Chi Kung 5 years on.

 5 years now I have been doing Chi Kung.

It is worth doing and it should be taught in martial art clubs to keep people normal.

Health is seen as something that goes missing, when you get injured but it should be seen rather, as something to be maintained. Mental health and emotions need looking at. Chi Kung exercises do relate to body and mind / emotions.

This year for the 8 pieces of brocade I had to stop in March / April as I was sick with Covid. I could not breath properly and the abdominal breathing was not possible properly. I had to abort that and the 6 sounds of chi kung too.

In later Spring I carried on with the 8 pieces of brocade, as that is my rock. Then later in Summer I started up again with the 6 sounds. I even bought a coloured lightbulb to co-ordinate the sounds with colours and to aid the visualisations. Mmmmm ... I tried hard for months at this but let it go by the wayside. I could not honestly feel any benefits. I keep the big ideas however, of how colour and emotions are linked to organs and how heat transfer is needed to gain health in these organs.  I have seen people link the sounds to the 8 pieces of brocade and link in colours too, I know the theory behind these associations.

What I did go back to is standing like a tree in early September. I have completed 100 days now doing this. This was a good move. I will keep this going now to complement the 8 pieces, like I used to. I will be watchful this time of my knee and have shorter sessions. 

The big change for the 8 pieces of brocade now is I want to do it, early when I wake up vs putting it off. I use it now to unpack my achy muscles when I wake up. If I do not do this, then my body feels like an unmade bed, all creased up. The 8 pieces de-creases this with the stretches. Also I am more slow and less rushed in the progression of the moves. This is not a race. 

In Spring I was over zealous in touching my toes and holding the pose that my hamstrings did not like it. The effect stayed for months there. Again DO WHAT the advice is - never go beyond 80% of your capacity in Chi Kung.  Also I stopped trying to copy Dr. Yang Jwing- Mings 'wavy wiggle' when he does this, as it is distracting my stance, and my knees are unbending. Now I focus more on keeping that stance as other practitioners do not have that wave up the body he has. 

Also I have tried juggling the order of the moves. If I am distracted, I do the punches earlier in the sequence, if that helps to gain focus rather.