Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

My neighbor Earl is one of my best friends. He is also 96 years old. A couple of weeks ago, I realized that he could benefit from the practice of Zhan Zhuang -- "Standing Stake" or "Standing Pole."

If you do Zhan Zhuang as part of your practice (I call it "Standing Stake"), you can teach it to elderly people in your life.

We moved into our current home almost four years ago and Earl, who was 92 at the time, walked across the street to introduce himself to us. His mind was sharp and he had a great sense of humor. His wife had died two years before. He fought in the Philippines during World War II, came home with PTSD, but got help and lived a happy and successful life. His three sons all live within a mile.

During the first year we lived here, I was friendly with Earl and would sometimes cross the street when he was outside to talk to him.

But during the last three years, Earl and I have developed a close friendship. My home office looks out toward his house. We sit out during warm ...

I stepped into the ring, holding my broadsword and feeling butterflies in my stomach. I wanted to do well in my first tournament performance as a black belt.

It was February, 1998 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and at 45 years old, I had studied different martial arts for 25 years, had been in the internal arts for more than 10 years, and had practiced qigong diligently for more than a decade.

"Just get into the zone," I told myself as I calmed down and prepared to do my broadsword form.

God, there are a lot of people, I thought.

"Settle down," my inner voice said. "Detach. Rise above the pressure."

It was the worst advice I could have given myself.

A few movements into the form, I turned to my right to do a sweeping cut and noticed a young boy was walking across the ring, just a few feet from me. 

Within another movement or two, I completely spaced out and forgot where I was in my form. For a flash of a second, I was mentally paralyzed, then I made up some movements, wrapped up the for...

My favorite poem comes from a book I bought back in the Seventies, Man of Contrasts, by taekwondo master He Il Cho. Here is the poem:

I can find peace amidst the city's roar

In the dry, frayed face of confusion

the exhausted hour.

My peace is cradled within.

Where does peace come from? I started finding the answer to that question when I began practicing Qigong in 1987, about 14 years after I began studying martial arts and reading about Taoism and Zen Buddhism. Qigong (also spelled Chi Kung) took it to another level. Before long, the ability to center myself in tense situations or moments of crisis began to develop somewhere inside me, and it was noticed, both by me and by others.

Around 1988, when a wall cloud was passing outside the newsroom where I was preparing the 6:00 News (I was the producer), people were racing and shouting in the newsroom, wheeling cameras outside to broadcast it live. I was trying to write some final teases and copy for the 6:00 News. It was total chao...

I am always broken-hearted to hear of the death of any kung-fu master, so I was very sorry to hear that Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang passed away a few weeks ago. My condolences go out to his students and his family.

When great masters die, I check to see how long they have lived. Usually, it isn't a lot longer than the general population.

Grandmaster Feng was 83 or 84 - he was born in 1928.

And now comes the part of the post that some may find controversial but it is intended to carry the utmost respect for Grandmaster Feng.

He was a disciple of Hu Yaozhen, a Taoist qigong master. Grandmaster Feng studied with him and also with the great Taiji master Chen Fake. Feng eventually developed his own style of Chen Taiji that included qigong, silk-reeling exercises, etc.

I receive messages and scoldings occasionally from people who claim that qigong, and Taoist qigong, if done properly, will mean you will evade illness and disease, and will result in a very long life. I received some of the...

I've been interested in the concept of being "one" with nature (or the Universe) since the early Seventies. I was first inspired by the Kung-Fu TV show -- fascinated by the "flashbacks" and the morality and philosophy of the Shaolin monks. 

"Standing," as it is often called, is the most important exercise in Taijiquan. It's also known as Zhan Zhuang. Translated from Mandarin, that means "standing like a post." 

When Nancy and I moved into our new home a month ago, I found an ideal spot for Standing Stake. It's in a corner of my deck, surrounded by trees with a deep yard below. Yesterday morning, a young buck was at the edge of the yard below, eating leaves from low-hanging trees. His antlers were pretty short. He stopped to stare at me for a moment, wondering if I was friend or foe, then lost interest and began munching again. On the tree a few feet away, a chipmunk ran up and down.

It's not difficult to feel "one" with nature here.

Standing Stake is useful for a lot of reasons. ...

This video was shot in 1987. It features a teacher in Chicago who is claiming to have chi powers that he does not have.

I would give him $5,000 to make me move around with his chi like the guy in the video.

I have seen this teacher on Facebook several years ago and he was combative and insulting. That is hardly what you would expect from someone who has tapped into secret universal energy.

Judge for yourselves.  

I just put a new video onto the online school-- the 8 Pieces of Brocade. This is a qigong exercise -- 8 movements -- that also serves to help in strengthening and conditioning the body, particularly the legs.

The 8 Pieces of Brocade are said to have been created about 1,000 years ago in the Sung Dynasty by Marshal Yeuh Fei for the exercise of his soldiers. It's pretty clear to see when you perform them that these are very effective for stretching and "warming up" before hard exercise or a good workout. In fact, it's possible this series of movements wasn't created as qigong at all, but that qigong was injected into the movements as the centuries went by.

I'm a firm believer in the positive impact of qigong, although I don't necessarily subscribe to the ancient science. When you calm the mind and body, put part of your mind on your dan t'ien, detach from daily concerns and use mental visualization techniques (involving the visualization of chi) it has a tremendous impact on your abi...

A lot of mythology has developed about chi kung (also spelled qigong). "Chi kung" literally means "energy work," and it consists of a series of exercises to calm the mind, calm the body, and focus on breathing.

Chi kung and its medical theories were developed thousands of years ago, by the same people who believed you could tell the future from the cracked shells of turtles. Despite this dubious past, and many of the dubious claims made by people who believe whole-heartedly in miraculous claims of healing related to chi kung, it remains an outstanding way to control stress and ride the ups and downs of a turbulent life.

But it's all in your mind, and it takes practice. It can be a method to help you with mindfulness - being "in the moment," and reacting to stress not with tension, but with calm.

The good news is--five minutes a day can lead to remarkable changes in your health and your relationships. It can lead to a healthier body and a more balanced life.

You Can Learn to Center ...

Most religions and philosophies teach harmony -- or, at least they pretend to teach it.

Finding your "center" is an important part of the internal arts. Some of the finest masters of Tai Chi, Bagua, and Hsing-I such as Chen Fake, Sun Lu Tang, Liu Bin and others were known not only for their martial skill, but also for their fine character. It's a trait of people who reach the highest level of the internal arts.

When you look at the people around you day-to-day, you can see that most people desperately want it--need it--and try to find it--but life's challenges, along with the attitudes of other people get in the way. Instead of balancing you, the events and news during a day can unbalance you mentally.

Look at what's happening in Washington these days. There is a complete lack of cooperation and goodwill between the two parties as the American people, other nations, and the environment are facing the most major challenges in our lifetimes. It seems that our politicians, particularly...

Dr. Tom Morris received his Ph.D. in both Philosophy and Religious Studies from Yale University. For more than 15 years, he was a Professor of Philosophy at Notre Dame.

In one of his books, he writes about the power of belief and tells the story of when he bought a gas grill. The delivery men from Sears wouldn't hook up the propane tank because of the dangers. So Tom hooked it up, holding his breath while he worked so he wouldn't breathe any fumes. After a minute he would walk away and breathe clean air, then go back to the grill. He accidentally took a few breaths while at the grill and could smell the propane. The fumes began making him light-headed and he began feeling sick, and even when he hooked the tank up, he could still smell the gas.

He called Sears to report the problem. They asked, "Where did you fill up the tank?" He hadn't filled up the tank, and didn't realize that Sears delivers a new grill with an empty propane tank.

Tom's family got a big kick out if this, and as ...