Category Archives: 8 week course from 7th July 2011

This course is now finished – please check the upcoming courses section for future ones! Thank you to all the participants for the feedback we received, here are some excerpts:

“I enjoyed the course immensely and realised that what I already knew did not have much depth or strength.  Over the weeks I started to move towards a more effective practise, being taught how to use my strength in a relaxed manner so that my qi was channelled to its greatest potential.  I definitely want to do more to continue on this path.”

“The course was great.  I particularly enjoyed the Qi gong. It was transforming me physically and mentally. I enjoyed the fact we could work on each other and appeared not to cause harm even at this early stage. I loved the fact that we didn’t shy away from the most difficult Tuina movements and that it was not “dumbed down’ for western minds.”

Overview of this Summer Tuina Development Course:

Traditional qigong training for tuina therapists

• The Yi Jin Jing palm set (12 postures)
• 6 Yi Jin Jing moving set exercises
• Stance testing
• Beginning to apply strength through softness
• Beginning to understand the concepts ‘full’ and ‘empty’ in your own body

We practiced selected tuina techniques in order to:

• develop 3 tuina techniques to a competent standard (by Chinese standards)
• develop skill, strength, endurance and focus through guided practice
• develop the ability to apply treatment with relaxed power
• practice application for extended periods at varying levels of depth

Questions we considered on this course

1. Why is this type of training important?
2. How to apply tuina techniques with power and skill
3. How to strengthen the muscles and tendons
4. How to relax the body and mind whilst working hard
5. How to begin using qi in application of the techniques

This 8 session course was designed to offer an opportunity to begin spending the necessary time studying material which is traditionally taught in China over many years and which we believe is under taught in the UK.

It was split 50/50 between the palm set/moving set of the Yi Jin Jing qigong and the practice of three important tuina techniques – gun fa, yi zhi chan tui fa and elbow tui fa.

This course was taught in as traditional a way as possible.

This meant that:

• The qi gong we practiced was challenging both mentally and physically and was somewhat different to people’s previous experience of qigong – it was not ‘soft’ qigong!
• The Yi Jin Jing literally translates as  ”tendon and muscle changing exercises”.  It is meant to increase your strength, endurance, flexibility and ability to perform tuina.
• We focussed on practicing only 3 tuina techniques and developing them.  The idea was to start to perfect these techniques, not to learn many techniques inadequately.
• We strove to give attendants an introduction to what it takes to approach the skill and effectiveness of Chinese tuina doctors.