What qigong did for this aging martial artist ...
In 2001, I was on a medication to treat Hep C, and the side effects were horrendous—fatigue, depression, body aches. If I was lucky, I could shuffle to my office and get in two hours work for the day.
The local hospital had a qigong/tai chi program for patients getting treatment for cancer and other debilitating illnesses and taking strong meds. So I gave it a try.
At that point, I already had 15 years of martial arts training and two or three years of tai chi. But qigong was new.
At the first session, the instructor had us sit and clear our minds. Meditate for five minutes. Next he had us focus on the area of our body that hurt or wasn’t functioning properly. For me, it was the liver.
“Visualize the energy [qi] flowing up the legs, through the torso, up the back, over the head, and into the problem area,” he said.
Future sessions were more involved. Standing, controlled breathing, and various exercises. But they were all based on the concept of opening the meridians, generating qi, and moving the qi throughout the body.
He suggested that we do 5-15 minutes of qigong two to three times or more each day. Sure enough, it did help some with the fatigue, depression, and other side effects of the meds. And even after he moved way, I continued this practice until a drug came out that I could tolerate and cured my illness.
Then a few years ago I wanted to learn more about internal martial arts as a way to up my training, and I came across Sifu Anthony at Flowing Zen Qigong.
He wasn’t offering online qigong classes from a martial arts prospective, rather as a way to improve your health. Not exactly what I was looking for, but he had a martial arts background and had back issues like me.
You see, I suffered from lower lumbar degenerative disc disease for some time. I tried chiropractors, acupuncturists, pain clinics, and epidurals. For me, they were all short-term solutions to a deeper problem.
So I figured I had nothing to lose.
My spine feels better aligned, and the pain that was going down the outside of my left leg is all but gone. In fact, I haven’t had an epidural in about three years.
Plus my focus and striking power have improved.
I’ve also attended two of Anthony’s training retreats in Costa Rica, and now I am one of his certified instructors.
To sum it up: I was looking for martial arts qigong. Took classes for health qigong, and ended up with both.
Contact me if you would like to schedule a private or semi-private qigong lesson via Zoom.
