Attempting to continue doing Qigong in the midst of projects, quizzes, and extracurricular work (I'm a freelance graphic designer and clothing merchandiser) has proven to be quite a hard task. Recently, I've neglected my jogging rounds--of course, I had to make up my lack of exercise by eating healthier. I'm not a veggie eater but I've recently tried to change my diet.

That also came as an answer to a problem I've recently experienced. I have problems with my colon--my doctor says it's a hereditary thing and that, it just became severe since I don't really have that much of a fibre intake. I have greens, I hate salads--not unless if they had cheese in it, toasted bread, bacon, or some good tasting dressing, or Japanese Mayo. I seem to have this love affair with unhealthy food and I guess, at the tender age of nineteen, it came to bite me back in my ass (somewhat literally, really).

So my nutritionist gave me medicine to prevent such ordeal and a strict eating regimen. On the other hand, I've decided to talk to my ankong about it (since he's also a doctor) and asked him of ways in how I can possibly make my life easier since I really did not want to eat vegetables.

He then asked me if I was still practicing Qigong and I told him yes but not as often as I would like. So he told me to continue doing it if I really wanted to cut my vegetable intake. It's not that I'm planning on neglecting my diet but rather, I just wanted frequent passes to eat steaks and cheese and chicken skin. *drools*

Once again, I've gone through the article on the eight brocades (and then some) and read thoroughly and realized that each aspect of the exercise contributed to promoting good health in different aspects. My angkong was right, if I pursued on doing Qigong, I could most likely build a resistance and fortify my health so that I didn't have to go through living my life in an array of greens.

My other concern then, I voiced out to a Malaysian friend I have, the one who has been practicing Qigong since childhood, is that sometimes, Qigong tends to be tedious. It's a very zen exercise and sometimes, I feel like the time doesn't call for it. Like I said, the moment I started to walk, I attempted to run and since then I haven't stopped--even injury hasn't stopped me from running. My true passion is in running and I wanted to merge both into one so I hit two birds with one stone.

So my friend told me,

"Breath deeper and keep it under your stomach as an exercise, though doing it naturally. Don't have to worry, it will come, the movement tends to help you divert the flow and movement."

"It helps maintaining the constant flow on your breathing and on the other hand you can have the control to "throw" out strength."

With Qigong, it doesn't necessarily matter if you're doing the exercise--of course, in my case, I should do it frequently but just because I'm cutting down on pre-made Qigong exercises, doesn't mean I can't integrate it in my running exercises.

The thing I learned about Qigong is that there's this element of letting things flow--like Daoism. If you keep your mentality and your spirituality intact and in tune with what you're doing, allowing your strength and your energy to flow. My usual problem with doing Qigong is that I tend to overanalyse it too much, well, I've realised that if you let things go and you stop thinking too much about it, it does come naturally--the movements in itself, the alternating, the shifting, the bending, they don't really push you to go past inherent limitations, quite the contrary, they folow through your natural flow and your faculties.

Right now, I don't see problems that are insurmountable when it comes to doing Qigong--yes, I'm still inflexible but I doubt if there's a cure to that unless I make belly dancing my bread and butter but other than that, I've noticed differences in my stamina and of course, Qigong is an exercise I can actually do, that's not too time consuming.

Now, I can actually boast of doing exercise every day! Or at least, four times a day!

So now, I do hope I can continue doing Qigong--even as the course ends. If not, at least I have learned to go through it and integrate it in my other exercises or well, replace stretching and warm-up exercises with Qigong at least.

That aside, right now, I'm just going through other Qigong exercises I want to try out and experiment with.

As of now, research has brought me as far as this:



Of course, I won't be doing that anytime soon (due to my lack of appendage) but it was amusing.

So I'll go through a roll call with all the exercises I've been able to do--well, the ones from the eight-part brocade rather and my strengths and weaknesses.

001.Two Hands Reach skyward to Balance the Triple Burner

I've always considered this as my warm up. I've been doing this quite frequently and I think my main problem here is not being able to separate my mental unease from well, just doing it. That aside, I see the improvement when it comes to the fluidity of the stretching my arms upwards and then back downwards.

002. Open the Bow as Though Shooting the Buzzard

Once again, this is my most favourite exercise and I will assert to the notion that I think I've done justice with this exercise. I mean, my intense gaze was spot-on! Okay, maybe except for the breathing, I have a slightly problem with timing my breathing with my actions but I think I'm getting there. Maybe I should do this exercise more often as it is said to "strengthen" the lungs."

003. Raise Each Arm to Regulate the Spleen

This on, we've started doing in class. I wasn't really fond of this exercise because of the arm movements--I mean, I'm dumb with multi-tasking and I'm abysmal with synchronized movements but the usual problem I have is I fumble a bit during the first few tries and later on, I get into this cadence and then suddenly just do exercise. Among all the Qigong exercise I do, this one is where I can fall into a rhythm without having to think about my next move. Perhaps I'm getting familiar?

004. Looking Behind to Cure Fatigue and Distress

Believe it or not, I actually do try to do this as often as possible since I've got the mother of all neck fatigues. I think the problem with my neck is that when I hang it loosely, I feel the strain on the back of it. My roommates chalk it to my obscenely huge and heavy head. D: I blame it on the Ateneo education, the numerous tests administered, the times you have to crane down on you textbook just so you could read the highfalutin paragraphs. That aside, I've been seeing improvement on my neck but I don't think it's fully cured--I'm not sure if my neck problem is inherent or if there's any cure to it or perhaps I'm doing the exercise wrong? Maybe it all boils down to continue doing it.

005. Bending Over, Wagging the Tail to Calm Heart Fire

Here's the exercise I will never forget--although to be honest, I've done this five times in the entirety of the course. Once again, the problem I encountered here is maintaining my balance and allowing myself to bend down further and keeping it at a longer period of time. Upon doing my third however, class activities excluded, I've come to hold the position longer. Of course, afterwards, I'd feel my knees shaking. One time, while going back to my bed, my knees gave away.

006. Reaching Down to Dissipate Disease

Well, I don't really dwell to much on this exercise. I feel like this is another warm-up. Whenever I go running, I usually do this--it's my form of stretching. Although I'm not flexible enough to reach my ankles, I feel the strain on my back as I run my hands downwards. I usually accompany this with laterals and ankle rotations and the like. As of now, I don't really see that much difference with the eight exercise, toe-touching to strengthen Kidneys and waist, sometimes I feel like I'm interchanging them. Although I know that the latter is more on attempting to reach your toes to strengthen the inner body, I still think the stress is somewhat similar.

007. Punching with Angry Gaze to Increase Qi and Strength

I think I finally got the increase Qi and strength part. I can liken this exercise to open the bow and shooting the buzzard. I think that giving an intense gaze or an angry gaze empowers the individual. It's kind of like, unleashing your emotions and feeling the potential damage you can do while punching.

I guess the problem here is punching thin air and feeling the punches. Sometimes, I punch too hard I fall out of balance. That is easily remedied though, I usually just start over again and gain control of my movements.

008. Toe touching to Strengthen the Kidneys and Waist

Okay, once again, as I've mentioned earlier, I usually confuse this with Reaching Down to Dissipate Disease. I mean, I see the slight differences in the exercise, like how you run your hands on the back of your legs with the latter, and reach for your toes in the former. When it comes to feeling the effects on the other hand, I think it feels just somewhat similar.

This exercise however, reminds me of stretching as well. I really can't reach my toes, no matter how hard I try but I guess, when it comes to this exercise, the strain isn't just on the back but also on the back of my knees.

I haven't seen results on how I've felt the strengthening of my inner health but I like how, when I stretch and then exercise, I don't experience grueling muscle pains afterwards.

I went through my eight-brocade handout in hopes of finding something new to do. I recall that we had to go through the eight exercises--I think I've gone through a lot already, some that aren't a part of the handout and some based on Sir Navarro's teachings in class.

I'm also not entirely sure if this was taken up during the class but it's a very familiar exercise, the Leopard Crouches in the Grass--once again, I think I've probably tried this in the class room--if I recall properly, we switched our footing rather smoothly without having to raise our bodies. Yes, it was definitely a classroom activity.



So I think the main problem here is not being able to go low enough and upon shifting the weight from one foot to the other, I can't help but slightly stand straighter so as to avoid discomfort or plain falling down.

So I was able to do this around five times in quick succession--and so I attempted to stay at a longer period of time, counting up until eight before shifting to the next foot.

So the Qi here, I believe, is more concentrated on the lower part of the legs and the thighs.

The hardship one encounters while going through this exercise is being able to hold the position long enough since the legs are slightly giving away to cramps. The thing I learned also is to not over-exert one's self since, upon standing up, you'd feel your knees start to shake from the trauma it's endured.

Thank God I came back earlier and didn't have to see my roommates. To no avail, I couldn't find a room conducive enough for me to practice my skills at Qigong so I resolved to going back to the dorm room, checking whether my pathetic excuse of roommates were back from their classes.

Thankfully, no.

So I attempted to focus on an exercise from the eight-part brocade, I bypassed mistakenly--the Looking Backward While Twisting Like a Dragon.

Somehow, the title comforted me. I like dragons, I like Chinese dragons, I was born on the year of a dragon and my brother's a dragon too. I used to doodle the Chinese word for dragon--okay, sorry, I sort of trailed into another train of thought.

While doing this exercise, the thing I once again, realized was that it was somehow like doing aerobics--so okay, aerobics is a form of exercise, it's likely to be similar, yada yada yada, so I'm sorry for such an uncreative observation.

That said, while I twisted my back, I literally heard a snap. I've been told often how my body seemed like they were cogs, fitting into gaps and falling into place--like a piece of machinery. I'm not sure if that's normal but ever since I got into college, I've been snapping a lot.

It's not painful or anything but people just find it alarming--there's that sickening crack and you know, people's assumption that I might've broken something there.

So when I gave it another twist, I felt a strain on my lower back. I was torn between thinking this was Qi and thinking whether this one was actually my body's way of telling me that I'm overdoing the twists since I'm obviously not built like a human pretzel.

After the first set, I did hear faint cracks and snaps.

So I did another set and the sounds slightly faded away--it was either I was getting used to it or it really was gong away.

I've resolved to do more Qigong exercises in the future, past this class, to somehow stop my bones from snapping together rather loudly. My back's just a start, I have my neck to consider.

Because I felt stressed right after my Philosophy orals, I decided to do QiGong. Okay, I love Philosophy, with a passion and I was very satisfied with my test but somehow, I felt like I used up all my brain's processing memory and I needed some way to de-stress hence QiGong.

But because I'm the laziest person I know, I decided to skip entirely the previous set of exercises--except for the warm-up and the hugging the moon. Okay, my roommates had labeled me mad for claiming to feel the Qi energy while doing the latter exercises--to which, I told them to try it out for themselves. Of course, I was teaching them how to hug an invisible moon and try to push forward, resisting the energy in between.

They seriously looked at me like I was a nuthouse escapee.

I think I finally understand people's misconceptions with Chinese Medicine.

Anyhow, I tried reasoning with them that the jolts of electricity they were experiencing, the resistance itself, that's supposedly Qi.

They reasoned with me that this so-called Qi I was experiencing was a figment of my imagination and was actually just my blood circulation being cut off.

So I reasoned with them that there was this sense of heat, a bearable burning feeling at the tips of my fingertips.

And my roommate, a science major, explained it through one's blood circulation being cut-off and how, the feeling was psychosomatic.

So I told them to do the warm-up exercise and try my favorite exercise, Open the Bow as if shooting the Buzzard because it was the best exercise of the bunch and it was fun to do.

Armed with serious glares, I showed them how it should be done.

And they came up with the comment that went along the lines of, feel na feel.

To me, the energy you use pulling the invisible string is very much akin to Qi--and the way I see it, the intensity of the glare or rather, the look you give, is your way of, i guess, unleashing the Qi within you.

Anyway, I ended up stopping mid-exercise because my concentration was being tested.

I should maybe consider doing Qigong somewhere else that's discreet.

Let me talk about one particular exercise I decided doing this day, the Squatting to Strengthen the Back and the Legs exercise.

Before anything else, I want to assure everyone that I've gone through the warm-up exercises and the first few exercises I've been accustomed to. I didn't go over it a few times in succession but I tried them all at least once just to make sure that I was able to still do them. Anyhow, there isn't really that much of a progress so I decided not to waste your time by adding minute details such as: "I'm still falling over my toes while doing the warm-ups", so on and so forth.

That said, I missed doing Gigong a few days before and I really didn't go around the campus jogging as well--this is what Thesis does to every self-respecting senior. :c Also, I promised myself not to go beyond fifteen minutes while writing this entry--I think I've gone over at least five already. u_u

So the thing with squats is that, I used to do this for track exercises. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this in my previous entries but I think I've had the most horrendous experience with squats. Back in first year, I was this scrawny, puny, little thing--and so my coach, Coach Aris, wanted to bulk me up a bit in time for UAAP. So he built this arduous circuit exercise I was to follow religiously.

Doing squats, I had a hard time trying to keep my butt sticking out. I wondered then why squats had to be so complicated? I mean, can't you just bend down and then go back up? Wasn't it just the same? Why do I have to stick my butt out and see if nothing bypasses the knees. O_o

Eventually, after being guided by a dumb bell, I learned how to do squats by myself. I grew myself a tush, he he he. So When Coach Aris realized I could do squats without the aid of anything, he decided to make me do it on top of a rocker board. -_-

So my inflexible self and balance, they don't just match, you know.

Then later one, just when I was getting cozy with the rocker board, he adds a dumbel--and then some. I thought I was going to die. Previously, I was cheating myself off the alloted gym time for athletes--I made sure I spent only an hour or less every Tuesdays and Thursdays but no, now, I was lucky to get out in two hours!

Then there was the olympian bar and the twenty pounds of weight on each end.

Torture, I tell you.

Countdown: eleven minutes have passed; I'm sorry if I've been boring you with details about my track training--which is probably, in other people's perspective, is irrelevant to my Qigong experience.

But anyhow, because of my previous training with squats, I found this exercise relatively easy. I mean, I do this on a daily basis and this was before I knew the full extent of what the word Qigong meant. How amazing is that? Western practitioners have actually taken several exercises from Qigong and integrated it to fitness programs?

Today, I felt a little bit adventurous.

I didn't really want to do the usual exercise based from class--although the warm ups are a given. I wanted to explore on my own and open the readings from the Eight-part brocade Qigong.

Before anything else, let me talk about my progress with the warm-up exercise, Two Hands Reach Skyward to Balance the Triple Burner since there were some improvements I noticed:

1. I was no longer as stiff, given--I'm still a bit slightly stiff since I was never really flexible to begin with but I guess the rigidity you can liken to aloofness or rather, thinking too much, is no longer there--or well, based on my perspective. I think I owe a lot of this to a friend I've been conversing since the start of the course, he's a Malaysian-Chinese guy who's been into Qigong since he was young. The most practical advise he gave me was not to think too much about the movements but rather, to internalize while being overly critical.

2. My hand movements were still slightly like clockwork but the movements are not as fast and as reckless before, it's somehow smooth and it ends in the same place. It's not a gauge of fluidity, ending in the same place per se (and I could tell because the shirt I was wearing had a linear pattern which I directed as a marker) but rather, it goes to show how I have a semblance of control with the movement.

So anyway, I mentioned about being adventurous right? I decided to try--well, okay, I didn't exactly try it out systematically, the exercises but I tried it out based on what I found was interesting.

So I ended up trying: Shake the Head and Wag the Tail.

So doing a few repetitions of it made me realize that this was somewhat alike to what Sir Navarro had taught in class. Maybe I'm imagining things or maybe my Kung-Fu stint in Taiwan did actually touch on this.

So anyway, I found this exercise, fairly easy to do--I can somehow liken it to aerobics. I think my problem here is trying to keep myself in a rhythmic pace. Every time I do exercises, I have a problem with tuning in my breathing patterns and my actions.

Anyhow, doing the exercise was fun--I'm a bit confused as to how I can reconcile my breathing pattern without having to think too much about it while doing the exercise.

Also! I just realized, I actually did what... the article said not to--I held my breath.

I'll try harder next time.

I didn't exercise the nigt before because of my theology midterms.

.__.

So Going to GiGong the next Day and partnering up with my classmates, we did a strange exercise (whose name I forgot but I'm certain, is definitely not part of the eight brocades) that involved trying to push one another off balance.

I'll coerce one of my roommates to try it with me the next time and I'll attempt to make a VLOG about it.

Anyway, the exercises reminded me strangely of Shaolin Soccer:



You know, the girl who made siopao .

So during my first match up with a slightly taller girl of slightly larger build, we weren't able to do any caustic damage--or you know, anything really because we were of equal strength and all, we just attempted to go around in circles, talk, and then giggle when we couldn't shove the other off balance.

Then we had to switch partners.

I was now paired up with a shorter girl with stocky build--probably a head difference. The challenge there was the bending and exerting more effort-since she was shorter and it involved your hands, you had to be of same level with your opponent but when you apply it in the real world, not everyone's going to be of your height, right?

So I was trying to think of ways to push her off balance. I tried bending myself slightly and moving backwards, I tried, pushing harder, I tried blocking her own hands--but honestly, she had the advantage and the better leverage.

In the end, we had to stop because it was becoming too tiring--neither of us relented nor shook the other off her own pedestal and despite the discrepancy, you learn to mold your body to adapt to the pressures it has encountered while doing this exercise.

So I did my next QiGong in Class.

The day before this, I went running--covering a four kilometer stretch within fifteen minutes, incorporating footwork drills and sprints in between. Since I did a lengthy "stretch" routine beforehand, I encountered less to no pulls, knots or any semblance of muscle cramps. I'm not entirely sure if it was the stretching or my QiGong practices that did the trick but whatever it was/is, it's contributed to my rather sturdy and pleasant post-exercise condition.

Because of QiGong, I've realized that I haven't really encountered or resurrected that much injuries. Maybe it's the strengthening and the stretching involved with QiGong--also, my friend Jeremie recently relayed a medical a medical study citing girls still had until the age of twenty-three to grow. Perhaps practicing of QiGong can add a few inches to my height! 8D

Anyhow, so the QiGong class that day involved the usual exercises and a few from the eight brocades. I've noticed that despite the lack of muscle pains however, while doing the exercises--especially the ones where you're required to stand on tiptoes, my knees and calves started shaking.

More so than usual.

Also, while hugging the moon, my hands were slightly shaking as well--not as much as my calves though, just tiny tremors. I was slightly surprised because, it wasn't really muscle pains but I guess it's because I was tired--usually, I've managed to control my legs when standing on toes, even for a long period of time. So I've resolvd to try not exercising the day prior to Qigong, or perhaps continue to do my regimen to allow my body to adapt.

After swearing to never again post a video of myself, I decided to try out the other parts of the exercise. I did my stance first of course and gained a better footing when it came to reaching above towards the heavens as opposed to my initial attempts, wherein I kept on toppling over.



I think that the QiGong exercises we did in class helped a lot.

I mean, the exercise entitled "Raise Each Arm to Regulate Spleen" appeared to be very hard for me at first because, for the life of me, I can't seem to multi-task or do anything simultaneously. I don't know if it's a medical condition of some sort but I can assure you that when I'm texting or doing something and you're attempting to talk to me, I can't register either act. It's just the way things are. Also, I have a hard time telling the difference between left and right when asked under pressure--I mean, sure I can raise my arm and point to a right-ward direction but I can't seem to blurt out: "right" instantly.

However, the more attempts you try to raise your hands and alternate the motion, the more you get the hang of things. It reminded me much of playing Guitar Hero where, with three buttons, to say that I failed abysmally was an understatement. However, after playing for three times straight, I've somehow gotten a 94% rating in the end.

So basically, practice doesn't necessarily make you perfect but it is the commitment you put in attempting to do things properly--it allows tangible improvements to manifest.

This time, I no longer have to be critical about whether I'm raising my left hand or right hand, I can no actually just raise it and alternate it without having to wonder whether I'm alternating the hand properly.

It's a very hard task for me, standing on tip-toes, raising my left hand, while my right hand goes past my chest but the more you get into it, the more relaxed you become, and the more relaxed you become, the less chances you are of being too hard on yourself for making a mistake.

So okay, I may be straying from point to point and not talking too much about my exercise but the thing I realized while doing QiGong is that, while doing QiGong, it doesn't feel like an arduous exercise. It feels as if I'm simply sitting down, reflecting on my day, or wondering what I wanted to do for the remaining hours.

I was once a part of the track and field varsity team a few years back--yeah, I'm athletic but I don't think Track and Field requires elegance out of you. Multi-tasking, yes, and to an extent, flexibility (which was always a BIG issue with my coach), but when I run laps for warm-up, without so much as a goal of how many laps I'm supposed to take, I start reciting the layers of soil in my head. When I do, I drift off and think of other things and settle into a nice piece of cadence.

That's how I feel when I'm doing QiGong.

Running for me, was a safe haven. I felt like I had no restraints--maybe I did have limits but the power surging after you sprint off, leaving no inhibitions behind? It's simply magic. I liked running without limits but sometimes, you can't think. What I treasure most about running is when I'm in some rhythm, thinking of other things while I'm in harmony with my mind.

When I got injured a few years back, that ended my track career and I was too proud to be devastated, to be honest. I moved on to a newer sport that didn't require me to use my legs just as much.

Of course, I've never really quite found that similar peace as to running.

QiGong gives me an experience somewhat similar to what I had felt before--not quite the same but nonetheless similar. I think this would be an innovative addition to my lifestyle--a newer exploration for me.

Out of whim and suggestion, I decided to video myself whilst doing my QiGong exercise--this was, I think, hours after the class.



So all right, after viewing my exercise, I can't seem to want to look. Okay, so maybe I did look but I think I referred to it as a: "Train wreck, you can't help but look.". This will most likely be the last time I'm documenting my exercise--for one thing, it's a blow in the ego to look like an ungraceful "Panda" and it's another thing, posting my exercise for the world wide web to come across.

My roommate referred to such video as "blackmail material".

I don't have to write down a blow by blow account as to my performance--you be the judge. If you ask my opinion, I think it was an epic failure of trying to be serious and trying to meditate but flopping around in sodding sweatshirts with love handles spilling on the sides.

I'm overly critical, I know.

Also, the thing I liked about doing the QiGong exercise, notwithstanding the awful picture painted above, is that it is very relaxing to a certain extent. It begins with trying to think what the proper movement is, later on, it becomes mechanical--maybe mechanical is an inappropriate word, maybe more of automatic but fluid, in a positive light. Then instead of overanalyzing how I could possibly look, standing on tiptoes and whether I'm doing the actions right, my mind clears off and it thinks about random things like, white walls, cabinet, what I want to eat later, QiGong is relaxing, hands upwards, white walls, clothes, bags, so on and so forth.

Of course, there are times when I lose my concentration and then, my handles end up like jelly and they can't seem to cooperate with my previous knowledge of the exercise.

It never really occurred to me as to why I took Chinese Medicine as an additional subject--other than the fact that I needed an extra subject, I was certainly curious and intrigued as to how the lessons would go. For one thing, I've always wanted to create concoctions and see the outcome--I had mistaken the subject as Chinese Herbs, to be honest, instead of Chinese medicine. Also, most of my family members, especially my Angkong (who is ironically a radiologist), are so deep into the practice that they would go as far as Ong Pin (my family is originally from Cebu) to have themselves treated.

Indeed, the first meeting was interesting for me--I think it's the time where you hear a snippet of the subject you're about to take and you can't wait for the next class, maybe because you want to know more--well, on my part, I wanted to have needles on my back. Also, I thought of Gwyneth Paltrow and her cupping marks, yes, shallow and tragic, I know.

Anyway, so armed with my first tack of reading, I couldn't help but wonder what this eight part brocade is--isn't a brocade a fabric?



Out of curiosity, I decided to sit back and read the first instructions--that of which was entitled: Two Hands Reach Skyward to Balance the Triple Burner.

I did realize that I was sitting down, to be honest but I decided to do the hand motions figuring out that, "Hey, this isn't too bad."

In between reminiscing my Kung Fu lessons during my five month stay in Taiwan back when I was fifteen, I was standing up and looking at the mirror, making sure that I had my back straight in the same manner as I would have most likely done, had I been doing ballet.

Of course, it didn't look bad at that moment.

Maybe because I had no idea how it was supposed to look--I mean, I know for a fact that I had never received a star for my art classes back in second grade because I couldn't seem to grasp the instructions and procure an origami crane. What was my assurance that I was doing this exercise properly?

So I decided to give up.

Okay, maybe not just yet because I knew I just had to try the exercise entitled: "Open the Bow as Though Shooting the Buzzard."

The title itself was trivial to me and I never really seemed to grasp around that concept but I found it amusing and I tried to imitate a frozen image of Bruce Lee from my imaginations.

So that was basically how I started with QiGong.

Mi Papa y yo ( Usted Chasca Para leer )