nerve repair!

[Joan]

Hi everyone,

I have just come home from a class and thought that I would let you know what has happened.

Eric (17) started in my class three weeks before Christmas. He plays a lot of sports and has lots of old injuries, he was also feeling tired.
The second week, he told me that when he went to football practice during that week, he had more energy, he was able to do laps without feeling tired, and that a lot of his team mates commented on it. I thought, great, after only one week that was very good.!

Tonight, he arrived in and told me, that a few years ago, he fell off of his bike and knocked out his front teeth. A neighbour put them in milk! and ice very quickly and Eric was rushed to hospital, where the teeth were inserted again. The only problem was that the nerves had been damaged in the accident and Eric didn't have any feeling on this part of the gum area or teeth. After a time they started to become discoloured.

During Christmas, he noticed that the teeth were becoming white again and that some feeling was returning. He is amazed, as he had been told at the dental hospital that he would never regain sensitivity again. All of this in a matter of weeks.!

His Mother, who is also in the class, couldn't sleep and also had a lot of pain in her legs. On week two, she told me that she couldn't drink tea anymore, it tasted like poison to her. She had been drinking an average of 8-10 cups a day. Another week passed and the pain had disappeared in her legs, but her face became 'distorted' and 'puffy'. This disappeared after another week, she is now sleeping soundly, her leg pain has disappeared and she feels so much better. She also feels that her practice has given her courage to speak up in class, something that she wouldn't normally do. She is back on the tea but only two or three cups for the moment.

I think what I am amazed at, is the short length of time involved to achieve these results.

I wish them both continued success with their practice,
Joan.

[Andrew]

Joan,

What wonderful news! Once again your students prove the effectiveness of the Chi Kung which Sifu has so generously passed on to us.

As we all know, it takes 3 components to get these types of results - method, student and teacher. So congratulations to your students and most of all congratulations to you for being such an excellent teacher!

Andrew

[celticdragon]

Hi Joan,

I would just like to echo what WahnamCH has said.
One of the most frustrating things that I find is that, even though students feel and have Chi flows in their first class, the majority will not take the time to practice on a daily basis, but come back week after week for their 'fix'.
As regards the results your students are having, that is amazing, and they are lucky to have an obviously gifted and inspiring instructor.
Congratulations.

Cheers,

Richard

[Darryl]

Ditto



Congratulations to all involved for some very successfull practice and transmission.

[snowcelt]

Cup of cha

Hi Joan!

Congrats on your success! Your description of that lady reminded me of my mother. She is also an 8-10 cups of tea per day person. Can't beat Barry's green label tea! I even brought some back to Finland with me. Yum!

Best wishes,

Kevin

[Stefano]

These capabilities of nerve repair are amazing! Just think how many illnesses which are considered incurable in western medicine involve this aspect...

[snowcelt]

Chi flow through different tissues

Hi again,

i am not sure if this is so relevant to the thread but here goes. I was wondering if there is an difference at which chi can flow or move through different tissues in the human body. Joan's success with nerve repair is remarkable, especially as "classical" western medicine tells us that when the damage is done, that's pretty much it. In my limited understanding of how chi flows along meridians, this broadly equates to neve lines in the body. I have also read about chi flowing in the blood. Please correct me if this is way off the mark.
I have a problem with a ripped meniscus cartilage in my knee. After surgery, the doctor said it would take a long time to heal because cartilage is poorly supplied with blood vessels, and so unlike bone or muscle repairs much more slowly. I have tried to speed things up and help the healing process by walking and using Rotating Knees excercise, but occasionally, my knee "sticks"and I get darts of pain. It is now a year since the operation. Because of the injury, I have had to abandon Jiu jitsu which I found fascinating and really enjoyed. As everything was going well up to now, I found a class in European longsword. I thought "great, something which won't be as physically demanding on my knee as JJ". Two weeks into the course my knee has had other ideas though. This is really frustrating, and at the risk of sounding overly dramatic, am I fated to be at the mercy of my knee from now on? A life lived by what I can't do isn't much fun.

Any thoughts or comments?

Respectfully,

Kevin (in Finland)

[Antonius]

Kevin,

It usually takes a bit longer to get chi flowing freely to the legs. Hang in there.

[Darryl]

Perspective

Hi Kevin,

I would view it as a matter of perspective. Instead of looking at what you can't do, see what you now have more time to do. Are there books you have always put off reading, that language you always thought about learning, those friends you kept meaning to pop over and see?

This way, you take your mind away from your injury and allow it to heal in its own time. I agree with Antrhony Sihing, the legs take time.

For myself, my vision is not 100% just now and beforehand, I was always looking at what I couldn't do (work on PC's, read, watch films etc) so instead I looked at what I could do (meditate, sing, spend time with friends and family) and now I can use a PC, read books, watch films, meditate, sing (slightly better) and I spend more time with my friends and family.

[Joan]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the kind comments, the real praise goes to Sifu, for sharing his knowledge and time so generously with us all. Thank you Sifu.

Kevin: Yes, good tea alright, the Cork people will be delighted with you Enjoy. With regards to your knee, as Anthony and Darryl have already advised, continue on with your practice and the results will come. I suppose one of the things with Eric was that he didn't come to the class expecting to 'heal' the nerves on his gums, he wasn't even thinking about them. He just wished for more energy and to feel calm before his exams, this was an extra bonus. He just smiles all through his chi flows!

Richard: I don't seem to have that problem with my classes, those few who don't practice, fall out after week three, because, I think, they feel a bit silly when it is obvious that the majority of the class have been practising and they are shown up. Well, maybe I pick on them a bit more also, they either practice more or give up, as I don't tolerate 'fixers' in the class.

Most of you will have read of David in another thread, who lost all feeling in his arm for three years after a neck operation. He regained full use of that arm after some months of practice. After only 5 weeks he could hold a cup of tea (we drink a lot of the stuff in Ireland!) and it just became stronger and stronger.

So don't give up or feel that the 'chi' is not working for you. Darryl's story is also greatly inspiring, he never gave up, even though it took a little longer.

My advice is to enjoy your practice and the benefits that it is bringing to you right now.

Smile from the Heart
Joan

[Andrew]

Hi again all,

Some excellent advice and inspiring stories from my brothers and sister.

I suppose one of the things with Eric was that he didn't come to the class expecting to 'heal' the nerves on his gums, he wasn't even thinking about them.

This reminds me of my own story. I went to my first course "knowing" that Chi Kung could do nothing to help my back. That it did help was a complete surprise. Maybe this was the secret of the speed of my success .... I didn't yearn for it. Also the 74 year old woman from my class who had severe arthrosis in one shoulder which meant she could barely raise her arm and had to undergo regular cortisone injections came to my class with no expectations in regard to her shoulder. After only 2 weeks she came into class swinging her arm around and smiling. She has been pain free ever since and has complete mobility again .... and that was 18 months ago.

My advice is to enjoy your practice and the benefits that it is bringing to you right now.

Exactly .... and don't search or yearn for results (maybe not that easy to do). This yearning could be exactly the blockage which stops the progress in that area. Let go and allow the chi to work for you.

Andrew

[snowcelt]

Many Thanks!

Hello again,

just to thank you all; Joan, Andrew, Antonius, Darryl for the kind advice and support. I have been worrying quite a lot about my knee for the last few days since the pains began again, and thinking pretty much only about healing myself.
I will go for a gentle walk tonight to lose some of the stiffness and to get some fresh air, I have been house bound pretty much since Monday.
That is really one of the best things about this discussion group, that there is backup, advice and support when you need it. Thanks again! I appreciate it!

Suurikiitoksiä (Finnish: Huge thanks)

Kevin.

[PhilH]

Hi Halicryptus,

I can appreciate what you're going through. In my 20s and early 30s I was a karate student (didn't quite reach black belt), 100 miler cyclist, skier, league table tennis player, runner (Welsh marathon and cross country team winner member), fell runner (mountain runner - 9th in British Championships, 29 th in European Championships), and earlier Welsh Subbeuteo junior champion.

When I was 32 I spent 2 weeks touring Germany with a heavy rucksack, and knocked my pelvis and spine out of place, tore the ligaments around my coccyx, and strained my sacroiliac joint. That was it sportingwise.

Darryl's advice is apposite.

I turned to other more cerebral interests and took a GCSE (mittlere Reife equivalent) in German, followed by A level, university diploma, then full degree equivalent (when I was studying at the Hochschule Bremen in Germany, I actually shared a flat with Olli, a multi-linguist from Turku, who impressively wasn't a languages student, but an economics student).

I started to try running a little, then fell heavily, landing on my knee whilst doing a fartlek. Back to square 1.

I'd always wanted to get involved with alternative therapies, so became a spiritual healer, Reiki and crystal therapist. Whilst reading about accupuncture, I noticed that the therapists all did chi kung, so I started doing chi kung. In my early 40s my back and knee injuries improved, so I started doing martial arts taiji, kung fu, which I had to stop because of a new injury (groin - ironically inflicted on me by a shiatsu therapist who was supposed to be loosening my stiiff back), but now now in my mid 40s I've gone back to running, with chi kung!


Best wishes,

Phil

[Luo Lang]

Hi Phil,
Congratulations on your successful practice. I`m happy for you that you are able to enjoy running again. Don`t get too fast

Hi Halicrypus,
I know what you meant with discribing the difficulties with the training in Scandinavias wintertime. Last November I was in Rukka, Kuusamo and right now I`m in Norway.

warmest regards frå lillehammer

[snowcelt]

Kiitos, Tacks a mycket, Danke schön!

Hello again,

Thank you for the continued encouragement! I have followed the advice given previously, and appreciate the sentiment and time taken to write by the last two posters. Finns do seem to get everywhere don't they!
After my initial panic last week, I did some thinking. I realised that it wasn't just the sword training which was aggravating my old injury, it was the resistance training, the stretching, the Nordic walking and the other myriad things I was doing. In short, too much too soon.
I found a lot of relief from applying a cold pack to the back of my knee after a training session, then supporting the knee with a neoprene support during training. I was also more mindful of my weight distribution on the balls of my feet while pivoting, thus reducing the "twist" on my knee. Regular chi kung practice complimented the treatment, of course. While not a doctor, (of medicine at least), I think I overstretched the back of my knee (hyperextension), and this weakened the overall support for the damaged meniscus, causing the pain. I went to a seminar course last Saturday, which lasted about 3 hours, and apart from having sore shoulders and being a bit achey, I was completely fine the following day.
The bottom line is: 1. After injuries, take things slowly.
2. After injury, recognise your limits.

Sorry for the long diagnosis, and thanks again for the support.

Respectfully,

Kevin.