His video series Shaolin Warrior includes the excellent introductory series, The Way of Qi Gong,and many of his teachings can be previewed on his YouTube channel. In addition to producing serious training programs and videos for kick-boxers and fighters, Shifu Yan Lei regularly emphasizes the need for even the strongest warrior to train in the internal art of Qi Gong in order to develop balance, concentration and health.
He shares his vast knowledge with the world on his website. Shifu Yan Liu is a real deal Shaolin Monk who has been training, performing and teaching his entire life. I practice this series 3-4 times a week early in the morning as the sun rises, to great benefit.
Similar to Yoga in some ways, Master Ni’s series of Taoist internal arts includes the book and practice, Attune Your Body With Dao-In, a series of invocations, gentle physical exercises, postures and different meditations. Master Ni has also published I Ching The Book of Changes: And the Unchanging Truth, one of the best translations available of this classic in divinity. Teacher of The Integral Way, Master Ni’s works include many enlightening spiritual books include Workbook for Spiritual Development of All People, and Tao, the Subtle Universal Law and the Integral Way. He is a sage philosopher, chosen as a child to study the wise hermits who lived away from mainstream society, now dedicated the transmission of knowledge from an unbroken succession of 74 generations of Masters dating back to 200 A.D. Grandmaster Ni is a living Daoist master and the author of over fifty books in Chinese, and forty in English on philosophy, Chinese medicine, Tai Chi, and Taoist meditation. Yang’s traditional Kung Fu training videos are packed with tons exercises and drills to supplement any serious martial arts practice. His YouTube channel features segments from his many lectures and instructional presentations and for the more hardcore student out there, Dr. His DVD series Tai Chi for Beginners with Master Yang is an excellent introduction to Tai Chi, and Five Animal Sports Qi Gong is an outstanding long form qi gong sequence that includes the traditional five element healing sounds from Chinese medicine. Yang include his standing and seated series of gentle moving meditations, Qi Gong: The Eight Pieces of Brocade, which is perfect for sunrise and sunset meditations. Yang has produced an impressive collection of instructional videos, including Simple Qi Gong: Exercises for Back Painwhich is hands down the most effective program for treating chronic back pain, especially lower back pain, that I have ever come across. Yang is the author of many books and videos including the excellent work, The Root of Chinese Qi Gong: Secrets of Health, Longevity & Enlightenment. He is the founder of YMAA, an association dedicated to preserving traditional Chines Kung Fu and Qi Gong, which publishes books and training materials, and offers advanced Kung Fu training programs at their retreat center in Northern California, including his 10 year program for serious students.ĭr. Within their collection of written and recorded materials, they have revealed their secrets for the benefit of anyone. Their teachings encompass a wide variety of physical movements, forms, meditations, breathing exercises and invocations, and include gentle restorative techniques as well as rigorous and physically strenuous practices. In my personal journey of transformation and self-healing I have found tremendous benefit in many of the exercises, meditations and ideas offered by the 4 modern masters of Chi mentioned below. Referred to as ‘internal arts’ because they emphasize the inward direction of intention for healing, energy cultivation and physical development, there are an infinite number of exercises, techniques and teachings available for study. Many dedicated teachers of these arts have spread throughout the world and share their expertise freely with Westerners, making their teachings available in print and in video, offering an immense body of knowledge and instruction on these practical transformative arts. Masters of Chi are the stuff of legend, capable of performing amazing feats of healing, concentration, and strength, and their secrets are no longer so closely guarded in the Shaolin temples of China. Of all the ideas and practices available to us for finding good health, peace of mind and happiness in this crazy world, the Chinese and Daoist internal arts of Tai Chi, Qi Gong and energy meditation are unrivaled in their value in improving overall wellness and catalyzing personal transformation.