If you’ve had any exposure to the Chi Kung/Qigong I teach then you’ll be aware of PERFECT. If not then, let me point out that PERFECT is an acronym that I use to help my students quickly learn the skills and techniques of Qigong. Where:
P = Preparation
E = Enter a QSoM
R = Really Smile from your Heart
F = Form
E = Energy Flow
C = Cosmic Balance/Standing Zen
T = Time to Complete
A common question I get is where did P.E.R.F.E.C.T. come from. So today I’d like to share the origins of: The PERFECT Qigong System – 7 Simple Steps To Qigong Mastery.
The first thing to mention is that the P.E.R.F.E.C.T. system is my way of teaching Shaolin Qigong to my students. It is not the “official” way. If you take a course with my teacher, you won’t hear him going through 7 steps like I do. So where did P.E.R.F.E.C.T. come from and why do I use it?
There’s something you should know about me. I love systems (preferably tried and tested ones). I like things to be done in a structured, systematic way. I find it so much easier to learn something that is presented in a clear, logical and sequential fashion. So when I first started learning Shaolin Cosmos Qigong from my teacher, it seemed to me that there were clearly separate steps – from when you started your practice to when you finished it. That was were the seed for P.E.R.F.E.C.T. was first planted.
Later as I taught my own students I noticed that I kept moving from 1 spot to another as I moved from 1 step of Shaolin Qigong to the other. The seed was starting to grow. I began to be convinced that if I could find a suitable acronym then I could really help my own students to learn the techniques of Shaolin Qigong much quicker and as a result they could then focus on developing the all important skills.
It wasn’t until I started writing ‘Shaolin Chi Kung’ that P.E.R.F.E.C.T. was born. I was sat at my desk staring at the wall. On the wall was a post-it note with the word “perfect” on it. I’ve no idea what it was doing there, but I noticed that it had 7 letters and that corresponded to the number of clearly different steps I felt composed a Shaolin Qigong practise session. It took me less than 5 minutes to match up the P,E,F and E. It took me a little longer to get the R and it took me even longer to get the T. All I was missing was the C.
C drove me crazy! I just couldn’t seem to find a way to make Standing Meditation, Entering Silence, Standing Zen or Entering Zen fit with the letter C. And then, whilst reading one of my teachers excellent Q and A’s I read the words “Cosmic Balance”. I’d found my C and P.E.R.F.E.C.T. was finally born in all its glory.
Now please bear in mind that P.E.R.F.E.C.T. is just a vehicle, a tool to aid your learning, nothing more. Let me explain. Let’s say you are travelling by car to see your friend. When you get to your destination you don’t take your car in with you. The car has done it’s job and you leave it where it is when you no longer need it. The same can be said of P.E.R.F.E.C.T. when you absolutely know how to flow with unconscious competence from one step to the next in your Shaolin Qigong practise, without having to think about it then you no longer need to use P.E.R.F.E.C.T.
Let me give you another example of how your practise of Shaolin Qigong progresses. When you start learning, it might take you 5 minutes to enter a Qigong State of Mind (QSoM). After a short while, if you practise correctly and daily, it will take you less and less time to enter a QSoM. Until at one point you will be able to do it in a single breath and fully access this higher state of consciousness typified by being focused and relaxed.
Let me make it clear that the Qigong I teach is still Shaolin Cosmos Qigong, as it was taught to me by my teacher. But I use the P.E.R.F.E.C.T. system with my students to speed up their grasp of the techniques of Qigong so that they can spend more time developing the vital skills of qigong and get better results in a shorter time.
I like to think of it as the best of both worlds.
Bye for now
Marcus James Santer