Hi folks,

I wanted to announce that we are offering three scholarships for the
Dragon and Tiger Qigong Instructor Training this June in memory of
Richard Amarnick, a long-term Energy Arts student who recently passed.
You can read more details about the scholarships here:

Richard Amarnick Scholarship Fund

Richard was a man of strong integrity and perseverance. He liked to
help people whenever he could and his help was always appreciated.
He will be sorely missed.

In loving peace,

Bruce

Hi Folks,

We have officially opened the Dragon and Tiger Qigong online course. Senior Instructor Bill Ryan will take you through the seven movements in seventy days – or ten weeks. Of course, you can go through the program at your own pace too. You can check out details and signup here:

Dragon and Tiger Qigong Online Course Launch

We are going to keep the launch open for a short time and then close it down so that Bill can take the first group through the program. Grab your spot and make the Year of the Water Dragon your best ever.

Bruce

In this video Senior Energy Arts Instructor Bill Ryan talks about the three principles of qigong and does a short demonstration of Dragon and Tiger Qigong where he explains a bit about each of the seven movements.

We will be launching the Dragon and Tiger Online Course with Bill Ryan within the next day.

Picture by Spacebom

At the end of last year,  I suggested that people forgive. Forgive others and forgive themselves. And if you know you did wrong or someone else did wrong, forget the blame and emotional energy, let go and just don’t repeat it.

For this Chinese New Year we are at a time when it really pays to look over a long period of time and start changing what we all do so that things can work out much better for the long haul.

The Year of the Water Dragon is a special type of energy that only occurs every 60 years. It interesting that this falls during 2012, the supposed end of the world or the dawning of a new global spiritual awakening depending on whom you talk to. I want to give you a few perspectives on the Year of the Water Dragon that you may find interesting.

The Water Element

The water aspect of this year brings ease and good luck to practicing everything within all Taoist water method practices. When we say water practices we are not talking about jumping in a pool or the ocean. Water tradition practices in Taoism are specifically about allowing things to happen naturally and without effort. They are more about letting go to see what is already there. The opposite to this is the fire method which is about force and pushing yourself to the edge.

In our times of increasing stress and pressure, distractions, information overload and rapid change, the Water Tradition methods are the cure. So this is a year that will naturally support these types of gentle yet powerful practices. Keep this in mind this year – if something is not flowing or you are using force ask yourself, “How can I approach this differently to make it easy or just let it go?”

Right now everywhere paralysis is taking over. More than ever find ways to take small actions, rather than just living in a dark mental soup that is the status quo for many. Think a bit less and act a bit more. You can analyze problems forever but analysis is not a solution it is only the beginning of a solution.

When you begin with small things within your power and do it, you’ll find that as the year grows and the decade grows you’ll find that you will be able to do more and more positive things. Part of this is to engage in meditation in whatever way you can so you can simply let go of what is stopping your creative potential.

Small things add up. They can change the world, especially when done collectively.

Likewise in this, in all Chinese astrological water years, the best time to enhance your creativity in personal practice is between 7 am to 9 am. If you can find the time and space in the morning this would be the best time to do your tai chi, qigong or meditation practice. If you can practice Taoist outer dissolving, as I teach in Energy Gates Qigong, this is an especially useful practice this year.

The Celestial Dragon 

So we have talked about water now lets combine that with the energy of the Dragon. Ancient China’s celestial dragon represented the Emperor in power, strength, and good fortune.  It is the ultimate auspicious symbol of success, wealth accumulation, and happiness. The dragon is known as bringing great luck to everyone but only if they applied focused effort as you would do in a personal practice.  You might ask yourself what personal practice you will put in place and what conditions will you setup for yourself so that it is inevitable that you will achieve your goals this year.

Powerful and unpredictable, you can trust the dragon’s intuitive nature that is of fearless, forward looking, great at analyzing situations and then taking action. If we remember the qualities of water you’ll want to remind yourself to move forward not through force, but by constantly watching the flow and adjusting accordingly.

When you do this, you have an opportunity to make 2012 an awesome time for creating more abundant inner knowledge and understanding in many areas of life.  This time can both be transformational for world events on a macro perspective and an important tipping point for the life of the individual, through an increase in perception.

There are lots of positive energies for growth at work.  Water dragon has enough courage to both face challenges and easily find and overcome weak points.  Water calms the dragon sufficiently so he can project his energy positively, direct it sensibly, rather than recklessly and foolishly.

Dragon years are connected to new beginnings, starting a business and finding happiness and good fortune. What do you want to start this year? What one or two things can you focus on that once achieved could change your destiny? What one practice would you train and master if you knew that you could not fail?

Aligning to Your Flow

This year is also an exceptional time to resolve old issues. Make a list of any unfinished or unresolved issues and then take action to bring them to completion. I recommend starting with the easy things first. Owe someone $50 then pay it. Need to clean out a room then do it. Caught up in a crazy relationship, then end it. Once you do this you will create space for the new. Then you can focus on building a strong, new inner foundation.

The first part of this dragon year appear to be relatively uneventful.  Best to use this time to prepare for the Spring, when the dragon influence will grow in you and you will be able to move forward with ease and grace. The early months are also an ideal time to become aware of your inner weak points then decide what actions you can take to move through them.  For if you do, in the future it will greatly show you how to be resourceful and adaptable when faced with difficult external or internal challenges.

Actions begun earlier in the year will grow into fruition the second half, with a steady flow of additions, corrections, and positive developments. I wish you the best for this year and hope to see you along the way.

Gong Hei Fat Choi,

Bruce Frantzis

P.S. As many of you know we teach a powerful qigong set called Dragon and Tiger Qigong and our launching our online course soon. The Dragon and Tiger Online Course is a 10-week training program with our highly qualified Senior Instructor Bill Ryan teaching you the seven movements in seventy days. You can watch a short intro video about it by clicking here: Benefits of Dragon and Tiger Qigong

Hi folks,

Its has obviously been a big year. The biggest thing about the holidays in my opinion is to be kind and share your love with others.

Forgive everyone you can in every way so that the time the New Year comes you won't be holding onto anything.  This is a great meditation. If you can let go and forgive what has happened in the last year your life will clearly be better moving into the next year. This includes both forgiving yourself and others.

Maybe you will have to take steps regarding the craziness that you have forgiven so it does not happen again. That is all good to do and remember that forgiveness helps you be free from the burdens of old creating space for the new to arrive.

Happy Holidays,

Bruce Frantzis

A recent photo in Hutong Park, Beijing – Demonstrating the Bagua Single Palm Change

Hi folks,

A short post to say we are relaunching the Bagua Mastery Program for a limited time. We have printed an initial 100 units. We are closing the program before the New Year and will not reopen until 2013. Here is the link:

Bagua Mastery Program Launch

Everything furthers,

Bruce

Bruce with Gao Ji Wu – Current President of the Beijing Bagua AssociationIn Beijing last week I awoke super early and had the feeling I should go to the park to meet someone. I know not who! It is important to follow you hunches in life.

After rousing my wife, off we went to Tien Tan (Temple of Heaven) Park, where I used to learn and practice with Feng Zher Chiang over 25 years ago. I also spent a lot of time in the park practicing a rare form of Northern Preying Mantis which I did with Li Jing Ru who is also known for bagua.

Back then, Tien Tan Park was one of the largest and most important parks for martial artists to practice. Don’t ask me how but I have always had a knack for finding masters in the oddest ways.  Today it was extremely cold, but when you have a intuition you have to see where it leads you.

When we got there we asked and were directed towards where people are practicing some martial arts.  The energy didn’t feel right. We then met an elder man who pointed us in a different direction.  As we walked down the road through the park, we saw people practicing with steel whips, a traditional Chinese weapon. We were definitely getting closer.

Li and Bruce in Bagua Single Palm Change

Meeting a Fellow Bagua Practitioner

After a while in this area of the park we started talking to a gentleman named Li. His energy felt like a player in the scene.  I asked him where in the park the traditional bagua and tai chi people practice.  Li says Feng’s Chen style group is over there somewhere, but that Feng now has his own school and no longer comes to the park. Next it turns out Li does bagua.  He and his partner do two types of Shaolin practices – the Muslim one of Cha Chuan, and Pi Kua, brought to Taiwan by Liu Wen Chiao and taught in the U.S.

Li and I then engaged in a lively conversation about bagua’s technical points and then exchange hands with the single palm change for a bit.  Then he says, “You should really see my bagua brother who is much better than me.”

He makes a phone call to his bagua brother, Gao, who agrees to meet me.  The theoretical 30-minute trip to meet Gao takes over an hour, due to a comedy of errors typical of Beijing but we eventually arrive near his home in a small park.

Meeting Gao Ji Wu – President of the Beijing Bagua Association

As it turned out his ‘kung fu’ brother is Gao Ji Wu, the 5^th and current president of the Beijing Bagua Association. The Beijing Bagua Association was begun by his father’s close kung fu friend Li Zi Ming in the 1980s.  Not only that but when my first bagua teacher Wang Shu Jin came to Beijing to pay respects at Dong Hai Chuan’s grave (founder of the modern martial art of bagua), Gao was actually his host!  That really broke the ice.

Gao's Student Demonstrating a Tai Chi form

Gao asked me to demonstrate some bagua. Then his two female students did the same; one with the circular walking form, the other in a 64-hand linear form.  The former had just won a national tai chi competition in the 42 national wu shu style.  Then in the traditional manner, he emphasized to her the importance of intent or mind over the movements.

Quite unexpectedly, Gao then invited us to his home for lunch.  His wife prepared a wonderful meal.  While eating I interviewed him for a new tai chi website, which we are currently developing.  In the middle of our conversation, while sitting down, we crossed hands lightly as he emphasized intent and the switching hand changes of ba gua’s single palm change.

Gao and Bruce talking Bagua

Preserving Bagua for Future Generations

Gao explained that his grandfather was a close disciple of the Yin Fu style of bagua.  Likewise, his father was also an expert in hsing-i, Yang Style tai chi and the Da Cheng Chuan (I-Chuan) of Wang Xian Zai, who created the eight standing postures sytem.

Gao’s family’s Gao Style Bagua combines all four forms.  It emphasizes standing postures, forms and fighting applications, especially the switching hands of the single palm change, which I Chuan also favors.

Gao considers his prime responsibility is to help preserve this aspect of Chinese culture, bagua and the internal martial arts,  for future generations.  This is a personal perspective I also share and the primary reason I created the Bagua Mastery Program over the past decade.  Bagua is a unique cultural treasure of China, spanning thousands of years in development that has tremendous health, martial and meditation applications.

Gao is a very kind and gracious 70 year-old individual.  He showed us his photo collections, including a rare picture of his father as a youth with a muscle pose, and another with five of the greats of the Beijing internal martial arts scene, including Feng Zhi Qiang of the Chen style and Sun Lu Tang’s daughter.

There were also photos of three of Gao’s foreign students in Beiing. This included the time he was invited to New York and Thailand to teach Tom Bisio and Vince Black of the American Tang Shou Dao Association.  On his bookshelf were two books in English on Gao’s circular and linear ba gua, with wonderful photographs.  The books were published by Tom Bisio in New York.

The third student was Nigel Sutton, the well-known martial artist from England, who was first Gao’s student when he attended a University in Beijing.  He currently lives in Malaysia and has invited Gao to teach there.

5th Generation Lineage Holders from Dong Hai Chuan

Gao repeated three times that he felt it important I understood that both of us are in a direct line from bagua’s founder Dong Hai Chuan, 5th bagua generation.  In my case, the lineage derives from Wang Shu Jin and Liu Hung Chieh.

In Beijing and throughout the traditional bagua world, it is very important as to which Bei Fen or generation you belong.  The lower the generation, the greater the chance that your bagua art is pure, and the higher degree of respect to which you are naturally entitled.

As with his student in the park, Gao constantly emphasized to me the importance of intent rather than forceful muscular movement or movement alone in the internal martial arts.  This is the perspective of the traditional internal martial arts of China and we both agreed.

Both Gao and his wife look very young for their ages.  After about three hours, we finally took pictures of the four of us and went on our way. This was a really fortunate event and was great to spend time with Gao.

From China,

Bruce

P.S. I appreciate those who help by clicking the Facebook Like button and or even better Facebook Share button because it helps spread the news.

Bruce Frantzis at Bai Yuan Guan Temple in Beijing

From an insider’s view, Bai Yuan Guan, or the White Cloud Temple, is considered the meeting point for Taoists to connect from all over North China.  The complex is the main Taoist temple in Beijing.

Over 25 years ago, from 1985-6, my Taoist master used to send me to White Cloud once or twice a week.  He gave me meditation practices, which I did at two spots here.  At the time I lived only a 15 minute walk away.

The Eight Immortals

Upon arriving at the temple with my family, we bought two small statues of Liu Dong Bin and Lao Tse for a future retreat center.  We looked around and saw a small temple of the 8 Immortals upon whom the martial art called 8 Drunken Immortals is named.  For those who don’t know, the eight immortals are He Xiangu (Immortal Woman), Cao Guojiu, Tieguai Li, Lan Caihe, Liu Dong Bin, Han Xiang Zi, Zhang Guo Lao, and Zhongli Quan.

Next to the temple of the 8 Immortals is the Liu Dong Bin temple.  Liu Dong Bin was the leader of the 8 Immortals.  It was his methods that I followed when studying to be a Taoist priest in the 1970s.  During the 1980s I used to come to the Liu Dong Bin temple to sit, practice, and leave, rarely talking to anyone, except on rare occasions.

Back then sat on a small bench inside the shrine room, but today there was no seat inside, only a new bench outside.  So I sat there and began to meditate.

Immortal Lu Dong Bin Statue at Bai Yun Guan

Meeting with a Taoist Monk

After a while, an old Taoist monk sat next to me.  I felt him, opened my eyes and we began chatting.  We hit it off immediately.  He asked if I had been here before.  I told him a bit of my history and the conversation got lively.  My wife and son came over, and he took a shine to them. When she asked for a photograph we took a bunch.

It is highly unusual for an old Taoist pries to talk to people so freely, virtually unheard of in the 80s. The Monk was 69 years old.  As is common with traditional elders in China, he asked exactly what the difference was between the temple then and now. In China age is traditionally associated with wisdom.  I let him know my reflections of Beijing and the temple.

After a while of talking, he invited me over to a tree (“White Tree”) that he said was over a hundred years old.  We took a series of pictures with every combination of him and us next to this tree.  We promised to get him the pictures later after printing them out.  He really took a shine to my son and repeated over and over that he would live to be 100 years as well as his parents.

This is what most would call a rare and mystical meeting.  The old man came from Hunan and I could only half understand him, as his accent often was almost impossible for me to understand.  We chatted for almost an hour.

My wife then remembered she had a tasty power bar she had brought from the U.S. and, like all good moms who want people to be happy and well-fed, gave it to him.  He smiled, talked a bit more and then went inside the Liu Dong Bin shrine.  From the alter he brought out a load of tangerines which he gave us – again something Taoist priests rarely, if ever, do.  He wanted to continue chatting, but I had made previous appointments.

Karmic Connection or Yuen Fen

I returned the next day and could not find the Elder Taoist Monk.  After about half an hour of going all over the place, I found his small room and he invited me inside.

It was an extremely tight space, with a television set, clock, two water bottles, a bed, two chairs and a desk.  There were a few pictures on the wall, including him in his youth with a giant tiger from somewhere in Yunnan province.

Yesterday’s power bar was still unopened.  I gave him a bag of Hawaiian macadamia nuts.  He was still in feeding people mode and kept filling my bag with a load of peanuts.
After some time of talking he brought out his pictures from his desk.  He gave me several of them and said he only did so because I was a teacher.  He then said we had a karmic connection, which the Chinese call “yuen fen.”

After some time, a young Chinese man also came.  He said he was a friend but not a student.  A conversation ensued and the thing was getting the young man a pair of warm shoes for the arriving freezing winter.  After they worked out the details and how much it would cost, I offered the money to pay for the shoes but the old Taoist monk took the money back and said we had yuen fen and refused the money.

He then out of his minimal money gave to the young man, who had to stop him from giving too much. I was glad the young university graduate came, because he could understand the old man’s provincial accent which I couldn’t half the time, just as the old man couldn’t fully understand me.  With a middle man who spoke some English to boot, it all worked out.

It turns out the Elder Taoist monk was from the Quan Zhen (fire) sect.  He made a major point that they were celibates and never married (in this context married implies having sex).  He was ordained a Taoist monk/priest around 1980 in Hunan province and came to the White Cloud temple in 2008.

I asked him about the inner practices of his sect of Taoism.  He bemoaned that the young monks didn’t practice much and often slept rather than practiced.  In general, they were not very spiritually awake.  He said they wanted the fruits of practice without putting in the internal work.  I responded by saying what they said when I was learning in Taiwan, “No practice no good” and he smiled and put his thumb in the air.

Taoist Meditation Practices

After some time he expressed that unless you practice sufficiently and go deep enough into your heart, the light inside the brain won’t awaken.  I then mentioned that one of my practices in the Liu Dong Bin shrine in the 1980s, I experienced for the first time that light, not only in my brain, but the entire inside of my body.  He closed his eyes, contemplated, and when he opened them smiled and gain gave an thumbs up in affirmation.

Later I asked if the minds of practitioners in his sect went outside their bodies to other dimensions and outward towards the stars.  This again elicited another lament about the young monks’ lack of practice.  Slowly, however, he came about and said if you go deep inside your heart sufficiently, this practice can also be accomplished.

After the young man left, we chatted for a while and he asked if I would be returning to Beijing, and six or seven times we went back and forth with me saying I don’t know and him repeating it.  He said it would be nice to also see my family again.  After we did more a bit more talk, I said I had to go and would practice at the Liu Dong Bin shrine before I left.  We then did a traditional Taoist bow reserved for good friends.  Palms over palms, thumb touching the palm of one hand, we bowed down, so our hands went between our legs and then came up, bowed, crossed palms moving toward each other.

I meditated at the Liu Dong Bin shrine for an hour or so.  Since I had meditated often here it was easy to reconnect to the energy of the shrine.

San Xin Deities of Taoism

Next I sought out the San Xin, where I also used to sit and do meditation homework assignments for hours on end.  On the second floor of another temple within the White Cloud Temple complex, the San Xin are what you could call the three big deities of Taoism that are responsible for the turning of the seasons on the earth and, by extension, the universe.

There was no bench or chair as there always was in the 1980s.  I talked to the priest in charge to see if I could sit and meditate there and he asked why.  Then we had a confusing conversation that eventually got cleared up.  I told him I had became a Taoist priest in Taiwan in the 1970s and used to practice in the San Xin temple in the 1980s.  He got confused because the Bai Yun Guan was closed to the public in the 1970s.  He asked me this in English and said he was the only one around who understood English.

Anyway, after explaining I practiced there 1984-6 it made sense as the temple was open then and he said okay.  He left me in peace and I preceded to meditate until leaving.

The White Cloud Temple is an amazing spiritual treasure. If you ever come to Beijing and are interested in Taoism it is one place you don’t want to miss.

Until the next post… Bruce

Taoist Master Liu Hung Chieh and Bruce Frantzis in the 1980's

Last week I was interviewed by China Radio International (CRI) about my experiences in China in the mid 1980′s. Please enjoy:

Born and raised in the USA, Bruce Frantzis spent a total of 11 years in China in the 70s and 80s. He was one of the few foreigners studying martial arts in this …
english.cri.cn/7146/2011/12/05/2001s670230.htm

Stay tuned for a few more blog posts from China.

Fried Scorpions and Seahorses on a Stick

Walking through the streets of Bejing after twenty-five years is quite a trip!

One astonishing sight is the pollution.  Yesterday the sky was a nasty shade of grey, and you could barely see the sun through the soup.  Yet I was told that it wasn’t that bad.   Apparently there is “bad”, “very bad” and then there is “crazy bad”.   The U.S. Embassy issues a pollution alert only when the worst is “crazy bad”.  All I know is that last night I began coughing, found black in my nostrils, and got a vicious headache.  Normally to relieve headaches there are points you can press in the eyes and forehead bones just above the eye sockets.  I have never experienced such pain from pressing these points, nor had my entire eye socket bone hurt so bad.  Went to bed early, thankfully the headache was gone by morning. Check out this from the US consulate in Beijing:

The pollution today (http://www.toranacleanair.com/BeijingAirQualityFeed.html) is at 351 and the highest negative rating is the following:

201-300 Very Unhealthy (People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid all physical activity outdoors. Everyone else should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion)

Another mind-blower is the hyper construction and modernization around the city, a result of increasing wealth and a population that has doubled since I left.  Many of the buildings that used to be four or five stories tall have now been replaced by those that are fifteen to twenty stories tall.

Some of the more weird things available for tourists to try in Wangfujing area of Beijing are bugs, seahorses,starfish and still-wriggling scorpions available on a stick that they will deep fry for your gastronomic pleasure. My wife felt sorry for the seahorses but not for the scorpions or bugs. Is this a form of animal racism?

I went to hang out with my son, who is doing a college year abroad at a University in Beijing.   The campus used to be cold, grey, and built from Communist-style block architecture.  It is now completely modernized.

Another difference between Beijing of the 1980s and Beijing of today is that today people seem freer.  Although they cannot speak freely in public, most can say what they want to say in private.

A Shop Sign in Beijing

In the 80s everyone was so terrified of the local KGB (called the public security bureau) they would not talk at all.  The KBG had ears everywhere.  Some of the fear was a hangover from the Cultural Revolution of the 70s, when some children turned their parents in, as happened in Germany with the Gestapo in the last World War.

Today people commonly smile and laugh on the streets and restaurants.  Back in the 80s most seemed distinctly shut down.  People on the subways do look exhausted and downtrodden, for which the severe pollution definitely doesn’t help.  Before the reforms to the old communist iron rice-bowl economy, few worked enough hours to be exhausted.

For Thanksgiving, we went to a restaurant to eat duck.  We got a private room with seven seats.  Every time the door was opened, a young Chinese group was having a good old time laughing, smiling, and definitely drinking.  I walked back and forth from the dining room to outside, passing one table numerous times.

Then the woman at the table asked out loud, “Wonder if he understands what we said.”

I replied, “I can understand, however I wasn’t particularly listening.”

Surprised I spoke Chinese, they asked me to sit down and have a drink.  I refused the booze but had some tea which they assured me they had brought so there was no poison in it.  We chatted for ten minutes.  They were from Shanghai to do some business in Beijing.  Chinese are pretty friendly, but this is something that never would have happened 25 years ago.

Times have changed and from this level of freedom of easy communication it is night and day for the better.

From the road,

Bruce

P.S. In the next post I’ll talk about my visit to the White Cloud Temple in Beijing – one of the main centers for Taoism in China