Original Feng Shou-Gongfu

My teacher Master Chee Soo always claimed that Feng Shou-Gongfu was a Chinese internal martial art that was based upon cultivating the internal energy to become powerful enough that it could be used to add strength to  the  fighting techniques. Plus he would always mention that Feng Shou-Gongfu principle was to avoid direct attacks by using fast evasive footwork to side step the assailant and counter attack back at various angles. This basically means to use “Softness to over come hardness”. Or to use the assailants strength, aggression and balance against themselves.

Sadly, over the many years there have been many individuals who have altered the name of Feng Shou-Gongfu and claim it to be a hard martial art by turning it into a kick boxing style and adding in techniques from other styles of martial arts like Thai boxing, jujitsu or boxing etc.

The original Feng Shou-Gongfu is a Chinese  Internal martial art that does not just offer how to defend oneself from an aggressive situation. It also helps to strengthen both the mind and body to improve the health and well-being of each individual. Irrespective  of how old you are you can still maintain your practice and involvement in Feng Shou-Gongfu well into your old age. As its movements also help to maintain a fit, supple and relaxed body with strong energy and blood circulation throughout the whole body.

As Laozi mentioned  in his book  Way of Virtue  ( Daodejing) “The Hard, Stiff and Unbending can be easily broken and won’t last. Whereas, the Soft, Supple and Yielding will overcome and survive.

The LFIAA  through Laoshi Keith Ewers who was taught by Master Chee Soo has now given permission to some of his senior students to teach the Original Feng Shou-Gongfu and give interested individuals the opportunity to learn authentic Feng Shou-Gongfu both for self defence, energy cultivation and health & well-being under a direct lineage holder. 

 

Advertisement

Yin & Yang Patting Qigong

The Yin & Yang Patting Qigong is a very large exercise routine that uses various hand manipulative techniques such as the whole hand or simply the tips of the fingers. Which can be used to  either pat the energy pathways of the whole body or to target certain acupuncture points ( Qi Xue) to either disperse or tonify the circulation of bothe blood and energy of the body.

Another method of the Yin & Yang Patting Qigong is to pat the four major cavity’s of the body which are the chest cavity, the abdominal cavity, the pelvis cavity and the cranial cavity. The patting of the four major cavity’s will cover the most important areas of the body. For example the patting of the chest cavity which obviously holds the heart and lungs can greatly benefit from the patting actions of the individual to disperse any blood or energy stasis that may have accumulated, causing turbid energy ( Zhao qi) to be broken up and flushed out of the area of the chest cavity allowing the more clear and upright energy (Zheng qi) to nourish the heart and lungs to help them fully function and improve and strengthen each persons health and well-being.

You can see that the over-Al use of the Yin & Yang Patting Qigong on the four major cavity’s is to basically break up and disperse any blood or energy blockages and improve the circulation to tonify and  nourish the areas of the four major cavity’s to generally strengthen and improve health. The patting of the abdominal cavity can benefit the digestion by flushing out any food that may be stuck within the intestines. The patting of the pelvis cavity can benefit those who suffer with impotentancy or or female menstrual period problems, the patting of the cranial cavity can benefit concentration and the softening of the brain.

The Yin & Yang Patting Qigong is an holistic self maintenance exercise that helps to develop strength within the individual to help them improve and maintain a robust healthy lifestyle, irrespective of age or genders. 

 

Lishi Energy Bodywork Massage.

Within the Lishi Energy Bodywork Massage there are a numerous amount of manipulative techniques which can be used anywhere on the body to treat many kind of chronic and acute illnesses. Once you begin to treat a particular patient you must obviously place the patient first with their illness, then you decide what techniques are suited best to treat the illness with a certain plan or protocol that you stick with.

When you chose  your bodywork massage techniques you must first look at what technique you wish to start with. Usually it’s a light combing technique to relax the patient which at the same time allows you to diagnos your patient through your touch feeling for areas of coldness, hardness etc on the patients body.  

Once you have began your treatment you must then increase the intensity of your treatment by using a more powerful technique which can involve the use of using one  or more of your manipulative methods to open, close, disperse or even exit the qi from the area of the patient body that you are working on, plus you must increase the blood circulation by removing any blood or energy stasis that could be the cause of the illness.

After a long period of intense massage which could involve a few of your bodywork massage techniques. You must then begin to finish your treatment and how you finish is just as important as the start and middle parts of your treatment. Finishing your treatment using the correct bodywork massage technique is vitally important in allowing your patient to fully benefit from your bodywork. Leaving your patient tense and cold is not a really good way to finish, what you must aim for is to leave your patient feeling warm, tingling and fully relaxed this will allow your treatment to nourish the patients body bringing strength and upright energy (Zheng Qi) to the area of your bodywork treatment.

Every practitioner of the Lishi Energy Bodywork Massage will learn how to have a beginning, a middle and a finishing  procedure to their treatment plan. Choosing what particular energy bodywork  massage technique is the best to start with and then which  

 ones to use in the middle part of the treatment, which is properly the most important area as you are directly working on the area that needs healing and then you must pick the technique to finish your treatment leaving your patient fully relaxed.

Yangshi Taijiquan “Maintaining the Root”

The Yang style Taijiquan is properly the most popular with thousands of individuals enjoying its practice and its benefits towards strengthening the Mind & Body towards good health and well-being. The Yang style uses larger movements than most other styles making it more easier to learn, but the larger actions also gently stretch and open the joints, tendons and ligaments releasing tension and stiffness, improving relaxation and blood and qi circulation.

Another benefit of practicing the Yang style Taijiquan is that it allows each individual to release stress, tension, anxiety and the lowering of the blood pressure. This is done by teaching individuals to allow their shoulders and elbows to point and sink downwards, releasing tension in the upper back and chest to also sink downwards. This will give the individual a feeling of their legs becoming more heavier as there upper body becomes more relaed and releases its tension downwards towards the ground.

The lowering of the upper bodies tension to sink downwards by learning to relax the shoulders, elbows and rib cage also lowers our centre of gravity giving us a better and stronger connection with the earth beneath our feet. This benefits our stability and balance, plus due to a much more stronger connection with the ground will allow us to generate more strength in our soft flowing Yang style Taijiquan movements. It is said in the practice of Taijiquan in general that the “Legs carry the body, the waist guides the hands and the eyes follow the hands”



Dispersing the Qi Techniques.

In the practice of the Daoist Kunlun Qigong forms which all combine both passive and vigorous movements to help in maintaining a smooth flow of energy and blood throughout the whole body. Hidden within the forms are powerful techniques to allow practitioners to disperse the sickly negative energy out of our physical, emotional, energetic and mental qualitys.

Physically the methods of learning to disperse sickly energy (Bing Qi) is through various techniques like flicking ( Tan Fa), shaking ( Yao Fa), patting ( Pai Fa) and vibrating techniques (Zhen Fa) using the upper and lower limbs or the whole body to disperse the qi. Obviously it is important that the entire body remains relaxed and loose ( Song) in its actions to rid the various levels of ourself from negative and turbid energy ( Zhao Qi).

On a physical level to disperse negativity is to release muscle tension and joint stiffness,which will allow us to become more relaxed and increase blood and energy circulation,boosting out energy levels. Emotionally learning to disperse sickly energy out through the practice of Kunlun Qigong is to positively alter the energy within our internal organs. Which in traditional Chinese medicine is said to control our emotions and through the various dispersing techniques learn how to release anxiety, sadness, anger or fear and help bring our emotions back into a stronger state of balance.

Energetically through the dispersing actions of the Kunlun Qigong we learn how to cleanse or dredge our energy pathways ( Qi Mai) clear of any stagnant qi which may have accumulated within out energy channels, plus boost our defensive energy ( Wei Qi) to hinder any external pathogens attacking our body. Mentally through the dispersing techniques we can learn to release frustration,depression and tension which is caused by blood and energy stasis within the cranial cavity.



Cleansing the Mind & Body through Qigong Practice.

Due to the choice of lifestyle that many of us choose to live we may begin to accumulate negative, sickly energy  (Bing Qi)  that can make us feel ill over a long period of time. This could be caused by bad eating habits, lack of correct exercise, poor working conditions or the environment that we live in as bad air pollution which can all cause the mind & body to build up a lot of stress, toxins and sickly energy which can effect the emotional state of each individual.

Through the practice of the Daoist Kunlun Qigong exercises each individual can learn to release the stresses and negative energies that have built up in the body and mind. This is achieved through dynamic stretching of the joints, tendons and ligaments which will allow the clear energy ( Zheng Qi) to penetrate into the spaces of the body caused by the opening of the bodies joints and tendons to flush away the turbid blood and energy stasis  ( Zhao Qi) that as accumulated. This accumulation of poor blood and energy stasis can have a negative affect on the individuals emotions making them feel depressed, sad and even angry at their friends, family and work collgues.

Within the Daoist Kunlun Qigong there are also actions that  allow the practitioner to disperse the sickly energy out of th energy pathways by dredging them clean. This is achieved through flicking, shaking and vibrating actions of the whole body in co-ordination with the breathing and concentration. The actions of dispersing the sickly energy ( Bing Qi)  will help the body and mind to relaxe,improve the clear energy to rise and the turbid energy to sink and increase energy levels and the circulation to greatly improve.

Obviously, the practice of the Daoist Kunlun Qigong must be maintained on a regular basis  if possible everyday. It can be practiced within a small confined area  within your house or you can practice outside and draw in the energy from your surrounding environment as long as the area you live in is ideal to practice outside.



Xingyiquan “Tiger Shape Posture”

In the practice of the Sun Style Mind & Shape Boxing ( Xingyiquan) there is the practice of the  twelve animal shapes “Shi Er Shou Lei Shi” which are the Dragon,Tiger,Monkey, Horse, Chicken, Snake, Sparrow Hawk, Swallow, Alligator, Tai Bird, Eagle & Bear. Each of the twelve animal shapes can be used for self defence, but more importantly each one of the twelve animal shapes is connected to a particular internal organ and can stimulate the qi within that organ to help maintain its functioning towards  good health and well-being.

In the case of the Tiger shape posture ( Hu Xing Shi) this particular animal shape connects to the “Kidney Organ” and the Yang Governor Vessal ( Du Mai) that travels upwards through length of the spinal column from the tip of tail bone to the top of the head.. Master Sun Lutang mentions that if the Tiger shape posture is performed correctly the clear energy ( Zheng qi) will rise upwards and  the brain will be nourished and the turdid energy (zhuo qi) will flow downwards. But if performed incorrectly then the turbid energy will not flow downwards hindering the rise of the upright energy. 

Using the Tiger shape posture for self defence involves the elements of Hooking ( Kou Jin), Drilling  Fist ( Zuan Quan) and Pounding Fist ( Pao Quan) everything starts and finishes from the Trinity Posture ( San Ti Shi) and the individual must be very dynamic and explosive in their actions just like a fierce tiger pouncing on its prey.  The footwork that is used in the practice of the Tiger shape posture involve the use of the hook step (Kou bu), swing step ( Bai bu) and the chicken posture step ( Ji bu) the whole body is then co-ordinated to produce a tremendous powerful Tiger shape posture that is very practical and effective.

Regular practice of the Tiger shape posture from the Sun Style Xingyiquan will improve each individual’s balance, co-ordination and concentration. The Tiger shape posture alternates from one side  of the body to the other, it develops cardio fitness and strongly circulates the blood and energy to flow smoothly around the entire body, 

The posture is held upright at all times without any leaning in any direction

Baguazhang “Twisting & Turning Like A Dragon”

Many have claimed that the practice of the Eight Diagram Palm exercise (Baguazhang) looks like a Dragon twisting and turning its body.To the Chinese a Dragon is a sign of spirituality and creativeness not a symbol of evil as seen in the west, in the practice  of The Eight Diagram Palms when you see a top quality performance of a Baguazhang practitioner twisting, turning,extending and contracting his or her whole body, while walking around in a circle constantly changing direction  is said to bring to life the energy of a Dragon to help themselves generate and cultivate the internal energy ( Nei qi) from their surrounding environment to improve and maintain their health and well-being.

The twisting and turning actions of the limbs and torso that are involved in the practice of Baguazhang are aimed at developing a more supple and relaxed individual. As the twisting and turning improves joint,tendon and ligament flexibility that releases muscle tension and joint stiffness that helps each individual to attain a more relaxed body with strong blood and energy circulation throughout the entire body.

The walking of a circle and constantly changing the direction of the circle and its size from large to small improves the agility and footwork of the individual, plus it promotes strong legs and cardiovascular fitness as the speed that the circle is walked can vary from slow to fast developing better balance, co-ordination and concentration.

Unlike Tai Chi which usually need plenty of room to practice in. Baguazhang canbe practiced within a small area of space, as the form is performed in a circular direction and not in a long linear direction as found in the practice of Tai Chi. Baguazhang is suitable for everyone,any age or gender.



Lishi Traditional Chinese Bodywork Massage

One of the most unique massage techniques within the structure of the Lishi Bodywork Massage system is the Rolling technique (Gun Fa). This particular technique uses a vertical rolling action of pushing and pressing, it involves using mainly the back of the hand, the knuckles, fist and wrist as seen in the accompanying photo withi this blog.

 

The rolling technique can be used directly or indirectly on the skin or it can be used through the clothing. So it can be used to give immediate relief by bringing warmth and energy into the painful area. Another aspect of the Lishi Bodywork Massage system is that the practitioner him or herself must have strong energy ( qi) flow in their own palms, so that they can quickly bring energy and heat to the affected area of the patient and bring them comfort and reassurance..

     

                      

Lishi Traditiional Chinese Bodywork Massage

My teacher the late Grandmaster Chee Soo used to call the Lishi Bodywork Massage push & pull as it was another term  he would use to express the Yin & Yang principle. Within the Lishi bodywork massage there are numerous amount massage techniques that can be used to manipulate the circulation of the patient energy within his or her meridians and channels ( qi mai) that cover the entire body. Plus the techniques can be used to treat various muscular skeletal ailments like frozen shoulder, stiff neck, back pain, leg cramps and muscle fatigue for example.

Just like in acupuncture where the needle is inserted into the energy point ( qi xue) along a certain energy pathway to either stimulate or sedate the circulation of energy in the patiients body. The practitioner of the Lishi bodywork massage must also, be able to do the same through his touch in being able to either raise, lower, enter or exit the energy within your patients body using the numerous manipulative techniques that are taught in the Lishi bodywork massage system.o 

Alongsiide the learning of the various massage techniques there are to learn. The most important training is to develop, cultiivate,, harness and strengthen your own internal  energy so that it can be used to connect to your patients energy and be used to guide and lead ( Daoyin) their own  energy around their own body to help treat many types of ailments from chronic to acute.

The LFIAA as taught by Laoshi Keith Ewers does not only just offer classes and course on Taijiquan, Gongfu or Qigong but now are offering courses on the Lishi Traditional Chinese Bodywork Massage  system to anyone who would like to study and learn Traditional Chinese Medicine .