A great example of the true spirit

A few weeks ago, I got an inflammation in the ligament of my knee. It got me stressed up and annoyed, as for a short while, my sense of balance disappeared and every walk ignites a painful sensation. Stubborn as I am, I kept on training externally, to the point where my knee got worse and feeling more stressed.

To make the situation less worse, I decided to rest for a couple of weeks. It felt really good and I could see the situation from a distance. With the focus on the external a bit cleared, I realized I have ignored the internal training, which is about collecting energy rather than spending it. And as we all get older: our body will not move like an 18 year old. It is the chi you saved with your training, that will stay with you and keep you strong.

So I got back into the 18 Taiji Qi Gung, or Shibashi, one of Mike Laoshi's favorite exercise on the Thursday evening classes. I have tried several Qi Gung, some more exotic then others, but the 18 Qi Gung is (for me) the most efficiënt one. It is relatively simple (if you are not picky on details) and long enough to make it work. After training the 18 Qi Gung, your body will feel warm and sweaty like from a good work out and your hands feeling tingly (bad English, sorry) from the blood circulation. (If it doesn't happen, don't worry, but keep practise)

On friday I trained the 18 Qi Gung back for the first time, in the beautiful garden at Tom's whilst accompanied by the sound of his didgeridoo. And on Saturday, I got to practise it with other KungFu brothers and sisters and of course ended up in one of our favorite Chinese restaurants eating Dim Sum.

Anyway, I was searching the order of the set on youTube and came across the 18 Qi Gung performed by Andy Wright. Andy Wright was born with a condition called cerebal palsy and until the age of 8 he was reliant upon a wheelchair for mobility. At home he crawled around on his hands and knees.

Longing to walk and play like other children, he took up Karate lessons and Qi Gung to improve his health and make the best of his life.

I am really impressed about people like Andy, in a world with so much miscontent and complains. We all can learn from Andy's spirit and see the benefits of Martial arts training.