International Journal of Complementary & Alternative Medicine Opinion Open Access Seeking the dragon’s pearl: reflections on the benefits of taijiquan & qigong for university students Abstract Volume 11 Issue 2 - 2018 Every year for 25 years, prior to my retirement in July 2016, I taught Tai Chi and Qigong as part of a University movement class required for all drama students at the Bernie Warren, Roksi Mason, Belinda University of Windsor. I taught this course 2 to 4 times a year with 20 to 30 students Saed in each class. Drama in Education and Community, University of Windsor, Seeking The Dragon’s Pearl is a personal reflection on these 25 years. It takes a Canada detailed look at a Special Projects course that provided students an opportunity to interact with an authentic Master of Taijiquan and Qigong. It presents research data, Correspondence: Bernie Warren, Drama in Education and and anecdotal student and graduate reflections, on the benefits, to their health and to Community, University of Windsor / Owner, Bear Moves their lives, of Taijiquan & Qigong, and their associated philosophies and meditative Mountains 22 Mill St W. Leamington ON, Canada, Email [email protected] practices. February 09, 2018 | March 21, 2018 Keywords: TCM, health, self care, taoism, buddhism, meditation, taijiquan, qigong, Received: Published: university students Seeking the dragon’s pearl: reflections on the discipline is, for like him I teach courses that cross disciplinary and artistic boundaries. For a few moments I was completely speechless. benefits of Taijiquan & Qigong for university However as we conversed it became clear to us both that all my work 1 students is based on notions of “breath” and ‘energy’(both connected by the “The pearl has strong meaning in Asian folklore. Both Taoism concepts of Qi ) rooted through my training in the internal martial arts. and Buddhism use pearls as symbols of wisdom or enlightenment. Searching for connections Buddhism particularly depicts the pearl in the center of a lotus blossom as the ultimate wisdom in life. Since dragons were believed In 1993 I started teaching students an introduction to the to be supernaturally wise, perhaps it is only natural that they should Chinese ‘Internal’ Martial Arts of Taijiquan & Qigong as a part of seek or hold such a treasure”.2 a movement course required for all drama students at the University of Windsor. From 1993-96 many students of this course expressed Prologue: The researcher as drama/theatre strong unsolicited statements concerning the value of studying these specialist and martial artist Chinese Internal Arts both to their health and their studies in Drama in Education “In the West, a fundamental split is posited between mind and 5 body”...“In the East, by contrast, the most widespread traditions In 1996 an opportunity arose to bring Master Hu an authentic assert a fundamental unity. Body and mind, spirit and matter, male Master of Taijiquan and Qigong to Windsor to work with students in and female interact in the dance which is the universe.”3 our Drama in Education program. To this end I employed a little used Cross-Cultural Studies Special Projects course, to provide students the I began my study of the Martial Arts in 1970. Since that time I opportunity to interact with a master. A brief study was undertaken in have immersed myself in a continual and progressive study of various which the responses of participants to their experiences were recorded forms of internal and external martial arts and the philosophical and examined especially noting any connections made between the writings which underpin them. Since 1993 I have exclusively studied value of this study with a master of Taijiquan/Qigong to their health Chinese Martial Arts.4 and their studies. In 1975 I began to pursue a career in drama/theatre with a Meetings with a master-description of the course particular focus on the applications of drama/theatre in education and in ‘therapy’. However until quite recently I had always seen these two This was a six-week course taught in the spring of 1996. It was aspects of my life (drama/theatre and martial arts) as separate one designed to be flexible to enable participants to explore connections from the other: I failed to recognise or accept that my praxis connects that interested them. The entire class met with me for whole group the two. workshop/seminars three times during weeks 1 & 2. In these classes Tai Chi & Qigong forms taught previously6 were reviewed and This began to change in 1991 when on a brief research trip to students were prepared for the visit of Master Hu. Britain a colleague (a multi-talented man who teaches dance, drama and music) and I engaged in a discussion about his ‘root’ discipline. In week 3 Master George Ling Hu an authentic Master of the After some discussion he proclaimed that while he teaches drama Chinese Internal Martial Arts] taught classes in Tai Ji & Qigong and dance his discipline is Music. He then asked me what my and the principles of Taoism which underpin these Internal Martial Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Int J Complement Alt Med. 2018;9(2):57–60. 57 © 2018 Warren et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Copyright: Seeking the dragon’s pearl: reflections on the benefits of taijiquan & qigong for university students ©2018 Warren et al. 58 Arts. The entire class met with Master Hu all day Saturday and on big difference in my body rhythm...more relaxed and limber...a more Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings: a total of 14 required positive attitude toward life and a higher energy level...” contact hours. In addition 3 participants attended an optional 4-hour “I also learned that many parts of my body affect each other, even class offered by Master Hu on Sunday afternoon. In weeks 4, 5 & 6 parts that do not connect physically to each other.” the whole group met with me once a week for 3 hours at a time: a total of 18 required contact hours. The content included review of Tai Ji “The body really tells you a lot, it forewarns you of pending Quan/Qigong forms taught by Master Hu and discussion of readings.7 illnesses and it tells you when to slow down your present activity.” I also offered four optional 3-hour classes covering different topics This is so very difficult for many people, especially westerners, to identified as being of interest to different groups of students. notice or acknowledge.3 In addition to the required whole group workshop/seminars, On connections to performing arts participants worked in smaller groups on the update and revision of course materials (a handbook and video) for use in the Creative “Tai–Chi and Chi Kung are a type of drama that requires the Movement and Voice course. Finally, students were encouraged to participant to clear the mind and use the imagery to guide him through pursue independent study on a topic of their own choosing. the movements. It would be almost effortless for children to memorise the sequence since they would probably respond well to the imagery.” Searching for pearls On health So the question at the end of the day is, what did these children learn from this course?. What Pearls of wisdom did gain from this In his teaching Master Hu not only spent a lot of time commenting meeting with a Master? on the health benefits of each exercise but also was very perceptive to the health problems of each participant. Often he presented individuals To try to find out, a research assistant unfamiliar with the Chinese with a ‘gift’ of a specific exercise(s) to help them with their physical Internal Martial Arts but conversant with drama / theatre in education problems e.g. theories and practices was hired.2 The assistant collated and reviewed the course syllabus and materials which were then mapped and “He showed me how to get rid of my headaches just by pressing correlated for references to Tai Ji & Qigong, Drama in Education, on a point on my head and then massaging the top towards the back personal development, work as a drama educator/theatre artist and of my skull and it worked.” any specific links connecting work in Chinese Internal Martial Arts to One participant remarked: work in Drama/Theatre in Education. From this process, a short set of interview questions was developed. “What I remember most was one day when I was doing an exercise for breathing, Master Hu looking at all of us in the mirror and singling The research assistant interviewed all participants approximately me out and pointing at me and saying I would have trouble doing this six months after the end of the course. These interviews were tape exercise because I have stomach problems. Just from looking at me he recorded, transcribed and in turn correlated and mapped for the knew I had stomach problems, digestive problems and I thought that items cited above. All of the data was then re-examined. Clusters of that was absolutely amazing. And for the rest of the course he helped similar responses were noted, as were any patterns of responses to me do exercises to solve those problems and help me with my posture the phenomena experienced during the summer course. Discrepancies a lot and I valued that extremely.” and unique responses were also logged. All of the participants for whom Master Hu had identified specific From grains of sand -pearls may develop ‘treatments’ for physical problems identified that they continued to do What follows are a selection of responses grouped under specific the ‘prescribed’ Qigong exercises to prevent illness and maintain their topic heading: health after the course finished.