Customer Reviews

Eight Simple Qigong Exercises For Health: The Eight Pieces of Brocade

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was introduced to the benefits of Qigong by a good friend a few months ago. I noticed that it had immediate physical benefits. I had been searching for a practice that would help increase my physical energy.

This is a wonderful introduction to Qigong for beginners. I bought the video on the recommendations of the reviewers here and have not been disappointed. Plus it is a very reasonable cost compared to the other options.

Dr. Yang gives very clear and concise explanations of the theory behind the poses. The exercises are simple to do. I have started with the sitting exercises and am doing them morning and night the past few days.

I suffer from chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia and bought this to improve the energy flow in my body. I have been feeling very weak lately due to lack of sleep and stress and found that the poses gave me immediate benefit by taking a layer of pain off my body. I am sleeping better too. I will check back in 3 months to update the benefits.

Also it became clear to me from watching the DVD that the problems I am having are energy problems. After doing the exercises I could feel the chi flowing in parts of my body that have been blocked -- namely my feet and arms. I also noticed that my kidneys are extremely sore and probably depleted. I was shocked. These exercises made me more aware of what is really going on in my body.

The sitting exercises are great for those who need to take it slow. To the senior gentleman who was upset that Dr. Yang didn't go into modifications. Yes, you are right, but you needn't worry if you can't stretch all the way to your toes. Just stretch as far forward as you can comfortably do. He also says in his analysis that the repetitions are guidelines -- and to do what you can.

A great DVD. I can't wait to see how I'm feeling in a few months. The DVD made me realize that I need to renergize my kidney's and I am buying herbal tea and herbs to assist in that process. I for one am tired of exercise that pushes the body past it's limits. This set of poses works with the body that you have now!

I can only add to the other rave reviews.
I have tried other qigong videos, but this is the best one.
The explanations are clear, and the quality of the DVD is excellent. There is no distracting background or new age gobbledigook. You can get a good workout in 20 minutes regardless of your age or physical condition.
Well worth buying.

This DVD is nicely produced with very high quality digital footage and sound. the instruction is clear and the movements are simple. There are two complete sets of exercises. the first on is sitting, and it is meant to be done right when you wake up to get your Qi energy circulating. I found this to be a surprisingly powerful set of exercises, and its taught me to be much more aware of the energy in my body. The standing set of exercises is more physical, and after only a few months I have found that it has made me very limber and much stronger. I have more muscle and less fat and I feel 'connected' to every cell in my body. I wake up with more energy than I ever have in my life.

The greatest part of this DVD is that after you've learned the movements, and seen them demonstrated, Dr. Yang explains each one and gives additional information about each movement that you can get much more out of your practice.

At first, I was highly impressed with this DVD. It's absolutely packed with information and bonus materials. It even includes a section of previews for many of Dr. Ming's other instructional videos which must be at least 30 minutes long in itself, and contains such a wide variety of demonstrations of martial arts and chi gung styles, I found it more entertaining than most kung fu movies!

The instructions for both the sitting and standing sets of this exercise are well-presented. But I strongly recommend buying and reading the supplemental book before getting started.

Having purchased many Tai Chi and Chi Gung instructional videos over the years, I have to say this is one of the highest quality productions I've ever seen.

Which is why I'm sad to say that there's a fatal flaw in this production:

Although the 8 Pieces of Brocade is traditionally meant to be easy to learn for almost any age or condition, the flexibility with which Dr. Ming demonstrates a couple of the movements far exceeds what many people can do safely.

Unfortunately, he doesn't offer any "beginner level" advice if you are not able to follow along with him. As he bends from the waist and easily grabs his toes, I would find myself struggling along, wondering if the movement still "counts" if I can only reach my shins...

I decided to ask for advice by posting a question in the "Qigong" section of Dr. Ming's website forum and still have not recieved an answer after almost 3 months of waiting. So no help there either...

I finally answered my own question by finding another instructional video for the 8 Pieces of Brocade, presented by a different teacher, who actually takes into consideration people who no longer have the flexibility of a teenager.

So I must say, knowing that this chi gung form is famous for helping the weak and elderly to regain their health, vitality, and flexibility, and with all the wonderful extra's and quality information available in this DVD, I can't figure out why Dr. Ming never thought to include advice for people who happen to be weak, elderly, or inflexible. There's no help for this in the book either. The way it's presented, you can either follow along or you can't. There's no inbetween.

If not for this glaring (and personally frustrating) over-sight, I would have given this DVD 5 stars without hesitation. But as it is, I felt somewhat cheated by what should have been an easy to follow program.

So, if you're already physically active, practicing Kung-Fu or Yoga, this DVD should be easy to follow and highly beneficial for you.

But if you have a bad back (like me) or arthritis, or similiar inflexibility, I highly recommend looking for a program that presents these exercises more gently and carefully. That way you can get the full benefits without needlessly endangering yourself.

Also, the information presented in the book and DVD, while interesting and accurate, may seem confusing to someone who's completely new to energy exercises like Chi Gung, Yoga, or Tai Chi. For folks who are new to this stuff, I recommend first reading books like "Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body" by B.K. Frantzis and "The Way of Energy" by Master Lam Kam Chuen.

I probably own four or five books on the 8 Pieces of Brocade, a Qigong exercise that at first does not appear to be complex or difficult to learn. After reading the various books on this exercise I felt that I had a pretty good grasp of how to do the exercises and what to expect. Watching this DVD was very enlightening and corrected some misconceptions I had about the exercises. The book by Dr. Yang, Jwing Ming is excellent, but as suggested by the author, using the DVD and the book together is a very effective technique for obtaining accurate and effective results while doing this form.

The DVD offers both the Sitting and Standing versions of the 8 Pieces of Brocade exercise. Dr. Yang starts off the DVD with a history of the 8 Pieces of Brocade, which was created approximately one thousand years ago.
The 8 Pieces of Brocade is presented in two main sections, the sitting version and the standing version. First shown is an analysis of the steps in the sitting version.

Throughout this analysis the DVD uses multiple angle shots to display the front, sides and rear of Dr. Yang as he demonstrates each of the movements. Additionally, the added benefit of sound helps the student to realize for example how hard to tap the teeth, or when to breath in and out. Even the tapping of the fingers on the back of the skull during one of the exercises helps the student to do the movement correctly by listening to the sound that is made when Dr. Yang demonstrates the movement.

Following a very detailed and clear presentation during the analysis of the 8 Pieces of Brocade, the form is then shown in its entirety. With the convenient chapter markers available on the DVD, the student can easily follow along whatever section they choose. The movement to DVD for the YMAA products has made learning much easier by allowing this convenient and instant access to any part of the material.

After the analysis of the sitting form of the 8 Pieces of Brocade, the DVD then presents the analysis of the standing form of the 8 Pieces of Brocade, followed by a continuous demonstration of the form.

The student is then treated to a lecture by Dr. Yang on the 8 Pieces of Brocade. This lecture is approximately 50 minutes and has a wealth of information about the form. Clever use of animation helps to illustrate the flow of chi that occurs while doing the form.

In my opinion, the way to learn martial arts successfully is to employ the following tools:

Instruction from a teacher

Studying printed material

Visualization in your mind

Self practice and study while doing the forms

Writing a journal to record what is learned or taught during each lesson
Watching videos of the teacher

Filming yourself and comparing it to the image you had in your mind of how you were doing the form

Socialize and share your knowledge with other students and work on the principles together

Try teaching one of the concepts, moves, techniques or applications to a person who has no knowledge of Taijiquan. In the process you will easily learn as much as the person you are trying to teach.

This DVD is one of the above mentioned tools, and a wonderful addition for the serious student to learn and practice properly the 8 Pieces of Brocade.

I have to agree with the others, this is an amazing DVD, with tons of information. I found it very easy to navigate and the material is easy to follow. I don't think you'd really need to buy anything else to learn this qigong, since the master explains everything so completely. Maybe after you learn this set you might get another book or video from the same author, into intermediate and advanced qigong training. Perfect for beginners!

So great to finally understand qigong thanks to this video!

I have had this a while, but haven't used it since it's so easy, it's boring. Therefore, I only use it when I'm not feeling well.
Recently I had a severe allergic reaction & used this. I have been using herbs & acupuncture, but I really felt so much better faster using this to build up my energy. Even when I was very dizzy & felt horrible, I went very slowly on the standing exercises & felt much better after, more energy deep down & was able to fall asleep faster then I had in days.
The sitting ones are even more easy for those who cannot stand.
In the demonstration/how-to area, there is an English or American narrator while they show a clip of Dr. Yang doing the exercises a few times. In another section, the practice is Dr. Yang shows you the complete exercises about 3-20x each which only takes about 10-15 min. Unfortunately on mine, in this section, the sound seems to be faster/off by 3-5 full seconds.
Like almost all Qi Gong videos, they all say once you start, you must complete it & I always do a return to chi motion.
There are A LOT of extras. There is a nice amount of lecture about the basics of energy flow & how Qi Gong works. This dvd is almost two hours long, so you are getting your money's worth. Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming is one man any serious martial artist I have ever talked to knows & has read about.
There are trailers on his site at ymaa.

As a 15 year practicioner of Tai Chi Chuan this system of QiGong and this DVD in particular is one of the best I have ever seen. It goes into just the right amount of detail and description, is beautifully done and clearly, Dr. Yang is a gifted teacher. I have seen MANY martial art training videos and the quality of this is way above par. This is a beautiful QiGong form that is sure to bring health to anyone who practices daily. It's the real deal!

This DVD lives up to its promises - it introduces you to the world of Qigong. I have personally practised some Qigong exercises before - from some books - but after watching this DVD I realized that I was doing them somewhat wrong. I didn't see any of what I had been practising in this video, however, doing Qigong is like a poem (actually, it was a poem for ancient Chinese), like a moving meditation, it's soft and smooth, whereas I had a rigid and strict execution. This DVD presents two sets of exercises - sitting (on a bed, let's say) for elderly and weak people, and standing - for everyone else. There is a track presenting the history of Qigong, specifically this set, and detailed explanations of each exercise, including medical benefits (e.g. what internal organ you would be massaging by doing them). Granted, you need more information (e.g.on breathing - it is only briefly touched), but then again, a beginner could only get so much or else (s)he becomes scared of so many new things. Still, Dr. Yang has a book with the same title, I've ordered and received mine (but haven't started reading it yet), that should explain more things. The book and the video complement each other - the former has more information, but the latter shows you the execution. Get them both.
I'm also a beginner, and have no teacher, but apparently, looking at customer reviews for Qigong beginners, this is the course path that I recommend (that is what I am going to order and study, even if I get a teacher in the meantime):
- Stick to 8 Pieces of Brocade until you execute it well, and by that I mean not only physical execution - which you will probably get soon, it's very simple, but also mental - you master it when you are able to focus on it from beginning to end, or sort of.
- Get "Chi Kung: The Way of healing" by Master Lam Kam Chuen, those exercises should prepare you for the next stage
- Get "Chi Kung: The Way of energy" by Master Lam Kam Chuen and "Opening the energy gates of your body" by Bruce Frantzis Kumar, those books complement each other. Note that apparently all the exercise in "Way of healing" are actually easier selections from "Way of energy", so don't be surprised. I guess, because of this you could skip the "Way of healing" phase completely.
When all the above is done - you should have greatly improved your energetics, but it could take years or even a lifetime without a teacher. You are then ready to study Dr. Yang's other books - I won't write the relevant ones here (although I had started too, but removed the paragraph), by then you should know which they are, they don't belong in this beginner's review. Anyway, at that stage you should probably get a teacher.
In short, this is a nice beginner's introduction, short of having a teacher. Did I mention to get a teacher?

I highly reccommend this DVD for interested beginners and experienced Martial Arts practitioners alike who wish to learn a set of Qigong exercises designed to improve health. The DVD is thoughtfully produced and has a lot of interesting background and historical information. A novice will be able to learn a complete set of breathing and movement exercises in a very short time.