Water Method Blog

Yin and yang, or all opposites, is a philosophical concept from Taoism. True Taoist studies always start with body, specifically with qigong. In this video, I cover the primary areas of focus for balancing the body, all yin-yang combinations, in the physical body according to internal neigong p...

Virtually no other health system takes the Water approach to life, but this millennia-old strategy allows you to establish and maintain a personal/spiritual practice, rest, relax and let go — even as you work towards your greatest and most challenging of goals.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Tai Chi Space (@the_tai_chi_space)

Wu Style Tai Chi Long Form taught by Wu & Yang Style Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis (disciple of Grandmaster Liu Hung Chieh of Beijing, China) demonstrated by The Tai Chi Space and Energy Arts Senior Instructors Paul Cavel and Jackie Smith. Learn more and see our lineage...

The First Section of t...

Ageing doesn't have to mean decline. Tai chi has been practised for three hundred years to keep the body and mind healthy into old age.

In the beginning, tai chi is all about relaxing, softening and releasing open the body. Through ongoing training, the adept practitioner can penetrate their flesh -- their body, qi and mind -- to discover who they are at their core.

The Five Elements are studied in many different ways. In the Water Method, the Transformative Cycle dictates: Water, Fire, Wood, Metal and then the Earth, where all elements can be integrated into one whole. The Chinese compass helps us understand their positions.

Contacting and feeling the Five Elements of the manifest realm and merging with nature is a focus of Taoist practices. Here's how you start.

The spleen is the internal organ responsible for integrating the body's systems as well as the experiences of your life -- in body, qi & mind.

In the Water Method, the Principle of Separate and Combine is used to build skills in the lifelong practices of Five Element neigong, medical qigong, tai chi, bagua and even Taoist Meditation. However this skill-building strategy can be applied to grow and improve skills of any kind.

The Water Element governs the kidneys. Water Element qigong can help boost qi and support healthy living well into old age.

In the Taoist model followed by the Water School, yin & yang regulate the flow of all things here in the manifest realm.

In this video, I sit down with Sarah Lim-Murray to discuss how Heaven & Earth Qigong uses opening-and-closing neigong and lengthening of the yin-yang tissues of the body to open, power up and connect the body. This is just one of the reasons why qigong has an edge modern exercise systems.

This is an excerpt from my book, Taoism: A Journey Towards Unity, where I discuss the Five Elements of Manifestation. Heaven & Earth Qigong is the classic Wood Element neigong practised in the Water Method.

The I Ching, Book of Changes, known as the Taoist bible, dictates that energy governs matter. Qigong, tai chi and bagua target the qi of the body.

According to Taoist philosophy, balancing yin and yang in the physical body is the first step in creating space for healing in body, mind and qi.

The Five Elements of Chinese medicine are Water, Fire, Wood, Metal and Earth. These energies govern the manifest realm and indeed the whole body-mind-qi matrix.

Hey Everybody, I'm sharing this video with my teacher Bruce with good info for those of you who attended our Art of the Spiral: Embodying Twisting Neigong in Tai Chi & Bagua course or who watched my free webinar on the subject.

I hope you enjoy it! The seminar was profound to say the least, trans...

Thanks to everybody who joined the livestream last week. If you didn't get a chance to join us on this talk on twisting neigong and neigong weaves, you can check out the video recording here.

Wishing you all good practice,
Paul

Of the five senses, four are located in your head: vision, hearing, smell and taste. Only feeling is applicable to the whole body, inside and out.

Join this medical qigong retreat with TTC Instructor Anna Price:

13-15 February 2026
The Quadrangle, Kent, UK

Learn more and book at AnnaQigong.com

Tung Hai Chuan, known as the modern progenitor of bagua, taught each of his disciples differently, depending on their specific talents and needs. This is the basis of the main bagua lines and schools that have followed.

Liu Hung Chieh, my teacher Bruce Frantzis' teacher, had the honour of attending...

Taoists say you already have everything you need inside of you. It's just that traumas of the physical, energetic, emotional, mental and/or spiritual nature prevent you from realising your full potential.