Catching Up

As I get older the passage of time continues to accelerate, so it feels like it’s been both a busy year and a short one – I can’t believe it is already November.

The Spring and Fall Wild Goose camps in Delphos were both exceptional. All the folks involved in the system are contributing to a wave of energy and knowledge that continues to build. This was particularly strong at the Fall camp that was dedicated to a wide range of healing methods. I honestly do not know of any place where you could have received such wide ranging information on chiropractic, acupuncture, cupping, moxa, massage, energy healing and general TCM theory – and that was just Saturday’s presentations. What a great group of people.

Shane and I finished the third volume in the Wild Goose book series that covered the martial aspects of the system and introduced the Dayan Palm form. The book gives an overview of the martial basics and in my opinion breaks some new ground. To my knowledge this is the first time that the broader aspects of the Wild Goose martial techniques have been documented. There is much more to come…work is proceeding on a book dedicated to healing…stay tuned for more.

Wild Goose System Volume III - Martial Methods 

At a personal level, my own understanding of how the universe works continues to grow (as does the list of things that I do not know). The single most valuable thing I learned this year is the importance of awareness. The importance of awareness and living in the current moment continues to unfold for me. Each new epiphany brings another new understanding which leads to some personal progress which leads to another “revelation” and so it goes. I see no end to this marvelous process.

Examining my own experience, I can understand now that my early martial training was shifted too much into the physical – i.e. I was training to develop the physical aspects of technique without appreciating the aspects of awareness and the mental and spiritual development that would have greatly enhanced the physical training. There was too much emphasis on accumulating more physical technique…more physicality, and an insufficient understanding of the path (Tao) that would lead to true mastery of all the aspects – physical, mental and spiritual. This is of course, nothing new. I am simply “discovering” the same things that countless others have said and done over the centuries. The single most helpful thing to me in this process of discovery has been gaining a deeper understanding of meditation. Again, this is nothing new. The internal arts have long relied on various forms of meditation as in zhan zhuang (standing meditation) and zazen (seated meditation). If you are a “seeker” and have not yet investigated meditation and made it a part of your life, then that is a direction I would recommend.

And, a huge thank you to all the folks that have kept me on the path this year. And, I’ll try to do a better job and post more frequently (hopefully something useful) on this bog.

A new book and a new video now available on Amazon....

We just released the book Wild Goose System - Volume II that covers Seated Meditation, Standing [Water & Fire] Meditation and Meridian Patting Forms.

Wild Goose System - Volume II

And a companion DVD video covering the Meridian Patting form.

Wild Goose Meridian Patting DVD

Stay tuned, there are more books and videos in the works

Wild Goose Spring Camp

The Spring Wild Goose camp was held on March 9-11 in Delphos, Ohio – another great camp. Friday evening was the martial arts seminar with presentations by Masters Shane Lear, Shane Topp and Steve Cooper (and me). We covered a lot of ground including basic postural points, movement around the centerline, energies of flow and many specific applications of striking, locking and downing. As always, it was a great group of enthusiastic folks.

Saturday was devoted to forms work in the Wild Goose system. There were individual groups reviewing Meridian Patting, Wild Goose 1 & 2 and the Dayan Palm form. Many of the form reviews came with specifics on the healing and hurting applications.

Sunday was instructor’s only time with Master Lear discussing methodologies for seated meditation and some very detailed information on breath work – all great stuff.

The day after the seminar, I was back home and looking through the magazines at a local bookstore when I saw the April issue of Black Belt Magazine. I thumbed through the contents and saw a section on using movements from Aikido in various self-defense situations. As I looked at the pictures, it was easy to see that all of the “Aikido” techniques being demonstrated were also movements out of Wild Goose. As we have often said of the martial arts in general, it’s all one art.

For me, the really cool thing was that this reminded me of the completeness of the Wild Goose system. Not only do we get an outstanding system for healing and personal development, we also get a great system for self-defense.

Here’s the posture Flying Over the Water, from the 1st 64 action form.

Can you see that lead hand smacking into the facial nerves (ST5 comes to mind), while the rear hand has hold of the pressure points at the wrist? After the head smack, the arms swing back across the body – that could be a “nice” throw. Or perhaps, the first swing across is deflecting an attack and the swing back gets to smack the head. So many possibilities.

What is qi?

In a previous post I talked about qi (pronounced chee) as bio-energy. Since the internal arts spend a lot of time talking about building, circulating and maintaining qi, it’s important to have an understanding of what it is.

This is kind of a large topic for a post, so here’s my short version.

Qi is any of a broad group of bio-energies produced by the body. These include electricity, magnetism, light, heat – essentially a range of energy frequencies. These energies flow throughout the body via pathways referred to in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) as meridians. Research indicates that the meridians correspond to areas of perineural cells along the nerve pathways. Wherever there is an energy flow, there will be a corresponding energy field. The energy fields of the body are typically characterized as auras. While qi (also chi) is the Chinese term for this energy, it has been described for centuries by many cultures under various names – pneuma, prana, ki, etc.

The Western take on qi and TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) has changed significantly in recent decades, particularly since the 1970s when the advent of the SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) made it possible to actually measure minute levels of energy in the body. Modern research has confirmed many of the qi flows and their related fields that have traditionally been noted by TCM. The coupling of current research and thousands of years of healing practice leave no doubt as to the existence or practical usage of qi.

Perhaps the easiest way to get a handle qi is to experience it in your own body. Here’s a simple exercise for perceiving qi. Take a relaxed stance with your feet parallel at about a shoulder’s width and a neutral spine. Hold your hands with the palms facing each other at waist level. This will place two major qi transmission points in the hands (Pericardium 8 points [laogong]) opposite each other. 

Now visualize an energy flow that runs through your chest, out one arm, across the space between your hands and then up the other arm and back through the chest. Men should visualize this flow counter clockwise from the right palm to the left, women are opposite with a clockwise flow from left to right. Try to both visualize and feel this rotating flow through your hands. Gradually bring your hands closer together and then farther apart, as if you were pressing your palms together while holding a balloon in between them. As you bring your hands closer together and farther apart, notice any change in sensation on your hands. You may feel a slight pressure, heat or tingling in the hands – or you may just notice that something feels different when you move your hands closer and then farther apart. What you are feeling are the effects of the qi that is accumulating at the gap between your hands.

I have done this experiment many times in introductory qigong classes and usually see an immediate 80% success rate, with most everyone able to feel the effects of the qi with a little practice. There is nothing really mysterious here, just the same bio-energy that has always been there except now you are actively looking for it.

You can continue the exercise by first visualizing and feeling the ball of qi between your hands and then using your mental intent to roll the qi ball up one arm and down the other. This simple exercise increases your awareness of qi and brings out some important aspects of qi – first, it is tangible and second you can control it. Recognizing these aspects of qi is an important step in utilizing it in both healing and hurting applications.