See below feature comment "The sad sad misconception that there is something WRONG with
popularizing Tai Chi & Qigong," and also a feature medical post on Tai Chi for Heart Disease.
Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard, author of "The Relaxation Response," speaking on how mind-body practices like Tai Chi can address
60 to 90% of all the illnesses sending people to our doctors.
Bohol, Philippines
(one of the 7,108 islands of the Philippines)
World Tai Chi & Qigong Day 2017 celebration
HI Bill
Here is a link to a video we put together to celebrate
World Tai Chi Day here in Bohol, one of the 7,108
islands of the Philippines.
--
All the best,
Sifu Madhava (Marsha Lloyd) 0917 2044929
Level 1 Coach (Tai Chi) Australian Sports Commission
TAI CHI FOR STRENGTH, HEALTH AND VITALITY
The sad sad misconception that there is something WRONG with
popularizing
Tai Chi & Qigong ...
I got thrown headlong into this issue ... When I released the first edition of my tai chi and qigong book nearly 20 years ago, and I was
so excited to see the rave reviews of ordinary folks who loved the book's user-friendly approach ... but then
was shocked to see some Tai Chi teachers and enthusiasts criticizing it for "promoting Tai Chi and Qigong" and "popularizing it."
Later, I was thrilled to see Tai Chi legends like Grandmaster and US Tai Chi Forms grand champion Sifu Hong Yijiao, loved my book "
The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi & Qigong" and were excited to see a book that could explain difficult Chinese concepts in ordinary language accessible to the mass public.
As a Tai Chi community we can walk and chew gum at the same time, you see :-) We can continue the deep trek of honing and refining the deep long form traditions of the arts ... while also evolving new approaches to make it more accessible to the general public.
For example, I still teach the 64 posture Guang Ping Yang Style Long Form in my two public weekly classes. That has not changed. BUT, I also evolved an extremely short form of about 5 movements so that people who could never stick with a long form can get a toe in the door of the Tai Chi and Qigong journey.
Now, these short form one hour classes have become "portals" where some of these folks end up becoming curious to learn the traditional Long Form. Like I said, we can chew gum and walk at the same time. This doesn't have to be a battle between traditionalists and innovators.
BY POPULARIZING TAI CHI & QIGONG WE OPEN THE GATES, AND THIS CAN LEAD TO A FLOOD OF NEW INTEREST IN TRADITIONALIST APPROACHES. It doesn't have to be a war, it can be a collaboration, and flow, an evolution that lifts all aspects of Tai Chi and Qigong.
I have been in situations were traditionalist teachers have gotten angry at me because my classes bring in way more students than they do. They worked hard, many years, to refine their traditional training, and resent my class's popularity.
WHAT IF, INSTEAD OF GETTING ANGRY WITH ME ... THEY HAD SAID, "Hey Bill, how are you getting so many students?" Well, I'll tell you what would have happened ... I would have told them how I did it, and how they too could do it :-) In fact, that is what these newsletters have been designed to do over nearly 20 years, free newsletters filled with useful tips to do just that.
I've given away everything from "how to market classes," to "tai chi medical research," to "how to evolve our teaching to become more accessible to the public," etc.
But some couldn't see it. Why? Because their eyes were too full of competition. Let's let go of this as a Tai Chi and Qigong family, and come together ... one family, all lifting each other.
When I began World Tai Chi Day there was very little collaboration between Tai Chi teachers. Some local teachers looked at me with suspicion, and several still do. They thought I was trying to horn in on the tiny small number of people in the metro area interested in Tai Chi. I appealed to them, "Look, its like we're fighting over a tiny slice of pizza as competitors. If we work together to expose the public to Tai Chi, and make it tangible to their lives, we can make a bigger pizza. If we got 1%, JUST 1%, of the Kansas City metro area interested in Tai Chi, that would mean 20,000 NEW STUDENTS, MORE THAN ANY TEACHERS COULD HANDLE. Still, some KC metro Tai Chi teachers refused to be involved in World Tai Chi & Qigong Day.
Tai Chi is about flow, not rigid resistance. The public NEEDS Tai Chi and Qigong as the world is gripped in a stress epidemic. NOW, is the time for us to come together. 60 to 90% of illnesses sending people to doctors is caused by stress. In the US alone, if Tai Chi were massively used in America it would save hundreds of billions of dollars EACH AND EVERY YEAR in national health costs.
And its not just Tai Chi & Qigong, Yoga offers benefits, Reiki offers benefits, Meditation offers benefits to society. Many WTCQD events worldwide, Cairo, Egypt; Brazil; etc. have welcomed in all mind-body practices to educate the public at their events ... this is not a threat to Tai Chi and Qigong ... Tai Chi and Qigong are profound tools and they have nothing to fear ... when Yoga people get involved, then they are exposed to Tai Chi and Qigong, and visa versa.
We CAN stop "squeezing" our world and our hearts ... and open ... open,
open ...
Please forward this to every single Tai Chi and Qigong school and mind-body teacher in your city, state and nation. Not just the
ones you know, but the ones you DON'T KNOW who have never attended or participated in a World Tai Chi & Qigong Day event to educate the public about Tai Chi and Qigong and mind-body practices.
Our world is in dire need of mind-body practices for many many reasons. Now is the time to come together as a family of mind-body ... as a family of humankind.
Yours in Qi.
Bill Douglas, World Tai Chi & Qigong Day Founder
Grandmaster, Dr. Luk HONG KONG
Grandmaster Dr. Luk, is a renowned Tai Chi champion from Hong Kong, who taught me about the importance of the mindfulness quality of Tai Chi and Qigong, and how important meditation is to our Tai Chi practice. She taught me how Tai Chi and Qigong are at their highest form a "gratitude" experience ... where we slow down and acknowledge the beauty and subtlety of our energetic nature.
Dr. Luk's Breast Cancer Survivors Qigong Group is a featured component of World Tai Chi & Qigong Day celebrations in Hong Kong each year.
Dr. Luk honors World Tai Chi & Qigong Day Founder, Angela Wong Douglas
at Tai Chi celebration in Hong Kong following World Tai Chi & Qigong Day
-- Bill Douglas, Founder of World Tai Chi & Qigong Day
TAI CHI TREATS HEART DISEASE ...
TAI CHI CAN TREAT HEART FAILURE !
-- BBC News
A US study of 30 patients found regular classes gave patients better movement and reduced BNP levels, a measure of heart failure.
A number of the patients attended twice weekly classes for 12 months while a second group had standard treatment.
The British Heart Foundation said the study was "excellent news" and Tai Chi could be adopted into treatment programmes in the UK in the future.
**********************
A total of 29 studies met inclusion criteria, including 9 randomized controlled trials, 14 nonrandomized studies, and 6 observational trials. The study subjects included patients with coronary heart disease, heart failure, CVD, and CVDRF (hypertension, dyslipidemia, impaired glucose metabolism).
See our WorldTaiChiDay.org Medical Research Library for medical research on nearly 100 common health challenges & how Tai Chi or Qigong can help or treat.
AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO TAI CHI AS A LOOSENING EXERCISE,
by Tai Chi master David Dorian Ross.
You may know David from his founding of the global livestream of World Tai Chi & Qigong Day, "24 Hours of World Peace," where he stays up for 24 hours interviewing and covering livestreaming of our global event, in 2017 he plugged in with events in over 40 nations.
BUT YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW, that David is one of the greatest Tai Chi champions in the world, and has won numerous Tai Chi championships.
DAVID OFFERS SOME "FREE DAILY LESSONS" AT HIS WEBSITE:
HONORING ROGER JAHNKE ...
Many of you know Master Roger Jahnke, but for those of you who don't you may have benefited from his lifetime of work advocating Tai Chi and Qigong.
If you teach in a YMCA class, it may well be because Roger Jahnke brought the YMCA, National Institutes on Aging, and Tai Chi experts nationwide to create a way for local YMCA's and senior care facilities to bring in local Tai Chi teachers and create effective Tai Chi programs for cities all across America and beyond.
Roger has been at the forefront of bringing Tai Chi and Qigong into the scientific community, and he was a founder of the National Qigong Association which has and still is doing amazing work.
VALUABLE NIH RESEARCH INITIATED BY ROGER JAHNKE
A Comprehensive Review of Health Benefits of Qigong and Tai Chi
National Institutes of Health
THE NATIONAL QIGONG ASSOCIATION
About The NQA
The National Qigong Association (NQA) is the premier membership organization for qigong. We are an umbrella for all groups, schools, enthusiasts. Western or Eastern. Ancient or Modern.
- We are the primary group for networking and coordinating students, teachers, supporters and professionals.
- We support scientific endeavors as the benefits of Qigong and Tai Chi are researched, documented, published.
- We are innovative with our use of the web, podcasts and our sharing of all types of qigong information.
- The NQA does not support any one person or Qigong/Tai Chi style. We are a democratic not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
- We are not just a list of people or a set of classes, we are a COMMUNITY.
Be a part of the Qi Flow and the Qi Excitement that is moving through our country.
