About a month ago, we were still in the throes of Summer. It got up to 35 degrees Celsius  even in August, which is unusual for us here in Switzerland. But this has become the norm all over the world. We are in the midst of big change, of our Earth overheating but it is not new; the heating and cooling of the Earth has been happening for 4.54 billion years but us humans are sure contributing large amounts to the current overheating in a short amount of time by how we choose to live.

Not so far back in the past, in 1989, the American singer, Billy Joel released a song – “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” In this song, he lists some of the events in world history from his birth year, 1949, till that year when he turned 40; he released the song in September 1989. Little did he know that in November of that year, the Berlin Wall fell, signifying the end of the Cold War; thus helping this song to catapult to the top of the music charts around the world. When I heard this song then as a teen, I didn’t quite understand it. He lists many things that was significant to the Western world, but most especially to an American; I was an Asian teen with little experience and knowledge of world events at that point in time.

Since I began studying Chinese Medicine, I have been fascinated by the Theory of the 5 Phases or Elements, Wǔ Xíng. This theory is not just applied in Chinese Medicine, but also in Chinese philosophy, science, politics, education, music, martial arts and probably anything to do with life. In medicine, we are taught that there are 12 Regular Channel/ Meridians, which are connected to 12 organs. All of these 12 have 1 of the 5-Elements associated with them; each Element has 2 partner organs except for Fire, which has 4. Just with this circumstance, one can assume that Fire is a very important element in Chinese Medicine. These organs are the Heart, Pericardium, Small Intestines and Triple Burner, Sān Jiāo; the Heart being defined as the Emperor of the organs. Just with this detail of having 4 Fire-Element-organs in the body, we can imagine that Chinese Medicine views humans to have a tendency to build up heat in the body.

Fire is important for life but too much of it would create an imbalance. We need a certain amount of warmth in the body in order that our natural body functions work. However, when we have too much heat, it would make the functions go into overdrive and burn out. Is this not the dis-ease of our time? In Qi Gong manuscripts, there are referrals from the Eight Trigrams (Bā Guà) to Kǎn, Water and Lí, Fire. Qi Gong Master, Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming describes in his book, The Root of Chinese Qi Gong:

“Kan is Water and represents Yin in relationship to Li, which represents Fire and Yang. Qigong practitioners believe theoretically that your body is always too Yang unless you are sick and have not eaten for a long time, in which case your body may be more Yin. When your body is always Yang, it is degenerating and burning out. It is believed that this is the cause of aging. If you are able to use Water to cool down your body, you will be able to slow down the degeneration process and thereby lengthen your life […] Fire and Water mean many things in your body. The first concerns your Qi. Qi is classified as Fire or Water […] The Qi which is pure and is able to cool both your physical and spiritual bodies is considered Water Qi.”

Therefore, many of the Qi Gong forms are for developing Water Qi, to cool and balance Fire Qi within our beings. A balance between these two kinds of Qi is what creates health. According to Dr. Yang, this can be achieved by having proper food and fresh air, regulating the Mind and Breath, steadying the Spirit and some special Qi Gong meditative practices.

Dr. Yang also hints that our thoughts and Intention, Yì, is shaped by Kǎn and Lí, Water and Fire; if we are fiery in our beings, we begin to have fiery thoughts and actions. This is often what we observe in Chinese Medicine, if someone has an imbalance of heat in her/his body, s/he will begin to manifest irritation, anger, obsessive and manic behavior, to the point of being violent toward the people around her/him. I believe this imbalance, within many individuals, is one of the causes that drove societies to seek to dominate and conquer others. I came across a very good documentary many years ago about fossil fuel, its origins as well of its effects on our planet and its living beings, called Crude: The Incredible Journey of Oil. It traces how the tiny phytoplankton from 160 million years ago, floating in an ancient ocean that makes up what is now the Arabian peninsula, stored the power of the Sun in the state of carbon and with the pressures of the Earth, became “fossilized Jurassic sunlight” deep within the Earth to conceive what we know as crude oil. It also creates an awareness of how our modern lives have been shaped by crude oil; from petrol in the car that transports us around, to the plastic of our kids’ toys to the skincare products that we put on our faces. We have become so detached and disconnected from life around us, that we may be unaware that the excess Fire within us is devouring us and all around us.

Billy Joel’s song chorus goes:

 “We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it.”

But I disagree, we may not have started the Fire, but we are fueling it. It is time to stop. We can choose to balance it out with the Element of Water, in how we live and what we practice in our everyday.
 
 

Reference
Yang, J.M. (1997) 2nd.Ed. The Root of Chinese Qi Gong. Wolfeboro, NH, USA: YMAA Publication Center.
 
 

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“She has got to stand up for herself,” “He won’t take this lying down,” “Does that sit well with you?” – These are some of the common English phrases used in everyday speech. Without even thinking about it, we reference our physical posture, which our physical bodies manifest, in descriptions of actions and situations we experience in our lives. No matter how much we may want to deny it, our physical body shapes us and the reality around us. Even the word that we use to describe that we can comprehend what another person or situation is trying to convey to us, the verb “to understand” or “verstehen” in English and German respectively, is a physical posture reference.

Our physical bodies shape our reality and our experience of the world. We often forget this and in fact, take a very important detail for granted: we as human beings are the only species of mammals who can stand and walk upright for long periods of time. This is called Bipedalism. Often I observe my cat stands on her 4 legs, which is Quadrupedalism, rubbing on my lower leg. I never realize how tall she could be if she stood up on 2 legs until she does for those short moments and I am astounded that she almost reaches my hip; she expands from about 30 centimeters to 80 centimeters, which is more than double her quadrupedal height. This makes me understand the advantage humans have over other animals; that we Homo sapiens appear bigger to other animals, giving us a kind of watchtower-sight of things as well as appearing bigger, therefore, providing a size advantage over other animals, such as to my cat. I get proof of this whenever I play-rough with her on the ground, she gets overly enthusiastic and tries to attack me, but if I stand up to my full height, she retreats and acknowledges my dominance. In this case, size does matter. Standing and walking on 2 legs do have advantages.

Our human bodies took about 6 million years to become bipedal, as seen in the current fossil records found all over the world. Standing on 2 legs changed our anatomy and therefore changed our posture. In addition to lying, we can stand as well as sit upright. In fact, being upright is the ideal posture for balance as well as energy-optimal alignment for our bodies; if we do not have an upright posture, the muscles and connective tissues of our back, shoulders, hips, chest and abdomen cannot completely perform contraction and relaxation, thereby creating tension and pain in the body. But this is only the physical aspect of life in the human body. The moment we slump in the spine, not only do we have compression of organs, connective tissues and muscles, which then adjust the blood circulation of the whole body, our senses, such as our sight, perceive a different view of our external environment, the nervous system begins to be affected, triggering a whole host of events; thereby creating a change in our emotional mood. Our external view of the world, along with the physiological changes, affect our internal one. If you don’t believe this happens in your body, just try it for yourself for a 30-minute period but not longer, to prevent lasting negative effects to your being.

Not only is this change personal, the people around us judge us by our posture all the time, even if they deny it. The moment we walk into a room, judgements are already made just by how we are perceived by our posture. Upright posture conveys confidence, assurance and professionalism. If we were going to a job interview, this would be a positive advantage, if the potential employers were looking for someone competent. These first impressions set the stage for the rest of the interview and interactions. We only have to look up the word “upright” in a Thesaurus in order to understand how perceptions of our physical uprightness are not just physical: “decent,” “honest,” “honorable,” or “conscientious.” People read these moral attributes from our upright posture, even though we in society constantly declare that we are objective and unemotional.

Chinese Medicine designates the Jing Jin, Sinew/ Tendino-Muscular Channels as foundations of upright posture. These channels flow as suggested by their English translation, in the areas of the tendons, muscles, as well as ligaments and fasciae; these include externally on the area of the skin, as well as internally in and around the internal organs. Jing Jin are defined as conduits of Wei Qi, Protective Qi. By this, we can deduce that the Chinese attribute upright posture to the protection of the body. As such, exercise practices such as Qi Gong and Tai Ji Quan are an essential part of Chinese Medicine in maintaining health. I will discuss Jing Jin in future blogposts.

Do you remember as a kid how the adults around you would nag you about your posture? – “Sit up straight,” or “Don’t slouch.”  I hate to say it but they were right; if we had listened then and made adjustments to our bodies, we are probably reaping the benefits of their wisdom. If however we didn’t, it’s never too late. It takes a little more time and awareness as an adult but it’s still possible to make adjustments. It's all about practice, keep at it!
 
 

 
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One of the fundamental basis of Chinese Medicine is Qì 氣. Qì (Pin Yin romanization, which is pronounced chee), has been described as “vital energy,” “vital force” or even “universal energy.” It’s sometimes spelled as Chi (Wade-Giles romanization), or Ki (Japanese spelling and pronunciation). In Chinese Medicine there are many different types of Qì, just to name a few: Yuán Qì (Original Qi), Zhēn Qì (True Qi), Yíng Qì (Nutritive Qi) and Wèi Qì (Defensive/ Protective Qi). Many blogposts ago, I wrote about Qì and what its Chinese character means, and many blogposts before that I wrote a little about Wèi Qì as well as how it is key to understanding allergies, such as Hay Fever.

But Wèi Qì is so much more complex than just allergies and immune system. The Chinese character for Wèi  衛  has a few parts: the first radical on the left 彳 chì means “step” and added together with the component on the right it becomes 行 xíng, meaning “to walk.” The middle character component, I recently learnt from a continuing education class, refers to “a guard” or “a man with leather armor.” All together they create “a guard who walks back and forth to protect.” Therefore, Wèi Qì refers to Qi that is always in motion to protect and defend when needed.

As a student in Chinese medical school, we learnt that people who caught colds and flus easily have a Wei Qi deficiency and that the Wei Qi is very connected to the Lung and Spleen Qi. So we would treat the appropriate Acupuncture points and give the famous herbal formula, Yù Píng Fēng Săn (Jade Wind Screen Powder). With the proper diagnosis and appropriate use of this formula, patients often got better within a month or so. One of my strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic was and still is to strengthen the Wei Qi. It can also manifest as bladder symptoms like chronic urinary tract infection UTI, which have often manifested in female patients, being exposed to cold external conditions. But through my practice and observation of different patients over the years, I have come to realize that Wei Qi deficiency is much more than catching colds or viruses easily, chronic UTIs and allergies. I started to realize that some patients would come in reporting how they felt “exposed” emotionally and physically, like they felt unprotected when they went out into the world. They would feel like they were being invaded by others energetically. I started to link this to Wei Qi deficiency and to treat them as such, often times it has worked. Also, by learning to set healthy boundaries in their lives, which is also a manifestation of Wei Qi, in my opinion, this has served to help them feel more secure within their beings.

As a student with my teachers in Tai Ji Quan/ Qi Gong/ Shao Lin Quan we learned to do some techniques of energetic practice they would call Iron Shirt Qi Gong. It is a martial arts method in which, as the name implies, one creates a layer like an iron shirt around the body, to protect against hits and attacks from opponents as well as to strengthen one’s body part to create an iron-hard effect with a punch or a hit. This reminded me of a movie which I watched in university in the 1990s, Iron and Silk, a true story of how Mark Salzman goes to China to teach English and learns Wu Shu, among other things. His master, Pan Qing Fu, is known as Iron Fist. Master Pan spent hours over decades punching a steel block; as such, his fists were as hard as iron. Though he has acted in films, this man’s skill was real, unlike a lot of Hollywood films (there is even one with this name but is not the real deal). This I believe is Wei Qi condensed into the fist. Iron Shirt Qi Gong could be used for martial purposes but I believe it is applicable to everyday life, not for assault but for protection. This, I have come to understand, is Wei Qi being activated with energetic practice.

The cultivation of Wei Qi has to come from many different aspects, not just physically but mentally as well as emotionally and energetically. It is something we need to work with our Bodyminds and not just on a material level. If there is anything that I am sure of, it is that many of the health issues of our time have a lot to do with our Wei Qi deficiency as individuals and as a society. It has been one of my aims to understand Wei Qi better. Even after years of study and practice of Chinese Medicine, I am finding even more depth to the subject. I am still on my journey of exploration into Wei Qi.




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