November 27, 2023
With the Abbot of Shaolin Temple visit to California in November 2023, Staff Writer Gene Ching ruminates over the distinctions between some Shaolin styles of Kung Fu practiced around the world and the curriculum propounded at the original Shaolin Temple of China today
October 30, 2023
On the day before Halloween 2023, YMAA Staff Writer Gene Ching ruminates about demonic possession in Kung Fu and Qigong practice.
July 31, 2023
In the wake of Michelle Lin & Quentin Lopes chat with Gene Ching about their new "Barehand vs Staff Sequence", Staff Writer Gene Ching explores the legacy of two-person training sequences in the Chinese martial arts.
April 24, 2023
Last year, in honor of World Tai Chi & Qigong Day, YMAA Staff Writer Gene Ching wrote Is it Tai Chi or Taiji? For this year, he continues in that same spirit with an exploration of Chinese translation and romanization with Qigong.
July 25, 2022
There are countless kung fu forms across innumerable schools and lineages, but sometimes different schools share the same form. While reviewing the Shaolin Long Fist Kung Fu Complete Collection, YMAA Staff Writer Gene Ching discovered some overlapping forms between his Northern Shaolin tradition and YMAA’s curriculum and discusses the shared roots and divergences.
With a preventive approach, we find a way to live well by following the ancient wisdom of “Going with the Flow.” Everything has two sides: the Yin, and the Yang. Going with the flow, we realize the Yin changes to Yang, and the Yang changes to the Yin. Everything turns out to be better eventually.
YoQi is heavily influenced by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Marisa takes care to describe the various exercises in terms of the TCM view of organs and acupressure points. In Qigong Flow for Immune System Boost, Marisa does not adopt an Ayurvedic perspective. Like yoga, Ayurvedic medicine originates from India and the two disciplines are intricately connected. There are parallels between TCM and Ayurveda. Both systems describe a vital life energy that flows through the body. In TCM, it is qi that flows through meridians or channels (jingluo in Chinese). Ayurveda calls this energy prana and the channels nadi. However, as tempting as it may be to correlate these two venerated medical systems, they are not the same. It would not be wise to mix them too much.
Needle Through Brick is a documentary that poses these questions by taking an intimate look at some surviving traditional Kung Fu and Tai Chi masters of Malaysian Borneo, particularly Sarawak and Sibu. There’s a large Chinese population here, a diaspora of masters who fled the Japanese occupation and the communists. Needle Through Brick presents insightful interviews of Borneo’s unique elder masters as the precious disciplines that they have dedicated their lives to face extinction.
Learning is a big part of healing, especially in the healing of emotions. We know our emotions influence our physical body. The brain's emotional center needs to be refreshed, nourished, stimulated, and balanced. When you start to learn things you are not familiar with, you start to shift your focus onto new knowledge, new approaches, and a new life. This sort of internal transformation can improve your situation in life. It is as if you are shifting negative energy to positive energy. The more positive energy you have, the better the chance you can be healed.
The cost of treating chronic illnesses in the United States accounts for 75 percent of the health-care budget. For the year 2009, when $2.5 trillion was spent on medical care overall, almost $1.9 trillion was allocated to the treatment of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, and cancer; 70 percent of all deaths in America were attributable to these chronic illnesses.
We need to be mindful of developing healthy habits such as washing out hands after touching things outside of the house, drinking more water, keeping distance from people, and wearing a proper mask when necessary. These are all very important actions and should be done routinely during these difficult times.
Now is the time to start your action and make things happen. We all have different plans even though we have similar goals. We must put theory into action. Without action, nothing works. As unique as each of us is, as individually tailored as each healing plan might be, there is one item that should be on everyone's list: exercise.
Depression is a major health hazard affecting many people's lives all around the world. Stress is a large part of depression. In the United States, about fifty-four million people experience some type of mental disorder each year. That is about one in five Americans. There are certain things we should pay attention to in order to have a stress-free lifestyle, which can greatly contribute to reducing or eliminating depression.
Throughout China, Japan, India, Egypt and other Eastern countries, the beautiful lotus flower is famed for its ability to grow in muddy, stagnant waters, absorbing what is useful and releasing what no longer supports its optimum health. Amidst challenging conditions, it breaks through the darkness to bring light, beauty, strength and grace to our world.
Happy Mother's Day! Mother's Day is an interesting institution. In the act of honoring women who have children, we can inadvertently bring up heavy emotions. Some women are left feeling that "something is missing" on Mother’s Day.
Menopause and the menstrual cycle are natural processes that don’t have to cause suffering in women. However, most women find the opposite to be true. Hormone health is inextricably connected to our stress level. Stress doesn’t have a quick fix and can only be improved with gentle but steady attention to our lifestyle.
This experience is my favorite, and every year that I go to China, I always make sure to have my Chinese massage. Chinese massage called Tui Na or An Mo, is the oldest manual, natural healing method. It was developed earlier than herbs and acupuncture. At first, humans fought against disease by using their own hands and body parts. Later they developed other natural methods for healing and disease prevention.
Breast health is an important issue for women, but it is just part of the entire health concerns that should be addressed. Many people don't realize that almost ten times as many women die of major cardiovascular disease as die of breast cancer.
How is it that the human body can sense energy? Scientifically, we don’t know what qi is. Many people assume it is some kind of electromagnetic wave. Within the body, qi could become an electrochemical phenomenon similar to how nerves transmit impulses chemically through the body.
There are four main types of Qigong healing practices: Qigong exercise, Qigong meditation, Qigong massage, and Qigong healing.
The practice of qigong can be very flexible so that it can easily fit into your particular lifestyle. Qigong practice will help you to reach a more carefree state and approach your inner being where healing and prevention begins.
More and more people are seeking to understand how Chinese medicine can help them prevent illness and provide a better quality of life. To address this significant trend, my book “Simple Chinese Medicine: A Beginner's Guide to Natural Healing and Well-Being” explains the healing powers of eastern medicine in an easy to understand, relevant and personalized manner.