Master Deng’s Qi Gong
Featured Speaker: Chad Bailey
I met Master Deng Hua Qing in the small village of Yi Chun in Mainland China in 2001. This was the longest stop of our month long trip, 10 days to train with Master Deng in Tai Ji Quan, Lan Shou Quan, and Qi Gong as well as our daily hours at the regional hospital. Master Deng was from the northern city of Harbin but traveled to Yi Chun for our training.
We started each morning around 6am. 60 minutes of Qi Gong followed by 60 minutes of Yang style Tai Ji Quan. Most of our group would leave after Tai Ji practice. A few of us stayed for Tai Ji applications, push hands, and Lan Shou for the last 60 minutes.
The Qi Gong practice started with Wu Ji, standing meditation, focusing on Dan Tien breathing to cultivate energy. After filling the tank, we would move into Master Deng’s Seven Sets of Qi Gong. In practice, Deng would offer very little explanation about each set. Just enough for you to do it. He told me many times, “The magic of Qi Gong is in the DOING!”
For many days I asked questions about each set. He eventually told me each set balanced and harmonized an organ or organ system. He whispered, “Because you are a teacher, I will tell you about the organs to improve your intention.”
We would begin in Wu Ji with Collecting Dan Tien Breathes to nourish the lower Dan Tien.
The First Set begins with the classic movement many times called a collecting breath, nourishing breath, or closing breath of drawing the hands up the outside of the body on the inhale. The movement then descends through the three jiaos, three centers and relaxes and stabilizes the three treasures as you exhale, hands returning to the Dan Tien.
San Jiao (lung, spleen, and kidney)/ Pericardium
The Second Set pulls energy into the heart and sends it down to the kidneys (fire water cycle). The lower Dan Tien, lower center is the secondary focus.
Heart/ Small Intestine
The Third Set emphasizes the Ascending energy of the Spleen and the Descending energy of the Stomach. Secondary descending focus is the Lung.
Spleen/ Stomach
The Fourth Set emphasizes the stretching and opening of the Liver and Gall Bladder Meridians from head to toe.
Liver/ Gall Bladder
The Fifth Set focuses on moving energy from the Kidney and Ming Men in the lower back area through the Dai/ b+elt channel into the lower Dan Tien, lower center.
Kidney/ Bladder
The Sixth Set is similar to a big Dispersing Breath. Big in the sense of range of motion, incorporating a forward bend and a squat.
Lung/ Large Intestine
The Seventh Set is the same as the first. The classic movement of drawing the hands up the outside of the body on the inhale. This movement descends through the three jiaos, three centers and relaxes and stabilizes the three treasures as you exhale, hands returning to the Dan Tien.
San Jiao (lung, spleen, and kidney)/ Pericardium
The Set concludes in the Wu Ji posture. Use the closing movement of the Tai Ji knot to return and cultivate energy in the lower center, lower Dan Tien.
We mostly practiced the sets one at a time for 6 repetitions each. The dual sided motions, sets 3, 4, and 5, using 6 repetitions per side. Deng hinted at numerological reasons for reps. 7 sets of 6 reps is 42. 4+2=6. The set can also be done as one rep per set all the way through and then repeated. Qi Gong leaves room for personal expression and innovation. Learn the principles, practice the principles.
Master Deng’s Qi Gong produces Harmony and Tranquility.
Harmony accesses many different levels: Harmony of Energy, Harmony of the Organs, Harmony of the Meridian Flow, and Harmony with the Source/ The Tao.
For years, I would teach this set at my Tai Ji & Qi Gong class on Miami Beach in the mornings. The set would always produce such a deep sense of Tranquility.
Those ten days with Master Deng were a very transformative experience for me. The trip to China was a cultural exchange, we showed them how we were using Chinese Medicine and they showed us how they were using Chinese Medicine. It was an opportunity to validate our skills and knowledge. For me, the trip was to also validate the many decades of study, research and training in Qi Gong, Tai Ji Quan, and Other Kung Fu systems. Master Deng said that my research and particularly my practice of Qi Gong was outstanding. “Don’t forget”, he said, “The Magic of Qi Gong is in the DOING!
After a month in China, I felt like a cloud that floated back to the U.S. When a student asks, “How do I become good at Qi Gong!” I reply, “Practice, Practice, Practice!”
Chad Bailey, AP is an expert in Acupuncture, Oriental Medicine, Tui Na Massage, Qi Gong, Tai Chi Chuan, and Martial Arts. Chad teaches Tai Chi Chuan, Qi Gong, Filipino Self-Defense (Progressive Arnis & Cadena de Mano), Tui Na (Chinese Massage & Manipulation), and Oriental
Medicine in Miami, FL. Chad is a state and nationally licensed acupuncturist (A.P., D.O.M.), as well as a National Diplomate of Chinese Herbology (D.C.H.)