Dragon and Tiger Medical Qigong: A Miracle Health System for Developing Chi [Paperback]

 

 

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This book was a weird one. The introductory text was just wonderful but it didn't really match up well with the practical sections.

The author gave great explanations of Qigong and his own life experiences with it. He seemed to really understand the need for some of us battling illness to take it really slow and easy and not to push ourselves to more than 70% of our capacity. He also talked about the need to do some of the exercises lying down if you were seriously ill. This made me really excited, as what he was saying seemed to be just what I needed. After I had read the introduction I was really looking forward to getting started.

I have a disease with some similarities to M.S. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, or M.E.) I'm housebound and 98% bedbound and so I really hoped this book might give some instructions on how to do Qigong lying down or some up to 5 minute simple and gentle standing ones - seeing as how the author had said how important not overexerting was.

But sadly with the exception of maybe a breathing exercise at the start, all there were were exercises that you needed to do standing and which also required far FAR FAR more balance, flexibility, strength and physical and mental stamina and ability than I have. Despite the opening text going on and on about how the author understood physical limitations and the need to lie down to do some exercises to start with, the exercises all seemed to be aimed at elite athletes or professional dancers.

I got 4 very well reviewed books on Qigong out from my local library and read them all over a two week period:

1. Qigong illustrated
2. Heal yourself with qigong : gentle practices to increase energy, restore health, and relax the mind
3. Qigong for multiple sclerosis : finding your feet again
4. Dragon and tiger medical qigong : health and energy in seven simple movements

The M.S. book was the one that was the most simple and non-demanding and the most suited for an ill person. The first two books were also very good though and did contain at least some simple standing exercises. I liked them both so much that I ended up buying my own copies to work from.

This fourth book was completely inappropriate for me and featured exercises way too advanced and difficult for anyone that is seriously or even moderately ill in my opinion. At the end of the book the exercises are described as being challenging even for a professional athlete!

Considering that I don't understand why this book is marketed as slowing 'simple' examples of Qigong when this is just not even remotely the case. The Qigong in this book is very complex and involved and would take a large investment of time to master even to an adequate level. You'd almost certainly need a DVD of the moves too. Apparently there is a double DVD set which goes with this book, which makes a lot of sense.

I'd recommend this book only for those that have a fair bit of natural balance and flexibility and also the ability to be active and follow very complex instructions. Even better if you have some athletic or dance or martial arts experience. If you have those attributes and lots of free time to practice Qigong this book could be a great choice for you. If I were well enough to try all the exercises in it I'd be so excited to do so (perhaps with the help of a teacher!), the book is really inspiring. It does seem to be aimed at preventing illness than actually treating it though, despite the introductory and cover text.

This is a great book, I have no doubt of that, but I think it is completely inappropriate for moderately-seriously ill people and should not really described as 'simple' or easy for the average person either. It is very advanced.

Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for M.E. (HFME)

EXCELLENT BOOK FOR THIS STYLE OF QI GONG. NICELY ILLUSTRATED,WITH VERY CLEAR AND CONCISE DIAGRAMS AND CLEAR EXPLANATIONS. BUT, THIS QIGONG IS NOT SIMPLE TO LEARN.IT WILL TAKE CONSIDERABLE PATIENCE AND TIME TO GET IT DOWN --RIGHT.

Instead of buying this book, one could simply watch the movements on youtube. My chi gung group had a good laugh at the basic premise of the book which is that by simply waving your hands infront of your meridians you can open and clear blockages. If this was so easy, none of us would spend the hours and hours of real practice to really do this. The forward to this book gives some hints on how to really open the meridians. The first step is to open the small orbit of heaven (front and back), then to open other channels and meridians through more advanced practice. This is all inner work....which means meditation and concentration. One must concentrate on the lower dan tian in order to build chi and then oprn the meridians. To many of us, this book is a big disappointment. It appears to be just cashing in on the medical chi gung fad. Real chi gung can cure and prevent many diseases. But this book just doesn't explain enough. It would fit well into the American Cancer Societies definition of chi gung which says that no harm will be done. This book is certainly better then doing nothing at all, and many many hours of repetition might open some parts....but without the internal work...this type of chi gung is just waving your hands around and looking like kung fu panda. I will learn this practice, and because all my meridians and channels are already open, I will see how it compares to other practices....then I will post another review. My master teacher, though, completely rejected the whole book, and will not waste his time on it. For an absolute beginner, this book would be an ok start.

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