TERRY DUNN'S TAI CHI FOR HEALTH / QIGONG FOR HEALTH NEWSLETTER #34
TAI CHI FOR HEALTH IN SANTA MONICAS PALISADES PARK (SATURDAYS 11AM- 12:30 PM PST); QIGONG FOR HEALTH FOR 1ST RESPONDERS (SUNDAYS 4-6PM EST RESUMES JAN.3; INTERMED. QIGONG (WED. 6-8PM) RESUMES JAN. 26
I. TAI CHI FOR HEALTH (in Sant Monica,CA) 60-posture Short Form. Saturdays 11AM - 1 PM
Classes No. 73, 74, 75 = January 7, 15, 22
The 73rd, 74th and 75gh class of my Tai Chi For Health weekly course will be given on three Saturdays in January from 11:00 AM to 1:00 pm PST at my usual location in Palisades Park in Santa Monica. The location (where I taught my Tai Chi classes from 1992 to 2017) is along Ocean Avenue between Palisades Street and Alta Ave.—or, about 30 yards north of the round rose garden where Montana Ave. ends at Ocean Ave.
“Nothing under Heaven is more pliable than water. But when amassed, there is nothing that can withstand it. That the soft overcomes the hard and the yielding overcomes the unyielding is a fact known to all men but utilized by none.” — Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
Graceful in movement, slow in tempo, relaxed in fluid natural postures, Tai Chi Chuan is an ancient Chinese martial art practiced by millions throughout the world as a moving meditation for health, longevity, and self-defense. Regular practice of Tai Chi forms imparts many health benefits: improved circulation, respiration, flexibility agility, balance, posture, coordination, metabolism, bone and muscle strength, neuro-muscular coordination, immunity, and heightened ecological awareness. Tai Chi Chuan has also been accurately described as medicine, metaphysics, and psychology—all in the body of a martial art.
Class Agenda
In this ongoing weekly class, I teach the popular 60-posture Yang Style Tai Chi form (pre-choreographed routine) created by my teacher, Grandmaster William C.C. Chen. You will learn the essential postures and body mechanics of Tai Chi Chuan that will give absolute beginners a solid foundation from which to further explore the art, while enabling experienced Tai Chi players of all levels and from all styles to advance their practice.
A. WARM-UP MODULE: Each class begins with 40 minutes of classical Tai Chi warm-up and conditioning exercises that I have distilled from a vast repertoire of training methods acquired over the past 46 years from several traditions: Yang Tai Chi, Chen Tai Chi (Silk-reeling Exercises), the “Silk-weaver’s Exercise” (a Qigong form not to be confused with “The 8 Brocades”), the excellent Qing Dynasty Imperial Guard Exercises, plus several Liu He Ba Fa training exercises.
Then we proceed to practicing three essential Yang style Tai Chi conditioning exercises that I learned in the 1980’s from my first Tai Chi teacher, the late General Abraham Liu (a senior student of Prof. Cheng Man-Ching), which I still practice to profound effects and teach to this day: (1) “Wave Hands Like Clouds” done in bow-stances and in ma-bu (horse riding stance); (2) The 90º-pivoting “Play Guitar/Lifting Hands” exercise that perfects the sit stance or cat stance; (3) the smoothly alternating “Snake Creeps Down” exercise that traces the infinity symbol (a sideways “figure-8”) with the core of the body, which is so effective for developing flexibility, posture, balance, and total-body circulation, and essential for mind-body integration.
*These three essential exercises are taught in the first 45 minutes of both of my Tai Chi For Health dvds (the all-time best-selling Tai Chi instructional videos/DVDs in the English language since their release in 1989: http://www.taichimania.com/taichi_catalog.html
B. FORM INSTRUCTION: After the warm-up module, you will receive detailed, step-by-step instruction in the 60-posture Form created by my teacher, Grandmaster William C.C. Chen. My method of Tai Chi form training is based on first learning structure, and then learning flow. That is, each posture must be learned and correctly held as a standing meditation. Then we practice transitioning from one posture to the next to develop “flow.” IMHO, art is in--or is made in--the transitions. [*Transitional flow, btw, is what each of the essential 3 conditioning exercises in the warmup module develop.] Only when the sequential flow of Tai Chi postures becomes completely relaxed, frictionless and “muscle-free” does form practice become true “moving meditation” and the full health benefits of Tai Chi form become actualized. First structure, then flow. Mastery of the solo form as a moving meditation comes when the Tai Chi player can perform the form as one thought—and one no longer feels the body.
Once proficiency in the Form is attained, we delve into the second half of the Tai Chi journey: Push-hands (“Tui-shou”) practice, or fixed-step sparring, in which one attempts to unbalance and displace one’s practice partner using a minimum of physical strength (li). Push-hands practice teaches the subtle martial applications of the Form and how to apply Tai Chi’s “soft power” for self-defense. We practice the solo form to know ourselves; we practice Push-Hands to harmonize with our environment, to neutralize aggression and (with mastery) to win without fighting.
“Those who practice Tai Chi Chuan will gain the pliability of a child, the vitality of a lumberjack, and the wisdom of a sage.” – ancient Chinese adage
JOINING THE TAI CHI FOR HEALTH Saturday classes:
FEE: $40 per class
• Please send tuition via Paypal (to zenbearinc@gmail.com) or via Zelle (via terencepdunn@gmail.com)—well before 11AM on day of class —or send an email to zenbearinc@gmail.com asking to be sent a Paypal money request that you can use any credit or debit card to pay.) You will then be sent the Meeting Password by 9am on Tuesday.
• All participants must register in advance for this meeting at the above URL.
*Unfortunately, the Santa Monica classes in January cannot be Livestreamed for lack of WiFi at Palisades Park but primarily because of the utter failure of AT&T’s much touted “Elite” 100 Gig per month data plan, which they falsely advertised would not be throttled down. AT&T breached their contract with me and throttled down my service to virtually no service when the date use reached 53 Gigs. So I discontinued paying their invoices for what I experienced as a bait-and-switch ploy. (When I’m done with my transition to New Haven later this spring, I may start a class-action suit against AT&T for what I perceive as their full-of-shit “Elite” data plan.)
II. QIGONG FOR HEALTH FOR 1st RESPONDERS: FLYING PHOENIX QIGONG ON SUNDAYS, 4-6PM
Classes No. 85 on January 30: Classes 86, 87, 88, 89 = February 6, 13, 20, 27
My Qigong For Health For First-Responders class on Sundays will resume on January 30 and continue throughout February, Livestreaming from Eastover Estate from 4pm to 6pm EST.
The vitalities of heaven and earth, sun and moon, Are fundamentally inherent in our bodies. If reality and consciousness do not stray from each other, Creation is always in the palm of your hand. —Chang Po-Tuan, 11th Century (“The Inner Teachings of Taoism”, Chapter 16)
Our 86th Livestream of Qigong For Health For First-Responders is set for this Sunday, February 6, from 4pm to 6pm Eastern Time (U.S. and Canada), with 30 minutes of discussion and Q&A immediately following.
Each class immerses you in—not one, but—two authentic and powerful ancient Taoist monastic systems of Qigong that impart tangible, repeatable and verifiable health benefits. That is, each one is a stand-alone health and cultural treasure from China that is no longer practiced there as result of he Cultural Revolution (1965 to 1975) that more than decimated classical Chinese culture:
(1) Taoist Elixir Method (“Tao Tan Pai”) Qigong is a complete system of Taoist hygienics, martial art, hermeticism, and spiritual art that was created in Tang Dynasty and is attributed to Lu Tung Pin (Lu Deng Bin), the de facto leader of the 8 Taoist Immortals (saints). Tai Tan Pai Qigong is easy to learn, easy to practice, and will serve one for a lifetime. The TTP-31 Basic Meditations consists of 15 standing moving meditations and 16 seated meditations, all of which involve movements except three.
(2) Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Qi Meditations(“Fei Feng San Gung”) is a rare and powerful purely healing Qigong system that imparts tangible energizing and rejuvenating effects and deep meditative states of consciousness in surprisingly swift manner—within 25 to 40 minutes of practicing any combination of the 8 basic standing meditations or 24 seated meditations. Unique and profound allostatic effects continue long after one’s practice of this Qigong has finished.
"Flying Phoenix Qigong practice significantly elevates parasympathetic tone. 90 minutes of practice of this Qigong is restorative in real time and over time afterwards."
- Yetsa A. Tuakli-Wosornu, M.D., M.P.H., IOC Dip. Sp. Med. Assistant Clinical Professor, Yale School of Public Health Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology
The Flying Phoenix Qigong was created in 1644 by the famous Taoist, Feng Dao Deh (Feng Do Duk in Cantonese) of Ehrmeishan. The video below shows my spontaneous demonstration of the capstone moving meditation called “Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditation,” which is taught in the fourth volume of my best-selling Chi Kung For Health DVD series that I produced in 2004. Once the choreography is memorized, it is performed with the eyes closed and at a speed three tines slower than Tai Chi form speed.
**SEE THE POSTSCRIPT FOR TESTIMONIALS ON VIDEO ABOUT THE MEDICAL EFFICACY OF FLYING PHOENIX QIGONG.**
Joining the Livestream Session
To learn these two extraordinarily transformative Qigong arts that are both easy-to-do and profoundly restorative holistic health regimens, and join a lively worldwide community of students dedicated to health, personal growth, self-empowerment, inner peace and outer peace, sign up for the next Sunday session:
The Zoom Meeting ID is: 828 1622 1377
Registration URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYldu-qrDopHdPmWX5jNr_K8HBFiFLN5Ahg
FEE: $40 per class; $280 / 8-class series; or $500 / 16-class series
• Please send tuition via Paypal to zenbearinc@gmail.com (before 1:00 PM on the day of he class) —or send an email to zenbearinc@gmail.com asking to be sent a Paypal money request that you can use any credit or debit card to pay.) You will then be sent the Meeting Password by 2pm..
• All participants must register in advance for this meeting at the above URL.
• Berkshires students are welcome to attend this class in person (with physical distancing and mask-wearing, of course).
The Flying Phoenix Qigong was created in 1644 by the famous Taoist, Feng Dao Deh (Feng Do Duk in Cantonese) of Ehrmeishan. The video above shows my impromptu demonstration of the “Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditation,” which is the capstone exercise of this vast Qigong system that bears the same name (“Fei Feng San Gung” in Chinese). Once this moving meditation is memorized, its practice--done with the eyes closed--subsumes the practice of the preceding 7 standing meditations of the system (taught on Volumes 1 and 3 of the DVD series). Its regular daily practice maintains peak immunity and ensures continuous cultivation of a tangible reserve in the boy of the Flying Phoenix Healing Qi.
“Moonbeam Splashes On The Water” (below) is the second most advanced Flying Phoenix Qigong meditation, next to the capstone meditation.
**SEE THE POSTSCRIPT FOR TESTIMONIALS ON VIDEO ABOUT THE HEALING AND REJUVENATING EFFICACY OF FLYING PHOENIX QIGONG.**
Joining the Livestream Session
To learn these two extraordinarily transformative Qigong arts that are both easy-to-do and profoundly restorative holistic health regimens, and join a lively worldwide community of students dedicated to health, personal growth, self-empowerment, inner peace and outer peace, sign up for the next Sunday session:
The Zoom Meeting ID is: 828 1622 1377
Registration URL:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYldu-qrDopHdPmWX5jNr_K8HBFiFLN5Ahg
FEE: $40 per class; $280 / 8-class series; or $500 / 16-class series
• Please send tuition via Paypal (to zenbearinc@gmail.com) or via Zelle (to terencepdunn@gmail.com) before 1:00 PM on the day of he class) —or send an email to zenbearinc@gmail.com asking to be sent a Paypal money request that you can use any credit or debit card to pay.) You will then be sent the Meeting Password by 2pm..
• All participants must register in advance for this meeting at the above URL.
• Berkshires students who are fully vaccinated are welcome to attend this class in person (with physical distancing, of course).
III. INTERMEDIATE QIGONG & BASIC KUNG FU
Classes #78, 79, 80, 81 = February 2, 9, 16, 23
March 10 will be the 38th intermediate-level Qigong & Basic Kung Fu class of this ongoing weekly series (from 6:00p.m. to 8:00p.m. EST). This course concentrates on the intermediate and advanced levels of the two Qigong systems that I preserve, Tao Tan Pai (Taoist Elixir Method”) Nei Kung created in the Tang Dynasty and the Ehrmei Mountain Flying Phoenix Qigong, a medical qigong system and health safety net integral to the White Tiger (Bok Fu Pai) Kung Fu School, which was created in 1644 by Taoist Feng Dao Deh.
Prerequisites for joining the Intermediate class have recently been adjusted—please note:
1. Proficiency in all of the Flying Phoenix standing Qigong exercises up to and including “Moonbeam Splashes On Water” moving meditation—i.e., proficiency in performing all the meditative exercises in Volums 1, 2 and 3 of Chi Kung For Health DVD series. —i.e. you should have “Moonbeam Splashes On Water” moving meditation memorized and be able to do it and its breath conrol sequence from memory and with eyes closed.
2. Proficiency in the Tao Tan Pai Short Form Power Yoga—and familiarity with the overall sequenc of TTP 31 Basic Meditations—as acquired through attendance of two 3-day TTP Qigong workshops at Eastover Estate over past 3 years, or 3 months of weekly community classes (12 classes).
Class Agenda:
1. Refinement of Moonbeam Splashes On Water
2. Refinement of FP Long Form Standing Meditation
3. Lessons in advanced seated “Monk Serves Wine” FP Mediations
4. Advanced Flying Phoenix Qigong – 9 standing moving meditations
5. Tao Tan Pai Cane Form
6. Tao Tan Pai Monkey Form
7. Introduction to Preparatory Form of 8 Sections of Energy Combined
8. Introduction to “10,000 Buddhas Ascend To Heaven” Meditations
JOINING THE INTERMED. COURSE LIVESTREAM: Wednesdays 6pm - 8pm
To experience these two profoundly powerful holistic and restorative health regimens that are in the form practical kung-fu exercises, and join a lively worldwide community of students dedicated to health, longevity, personal growth, self-empowerment, inner peace and world peace, sign up for the next session:
The Zoom Meeting ID is: 835 2614 5019
Registration URL:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcode-pqj4qG92EwOe2Kx3WhWPykD2e1Vd-
FEE: $65 / class or $480 / 8-class series or $880 /16-class series
• Please send tuition via Paypal to zenbearinc@gmail.com or via Zelle to terencedunn@gmail.com (well before 4:00 PM on each day of class) to receive the ZoomMeeting Password by 5pm EST.
IV. SONG PICK OF THE MONTH:
“MY EVER CHANGING MOODS” by Paul Weller (of the Style Council)
Piano version:
2009 performance of the 1984 Jazz-rock hit version (watch on Youtube):
It’s a sad state of the Union—and the efficacy of Russia and the alt. right’s/Republican Party’s brain-cancerous disinformation campaign— that this song’s message is more important and relevant today than ever. I hope this song gets covered by a younger generation star, has a resurgence of popularity and becomes part of today’s zeitgeist:
Daylight turns to moonlight, and I'm at my best
Praising the way it all works and gazing upon the rest
The cool before the warm, the calm after the storm
Oh the cool before the warm, the calm after the storm
I wish to stay forever, letting this be my food
Oh but I'm caught up in a whirlwind and my ever changing moods
Bitter turns to sugar, some call a passive tune
But the day things turn sweet, for me won't be too soon
The hush before the silence, the winds after the blast
Oh the hush before the silence, the winds after the blast
I wish we'd move together, this time the bosses sued
Oh but we're caught up in the wilderness and an ever changing mood
Teardrops turn to children, who've never had the time
To commit the sins they pay for through, another's evil mind
The love after the hate
The love we leave too late
The love after the hate, the love we leave too late
I wish we'd wake up one day, and everyone feel moved
Oh but we're caught up in the dailies and an ever changing mood
Evil turns to statues, and masses form a line
But I know which way I'd run to if the choice was mine
The past is our knowledge, the present our mistake
And the future we always leave too late
I wish we'd come to our senses and see there is no truth, oh
In those who promote the confusion for this ever changing mood, yeah
mitakuye oyasin,
(Lakota prayer that means “To all my relations”, “All are related”, or “Help and Health to all my Brothers and Sisters”)
Sifu Terry Dunn
P.S. This the Sunday “Qigong For Health For First Responders” Class Agenda:
A. Warm-up: We begin every class with this easy and healthful basic Qigong routine called “the Silkweaver’s Exercise”, which you can learn on your own by practicing to this Youtube video that I excerpted from one of my accredited Medical Qigong I course for Emperor’s College of TOM:
**If you practice to this video this as homework and memorize the Silkweaver’s Exercise choreography, you’ll hit the deck “running” in all of my weekly classes and be able to attain deeper levels of relaxation, mind-body integration, physical comfort, emotional calm, and mental concentration during each class.
B. After warming up with the Silkweaver’s Exercise, we practice 50 minutes of the Basic Tao Tan Pai 31 Meditations (“TTP-31” for short), which in and of itself is a complete system of Yoga, compared to what has been taught in Yoga classes throughout the western world. We start off by learning a distillation of this series of 31 called the “Tao Tan Pai Short Form Power Yoga” consisting of the first four standing Meditations followed by the third of the 16 seated meditations (aka, Meditation No.18). This is a classical practice, not a recent advent or abbreviation—which I practiced daily every morning during my first four years of kung fu training—from 1976 to 1980. It is one of the most reliable and effective self-empowering yogic practices to elevate and organize one’s energies, and to instantly concentrate Qi flow to the hands.
We practice 4 to 15 of the standing meditations and 2 to 5 of the seated meditations in each class. By adding new meditations each week, we cover all of the 31 Basic Meditations of Tao Tan Pai in about 12 classes. This easy and yet profoundly healthful and transformative practice can be started by beginners in any class.
Both the practice of the Basic TTP-31 Meditations and the Flying Phoenix Qigong involve standing and seated, moving and sedentary meditations. Both are complete and powerful health-enhancing and consciousness-transforming systems of Taoist hygienics in and of themselves. And as I explained in earlier issues and in the Flying Phoenix Chi Kung discussion thread on www.thedaobums.com (started in Nov. 2009 by businessman and qigong practitioner Lloyd McClelland of Orlando, FL), ever since I began learning Flying Phoenix Celestial Healing Qigong in 1991, I’ve marveled over its energizing and rejuvenating effects that continue well beyond the end of each practice session. As one contributor to the FPCK daobums.com thread posted about 7 or 8 years ago, he was riding his bike about 12 hours after he had practiced FP Qigong when suddenly the tangibly sublime, deep, circulation of FP Qigong’s healing Qi suddenly enveloped him.
This restorative process has been corroborated by scores of Qigong students year after year after year… Here is a spontaneous testimonial given by my dear friend and student Rori Kanter, who described her healing experience that set on one after she got home after taking her very first 2-hour lesson in Flying Phoenix Qigong in a free class that I gave on April 28, 2019 during World Tai Chi Qigong Day weekend at Eastover Estate in Lenox, MA (double-click the blue box below, “Watch on Vimeo”):
• Six months later on November 4, Rori gave this amazing report of her annual physical check-up by her primary physician:
Tao Tan Pai Qigong catalyzes Flying Phoenix Qigong, deeply enhancing and prolonging the healing effects of the latter.
But beyond this fact that Flying Phoenix Qigong induces a healing event in the practitioner that continues long after the practice of the Qigong has ceased and can also induce a healing event several hours after the practice has concluded, I discovered seven years ago—after practicing Flying Phoenix Qigong for 23 years and the Tao Tan Pai Qigong for 38 years—that the Tao Tan Pai Qigong if practiced prior to practicing the Flying Phoenix Qigong, acts as powerful foundational catalyst or “accelerant” that enhances the restorative effects of the Flying Phoenix Qigong and prolongs “normal” duration of the energizing, rejuvenating, and self-healing events activated by the latter. Hence the format of every class in this Sunday series is one hour of Taoist Elixir Method Qigong followed by an hour of Flying Phoenix Qigong.
• These two reviews came in after each had taken my first “Qigong For Health for First Responders” class on March 29, 2020 consisting of one-hour of TTP Basic 31 Meditations followed by one hour of Flying Phoenix Qigong:
I felt a surge of tangible sensations coursing through my entire body, streams of subtle vibrations and tingling with a particular focus in the chest and head areas. Unlike the typical calming, relaxing, and sometimes sedative effects that I usually experience from FP, this pattern of energy was more invigorating, enlivening, and longer-lasting. I was alert and full of energy with an underlying sense of ease and contentment. Its effects were still mildly present three hours after the session ended, and most surprisingly, after a heavy meal, something I haven't quite experienced before even having attended a dozen intensive workshops. Although we only practiced basic exercises from each system, my experience mimicked ones I’ve had practicing advanced meditations from TTP and FP separately in longer sessions. I can only attribute these effects to the thoughtful, specific, and unique combination of TTP and FP that was offered.
--Spencer Lawrence, Jersey City, NJ
I’ve studied with Sifu Terry Dunn for 4 years at Eastover and any place else I could get the chance. The major focus of that study had been Flying Phoenix Qigong and related Bak Fu Pai arts. I’ve taken a couple of workshops in Tao Tan Pai but never gave it any thought, devotion or practice. Recently I’ve partaken in Sifu Dunn’s Sunday class “Tao Tan Pai + Flying Phoenix Qigong for Peak Immunity...” It consists of one hour of Tao Tan Pai followed another hour of Flying Phoenix. For the last 12 weeks I’ve faithfully practiced TTP daily with profound results. My lung capacity has greatly increased; my inhalation and exhalation are longer and deeper now (something useful In this time of pandemic). I’ve noticed, too, that my heart rate has slowed down by 5 beats per minute.
As to the synergistic relationship of these two seemingly unrelated disciplines, I’ll mention a few. Tao Tan Pai is the perfect warmup for Flying Phoenix Qigong. It loosens both the body and mind. It deepens the relaxation response putting one in an altered state much sooner. This state of relaxation is so deep that by the end of Sunday’s class I can barely keep my eyes open. This is especially true of the Monk Serves Wine series of exercises. My personal practice will forevermore start with TTP and end with Flying Phoenix.
--Tony Arcuri, Queens, NY
Numerous similar testimonials have been received via email, Zoom, Skype, and phone messages expressing thanks, elation, and joy over the demonstrable and verifiable synergy between Tao Tan Pai Qigong and Flying Phoenix Qigong.
Because Flying Phoenix Qigong in and of itself is outstandingly effective medical qigong system that produces repeatable and verifiable restorative health benefits, as confirmed by thousands of practitioners around the world using my DVD series since 2004 (as documented on the 12-year running “Flying Phoenix Chi Kung” discussion thread on the www.thdaobum.scom blogsite) and using my VHS cassettes with the same content since 1996, today, after having taught 58 weekly classes, students have attested that this combined regimen (of one hour TTP Qigong followed by one hour of FP Qigong) is an exceptionally effective therapeutic recovery regimen for first-responders (military, police, fire-righting and medical professionals) that will stave off stress and dissipate caused by participation in high-risk situations where injury, disease, violence, abuse and trauma are commonplace. Furthermore, based on my experience and the experience of my students over the past15 months, I am absolutely certain that his combined Qigong regimen can serve as an effective pre-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for first-responders and health workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic to increase their stamina and maintain peak immune levels. Thus I am actively seeking rigorous clinical testing of this Tao Tan Pai Qigong + Flying Phoenix Qigong regimen by any top medical center in the world.
• See you on Sundays to explore the profound holistic health benefits of these two remarkable Qigong systems.•