Tag Archives: zen buddhism. chan

You Already Are What You Want To Become

Uncategorized, zen calm, , , , , ,

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Top athletes use sport’s psychologists to train their minds to perform at their best in competition. Shaolin Monks use the psychology of Zen. This doesn’t mean that if you practice Shaolin you need to be a Buddhist but Zen philosophy can help you perform at the peak of your ability while staying focused and peaceful.

Aimlessness is an important Zen teaching which helps us to stop drifting into the future of “if” and “when”, and focus on the single point of now.

Aimlessness means: You already are what you want to become. Does a tree have to do something? The purpose of a tree is to be itself, and your purpose is to be yourself.

You have everything. There is no need to put anything in front of you and run after it. So, whatever it is that you believe you want – good health, more energy or to be an exceptional martial artist – you already have.

Bringing this energy into your Qigong and Kung Fu Workout will help you enter the raw experience  of Zen. For this month, check yourself and rather than constantly trying to improve yourself, train from the perspective that you already are what you want to become. Relax. There is nothing to strive for.

Shaolin Kung Fu and Qigong helps you to reach the potential in yourself that you only dreamt of before. Using the powerful energy inside your mind and body you can make yourself healthy and balanced. If you approach the Shaolin Arts with intelligence and determination, I guarantee you can bring to your life the wholeness, health and inner satisfaction that you seek.

To find out more about my on-line training click here for Kung Fu and here for Qigong.

A Shaolin Disciple’s Daily Workout, Diet, and Meditation

circuit training, HIT training, kung fu, qigong, shaolin bootcamp, shaolin temple, zen buddhism, zen meditation, , , , , ,

yellow mt4-00029What’s your daily workout like?

My training day starts with either a 10 or 12k jog or interval running, sprinting 800 meters then resting for 800 meters and doing this 4 times or varying my runs like I show in my youtube video. I then do circuit training, the same as on my DVDs though I mix the punches and kicks together. It’s important to sweat when you’re training. Only this is true training. In the afternoon I do bag work, and pad work if there’s someone at the temple to hold pads. I finish off with Iron Shirt Qigong and combine Iron Shirt conditioning with the Instant Health Massage using a metal brush so that I cleanse my bones.

Qigong Massage

Can the average person hack Shaolin training?

Shaolin is for everybody. Of course the average person doesn’t have 4 hours a day to train but a lot can be accomplished in one hour five days a week. This is enough to be healthy and fit. If you’re not close to a school and train from my DVDs then all you need to do is define your goal and make a program. The best DVDs for fitness are the Bootcamp and Circuit Training DVDs but you need a level of fitness before you can embark on them. Like all things, take one step at a time. Most people have no desire to do hard Qigong but they  have a desire to have more energy and increase their longevity so they do Eight Treasures.

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 You’ll talk about the Shaolin Monk’s diet in another post, but how important is diet to you?

The more you do Shaolin martial arts, the more you tune into your body and the harder it is to eat badly. If you’re craving unhealthy food, don’t worry about it, start working out the Shaolin way and the cravings will go away of their own accord. Before I train I eat a lot of noodle and vegetable with some meat then a banana, which is a great thing to eat before training as it helps to keep sugar levels up. We don’t use ovens in China but something new I’ve discovered in the West is roasted sweet potato. Very healthy and a better carbohydrate than potato. I eat fruit and nuts through out the day. I tend to cook two days food in advance so when I come home and I’m hungry my food is already prepared.

Qigong

How focused are you on Buddhism and Zen meditation?

I’m a simple person. I feel that many Western people read too many books and this makes their mind complicated. My master gave me one sutra, The Hui Neng Sutra and he told me not to sit in meditation but to make training my meditation. Zen is about experience, not knowledge. When people do kung fu or Qigong forms, they get a taste of this Zen experience and then there are no questions. The important thing is not to look outside, but work with where you are and what you have here and now. There’s no need to go to the temple, the temple is right here and now. But you need to be still to find it.

Shifu Yan Lei teaches Shaolin Qigong ( available as a book, DVD and download)

Also available on the apple store and amazon as a kindle.(USA only, UK to follow in 2015).

Shifu Yan Lei teaches Shaolin Kung Fu available as a download and DVD.