JCM Review
Those of us who practice Chinese medicine can be in no doubt that it is a great 'treasure house'. My personal belief is that we do not yet understand how good it actually is, and how great the results that we daily see it achieve really are when compared with the alternatives (including modern medicine) that are available. Qigong, as part of Chinese medicine and culture, is part of this treasure house. Modern medicine may be reaching the end of its current phase, achieving less and less development with greater and greater effort. It may now be increasingly ready to turn the beam of its scientific method to assess the effects of treatments and practices outside its own field. When its effects are examined scientifically in the West, I suspect that Qigong will be demonstrated to have many of the extraordinary results that its practitioners claim for it.
Although published in 1991, this book was only recently received for review and its special qualities deserve mention. It is devoted to the Chi Kung (Qigong) practice of Zhan Zhuang,'standing like a stake' or 'standing like a tree' (although it also covers the practice of Ba Duan Jin - Eight Fine Exercises). In this age of workouts, jogging, step Reebok and so on, it is deeply humorous to find a practice that requires standing without moving for long periods of time. Since exercise is generally perceived as going into movement from our general state of relative inactivity, it requires a profoundly lateral way of thinking to explore instead, that small area of possibility that requires even less movement. It is difficult to explain, either to oneself or to others, how this could be of benefit. As Master Lam says, he too found it difficult to believe that this practice could be of benefit, and like anyone else he had to make a leap of faith and "just do it". Nevertheless, anyone who is prepared to practise with confidence soon discovers its great benefits.
There are estimated to be 70 to 80 million practitioners of Qigong in China today, and there are many different styles of Qigong. This reviewer is ignorant of the special qualities of each. I can simply say that with no other instruction than this book, I am able to confirm the great value of Zhan Zhuang.
