Malaysia (Cameron Highlands Qigong Camp) Nov 2009

" The founder of Zhineng Qigong is Prof Pang Ming who studied Chinese traditional and western medicine in China. The 1st set of Qigong exercise was introduced in 1980 "

" The Chinese believe that Qi fills the universe and all things are derived from Qi. The universal Qi is called Hunyuan Qi "

" Zineng Qigong practitioners are able to direct the flow of Hunyuan Qi into the part of body that is ill to provide a cure "

My 3 days in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia (21-23/11/2009) - Have fun with Qigong & Traveling

A day before my trip to Cameron Highlands to participate in a Zhineng Qigong camp, I was humming my favorite Cliff Richard's song in the bathroom. Something like this - "we are going on a summer holiday" in Cameron Highlands ... and guessed what, I had to stop singing as I had forgotten all the rest of the verses in this song - an old age problem-lah ! My wife who was joining me told me that this was not a holiday camp for you to eat, sleep and taking afternoon naps - sounded like lecturing me to prepare for the worst ! She had set a high expectation in participating in this Qigong Camp and certainly look forward to raising her knowledge in Qigong realising that we had two Qigong masters from China who will be coaching us on the theoretical and practical aspects of Qigong (plus some new practices) in Cameron Highlands. Participants paid RM380 per person and this includes instructor course fee, 7 buffet meals, a cozy apartment unit for two nights and a bus transport from USJ to Cameron Highlands return - a real bargain - by saying this I hope our organizers do not raise the fee for next year ! Needless to say, we are grateful to Zhineng Qigong for putting their untiring efforts in organizing the 2009 Camp.

The food was great so was the company. I had a jolly good time getting to know members from other branches and interacting with my fellow Qigong members from USJ whom we had hardly spoken with one another for the last three years since I took up Qigong practice in May 2006 after my first backpacking trip to Northen Xinjiang, China (following the Silk Road trail)

From Day One to Final day, it never rains but it pours ! We were forewarned by our Qigong masters that the lush green Cameron Highlands would be cold at 17-18c at night - so a Malaysian "winter" awaits for me and my wife. Throughout the 3 days there, it was a wet wet world in Cameron Highlands. We only brought one small miserable umbrella with us so one of us will be singing - "rain drops keep falling on your head". You may ask me whose head was it ? It was my head as most of the time I used our hotel's newspaper to cover my head !

True enough, we had a 3 day intensive sessions in Hotel Equatorial. Before we start the sessions, all participants had to do a group Qigong exercise (1 hr each) and then followed by a theory & demonstration session (3 hr each). Each breakfast, lunch and dinner session took about 1 hour.

The Zhinneng Qigong Camp 2009 (21-23/11/09) - Main activities :

The start of the Zhineng Qigong Camp 2009 - introductory speech by Mr Gan, our President followed by our MC. Our honorable and beloved Qigong masters from China, Mr & Mrs Loo went on stage to impart their skills in Qigong to participants (see pictures above)

For Day One, we started our session at around 2.30pm and ended at 10.00pm. To kickstart the session, all members were requested to sing our Zhineng Qigong class's anthem followed by Mr Gan, our Zhineng Qigong Adviser who made a "short and sweet" introductory speech. This was followed by our MC who spoke briefly on house keeping rules. Following which our Master Loo from China spoke for 2hrs on the theory of Hunyuan Qi. In between, there was an one hour rest (5.30-6.30pm). Our yummy dinner was served from 6.30-7.30pm and a 2 1/2 hr Qigong group practice from 7.30-10.00pm before retiring for bed. A very productive day to begin with. I had a nightmare on Qigong that night !

We started early on the Second Day (7.15-7.30am) and had our group Qigong practice for 1 hour from 7.30-8.30am followed by a breakfast (8.30-9.30am). For the rest of the morning session, both Master Loo and Mrs Loo demonstrated to all the participants the right way of mastering our strokes on Xin Zhen Zhuang - the 2nd module of Qigong. After our lunch and for the rest of the afternoon session, Master Loo spoke for 3 hours on the moral aspect of Qigong, a topic which is not easy to grasp and easy to forget ! As usual, we had a short one hour rest from 5.30-6.30pm and then adjourned for dinner. We ended our 2nd day after a 2 1/2 hr talk and practice on Qigong. In between the day, all participants took part in an interesting exercise and all were given a needle to place on their heads or hold it with two of their fingers - If the needle breaks into two, this means an individual has successfully used the mind to direct the Hunyuan Qi on to the object and achieve the desired result. Out of 100 participants, only two members were successful in breaking their needles ! Another exercise was performed to rid any excess weight from our overweight bodies. I observed there was no lack of participants in this exercise and I merely watched from the sideline. The reason - my feather weight body is only 58 kilos - I have a big heart, little fat and lots of spare ribs in between, so to speak !

Our group had a short workshop session on the Final Day. So it was an early morning hotel check out for us before joining the rest for a group Qigong practice (7.30-8.30am). We left our luggage at the hotel reception and after our breakfast, we had our last Qigong session. Both our Chinese masters taught us a new Qigong exercise called the Straight leg sitting method. Not easy to master but we did our very best .

At 12.00pm , we had our lunch and our bus departed Cameron Higlands at 2.00pm. It was time to say bye bye to all and indeed we had a very productive and wonderful time in Cameron Highlands. At this juncture, our Qigong members in the bus let go their steam and went on a shopping spree in Cameron Higlands and Bidor. Shopping, shopping all the way home ! We had a few avid singers and admirers of Teresa Teng , a popular Taiwanese singer in the 70's and our bus was filled with Teresa Teng's songs to cheer us up , others went into a sleeping mood !

I have this to say - the success of the Zhineng Qigong Camp 2009 in Cameron Highlands was probably due to this matrix : M+B+F=C (Motivation + Belief + Focus = Consequence) . Does this makes sense to you ? For the Qigong members, you are highly motivated persons - you are consistent in attending your Qigong classes; you have a strong belief in Qigong; you are focused in your Qigong practice and learning from your Qigong masters - and all these inputs ultimately lead you to a desirable outcome - a healthy mind and body ! Good on you all for taking Qigong !

The 8 verses of Zhineng Qigong + The 3 in 1 of me (Qigong+My Soul+Travelling)

1) Ding Tian Li Di - Think of the blue sky above your head, the empty space after the blue sky, think of the empty space below your feet, you are a tall and huge giant that reaches the sky and your feet deep into the ground

In June 2007, I was backpacking in Leh/Ladakh, Northern India - see my travel blog: http://www.km-travel.blogspot.com/ - looking at some of the pictures I had taken during this trip, my mind started to imagine …. I now think of the clear blue sky; the vastness of the earth and empty space in Northern Himalayas; the quiet surrounding environment; some stretches of remote areas were devoid of human life etc. Looking back, it was Qigong I had learned which gave me the confidence to travel to this treacherous region of North Himalayas. It was comforting to note that I had firmly placed my foot prints on the world's 2nd highest motorable mountain pass (17,800ft=5,700m above sea level) in Ladakh ! Surprisingly, my mental and physical health (at age 57 then) was in tremendous good shape and I did not suffer from any high mountain altitude sickness - amazing is'nt it ? No kidding ! Thanks to Qigong which I started practising in May 2006 !

At the Cameron Highlands Qigong camp, our naughty Uncle Ho (a volunteer photographer) took a picture on one of our members' sexy leg (have you spot on any Qi in this leg) lying restlessly on the floor - this must be a guy's leg (maybe I am wrong, definitely not a wild boar's leg or Hong Kong's leg), looked meaty (not bony) and chubby in appearance though it was well covered with a sporty, clean white sock - probably he was trying to show off and promoting a particular brand of sock to our Qigong members ! Let me know the name of the brand of this sock as I too would like to buy and wear one when I play my badminton game every Friday for the last 25 years ! Remember , when practicing Qigong, our Qigong masters always emphasized that both of our legs must stand firmly on the ground, (avoid lifting your legs up when making a movement) otherwise your Qi will be wilted away, gone with the wind !

You may ponder who is this Malaysian Qigong member, dark and skinny fellow standing tall in North Himalayas, raising his both hands trying to carry the Qi with both arms and palms to the top of his head - breathing in and out slowly the fresh & thin mountain air - hurrying to get the Qi flowing into his head which he needed most at this juncture ? For me, It was just a short one minute Qigong exercise as I was not sure whether it was right or wrong to practice Qigong in high altitude places like the Himalayas. My dear Qigong masters, please offer your advice on this subject.

2) Xing Song Yi Chong - Relax your body, think of your body growing sideways, all the way to the edge where the the blue sky and earth meet

Pictures said a thousand words. Mr Lim , our Qigong member from USJ was seen advertising his Colgate teeth, certainly looked very relaxing (voted as the best smiling person in our Qigong group) perhaps after a sumptuous dinner meal at Hotel Equatorial ! For the next 3 days in Cameron Highlands, all our Qigong members looked very refreshing and relaxing, a pre-condition in Qigong practice in order to bring the best out of our mind and body before we begin our Qigong exercise. But the buffet meals we took daily at the Hotel's restaurant had taken a toll on our bodies - no doubt I observed that Mr Lim's body started to grow sideways - like many of the fat cats in the group. I hope Mr Lim is able to maintain his fitness and do the Qigong squatting exercise up and down for one hundred times every Monday and Wednesday when we resumed our group practice the following week.

I was in Pangong Tso Lake (see picture above) , Ladakh which shares a border between Tibet and Northen India in June 2007. I am not sure whether I had gathered a lot of Qi in this Pangong Tso lake area which has all the elements of clear blue sky and earth minus a human body growing sideways as I had lost 1.5 pounds by the time I landed on this place !

3) Wai Jing Nei Jing - Respect the science of Zhineng Qigong, respect all fellow students of Zhineng Qigong, respect your own personality and feel internal peace, think your most respected person is standing in front of you

We should accord a mark of respects to our Zhineng Qigong's Adviser in Malaysia, Mr Gan and his working committee in recognition of their present and past leadership role in promoting Qigong in Malaysia. Before the session ends, Mr Gan presented a gift as a token of appreciation to our visiting Zhineng Qigong's masters and instructors from China, Mr & Mrs Loo. To all the organizing members, I congratulate you all for a job well done for bringing some 100 Qigong members from USJ, Kelana Jaya & Sungei Long (my apology if I had inadvertently left out some others) to the Cameron Highlands Qigong Camp 2009. Although this was my first time participation in this annual event and I certainly look forward to attend the 2010 Camp (a majority show of hands for Kota Kinabalu ???) and renew my friendship with fellow members from other branches in a not too distant future. To all the Qigong founders, gurus, sifus, masters or instructors, thank you all for sharing and imparting your profound knowledge on Qigong to our fellow members so that all of us are blessed with good health and hopefully all of us will strive to achieve the highest inner happiness in our present life - away from all sort of diseases that could inflict on our bodies at any time !

Our dedicated Qigong Masters (my salutations to you all - Soo Sifu, Alan, Michael Tan, Chan, M/S Chung, Ah Lan - just to name a few) and fellow members from USJ (Choy, special thanks to you for doing the Hanyu Pinyin translations on the 8 verses of Zhineng Qigong). Xie Xie Niemen !!! Birds of a feather flock together - It was Qigong that brought us to Cameron Highlands.

A happy ending - a group photo for our big Zhineng Qigong family from the 3 branches in KL/Selangor. The 108 heroes & heroines (please help me to verify the actual number of participants in the Cameron Highlands Camp 2009 in this photo - I counted numerous times and the figure looked close to 108) with their dedicated Qigong masters sitting and standing proudly in front of us. A sense of pride was seen written in all their faces - say cheese, be relaxed and keep on smiling and we had a great memorable family photo taken !

Our Qigong masters, organizers in action (all participating members appeared relax as they knew jolly well that they were in capable hands) and playing their leadership roles; our daily Qigong group practice in Cameron Highlands, capturing the universe Qi known as Hunyuan Qi - all of us have one common objective in mind ie to strengthen our bodies and fight diseases .... not to be taken for granted or lightly.

May peace prevail on earth - I took this picture in front of Tsuglagkang Complex, the official residence of Dalai Lama in Mcleod Ganj, Northern India. May inner peace prevail on all of you and that we all will benefit from learning the science of Zhineng Qigong as we progressed along in this field of interest. 

4) Xin Cheng Mao Gong - Your heart is as clear and calm as a transparent lake , do not think of anything except the blue sky above you

In Sept 2009, I visited Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong Nature Reserve in Chengdu, China. Both are UNESCO heritage sites. The areas in both these places are well preserved and environmental friendly. Fresh clean mountain air are in abundance here. I visited the various scenic spots in Jiuzhaigou and what impressed me most was their transparent lakes and its crystal clear, calm and unpolluted water ! Standing in front of the Five Flower Lake , I would feel the Qi and certainly this place is like a fairly land - a paradise to mankind. A great place for retiree like me to enjoy a moment of peace as I strolled around the lake side admiring the mother nature.

The snow capped mountain top at the high mountain pass in Ladakh I visited in 2007 was accompanied with a clear blue sky background thus make my heart grow fonder and I took a pause to appreciate the wonder of mother nature in this no man's land - far away from the madding crowd.

5) Yi Nian Bu Qi - Empty your mind of all thinking

Avoid thinking of drinking Russian Vodka or Martel XO when practicing Qigong; no oily food (bakut teh) and deep fried chicken or pig trotter after your Qigong lesson; do not even think of visiting a Sex shop in Amsterdam and peeing in front of our beloved Soo Sifu or in public places. Let me know if you want me to add on any more undesirable things you often think of before commencing practicing Qigong and capturing the Qi into your upper Dantien. If you do not clear your mind of all thinking, you will probably end up having polluted Qi in your body !

6) Shin Zhu Tai Kong - Merge yourself with the outer space, you and nature become one, Qi is you and you are Qi

Cappadocia and Pamukkale are the two natural wonders of the world in Turkey. I stayed in a cave hostel in Cappadocia (Sept 2008) and went for a morning walk near the surrounding areas. I spotted a hot air balloon rising up and whoever took this ride must be very ambitious - trying to reach the outer space by paying US$150 for less than a 30 minute endeavor !

The Travertine (white cotton terrace) in Pamukkale and the flowing hot spring water can heal your body ailments so I stood on one of the pool for 30 minutes to allow the warm water to stimulate some Qi onto my feet ..... better than having a Thai style foot massage !

In travelling, you can merge your travel plan by going to places dotted with natural landscapes; taking an adventurous hot air ballon ride, fishing in calm & open sea; enjoying a junk boat or fast ferry crossings to remote islands etc.

If you love and are closer to mother nature , you and nature can become one, Qi is you and you are qi - your inner happiness can create a healthy body - something money cannot buy !

7) Sdhen Yi Zhao Ti - Direct your Hunyuan Qi back to your body, you are now full of Hunyuan Qi, you are no longer an empty shell

Hunyuan Qi can be directed by the mind. You can use your mind and harness your Hunyuan Qi into that part of body which requires a cure. If your knee cap has a problem, direct your Hunyuan Qi to that body part. I bet you if you practise your Qigong in a consistent and dilegent manner, all your ailments will be ridden off over time. You are no longer an empty shell and with abundance Huanyaun Qi you receive from your masters and the field, you are a human being of substance minus a frail body.

8) Zhou Shen Rong Rong - You are now semi-conscious in Qigong stage and ready to practice and enjoy Qigong

Do not barricade yourself from the outside world. Stay close to one another when you practise your Qigong in order to harness a stronger Qi to our bodies. Uncle Ho took a candid shot on this Qigong member who was so engrossed in his Qigong practice - seemed like in a semi-conscious stage - was he a loner who joined our Camp with a lovely pair of Power brand sport shoes ? Only god knows or ask the Sifu !!!

If you are ambitious in learning and praticing Qigong, a healthy body awaits you. In terms of your time and efforts you put in thus far, the return on your investment - the present and the future (not in terms of money sense) will be a delicious one !

Auld Lang Syne - Should auld acquaintance be forgot. And never brought to mind

After a 3 productive days in Cameron Highlands, it was time to say bye bye ! The sweet voices of our members singing the song of Auld Lang Syne filled up the air in the hall. Long live Zhineng Qigong ! I am sure our Kota Kinabalu members will be looking forward to our participation in the 2010 Zhineng Qigong Camp. To Mr & Mrs Loo, our Qigong masters from China, we wish you a pleasant and safe journey home and hope to see you again in the near future.

As the year 2009 is drawing to an end and before I pen off, I wish everyone of you every success in all your future undertakings and more importantly - be happy and merry - not to forget to practice your Qigong daily. Let us welcome the Tiger year of 2010 (I was born a Tiger and not a Thai Girl) which I hope will bring you good luck & health to all your families ! My parting words are - Please take care of your health and everyone can become healthy with Qigong.

May all your dream comes true in 2010

The secret of Qigong: Qigong improves blood flow to your hands, improves oxygen supply to your brain; Qigong breathing can regulate the heart and relaxes the body. Qigong health benefits are real.