Health and Fitness

Training in Shaolin Martial Arts is a lifestyle that involves eating well, working out at least an hour five times a week as well as practicing Qigong. But if you're finding that you're busier than usual and can't fit in your regular training, one of these quick practices can still keep you on the Shaolin path.   Green Tea Green tea is the best food source of a group called catechins. In test tubes, catechins are more powerful than vitamins C and E in halting oxidative damage to cells and appear to have other disease-fighting properties. Want to find out more about the health properties of drinking green tea?  click here  Qigong Workout Press Ups Just doing ten Qigong press ups from my Qigong Workout every day will increase your upper body strength, and increase the flexibility of your back. A strong back is the foundation of a fit and healthy body. These press ups work the triceps hard so when you do regular press ups you'll find them easier. Instant He...

When I was seven years old, my mother asked me if I had dream? I said, "Yes, I want to become a martial artist." Then she asked me, "Do you know which is the highest part of your body?" I said, "My head and my hair." My mum said, "No, it's your hands." She told me, "Your mind make your dream happen but your mind cannot make your dream come true, only your hands can do that. This means, you can't just think, you need to do."  Life is about doing, not thinking. Action not words. I'm a martial artist. A martial artist doesn't just teach people, he also trains. If you only teach and never train then you never learn new things and you can't grow as a teacher. I want my students to make a decision: know what you want to do, make a strong plan and challenge yourself to make your body healthier and healthier.  Take action today.  Shifu Yan Lei teaches a graded path of Shaolin Kung Fu & Qigong. For more details of ho...

At The Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine & Institute of Qigong Science, EEG results on Qigong practioners showed a predominance of alpha brain waves indicating that Qigong induces a relaxed and focused mind. After just three or four minutes there was a measurable shift of alpha and theta concentration from the rear occipital regions to the frontal lobes. This corresponds to a union of the mind and body from which feelings of peace and harmony arise.   If you can, it's good to do some of your Qigong training outside. If you live in the city then get up early and go to the park, preferably a place where there are some trees. Just as we spring clean our house we can also spring clean our body, being outside helps us to clear our stagnant energy and breathe in fresh air. It also reinvigorates our practice. The important thing is to be awake to the practice. It is important not to do Qigong by rote but say to yourself: For these next twenty minutes I'm going to ded...

 “Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train.” Morihei Ueshiba Whether we are fat, thin, old, young, healthy or unhealthy, we all share a mind and body that can be trained. If we step onto the path of Shaolin with intellligence and determination, I am confident that we can bring to our life the health and wholeness that we all seek. Being healthy and whole means we take care of our minds at the same time as we take care of our bodies. Our mind plays a vital part in keeping us healthy. A happy mind makes a healthy body, and the key to happiness or unhappiness is in how we use our mind. Most of us have minds that roam about like untrained puppies. Our martial arts practice -  whether it’s Qigong, Kung Fu or both - acts as an anchor and tethers our mind.  Once you start to workout with my DVDs , let this become a  refuge from your daily activities. A time to let go of the small self and allow the big self to concentrate on the posture an...

Whenever I go back to China, I'm so happy to see my friends and family that I eat too much delicious food, and  I'm always much heavier coming back to the UK than I was leaving. I used to be able to lose weight quickly but now I'm in my late thirties, I find it harder to shift and I notice that all the fat goes to one place: my belly. Belly fat slows a fighter down and for middle-aged people it can lead to health problems  later on. The belly is a very stubborn keeper of fat. To successfully shift weight from this place, we need to tackle it from not only a fat burning angle but also hormonal and diet. These are my top tips. 1) Eat breakfast Studies show that people who eat a quality breakfast, consume less calories during the day as whole. If you're like me, and you like to workout after waking, then eat a banana or a healthy milkshake. I use a food processor to blend   a banana with some cashews, walnuts and milk. Food eaten before a workout boosts performance and e...

Powerful strategies for optimzing your body and mind I believe that practicing martial arts or going through your life without practicing Qigong is like driving a car and never topping up the air in the tyres. The air is our Qi, it gets us places. Take the air out of the tyre and the car will go nowhere, take the air out of our bodies and we die. It is as simple as that. On a basic level Qi is breath, it flows where the blood flows, but on a deeper level it is the energy matrix of the body and when we do Shaolin Training we optimize it on daily basis to get the most out of ourselves. This is what the Shaolin Temple mean when they emphasise the importance of internal and external. The external is the kung fu , the things we can see, the internal is what is going on inside of us, and to optimize our energy we mix internal and external together. Shaolin Steel Jacket A good example of this is Shaolin Steel Jacket. In order for me to be able to do this, I have to have good stamina but I al...