Some teachers will indeed tell you that precise alignment is the key to qigong. But that is verifiably false. As you’ll see, you can still do powerful qigong despite imprecise form and alignment.

All the best
Majken

One very interesting aspect is that when I do a set of Qigong movements, my posture changes in a nice way, not because I think it should, but because the Qi seems to want my body to take on a nice upright form. It feels very nice and very natural, as if my body is waking up to the understanding of how nice it feels to be in alignment. This “waking up” is what the movement of the Qi is inducing in me.

There is this preoccupation with form in various mediums. Sometimes, when I’m on hold on the phone and they play some classical piano music, I can understand that the guy’s form is perfect, but that it sounds like a robot is playing. There’s no feeling. It is even irritating to listen, even though I know the guy is highly trained. I can imagine how the same lines could be very beautiful if played with a “smile from the heart”.
That preoccupation with form will always be there. Many of the classical masters (in different in different disciplines) were denounced in their day because they were introducing something new. But when it becomes accepted, it becomes like a religion of some kind.
In short, there is form and there is content. Form without content is useless; because content is the goal of the form. In this case the content is Qi. Form is secondary. The Qi has all wisdom, and will make the most of what we have to work with.
Also, I am finding that the Qi is the leader and I am the follower. I try to tune into the Qi and it “tells” me which way it wants to move. In this way, I find myself moving in ways that I have not expected or been instructed. But I love it. We come from a culture in which everyone is being pushed into conforming to a given mold, and it simply doesn’t work. Qigong is about tuning into the higher intelligence that the Qi provides so that we can find out what works for us as individuals.
So nice to be in touch again Sifu Anthony. Please continue posting written material. Your student, Ishan das

I can confirm that the Flowing Zen teaching gave me a better understanding of what was going on, the points which would give me the best results and also the areas which weren’t so significant.

If you haven’t already started training with Flowing Zen, I can really recommend it. I didn’t find it less accessible despite not being in the same room as the teacher.

“..whatever hand you’ve been dealt, qigong will significantly improve it.”

Hi Kevin. So you want to know my stance on stances? 😉

No offline teacher is one thing. No teacher at all is another thing entirely.

I teach zhan zhuang in my Qigong 101 program, which is online. But I teach a bit differently than most. First of all, I teach systematically. By the time you start learning zhan zhuang, you’ve systematically learned the fundamentals of qigong.

Secondly, I also teach using what I call the “Inside-Out Method”. In short, I teach students to feel their way into zhan zhuang postures rather than try to mimic an idea of a posture. This works because, by the time they learn zhan zhuang, they have enough skill to actually sense the qi in their body.

Master Lam’s books is a great resource, but it’s just a book. You can’t ask questions, there are no videos, and his whole approach is more traditional.