so alien to our culture? One of the greatest difficulties for the human mind, whether from the east or west, is the inability to "stay present." We exist in and have manifested a world of distractions. For example computers, cell phones, and other technological creations used to serve us in daily life require an ever increasing need to engage our minds. While I'm appreciative of the ingenuity of these creations and their use, we haven't learned to use technology in a balanced way. This constant "being on" and "plugged in" leads to an abuse of the body's senses, fragmentation of the mind and damage to the fragile nervous system.

Many people have trouble feeling their bodies.

Many people have trouble feeling their chi, or what I call "life energy."

Why? There can be many reasons. But one common reason is that many people don't slow their minds down when they try to feel.

Your physical body and your life energy are forms of energy. Modern physics has proven your physical body to be so. As physicists have delved deeper and deeper into the fundamental nature of physical matter, they have found not solid particles, but waves of energy.

As for your life energy - your chi, your prana, your ki, the energy which enables your body to perform its basic functions, the energy that is the prime focus of Chinese medicine - mainstream scientists have yet to accept its existence. But in everyday life its existence is not questioned. Who cannot answer accurately the question we ask ourselves everyday, how much energy do I have today?

Part I of II

Tai chi offers significant health benefits and new research is beginning to confirm some of the self-reported benefits that tai chi practitioners have talked about for years. Although research has already documented many of the significant health benefits of tai chi, far too few physicians regularly recommend it to their patients. This situation can change if the results of randomized clinical trials can be clearly presented to physicians showing the benefits of tai chi for specific conditions.

The importance of exercise for health is widely recognized in the medical community. The promotion of tai chi as an exceptionally safe, enjoyable and beneficial form of exercise can play an important role in helping the medical community utilize the powerful health benefits of exercise.

 Part I of III

Derived from Interviews with Bruce Frantzis

One of the most debated and well known quotes from Chuang Tse occurs at the end of Chapter 17 in the book Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy by Philip J. Ivanhoe:
Chuang Tse and Hui Tse are wandering across a bridge on the river Hao.
Chuang Tse: The tiao fish come out roaming, free and at ease. This is the joy of fish.
Hui Tse: You are not a fish, how you can know what fish like?
Chuang Tse: You are not me, how you can you know what I know?
Hui Tse: I am not you and I do not know what you think, but I know you are not a fish and therefore you cannot possibly know what fish think.
Chuang Tse: Let's go back to the beginning. When you asked me what fish like, you had to know I knew it already to begin with. I know it by the river Hao, that's how.

The debate and intrigue surrounding this dialog goes beyond the clever rhetoric of a skeptic that Chuang Tse used to debate his logistician friend Hui Tse. Essentially the question of the passage is what Chuang Tse meant in his final line. What form of knowledge is he referring to? Not surprisingly, it's quite a difficult concept to explain, and I have seen a variety of differing but very well thought out answers to address it. Out of those, the best one I have seen thus far is "Taoists believe in the flow of nature, and the fish are engaging in their natural habits, therefore the fish are happy."

The word Tao has many meanings. First, there is the Tao of doing anything, which is the same as the ideal way of doing something. You must travel on a particular path in order to wind up where that path leads. Going a little deeper, the word Tao considers the question: What connects everything and yet has no specific quality of its own? That’s the center of the I Ching. It has no quality and yet everything is connected to it, everything comes out of it, everything flows through it.

The word Ziran embodies a very important concept in Taoism and has a number of large meanings. If we go from the deepest to the most superficial meaning, it essentially has the same meaning as Tao. The Chinese actually call it Tao Ziran, which means “the great natural.” Ziran means naturalness. In one sense, it is about the natural way of the Universe, so you could also refer to this natural way as the Tao. Very often Taoists do not use the term Tao and instead use Ziran, albeit making translating Chinese texts even more difficult.

Most of the estimated seven million Americans who practice the ancient art of tai chi do so not for self-defense, but for health reasons. Western medical research studies are beginning to confirm what hundreds of millions of practitioners of tai chi have experienced for themselves: tai chi helps them improve their health, reduce their stress and combat the negative effects of aging. Tai chi is often called the elixir of life because it helps the body and mind to regain its youthfulness and life-affirming vigor. Time magazine has called it the "Perfect Exercise."

Read German translation below.

We started learning Yang Style Tai Chi and Qi Gong under the auspices of the International Tai Chi and Chi Kung Association (ITCCA) in 1985-86 and obtained teaching certificates from that institution. In 1991 we opened our own school in Neu-Ulm. It took about 4 years until we were able to teach Tai Chi and Qi Gong full time as professionals.

Because both of us have always been interested in meditation, healing and martial arts, we frequently attended seminars on these subjects. For example in meditation we were taught by various masters of Tibetan Buddhism such as Tenga Rinpoche and Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche and in martial arts we gained experience with Ving Tsun, traditional Russian martial art (Systema), and Ba Gua Chang. Ralph had also trained earlier in Tae Kwon Do. In the healing arts, Elisabeth has certification for biodynamic body psychotherapy and a license as a healing practitioner. Ralph has training in NLP and experience in healing work.

Most of us have heard the phrase: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Yet in the modern age being politically correct has come to a point where society responds to words as if someone where throwing stones at them. You’re likely to offend someone with just about anything you say. Maybe you’re even one of the people who regularly get offended by words. Surely the toll it takes on your body is hardly worth it. So why is it that we get so worked up over words?

I honestly believe that "we are spiritual beings enjoying a physical respite, here."   I also believe that ultimately, life is a spiritual quest ...for wholeness, completeness and reconnection to our ultimate source!   I believe the words of Jesus and Buddha and Ghandi regarding Meditation and "Thinking on these things!"  Why? Because I have proven them true in my own life! I find I resonate deeply with the poets like Blake and Rumi, Kabir etc; because they resonate with the Divine/ The Universal Consciousness, the Source of all.   Again yesterday I was drawn into a substantive discussion about life. I was sharing, (after being asked) and I shared  Prayer, Meditation and the Dissolving Practices of the Water School of Taoism as put forth by Lao Tse. Well, someone interrupted, and for the sole purpose of saying "I don't believe that". I said, “so what!” that doesn't change anything does it?" He paused a bit bewildered, nodded in agreement. Truth is truth, it's universal, and no religion or tradition has a corner on it!

(First published in the Spring 2008 issue of Qi Journal)

INTRODUCTION

As interest in the theory and practice of qigong continues to grow in the United States, and with so many varieties of qigong available for study, it becomes increasingly important to have a clear, basic understanding of exactly what it is. If you are going to invest your time and money into a daily practice, it's a good idea to know more about that practice, to make sure it meets your needs and expectations. This overview will provide a foundation to help the reader, whether a novice or someone with some qigong experience, gain a better understanding and make more informed decisions when beginning or furthering a qigong practice.

Most simply put, qigong is a diverse system for working with the energy of life, called qi. Some of its benefits include improving health, reducing stress, increasing energy, maintaining emotional calm, strengthening the immune system, and promoting longevity. Although the word "qigong" has only been in common usage since the 1950s, the practice originated in Asia between three and five thousand years ago (depending on which sources are quoted). It is a vital, living practice that continues to be researched, developed, and adapted for contemporary life. However, many of the most ancient methods still exist and are practiced today, relatively unchanged.

The phrase “bones of the all” in the Tao Te Ching is sometimes referred to as meaning something old or ancient, but the true meaning is that all and everything is in the earth.

Taoists hold the position that the earth is a living entity with a consciousness of its own. Just as you have a consciousness, so does the earth. And just as what is most active in your body changes from day to day, the earth also changes.

The first course I took with Bruce Frantzis was a weekly class in Chi Gung Tui Na in San Francisco in 1989. I had a private practice in Palo Alto, California doing various kinds of Asian Bodywork Therapy at the time and I was studying Chi Gung in San Jose. I have been very curious about different healing modalities and energy development practices since I was teenager. I like to check out different healing modalities. In Bruce's classes I saw and experienced how quickly Chi Gung Tui Na can specifically target and release energy blockages throughout the body. I was impressed and immediately hooked. I went on to study the whole Chi Gung program and Tai Chi with Bruce. I have incorporated Chi Gung Tui Na into my hands-on energetic bodywork practice ever since.

You say you practice tai chi.
When my children were younger and every time I would come back from Europe, I'd always bring home a collection of coins from any country I visited. My youngest son would take the coins and mush them around, throw them up in the air and shout, "Money, money, money!"

Not everyone wants to learn about chi and not everyone wants to learn to meditate. I asked my teacher why he didn't teach meditation and he replied that most people don't want to learn it. In later conversations he explained that it has a lot to do with the fact that most people can't get into what meditation is and just forget about where they're going to end up.