The German Connection

In April 2000 I travelled to Waldenberg, Germany to run some workshops at a Taijiquan & Qigong Conference organised in association with the German Taijiquan & Qigong Netwerk. During this conference Ramona Krone was sufficiently taken with my performance of the Dayan Qigong form to invite me to run some workshops for her in Hamburg. Since that conference and since I started teaching regularly in Germany my life has changed in so many ways that I could never have forecasted.

It was in Waldenberg that I met Gabi, who subsequently moved to Scotland to be with me, bringing, of course, her two wonderful daughters - Hannah & Nelly and our precious new addition Paul who is now 15 months old.

In late September 2003 I travelled to Hamburg to be with Gabi and the children who had travelled over for the latter summer months. During my visit Andrea Zimmerman invited me to attend her regular weekly Dayan Qigong which she had been teaching for about two years.

The class was held in a beautiful Karate Dojo which was very spacious, fresh and clean. Andrea and her students arrived dressed in very neat black Chinese kungfu suits, making me feel decidedly out of place. We bowed before entering the room and took our places on the floor. Andrea invited me to take the class but since our time together was relatively short, I felt more could be gained by observing the class and offering comments thereafter. Andrea took her small group through a series of warm up exercises which were designed to relax and loosen the body. They worked slowly and consciously on their movements with Andrea softly guiding them through the exercises. After some 20 minutes the group slowly performed the routine, being led by Andrea.

It was obvious that the group had practised regularly and the fact that they managed to sustain their practice with a degree of quality, without regular input from me was a testament to the good work and practice that Andrea had put in over the past two years or so. Forms are difficult to perform well and they can be particularly difficult if regular correction is not so readily available. Andrea has attended a number of workshops with me in Hamburg, and in Scotland and has obviously spent a lot of time on the art, on her own. Her teaching was obviously clear with the students having a good sense of the direction of the movements. What they lacked was something that comes with experience and understanding, once you are familiar with the sequences of the movements.

When you are performing any routine, whether a qigong or taiji sequence it is important to know the purpose and intent behind each movement. In the Dayan Qigong sequence some moves are stimulating particular acupoints and others are releasing blockages or 'negative energies.' It is important that you are 'in' the movements when performing them, realsing that the intent and focus helps to manifest the flow of 'qi' energy through the meridians. Without this clear direction the movements are obviously less effective in doing their desired task. We spend some time together, going over each movement, clarifying the direction of the focus, where the eyes should be and how the body, particularly the arms should feel when performing the movements.

It was good to see students of students doing well and working hard and good to know that with Andrea's assistance they would reap the benefits of this wonderful qigong system.

Ronnie Robinson