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August 2, 2005
A Qigong Secret for Enduring Strength and Injury Prevention... Notes and Insights from the National Qigong Association Annual Conference
Have you ever been amazed by the agile strength of a relatively elderly tai chi or qigong practitioner? I was reminded this weekend that part of the secret is the emphasis on training the fascia/ligaments/ tendons to be strong rather than the muscles.
Jake Paul Fratkin, OMD, L.Ac. originally studied tai chi as a martial art under Waysun Liao in Chicago and is the author of Chinese Herbal Patent Medicines. In his workshop, The Twelve Wondrous Exercises, Jake credited his own excellent health, strength and physical resilience to condensed breathing methods aimed at bringing fresh qi into the fascia.
Internal martial artists concentrate on supporting the physical structure by strengthening the fascia rather than the musculature.
You inhale, simultaneously drawing qi from the skin through the fascia and into the bone marrow. On the exhale, you reverse the process. By doing this you encourage extra blood to flood the fascia, keeping it supple and strong.
Jake commented that the vast majority of injuries he sees amongst his patients are not muscle but fascia injuries. In the West we have the habit of training our muscles for strength while often ignoring the ligaments and tendons, or fascia.
From the great classical qigong systems for training the fascia is known as the Yi Jin Jing, credited by legend to Bodhidharma who developed it for the Shaolin monks. Frank Yurasek, who is a Tui Na expert and who has specialized in developing programs for treating violent offenders and addictions, taught one version of this classical set.
Frank told us that at the Chinese hospital he worked at for a year, the Tui Na practitioners would begin the morning each day with Yi Jin Jing, to sustain their bodies against the rigors of the practice.
If you are interested, he has made a DVD of the set. Call him at 1-708-466-7501 or email him at acumed@cs.com. Feel free to mention my name and tell him I say hi and thanks!
Jake Fratkin, who has a clinical practice in Boulder, Colorado hasn’t done a DVD of his program, but I recommend you jump on it if he does (which he is threatening to do.) Check out his website at www.drjakefratkin.com.
See all of John Du Cane’s qigong resources.
Posted by james at August 2, 2005 6:44 AM