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The Most Important Shaolin Exercise To Incorporate Into Your Workout Today

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Shaolin Monks train as much as Olympic athletes but we don’t have an army of massage therapists and physiotherapists. Our only weapon against illness and injury is a simple bamboo brush. Self- massage with this bamboo brush along with Qigong is the one thing we have relied on for thousands of years.

The investment for the brush is small – less than the cost of one professional massage – but the pay off is huge. You can use it after any workout – it doesn’t need to be Qigong – or you can use if after your shower. It’s most effective if done at least four times a week

7 Reasons You Need To Do The Instant Health Massage Today

  • 1. Prevent Injury – Blood can’t flow freely through tight muscles. Through releasing tension in your muscles, you increase blood flow and release the chance of injury.
  • 2. Unblock The Meridian Channels – Meridian lines are small rivers that flow where the blood flows. They get blocked through stress or mild illness. The Instant Health Massage works in the same way as acupuncture, opening the meridian channels and unblocking the channels.
  • 3. Charge Up Your Qi – The massage increases the power of your Kung Fu and Qigong because it helps your body work in harmony. A body in harmony is a powerful body.
  • 4. Stimulate The Lymphatic System  – Lymphatic congestion can lead to inflammation and disease. Water retention or mild swelling – so called false fat  – is a sign of a sluggish lymphatic system. The Instant Health Massage stimulates the lymphatic system, releases toxins, and helps the other organs in your body work harmoniously.

  • 5. Boost Immunity –  A recent study showed that people who received a massage had an increased number of lymphocytes, which are white blood cells that play a large role in defending the body from disease. They were also shown to have less of the stress hormone, cortisol.
  • 6. Fix Stress  – The gentle beating action has a calming effect on the mind and releases endorphins in the body. As the mind relaxes, the body does too.
  • 7. Improve Circulation – The light vibrational movements help the blood to flow through your body. Although research has not been done on this brush, a recent study published in Medical Science Monitor found that “Five minutes of vibration ( such as a vibration plate) produced significant increases in skin blood flow.”

Shaolin Temple Martial Arts focuses on health from the inside out. Skin is the largest organ in our body. Through regular massage, we look after this outer organ as well as all of our inner organs. I have been doing this massage ( I use the metal brush as well as the bamboo brush) for more than twenty- five years now and still gain as much benefit today as I did when I first started. Please share your experience with the Instant Health Massage in the comments below.

I teach the Instant Health Massage in my Qigong book and all of my Qigong DVDs apart from The Way Of Qigong Volume 1. If you’re totally new I recommend The Shaolin Qigong Beginner’s Bundle.

 

Your Pathway To Zen

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IMG_0815It’s not possible to take Zen out of Shaolin martial arts because Shaolin martial arts were born from Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen. Shaolin Martial Arts is a pathway to Zen. How is this possible? Because the movements cut through the thinking mind. This thinking mind is not the mind that experiences Zen. We have another mind. A mind that cannot be approached from a thinking perspective. A mind that is untouched by our thinking or anything we have done or anything that has been done to us. Zen Buddhists call it our Pure Light Mind. You can think of it as basic goodness that exists in all of us. We all have it. It’s our potential to become a Buddha. Buddha simply means awakened one. Someone who has woken up to see the world as it really is.

If we throw some red dye into the sea, it will not turn the sea red, as the sea is so vast and expansive. Our minds have the capacity to be vast and expansive too yet if someone shouts at us or insults us, we tend to get angry, this is a measure of how expansive our mind is and how much work we need to do.

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I have a lot of experience of anger. When I was 15 years old, I was always getting into fights. My Master – who is now the Shaolin Abbot – was fed up of coming to the police station to get me out of jail so he sent me to a very well known Zen master.

In the Cultural Revolution when Mao was destroying all the temples, this master risked his life to stay in the temple. For many years he lived in this destroyed temple and when Buddhism was allowed to flourish again he started to re-build the temple. Every morning he would sit in meditation and chant and I would train. He asked me to sit with him but I had no patience to sit. After a few weeks of trying to get me to sit he told me to make training my meditation.

That sentence has resonated with me all my life. When I came back to the Shaolin Temple, my training was no longer a series of exercises or a way of being able to learn new fighting techniques so that I could conquer other people but it became my meditation.

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To train in Shaolin doesn’t mean we need to become Buddhists or believe in the Buddha. I don’t see myself as a Buddhist even though I come from a Buddhist Temple. I see myself a martial artist with a wish to understand life. A wish to not get pulled in by my unhelpful emotions and a wish to increase my helpful emotions. I see the Buddha as a wonderful psychologist who had a great understanding about how our minds work.

So whenever you train, and whatever you train in, use your training as your refuge and your meditation. This will install peace and strength in you. This will mean, however difficult your life is, you always have something to come back to, something you can rely on.

Willpower is like petrol, it runs out. This is why Shaolin Monks cultivate daily habits so it becomes a part of our life. If you are coming on my Shaolin Summer Camp this year then you will live in this way so you can take home some of those habits that you’ve cultivated.

For more information on Shifu Yan Lei’s books, DVDs, downloads and martial art’s training equipment click here

Take The 40-day Shaolin Warrior Challenge

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shaolin2-010015At the Shaolin Temple, our masters told us that it took 40 days before any lasting change would happen in our mind and body. Buddha sat for 40 days under the Bodhi tree before he gained enlightenment. Jesus and Mohammed fasted for 40 days before they went back into the world to share their teachings. Scientists have found that after 40 days, the neural pathways in our brain make a lasting change.

If you are just starting out, or have been working with my DVDs for many years and want to reinvigorate your practice and transform your mind and body into a Shaolin Warrior then the 40-day challenge is for you.

It’s 40 days of putting a stronger emphasis on your practice, of training more than you usually would – which may mean getting out of bed an hour earlier -, training 6 days a week, and doing some additional mind training throughout the day. After 40 days you will see a significant change in your mind and body.

The DVDs that you use are down to what level you are. You will need at least 1 Kung Fu DVD or download, at least 1 Qigong DVD, download or book as well as the Instant Health bamboo or metal massage brush.

These are my 7 Guidelines to your 40-day challenge

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1. Attitude Of Mind.  Train where you are with what you have. All you need is faith you can do it and your bamboo or metal brush. Just play my DVD and follow the training. You can follow it in a small flat, outside in the park or on top of a mountain.

2. Surrender to the teachings.  One thing that slightly irritates me is the amount of questions I get asked by my Western students. I know that your education is different to mine but coming from a Zen Temple we put the emphasis on practice. If I asked my Master so many questions he would beat me! The more answers I give, the more I take away from your experience. Everything you seek is in the teaching if you can only surrender to it.

3. Practice AM & PM.  In the midst of your busy life it’s difficult to train twice a day but for the next 40 days this is what you must do in order to progress. Even if you only have 10 minutes in the morning, do a little Qigong and stretching and this will help your day flow better while reminding you that you are training to be a Shaolin Warrior. I like my main training to be in the morning, this sets me up for the day; I then do Qigong in the evening to revitalize my body and give me a deep and peaceful sleep. Find the way that is right for you.

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4.Be A Shaolin Warrior In Your Life. Breath is the link between the mind and the body. It’s the key to a powerful martial art’s practice.  A Shaolin Warrior is grounded and focused so keep reminding yourself to breathe throughout the day. If you have a digital watch, you can set a few alarms or get it to beep on the hour as a reminder for you to stop and breathe.

5. Eat Right. Check out my blog post about food. For these 40 days put an emphasis on eating well. Make sure you eat a big breakfast every day, don’t drink any sugar drinks or eat processed food. Try to cook your own food.

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6. Train Intelligently. The beauty of Shaolin is in its many exercises. What do I practice every week? The five basic kicks, the five stances, some traditional kicks and punches, bag work, pad work, exercises from my Circuit Training and Bootcamp followed by Qigong.  Once you know the exercises from my DVDs, mix it up so that your body never gets used to any workout, this means your body will never get lazy and you will always be working to your optimal.

7. Schedule Your Challenge. Write in your diary the day you will start. Throughout the 40 days make a note of the changes that you experience as well as what happens to your fitness levels. How many press-ups and squats can you do now? How many can you do after 40 days? How flexible are you now?  How flexible after 40 days? How about your focus and your peace of mind? Shaolin is as much about the mind as it is about the body.

Join the new Facebook page I’ve made for people training with my DVD so that you can join with your fellow Shaolin Warriors to share your journey and support each other. Or come and train with me at the Shaolin Summer Camp this year in China. Remember. Great mind and bodies are not born that way, they are trained.

Shifu Yan Lei teaches Shaolin Kung Fu & Qigong with DVDs, books, downloads and personal training.