Eight Pieces of the Silk Brocade Workshop

Discover the Simple, Yet Elegant, “Eight Pieces of the Silk Brocade” Qi Gong Practice

You’ll Learn How to Activate Your Qi, Improve Circulation, Stimulate Your Immune System, Strengthen Your Internal Organs, and Receive an Abundance of Energy

“…thousands of illnesses vanish into dust.”

That’s the last line of the Eight Pieces of Brocade poem.

Also known as “Ba Duan Jin,” The practice was developed by General Yue Fei about 1000 years ago in China. It was originally created to help warriors become stronger and heal for battle, but soldiers soon realized that it was effective far beyond the battlefield.

Not only did the practice give the soldiers greater physical strength, but it increased their focus, resilience, and sense of internal peace.

The practice contains eight separate movements (or pieces) that practitioners use to work with various energies and meridians. It can be completed in 15 minutes. The eight movements help you redirect and protect yourself from negative or toxic energies that come your way… so you can maintain peace of mind even in the face of negativity and stress.

For example, instead of letting hurtful words or actions strike us at the core of your being, you can learn to allow these unwanted negative energies to move past you.

The Eight Pieces of the Silk Brocade practice is accessible for everyone, regardless of age or physical condition. Because it was developed for soldiers, there are two versions of the routine: a seated version and a standing version.

The seated version promotes relaxation, healing, and internal harmony. The standing version promotes strength, flexibility, resiliency, and inner calm.

Practitioners learn how to balance energies within the body that may have fallen out of harmony with one another. Over time, they find a graceful and fluid rhythm with their own internal energies… and learn how to be less affected by other people’s negativity and toxic emotions.

A Basic Overview of the Eight Pieces of the Silk Brocade Movements

This isn’t intended to teach you how to do the practice. Rather, it’s to explain the energies and outcomes of each movement in the practice.

The first movement is called Two Hands Hold Up the Heavens. Through the slow, raising and lowering movements of this practice, practitioners seek to activate their Qi in the Triple Burner and circulate it to the rest of their organs. This is a great activating exercise that stimulates energy from the rest of the movements.

Drawing the Bow to Shoot the Hawk is the next movement. It strengthens the kidneys and tones the waist area. The kidneys correspond to the water element, so this exercise is very helpful for cultivating the flowing qualities of water both emotionally and physically.

The next movement is called Separate the Heaven and the Earth. This exercise helps to regulate and balance the spleen, liver, and stomach. It also activates key meridians (energy pathways) to ensure that your Qi is flowing fluidly throughout your entire body.

The Wise Owl Gazes Backward increases flexibility and heals common ailments caused by emotional injury or upset. It also helps to boost your Yin organs and balances your Qi in each organ.

Next, you move on to Sway the Head and Shake the Tail. This exercise helps to relax the muscles in your lower body as well as reduce excess energy in your heart… calming and nourishing your emotional self.

Two Hands Hold the Feet and Strengthen the Kidneys and Waist is the next exercise. It’s an excellent practice that strengthens your overall muscle health and tone, as well as improves your kidney health (giving you more energy). It also increases strength and flexibility around the waist.

The next exercise is called Clench Your Fists and Glare Fiercely. This practice lifts your spirit and increases overall vitality. It’s the most outward of all the exercises and also helps to increase muscle strength throughout your entire body.

The last exercise is called Bouncing on the Toes. It helps “smooth out” your Qi and integrate all the energies you cultivated from the previous exercises. After this exercise, practitioners usually stand quietly for a few minutes to fully absorb their experience.

The Eight Pieces of the Silk Brocade Workshop is for Those Who:​

• Are interested in learning an ancient Qi Gong practice made accessible to modern life.
• Are compelled to combat stress, increase energy, and discover flow.
• Want to do Qi Gong, get a Qi Gong practice started, or deepen an existing Qi Gong practice.
• Don’t have a readily available teacher who is grounded and accessible to a modern audience.
• Discover the most common pitfalls of manifestation (you don’t want to manifest what you don’t want) and how to avoid them
• Have, perhaps, come across “teachers” that try to tell you that you lack “spirituality,” “correct understanding,” or any of a host of other comments made against folks who tend to be a wee bit more analytical than others is why you aren’t getting results.

Please Note:

You do not have to be “spiritual” to practice Qi Gong and receive its benefits. Lee’s explanations of the movements are clear, to the point, and accessible to a modern practitioner. He uses little or no “woo-woo” language to teach the practices, and equips practitioners with grounded knowledge of “why,” “when,” and “when not to” use a practice or routine.

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