My Chinese Kungfu Journey
by Hosh Sedam
My Chinese Kung Fu journey began in college when I discovered the Tao Te Ching. Upon reading Lao Tze, I took the sage’s advice and gave myself entirely to the Tao. I intuitively understood that this would require a physical transformation to merge with the Tao, but I did not know how to accomplish this.
Fortunately, upon returning home from school, I discovered a Tai Chi school had opened in my childhood neighborhood in Westerly, Rhode Island. I arrived late for my first class and walked into a room full of people standing in Cheng Bao. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and I immediately knew I would practice Zhanzhuang for the rest of my life.
The group was a YMAA satellite school started by Ramel Rones, a disciple of Yang Jwing Ming. Here, I was introduced to the Neijia of Tai Chi, Bagua, and Xing Yi. One of my instructors, Jim Leech, whom I greatly admired for his soft, powerful martial skill told me that if I wanted to become proficient in any of these arts, I should stand frequently for long durations. He also shared with me an inspiring biography of Master Wang Xiangzhai.
After a couple of years, I moved to Boston to train directly with Master Yang, who taught me Neigong. I also continued my studies in Tai Chi, and spent most of my time standing in the Wuji posture. Two years later I married and moved to Becket, Massachusetts to study Macrobiotics at Michio Kushi’s Institute. Diet, as well as exercise and meditation, had become an important part of my journey.
I lived and worked as a chef at the Kushi Institute for 3 years, during which time I maintained a rigorous daily training schedule. Every morning I rose at 3 am to stand in Tai Chi’s Wuji posture for an hour and then Cheng Bao posture for an hour before practicing Bagua circle walking for an hour.
After a season on an organic farm in New Mexico, I returned to my hometown for a cooking gig, during which time I met a man named Keith Cowley, who became my Bagua teacher for the next 3 years. He introduced me to other standing postures, a unique heal-toe Bagua stepping style for my circle, and taught me changes between postures and how to coordinate these changes with the footwork. Keith Cowley was a profound influence on my practice.
In 2009, I moved to the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Patagonia, Arizona to work as an assistant to Gabriel Cousens, MD. Dr. Cousens was a holistic doctor, a rabbi, an author, and a yogi in the Shiva lineage of Swami Muktananda, who allegedly publically acknowledged him as a spiritually liberated being. I served Rabbi Cousens and the Tree of Life community from 2009-2021 when Dr. Cousens closed the Center and moved to Israel.
During all these years, from 1998 through 2021, Zhanzhuang was the center of my life. The Tai Chi I learned from Master Yang, the Bagua I learned from Keith Cowley, and the sitting Kundalini meditation I practiced with Dr. Cousens were all ancillary to my Zhanzhuang. Zhanzhuang had supported me for my entire adult life, allowing me to process and integrate all my life’s circumstances while buoying my strength and intelligence for each day’s tasks.
In the Spring of 2021, I discovered Song Gao‘s online Yiquan Park. I contacted him, and he began teaching me via Zoom. During the last 3 years, Song’s instruction has enabled me to take my Zhanzhuang practice to new exciting levels. I am deeply honored to join Master Wang Xiangzhai’s lineage and become a disciple of Song Gao. I look forward to a lifetime of studying Yiquan’s applications toward healing, combat, and spirituality.
Hosh's master-disciple ceremony
Characteristics of
is a special exercise. It’s aerobic, very gentle, and doesn’t require much movement. No warm-ups before the exercise or ending routines are required. What you need is just a place (either indoor or outdoor) with good air circulation. has a large number of postures (stances are the technical term), but there is only one basic posture which can be transformed into all other postures. So, when you master the one posture, it’s only a matter of time to master all of them. From this perspective, is not a complex skill to learn.
The training time of can be adjusted by oneself. In general, practitioners start from 5 minutes and increase progressively up to one hour. However, a 5-min has health benefits, too. So is quite accessible since no minimum “dose” of time is required. In fact, men, women, seniors, juniors, the weak or strong, all can practice according to their own situation at their preferred time and place.
There are usually four stages of the learning process and there are various reactions during beginning stages of .
03
Healing aspect of
In general, can correct and build a stronger body. With postures, young men with hunchbacks can be corrected. Dysfunctional feet, knees, or legs can be fixed to a great extent. The middle-aged suffering from back/shoulder/neck/muscle pain, hemorrhoids, insomnia, bad digestion, etc., can expect to get rid of those with consistent practice of over time.
is the best option for the weak or elderly as can gradually and constantly enhance their immune system – the human body’s own defense mechanisms. According to Dr. Yu’s clinical experimentation and tests, many kinds of chronic diseases such as chronic tracheitis, chronic gastroenteritis, chronic hepatitis, cardiopathy, high blood pressure(hypertension), neurasthenic, chronic rheumatoid arthritis and similar rheumatoid arthritis, adipoma, goiter, etc., may obtain unbelievable beneficial effects after practice.
We only listed some of the health applications of . There are more. Every day practitioners are discovering new benefits of this amazing exercise.
04
Why can cure diseases?
is not only standing still. It is not only meditation, either. The system of training is a combination of physical and mental aspects. The physical and mental activities are not separate from each other in this exercise. Hence, both the physiological and psychological functions of the body are cumulatively strengthened. Why heals is a huge topic. Dr. Yu had written many books about it. In this article, we are going to focus on how is able to nourish the blood. We will talk more in our blog posts.
During , the body is held relatively unchanged in correct structures and there is constant contraction and loosening between muscles and bones. This will mobilize blood vessels, which promotes blood circulation. Dr. Yu listed the following figures in the book of “ and Search of Wu” (Yu Yongnian, 2005, Shanxi Science and Technology Press).
After one hour of the composition of the blood may sensibly change:
- up to 1520 000 additional erythrocytes (red blood cells) per cm3 of blood,
- up to 3650 additional hem leukocytes (white blood cells) per cm3 of blood,
- up to 3.2 gram of additional hemoglobin per cm3 of blood.
Red blood cells are able to carry oxygen so efficiently because of the hemoglobin they contain. Increase of hemoglobin can directly impact the quantity of oxygen. With this additional amount of oxygen brought to the organ systems, one will be in a special state of relaxation and wellbeing. This is why has particularly good results in treating neurasthenia, arthritis, angina, cirrhosis, cardiovascular diseases, etc.
05
Recommended for special people
The most important characteristic of as a healing method is that there is no side-effect. From the medicine point of view, there are not so many optional exercises for people who are too weak to sit or stand and people with special diseases i.e., cardiovascular diseases. is the best option for those people. There are lying-down postures, supported postures, sitting postures, standing postures, practitioners can choose appropriate postures and control the physical effort precisely by the time of practicing.
To conclude, with thousands of years of development and the support of Yiquan martial artists and medical professionals in the last 100 years, has brought together the essence of Chinese well-being philosophies and western sciences as a mature, thorough and complete method of health maintenance and improvement. If you want to know more about as a healing method, reading Dr. Yu’s books is a good start. Here are three recommendations:
< Zhan Zhuang and The Search of Wu > (Chinese, English versions)
<Zhan Zhuang: The Art of Nourishing Life> (Chinese, English, French versions)
< Zhan Zhuang and Dao De Jing> (Chinese version)
Characteristics of
is a special exercise. It’s aerobic, very gentle, and doesn’t require much movement. No warm-ups before the exercise or ending routines are required. What you need is just a place (either indoor or outdoor) with good air circulation. has a large number of postures (stances are the technical term), but there is only one basic posture which can be transformed into all other postures. So, when you master the one posture, it’s only a matter of time to master all of them. From this perspective, is not a complex skill to learn.
The training time of can be adjusted by oneself. In general, practitioners start from 5 minutes and increase progressively up to one hour. However, a 5-min has health benefits, too. So is quite accessible since no minimum “dose” of time is required. In fact, men, women, seniors, juniors, the weak or strong, all can practice according to their own situation at their preferred time and place.
There are usually four stages of the learning process and there are various reactions during beginning stages of .
03
Healing aspect of
In general, can correct and build a stronger body. With postures, young men with hunchbacks can be corrected. Dysfunctional feet, knees, or legs can be fixed to a great extent. The middle-aged suffering from back/shoulder/neck/muscle pain, hemorrhoids, insomnia, bad digestion, etc., can expect to get rid of those with consistent practice of over time.
is the best option for the weak or elderly as can gradually and constantly enhance their immune system – the human body’s own defense mechanisms. According to Dr. Yu’s clinical experimentation and tests, many kinds of chronic diseases such as chronic tracheitis, chronic gastroenteritis, chronic hepatitis, cardiopathy, high blood pressure(hypertension), neurasthenic, chronic rheumatoid arthritis and similar rheumatoid arthritis, adipoma, goiter, etc., may obtain unbelievable beneficial effects after practice.
We only listed some of the health applications of . There are more. Every day practitioners are discovering new benefits of this amazing exercise.
04
Why can cure diseases?
is not only standing still. It is not only meditation, either. The system of training is a combination of physical and mental aspects. The physical and mental activities are not separate from each other in this exercise. Hence, both the physiological and psychological functions of the body are cumulatively strengthened. Why heals is a huge topic. Dr. Yu had written many books about it. In this article, we are going to focus on how is able to nourish the blood. We will talk more in our blog posts.
During , the body is held relatively unchanged in correct structures and there is constant contraction and loosening between muscles and bones. This will mobilize blood vessels, which promotes blood circulation. Dr. Yu listed the following figures in the book of “ and Search of Wu” (Yu Yongnian, 2005, Shanxi Science and Technology Press).
After one hour of the composition of the blood may sensibly change:
- up to 1520 000 additional erythrocytes (red blood cells) per cm3 of blood,
- up to 3650 additional hem leukocytes (white blood cells) per cm3 of blood,
- up to 3.2 gram of additional hemoglobin per cm3 of blood.
Red blood cells are able to carry oxygen so efficiently because of the hemoglobin they contain. Increase of hemoglobin can directly impact the quantity of oxygen. With this additional amount of oxygen brought to the organ systems, one will be in a special state of relaxation and wellbeing. This is why has particularly good results in treating neurasthenia, arthritis, angina, cirrhosis, cardiovascular diseases, etc.
05
Recommended for special people
The most important characteristic of as a healing method is that there is no side-effect. From the medicine point of view, there are not so many optional exercises for people who are too weak to sit or stand and people with special diseases i.e., cardiovascular diseases. is the best option for those people. There are lying-down postures, supported postures, sitting postures, standing postures, practitioners can choose appropriate postures and control the physical effort precisely by the time of practicing.
To conclude, with thousands of years of development and the support of Yiquan martial artists and medical professionals in the last 100 years, has brought together the essence of Chinese well-being philosophies and western sciences as a mature, thorough and complete method of health maintenance and improvement. If you want to know more about as a healing method, reading Dr. Yu’s books is a good start. Here are three recommendations:
< Zhan Zhuang and The Search of Wu > (Chinese, English versions)
<Zhan Zhuang: The Art of Nourishing Life> (Chinese, English, French versions)
< Zhan Zhuang and Dao De Jing> (Chinese version)
Yiquan Park Popular Coureses
Basic Zhanzhuang Online Course
Course Level: Beginner
This is a systematic self-study Zhanzhuang (Standing Meditation) course to develop your body and mind to a greater level. Your health condition can be improved quickly.
Advanced Zhanzhuang Online Course
Course Level: Intermediate
This course will challenge you but provide with you a new horizon of Zhanzhuang. You may obtain quicker and further health improvement.
Zhanzhuang Special Stances
Course Level: Advanced
The Tiger Stance, Dragon Stance, and One-Legged Stance are known as special stances—demanding postures that cultivate internal power, balance, and rootedness.
They require a profound grasp of body mechanics, relaxation, and the harmonious integration of mind and body.
Practicing these stances can elevate leg strength, whole-body balance, and coordination to extraordinary levels.
Basic Shili(Force testing) Online Course
Course Level: Intermediate
As an interesting exercise that can be applied to health development, Shili (force testing) prepares basic movements for self-defense skills from Yiquan martial art system. This online course introduces 10 kinds of Shili training on the Parallel Step.
It’s a crucial step in Yiquan, bridging the static posture practice of Zhan Zhuang to more dynamic applications.
Basic Friction Stepping (Mocabu) Online Course
Course Level: Intermediate
This training introduces the fundamental & essential footwork of traditional Chinese martial arts—skills that can be seamlessly applied in real combat situations.
Friction Stepping can be practiced as an effective leg-strengthening exercise, building powerful legs while improving balance and footstep alignment.
Combat Shili Integrated with Friction Stepping Online Course
Course Level: Advanced
This course completes the first three steps of Yiquan. You will learn how to blend Combat Shili with Friction Stepping. This powerful integration will unlock whole-body coordination and bring your practice to a new level.