Eight Section Brocade Qigong

Recently, I have been studying and practicing the Beifang Qi Taiji Zhang (the Northern Energy Taiji Cane). This form was created by James Bouchard.

The excellent instructional DVD for the Northern Energy Taiji Cane also includes a warm up Qigong routine that is useful for everyone. It will be of special interest to those who practice the Eight Section Brocade Qigong form.

There are eight movements in the Northern Energy Taji Cane Qigong form:

1. Lifting the Sky
2. Press Earth and Sky
3. Drawing the Bow
4. Look Over Shoulder
5. Touch the Earth
6. Bear Swims with Cane
7. Willow Tree Stretch
8. Wave Away Demons.

All movements are done with a cane or short staff held in the hands.
Movements 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are done with the legs in a horse stance; and movements 3 and 8 are done in a bow stance.

Cane Martial Arts

My daily practice includes the study and practice of two taijiquan cane forms:

1. Eight Immortals Taijiquan Cane, Routine 1, Yang Style

2. Northern Energy Taiji Cane, Beifang Qi Taiji Zhang


Beifang Qi Taiji Zhang. Instructional DVD, 54 Minutes, 2006. Tai Chi Cane Kata. Developed by James Bouchard. "Beifang Qi Taiji Zhang means 'Northern Energy Taiji Cane.' This exciting original form was created to introduce the cane to Taiji practitioners, and to introduce Taiji principles to martial artists interested in the cane. Beifang Qi includes sets of "Qigong" or "energy exercises", multiple views of the form and a complete section on basic applications. Each movement is named for easy reference and the DVD version includes interactive menus. Beifang Qi Taiji Zhang is appropriate for novices, yet experienced martial artists will find new levels of understanding. Endorsed by Cane Masters International." Video Clip VSCL. Notes. This DVD also includes a warm up Qigong routine that is useful for everyone. It will be of special interest to those who practice the Eight Section Brocade Qigong form. There are eight movements in the Beifang Qi Qigong form: 1. Lifting the Sky, 2. Press Earth and Sky, 3. Drawing the Bow, 4. Look Over Shoulder, 5. Touch the Earth, 6. Bear Swims with Cane, 7. Willow Tree Stretch, and 8. Wave Away Demons.

Traditional Tai Chi Eight Immortals Cane, Routine One. Demonstrated by Master Jesse Tsao. Instructional DVD, 64 minutes. Produced by Tai Chi Healthways, San Diego, 2008. Routine One is based on the Yang Style of Taijiquan. Master Tsao developed this cane form himself, with grandmaster Zhu Tiancai's support.

Way of the Short Staff. By Michael P. Garofalo, M.S. Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Taijiquan, Red Bluff, California. A detailed and annotated guide, bibliographies, lists of links, resources, instructional media, online videos, and lessons. A comprehensive guide to the practice of the short staff, cane, jo, walking stick, gun, zhang, whip staff, 13 Hands Staff, and related wood short staff weapons. Includes use of the short staff and cane in martial arts, self-defense, walking and hiking. Separate sections on Aikido Jo, Cane, Taijiquan cane and staff, Jodo, exercises with a short staff, selected quotations, techniques, selecting and purchasing a short staff, tips and suggestions, and a long section on the lore, legends, and magick of the short staff. Includes "Shifu Miao Zhang Points the Way." Updated on a regular basis since October 2008. File size: 265Kb. Related to Mike's popular webpage on the Staff.

Baguazhang Practice

I really enjoyed returning to Baguazhang practice in Chico today. Sifu Kent Howard led our practice at the Chico Kodenkan dojo. I need to work on my aerobic conditioning more.

Baguazhang (Pa Kua Chang): Bibliography, Links, Resources

Cloud Hands Website

Cloud Hands Website: Taijiquan and Qigong
Bibliographies, Guides, Links, Research, Instructions, Lessons

http://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/index.htm

My web host, Blue Host, shut down www.egreenway.com from late December to early January because of "script" problems with my old Green Way blog on Word Press. I have no idea as to what suddenly caused this "script" problem with Word Press. What??? Why???

One consequence was that when the Google spider checked the website recently it could not find any files. Google deleted all the links to my "non-existent" documents. It will take a few weeks to get back into Google. Of course, I lost my first page Google ranking for scores of my webpages on taijiquan and qigong. The links were not deleted by the Yahoo search engine.

The Cloud Hands website IS now back ONLINE!!!

Happy New Year

My very best wishes to all for a prosperous and happy New Year.


Karen and I enjoyed a trip to Portland over Christmas week to visit with our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren. The snow and ice in Portland were a dramatic sight.

Lately, we have been very busy with work and home improvements. I have had little or no time for blogging or webpage development.

I accidentally fell a week ago and severely bruised my left knee, and injured my head, neck, and shoulder. Everything but the knee has shown improvement.

My most popular website, www.egreenway.com, was down from late December until today. In 2008, there were 15 million hits on this URL/website, with the most popular websites being the Months website and the Cloud Hands website.

My old Green Way blog on Word Press became completely corrupted and has been lost. How sad!!