Iron Shirt Chi Kung I

Just for a simple example, a friend of mine, who bought this particular book and started practicing it without consulting his whushu teacher first, got some major breath disorder and lost his erection for a couple of months.

The book indeed contains some interesting topics, worth reading, but be very careful and practice only under a supervision of an experienced master.
April 19, 2004

I liked this book. It is like many Mantak Chia books,detailed and well-organized. I know that some reviewers complained about the organization, but what Chia does is give step-by-step instructions for a number of exercises. It gets confusing when trying to digest it in totality. Like reading a math text cover to cover. It helps if you read a part, practice it, master it. All of a sudden, the next chapter makes sense, and it works!

I think the reason why Chia does not focus more on energy is because he does that elsewhere. He has a number of books. He's focusing on the specific techniques for this specific process-- Iron Shirt.

I agree that one should not practice without an instructor. But it is impossible to really learn this stuff from a book. Internal martial arts in general. External martial arts, for that matter, too. Meditation, qigong, it all benefits from having an instructor. Books are ancillary materials. As are videos. References only, a different perspective. Supplements.

Particularly for those looking at enhancing your Wu Chi posture structurally, this is a great book. For standing meditation exercises, this is a great reference. As for danger with packing-- I always stick with Kumar Frantzis' 70% rule... do something 70%. As you progress, that 70% will become more and
more.

I particularly liked the way Chia mechanistically describes what to do step-by-step. When your instructor says, work on your chi belt and you stare and say-- how? Then your instructor says, feel this, now do it! And you say-- that's really cool, but I'm still not sure how to do it-- Chia gives you a roadmap. Or even if your instructor tells you how, Chia gives you a roadmap to compare with.

As for who is right/wrong, where Iron Shirt really came from, what preliminary exercises should go with this or that-- I think there are many paths to any one goal. This is one. There are others. Now go find the one that gets you where you want to go.

I'd recommend this book for those who are still walking the path. For those who've reached the end of their journey, why'd you buy the book in the first place?
August 26, 2003