Mantak Chia - Iron Shirt Chi Kung

Acknowledgments

I thank foremost those Taoist Masters who were kind enough to share their knowledge with me, never imagining it would eventually be taught to Westerners. I acknowledge special thanks to Roberta Prada and Roderick Kettlewell for encouraging the production of this book, for their input on the original manuscript, and for their editing regarding technical procedures.

I thank the many contributors essential to this books final form: Susan Davidson, editor at Inner Traditions/Destiny Books, for her many contributions to clarifying the text; the artist, Juan Li, for many hours spent drawing, making illustrations of the bodys internal functions; Terry Goss for his chapter on the relationships between breath and structural alignment, which helps tremendously in understanding the practice of Iron Shirt; Larry Short for sharing some of the Tibetan Nui Kung Exercises; Michael Brosnahan for helping to clarify the technical points of structure; Dr. Michael Posner for sharing his view of chiropractic and Iron Shirt; and Gunther Weil, Ph.D., Rylin Malone, and many of my students for their feedback.

For their assistance in producing the original edition of this book, I thank Jo Ann Cutreria, our secretary, for making so many contacts and working endlessly; Daniel Bobek for long hours at the computer; John-Robert Zielinski for setting up the new computer system and for his interview of Michael Winn; Valerie Meszaros for editing the book, organizing, typing, and revising it on the computer, and proofreading; Helen Stites for proofreading; Adam Sacks, our computer consultant, who assisted in solving computer problems as they arose during the final stages of production; Michael Winn for general editing, and Cathy Umphress for design and paste ups. Special thanks are extended to David Miller for overseeing design and production of the original edition and to Felix Morrow for his valuable advice and help in editing and producing this book and for agreeing to be the original publisher of Universal Tao Publications.

Without my son, Max, the book would have been academic; for his gifts, my gratitude and love.

Putting Iron Shirt Chi Kung into Practice

The practices described in this book have been used successfully for thousands of years by Taoists trained by personal instruction. Readers should not undertake these practices without receiving personal instruction from a certified instructor of the Universal Tao, because some of these practices, if done improperly, may cause injury or result in health problems. This book is intended to supplement individual training by a Universal Tao instructor and to serve as a reference guide for Universal Tao practices. Anyone who undertakes these practices on the basis of this book alone does so entirely at his or her own risk. Universal Tao instructors can be located at our websites: www.universal-tao.com or www.taoinstructors.org.

The practices of Iron Shirt Chi Kung are very powerful and therefore very effective. To ensure that you carry them out properly, prepare yourself first by learning the Microcosmic Orbit Meditation, the Inner Smile, and the Six Healing Sounds. These will enable you to identify and eliminate energy blockages that may occur in your Iron Shirt practice during the learning stages. Also, practice the preliminary exercises until you are proficient at them and comfortable with them. This will give you the conditioning you need to proceed comfortably to the Iron Shirt Chi Kung postures.

The meditations, practices, and techniques described herein are not intended to be used as an alternative or substitute for professional medical treatment and care. If a reader is suffering from a mental or emotional disorder, he or she should consult with an appropriate professional health care practitioner or therapist. Such problems should be corrected before one starts training.

This book does not attempt to give any medical diagnosis, treatment, prescription, or remedial recommendation in relation to any human disease, ailment, suffering, or physical condition whatsoever.

Chinese medicine and Chi Kung emphasize balancing and strengthening the body so that it can heal itself. The meditations, internal exercises, and martial arts of the Universal Tao are basic approaches to this end. Follow the instructions for each exercise carefully. Also pay special attention to the warnings and suggestions. People who have high blood pressure, heart disease, or a generally weak condition should proceed cautiously, having received prior consent from a qualified medical practitioner. People with venereal disease should not attempt any practices involving sexual energy until they are free of the condition.

The Universal Tao and its staff and instructors cannot be responsible for the consequences of any practice or misuse of the information in this book. If the reader undertakes any exercise without strictly following the instructions, notes, and warnings, the responsibility must lie solely with the reader.

Iron Shirt Chi Kung and the Universal Tao

In addition to the more popularly known martial arts disciplines of Kung Fu and Tai Chi, the Universal Tao System includes practices for vibrant health, the development of a state of mindfulness, and the management of vital energyones chi. The martial arts aspect of this training, the practice of Iron Shirt Chi Kung, develops a highly refined spiritual awareness.

The goal of the Universal Tao System is to keep our bodies in good condition on the physical plane in order to build and store chi energy for use at the higher level of the spiritual plane. The aim of the human spirit in the spiritual plane is to develop the immortal fetus. This is accomplished in two stages. The first stage is concerned with overcoming reincarnation; the second and final stage concerns educating the immortal fetus toward becoming a full-grown immortal spirit.

Iron Shirt is one of the most important exercises to master on the physical plane. Through Iron Shirt practice the student learns rooted-ness to Mother Earth energy, a phenomenon intrinsic to the spiritual plane (fig. 1.1). We can compare the rootedness of the physical body to a control tower, vital to the travel of a space shuttle (fig. 1.2). To boost the shuttlethe spiritinto space, the control tower on Earth requires a booster rocketin this case the soul, or energy bodywhich is guided by an inner compass and computerthe pineal gland. The control tower, in the form of the physical body developed during the practice of Iron Shirt, becomes a storage place for fuelthat fuel being our chi (life-force energy) and our creative, or sexual, energy.

Fig. 1.1. Iron Shirt practice teaches rootedness to Mother Earth.

In our Iron Shirt body our fuel awaits transformation into another kind of energy: spiritual energy. Yet we must maintain our foundation, our rootedness to the Earth, so that as we learn to travel to the immortal realms we are able to return to Earth and refuel our bodies (fig. 1.3). From there we can resume our travel to our destination until, eventually, we are able to discard the earthly base entirely.

Fig. 1.2. Launching the spiritual body through rooting to the Earth