Testimonials
Proof From My Students That TAI CHI And REVERSE BREATHING Can Improve Health
1. STUDENT: Wife of a private school principal:
HEALTH PROBLEM: High blood pressure and was on medication.
RESULT: After 3 Tai Chi lessons, she told me that she did not have to take her medicine anymore because her blood pressure was back to normal.
2. STUDENT: A female student in her late 50’s whose son was in Iraq:
HEALTH PROBLEMS:
A. Stiff neck – hard time changing lanes while driving
B. Hands couldn’t reach the back seat of her car.
RESULT: After a few Tai Chi lessons & stretching exercises, she told me that:
A. She could turn her neck to switch lanes
B. She could reach the back seat to get things, too.
3. STUDENT: A female student in her early 40’s:
A. HEALTH PROBLEM: She missed her period for over a year. Her doctor told her that she was in menopause and advised her to take medicine, but she did not want to because of side effects. She was very upset because she was only in her 40’s and still wanted to have a baby boy.
RESULT: I taught her only 1 lesson, mainly on this problem. Next class, she told me that her menstruation came back on the 4th day after my lesson, and it was pretty heavy, too. She was very happy.
B. HEALTH PROBLEM: She also had problems going up & down the stairs.
RESULT: She said since she started my class, she did not have to think anymore when she walked up & down stairs.
4. STUDENT: A nurse in an Adult Day Care Center:
HEALTH PROBLEM: Suffered pain from her sciatic nerve for many years.
RESULT: She happened to drop in on one of my classes there. At the end of the class, she came to thank me. She told me that it was the first time she felt relief from the pain in her legs (due to her sciatic nerve), and she had suffered this pain for many years. She had been taking medicine for many years too and hated it.
She couldn’t believe that she took my class only once and her pain was gone. She was very happy & thanked me for the lesson.
5. STUDENT: An electrician:
A. HEALTH PROBLEM: For many years, he could not sit Indian style, with the legs crossed in front of his body, and his legs could not be pulled closed to his body.
RESULT: At the end of his first Tai Chi lesson with me, he had to sit on the floor to put on his shoes because all of the seats were taken. All of a sudden he yelled out to his wife, who was also taking Tai Chi that he could sit on the floor. Then he told us that he has not been able to sit on the floor with his legs crossed for many years.
He usually had to stretch one leg out before he could bend his other leg close to his body or he sat with both legs stretched out. His wife was so surprised that he could finally sit on the floor Indian style and could tie his shoes as well.
B. HEALTH PROBLEM: Has a big belly.
RESULT: He said after taking my class for 8 months, he lost 10 lbs. around his belly.
C. HEALTH PROBLEM: High blood pressure and on medication
RESULT: His blood pressure has dropped to 108
D. HEALTH PROBLEM: He often had neck aches because he did not realize his shoulders were often up
RESULT: He said while he was driving, he heard my voice, “Shoulders down.” He checked his shoulders; they were up when he rested his elbow on the window. Since then, he is now more aware of his shoulders. His neck aches are finally gone.
6. STUDENT: A University Professor:
A. HEALTH PROBLEM: Sinus
RESULT: She said last class, she found it very helpful when I taught her the acupressure points on the face. Her sinus problem was gone and had never come back.
B. HEALTH PROBLEM: Had a crooked spine due to an injury many years ago.
RESULT: After taking Tai Chi for a few months and correcting her posture and movements with the Tai Chi principles, she said people told her that she looked taller.
C. HEALTH PROBLEM: She said she took Taiji for 6 months at another Taiji school, and she still could not stand too well.
RESULT: After taking my class for 6 months, she can now stand very well and feel that her spine is more aligned.
D. HEALTH PROBLEM: High blood pressure and on medication, but it never could go lower than 128.
RESULT: After taking my class, her blood pressure came down to 110.
E. HEALTH PROBLEM: She had been suffering from asthma since she was 13 years old.
RESULT: After taking my class for 8 months, her doctor told her that her asthma was better than the women of her age without asthma. Her doctor used to tell her that her lungs looked like an old woman. Now, he said her lungs looked like those of a young woman.
F. HEALTH PROBLEM: Her hip was very stiff and her movement very restricted because of her injury to her spine.
RESULT: Her doctor found her hip more flexible now because she often practices the stretching exercises I showed her as part of her Tai Chi.
G. HEALTH PROBLEM: Had headaches and shoulders pains
RESULT: She said she heard my voice, “Shoulders down” in a dream, woke up and noticed her shoulders were up when she slept. She did not know she raised up her shoulders while sleeping. Now she is more aware of her shoulders, keeps them down, and does not have any more headaches or shoulders pains.
7. STUDENT: A Tai Chi student from another school:
HEALTH PROBLEM: Had arthritis in her fingers and could not make a fist.
RESULT: After I showed her a simple finger exercise, she could make a fist right away.
8. STUDENT: A retired housewife:
A. HEALTH PROBLEM: Had pain on one spot on her lower back for many years.
RESULT: I taught her with a Pilate ball rolling up and down against the wall. In a minute or two, she was so shocked and screamed out that her pain was completely gone.
B. HEALTH PROBLEM: One day, she came to class, feeling very nauseated & like passing out any minute because her doctor had just given her a new antibiotic for her life-time health problem.
RESULT: When I found out her problem, I started to teach her the Qigong for her spleen & stomach. In less than 5 or 10 minutes, she felt much better and could attend a 2-hour class with no problem at all.
9. STUDENT: A manager of a medical office who was also a nurse:
A. HEALTH PROBLEM: Suffered lower back pain everyday due to 3 bulging herniated discs, sciatic nerve, and compressed bone… She could not be a nurse and because of her back problem, she could not care for any patients. Her doctor advised her to do the surgery, but she did not want to.
RESULT: After her first class, her pain went away for 5 days, and it took only one lesson. After her second class, her pain went away for 6 days. She said normally if she forgot to take the medicine, her pain would bother her right away. Shortly after taking my class, when she forgot her medicine, she did not feel the pain right away.
After taking Tai Chi for six months, her excruciating pain was completely gone. She could walk better, sleep better, and lost 20 pounds.
B. HEALTH PROBLEM: Could not walk in the mall too long without pain.
RESULT: After taking my Tai Chi lessons for a few months, now she could walk during her vacation in Hawaii WITHOUT pain. She said six months ago, she could not walk very long. She considered this a great improvement.
She is a very dedicated student. She practices whenever she has a chance, and has missed class only once. Even jet-lagged coming back from her Hawaii vacation, she came to class the next day.
When she had a commitment with her church one evening, she still made a great effort to come for the last 5 – 10 minutes of class. She realized that Tai Chi was very important to her health.
10. STUDENT: A Yang style Tai Chi teacher who had been teaching for over 10 years and knew many Qigong. When she came to me, she said she had been looking for a (good) Tai Chi teacher for over 3 years. She had talked to other Tai Chi teachers & Sifus before until she finally found me to be her teacher.
A. HEALTH PROBLEM: She had a physical check-up & found that she had pre- cancer & needed surgery.
RESULT: I taught her several Qigong exercises with reverse breathing. She practiced everyday. After 4 weeks or so, she went back for an x-ray for her surgery. Surprisingly, her pre-cancer cells were all gone. She did not need surgery.
B. HEALTH PROBLEM: Congestion in her lungs for 6 mos. as a result of her pneumonia. She had been practicing her Yang style Tai Chi & Qigong daily, but could not clear her lungs.
RESULT: After her first lesson with me, she said for the first time she could feel relief from the congestion in her lungs. A few more classes later, her congestion was mostly gone.
C. HEALTH PROBLEM: Pains & restriction in her hips for a few years due to a car accident.
RESULT: We were practicing at the park and I taught her Tai Chi walking, corrected the narrow stance in her Yang style form, and after class, we walked to the the parking lot. She was very happy and said that she could walk pain free now.
At first, I didn’t understand because we were just walking to the parking lot. Then, she told me about her pain and the long time restriction in her hips. It hurt when she walked. She said, now she could walk PAIN free and it took only 1 lesson.
11. STUDENT: Another Yang Style Tai Chi teacher who has been teaching for 7 years.
HEALTH PROBLEMS:
A. High blood pressure and on medication
B. Hip surgery 5 years ago due to osteoporosis.
RESULT: I was surprised to hear that, esp. since she had been teaching Yang Style Tai Chi for 7 years (because when I started Tai Chi, the first thing I noticed was my blood pressure had dropped from 160 to 120) and Tai Chi was suppose to help osteoporosis and bone density, too. She said she probably was not doing it right and she could not feel the Qi when she practiced Tai Chi.
A. I taught her meditation with reverse breathing and the 8 Pieces of Brocade, which my students found very effective to their external and internal health. When she came for her fourth lesson, she told me that she just had a physical check-up and found her blood pressure was back to normal and she did not need to take her medicine anymore.
B. She also said that she could feel her hips were not so tight and restricted, which was caused from her hips replacement surgery, and did not have pain anymore when she sat Indian style, with the legs crossed in front of her body for meditation.
12. STUDENT: A female in her early 60’s working at Washington University:
A. HEALTH PROBLEMS: When she came to me, she was extremely stiff:
a. She walked wobbly, like a penguin.
b. She was out of breath just walking from her car to my class.
c. She walked down the stairs very clumsily & heavily.
d. She could not raise up her arms above her head.
e. She could not turn her neck more than 30 degree to the side.
f. She could not lift her foot off the floor without falling.
g. In her entire life, she could not sit down on the floor and had a hard time standing up.
h. She could not bend over to touch her toes.
i. She could not do the floor stretching exercises.
j. She could not wring a towel because she could not make a fist or curl her fingers inward.
k. Her fingers were always crooked and she could not hold them out straight.
l. Her balance and flexibility were extremely poor.
RESULT: After one year of training in Tai Chi, she lost weight and became more flexible. It was amazing that she can do everything now that she could not do before (as mentioned above), esp. like lifting up one leg and do the circle required in the form, getting up and down on the floor, etc. She got up 1 hour early just to do the exercises I taught her. She said those exercises gave her energy that could last all day without feeling exhausted at the end of the day.
B. HEALTH PROBLEM: When she was a new student, she went for surgery to clear the duct to her liver because her gall bladder had been removed a few years ago. If she did not watch her diet, the duct to her liver would be clogged again and she would need another surgery.
After her surgery, she suffered excruciating pain near her rib cage and liver. She had complained to 4 to 5 doctors and they all said she just had surgery and it would take time for her pain to go away.
RESULT: After suffering this pain for 4 weeks, she could not take it anymore and came back to my class. I noticed she did not raise her arms up in a Qigong exercise. Then, she told me about her surgery. So, I changed the Qigong exercises just for her. Next class, she told me that her pain was all gone.
C. HEALTH PROBLEM: After that surgery, she started to have terrible problems with her bowel movements. Taking fruits, laxative medicine and drinking lots of water could not help. In her entire life, her bowel movements were always normal until the surgery.
RESULT: Since I started teaching my stretching exercises and the 8 Pieces of Brocade, her bowel movement was cured and back to normal.
She said when I started teaching these exercises, she was thinking of dropping out of class because everybody could do them except her. She found these exercises extremely difficult due to her severe stiffness plus her other health problems as mentioned above. But her friend and fellow student told her, “Be patient. You will never find a great teacher like her so patient and knowledgeable”.
Later on, she told me that she was glad that she did not quit my class. But for my help and encouragement, she could not have done these exercises and improve all of her health problems. (She took 8 other Tai Chi classes before finding me, and found no improvement at all plus the instructor did not explain much. Hence, she did not care much for Tai Chi until her friend told her to try again with me).
Now she studies very hard with me to improve her health, flexibility, and mobility. Whatever technique I teach, she is no loner afraid of doing. With her dedication and daily practice, she is now so flexible that she can raise her arms above her head and turn her palms towards the ceiling. Her hands do not curl in anymore. She often states that Tai Chi not only improved her health tremendously, it also gave her freedom of mobility and brought back her enjoyment of life.
D. HEALTH PROBLEM: Unfortunately, she fell down her basement stairs while carrying a box of toys and talking to her husband upstairs and hit her head on the concrete floor.
RESULT: From the way she described her fall, her doctors and the hospital staff were shocked that she did not break her neck and die. Miraculously, she had no injuries, broken bones or bruises on her body either; just some swellings on top of her head and a big bruise under her right chin.
In her next check-up, her doctor was surprised that her swelling went down so fast and she recovered so much faster than other patients. Normally, their patients would take 9 mos. to recover, but she took only 9 weeks. (Many doctors and medical researchers have noticed too that Tai Chi practitioners recover much faster than non-Tai Chi practitioners). Her dentist was amazed too that she did not break her jaw and just needed minor alignment.
This student often thanked me for teaching her Tai Chi (so patiently), The 8 Pieces of Brocade, and the stretching exercises, which saved her life too. She said if I did not insist and help her do these exercises, she would not be so flexible and would have probably broken her neck and died.
She knew 4 people who also fell down the stairs. Two died, one had a severe spinal injury, and the fourth one had multiple injuries and broken bones. She felt very fortunate and lucky to have survived and with no broken bones.