questions about shaolin kungfu and a woman's cycle

[Anke Verhees]

Dear everybody,

I would like to start with saying 'hello' to everybody, since this is my first thread on the forum. Lots of greetings from Shaolin Wahnam Amsterdam!

I have been training Shaolin Kungfu with sifu Darryl for three years now, and it has been absolutely amazing. I will leave the incredible benefits to another time but I can defnitely say it has changed my life.

Recently I have noticed that with me, and the other women in our Amsterdam school, specific 'woman-questions' have arisen, that our sifu can only answer to a certain level, since he is a man. It must be said though that he tries very hard Therefore I am posting this thread: I am guessing there are quite a lot of Shaolin-sisters out there who could give us some answers.

- What can we train during our menstruation and what is better to leave out? (I do know it is better to focus on flow than on force during that time, but I am sure there is more)

- What, if anything, can be trained during pregnancy?

- Are there any other things to be aware of during certain parts of the cycle?

As women, our bodies our always in flow with our cycles, and I am sure the more we tap into that and follow our energy, the more benefit we can get out of the different phases of the month. I am quite exited about finding out more on this, since I feel we are only at the tip of the iceberg, and could do incredible things if we tap into our women-energy!

Which also feels quite amazing, since in the Western world the womanly cycle is often regarded as a burden, and recently I have started viewing it as an amazing gift. So many woman are suffering from a cycle that is out of balance, and I feel it would do so much good to create more awareness, a healthy view and positivity around it.

Okay, I am getting a bit carried away here

Thanks so much for any feedback you can give! It's greatly appreciated. And please feel welcome at our school any time!

All the best,
and some Amsterdam sunshine,

Anke

[Martin Do]

Dear Anke,

Welcome to our virtual kwoon. It’s great to hear of how much you are enjoying and getting out of your practice. Very interesting questions you raised above and I myself am keen on learning from any advice given.

I would also like to add another question which I hope is not viewed too sensitively. For ladies who may have emotional lows through their monthly cycles, how has chi kung effected this? I am looking forward to hearing of the effect chi kung practice has had on this irrespective of whether it is good, bad or no change.

I feel we are only at the tip of the iceberg, and could do incredible things if we tap into our women-energy!

Dear me, more girl power eh . I thought the Spice Girls were out long ago .

What, if anything, can be trained during pregnancy?

Below is a quote from Sigung’s priceless Questions and Answer series:

Question

My practice is going very well and it is helping me a lot. At the beginning of January I stopped my medicine, so I could become pregnant. I didn't expect it to be so soon! So now I am 4 weeks pregnant!

I wanted to ask you if it is OK to practice. Is there anything that I have to be careful about? I don't know where to focus: at my head (what I used to do until now), at my baby or in my entire body to give me strength in general? I think chi is very powerful to focus on my fragile baby.
— Effie, Greece


Answer

I am so happy to know that you are pregnant. Congratulations. Bringing life to the world and becoming a mother is one of the greatest blessings any woman can have.

From now to about three months of your pregnancy, you can carry on practicing your chi kung as usual, except that you should be more gentle and take care not to over-practice. Indeed, you should under-practice, i.e. practice in less time and in less intensity than what you do in ordinary times.

Many people mistakenly think that as they become pregnant, they should practice more for the baby. This is incorrect regarding high-level chi kung. They forget that a baby's needs are different from an adult's needs. As you have correctly mentioned, focusing chi on a baby may be too powerful.

This means you should not send chi directly to your baby, such as using visualization or directing chi there with your palm. But you and your husband can, and should, caress the baby lovingly with your hands. As you caress, gently think of the baby lovingly. The baby will appreciate it and it is excellent for his or her pre-natal development.

You need not focus on any part of your body during your practice or chi flow. Just enjoy wu-wei, i.e. let the chi flow where it flows. Your chi flow should not be vigorous.
From the third month of pregnancy onward, you need not practice chi kung forms. Just go into gentle chi flow from your standing meditative position. The chi flow must be gentle. There is no need to focus the chi flow at any part of your body. You may, once a while, gently think of your baby with love and care while enjoying your chi flow, but do not consciously direct your chi to your baby. If chi naturally flows to your baby, without you actively directing it, it is fine.

The following is an excellent exercise you can perform any time during pregnancy. Go into a chi kung state of mind. Gently think of your baby developing healthily and beautifully, and when the time is right, the delivery of your baby will be safe, normal and pleasant.

It is important that you must not use any force, physical or mental, while performing this excellent exercise. This is actually a serious exercise, but treat it like fun, i.e. if it brings the desired result, wonderful; if it does not bring any result, it doesn't matter.

This is also a very safe exercise that can be performed safely by any pregnant woman as long as she performs it gently. Tell your friends about this excellent exercise, including men so that they may tell their wives and daughters. It is a great blessing to help expecting mothers safely and pleasantly bring life to our world.

Also, I have been very lucky to have received advice on the above question from a kungfu aunt (a lady) whom I have very very high regard for:

The only thing I would say is that it is probably best to discontinue the Shaolin Kungfu aspect of her training till after the delivery. The reason for this is that the accidental use of "force", which is not the same as internal force being applied in a punch naturally, but more like doing a kungfu sequence with some unknown tension in the footwork or stances, could offset unwanted vaginal bleeding or put undue pressure on the baby causing it to feel the need to "leave" (via miscarriage or premature birth). At such an early stage in the pregnancy, it is wise for xxxxx to:

a) continue with her chi kung practice,
b) do all the things you suggested,
c) and rest from Shaolin Kungfu till after the delivery.
e) If she wishes, she can add just 3-circle stance to her practice everyday.

After pregnancy, she can gradually ease back into her regular training of Shaolin Kungfu. It is important that she ease back in "gradually", e.g. increasing by one breath per day, and not jumping up by 5 or 10 breaths at random.

The xxxxx above is my own replacement of the students name for confidentiality reason.

Best wishes

Martin

[Anke Verhees]

Dear Martin,

Thanks so much for your extended reply! I will pass your answers on to the other women in our group.

To answer your question: I used to have quite bad PMS (which can cause emotional lows) in the past. It turned out my cycle was very much out of balance. I had a wonderful treatment from taisipak Kai in his clinic, which completely took care of this. Actually, right now I am about to have my 'moon-days' and I feel great. Taisipak Kai told me that most women have a cycle that is out of balance. I am assuming that apart from acupuncture and chinese herbs chi kung can definitely work wonders for PMS, since all these 'tools' work to restore the natural balance in the body.

Hope that helps! If you want, I'll also check amongst our group.

All the best,
Anke

[namaste]

Hi!

Anke! Welcome to the forum.

Even though I'm quite in touch with my feminine side, I'm not going to attempt to answer your question - I'm just not qualified

...but I couldn't let your arrival on the forum go by without saying hello!

We will miss you on the mountain this year - hope to see you sooner rather than later on another Wahnam event.

All the best

Rich

[Martin Do]

Thank You

Dear Anke,

To answer your question: I used to have quite bad PMS (which can cause emotional lows) in the past. It turned out my cycle was very much out of balance. I had a wonderful treatment from taisipak Kai in his clinic, which completely took care of this. Actually, right now I am about to have my 'moon-days' and I feel great. Taisipak Kai told me that most women have a cycle that is out of balance. I am assuming that apart from acupuncture and chinese herbs chi kung can definitely work wonders for PMS, since all these 'tools' work to restore the natural balance in the body.

Thank you for your reply. That's very interesting. Thank you for the learning opportunity .

Hope that helps! If you want, I'll also check amongst our group.

Thank you for the offer but there is no need unless they want to share their experience here. Either way, its all good .

Best wishes

Martin

[Anke Verhees]

tips from taisipak kai - for all women!

Dear all,

A few weeks ago I asked Taisipak Kai the same questions I posted earlier in this tread. Since Taisipak Kai is a well-known TCM practicioner besides being a high level Kungfu master, I felt he would be an excellent person to turn to. Indeed, he was able to give great insights, that I would love to share with you.

During the menstruation and about 3 to 5 days before the start, women should avoid training stances. This is because you do not want to influence the dynamic of your cycle. Stance/force training is too powerful at this point, since the chi is needed elsewhere (I experienced the 'wobbly legs syndrom' when I did try to train stances during these days - it is great to realize your body already knows best ). The one stance that can be trained is 3 circle stance, since this is a tai chi pattern and much more gentle.

In general women should avoid working on a chi level during these days. It is better to focus on a more technical training. Also avoid having really big chi flows; keep it gentle.

Practically, this means that most women will not train force training for about 10 days a month. I know this sounds like a long time, but I also experienced working on a different, more intuitive strenght during these 10 days. After all, women and men are different, and have different energies.

I hope this helps other Shaolin-sisters out there having similar questions.

Wishing you all the best and have a lovely day!

Anke