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Martial Arts Talk IIIn this column I would like to introduce you to one of my thousands of students worldwide. From time to time they share interesting personal experiences that I think would be interesting reading for our column. Our system's Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditations are what contributed the most to James' recovery. I had him write a bit to explain his ordeal and the light he found at the end of the tunnel. I hope you are informed and inspired. Truly we need health first to make wealth. With health and the ability to make wealth one would be hard pressed not to find peace of mind. Here James shares in his own words. He has been a home study video exchange student of mine for over one year. The Martial Arts, Chi Kung and Post Polio Syndrome I was born June 23rd, 1954. I contracted Polio in the Fall of the same year. Recovery required surgery beginning at age three. I stayed in the hospital for one and a half years, with further surgery at intermittent intervals until the age of twenty. All of this was done to make my right leg functional and to keep it functioning. I have always walked with a pronounced limp, at times requiring wheelchairs, crutches, and braces and of course physical therapy. Most of us polio survivors develop a "Type A" personality because a hard driven nature is what it takes to recover from polio. By age 21 I was able to ambulate without crutches or braces. In 1969 while in High School, I began to study Karate, (Shorei-Goju.) In 1982 I received my Shodan from Sensei Frank Novak of Chicago. In the Fall I moved to South West Florida. In 1989 I began to study Isshin-Ryu Karate. I received my Shodan in 1997. I am currently a Nidan and studying with Sensei Larry Hill at his Cape Coral school. I am also one of Jung Shee Lacy' home study students with a specialized course in the Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditations of Level #2 for health. You'll recall Terry Dunn let out level #1, but Jung Shee taught me the 70 meditations of the higher level #2. Prior to hooking up with Jung Shee Lacy, I began studying kung fu in 1990 with Master Ker-Jen Wu in Miami. Master Wu also gave me exposure to Chen style Tai Chi Chuan, however, 1989 marked another event, the first symptoms of Post Polio Syndrome. Typically symptoms begin between 20-30 years after infection and are prevalent in patients who have experienced paralysis. It is a slow insidious process; the compensatory processes that allow a victim to recover have broken down. New muscle weakness in areas of the body thought to be unaffected by the initial infection may occur, and further weakening of previously damaged muscles may occur along with extreme fatigue. Some individuals may deteriorate to the point that they again need braces, wheelchairs, walkers and crutches. Some may even require respiratory ventilators. By 1996 I had to file for disability. Previously my left arm and leg had shown no evidence of polio damage. I could not walk more than 500 feet without experiencing muscle fatigue and pain. I had trouble with fine motor skills and lifting or handling objects with my left arm and hand. Previous to 1989 when Post Polio symptoms began, I had been in excellent physical condition. I rode my bicycle from 10 to 20 minutes a day, could run for 20 - 30 minutes at a time, do 240 pushups in less than two minutes, bench press 300 pounds and dead lift 350 pounds. A course of physical therapy did help for awhile. I was working as an RN. The average nurse walks 6 - 8 miles a day when involved in patient care. I could no longer function at work because of the inability to ambulate and extreme fatigue, thus my career ended. At this time my Physician informed me that he could no longer help me. I gave up and accepted the fact that I would face a slowly progressive paralysis. In the summer of 1996 I bought a martial arts magazine featuring an article about Shi Yan Ming, a Shaolin monk living in New York who had worked with a paralyzed Polio victim and helped him to walk again by treating him with chi kung. I inquired throughout the martial art community and was directed to a Buddhist priest who at the time lived in our community. The following is a list of chi kung exercises that have been helpful to me. Since I have started my chi kung practice I experience less fatigue and have had an increase in strength in the upper and lower extremities with the upper extremities gaining the most strength. Please remember that this is merely my own personal experience. Consult a physician before starting any exercise program. Find and consult a competent Chi Kung instructor. I began with a still meditation, "Small Circulation." The goal of this training is to pull more chi into the Conception and Governing Vessels and to learn to circulate it in a smooth manner. As these vessels become full, chi passes out of the vessels and into the channels that are associated with the internal organs. Smooth and plentiful chi circulation encourages proper organ function. The next exercise is "Grand Circulation." This is also a still meditation. The goal of this training is to increase chi levels in the core of the body and then move it to the extremities, the head and also to be able to pull chi in through those same areas. On the head, the upper Dan-Tien, (near the middle of the forehead,) the Baihui on the top of the head and the Yongquan area located at the center of the sole of the foot. All these sites together may be referred to as the "Five Gates." The next two exercises are closely related. The "Da Mo Fist Set," and the Da Mo Palm Set." The fist set was designed to build up chi and eventually combining it with the chi already built up in the body from the prior exercises. The second set allows you to move chi through your palms and fingers. The last group of exercises is known as the Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Chi Meditations of Level #2 where Terry Dunn left off and Jung Shee Lacy supplied. These are a group of seated meditations with percentage breath control unique to authentic Five Elder lineage and with movements. These movements and meditations were designed to increase chi levels throughout the body. Tai Chi Chuan although not as old as Jung Shee Lacy's material of Five Elder Moving Meditations from the Taoist tradition passed through the Five Elders of the 1600's or pre-Ching era, is both a chi kung exercise and a martial art. It may be done at any speed after learned slowly. Actually the older moving meditations are done a tad slower than even Tai Chi Chuan. When comfortable with the moves for ones body type and having the 'principles' down, it can be done at any speed with relatively low stress impact on joints. It is known to improve balance, and if performed for a longer period of time at a faster pace occasionally, will function as a cardio vascular exercise. Remember though as Jung Shee Lacy explained on his Scientific Analysis of Chi Tape in his Dim Mak series with Panther; opening the blood platelets is the bottom line for letting oxygen pass through the cells and to keep them from clumping us as Dr. Anglen demonstrated with the dark field microscope after doing Jung Shee's Vibrating Palm Chi Kung. In closing, remember to always consult your Doctor and seek a qualified instructor. All the best Action readers! Jung Shee Lacy's material is for real! Sincerely, James Apostolou RN.  Phone: (619) 766 - 9256 Mew Hing Productions 42499 Old Hwy. 80 P.O. Box 427 Jacumba, CA. 91934-0427 E-mail: MewHing@earthlink.net ShaBruCha Graphics  618-529-2856 sharoney2@yahoo.com |