Sunday, September 14, 2008

Five Animal Frolics Qigong Workshop

I traveled to Sacramento this past weekend and attended the two day workshop led by Ken Cohen, Qigong Master, from Boulder, Colorado. About 20 students learned part of the Five Animal Frolics Qigong Form. We learned and practiced the Crane and Bear sets of exercises, and one exercise each from the Monkey, Deer, and Tiger Frolics. We also learned a number of valuable meditation techniques.


Mr. Cohen has published numerous articles, books, audio CDs, and DVDs on Qigong and Native American spirituality. He is fluent in English and Chinese. His knowledge and skills in the internal martial arts is quite impressive. I found Ken to be articulate, very knowledgeable, energetic, a very good teacher, quite approachable and sociable, a wise person, and a kind and generous man who loves to share knowledge and mind-body improvement information.


I would recommend that all qigong and taijiquan enthusiasts and seekers take Kenneth Cohen's workshops. Were distance and financial constraints not an issue for me, I know I would enroll in his qigong instructor training program next week.


The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing. By Kenneth S. Cohen. Foreword by Larry Dossey. New York Ballantine Books, 1997. Index, notes, appendices, 427 pages. ISBN: 345421094. MGC. One of my favorite books: comprehensive, informative, practical, and scientific.
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4 comments:

  1. John Soares7:24 AM PDT

    Hello Mike,

    Ken Cohen also has a very interesting audio series on Taoism published by Sounds True. There's a lot of good information in it and I highly recommend it.

    It does focus a bit more on religious Taoism than I would like, but the philosophical Taoism I prefer is covered very well.

    I considered going to that workshop, but decided to pass.

    I'd greatly appreciate posts on upcoming similar workshops in Northern California, especially in our neck of the woods.

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  2. Michael P. Garofalo7:54 PM PDT

    John,

    I also purchased the audio on Taoism, but have not listened to it yet. I need to put on my MP3 player.

    I will post to my blog if 1) people send the information to me, and 2) I notice something on my interests. Actually, I list taiji and qigong workshops in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington. See http://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/norcal.htm

    I'm also looking for fellow travelers that might help share travel expenses.

    Mike

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  3. John Soares7:17 AM PDT

    Mike,

    I use my mp3 player a lot now, frequently listening to lectures when I'm driving.

    I'll e-mail you about any upcoming workshops in Northern California.

    I'm open to the occasional workshop, but I'm still primarily focused on learning the system taught by Gene Burnett, so I don't want to overload myself, or learn things that don't complement my main system.

    And I'm definitely interested in being a "fellow traveler." Did you also mean that in the 1950's "red" sense?

    John

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  4. Michael P. Garofalo6:17 AM PDT

    John,

    Thanks for sending me information on workshops/seminars in Northern California and Oregon.

    I also use my MP3 player a lot for lectures. After I purchase a CD I convert the .wav files to .mp3.

    If you are working closely with a teacher, you wise to focus on what what he/she is teaching you.

    Keep traveling ...

    Mike

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