Fanchento & Chi Kung

Chi Kung is an ancient Chinese form of internal aerobics that involves Yee (Mind, Eye, Heart) in directing Chi (Life Force) through various postures, breathing exercises and visualizations toward greater health in Mind, Body and Spirit.

The term Chi Kung means “the skilled use of energy”. It teaches us how to detoxify and clean out our systems in order to stimulate the flow of energy and all fluid throughout the body. It also teaches us how to draw in the energy from the outside, to pack and condense it and to circulate it in and around the body to protect ourselves from disease on all levels.

Chi Kung can also be translated as “practicing with the breath”, and includes any exercise that uses breathing to energize the body. Breathing, which is the act of gathering energy from the environment, is one of the most important bodily functions. The physical breath activates the Chi, also known as subtle breath, which increases physical and psychic strength.

IRON SHIRT CHI KUNG

In Iron Shirt Chi Kung we use the breath to pack the organs, glands, muscles and bones with so much Chi that they will stay healthy and strong and resist ageing and disease. This will release long held tension as well.

A. Physical Level

1. You will learn to align, relax and open the body in order to strengthen any weaknesses in its structure. This will allow the Chi to flow easily and provide nourishment and protection for the internal organs and glands and restore the connection with the outside forces.
2. You will develop a Chi Belt, without which proper structural alignment and energy can be lost, as well as an open, relaxed and powerful spine, with flexible and strong psoas muscles.
3. You will develop a strong perineum and strong Tan Tien Chi. Your body and mind will become centered and balanced.
4. You will learn to loosen, relax and control the diaphragm. In this way you will be able to control the breath: it will become smoother and deeper.
5. You will learn to soften and strengthen the muscles, tendons, and ligaments and articulate the joints. With repeated practice the muscles, tendons, ligaments, tissues and fasciae will regain their dynamic buoyancy and become soft and bouncy. The circulation of blood and Chi in the muscular system will be enhanced.
6. You will detoxify and exercise the organs and glands in order to charge and pack them with more Chi.
7. Chi storage between the fascial sheets will increase as the fasciae inflate due to the increased chi pressure, replacing the fat previously stored there.
8. You will learn how to become rooted to the earth and absorb its energy and anchor the body, the mind and the spirit. You will learn how to pass external forces down to the earth, and how to draw the earthly forces upward through the soles of the feet to counteract these forces internally.

B. Emotional Level

1. You will learn how to condense Chi into a controllable mass of energy in the Tan Tien and how to root yourself in the earth. This will centre your body and mind and make you emotionally and mentally stable, and balanced in your daily life.
2. This condensed life-force energy will enable you to control your Chi so that it will not be scattered throughout the body and leak out the system. Condensed Chi offers more condensed power to be used as a person desires.
3. Iron Shirt practices detoxifying, cleaning, and strengthening the organs; if the organs are clean, open, strong and healthy, blood and Chi will flow unimpeded through them, and the growth of the positive emotional life force in the organs will be enhanced.

C. Spiritual Level

At this level, Iron Shirt Chi Kung fortifies and condenses additional Chi to lay the groundwork for a spiritual journey through space where preparations are made for life after death. This is grounding the spirit. Just as a big tree with strong roots can extend high in the sky, you can develop your spirit safely on a very high level. In the spiritual practice many people always want to raise themselves to a higher level to be filled with spiritual (universal) energy. If you want to go higher, you must ensure that the foundation, the rooting, is good. This connection of heaven and earth is very important in Taoist practice. In the higher practice, the ground energy from Mother Earth is equally important as the spiritual energy from Father Heaven.

TAN TIEN CHI KUNG

Tan Tien Chi Kung is one of the Taoist practices used to develop the Tan Tien and Perineum power.
The Tan Tien* is the energy reservoir in the body, it is the place where we store the energy we generate, gather and absorb in the Chi Kung and meditation. If the energy is stored in the Tan Tien it can be accessed later; if not, the Chi dissipates and cannot be used. The Tan Tien is therefore called the ocean of Chi. According to Chinese medical theory, once the ocean is full, it overflows into the eight extraordinary meridians (energy pathways). Once these are full, the Chi flows into the twelve ordinary meridians, each of which is associated with a particular organ. The Tan Tien is therefore the foundation of the entire energetic system of the body.

* Tan Tien – we usually refer to the lower abdominal area as the Tan Tien; we actually have three Tan Tiens: the lower Tan Tien, the middle Tan Tien (heart) and the upper Tan Tien (behind the mid-eyebrow point).