Tuina and Qigong Experiences - was Introduction

[Guest guest]

Hi Martin,

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions. I always enjoy

hearing about others experiences in the areas of tuina and qigong.

>

> Rich,

> Whoah!! Great question.

> You can view the course outline on " www.tuina.com.au " .

 

I had a chance to visit the site. I took this off the site since it

pretty much represents the theory which I have adopted:

 

" It follows the T.C.M. concept, so it is about clearing blockages

within the energy meridians and so the hand techniques used are very

different to other therapies however have some similarities as well. "

 

My doctor basically operates under the principle that body/mind

obstructions (blockages) are the cause of disease and he seeks to

remove them using physical (tuina) and energetic (qigong) techniques.

He theorizes that blockages can be caused by daily life habits and/or

inherited charactistics - what he calls " cold " or stagnated qi. Most

of the problems, he says are inherited. Blockages are located using

various skills such as physical palpation where blockages are

identified by " coolness of energy " , density, extra sensitivity or lack

of sensitivity.

 

The physical techniques generally consist of vigourous circular

manipulation using his forearm (mostly), elbow, fingers and sometimes

knee. He also uses qigong to move and remove cold qi from the body and

he uses certain skeletal techniques to loosen the verterbrae - which

he feels is essential to have good health. He feels most problems can

be traced back to blockages in the spinal area.

 

> I would be VERY interested to learn more about your studies, both in

> Tuina and Qi Gong

> and how the two are put together.

 

My practice in qigong began about 17 years ago when I first began

practicing taiji. Prior to that I practiced yoga and still do. Taiji

has allowed me to develop certain physical and energetic sensitivies

by increasing my awareness during forms and Push Hands practice.

Qigong has allowed me to develop stronger and more fluid qi flow which

keeps me healthy and also allows me to " move " the qi in others through

warming and moving techniques. Nothing special except that my qi may

be warmer and a bit stronger than others.

 

I am studying shiatsu and tuina/qigong bodywork. I prefer tuina

because it appears the vigorous techniques allows me to remove the

blockages faster in a proscribed amount of time. However, the

differences between the two approaches are minor if one uses the same

" intent " . The addition of qigong into the bodywork is a key

differential since I am not only working at the physical layer but

also at the energy layer, removing blockages at both layers. A former

teacher of mine also used tuina extensively along with Chia's approach

to qigong. She has been practicing over 25 years and has told me that

she pretty much uses qigong as her main modality as she has become

more experienced with it. My doctor relies equally on qigong and tuina.

 

>I firmly beleive that Tuina is very

> underrated, and has often played

> a poor relation to Acupuncture when it is, in my opinion, just as

> potent a treatment

> modality and should share the same status amongst TCM.

 

My family and friends have been using Chinese medicine for over 15

years in a variety of forms and applications. All of our doctors, who

mostly used acupunture and herbs, were excellent and are very well

respected in our area. However, we have found tuina/qigong to be most

effective and no longer use acupuncture or herbs other than some teas

once in a while. We also have dozens of friends and acquaintences who

have also switched from acupuncture/herbs to tuina/qigong for the same

reason. We may discover in the future certain problems that are

handled better with acupuncture/herbs than tuina/qigong but so far we

haven't seen any.

 

I think the primary issue with tuina/qigong is that it does take lots

of time. Our doctor's session lasts a full 50 minutes and he treats

every part of the body in every session. His is extremely effective,

but I wonder if doctors who need to work on multiple patients

simultaneously, as acupuncture allows, could afford this amount of

time with a single patient. Unless one has a good amount of energy, it

can be tiring and also it limits the amount of money that a doctor can

make in a given day. However, this said, it appears to be a very

effective way to bring people to good health and to empower people to

maintain their own health once the qi is flowing again.

 

> Many thanks for your query Rich, I look forward to your reply!

>

 

Thank you very much for pointing me to the site of your teacher. If

you would care to elaborate on your own experiences or comment on

mine, I would be very interested.

 

Regards,

Rich