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Natural Awakenings Naples and Fort Myers

The Inner Force Behind All Martial Arts

Apr 28, 2017 11:05AM ● By Lily Viola

Eddie Rose

Qigong is Eddie Rose’s favorite class to teach at Shangri-La Springs, in Bonita Springs. The senior instructor of NVS Peace in the Midst of Non-Violence also teaches meditation. “Qigong is an ancient Chinese health care system with so many aspects to master that I offer my students an analogy, which is really the question about how they would try to eat an elephant. The image, along with the answer, one piece at a time, demonstrates the point that accomplishment of any one aspect takes years of learning and practice,” says Rose.

Rose, a local resident, explains that the word qigong is made up of two words—qi, the life force that flows through all things in the universe, and gong, which means accomplishment or skill that is cultivated through steady practice. Joined together, the they describe cultivating energy through a system of integrated moving or stationary physical postures, breath techniques and focused intentions which are practiced for health maintenance, healing and increasing vitality.

Rose, who taught martial arts throughout the world his previous career for corporations and law enforcement, uses qigong to teach individuals how to cultivate the inner power of qi, which can be adapted to any martial art. External forms of martial arts such as karate, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu and judo were created by infusing an internal energy for manipulating qi to develop more health and strength.

“Over the years, I studied martial arts. I began with physical, hardcore karate and moved on to kickboxing. They both required athleticism and were tough on my body. When you’re young, you can take the blows. At 19, I began studying qigong. As I got older, I began making the correlation between energy and physicality. I figured out that it doesn’t have to be all about the physical. When you cultivate the life force, it enhances the physical movements. Throwing a punch with directed qi behind it packs more forcer. When dealing with a person on an energetic level you don’t have to get physical, although I teach that, too,” says Rose. 

 

Shangri-La Springs is located at 27750 Old 41 Rd., in Bonita Springs. For more information about Eddie Rose’s classes, call 239-949-0749 or 239-244-7678. Visit ShangrilaSprings.com or Torahana.com.