Learning Chinese

You have probably heard of the Great Wall of China, built to prevent foreigners from entering the territory of the empire. It may well serve as an illustration of the attitude of Eastern masters towards potential students from the West. They are not trusted, they are treated with suspicion. But it is worth penetrating through this barrier, as you turn out to be your own. Now you are surrounded by care, safe.

How to get into this inner circle? There is no one right answer.

accident prevention

Qigong practices provide almost limitless development opportunities. It was originally developed as a martial art – to protect the village, the independence, the well, after all. A person who systematically and confidently practices qigong learns to control his body at different levels, acquires strength and power, which in itself is a rather dangerous weapon.

Let’s imagine that there is knowledge that makes a person infinitely powerful. Which friend would you trust him with? Not such an easy question, right? What will he do with this power? Are you confident in him, his qualities? Will he do any harm?

This is how Eastern masters approach the selection of students. Let’s say you’re going to learn health-improving gymnastics – a seemingly harmless exercise. But, having restored your health and strengthened, you will go further, and what will happen then? The master evaluates the potential of the student, looking at the years ahead. And he must be sure that he transfers knowledge into reliable hands.

Hence the numerous stories about the tests before the start of classes, which are so fond of being shown in films: about how a student carries stones up the stairs for years, washes the floors, works on the housework for the master. To a large extent this is true. But this is not so much training as acquaintance, a way for the master to understand whether he can teach this person, how reliable, hardworking, kind he is.

I was lucky to avoid such trials, but I know people who have had to go through many stages of dating and finding trust.

Learning process

It is generally accepted that learning oriental practices is years in a monastery. It used to be so, but everything is changing, and modern masters often give students a simple task instead of lengthy tests and mopping: they show one exercise, offer to do it and return in a year.

Strange, right? The exercise is very simple – the usual movement of the head. What for? What does it give? Why do you need to do it, and not something else? The assignment raises more questions than it answers. But the master gives instructions without explanation, the task of a potential student is to practice by asking himself questions and finding answers to them.

So the master checks not only the talents of the student, but also his diligence and interest in learning. In addition, all the discoveries necessary for development in practice: understanding the depth and subtlety of each exercise – the person makes himself. These discoveries are yours and only yours, you value them, they motivate you to further search.

According to this principle, many masters worked with me. “Tilt your head, now raise it. Come back in a year and show how it turns out.” And I did… And I looked for answers. Therefore, it took me 4 years to master the practices that I now teach during the 10-day seminar.

Teaching in the West

Everything in the world is changing, “secret” practices are gradually spreading around the world. The time has come for greater information openness, and this trend has affected even the traditional, closed, hidden East behind the wall.

One of my masters had 56 students – 55 more than his master. To me, a woman from the West, the master gave a blessing to open a school of oriental practices in Russia, allowed me to teach qigong practices that heal the body and give potential for further development.

Many masters, as before, remain faithful to traditions and prepare one or two students in a lifetime. And many decide to share information and spread it. Be that as it may, in the East this surprisingly accurate, accurate and verified selection for centuries is preserved: the one who is truly interested and who can be entrusted with valuable knowledge is engaged in practice.