Product Description
K’ai Men - Chinese Yoga
K’ai Men means ‘Open Door’ but is generally known as Taoist Yoga and often referred to as Chinese Yoga. Chinese Yoga has been in existence for over 2500 years. At various times in its long history it has been referred to as Ho Ping (“Unity”) and Ho Hsieh (“Harmony”). However, I feel that K’ai Men is the most appropriate, expressing as it does that Taoist Yoga is the doorway; an opening to the channels of the body, mind and spirit.
K’ai Men consists of four main sections. First comes the physical side of the art, which is initiated by the many stances. These stances derived their names from the actions, ways and habits of animals and birds. This is the section this manual deals with. The other sections can only be learnt effectively from a competent teacher.
Second is the mental side of the art, which is split into two main sub-sections. The first sub-section includes self-control, i.e. the exact placing of hands and feet whilst concentrating on the muscle changes that take place. The second sub-section of part two includes meditation which is a vast field having twelve main sections. However, this is not compulsory and no one has to attend these classes if they do not wish to. Later in this chapter you will find one or two simple exercises in positive concentration that you may like to try.
Next comes the Energy section. This section overlaps the previous sections a little. Like the other sections within the arts each is separate in its own right, like your fingers, but they join together to function in harmony as your hand. First we have intrinsic energy (chi), which all practitioners of the Taoist Arts seek to develop and cultivate. This is the natural power of the body and far greater than physical energy can ever be. It is the power that a baby exerts when it grips your finger. It is something you are born with but which most people allow to diminish over the years. This energy is tremendous, the power enormous, learn to develop it again within yourself and it will help you to keep healthy, aid you to relax more easily and keep you younger as you grow older. Then we have Macro-Cosmic Energy. This energy comes down from the heavens and passes through everything, even our bodies, into the earth and in so doing gathers further energy, then completes the circle by returning to the heavens passing through many things as it does so. This energy is omnipresent, it is here, it is there, it is everywhere, made freely available to all. It passes through you constantly, learn to harness it and you will be amazed at the energy and vitality you will receive.
Section four is the spiritual side of our lives, however this does not refer to our religious beliefs, but instead refers to the spiritual growth within ourselves. In K’ai Men and the other Taoist Arts you do not have to touch this section at all, not unless you want to, but if you learn to live by the basic principles your life will becomes easier. Just try to learn to live by these golden rules:
Think good – think no evil.
Do good – do nothing wrong.
Learn to give, and give, and give, in whatever way you can.
Cleanse yourself of your emotions, jealousy, hate, lust, greed, etc.
Although K’ai Men is usually taught alongside T’ai Chi Ch’uan within the Lee Family Style, K’ai Men is an art on its own which is practiced from a lying, seated or standing position. These exercises are an excellent aid for building up your concentration and opening the energy channels of the body known as meridians. Regular practice will enable you not only to build up but also to store energy, improving your own health. For those who are dedicated enough, this building and storing of energy is also necessary when you wish to meditate. To practise meditation without sufficient supplies of energy is like setting off on a long journey in your car without adequate fuel supplies, you would deplete what energy levels you had and your health may suffer because of this.
Many of the stances received their names because of their similarity to the actions and habits of animals and birds. While some of the exercises seem similar to other styles, the application is invariably quite different. Taoist Yoga on a physical level works on the internal organs, massaging and strengthening. After only a few exercises you will feel yourself beginning to warm, and this warmth starts inside the body and spreads outwards flowing through the meridians, until you feel yourself glow from head to toe.
With practice you will begin to feel the muscle changes that take place during the extension, in Chinese Kan Tung Pu Kan Tung (Movement with stillness), which literally translated means movement with no movement. As you slowly carry out the extension movements you will feel these muscle changes taking place within the body. While on the outside of the body there is no visible indication of the dynamic results being obtained inside the body, the only way one can gain an understanding of these muscle changes is through personal practice. As with the other Taoist Arts it is the direct experience that leads to understanding, just reading alone is useless. It is the doing that counts in the enhancement and development of yourself both physically and mentally, that and only that will create the improvement in your health. So unless you are prepared to practise these exercises you may as well put this book down now, for I have no magic formula to offer you, no magic potion. Without the practice of the exercises this book is totally useless in improving your general health. However, if you are prepared to give these exercises a try, then you will receive benefits commensurate with your efforts. Practise regularly and I know through personal experience that you will not be disappointed. Your general health and well-being will improve beyond what you thought possible. The basic exercises (the sequences) are gentle and easy to do so that the many various stances can be enjoyed by everyone, whatever their age or degree of fitness. Suppleness, improved circulation, more efficient working of your organs, and a beautiful feeling of complete relaxation within yourself are there for the taking - go on, go for it!
There are also enormous mental benefits to be gained from the practice of K’ai Men. Mental control is increased, because of the exact placing of hands and feet in precise positions, and concentrating the mind on the muscle changes that take place during the execution of the extension. All this gives the practitioner a more purposeful and focused mind, which will enable them to deal with the tasks of daily life in a smoother, calmer manner. The various decisions that we all encounter from time to time will be easier because having a stronger mind will mean you will not give way to your emotions so readily. This is possible because regular practice of K’ai Men, like T’ai Chi, teaches you to see more clearly what is happening, enabling you to absorb and scrutinize any problems you encounter with greater effectiveness.
Those wishing to know more about meditation may like to try one or two exercises in positive thinking or, as some prefer to call them positive concentration exercises, however, I must stress this is in no way compulsory and is therefore not included in regular weekly classes. Sit on the floor, or if you choose to by all means sit in a chair, relax and then concentrate on the sounds that you can hear. If you are outside listen to the birds in flight, the wind whistling through the trees, the bubbling spring, the crashing of the waves in the sea. If you are inside listen for the ticking of a clock, the rattle of a window, the blowing of the wind, the sound of a passing car. Then try to hold one sound only in your mind, to start with use the most prominent sound. Concentrate on that sound letting all the other sounds fade away. This is how you can learn to concentrate the mind. One of my favorite exercises in the summer is to look closely at a flower for a few moments, and then sit and visualize myself exploring it. Letting go of the logical constraints of the mind I crawl inside the whorl of petals and examine each in turn, like a tiny insect I roam around the bloom’s carpel noting all its delightful minute details. This is a fascinating and relaxing practice that will strengthen your concentration. If you prefer, a favorite piece of scenery, a tree, or an ornament can replace the flower. The sense of smell can also be used in meditation. Pick one of the various aromas that surround you all day long when you have a few minutes to spare and try to bring it to such prominence that the others disappear from your sense of smell.
K’ai Men, like the Art of T’ai Chi Ch’uan, will give you a greater understanding and appreciation of the intrinsic energy (usually referred to as Chi energy) that constantly flows through your body. Like the other Taoist Arts K’ai Men will give you the means to develop, cultivate and control this energy. We are all born with this energy but as we grow we start to use our physical muscles more and more, and therefore our Chi becomes somewhat dormant. The Taoist arts seek to reawaken and develop this tremendously powerful energy, making it an integral part of your life and thereby improving your health and well being. When you take up the practice of K’ai Men and T’ai Chi you are taking responsibility for your own health, and that in itself is a positive step forwards. Too many people leave their health in the hands of those who have little interest in it, other than making money from it. Who better to take care of your well-being than you? Who will gain the most benefit? No one has a more vested interest in you becoming free from disease than yourself. No one stands to gain as much as you do. So a sensible fitness program, together with a good diet will reap you improved health and well-being for as long as you apply it intelligently. The Taoist ‘Chang Ming’ diet is presented in a separate manual with sample recipes. Don’t say I cannot afford the time. If you want to keep your full complement of faculties for as long as possible, then you simply cannot afford not to devote some time on a regular basis to keeping yourself free of ailments and holding back the ravages of natures aging process. Modern life with its multitude of labour saving devices has reduced the exercise we take to levels too low to keep our bodies in good running order. We know that to leave our house or car to the ravages of nature for years without conducting periodic maintenance will result in these items becoming ragged and unserviceable. Our bodies are the same; if not looked after but abused they will eventually become just as unserviceable. The Chinese have a saying on this subject and it is simple: ‘one illness long life. No illness short life.’
The people who pay attention to their well-being correcting any imbalances as they arise maintain their health. The people, who believe they have, and always will have, perfect health and proceed through life as though their body is indestructible, do not usually live to a ripe old age. Taking the time to keep your body in reasonably good working order now will pay you back handsomely in the future.
Try to learn to flow with the path of your life, don’t fight it because in doing so you make problems for yourself. Then you have to find a solution which often creates more problems which in turn requires another solution and so on, until things become more and more frantic. All in nature grows, blooms and dies again and our lives are based on the same principle. Learn to flow with life and you will find peace of mind and happiness. You will also see that miracles do not just happen in the bible but every minute of every day. Live for today because yesterday has gone forever, and tomorrow has not yet arrived, but life is here in the present, today, and nowhere else. Taoist Yoga can put you in touch with your physical existence, through opening up to you an awareness of your own body that was hitherto hidden from you. Through the muscle changes that take place as you practise, you will not only gain good health but a very deep understanding of your own state of health and mind, as it is as you practise i.e. in the present. This awareness will slowly seep into the whole of your physical existence in whatever tasks you undertake, giving you a greater understanding of yourself and your reality here on earth. This is the Tao of your own life, and when you can follow it without resistance your life will become more serene than you dreamt possible.
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