So what else is possible?
Yang Fukui: Song Kua
This was a new one for me. I was on a massage table in a large room at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in Manhattan Saturday morning.
That was a first for me right there. But I wasn’t the only one. There were about 30 of us, mostly acupuncturists and acupuncture students. All of us on our backs, in neat rows, facing the same direction. We were attending a seminar in “Medical Qigong” given by Fukui Yang, and this was the part where Master Yang was to give a session to all of us…at once. I had received healing treatments from him before, but this was something different.
I have been studying some of the more esoteric elements of internal Chinese martial arts with Master Yang for 13 years: Xingyiquan, Yiquan, Baguazhang, Luoxuanzhang, Xinhuizhang, as well as other stuff I have no names for. Each class begins with a qigong meditation that often takes up 40 minutes of an hour class. Only when the energy is right do we practice forms. This approach leads to depth of understanding that is higher, wider, and deeper than any other I have encountered. It’s not for everyone, but I find it very rich.
Master Yang is on the current cover of Journal of Chinese Martial Arts, a quarterly magazine published by Nick Scrima. Inside is part one of a lengthy interview that details his lineage, background, training, and some key insights to higher level martial arts. This is Part One of the interview and is quality journalism. Part Two will appear in the fall. This quality of this magazine is amazing. I highly recommend subscribing and supporting it. It is available in both print and electronic versions.
Back to Saturday. I attended the seminar not knowing what to expect. We did some group qigong that addressed the kidney and bladder that was quite powerful. Master Yang gave a session to one woman where he performed acupuncture with imaginary needles. His hands were off the body and he “needled” specific points. He asked the woman to describe her experience as the session progressed, but that drifted into incoherence as she went deeper and deeper.
After a break, he then did a simultaneous session on the whole group. Tables were lined up in rows and we all faced the same direction. He stood at one end of the room, went into a deep meditation, then did his thing. It was different from any healing session I have had, and words only give the barest of outlines.
I relaxed with eyes closed and felt powerful undulations begin at my feet and move up my body. My hands got hot and there was a feeling of fullness. My conscious mind shut off after a while and I moved deep into the superconscious. It wasn’t like any “sleep” I have known. More like a “healing trance.” Then I would bubble up to the surface and become aware of my situation, only to be met with more undulations and another trip into the void. There was no sense of time.
At some point he summoned us back from wherever the heck we were and we discussed our experiences. They varied, but several people had ones similar to mine. The energy was received differently by each, but all experienced something profound.
The next day, my body went into a big reorganization phase and I had to just kick back and relax.
