Beginning books and wei dan

[joninxiii]

Hello everyone, I'm fairly new to the board and to the field of Qi Qong. I stumbled on Qi Qong while working on meditation awhile back during my practice with taijutsu. I recently ordered Eight Piece Brocade and can't wait to start practicing.

Question is do you think I should get Qigong for Health & Martial Arts even though I've read Root of Chinese Chi Kung already? Is there that much of a difference?

2nd question, what kind of martial arts do you guys practice to supplement your Qi Qong? Would it counter-productive to practice Wushu and Qi Qong?I was just thinking about joining inn this local Wushu club near my school and practice 8 piece on my own time. I'm still very young so I figured I can keep up with all of it.

Much appreciated to any wisdoms and wits you may have to share. Thanks

[joeblast]

root & qigong for health & ma conver some similar topics, but they are both good and cover some different things as well. I picked up my copy of health & ma used for a few bucks.

I dont practice any ma, but I do a bagua set that I learned. havent found the time to learn much of anything else, ma wise

[lilman]

The Root of Chinese Qigong and Qigong for Health and MA are COMPLETELY different books. TRCQ teaches whys of Qigong. Q of H&MA teaches how to do some Qigongs. I would suggest getting Q of H&MA.

Before you decide to join the wushu school I would suggest figuring out if you want to learn practical ma or ma to show off. The reason Im saying that is I learned Taiji from a wushu teacher who only taught for show. He taught applications and techniques, but most would just look pretty in a real fight. He also never went into the internal and more important aspects. Also a cartwheel will not save you if you have 5 gangsters trying to jump you... I would suggest checking out the school and making sure thats what you want first. You may want to look into a more traditional teacher if you want to learn practical applications.

[joninxiii]

That's good to hear. I saw it on amazon for 3 bucks so I grabbed it. I'm also reading 8 pieces brocade right now and it seems to be some repeat of Root of Qiqong. I didn't mind too much because it helps to familiarize yourself with theory. Just started practicing 8 pieces sitting set too. =)

I agree with you on that one lilman. I for one would prefer to learn practical MA. I know wushu gaudy manners wouldn't fit me too well but for me it's a matter of accessibility. The only reason I considered it was that I saw that Baguazhang was also being practiced there. I am also use to being very active doing many other MAs and activities, so stopping it seems to be a big step down for me. I just want to stay limber and healthy.

The teacher there seems very capable, however the classes only seem to run wushu. I have to go check it out for myself. Here's the link to their website if you want to check it out. http://home.comcast.net/~rpe/wushu/

[lilman]

I checked out that website you put on here. I really have no room to judge cuz I never met ANY of those people or went anywhere near that school before, but by looking at the website, I dont know... The only thing that concerns me is theres pics of that Mike Shae guy doing what seems to be wushu Americanised "kung fu" postures... Hes leaning forward quite some ways... Normally Taiji practitioners learn good habits not to do that, and it mentions him as a Taiji instructor. Taiji carries on to other things we do naturally... He could EASILY be toppled over. His leaning forward invites you in, and could be pulled off balance with a soft tug. If you bumped his front leg with your knee, hed fall on his face. If anything the elbow should come with your torso at its center as not to compromise your center of gravity... Just a concern though, may just have to do with some principle of the wushu they teach...

Just a warning from my experience at a wushu school, becarefull, Bagua is an internal art. If they dont develop you internally and do the walking on post exercise, meaning small circle walking around a post, not a basketball court, you wont want to stay there long or your ma will be useless for combat and youll develop bad habits.

I was actually stationed at Ft. Eustis Va, which is just next to Newport News. I actually met someone there that done taiji. I dont remember what school they said they went to, but that guy knew what he was doing. So I do know there are credible schools in Va. Just dont know where... But good luck with that school, hopefully they have what your looking for.

[joninxiii]

cool appreciate all the help.

im just gonna practice 8piece and go exercise for now. i found some schools around richmond but unfortunately i can't have my car up here.

[Dvivid]

Dr Yang's 8 Brocades DVD is very easy to follow, and has a section with detailed theory...