Learning to center yourself doesn't mean you'll never become angry, sad, frustrated, or stressed. Those are normal human emotions.

The goal isn't to eliminate those feelings. The goal is to recognize them, calm your mind and body, and return to your center more quickly.

It isn't a failure to become angry, sad, or stressed. It's only a failure if you hold onto that anger, sadness, or stress long after the moment has passed.

Ken often compares centering yourself to an internal gyroscope. When life knocks you off balance, a gyroscope naturally works to restore equilibrium. Through regular practice, Qigong can help you develop that same ability to regain your balance—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Qigong isn't about escaping the real world. It's about learning to remain calm, balanced, and connected while living in it.

One of our main goals in the internal arts is to feel a connection. We move using whole-body connection. We don't see ourselves as better or "above" anyone else -- we connect with others, even those who are attacking us. We connect with the world around us and the environment. 

When you realize your connection to all things, and you train yourself to be mindful and aware of everything around you, it makes you more "alive," and makes you able to influence things in a way that just might have a ripple effect of positivity in your own life, your own relationships, and throughout the world.

Let's face it. Stress is a killer.

It is documented in scientific studies that if you reduce stress, it supports your body's normal ability to recover and function well.

If you do Qigong exercises and practice recapturing that calm, centered feeling in times of tension -- at work, at home, even driving in your car -- it can help to ease your stress. And when you reduce stress, you feel more relaxed and it might assist your body in being healthier.

Qigong, however, will not cure your cancer, diabetes, or heart problems. It can help you calm and center yourself to better endure tough times. You might feel scared, or worried, or sad about your health issues, but if you learn to calm and center yourself, you'll learn not to hold onto those feelings. That will help ease stress.

Ken takes a scientific approach to the internal arts. He believes Qigong should never replace consulting with a licensed medical doctor if you feel stress is taking a toll on your life.

Also, never ask a martial artist for health advice, especially when it pertains to medical conditions. Martial artists are not doctors. Even people who are "licensed" to do Traditional Chinese Medicine are not medical doctors. If he or she doesn't have M.D. next to their name, take any health or medical advice with a big grain of salt.

And if anyone says you will be healed of your illness if you do Qigong "correctly," run away.

Ken was in Cleveland Clinic for two weeks after doctors tore his pulmonary vein and accidentally pierced his heart with the wire. He was on a ventilator. His left lung no longer worked. He used Qigong to help remain centered, and he focused his mind not on his serious, near-death situation, but on a tournament that was coming up in six months. 

He won a first-place trophy for forms in that tournament performing the Chen 38.