Taijiwuxigong and Taiji classes will be starting on the 13th January 2010.

Hope to see you there.

Abdomen Daoyin

Brrrr…The weather is getting cold now.  It makes me think, often people come to the classes with sciatic nerve issues.  For those unfamiliar with sciatica, its is the irritation of the sciatic nerve in the lumbar vertebrae.  It gives rise to pain in the back, buttocks and sometimes all the way down the leg.  It can be a very difficult condition to resolve.

Remember, from a Buqi perspective, many conditions arise from a compression of the nerves in the spine from a long term poor body posture.  In real life this can be working at a computer over a long period of time, working in a vehicle or another sedentary job where you don’t move so much.

There are also other aggravating causes of the sciatic, such as the weather.  Typically when treating students or patients with such issues I find that in that area they have a build up of cold from the environment and some hot information from the inflammation of the nerves.

Treating  them can be straight forward by expelling the binqi locally or through the legs via the panguan meridian.  However, what I like about teaching  Taiji37 and Taijiwuxigong is that I can empower the students to participate in their own healing process.  I can also teach them simple exercises that will strengthen the lumbar area and bring healing forces to the area to dislodge the binqi.  In this respect, the student or patient can go away and practice and work towards resolving the issue.  With the help of  regular classes students maintain the momentum and perseverance and benefit from regular health information transmissions to configure the binqi to leave.

There are many classes around London teaching exercises like the abdomen daoyin which are really effective in addressing all sorts of issues to do with the contraction of the lumbar region.

If you have a musculoskeletal problem, maybe taijiwuxigong can help you work towards resolving it.

So, we are starting a new term at the beginning of next month on 2nd September 2009.

• Click here for a handy year planner (its an Excel spreadsheet).

The year planner shows details of the Christmas, Easter and summer breaks along with Wednesday classes that are not running.  Three of them will be this termon the 23rd September, 18th November and 9th December.

• Click here for the flyer

Look forward to seeing you all again.

It was good practising some form on the green last week.  This wednesday (24th June)  we are back to normal as the festival organisers will not be needing the hall.

See you there

Just a short post to remind everyone that we start our new term on Wednesday 22nd April 2009.  There will also be no class on the 27th May 2009.  This is not indicated on the year planner.

As always we will be continuing to build on the good progress students have been making last term.  Some beginning students really made progress in using the earth force (diqi)to activate the dantian developing some quite tangible long force. In Chinese this is called Chan Zi Jing and literally means:  ‘Long without stopping force’ which refers to the long purring vibration that occurs when you practise Taijiwuxigong.

This has moved us forward in our threefold practise objectives:

Above all, it has helped in the self-healing and self-development process, firstly in draining the channels and meridians and secondly, by gaining more spinal strength for the meditation exercises.    If the spine is straighter then oxygenated blood can travel easily to the brain.  Also, if the dazui (C7-T1) area has power this helps to open the central channel .  These health benefits develop more clarity in meditation and later develop latent mental functions. 

Secondly, it was also good spending time showing how the simple Taijiwuxigong exercises improve the quality and application of our Taijiquan practise.  The use of Chan Zi Jing is very common in the Yang Style Taijiquan and is one of the reasons it is well known for its slow flowing movements.  Many Yang Style Taijiquanpractitioners are unaware of these forces but because Taijiwuxigong and Taiji37 train them they are an excellent way to evolve your Taijiquan practise

Lastly, as a Buqi healer I use Chan Zi Jing in creating rigorous vibration force or warmth information in my patients.  Combined with hand techniques, mental direction, knowledge of the body and aetiology, chan zi jing, is an important part of my Buqi practise.

Once, when Dr Shen was a boy practising An, he first felt this shaking.  Starting from the earth coming into his body through his feet it then developed so quickly that his arms started to shake vigourously.  When Professor Yao Huan Zi saw this reaction he told him: ‘Today you have entered the door of Taiji’.

I look forward to opening more doors this spring.

Bertram

One of the questions I frequently get asked as a Taijiwuxigong teacher or Buqi healer is ‘What can I eat to improve the strength in my spine?’  If we look at Buqi aetiology we can see that central to the onset of disease is a pathogenic narrowing of the inter-vertebral spaces in conjunction with the presence of binqi (toxins of various origins).  Taiji37, Taijiwuxigong and Buqi help to treat and remove the binqi that arise from this process and lenghthen the verbebrae. Exersise should be foremost in our mind when trying to break the vicious cycle and improve our health.  However, there are a number of lifestyle changes we can make to support this, especially with respect to food and nutrition.  I will be writing a few articles over the next year to give some guidance on this and suggest some feasible changes that can fit into the lives of the modern practitioner.  Firstly, I would like to talk about preparing ox hoof extract-a gelatinous product added to soups and stews which I have found to be excellent for the health and improves the quality of my practise.

[Read more →]

A few of the Taijiwuxigong books ‘Spontaneous Movement for Health and Happiness’ are for sale to students who come to Bertram’s London classes. 

It is an excellent book where Dr Shen presents a lucid and compelling exposition of the Taijiwuxigong system.  For my own training it has furnished me with a clear paradigm in which to understand the exercises and interpret the reactions that arise from their practice.  Furthermore, it expounds the core principles of Taiijiwuxigong so that the practitioner can practice in a safe and purposeful manner.

If you wish to purchase one see me at the classes.

Buqi healing treatments are now being given at the Kailash Centre of Oriental Medicine in St John’s Wood, North London

Buqi presents a fresh perspective as to why disease arises and can treat many health issues because it works on the pathogenic narrowing of the vertebrae which link to all the parts of your body. 

• For example and narrowing of the vertebrae in the lumber region may be the cause of a malfunction of the sexual organs, decreased libido, bladder and prostate problems and sciatic nerve pain. 
• Moving up the spine we find many common diseases such as asthma, and reparatory problems have an origin in the thoracic vertebrae. 
• Contracture of the neck may cause high blood pressure and hypertension, hormonal imbalances, hemiplegia and stroke.  

These are just some of the wide ranging applications of Buqi healing. More blogs providing case studies to follow.

Read more about Buqi here

For treatments with Bertram at the Kailash Centre call 07816978810 

For directions to Kailash click here

Last weekend (16th and 17th Febuary 2008) Dr Shen taught the first set of Yin Jin Daoyin exercises in London’s Parliament Hill school.  These are famous classical exercises that have a keen following amongst Shaolin schools of martial arts as, although earlier editions of the exersises can be found, their origin is attributed to Damu or Boddhiddharma.  Whatever their origin there is no doubt that qigong (chi kung) practitioners benefit from practising these vigorous exercises-especially when practised using the health generating principles commonly taught by Dr Shen.  In particular exercise 1: ‘Offering incense’ and exercise 6: ‘Pulling the Ox by the tail’ are strong exercises for the spinal column helping relieving pressure on the discs and helping with common complaints like back pain.  But during the weekend, I found another function for them.  Feeling poorly from having caught this spring flu that is going round, I mumbled my pleasantries and snivelled my hellos, as I met Dr Shen and the group in the Bull and Lion where we had gathered for our New Year celebrations. It was clear to everyone that I had got a flu.

As we practised the next day, Shen came round as I was pulling this rather large Ox across the school assembly hall to the inspiring sound of ‘hEEEEEEEave!’,

‘Pulling!,

‘Pulling! Very hard – pulling!’, he exclaimed in his characteristic Chinese syntax.  As I persevered with the exercise he stated very confidently:

‘Very hard pulling-Flu quickly finishing!’

He turned to attend to other students who were pulling equally large Ox and I paused to reflect on what he had said (and sneak a cheeky 2 minute break in as well).  I certainly felt a lot better for doing the exercise and I had sweat dripping down like I had been in a steam room.  By evening I was really tired but the characteristic achy/drained feeling had left.  I thought the medical function of the exercise:The movement of the exercise allows the practitioner to bring force up into the body through the legs and into the spinal column.  This is accompanied by a physical stretching of the spine and its ligaments creating space in the joints of the spine.  This helps to restore the spring and suppleness to the nuclei of the inter-vertebral discs. Each of these vertebra have nerves connecting to glands and organs. For me at that time I needed to work on the area of T12 where mingmen is located.  If you want to find it yourself put your hands on your hips then open out your thumbs and it’s about there where your thumbs are.  Mingmen means life gate in Chinese and is responsible for the hormonal secretion of the adrenal glands. When I treat patients using this area it helps to activate their energy system when they feel they lack energy and strength.  This exercise helps you to activate this area yourself and also the rest of the spinal column which has an effect on the hormonal system increasing the body’s immunity to disease.  So the moral of the story is, next time you are feeling poorly go out and pull an ox by his tail.

Translation notes: When translating Chinese chraracters into the Romance languages there are different translation systems.  So to the beginner the difference between Chi Kung and Qigong or Tai Chi Ch’uan and Taijiquan can be confusing.  I generally like to use Pinyin (the latter translation used amongst the Chinese) and not the Wade-Giles system(the former).

Check out the convienient year planner that helps you plan which courses you would like the go on.  Included are my weekly classes (in green) , most international retreats with Dr Shen of Shen Jin (in orange) and Andy Henry’s weekend classes (in red). Click here to download it.

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