WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:06.280 Chi Gong is the power of slow. You slow down so that when you 2 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:10.919 go fast, you're going fast cohesively and everything's connected. So you'll see and 3 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:15.960 she gun cracked as we actually consciously moved the body slowly with breath as a 4 00:00:15.960 --> 00:00:20.440 way to cultivate energy and as a way to train the body to move in 5 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:23.800 unison. And then the martial artists say, when you go fast, you 6 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:28.320 move quickly with relaxation, you can actually go faster because you've trained going slow. 7 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:32.039 So it's a beautiful thing. And they did this study in Stanford University 8 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:36.640 with crash test dummy outfits with all these different martial artists, and what they 9 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:40.920 found in the study was that the tight she master was able to punch the 10 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:44.679 fastest. Here's the guy who was just training on all these two for slow 11 00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:48.600 movements, but when they tested his speed, he was the fastest because he 12 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:52.880 could go slow. He was able to relax so much that that fast movement 13 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:57.759 came with a lot of power and quickness because of the relaxation. Hi. 14 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:02.399 This is Ken Murdison from Augusta, or To and I play at Westlake Country 15 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:07.200 Club here in Augusta, Georgia. This is golf smarter number eight seven, 16 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:15.439 The Power of Slow Chee Gong for Golfers with master instructor leehold Of. This 17 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:21.840 is Golf Smarter, sharing stories, tips and insights from great golf mines to 18 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:26.519 help you lower your score and raise your golf IQ. Here's your host, 19 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:32.359 Fred Green. Welcome to the Golf Smarter Podcast. Lee, thanks so much 20 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:36.200 for having me. I would love the Golf Smarter and I would love to 21 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:40.920 even start golfing in a more serious way, and that is my intention for 22 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:44.959 this year. Awesome. Well, I'm glad that you're here then, So 23 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:49.680 golf is new to you, but what we're going to discuss chee gong is 24 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:57.079 obviously not run away for thirty five, thirty sixty years now. So how 25 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:01.599 did you get started? You know? I I started. What I really 26 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:07.920 got into che gong was when I was playing collegiate soccer at UC Berkeley and 27 00:02:07.959 --> 00:02:10.560 I had an injury. I had a horrible back pain injury, and I 28 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:15.879 did all the team doctors and the court of zone shots and the painkillers, 29 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:20.560 and it didn't help my back pain at all. I had still had back 30 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:24.199 pain and now I also had a stomach ache from taking the drugs. No, 31 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:29.680 I was like miserable nineteen year old is like hobbling around campus, and 32 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:32.280 you know, I was playing soccer and now I wasn't and I was super 33 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:37.120 bummed. And I remembered that a martial arts teacher when I had it, 34 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:39.919 I was about ten years old, I saw him break a big stack of 35 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:45.840 bricks, which is very impressive to a ten year old, and he told 36 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:50.639 me that the way in which he did it he used chi And I was 37 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:53.080 like, what's Chee? And he's like, she is your internal energy, 38 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:57.879 it's your power, and he said she is for healing. And so all 39 00:02:57.919 --> 00:02:59.879 of a sudden, this thing popped into my mind. I was like, 40 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:01.639 I'm gonna go see that guy, and I did, and he did. 41 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:07.960 He gave me some acupuncture and he showed me Chee Gong exercises, energy exercises 42 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:12.800 to help with pain and low back pain, and man, after two treatments, 43 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:15.879 I was like eighty ninety percent better, and four treatments, I was 44 00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:20.159 back playing soccer. I was back playing soccer in like ten days, and 45 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:23.360 everybody was like, how did you do that? And so I just got 46 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:27.599 really into it. I got into the exercises. I started studying with local 47 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:32.680 tai chi and Chigung masters, and then I U I got so into it 48 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:37.439 that I wanted to like make it my profession. And everybody was like, 49 00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:39.000 you can't do that, that's che goung. You can't make a living doing. 50 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:44.240 I gotta go work in Silicon Valley. You went to Cal. They're 51 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:50.360 not teaching cheegung at Cal. You gotta go beat engineer, right exactly. 52 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:52.560 So I finished, I was like, I'm going to Asia, and I 53 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:57.120 did, and I became a ghost writer for a chie Gong and meditation master, 54 00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:00.639 and I wrote like twelve books for him. I did twelve trips to 55 00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:05.159 Asia, studied with all kinds of different masters China, Indonesia, Japan, 56 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:12.080 Thailand, and just had a great, great training. And then I was 57 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:14.680 like, I got to bring this back to people here in the West and 58 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:16.680 see if I can show them how to do it. And that's what I've 59 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:20.199 been doing for thirty five years. And all those people that we're telling you 60 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:25.199 you can't do that, You've got to go and become an engineer. What 61 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:27.720 were they saying? Then It's like, no, I'm writing, and like 62 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:30.040 you're writing, you know. It's like I'm like, hey, I'm in 63 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:33.399 hey, while you're sitting at that desk job. I'm here at the waterfall 64 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:38.399 and Thailand doing breeding exercises. Oh now I'm in China doing this. I 65 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:41.560 know you're making a lot more money than I am. But as soon as 66 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.800 I got back, you know, over the years, people all these Silicon 67 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:47.560 Valley friends of mine, they were all coming to see me for stress related 68 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:50.680 illnesses or are referring people to come see me. So I had a clinic 69 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:57.040 on an acupuncture clinic. I was teaching chigung classes all over Silicon Valley. 70 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:03.439 I started teaching to professional athletes and became known as the wellness director. I 71 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:09.800 was even hired to be the wellness guy on Hollywood movie sets, and so 72 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:14.120 it just kind of took off. And how did that happen? Right? 73 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:18.920 Funny enough, I was like on Deuced Bigelow Male Jiggalow. Rob Schneider had 74 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:23.759 hired me to help him with like the stress of being on set. I 75 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:28.319 was doing che gung glasses before we were filming, um, you know, 76 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:30.959 and the movies and and things like that. So I've got to meet a 77 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:34.519 lot of actors and give them acupuncture and show them chegung exercises. And I 78 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:39.920 still get emails or text from Hey, I'm doing this exerc I'm doing that 79 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:43.639 exercise. Thanks so much, man. But I you know, it was 80 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:46.240 like, you know, I could either stay in Hollywood and do more of 81 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:53.000 a focused on Hollywood scene, or what I really liked was the athletic scene 82 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:56.399 because that's kind of where my background was. So I stayed up in northern 83 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:01.000 California working with athletes at the local health club that I was working a lot 84 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:06.639 of the Olympians came through there as for training and they would get acupuncture and 85 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:11.560 learned. She going with me, and so I just really got jazzed on 86 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:15.879 on teaching athletes she gun practices as well as Silicon Valley executives, and then 87 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:19.759 it just kind of took off from there. Yeah, it's so funny because 88 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:24.199 I've been doing this podcast for me in my eighteenth year of doing this. 89 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:26.839 When I tell people, yeah, I do podcasts, they asked me the 90 00:06:26.920 --> 00:06:30.959 question that you probably yet all the time, as well, you make a 91 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:34.000 living do that? You get paid to do that? No, I don't. 92 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:38.079 I don't make a living from it. I get paid a little bit, 93 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:41.319 but I don't make a living. It's it's more about the benefits that 94 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:45.560 I get from it, yea to do this. Then I talk to incredible 95 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:49.680 people with all kinds of lessons and learnings and just yeah, it's just it's 96 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:54.399 it's a gift. And then I get to me people like you that are 97 00:06:54.439 --> 00:06:59.720 not necessarily golf people, but you have something to share for us to all 98 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:04.240 learn from and all become more centered and be a better golfer. And you 99 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:08.360 know, and you know, Fred, Over the years, I can't tell 100 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:13.920 you how many times students of mine come back after taking a class or two 101 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:16.160 or being in class for a few months, they'll say, hey, you 102 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:21.160 know, does this help improve your golf game? Because since your classes, 103 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:25.680 Mike, golf came is way better. And then just kept tapping over and 104 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:30.800 over and over again. So I kept so I started advertising to golfers way 105 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:33.759 back in the day, and sure enough everybody was just like, this is 106 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:40.920 amazing. And recently, I told you before the show an Australian golf pro 107 00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:45.000 named Peter Croker. He was doing my class for for the last twelve years 108 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:49.920 and we finally got in touch and we created a Cheegong for Golf program that 109 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:53.920 we just filmed. It's not ready yet, but we filmed it. It's 110 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:56.879 going to be very cool. And he does the golf part and I do 111 00:07:56.879 --> 00:08:01.040 the chee young parts and it all comes together so BEAUTIFU. Well and when 112 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:05.480 will it be available? Do you know? I think it'll be available somewhat 113 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:11.160 soon. I'm gonna say, you know, these production to being ready to 114 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:15.839 go live is you know a few month process? Yeah? Absolutely? And 115 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:18.759 how are you going to distribute myself? These are you going to be It's 116 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:22.240 just going to just be able. We'll put them up on YouTube, We'll 117 00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:28.160 put some up, We'll have a like a website with free content, and 118 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:31.320 then then some courses. Um, you know, Peter's got some courses pain 119 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:35.960 free golf. Breaking eighty has got a very specific style. It's that he's 120 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:39.519 been showing me. And it's just so aligned with Chiegong principles, I mean, 121 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:43.720 pain free golf and you you just learn how to move from your center 122 00:08:43.799 --> 00:08:48.440 with this zend state of mind relaxation. So it becomes this whole beautiful cohesive 123 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:54.279 practice from energy exercises to your golf game. Um, I just love it. 124 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:58.600 So it's got me motivated to play golf. Oh wow, Well, 125 00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:01.480 that's that's really the kind of things that we've been discussing on this podcast for 126 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:07.159 years and years and years of not just how can I hit the ball farther? 127 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:11.399 But how can I be a better golfer? You know, it's like 128 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:13.960 how do I be a better golfer? How do I be a better human 129 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:16.840 being? How do I be a better person in this body? And I 130 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:22.240 think that's where Chigan comes into play. So so, well, how did 131 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:30.759 Peter find you? That's a good question he found why? Yeah, he 132 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:35.879 just saw the synergy and he saw a lot of golfers having repetitive stress injuries. 133 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:41.519 Um, there is probably this that that witnessing of golfers having golfer's elbow 134 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:46.480 wrisk pain, neck and shoulder pain, back pain. And then he himself 135 00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:50.679 was really into like Tai Chi and Chi Gong. And then he reached out 136 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:56.000 to me some twelve years ago, and I've been on his mailing list, 137 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:58.200 he was on mine. He's taken all my courses and um, finally, 138 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:01.759 after somebody said you know, I did your cheek and then my golf came 139 00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:03.720 got better, I was like, I think I need to just create a 140 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:09.159 program. I need a golf pro to to sync up with and talk about 141 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:13.279 the synchronicities in this and where he was in the States, and we just 142 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:18.919 filmed it and then you know, we we got connected you and I and 143 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.440 now I'm on the podcast. I'm like, Okay, golf is in my 144 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:24.440 orbit right now and I got to take this to the next level. Well, 145 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:28.159 please stay in touch with me because once the video is available, I'd 146 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:31.639 love to make make sure that everybody's aware of it too. Oh that'd be 147 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:35.639 great, Thanks so much, Fred, That would be awesome. Yeah, 148 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:39.440 absolutely absolutely, And we're going to talk about and hopefully you'll you'll give us. 149 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:43.080 We'll do some practice, we'll do some Absolutely, that sounds fantastic. 150 00:10:43.159 --> 00:10:48.440 Yeah, sure, as we progress, Yeah, in this episode. But 151 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:52.120 there's so many more questions that I have, because that's what this podcast is 152 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:56.120 me asking a lot of questions. We're going to do those questions after this 153 00:10:56.200 --> 00:11:05.879 commercial break. We'll be right back Lee before we continue. I think that 154 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:09.440 the most important thing is to define chi gung. What is chi gong? 155 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:16.879 What does it mean? And what is its history? You know the what 156 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:20.840 ill let you just pick it up from there. Yeah, absolutely, Okay, 157 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:28.080 Chi gong Chi means energy, life force, energy, and boy don't 158 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:31.840 we want more energy? Everybody wants a little more energy. So I say 159 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:37.320 Chi gong in a modern sense is a practice of less stress and more energy. 160 00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:41.240 So Chi means energy. It's energy of your body, it's energy of 161 00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:46.919 emotions, it's energy of mind. It's an integrated whole. And so the 162 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:50.679 practice, even though it seems like exercise, it really is a moving meditation. 163 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:54.759 It's great mindfulness training, but it's done through movement. It's a little 164 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:58.799 bit like tai chi, and it's a little bit like yoga. You know, 165 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:01.440 if if tai chi and yoga had a baby, it would be chee 166 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:07.000 gong. It's you know, it's a practice that's very accessible. You don't 167 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:09.600 have to have any fancy clothes, you don't have to stand on your head, 168 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:13.039 you don't have to have any weights. But it's it's good exercise. 169 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:18.360 It's great stretching, and then there's this beautiful part of the practice that's very 170 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:24.039 flowing. So you're doing these movements where the principles are relaxation, move from 171 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:30.840 your center, stay mindful of your body as you're moving. So I think 172 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:35.200 this is why it's so great for golfers. And it feels just so relaxing 173 00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:39.720 and energizing kind of at the same time. By the time you finish gong 174 00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:46.000 so chi life force energy. Gong means to work with in a skillful way, 175 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:48.519 work with the energy in a skillful way. So it's part of Chinese 176 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:54.000 medicine. It comes from the same roots as acupuncture, herbal medicine. In 177 00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:00.399 fact, it was called the five branches of medicine acupuncture, herbs, sage, 178 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:05.159 therapy, nutrition, and then chi gong. And in the chi gong 179 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:09.879 category was also tai chi. So tai chi is actually a form of chi 180 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:13.159 gong. It's a martial arts form of chigung. So in chigong you have 181 00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:18.039 you know, chigung for martial artists building power and energy in the body. 182 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:22.679 You have medical chigong how to use exercise like physical therapy to heal your body. 183 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:28.200 And then you have the more spiritual chigong, which was more the meditation 184 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:33.679 and meditative types of practices. And so that's kind of a bit of it 185 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:37.240 in a nutshell that the history of it's fascinating because it's it's the very first 186 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:43.200 time in recorded language where you see exercise as part of medicine. It dates 187 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:48.000 back some four or five thousand years, and it's in its written record, 188 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:52.960 and it's part of Chinese medicine. So Chinese medicine worked like this. You 189 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:56.600 would go see your doctor and they would the doctor which give you acupuncture, 190 00:13:56.679 --> 00:14:05.360 herbs and chigong, prescript of exercises, and as long as you stayed healthy 191 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:09.080 or as healthy as when you came in, you continue to pay. It 192 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:11.679 was almost like a monthly fee. And as soon as you got sick or 193 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:16.200 sicker, then when you start it, you stop paying. So you got 194 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:20.399 a headache, you got pain, you got problems, No, hey, 195 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:24.759 I'm not doing my job. Don't pay me this month until you're back to 196 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:28.919 health, and then they start paying. So this is a practice of true 197 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:33.240 healthcare, where the focus is on vitality, is on health, it's on 198 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:39.679 wellness, it's on prevention, where it's exactly the opposite of our western medicine. 199 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:45.879 So it's very fascinating to me because nobody gets paid unless somebody sick in 200 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:48.120 our Western culture, and let me tell you, people are making a lot 201 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:54.679 of money on sick care. And if we want to really take charge of 202 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:58.320 our health and wellness, we need to do preventative health. And that's up 203 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:03.720 to us individually. Yeah, yeah, And of medicine is practice on ten 204 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:11.559 percent of the people, right, So is this practice still being used um 205 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:18.240 in Asian countries in China, yeah, Japan, these countries, they still 206 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:24.799 fascinating is the fact that chi gong is the most widely practiced form of exercise 207 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:28.919 in the world. Wow, you just think of like jogging, golf, 208 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:33.600 everything else. It pales in comparison, probably because there's just so many people 209 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:37.480 in Asia practicing tai chi and chi gong. You wake up and you just 210 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:41.720 see the parks are filled with people doing calisthenics and exercises. And there's three 211 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:46.440 thousand styles of chigan. So there's styles look like yoga, there's styles that 212 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:52.279 look like tai chi. There's more fitness styles, there's more flowy styles, 213 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:56.519 there's more meditative styles. So you know, when when I started training and 214 00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:58.879 chigang, I was like, Okay, what is going to make the most 215 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:03.879 sense for Westerners for what we want? So I started focusing on more medical 216 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:07.200 style. So, how how can I design a routine that's going to get 217 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:12.759 rid of neck pain, back pain, stress, anxiety. What's a routine 218 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:17.120 to help people sleep better? What's a great routine to wake up in the 219 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:19.639 morning and charge yourself up with energy? So that's kind of my specialty is 220 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:26.080 real focused, conditioned, specific routines. And so what is the difference between 221 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:32.600 tai chi and Chi gung or and then the next question would be yoga and 222 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:37.240 right, yeah, you know, I think so tai Chi is a practice 223 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:41.960 that originated some eight eight nine hundred years ago by a family in China, 224 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:47.559 the Chen family. So you have Chen style tai chi, and it was 225 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:51.879 originated as a martial arts. In fact, the early tai chi masters were 226 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:57.360 excellent martial artists, and it got so popular in China because they would they 227 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:06.119 would invite their martial artists and challenge them to sparring contests and they would inevitably 228 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:08.839 win, and they won big competitions, and they would challenge people all over 229 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:18.599 China untell the Imperial Guard in China, the emperors, they summoned the Chin 230 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:23.880 and the Young style families to come and teach the royal guard. And so 231 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:27.160 what they did is they showed them the movements, but they didn't teach them 232 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:33.720 the sort of the secret energetic cultivation behind the movements, which is chigong practices. 233 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:37.759 So in essence, tai chi came about through the combination of martial arts 234 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:44.720 like kung fu and chigong exercises in combination, they became it became tai chi. 235 00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:48.119 So when you see people doing tai chi, a lot of the reason 236 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:52.680 they're doing tai chi nowadays is as a chigong practice for health, stress management, 237 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:59.000 energy cultivation. They're not really doing it as a martial practice. I 238 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:03.839 see Bill. Then, how do you compare yoga to chigong? Right, 239 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:11.799 So, yoga is from India. It originated in India, and yoga is 240 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:17.039 very interesting because it started off with more breathing exercises, more energy cultivation. 241 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:22.839 So prana, the term for life force energy in Indian culture and ira Vedic 242 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:26.200 traditions is the same as chi as in Chinese medicine. So they have these 243 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:30.960 words life force energy, and both cultures, both yoga and chi gong, 244 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:37.920 cultivate life force energy through breath and body practices, through mindfulness and movement. 245 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:41.519 Now they go about it a little bit differently. In yoga you're gonna do 246 00:18:41.640 --> 00:18:48.519 mainly stretches and breathing into stretches, and in chigang you're gonna be doing mainly 247 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:52.079 flowing movements, or if you are stretching, it's not static, you're flowing 248 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:57.119 through a stretch rather than holding a stretch. The difference. Also, the 249 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:02.519 martial artists really brought in a lot of joint mobilization to the chigun practice, 250 00:19:02.839 --> 00:19:07.680 whereas in Indian yoga there's a little bit more focused on muscular lengthening. So 251 00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:12.359 maybe as it relates to golf, because there's so much articulation in the joints 252 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:17.839 in the golf swing, that she going has a really great way of opening 253 00:19:17.880 --> 00:19:21.960 all the joints in the body. We call it oiling the joints or silk 254 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:27.599 reeling. She gonna make your joints silky smooth and create joint flexibility, muscular 255 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:33.400 flexibility, but not overstretching, because in that martial arts tradition you needed that 256 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:40.319 resiliency, the combination of strength and flexibility to perform really well. So I 257 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:45.079 think it has a lot of application to athletics because of that training and resiliency. 258 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:48.960 Yeah, and I think that it makes sense then that it would be 259 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:55.119 really advantageous for golfers to be doing this type of practice versus a martial arts 260 00:19:56.279 --> 00:20:00.079 because of the you know, like I do yoga, I've been doing in 261 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:04.279 yoga for decades, but I've been doing it for decades but still it's more 262 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:11.720 about for me dynamic static poses you know that stretch out various parts of my 263 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:18.920 body. Right, But as a for a flow for golf, this seems 264 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:21.519 to make a whole lot of sense. It makes a whole lot of sense. 265 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:23.200 We're gonna have fred. I'm gonna give you some courses and you can 266 00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:26.200 try it out and let me know what you think. I will do that. 267 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:30.519 But we're gonna take a commercial and I'll do all the courses during this 268 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:40.839 break. We'll be right back. I have before we go on and talk 269 00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:44.960 more about this. This you talk about the energy, life force and the 270 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:49.079 and the fact that this gets in. Do you drink coffee? Are you? 271 00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:52.240 Are you a caffeine guy? Are you a caffeine guy? And I'm 272 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:56.079 gonna show you something right here. This is a this is a te Yeah, 273 00:20:56.079 --> 00:21:00.920 of course, I'm a player. Tea drink or green tea. I'll 274 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:03.880 drink all kinds of tea. You know what when I drink coffee is when 275 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.160 I go to the coffee shop and I get a good latte. But I 276 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:11.200 don't make my own coffee, so I drink. I have a coffee maybe 277 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:15.799 once a week. So you do drink caffeine. You do consume caffeine, 278 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:19.039 and he has caffeine. But it's pretty it's a lot lighter than let's take 279 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:22.799 coffee. So I like, I like a little bit and and um, 280 00:21:22.839 --> 00:21:27.720 I like to give my main source of energy through breath and movement and energy 281 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:33.720 cultivation. And I yeah, I supplemented a little with a little tea. 282 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:36.960 Nothing wrong with a little tea and coffee. Um, you know, it's 283 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:42.640 just it's a it's a poor substitute for long sustainable energy. And then what 284 00:21:42.599 --> 00:21:47.200 we're thinking of energy, we need to think of yin and yong yin and 285 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:49.400 young energy. Coffee gives you young energy, being up and go go, 286 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:52.880 go go right. Yin energy is to turn it off and be able to 287 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:56.200 sleep really well, to be able to quiet your mind, to be able 288 00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:00.319 to truly relax. If you can truly relax acts and you can sleep really 289 00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:04.359 well, you're gonna have a lot more energy, so to speak. And 290 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:08.039 in chegong we talk about these two kinds of energy. They're they're essential to 291 00:22:08.119 --> 00:22:12.680 one another, like a good night's sleep is essential to having energy the next 292 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:17.559 day, you go, you know, you sleep two three hours? You 293 00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:19.680 know, parents, you know this. And then you try to get up 294 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:22.640 with full energy, you're just like, oh my god, where's my energy? 295 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:26.519 Well, you didn't. You didn't sleep enough, you didn't cultivate that 296 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:30.279 yin energy, that deep rest, and now your young energy is suffering. 297 00:22:30.680 --> 00:22:33.960 So coffee is going to give you young energy, but you have to be 298 00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:41.880 careful because it burns the energy supply without replenishing it with something like cheegong or 299 00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:48.640 breathing or meditation or just good sleep, you can burn out your energy reserves. 300 00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:52.480 We call it adrenal fatigue or just fatigue in general. And it's like 301 00:22:52.519 --> 00:22:55.200 people are like, oh man, I'm so tired, and then they're hammering 302 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:59.319 the coffee. It does. It can create long term problems because you're not 303 00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:03.440 getting to this source of it, which is nourishing, rest, inner, 304 00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:08.519 peace less stress, all those things that will really feed your system with with 305 00:23:08.680 --> 00:23:12.799 deep energy. And when you say yin and young and I've never heard of 306 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:17.599 as young, I've always heard of y yin and yang, right, uh 307 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:21.400 right, right, but yeah, so which is not why I thought, 308 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:23.559 Yeah, but I thought, I just want to make sure we're not saying 309 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:33.359 why a w N yng you're not and young? Like why a N g 310 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:37.279 and that's kind of pronounce it, you know. So that's yeah, now 311 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:42.440 now we're not as it. Yang is sort of like a recognized yeah, 312 00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:48.240 we're really pronouncing it. Yeah, yeah, No. I was asking about 313 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:53.079 the caffeine because I haven't done coffee in I mean, i'll do decalf and 314 00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:57.240 I even stopped doing that, but I don't have any caffeine and sodas and 315 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:03.519 drinks. I just stop doing that because you well, you know it. 316 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:07.920 I found out that if I drink it regularly and then take a day off, 317 00:24:08.039 --> 00:24:14.359 I have severe headaches. Yea, I have really bad withdrawal and so. 318 00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:17.839 And I've always been a pretty energetic person, so it's never been an 319 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:22.160 issue for me that I need that that boost that picked me up. So 320 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:30.279 I do we get to love chocolate. It's better to use less frequent and 321 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:34.319 have your own energy, but be able to cultivate in yourself for exactly the 322 00:24:34.359 --> 00:24:37.599 reasons I was saying. And then actually, when you use it, it 323 00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:41.880 works really well, Like I actually need a boost of energy. If you're 324 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:45.319 off coffee for let's say you use it a couple of times a week or 325 00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:49.480 once a week. Man, it works really well. But we get we 326 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:56.880 get too dependent on it, so like people can lower you get dehydrated too. 327 00:24:56.119 --> 00:25:00.680 Yeah, it's not a great yeah coffee, it's not a great thing 328 00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:04.200 on the golf course or before it. Right, it's exactly not a good 329 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:11.119 thing. What have you heard of a practice called joga j oga? No, 330 00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:18.599 I haven't jog joga. So it's uh yoga for jocks. This was 331 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:26.240 developed by a woman in Toronto and is um Well, you you're in the 332 00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:30.519 Santa Cruz area, so you're familiar with Golden State Warriors and their league team. 333 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:33.599 Yeah, their g league team is right there in Santa CEUs. Their 334 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:38.000 mind the league team. Well, uh, Cabon Cavon Looney, who's the 335 00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:45.000 center for the Warriors doing he's been doing joga daily for a couple of years 336 00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:48.079 now, and in those couple of years he has not missed a single game. 337 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:52.640 He's the only guy. There's only like two, two or three guys 338 00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:56.400 in the entire league that have not missed a game. And now he's gotten 339 00:25:56.400 --> 00:26:00.039 other players on the team to do this. He doesn't an hour every morning 340 00:26:00.759 --> 00:26:10.279 and it's yoga. It's yoga, but it's got a more um athletic movement. 341 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:19.119 Yeah, more cardio involved, but it's still yoga and so yeah, 342 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:22.160 yeah, there's an article recently that was in the New York Times about it, 343 00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:27.880 but it was it's definitely fascinating. You've worked with a lot of athletes 344 00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:33.920 though, Yeah, tell me about what your experience with that is. Um, 345 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:37.799 you know, Number one, get out of pain for athletes, because 346 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:42.400 you can't do your sport when you're injured. So um, so one, 347 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:48.480 get out of pain. That's usually the motivation to prevent injuries from happening. 348 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:52.400 Same as exactly what you said. I worked with a lot of Olympians, 349 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:56.960 Olympic athletes, runners, throwers, disc is, hammered throw you know, 350 00:26:57.079 --> 00:27:00.960 shot put at all. You know, I worked closely with the San Jose 351 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:07.240 Sharks, the professional hockey team for some time. Um, both in chigong 352 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:11.799 and acupuncture. Okay, and it was just the results are just amazing, 353 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:15.559 they're outstanding, and all. The thing I love is to help athletes get 354 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:19.119 into flow state. Like you know, when you're in the flow, that's 355 00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:25.640 when that's the most fun. When it's like you're energize, you're cohesive, 356 00:27:25.720 --> 00:27:30.240 you're connected to your sport, you're one with the teammates, you're one with 357 00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:33.559 the ball. It just feels like there's this great flow and that's in Chegong. 358 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:41.599 We we train flow state very directly. Interesting. Yeah, yeah, 359 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:48.440 so let's let's get into um how this can benefit golfers. Let's talk about 360 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:52.799 what we can do and why this is gonna be So I think of value 361 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:56.599 to golf, benefits your golfers. One, you know, pain free, 362 00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:03.960 have less pain. Uh, keep your body energized, more flexible. Then 363 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:10.160 Chegung principles. Move from your center, move with relaxation, use your mind 364 00:28:10.200 --> 00:28:14.680 and body in an integrated approach, so that when your bodies relax, your 365 00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:18.000 mind's more focused. Like you know, just simple things like head down, 366 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:22.119 move from the center, you know, relax through the swing. All those 367 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:26.319 things can be so powerful. And when you train it with Chigung and then 368 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:30.319 you apply it in your golf game, it's a wonderful, synergistic type of 369 00:28:30.440 --> 00:28:36.519 connection. And where does it all start? Does it start with breathing or 370 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:41.799 well, I think consciousness, mindfulness? Where does it? Yeah, there's 371 00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:45.359 a few entry points. I mean breathing. Yes, In Chigung, what 372 00:28:45.400 --> 00:28:49.079 we do is we always synchronize breath with the movement. So you know, 373 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:53.240 if we're doing a flowing movement, you might inhale, arms up, exhale, 374 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:59.160 arms down, inhale towards you exhale, push away, and then you 375 00:28:59.160 --> 00:29:02.119 could just do some breath. You could just do some chegung breathing as a 376 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:07.359 way to breath will help to integrate mind and body. All your thoughts and 377 00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:10.960 your emotions are always reflected in your breath. So when we're stressed out, 378 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:15.000 we're going to breathe quickly. When we're calm and relax we're gonna breathe slowly. 379 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:18.920 So if you can't take slower breaths, you're going to calm everything down. 380 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:25.559 Because when we're stressed, we're tens. We're tight. The moving with 381 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:30.559 your whole self doesn't work. We become kind of fragmented and constricted. When 382 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:37.440 you're relaxed, you move more like water. Everything's cohesive and flowy and unified. 383 00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:41.000 So you can start with a movement. If you wanted to do a 384 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:44.880 movement, you could do that, and you could start with some breathing and 385 00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:51.160 then integrate into a movement and then it just goes from there. Wow. 386 00:29:51.759 --> 00:30:00.759 Wow, that's so interesting because I've seen so many golfers with they'll two on 387 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:04.519 their golf swing is take a breath, and hold it and then go to 388 00:30:04.680 --> 00:30:10.240 your golf swing right right, and you'll see the tension. You'll see the 389 00:30:10.279 --> 00:30:15.279 shoulders come up. You know, their their ears get smashed by their shoulders 390 00:30:15.880 --> 00:30:18.880 there. You know the amount of tension in their neck and their back, 391 00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:22.400 in all parts of their body. And I think it was like a year 392 00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:26.400 ago, maybe just a little more than a year ago that once I started 393 00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:32.559 to realize to breathe in on my back swing and out on my fore swing, 394 00:30:32.680 --> 00:30:38.160 on my emotion, I was hitting the ball farther oh more accuracy. 395 00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:45.200 But they're tying my swing to my breath. Made a huge difference. That's 396 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:51.279 that's che Gong right there. You just breath. You're doing che going, 397 00:30:51.720 --> 00:30:56.160 you know when you move in synchrony with a breath, you know, and 398 00:30:56.200 --> 00:31:00.920 now you're doing it more consciously, and now that breath is helping you through 399 00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:03.839 the movement so perfect. And we just get more and more skilled at that, 400 00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:07.119 adding more and more pieces, you know, just like in golf where 401 00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:10.799 you're like, what are my hips doing, what's my shoulder doing, what's 402 00:31:10.839 --> 00:31:12.480 my stance? Where my eyes? What's my focus? You know? Chee 403 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:18.599 Goong has a lot of that kind of thing. Those intricacies, and they're 404 00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:22.599 really similar to what goes on in a golf swing. Yeah, and there's 405 00:31:22.599 --> 00:31:26.920 a tendency, especially when things are not going well, which is the nature 406 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:33.400 of golf, that we speed up, we do things faster. Yes, 407 00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:40.000 and we've got to we've got to find ways to slow it down, to 408 00:31:40.039 --> 00:31:45.680 catch our breath to just you know, again, if we our breath to 409 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:49.720 the motion. You know, chee gong is the power of slow. You 410 00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:56.200 know, you you slow down so that you can actually when you go fast, 411 00:31:56.319 --> 00:32:00.599 you're going fast cohesively and everything's connected, you know, so you'll see 412 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:06.240 and she gung bract as we actually consciously moved the body slowly with breath as 413 00:32:06.279 --> 00:32:09.440 a way to cultivate energy and as a way to train the body to move 414 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:14.640 in unison. And then the martial artists say, when you go then you 415 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:19.039 go fast, you move quickly. With relaxation, you can actually go slower. 416 00:32:19.559 --> 00:32:22.599 I mean you can actually go faster because you've trained going slow. So 417 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:27.920 it's a beautiful thing. And they did this study at Stanford University with crash 418 00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:32.559 test dummy outfits with all these different martial artists, and what they found in 419 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:37.039 the study was that the tight she master was able to punch the fastest. 420 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:42.960 Here's the guy who's just training on all these super slow movements. But when 421 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:46.119 they tested when his speed, he was the fastest because he could he was 422 00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:51.480 describing it, because he could go slow. He was able to relax so 423 00:32:51.559 --> 00:32:55.160 much that that fast moop movement came with a lot of power and quickness because 424 00:32:55.200 --> 00:33:01.039 of the relaxation. It kind of defined and explains so much of what we 425 00:33:01.119 --> 00:33:05.720 hear in golf of like swing slow, for it to go farther that, 426 00:33:05.960 --> 00:33:10.319 you know, the less tension, having less tension, It really kind of 427 00:33:10.359 --> 00:33:14.279 makes a lot of sense. All Right, we're gonna take one more break, 428 00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:16.599 and then when we come back from this one, after we hear what's 429 00:33:16.599 --> 00:33:21.640 going on in Golf Smarter Mulligans this week, let's do some practice. Let's 430 00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:24.039 learn. It's a couple of practices from you. Okay, great? Perfect? 431 00:33:25.319 --> 00:33:30.200 This Week on Golf Smarter Mulligans is Part five and the penultimate entry into 432 00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:35.960 our continuing tribute to doctor Glenn Alba, who passed away at the age of 433 00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:42.319 ninety one in February twenty twenty three. This fifth episode was originally published in 434 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:49.960 September twenty sixteen and talks about the truth about playing better golf using your imagination. 435 00:33:50.279 --> 00:33:53.480 It doesn't take long to lock into a target, and target doesn't move 436 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:59.799 some people. She shapes and you see somebody landing. What we have to 437 00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:02.519 do, scover Fred is how you see best, because it's not the same 438 00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:06.759 for everybody. I can't tell you what you should see, but you're going 439 00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:09.559 to tell me what you see when you trust your swing. The players a 440 00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:14.920 player at highest level have wonderful imaginations. So as a guy, say eight 441 00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:17.639 handicapped, we want to find out what you see best and then we can 442 00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:22.679 lock in that particular visual image. It's the same with the feeling a swing 443 00:34:22.760 --> 00:34:28.119 that matches it. Some people feel a fluid, fluid, fluid motion, 444 00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:31.719 but whatever it is, it's a whole movement of the swing. It's much 445 00:34:31.760 --> 00:34:37.480 like creative writers. They see things in paragraphs. They don't write sentences. 446 00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:42.320 So when we're playing our best, we're playing in paragraphs. Whatever we feel 447 00:34:42.320 --> 00:34:45.679 on our swing, it it's the whole motion that's golf Smarter. Mulligan's episode 448 00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:51.880 two hundred and thirteen, the fifth of six episodes in our series featuring another 449 00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:58.519 incredible mental game coach whom we recently lost but choose to let his legacy live 450 00:34:58.599 --> 00:35:05.760 on Doctor Len Alba, author, coach and pioneering sports psychologists. You can 451 00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:10.159 actually watch the full interview on our YouTube channel that's YouTube dot com, slash 452 00:35:10.199 --> 00:35:15.400 at golf Smarter or on the blog post at golfsmarter dot com. Once there, 453 00:35:15.480 --> 00:35:20.400 you'll learn more about Glenn, how to get either of his books, 454 00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:24.639 and information about donations in his memory. Please subscribe for free to both of 455 00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:30.639 our golf podcasts, Golf Smarter, published every Tuesday, and our sister podcast, 456 00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:35.599 the revisits the best of the Golf Smarter podcast called Golf Smarter Mulligans, 457 00:35:35.920 --> 00:35:45.239 being released every Friday. From wherever you're listening right now, Lee, The 458 00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:51.719 listening to a podcast takes many forms. One thing we do know is you're 459 00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:53.639 in someone's head most of the time. They're wearing headphones or they're in a 460 00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:58.360 car the speakers. People don't listen to podcasts in a group, so that 461 00:35:58.400 --> 00:36:00.719 means they could be at their desk, they could be walking the dog, 462 00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:06.280 they could be doing the laundry, they could be cleaning the house, they 463 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:09.760 could be out. You know, there's many different ways people listen to podcasts. 464 00:36:12.119 --> 00:36:15.599 But what see what we can do and if I need to stand up, 465 00:36:15.639 --> 00:36:19.360 I will do that. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able 466 00:36:19.400 --> 00:36:22.880 to manage that, but I'm sitting now. I'm sitting on a chair that 467 00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:27.960 kind of gives me some bounce to its nice bounce. Yeah, it's like 468 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:31.519 those those balls you know. Oh, it's a cheat chair. Well yeah, 469 00:36:31.559 --> 00:36:36.880 but it's it's actually a German design chair that has rock and roll and 470 00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:38.880 bounce to it. But there's no back, so it forces me to sit 471 00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:43.440 up great, and it's been great for my back. But that's a whole 472 00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:45.679 nother thing. So let's see what we can do. Let's learn a couple 473 00:36:45.679 --> 00:36:51.400 of these practices and seated. Let's if people want to if they're standing up, 474 00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:53.840 you could do it also standing great, and I'll just guide you through 475 00:36:54.400 --> 00:36:59.280 auditorially. Of course, don't do these practices if you're driving. You can 476 00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:02.800 just wait till you get home. And let's teach people the beauty of podcasts. 477 00:37:02.880 --> 00:37:07.199 You can rewind and play it again, light it again. Yeah, 478 00:37:07.239 --> 00:37:09.400 So we'll do a couple exercise. I'll show your breathing exercise. I'll put 479 00:37:09.400 --> 00:37:13.400 it to some movement, and then I want people to be able to feel 480 00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:16.719 their energy even energize their hands and their wrists, because that's a big part 481 00:37:16.760 --> 00:37:22.239 of the golf swing is that action do the wrists in the hands. So 482 00:37:23.079 --> 00:37:25.719 let's first do breathing. So the first thing, let's do it like, 483 00:37:25.920 --> 00:37:30.480 how do we want to breathe for better health and just clarity in our nervous 484 00:37:30.480 --> 00:37:35.280 system. So it's going to come down to a slow breath. So you're 485 00:37:35.280 --> 00:37:39.360 going to breathe through your nose about four or five seconds on the inhale and 486 00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:43.280 four or five seconds on the exhale. And I want you to do that 487 00:37:43.400 --> 00:37:47.519 diaformatically, which means that you start the breath in the belly. So put 488 00:37:47.559 --> 00:37:51.360 your hand on your belly, put one hand on your chest, and now 489 00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:55.119 inhale into your belly, let it rise up through your ribs all the way 490 00:37:55.159 --> 00:38:00.519 to your chest, and then exhale through your nose. Let the chest relax. 491 00:38:00.360 --> 00:38:05.079 That the ribs breathing, and we're breathing out through the nose as well 492 00:38:05.239 --> 00:38:08.119 out through the nose as well, yep in out through the nose. In 493 00:38:08.159 --> 00:38:10.960 general, that's the best way. There's occasionally, let's say you want to 494 00:38:12.599 --> 00:38:15.320 breathe out through the mouth, but going through the day, most of the 495 00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:19.280 time, you want to breathe in and out through the nose for more for 496 00:38:19.679 --> 00:38:24.719 the benefits of energy cultivation and just overall health. So big, deep breath 497 00:38:24.719 --> 00:38:30.199 through the nose, Exhale through the nose, nice and slow belly ribs chest 498 00:38:30.280 --> 00:38:37.360 on the inhale, and then back down chest ribs out through the belly on 499 00:38:37.400 --> 00:38:43.519 the exhale. That'll that'll automatically just clear stress. And you could even like 500 00:38:43.679 --> 00:38:46.079 take it out into the golf course do do three of these breaths right before 501 00:38:46.079 --> 00:38:52.159 you swing or while somebody else's swing in just and just get calm and relax 502 00:38:52.239 --> 00:38:54.559 in your nervous system. That's a great benefit. Well, then let me 503 00:38:54.599 --> 00:39:00.920 just insert here that it's also a really important thing to help you after a 504 00:39:01.039 --> 00:39:06.920 bad shot, because that's when things start going haywire. That's when you start 505 00:39:07.039 --> 00:39:10.800 speeding up, you start getting angry, you get frustrated. That's the moment 506 00:39:12.159 --> 00:39:15.119 that's you want to start as you're walking or even sitting in your cart, 507 00:39:15.400 --> 00:39:20.800 that's when you want to start breathing ah, perfect and then you'll realize, 508 00:39:21.239 --> 00:39:28.280 hey, there's no bad shots, there's just results bad results. That was 509 00:39:28.320 --> 00:39:30.480 a great shot. Sorry it ended up in the tree. Something from that 510 00:39:30.519 --> 00:39:37.719 one all right. Now, let's put it to a movement. So you 511 00:39:37.719 --> 00:39:40.159 could do this standing or a seat. It's called spinal cord breathing, and 512 00:39:40.239 --> 00:39:44.960 it's great to just unlocked tension in your back. Take your arms by your 513 00:39:44.960 --> 00:39:49.519 shoulders. Now when you inhale that deep breath, you look up and just 514 00:39:49.599 --> 00:39:52.880 kind of arch your back and open your chest and the way you wow, 515 00:39:53.920 --> 00:40:01.559 you feel that, oh man, everything's free. Chiropractic read. And then 516 00:40:01.639 --> 00:40:07.679 in the hail you open and then exhale round your back. You can it 517 00:40:07.760 --> 00:40:13.199 comes down, elbows come together, and you're just moving all the joints in 518 00:40:13.199 --> 00:40:21.119 your spine. This is what we call oiling the joints. Exhaling round awesome, 519 00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:24.599 inhale we open. We just can just do that for thirty seconds to 520 00:40:24.679 --> 00:40:30.760 a minute. Another great exercise to do on the golf course and then relax. 521 00:40:32.360 --> 00:40:37.440 Spinal cord breathing helps to articulate all those joints. See. The thing 522 00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:40.559 with joints is if you don't move them in all the ways they're designed to 523 00:40:40.639 --> 00:40:45.159 move, you get stagnation. Frozen shoulder is a great example. If someone 524 00:40:45.320 --> 00:40:50.280 hurts their shoulder, you put it in a sling. The tissue that was 525 00:40:50.360 --> 00:40:54.000 injured heels. Now you got frozen shoulder because you didn't move it. So 526 00:40:54.039 --> 00:40:58.440 it creates a worse problem. And all the joints are like that. People 527 00:40:58.440 --> 00:41:00.199 are like, why is my back stiff? Well, are you moving it 528 00:41:00.280 --> 00:41:05.840 in all the different ways it can articulate most people not, And so that's 529 00:41:05.880 --> 00:41:09.519 what we do in Chi Goong. We're gonna move all the joints in very 530 00:41:09.599 --> 00:41:15.440 specific ways that oil the joints and create better range of motion, more mobility, 531 00:41:15.599 --> 00:41:21.719 And it just feels like an anti aging practice. M let's let's people 532 00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:25.079 something to feel their cheats. I want to feel you want to feel your 533 00:41:25.119 --> 00:41:30.480 cheat. Here's a great one. You're gonna take your then the fingernails and 534 00:41:30.559 --> 00:41:35.559 just touch them together and rub back and forth. Now these are all pressure 535 00:41:35.599 --> 00:41:40.840 points acupressure acupuncture points, and rub the fingernail vigorously back and forth together. 536 00:41:40.840 --> 00:41:45.119 We're gonna do it for like thirty seconds. Take one or two of those 537 00:41:45.159 --> 00:41:50.159 deep breaths we just did as you're activating these pressure points, big deep breath, 538 00:41:50.360 --> 00:41:54.039 long exhale. Go do that one more time. Rub vigorously. I 539 00:41:54.159 --> 00:42:01.039 want you to feel what she feels like inhale ex shale. And then just 540 00:42:01.079 --> 00:42:05.559 put your hands in your lap or just down to your sides and see if 541 00:42:05.599 --> 00:42:13.679 you can feel that buzzing, tingling activation. Wow. It's like I remember 542 00:42:13.679 --> 00:42:16.159 when I was a kid and they said to stand up against a doorpost a 543 00:42:16.639 --> 00:42:21.239 doorway and press into the doorway as hard as you can for a minute, 544 00:42:21.599 --> 00:42:24.800 and then step aside and your arm goes oh yeah, yeah, yeah right, 545 00:42:25.320 --> 00:42:30.119 It's like I feel that tingling in my finger. Yeah, it's been 546 00:42:30.159 --> 00:42:32.760 activated. So we can to activate the cheat and we do that like through 547 00:42:32.800 --> 00:42:39.199 the whole body to get this energy circulating, and it's very energizing, extremely 548 00:42:39.320 --> 00:42:44.039 stimulating. And then you know the ending kinds of practices and she gone are 549 00:42:44.039 --> 00:42:46.960 more meditated, more meditated, more tight, she like, more flowy, 550 00:42:47.480 --> 00:42:52.719 And it just creates a really well rounded practice where you get conditioning, stretching, 551 00:42:53.119 --> 00:42:59.519 and flow all in one practice. Unbelievable. Can we do another one? 552 00:43:00.239 --> 00:43:02.320 Yeah, just do one. To do another one? Okay, this 553 00:43:02.360 --> 00:43:05.840 one, just arms at your side, will do a flow. It's called 554 00:43:06.119 --> 00:43:08.800 pulling down the sky and it's again you've got a long breath through the nose 555 00:43:08.840 --> 00:43:15.320 and let your arms lift up over your head and then when you exhale ittle 556 00:43:15.400 --> 00:43:21.719 light Sorry there you're pulling down the ceiling. Yeah, you know, the 557 00:43:21.760 --> 00:43:24.719 hands come down, Just write, palms face towards your body and just glide 558 00:43:24.800 --> 00:43:30.400 down the front of your body. Inhale, arms float up with relaxation, 559 00:43:30.559 --> 00:43:36.880 just very soft up over the head and exhale this float them down when you're 560 00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:42.960 just moving slowly with breathing, and then just kind of imagine you're just pulling 561 00:43:42.960 --> 00:43:46.480 in these nice waves of relaxation. So the relaxation feel. Yeah, I 562 00:43:46.480 --> 00:43:51.039 can feel when I'm doing that, I can feel my shoulders going up as 563 00:43:51.079 --> 00:43:55.800 well. And I don't know is that like creating tension by my arms are 564 00:43:55.840 --> 00:44:00.199 up this high. So now when you come down, relax your shoulders. 565 00:44:00.639 --> 00:44:04.360 And now when you come up, when you inhale, feel like you're there's 566 00:44:04.360 --> 00:44:07.840 strings on your wrist. Just floating your arms up, relax your shoulders. 567 00:44:07.239 --> 00:44:10.760 Relax the shoulders. Yeah, and then when you feel the shoulders rising, 568 00:44:10.800 --> 00:44:15.400 that's when the arms come down. So you don't go into tension. You 569 00:44:15.480 --> 00:44:20.800 just stay with relaxation. Awesome. Yeah, inhale, float the arms up, 570 00:44:22.719 --> 00:44:27.039 egg shale, float the arms out, and everything's soft and relax And 571 00:44:27.159 --> 00:44:30.000 that's good to notice. You notice when you when if you start to tighten 572 00:44:30.079 --> 00:44:31.880 up. That's when he relax into it and make the move and even smaller 573 00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:37.760 then m yeah, awesome, makes so much sense. Oh my gosh, 574 00:44:37.760 --> 00:44:42.960 I can't believe we've never had this conversation before. This makes much sense for 575 00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:45.199 golf. I love bringing it to the golf world because it just makes, 576 00:44:45.480 --> 00:44:52.079 as you said, so much sense with this audience, with this particular sport, 577 00:44:52.239 --> 00:44:55.559 and it just creates a great synergy. Yeah. Yeah, they really, 578 00:44:55.719 --> 00:45:02.920 they really are married. It is a marriage that is made. It's 579 00:45:02.920 --> 00:45:09.840 a happy marriage that that needs to be investigated. How can people get in 580 00:45:09.880 --> 00:45:16.039 touch with you learn more about Come find me at Holden Chi gong so h 581 00:45:16.159 --> 00:45:23.360 o l d e n q i g o n g q i Chi gong 582 00:45:23.639 --> 00:45:30.559 go og. That's the hardest part of Chigong is spelling and dot com okay, 583 00:45:30.639 --> 00:45:32.280 yeah, yeah. And we got a free two week trial to my 584 00:45:32.360 --> 00:45:36.559 video class subscription, which is you just come to class, you just get 585 00:45:36.599 --> 00:45:38.800 on zoom and you do. We have three classes a week and if you 586 00:45:38.920 --> 00:45:44.400 miss the time, that's always on the website and you can be in class. 587 00:45:44.440 --> 00:45:45.719 And we've got a free two week trial to that. And then I 588 00:45:45.760 --> 00:45:52.440 have tons of conditions specific whether it's arms, wrists and hands, upper back 589 00:45:52.480 --> 00:45:58.320 and neck, digestion, headaches, all kinds of conditions specific Chi Gong routine 590 00:45:58.440 --> 00:46:04.480 routines for healing. Awesome. So I know somebody who's just had back surgery, 591 00:46:04.440 --> 00:46:07.119 Yeah, just a couple of weeks ago. Wow, it is she 592 00:46:07.280 --> 00:46:13.360 Gung's great because it's it's really great therapy, is gentle therapy and it keeps 593 00:46:13.360 --> 00:46:17.199 your whole body moving so that you're not so stiff everywhere else because you've had 594 00:46:17.239 --> 00:46:22.480 one procedure and it's going to bring a lot of healing into that, into 595 00:46:22.480 --> 00:46:24.719 the spine. I will definitely let them know that. Yeah. And do 596 00:46:24.760 --> 00:46:30.039 you have a YouTube channel as well or is Everything channel? Yep, it's 597 00:46:30.079 --> 00:46:34.719 great, great free content on there as well. Awesome. Well, Lee, 598 00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:37.679 I am so glad that we got in touch, and I'm I learned 599 00:46:37.760 --> 00:46:45.880 so much in this conversation and will definitely be incorporating this into my life great 600 00:46:45.960 --> 00:46:49.039 as well as my golf absolutely. Oh, Fred, it was a great 601 00:46:49.039 --> 00:46:52.360 conversation. So good to be on your show. And I will definitely be 602 00:46:52.400 --> 00:46:55.119 in touch when the golf program comes out to Gung for Golf, and I'll 603 00:46:55.159 --> 00:46:59.840 put you in touch with Peter and some of the other people that are doing 604 00:47:00.119 --> 00:47:04.719 Gong for Golf that are actual golfers, and I'm sure they'll have a lot 605 00:47:04.760 --> 00:47:07.599 to say. Well, I'm gonna hold you to that one because I would 606 00:47:07.599 --> 00:47:09.360 love to I would love to talk to him. Okay, great, perfect, 607 00:47:09.599 --> 00:47:14.360 So thanks so much and best of luck, and I can't wait for 608 00:47:14.400 --> 00:47:20.239 that video. Okay, perfect, Thanks Fred. I'm very excited about the 609 00:47:20.280 --> 00:47:24.159 next few weeks of Golf Smarter because I've banked a bunch of interviews that I 610 00:47:24.239 --> 00:47:29.480 really think you'll find fascinating. Next week, we'll talk to Michael Chopka, 611 00:47:29.559 --> 00:47:34.679 who is the communications director for the Bandoned Dunes Golf Resort, to discuss why 612 00:47:34.719 --> 00:47:39.840 that massive property on the Oregon coast has become the destination in the United States 613 00:47:39.880 --> 00:47:45.519 to compete with Scottish Links Golf. Then for episode eight ninety nine, we'll 614 00:47:45.519 --> 00:47:52.119 meet Charlie Meetcham, author of a very fun book called Arnie and Jack Stories 615 00:47:52.159 --> 00:47:55.280 of my long friendship with two remarkable men. And that's going to be the 616 00:47:55.320 --> 00:48:00.480 week of the US Open. Kind of perfect. We'll sell episode nine hundred 617 00:48:00.480 --> 00:48:05.760 with a family affair. That will be the day that my wife's memoir is 618 00:48:05.840 --> 00:48:10.760 released. And since I'm a central figure in the book I Thought like we 619 00:48:10.840 --> 00:48:15.559 did on episode eight hundred, you can learn more about me, my history, 620 00:48:15.639 --> 00:48:20.280 and my wife's excellent book. Actually, the audio book which I produced 621 00:48:20.800 --> 00:48:24.679 is already available on Audible. The book is called by Accident, a Memoir 622 00:48:24.800 --> 00:48:30.320 of Letting Go by Joanne Green, And on that episode you might even get 623 00:48:30.320 --> 00:48:34.079 a chance to meet my two sons. Thanks this week go out to Ken 624 00:48:34.159 --> 00:48:37.559 Murdison of Augusta, Georgia for being our newest Golf Smarter Ambassador. Ken has 625 00:48:37.639 --> 00:48:42.719 chosen to receive Tony Manzoni's video of the Lost Fundamental and all you had to 626 00:48:42.760 --> 00:48:46.840 do is leave a voicemail which you heard introducing today's episode. You know you 627 00:48:46.960 --> 00:48:52.639 two are eligible to win one of three great prizes just for opening the show, 628 00:48:52.800 --> 00:48:57.960 leaving a voicemail, and being a Golf Smarter Ambassador. Now you can 629 00:48:57.960 --> 00:49:02.199 select Tony's video a glove storage compartment from Red Rooster golf dot com, a 630 00:49:02.320 --> 00:49:07.920 unique glove storage service that offers many styles of gloves in twenty six sizes for 631 00:49:08.039 --> 00:49:12.960 both men and women, Or you can choose a box of X one balls 632 00:49:12.960 --> 00:49:16.159 with a Golf Smarter logo from Oden Golf. The golf brand that sponsors and 633 00:49:16.239 --> 00:49:21.880 pays everyday golfers. These tour quality balls are a fraction of the price of 634 00:49:21.960 --> 00:49:24.559 what you'll usually pay, and when you use the code golf Smarter a checkout, 635 00:49:24.559 --> 00:49:29.639 you'll receive an additional twenty percent off the order. Their links are in 636 00:49:29.719 --> 00:49:32.239 today's show notes. Send me an email and I'll get back to you as 637 00:49:32.320 --> 00:49:37.320 some instructions of what to do and what to say. Just write to golf 638 00:49:37.360 --> 00:49:42.800 Smarter Podcast at gmail dot com or visit goolfsmarter dot com and click on the 639 00:49:42.880 --> 00:49:43.880 Hey Fred button.