A Letter from Dr. Avi about the Qi Gong clinic:

Zhan Zhuang is arguably the most important Qi Gong exercise a person can learn. It is the foundation of Tai Ji (Tai Chi), many other forms of internal and external martial arts as well as medical Qi Gong and traditional Chinese medicine. I have pondered this statement for a long time and I feel confident I can make it: A person cannot learn Tai Chi properly, if at all, without learning the Zhan Zhuang (post standing). It is the foundation of Tai Chi, period. So if you ever plan on doing or learning any form or style of Tai Chi in the future, this is going to be essential for you. It is the equivalent of laying a foundation before building a house. This type of Qi Gong is the million dollar exercise.

Here is some information I pulled off of the internet so you can get an idea of the practice:

What is Zhan Zhuang?

https://wudang.academy/zhanzhuang

This is the first 10 minutes of a documentary the BBC did many moons ago, on the Yi Quan Zhan Zhuang:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y07FauHYlmg

The only flaw in this documentary is,  the teacher conflates the warm up exercises with the zhan zhuang itself. Which is misleading. The movement, warm up exercises are irrelevant.

There are two types of Zhan Zhuang I will demonstrate in this clinic:

1) The Tai Ji Quan (Tai Chi) form of Zhan Zhuang, which is more external to the physical body.

2) The Yi Quan (The Mind Intention) Zhan Zhuang, which is more internal to the etheric body.

Both work on the physical and etheric body, but the emphasis is stronger on one or the other, depending on which you practice. In many ways, the Tai Chi style is more important for Americans because of the common disc dysfunction found in the lumbar spine.

Wear loose comfortable clothing that is not restrictive with comfortable footwear. If it is warm enough, barefoot will be appropriate. Barefoot style footwear is absolutely the best, with zero drop or minimal heel elevation. The bones in the feet will expand, so a wide toe box is appropriate. My favorite zero drop shoes, personally, are the Merrell Vapor Glove, and the Fei Yue martial arts shoes. If you ever plan to do or learn tai chi, this would be essential footwear, because you do not want to do tai chi in a pair of running shoes or some of the shoes I see where the foot is elevated too far off of the ground by the sneaker itself. Bring fluids. No ice water. Absolutely no ice water or really cold beverages.

I appreciate your interest in learning this body/mind exercise. I will explain more on the day of the class. I will probably get there early and stay late. Here is a basic biography about my background below.

Best of Health,

Dr Avi

Here is the Venmo for the class or you can just bring a $20

https://venmo.com/code?user_id=2357889616314368951&created=1787940334

Dr. Avi’s Bio

Dr. Avi got his start in the healthcare industry 30 years ago as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor; teaching kickboxing, flexibility, and strength training classes in New Paltz, NY. In 1998 Dr. Avi started doing 推拿 tui na and 按摩 an mo, which are traditional systems of medical massage utilizing tendon, muscle, and bone manipulation.

In 1999, he began practicing acupuncture in New York City and started clinical work in large medical facilities in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx. During that time, Dr. Avi initiated his learning of the traditional Chen family Tai Ji (Tai Chi) and Shaolin Kung Fu.

In 2004, Dr. Avi moved overseas; living in China, Taiwan and Australia for 7 years. During that time, he focused on improving his skills in acupuncture, herbal medicine, dietetics, traditional physiotherapy, exercise therapy, Tai Ji and Qi Gong. After returning to the U.S. in late 2010, he began working in NYC and the Hudson Valley doing acupuncture again; this time with the addition of teaching Tai Ji and Qi Gong.

Dr. Avi landed in Colorado in 2015 to reconnect with his Colorado family. Dr. Avi specializes in pain management, lung, and digestive disorders, vitality, and longevity. His philosophy is one of teaching self-reliance and not dependency.

He holds his M.S. in Acupuncture Science from the Tri-State College of Acupuncture in New York City and his Doctorate in Acupuncture from the Pacific College of Health and Science in San Diego, CA.