Diving Beneath the Surface for the Internal Arts of Qigong
“That ’s the milion dollar question,” Sifu Tom Rizzo grinned at me when I asked him to give me his definition of qi (sometimes written as chi) energy, our prana, our life force. “A definition of something is much easier when you’ve understood it or you’ve seen it or felt it so when you say qi is energy, that’s the obvious answer, it makes perfect sense to me to say to me because I’ve seen it, felt it, played with it.”
Qi is something you have to feel, otherwise, as Rizzo says, “It doesn’t make any sense; it’s just a word.” For generations, Taoist monks and masters and teachers of martial arts in the O‘Mei Mountains of China have utilized the external (movement) and internal (breath-centered) practices of qigong to access this energy that is the heart of our life force. Qi is the energy that allows the body to heal itself; it gives us vitality and provides the energy beneath the movements in martial arts, be they explosive or fluid. Over hundreds of years, people have continually developed techniques to cultivate qi for its power to encourage and accelerate healing, enhance sexual energy and athletic prowess, promote longevity, create explosive and powerful movements for self-defense, focus the mind and thoughts and even attain enlightenment.
Sifu Tom Rizzo is continuing the traditional teachings traded among monks at the renowned Shaolin Temple and passed down from father to son at White Tiger Kung Fu in Westwood, Los Angeles. Here the practices of Bak Fu Pai Qigong are part of a comprehensive system of training the body and mind through physical martial arts training, dietary injunctions, the use of medicinal herbs, and the internal breathbased energy cultivation exercises of qigong.
He began immersing himself in this system after decades of training in a variety of martial arts since the age of six, including JuiJitsu, Judo, Tae Kwon Do and Aikido. He earned a third degree black belt in Kempo. The years of training and accomplishment
served to fire up his ongoing search for a master. A fleeting introduction with Grandmaster Doo Wai in 1990 changed his life and he has been – and still is – a close student of the Grandmaster. Sifu, the title he earned through study, means honored monk or teacher, and signifies his dedication to the craft.
In qigong, as well as the full range of martial arts practices, it is all about the craft, the practice. “Proof is in the results; you have to feel it,” Sifu Rizzo quotes the Grandmaster. Rizzo goes on to elaborate, “I guess that’s his version of talk is cheap.” When considering qi, “You can talk about it all day, and people do; there are conferences and seminars, but until you feel it, you’re just talking about something. So we take the opposite approach. Instead of talking about it, we use it, feel it, do something with it and benefit from it.”
After all, healing isn’t something you talk about, it’s something you do, or you allow; it is an action.
While the sometimes explosive, dramatic or expansive movements in martial arts are the external expression of the system, qigong, particularly the Bak Fu Pai Qigong system, is a predominantly internal practice. What distinguishes this system is the emphasis on the control and cultivation of the breath.
Even though our breath sits in our body and we breathe constantly, there can be an elusive aspect to the breath, and when it comes to cultivating qi, paying attention to the breath is an art. Breath, according to Sifu Rizzo, “is the key. The hardest part of everything is the breath. It’s the first lost, the hardest to study and the most powerful part of qigong exercises.” Therefore, a lot of emphasis is placed on the breath during the practice of the technique. Three basic types of breath are described.
Three Methods of Bak Fu Pai Qigong Breathing
- Natural breathing: In the typical distribution of natural breath, 75% is the action of the abdominal area and the diaphragm and 25% is the movement of the chest. This is your everyday breathing, which ranges from 40% to 60% of your total capacity.
- Deep breathing: Deep breathing is performed by filling first the belly then the chest with air. This can range from approximately zero to 100% of maximum lung capacity. Zero percent may be feel more empty or may be below that of a normal exhalation. While exhaling during deep breathing, the belly and chest fall together.
- Belly breathing: Belly breathing is controlled by the diaphragm and contains very little chest expansion as the muscles of the chest cavity required for deep breathing are not employed.
While breath is one of the most important parts of a qigong exercise, breath alone is not the practice. And even within the breath, combinations of natural breathing, deep breathing and belly breathing are utilized along with a technique outlined by Grandmaster Doo Wai of assigning percentages to the exhalation as a method of controlling the breath, and therefore working with qi. In the system Sifu Rizzo learned from Grandmaster Doo Wai, the use of percentages as a technique provides tools for a practitioner, particularly when first beginning to learn how to work with qi and to learn qigong exercises. Prior to identifying percentages in breathing combinations, students would sit at the feet of the teacher and try to glean an understanding of the practice by observing the rise and fall of their teacher’s breath. While this method hones a person’s observational skills, it may not propel them forward on the path to enlightenment.
“Qigong exercises are very specific in order to develop qi,” Sifu Rizzo teaches. “As long as you hit breath percentages precisely, as long as you have the right body posture, the right hand positions or movement, you will develop energy; there’s nothing esoteric about it.”
There are three basic components of any individual qigong exercise in Bak Fu Pai Qigong:
- Breathing combination
- Body posture: Sitting, laying, standing or moving
- Hand position or movement sequence
Through qigong practices, you can develop a relationship with qi: to see it, feel it and experience it. While there are numerous practices and permutations of breathing combination, body posture and hand position, Sifu Rizzo recommends the 50-40-30 practice (described on the next page) as one suitable for beginners and if done daily for one to three months, can create tangible shifts in qi.
The body posture for this percentage practice is seated; find any comfortable seated position. Use any pillows or props to sit on in order to be comfortable. Sitting with the hips higher than the knees helps to keep the spine upright and you can also sit propped up against the wall. Remove any keys or other items that distract you from your pockets and set up the space around you to limit interruptions.
Set up your hand position with your arms out in front of you as if you are holding a ball loosely in front of your chest with your palms facing down and your elbows, shoulders and fingers relaxed. Close your eyes and begin the breath percentage practice described on the following page:
50-40-30 Meditation Practice
- Take three full breaths in and out through your nose. Breathe slowly and naturally.
- Then inhale fully into the belly on the fourth breath.
- Exhale 50% of your breath capacity; what feels like 50% of your air. Pause for a moment and then inhale fully using the movement of your belly.
- Take a full breath by exhaling fully and then inhaling fully (slowly and naturally).
- On your next breath, exhale 40% of your breath capacity. Pause and inhale fully from that point.
- Exhale fully and inhale fully (slowly and naturally).
- Exhale 30% of your breath capacity. Pause and inhale fully from that point, then exhale fully.
- For the remainder of the meditation practice, breathe normally, with a sense of ease.
- When you are ready to complete the meditation, take three full breaths to close the practice before opening your eyes.
Note: All percentage breathing: 50, 40 and 30% takes place in the belly. Deep breathing utilizes both the belly and the chest.
Nine Rules of Bak Fu Pai Qigong
- Do not eat or drink two hours before qigong.
- Do not eat or drink one hour after qigong.
- Do not vary any of the meditations from the way they were taught to you.
- Find a place that is quiet, where you will not be disturbed.
- Do not wear metal during meditation.
- Do not let any person or any animal touch you during the practice of qigong.
- Turn off and unplug all phones before you do qigong.
- Do not open your eyes, under any circumstances until you have taken 3 breaths to end qigong meditation.
- Keep the tip of the tongue connected to the roof of the mouth, where the teeth meet the gums for the entire meditation.
Qigong exercises are one part of a comprehensive system, a roadmap to health. The positive results comes from not only knowing the practice, but doing the practice. A teacher of qigong can show the student where the road is, as Sifu Rizzo says, but the student has to walk down the road.
Sifu Tom Rizzo (pictured) founded White Tiger Schools in 2003, where Bak Fu Pai Qigong is taught along with Kung Fu and a comprehensive lifestyle program in a Taoist approach to health. The next qigong course begins November 5 with Jennifer Caravella, held at the Thompson Hotel, Beverly Hills. (310)446-5566; Whitetigerschools.com
By Felicia M. Tomasko, RN
