To most of us, it appears that Lee has lived and breathed Qi Gong from the moment he was born. While he has always had an innate awareness of energy and Qi, his path to mastery has required a lifetime of hard work and dedication.
At Holden QiGong, we always appreciate sharing and learning about one another’s journey. As an exploration of self, each of our experiences is unique and tells others about a part of ourselves that nothing else can communicate. Being that Lee is a teacher and mentor to many of us, we thought we’d write a blog post about his lifelong journey. Through this post, we hope to give you a greater understanding of his path as a teacher, as well as inspiration for your own unique story as a Qi Gong practitioner.
Lee’s first experience of Qi occurred through hypnosis at the age of eleven or twelve. His parents, who are open-minded and curious individuals, shared guided visualization and hypnosis practices with him at an early age. Although Lee didn’t yet know about Meridians or Chinese Medicine theory, he felt an unmistakable energy flowing through his body. He noticed that by slowing down his breathing his mind would quickly shift into a calm and peaceful state. Like many children, most of Lee’s attention continued to be directed toward sports or games, but his awareness of Qi was there to stay.
His next powerful encounter with Qi happened when he was a student at UC Berkeley. After a debilitating soccer injury, Lee found his way into the office of a Qi Gong practitioner and acupuncturist. Through his profound healing experiences at the hands of the Chinese Medicine practitioner, Lee decided that Qi Gong was worth learning more about.
To further his knowledge and understanding of Qi, Lee visited a spiritual bookstore on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. As he was leaving the store, he noticed a flyer for a workshop that was going to be led the following weekend by Mantak Chia. It sounded like a unique opportunity and Lee decided to check it out.
Lee immediately resonated with Mantak Chia’s teaching style. He found all of the lessons to be both intuitive and insightful, and knew that this was the beginning of an exciting journey. For Lee, the practices he learned felt like reminders of the power that already existed within him. From that point forward, Lee made sure to attend all of Mantak Chia’s workshops that took place in the area, which usually happened about every six months or so.
When Mantak Chia wasn’t around, Lee would go to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to learn from Chinese masters who were sharing their practices with the public. Through those impromptu, yet regular lessons, Lee got exposure to a vast variety of styles and approaches. Two of his early teachers were Yang Jwing Ming and Peter Ralston, who is a well-known Tai Chi fighter.
After college, Lee got hired by Mantak Chia to help write a book in Thailand. Lee got up and flew to the other side of the world where he lived and worked with the renowned master. Lee ended up working on several books with Mantak Chia including Taoist Exercises for Health and Longevity, Cosmic Healing, Fusion of the Five Elements, and Simple Qi Gong.
As part of his writing job, Lee had the opportunity to learn in a completely immersive environment directly from Mantak Chia. Through the topics they covered together, Lee was able to learn a vast variety of practices that later became the backbone of his own Qi Gong classes and programs.
During this period of working with Mantak Chia, Lee frequently left Thailand to study with other masters in Hong Kong, China, and other parts of Asia. Generally, he would spend a few months in Thailand, followed by travels around the region or back to the United States. It was an era of expansive learning and growth that he is eternally grateful for.
As his breadth of knowledge continued to grow, so did his ability to share the practices he learned with others. He also realized that he loved the opportunity to help people reconnect with their own internal life force energy. Any experienced practitioner knows that Qi Gong can help us cultivate the most inner gifts that we possess, and providing a pathway to realizing these gifts was deeply gratifying and rewarding for Lee.
Although teaching required immense work and effort, Lee knew that it was his path to share Qi with the world. He worked at exercise studios, on movie sets, and at various summits to learn and teach the ancient practice. As he continued to receive positive feedback from his students, both his classes and enthusiasm grew.
Over time, the demand for his lessons surpassed his capacity to teach everyone who was interested. People from all parts of the globe were intrigued and fascinated with his unique style, and many of them traveled thousands of miles to learn from him in person.
Luckily, technology has made significant strides since Lee’s early days of teaching. Over the last several years, Lee’s classes have found their way onto national television, DVDs, and the Internet. Now, Lee has a full team of filmers, designers, writers, and organizers to make sure that his lessons are widely available to students around the world.
One thing that has remained steady throughout Lee’s Qi Gong journey is the consistency of his practice. Like most activities, Qi Gong is something that requires consistent dedication in order to grow and learn. At Holden QiGong, we know that it isn’t always easy to find clarity and direction in developing a personal routine. We also know that many people have busy schedules and cannot dedicate significant time to their practice. Therefore, we’ve put together a program that makes it as easy as possible to build a consistent, reliable practice in just seven minutes per day.
Lee’s Thirty Day Challenge offers 30 unique practices that are just seven minutes in length. This makes it easy to plan it into your morning routine or evenings. Also, each of the lessons is unique, so you can look forward to new practices each day of the month. Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or a complete beginner, this program is an essential addition to any Qi Library. Click the banner below to learn more!
