Mark Atkinson's 2010 Seminar in Hertfordshire took place on the weekend of 27th and 28th of February.
Last updated 2010-3-20
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Mark Atkinson's 2010 Seminar in Hertfordshire took place on the weekend of 27th and 28th of February. |
Mark agreed, at short notice, to do an extra session on the Friday night which covered the "Concentration Exercise". As he pointed out, the name can be a little misleading if the western interpretation of 'concentration' is used. He explained why the exercise is an ideal preparation for the other DYYSG sets, and a valuable exercise in itself.
On the Saturday Mark covered the Daoyin Baojian Gong, exercises for health preservation, in the morning and Hewei Jianpi Gong (first form) in the afternoon.
Daoyin Baojian Gong is one of Professor Zhang's earliest Daoyin sets and still a popular favourite with Daoyin practitioners. The set is intended to preserve and improve general health rather than being aimed at a specific body system so it is ideal as your 'daily routine'.
In keeping with the theme set for the Concentration Exercise Mark placed greater emphasis on the internal aspects of this routine, which was made easier since nearly everyone attending was familiar with the movements.
Hewei Jianpi Gong, exercises to 'harmonise the stomach and reinforce the spleen', commonly known as the digestive set, is intended to benefit all aspect of the digestive system. Being one of the first series of Daoyin Yangseheng Gong sets it is more demanding than the second series as it is intended to maintain and enhance the health of an already fit person.
Mark kept to his internal theme as much as he could in this session but this routine is not as widely practiced as the Baojian Gong and so some more work was needed on the basic movements by most people.
Mark spent the whole of the Sunday covering the first Daoyin Taiji 'Bang'. The bang, or 'baton' as Mark likes to call it (the French influence coming out there), is a round wooden rod with tapered ends ending in bulbous 'pearls' connected to its round as the body by narrow necks. It is is used to push, tap, rub, or hit acupuncture points on the body, whilst simultaneously following the twisting, turning, stretching, flexing, and bending movements familiar in the other sets of exercises. This is a relatively new set that is proving most popular with both teachers and students alike.
Mark introduced us to this routine last year and a few variations on the movements had developed over that time. He managed to clarify the details and produce a more consistent performance from the group. He also covered more of the internal aspects for those who could cope with them.
This set and the Baojian Gong will have been of particular use to a number of Longfei members who will be going to China around Easter time and being assessed for a Duan level at the Physical Education University.
For a list of seminars in Scotland and Wales please use the links below
Links: www.quanshu.co.uk www.7stars-tcc.co.uk
For the program of events in Biarritz go to http://dyysg.free.fr/
With its second series of seminars, the Institute Of DYYSG, held in April in Biarritz, became truly international.
Exclusively French participants, with the exception of this one lone Englishman, attended the opening session, last October. This time, however, I was joined by an Australian who lives in Italy, as well as participants from Switzerland, Spain, and England.
Naturally, Professor Zhang Guangde hopes that in future seminars, participants from countries other than France will be more and more in evidence. To help with this, the Institute has arranged for facilities for translation from Chinese into French, English, and Italian. In addition, the support material, which is available at the end of each seminar, will be published in French and English. Furthermore, it is intended that instead of producing the booklets before the seminar in order to make them immediately available, everything that Professor Zhang says in the course of his teaching, will be recorded and transcribed as part of the support material.
The two-week series of seminars this April, covered both well-established and completely new sets of exercises.
Those familiar with Dao Yang Sheng Gong will probably know of the Dao Yin " Song ", and the 49 Dynamic Meridian exercise. These were covered in great detail by Professor Zhang -12 and 18 hours respectively- with the usual outstanding demonstrations by his nephew. Zhang Jian.
However, the highlight for me was the introduction of two new sequences - Yang Sheng Tai Ji Jin 1 and 2.
Before the seminar, I had understood (wrongly as it turned out), that these two sets were some sort of preparation for practising Yang Sheng Tai Ji Palm, the Tai Ji forms of Dao Yin Yang Sheng Gong. This was not the case.
In fact, both exercises are designed to promote good general health, but they have an added richness and interest because they have been constructed to illustrate the Taoist description of the creation of the universe, - i.e. the emergence of all things from the void.
Thus, the first movement is based on the Taiji itself, the second on the emergence of Yin and Yang, another on the role of man, linking heaven and earth etc. I found the movements themselves extremely enjoyable and relatively easy to learn, but setting them within this philosophical context added a whole new dimension which was absolutely fascinating.
Also during this session, in addition to the actual training, everyone was invited to the town Hall in Biarritz to participate in the official opening of the Institute. This was a typically French event, with speeches, mercifully short and informal, and plenty to eat and drink. The highlight, however, was a demonstration by Zhang Jian of the second taiji fan form recently created by his uncle.
The Institute benefits from the wholehearted support of the municipality of Biarritz. This means that it is fortunate enough always to have access to excellent training facilities and conference rooms. In return for the support of the municipality, the Institute must organise itself in a non-profit making manner. Participants therefore benefit from excellent facilities provided at extremely reasonable prices.
A further exciting element of this session, was the first series of practical and theory exams but only for those - about 20 in all, myself included- who are committed to completing the entire course, - that is to say, two weeks twice a year for the next three years.
The practicals took the form of small group demonstrations of the various forms studied at the previous session in front of professor Zhang and a panel of "advisory" judges - Zhang Jian, Xu Miangsheng (translator and TCM expert), Dr. Andre Perret (Director of the Institute and principle teacher of Kunming Association) and myself as representative of the European DYYSG Federation. For the theory section, each person was asked a series of questions individually by the Professor, ranging from the very simple to the "Thank God he didn't ask me that one!" variety. Andre, Miansheng and I had undergone a similar ordeal the day before the other candidates. Students were awarded passes on the basis of "satisfactory", "good" or "very good". Modesty forbids me to reveal my own results!
Of course it is not necessary for all those who wish to work with Professor Zhang Guangde to undertake the entire course, and in fact, most of the participants were only there for one or two days.
These seminars are quite unique, and once again I urge everyone who has any serious interest in DYYSG to do whatever they can to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.
Full details of the forthcoming seminars in October, can be found at the Institute's website, - dyysg.free.fr
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Professor Zhang with his interpreter Xu Maingsheng and André Perret. Read an interview with Professor Zhang, conducted during the seminar. |
