In honor of our school’s 20th anniversary, I’d like to share the story of how it all began. About 25 years ago, I started teaching qigong at community centers. At that time, most people in the Western world were familiar with tai chi but not qigong. My first class had only four students, one of whom was a friend. However, as word spread about the many benefits students got from my classes, they grew in popularity. This inspired me to share the wonders of qigong more widely.
Back then, internet forums (bbs) were popular, but I couldn’t find any dedicated to qigong. There was only a subsection in a tai chi forum. I shared my teaching experiences and student testimonials there, which piqued the interest of many tai chi and qigong enthusiasts. There was no YouTube at that time; sharing large video files online was costly and inefficient as most were still using dial-up internet. So, I filmed myself performing the forms with verbal instructions, burned the videos onto CDs, and mailed them to interested individuals for free, asking only for shipping costs.
In just a few years, I distributed thousands of free video CDs. (Today, you can view the free video and instruction manual on my website.) During those years, I received a few thank you emails daily about how my qigong system had helped them, which was my greatest reward for continuing to send those free videos to different corners of the world.
As interest grew, many tai chi and qigong enthusiasts from Europe, Asia, North, and South America expressed a desire to teach my qigong system. In 2004, I officially founded my school and offered my first instructor training workshop. I was amazed to see participants coming from different continents.
Realizing that not all qigong enthusiasts could afford the travel expenses to attend my workshops, an idea to teach internationally was sparked. Two years later, I embarked on my first international teaching tour. Over the next 12 years, I trained thousands of tai chi qigong instructors in over 20 countries.
My first international workshop was in the UK, which is also the country where I have trained the most instructors. Thanks to their efforts, my qigong teachings have spread across various institutions, including schools, hospitals, and even correctional facilities there. Despite budget cuts in recent years, the National Health Service there continues to sponsor staff enrollment in my qigong instructor training courses. This has greatly increased the awareness and benefits of qigong across the country.
Having more people aware of the benefits of qigong is especially important these days, as the pandemic has adversely affected many people’s health. While “authorities” have announced that the pandemic is over, its impact continues, as many are just starting to realize how their health has deteriorated.
Thank you for being part of our journey over the past 20 years. We look forward to many more years of spreading the benefits of qigong together.