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Thread: Lou Reed's Got Qi! (10/10 Entertainment Weekly)

  1. #31
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    ttt from 2003!

    Sifu Chen Jiang Nan on “got qi”
    May 9th, 2011 12:01 am ET
    By Violet Li
    Tai Chi Examiner

    Tai Chi is one kind of Qigong exercise. It is essential that Qi is cultivated during practice. The term “got qi?” was coin-phrased by Gene Ching*, Editor of Kungfu Tai Chi Magazine in 2001, inspired by the “got milk?” campaign and the YOLK Magazine’s “got rice?” t-shirt. Many martial artists bought the concept and wear Kungfu Magazine’s “got qi?” t-shirts. So, have you really got Qi in practice? What are the indicators of “got qi” in Tai Chi practice? Sifu Jiang Nan Chen of Taipei, Taiwan, a lineage holder of Grandmaster Cheng Man-Ch’ing, shares his secrete of “got qi”.

    Sifu Chen came from a family that appreciates and enjoys martial arts. At age 5, he studied Shaolin White Crane and later Judo. While attending college, he lived with Grandmaster Gan Xiao Zhou for two years and learned Tai Chi directly from the Grandmaster. Grandmaster Gan was one of the well-respected and highly accomplished in-chamber disciples of Grandmaster Cheng Man-Ch’ing. Tai Chi and Push Hands are closely related. Tai Chi is the foundation and Push Hands is the application. Without abundance of Qi, neither Tai Chi nor Push Hands is effective. Grandmaster Gan was known for his amazing power in Push Hands. His students won Push Hands titles in all the tournaments. In a private letter, Grandmaster Gan praised Sifu Chen for his brilliance and the superb skills that Sifu Chen developed in a relatively short period of time in comparison with majority of Tai Chi practitioners. Sifu Chen’s Push Hands is extremely powerful and seldom meet its match.

    Grandmaster Gan also studied Qigong with an Eastern Indian Qigong master and developed his Five Animal Routine. His Five Animal Routine consists of eighteen different movements, imitating nine different animals (Clam, Phoenix, Monkey, Rooster, Bird, Horse, Cat, Fox, and Eagle). According to Sifu Chen, the benefits of this routine include helping to relax a practitioner’s body quickly and helping to loosen joints as well as promote the feeling of Qi. Sifu Chen adheres to Grandmaster Gan’s teaching method and always starts his class with a round of Five Animal Routine to help the Qi going for his students.

    To Sifu Chen, Tai Chi fundamentals are very important. “Grasp The Sparrow Tail” are five movements in Cheng Man-Ch’ing’s famous 37 Form. Together, they consist of Ward-Off (Peng), Roll-Back (Lu), Squeeze (Ji) and Pressing down (An) methods or called Four Square Front (Si Zheng Shou). Sifu Chen has his students practice this set non-stop by keeping turning to eight different directions for a few minutes in each class. He insists that all his students including his disciples practice this daily. He instructs them to do this as slow as possible; therefore Qi can travel through our meridian system well. He also teaches them to make the movements subtle and postures not too big. His explanation is that too much muscle movement or contraction will deplete Qi. His training method yields impressive results. After practicing this segment for a few minutes, students perspire even in wintertime. Normally his students will have very strong Qi feeling along with the following symptoms:
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    The hands will become warm, swell, and feel a little bit numb. They also experience electricity or a magnetic type of pulling or pushing between hands if hands are close to each other.
    The arms will increase in size, become warm, and feel a little bit numb. Sometimes, there is a static feeling as if someone else is gently touching the arms.
    The neck will become warm, swell and feel a little bit numb. Additionally, it feels that the hair is standing up on the neck.
    The feet will become warm, swell, and a little bit numb.
    The inner thighs will become warm, swell, and feel a little bit numb.
    If the Qi fully sinks to lower Dan Tian, the Hui-yin meridian will feel movement. The testicles will also move.

    Sifu Chen advises practitioners not to think too much during practice because thinking consumes Qi. He recommends not learning too many movements at once. Practitioners should fully learn each movement and can do it without thinking before learning a new one. Otherwise, too many movements or forms can only confuse people. Once people think too hard in practice, their Qi cannot accumulate as fast.

    At the end of each class, Sifu Chen will ask the students to do Qigong massage including a tailbone massage (Cuo Wei Lu). You can see photos of tailbone massage from the slide show on the left-hand-side.

    * To read more about how “got qi” came about, visit the following link here.
    So.... got qi?
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  2. #32
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    New liver for Lou

    We wish Lou Reed a speedy recovery.
    Transformer: Lou Reed 'bigger and stronger than ever' after liver transplant
    MATILDA BATTERSBY MONDAY 03 JUNE 2013


    Lou Reed has described himself as “bigger and stronger than ever” just weeks after undergoing a liver transplant. The former Velvet Underground frontman, whose wife Laurie Anderson said last week was “dying” of liver failure, credits a mixture of tai chi and modern medicine with his recovery.

    Writing on his website Reed, 71, described himself as “a triumph of modern medicine, physics and chemistry,” adding: “My Chen Taiji [tai chi] and health regimen (sic) has served me well all of these years.”

    The performer added that he is looking forward to “being on stage performing, and writing more songs to connect with your hearts and spirits and the universe well into the future”.

    The American punk musician underwent a liver transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Cleveland a few weeks ago. His wife Anderson, a performance artist, told The Times last week that she had “been spending a lot of time in Cleveland these past few weeks” since the operation, but that the operation “went very well”. She said her husband’s condition is “as serious as it gets” and that, despite progress and successful surgery, he “[won’t] ever totally recover”.

    Reed has been a student of tai chi for around 30 years and began studying the Chen style in 2002. Speaking about this Master Ren Guang-yi, Reed told Kung Fu magazine: "When I saw what he did, I said, 'Oh my god, a man who can fly. When I saw that combination of grace and power, the fast and the soft, the yin and the yang, that's what I'd been looking for."

    The musician, who famously chronicled the drug culture and underbelly of New York on his 1964 song “Heroin” and “Perfect Day”, from his 1972 solo record Transformer, is also known for “Walk On The Wild Side”.

    He was last seen in public in March when he made a surprise appearance at a live playback of Transformer, but he then unexpectedly cancelled five concert appearances in April, including two performances at the Coachella festival in California. His most recent album is Lulu, a 2011 collaboration with Metallica.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  3. #33
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    The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts exhibit

    (Credit: Faber & Faber)
    MUSIC
    How studying Tai Chi impacted Lou Reed
    Jamie Kahn
    @notmyyaztattoo
    SUN 12TH JUN 2022 21.00 BST

    Lou Reed was an interesting guy, to say the least, and his intrigue doesn’t stop with his music, his persona, his fashion sense, or even his poetry, if you can believe it. The man had a lot of hobbies, but I’m sure even he would be the first to tell you that Tai Chi was more than just a hobby to him.

    When visiting the archives of his life in the current exhibition at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, it can be easy enough to get lost in it all. His record collection, old tapes, instruments, and letters are bound to steal the show. However, towards the end of the exhibition, visitors will find a bunch of weapons hanging on the wall.

    It’s true, Reed loved to practice Tai Chi, and had spoken of his affinity for it many times before: “I have studied the art for 25 years. The first 15 years in preparation for my adventures with my teacher, Master Ren Guangyi. Not to get too flowery here but I want more out of life than a gold record and fame,” the former Velvet Underground man commented. “I want to mature like a warrior. I want the power and grace I never had a chance to learn. Tai Chi puts you in touch with the invisible power of—yes—the universe. Change your energy, change your mind.”

    In talking to Laurie Anderson, the American avant-garde artist who was married to Reed until the end of his life in 2013, at the exhibition, she spoke of his dedication to the practice. And Anderson would know—she was with him for 21 years.

    Anderson spoke of how in traditional Tai Chi practices, the forms take up a lot of space, so in order to practice while touring, Reed’s teacher created a specific set of forms that he could do in confined spaces like hotel rooms and even on the road. They called it the 21-form.

    Glancing at the intimidating weapons on the wall, Anderson noticed the expressions around the room within the exhibition. Frightened? Maybe a little bit. She nudged with some humour, “I have about 100 of Lou’s Tai Chi weapons,” she nodded. “And they’re all very heavy.”

    One might assume that the weapons that ended up on display were the highlights of the collection. Regardless, the art of Tai Chi is an ancient practice that many people find an incredible value in, and it seems that Lou Reed was one of them. It isn’t tough to surmise that it brought him some calm and artistic inspiration.


    (Credit: Jamie Kahn)


    (Credit: Jamie Kahn)
    Still regretting that I never got a selfie with Lou. There were so many missed opportunities...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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