FIRST TIME IN CHINA

I was driving through dirty city roads in an almost unknown part of the world, Chaozhou in Southern China. There were no signs and I wondered how anyone could possibly find their way around here. Sitting in the front seat of small car with three other people, all of whom were natives of Chaozhou, we pulled into the small but busy city of Puning. This city seemed to be about at least 30 years behind any large American city. The driver was Chen, the brother-in-law of Dr. Liu, my longtime friend, teacher and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Doctor. In the back sat a young translator about 20 years old, whose English I could barely understand. He was seated next to Chen’s wife, Dr. Liu’s sister. As I stepped out of the car, bicycles, cars and people passed by me in a flurry. The streets were filled with vendors selling things of all types, from fruits to goods. I couldn’t help but notice that there wasn’t a single other foreigner in sight nor could I help but notice that every single person seemed to be staring at me in amazement. I felt like an animal in a zoo; they were staring at me probably wondering, “what is this strange foreigner doing here?” I knew then that I was far, far away from home.

The air was hot, dry and dusty as seems to be the case with much of Chaozhou, which is a dry and mountainous city in the easternmost point of Guangdong. I could not see the sun clearly as it was constantly blocked by a dusty haze. Rain must have been a problem because the mountains looked dry, and the trees and vegetation did not grow very tall. I later heard that there were many caves in the mountains but I did not get a chance to visit them.

It was only a few days ago that I was relaxing in the mountains of New Zealand by the ocean when I got a call from Dr. Liu who was in my hometown of Boston at the time.

“Can you go to China to treat some of my patients at my clinic in Chaozhou?” Dr. Liu spoke in a thick accent. Although he had lived in the US about 20 years, his accent was still strong.

“But Dr. Liu, I am a 30 year old white American male who does not speak any Mandarin. How on earth will any of these people believe me that I can heal them with Tui Na and Qigong? “I said, totally surprised that he would even suggest that.

“Trust me, these are my patients, and if I tell them you are good, they will believe in you.” Dr. Wu said, his tone serious.

Childhood

I have been studying martial arts and meditation since I was seven years old. My parents were health food fanatics, they meditated and did yoga every day. My father studied the ancient text of oracles, the I-Ching, and practiced Qigong and Tai Chi religiously. This was a normal way of life for me. At 12 years old, I started studying Yang Style Tai Chi. When I was 19 years, my father in introduced me to an intriguing Qigong teacher. At that point, I began a serious daily practice of Qigong and have continued ever since. I fell in love with Qigong, and wanted to incorporate some serious Qigong martial arts as I grew older. When I reached the age of 23, I began Emei Mountain Style Baguazhang under Master Liang Shou Yu’s teachings.

I also had a deep love of nature, which began with a 10-day hike into the White Mountains of New Hampshire when I was 15 years old. Two years later, I enrolled in a school deep in the mountains of Idaho that taught wilderness survival skills. We slept in a tipi for three months, and I hiked the Rocky Mountains for weeks at a time. I have since studied wilderness survival and wilderness living the Native American way with several schools. Due to that love of nature, I naturally took to Qigong, which bases many of its forms on the moves and habits of wildlife and believes that energy flows all around us in nature and within us.

Baguazhang is a mysterious Qigong martial art very well known in China, but is unknown to most westerners. Now I am an official Orthodox Wudang Shan (Mountain) Baguazhang seventh generation disciple of my life long master.

Learning From a Third Generation TCM Doctor

More than 10 years ago, my father came home with some strange Chinese medicine tea made of snake skin, ginseng and other intriguing herbs. I had never seen this before, and wanted to meet the man who gave this to my father. That was my introduction to Dr. Liu. Ever since then, my fascination with Chinese medicine and the connections it has with Baguazhang, the I-Ching and Taoism has grown deeper and deeper.

Dr. Liu comes from an amazing background. He is a third generation herbalist, and had studied Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qigong and Tai Chi with his father since 1972, when he was seven. In 1988, he was honored as Director of the China Taoist Qi Gong Research Association and began teaching Qigong. He has over 20 editorials published in the Chinese Medical Journal, and is recognized in The Annals of China’s Contemporary Famous Doctors of TCM. He is truly unlike any human being I have ever met and possesses such a big heart, you cannot help but want to just do good after being with him.

Dr. Liu teaches a very special form of Tui Na, which is a form of Chinese massage therapy based on TCM principles, unlike any Tui Na techniques I have seen anywhere in China or anywhere else for that matter. His method involves the transmission of Qi whereas, as Dr. Liu has explained, most Tui Na practitioners use only their muscle power. In order to learn Dr. Liu’s Tui Na, you must have at least five years experience in Qigong. To prepare for Tui Na, we use stance work combined with some Tai Chi principles and even tap into Bagua teachings to connect to heaven and earth. Through this preparation, we open ourselves as a conduit to transmit Qi through the acupuncture points located on the patient’s body to move the stagnant or sick Qi. I had spent day and night training side by side with Dr. Liu just to learn this special technique. In addition to this special form of Tui Na, Dr. Liu trained and officially certified me as a medical Qigong practitioner and teacher. This is important for the healing process because after the Tui Na session is completed, the patient must be able to sustain the healing on his or her own.

Healing takes time, and it is not possible for the patient to have someone administer healing massage therapy all the time. However, medical Qigong can be viewed like a form of internal self-massage. In practicing medical Qigong after a Tui Na session, the patient is creating and accelerating the healing transformation within his or her own body. This is achieved by combining the power of intention with the energy that is being circulated throughout the body through co-ordinated breathing and...