Chi practice with a partially disabled arm
 

My right arm has been partially disabled at birth. The most movement I can get out of it, is to raise it about chest high level in front of me. This makes most if not all chi-gong movements to be extremely challenging.

I'm wondering how I can modify the moves to incorporate my disability. For example, I'm doing Falun Dafa microcosmic orbit where it requires the right arm to reach all the way to the back of the head and criss-cross formation. What I usually do is put my arm slightly to the side and just hold it there. I am not sure where my broke arm needs to be for the greatest effect. I heard that chi-gong is a flow and easy movements, but I often I find myself straining my right arm into the correct position.

Do you know how I can modify my arm movements to get the best possible effect?

Modify it to come as close as possible, without straining, to what a fully abled person can do. To force things is the opposite of the Tai Chi principle of 'shoong', to relax. to give up, to yield.

The mental engagement in the movement is more important than desperately trying to make the movement look like the ideal movement

Falun Gong is not Qigong, there are many differences.

If you cannot do any movements in Qigong and they cause you discomfort/pain then you should not do them, just do what your body allows you to do :smile:

I teach Qigong and can help you if you need any advice....

Qigong is not Tai Chi markings, they are soooo different.

Tai Chi is a special form of Qi Gong. As far energetic practices are concerned, and that was the OP's consideration, they as well as Falun Dafa practices, can basically be treated under the same umbrella.

A lot of people seem to make this error.
Qigong is purely for health, Tai Chi is a Martial Art

Tai Chi power is dense while Qigong is light.
The art of Tai Chi is elaborate choreography unlike Qigong.
Qigong is cultivating Chi, forms are not as important, Tai Chi forms are very important for alignment etc:
Tai Chi relates to energies in physical movements, Qigong relates to energies of our organs. Many more difference which you can look into yourself if need be.

Of course they are both about moving/cultivating Chi energy but are very different. To someone who is observing a practitioner they look similar but involve big differences.

Falun Gong uses movement which again look similar but are very different. One of the big differences is they do not use ' breath ' work but yet again you can research youself and see it is not Qigong.

Qigong goes back 5000 years or more, Falun Gong is young 1990 ish I think and is very ' cult like '

If you have one exercise you can teach me that specifically draws the energy from my head down towards my heart or solar plexus area, I'd like to know what it is and how I can modify my arm to do the correct movement for it.

Have you tried the Inner Smile technique?
That will shift energy to all the organs, not just the heart and solar plexus, and does not even require arm movements.

Qigong is about moving Chi all around your meridians, not just from one place to another.
Any Qigong exercise will help you, just do whatever you can, never force or strain your body, that does more harm than good.Have a look at ' Eight Brocade ' it's very easy for beginners, just do what you can do and adapt it yourself to your body, Qigong is flexible :smile: unlike Tai Chi which is more stricter on movements.

I also practiced Falun Gong. I used to have excessive knee pains and I had problem bending down when doing the Falun Dafa microcosmic orbit. However, my knee pains disappeared after persevering for a month. My guess is that every individual is different and we will encounter different experiences.

My advice is that you persevere with the practice as many people reported significant health gains. Focus on learning the principles behind Zhuan Falun as they are just as important.

As with any practice, you need patience. Hope this helps. :-)

Qigong has no links to Falun Gong, Qigong is thousands of years old and is focused solely on health., Falun Gong is focused on reading the books written by master Li.



" Adherents would try to gain enlightenment by reading the works of “Master Li”, who is said to be able to walk through walls and levitate."
Falun Gong avows a path to salvation for the faithful, the ' faithfull ' being master Li's followers.

Just some clarifications. The reading of books (you can get them for free online) are to learn the theory/principles behind the practice. It does not encourage blind following but rational understanding. Other than health, Falun Gong is focused on personal cultivation and spiritual development.

Other than the 'theory' part (book reading), there are the 'exercise' parts which involves the qigong and meditation aspect (You can always find people practicing in parks). The 'theory' and 'exercise' cannot exist independently from each other.

But of course, but I do agree that Falun Gong is vastly different from many conventional school of Qigong. Not all practices are the same anyway.

Hope this helps.

' Falun Gong enter into the realm of quackery, as they consistently make health claims that cannot be verified scientifically. This includes healing by touch, raising the paralyzed, curing cancer at far higher success rates than conventional medicines, sending vibes across the sea to heal at a distance or living for several hundred years -- all claims that have been made for Falun Gong.'


' Falun Gong's premise is that through a set of five exercises a practitioner cultivates an golden-colored entity called the falun, which resides in one's gut and spins continuously, absorbing energy from parallel universes, thereby making the body invincible to disease. As Li Hongzhi has always boasted, he has some serious falun that allows him to walk through walls and perform magic.'


Has anyone see Li levitate and walk through walls :D

Wow.... Thanks for sharing but seriously, I never heard of such things since learning this for years.:smile:

What I can share is this. There are quite a lot of attacks on Falun Gong as it is persecuted heavily in Communist China. A lot of false accusations are levied on Falun Gong in the process to justify the persecution. However, millions of people still practice it despite the crackdown... I guess there must be good reasons why people are still practicing given the risk?

Anyway, Falun Gong is taught free of charge. Just google it. You can read with an open mind on what it is written inside its teachings. Perhaps, you will understand why it is still practiced by so many people despite the personal risk and most of the 'copy and paste' propaganda are simply fabricated, misunderstood or taken way out of context. For example, things you mentioned like healing by touch are actually strongly disallowed in Falun Gong.

Don't take my word for it, read the original Zhuan Falun and you will know why these propaganda are not true.

Btw, I am not here to convert people.:cool: I just wish to find a nice place where people can talk while taking a break at home. Personally, I have tried different practices and what I can share from personal experiences is that Falun Gong is the real deal (at least for me) when it come to spiritual cultivation. It answered the life questions I being asking since young. That the reason why I am sharing it with interested people.

PS: I have not seen Master Li levitate and walk through walls. :D

" Falun Dafa involves the cultivation of a Falun, or “law wheel.” The Falun is an intelligent, rotating entity composed of high-energy matter. The Falun that Master Li Hongzhi plants in a practitioner’s lower abdomen from other dimensions rotates constantly, twenty-four hours a day. (True cultivators can acquire a Falun by reading Master Li’s books, watching his 9-session lectures on video, listening to his 9-session lectures on audiocassette, or studying together with students of Falun Dafa.) "

Falundafa. org....





"The Falun that Master Li Hongzhi plants in a practitioner’s lower abdomen from other dimensions rotates constantly, twenty-four hours a day" Clever Man this Mister Li, lol.

Try reading the entire book with an open mind. Perhaps, you can see a fresh/different perspective.

There is much value in the practice and the simple down to earth philosophy associated with Falun Dafa. However, on a higher philosophical level it becomes as cranky and crazy as Scientology.