Eight Simple Qigong Exercises For Health - The 8 Pieces of Brocade

Starring:Jwing-Ming Dr. Yang
Director: David Silver
Studio: YMAA Publication Center
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
In this best-selling video, Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming instructs and demonstrates "the Eight Pieces of Brocade", one of the most popular sets of Chinese healing exercises. These gentle breathing, stretching and strengthening movements activate the Qi energy and blood circulation in your body, helping to stimulate your immune system, strengthen your internal organs, and give you abundant energy. With both a sitting and standing set, anyone can practice these simple and effective exercises in as little as 15 -20 minutes a day.

"...thousands of illnesses vanish into dust..."

Known in China as the Ba Duan Jin, the Eight Pieces of Brocade has been practiced for over 1,000 years. Also included are the `secret words' - poetry that has been used to pass this knowledge down from generation to generation, which contains the key to each of these ancient medical qigong movements.

This DVD edition includes a detailed and fascinating qigong lecture by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming, with over an hour of additional explanation and instruction of each of the qigong movements, and the history of the Eight Pieces of Brocade.

 Two complete sets of exercises  Time-tested, traditional Chinese healing art  Modern scientific explanation of healing principles  Multi-Language Edition- Narrated in English or French, with original Chinese poetry narrated by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming

Special Features: Over 50 Scene Selections  Menus in English or French  Language: English, French and Chinese  Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch  Interactive YMAA Product Catalog  Chinese Glossary  Biography: Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming  History: YMAA

"8 Simple Qigong Exercises"  Written & Performed by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming  Edited by David Silver and Media Manic  Video Production Supervision by David Silver  DVD Production by Media Manic  Directed by Dr.Yang, Jwing-Ming and David Silver

Description

In this best-selling video, Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming instructs and demonstrates "the Eight Pieces of Brocade", one of the most popular sets of Chinese healing exercises. These gentle breathing, stretching and strengthening movements activate the Qi energy and blood circulation in your body, helping to stimulate your immune system, strengthen your internal organs, and give you abundant energy. With both a sitting and standing set, anyone can practice these simple and effective exercises in as little as 15 -20 minutes a day.

"...thousands of illnesses vanish into dust..."

• Two complete sets of exercises • Time-tested, traditional Chinese healing art • Modern scientific explanation of healing principles • Multi-Language Edition- Narrated in English or French, with original Chinese poetry narrated by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming

Special Features: Over 50 Scene Selections • Menus in English or French • Language: English, French and Chinese • Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch • Interactive YMAA Product Catalog • Chinese Glossary • Biography: Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming • History: YMAA

"8 Simple Qigong Exercises" • Written & Performed by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming • Edited by David Silver and Media Manic • Video Production Supervision by David Silver • DVD Production by Media Manic • Directed by Dr.Yang, Jwing-Ming and David Silver

195 minutes - color/ DVD9 - NTSC -All Regions © Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming 2003

Customer Reviews:

Good exercise for health inside out........2007-05-13

I started this exercise for 1.5 months and see some result,since I'm overweight,it's not a weight loss(for now) but my neck & back aches were gone and more energy. I started with the same repetitions as in DVD (6)then build up to 9 and now 12 will be 24 as Dr. Yang said soon. The exercise need quiet time to do.

Excellent Qigong exercise.......2006-10-17

I probably own four or five books on the 8 Pieces of Brocade, a Qigong exercise that at first does not appear to be complex or difficult to learn. After reading the various books on this exercise I felt that I had a pretty good grasp of how to do the exercises and what to expect. Watching this DVD was very enlightening and corrected some misconceptions I had about the exercises. The book by Dr. Yang, Jwing Ming is excellent, but as suggested by the author, using the DVD and the book together is a very effective technique for obtaining accurate and effective results while doing this form.

The DVD offers both the Sitting and Standing versions of the 8 Pieces of Brocade exercise. Dr. Yang starts off the DVD with a history of the 8 Pieces of Brocade, which was created approximately one thousand years ago.
The 8 Pieces of Brocade is presented in two main sections, the sitting version and the standing version. First shown is an analysis of the steps in the sitting version.

Throughout this analysis the DVD uses multiple angle shots to display the front, sides and rear of Dr. Yang as he demonstrates each of the movements. Additionally, the added benefit of sound helps the student to realize for example how hard to tap the teeth, or when to breath in and out. Even the tapping of the fingers on the back of the skull during one of the exercises helps the student to do the movement correctly by listening to the sound that is made when Dr. Yang demonstrates the movement.

Following a very detailed and clear presentation during the analysis of the 8 Pieces of Brocade, the form is then shown in its entirety. With the convenient chapter markers available on the DVD, the student can easily follow along whatever section they choose. The movement to DVD for the YMAA products has made learning much easier by allowing this convenient and instant access to any part of the material.

After the analysis of the sitting form of the 8 Pieces of Brocade, the DVD then presents the analysis of the standing form of the 8 Pieces of Brocade, followed by a continuous demonstration of the form.

The student is then treated to a lecture by Dr. Yang on the 8 Pieces of Brocade. This lecture is approximately 50 minutes and has a wealth of information about the form. Clever use of animation helps to illustrate the flow of chi that occurs while doing the form.

In my opinion, the way to learn martial arts successfully is to employ the following tools:

Instruction from a teacher

Studying printed material

Visualization in your mind

Self practice and study while doing the forms

Writing a journal to record what is learned or taught during each lesson
Watching videos of the teacher

Filming yourself and comparing it to the image you had in your mind of how you were doing the form

Socialize and share your knowledge with other students and work on the principles together

Try teaching one of the concepts, moves, techniques or applications to a person who has no knowledge of Taijiquan. In the process you will easily learn as much as the person you are trying to teach.

This DVD is one of the above mentioned tools, and a wonderful addition for the serious student to learn and practice properly the 8 Pieces of Brocade.

A very good Qigong beginner's introduction DVD.......2006-03-22

This DVD lives up to its promises - it introduces you to the world of Qigong. I have personally practised some Qigong exercises before - from some books - but after watching this DVD I realized that I was doing them somewhat wrong. I didn't see any of what I had been practising in this video, however, doing Qigong is like a poem (actually, it was a poem for ancient Chinese), like a moving meditation, it's soft and smooth, whereas I had a rigid and strict execution. This DVD presents two sets of exercises - sitting (on a bed, let's say) for elderly and weak people, and standing - for everyone else. There is a track presenting the history of Qigong, specifically this set, and detailed explanations of each exercise, including medical benefits (e.g. what internal organ you would be massaging by doing them). Granted, you need more information (e.g.on breathing - it is only briefly touched), but then again, a beginner could only get so much or else (s)he becomes scared of so many new things. Still, Dr. Yang has a book with the same title, I've ordered and received mine (but haven't started reading it yet), that should explain more things. The book and the video complement each other - the former has more information, but the latter shows you the execution. Get them both.
I'm also a beginner, and have no teacher, but apparently, looking at customer reviews for Qigong beginners, this is the course path that I recommend (that is what I am going to order and study, even if I get a teacher in the meantime):
- Stick to 8 Pieces of Brocade until you execute it well, and by that I mean not only physical execution - which you will probably get soon, it's very simple, but also mental - you master it when you are able to focus on it from beginning to end, or sort of.
- Get "Chi Kung: The Way of healing" by Master Lam Kam Chuen, those exercises should prepare you for the next stage
- Get "Chi Kung: The Way of energy" by Master Lam Kam Chuen and "Opening the energy gates of your body" by Bruce Frantzis Kumar, those books complement each other. Note that apparently all the exercise in "Way of healing" are actually easier selections from "Way of energy", so don't be surprised. I guess, because of this you could skip the "Way of healing" phase completely.
When all the above is done - you should have greatly improved your energetics, but it could take years or even a lifetime without a teacher. You are then ready to study Dr. Yang's other books - I won't write the relevant ones here (although I had started too, but removed the paragraph), by then you should know which they are, they don't belong in this beginner's review. Anyway, at that stage you should probably get a teacher.
In short, this is a nice beginner's introduction, short of having a teacher. Did I mention to get a teacher?

Qigong for Health.......2006-02-24

I highly reccommend this DVD for interested beginners and experienced Martial Arts practitioners alike who wish to learn a set of Qigong exercises designed to improve health. The DVD is thoughtfully produced and has a lot of interesting background and historical information. A novice will be able to learn a complete set of breathing and movement exercises in a very short time.

Works great.......2006-01-24

I have had this a while, but haven't used it since it's so easy, it's boring. Therefore, I only use it when I'm not feeling well.
Recently I had a severe allergic reaction & used this. I have been using herbs & acupuncture, but I really felt so much better faster using this to build up my energy. Even when I was very dizzy & felt horrible, I went very slowly on the standing exercises & felt much better after, more energy deep down & was able to fall asleep faster then I had in days.
The sitting ones are even more easy for those who cannot stand.
In the demonstration/how-to area, there is an English or American narrator while they show a clip of Dr. Yang doing the exercises a few times. In another section, the practice is Dr. Yang shows you the complete exercises about 3-20x each which only takes about 10-15 min. Unfortunately on mine, in this section, the sound seems to be faster/off by 3-5 full seconds.
Like almost all Qi Gong videos, they all say once you start, you must complete it & I always do a return to chi motion.
There are A LOT of extras. There is a nice amount of lecture about the basics of energy flow & how Qi Gong works. This dvd is almost two hours long, so you are getting your money's worth. Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming is one man any serious martial artist I have ever talked to knows & has read about.
There are trailers on his site at ymaa.

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