The Life Giving Sword

A Conversation with QiGong Practitioner Jeff Primack
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Astrologer Guy Spiro conducted this interview on January 5, 2010. For many years, Spiro has been interviewing luminaries in the New Age field, from the largest names to up-and-coming visionaries. He is also the publisher of Chicago’s Monthly Aspectarian magazine, dedicated to awakening consciousness. Jeff Primack teaches Qigong seminars to thousands of people each year and hosts the website Qigong.com. He is bringing his four-day training “Qi Revolution” to Atlanta March 27-30.

Guy Spiro: Jeff, I usually like to start by asking people  to tell their story. What did you come through to get where you are now?

Jeff Primack: I began training in Energy Arts, Qigong, in about 1996. I was a college student at the  University of Florida getting dual degrees, one in Eastern philosophy and one in business. During my time there, I studied with a Siberian shaman who had spent numerous years in a Taoist monastery. She was a Zen master, could meditate for hours at a time, and had this huge house in Gainesville with no furniture. She had two chairs, one set of dishes and owned basically nothing. She was my first true teacher and she took me under her wing for two years. She was a professor at the University, fluent in eleven languages, and was a really amazing human being. She got me on my path and fortified within me a deep reverence for Chinese healing practices. However, like all great teachers, at some point, they send you off with, “Now, use what I’ve taught you.” She moved to California.

Really craving knowledge in this art form called Qigong, I read hundreds of books, but it wasn’t the same. So I went on a quest to find masters of Qigong. I researched the greatest teachers in the world. I would fly them to Florida and arrange seminars where I’d get 70 to 80 people in a hotel room for two days with these masters and we would all learn Qigong together. I had a reputation that I wouldn’t bring in any teacher who hadn’t done at least 50 years of practice. Once people started attending my seminars, they realized that everyone I brought in was good. I didn’t teach my first class until I had received at least five years of training. I was just watching these guys. I brought in masters from China, Canada, Europe, all over the world. After  studying intensively with these masters, I designed my own form of Qigong.

GS: Who were you most influenced by?

JP: Paul Dong is definitely somebody I would name. He is the author of a book called Empty Force. He actually
showed me how we could move our body (and others) without touching, through the use of qi. I use this concept in our qigong “push hands” exercise.

Another teacher that I have great respect for was Master  Weizhao Wu. I studied with him intensively and arranged many of his workshops. I practiced Qigong everyday as my job. I learned how the qi-energy worked and through my own daily practice I could feel it as magnetism in my hands…pulsation of blood, heat and incredible vibration in my abdomen.

Each year, the energy grew stronger. The blend of exercises I was doing was affecting me on a profound energetic level, so I sought to develop my own, deeper, ‘hybrid’ Qigong forms. My practice was centered around breathing  techniques (pranayama) from India’s yoga tradition, Dao-Yin slow movement Qigong and special alchemy meditations from Chinese Taoist masters. Most of the exercises I’ve taught for 10 years are still audience favorites, like the “ninebreath method.” This technique, among others, was “shown to me” while in deep meditation and came from what I believe to be the  “True Source,” or the intelligence of the universe.

GS: What was it like when you first began teaching Qigong? Was it well received right away?

JP: The first workshop I ever taught took place in my parents’ living room in March 2003. Only 12 people came, but it was ecstatically well received and I knew I was onto something big. After two years of increasing turnouts and moving into larger hotels, suddenly a major shift occurred for me.

In November 2005, I charged under a hundred bucks for a four-day ‘Qi Revolution’ seminar and 200 people came! We were showing them breathing techniques, like the nine-breath method, that in 45 seconds gave the user a fullbody vibration. People who had been doing energy work for 30 years were handing us written testimonials claiming it was, “the strongest energy of their lives.” That’s the story of Supreme Science Qigong. It came about as an experience of so many types of Qigong and was distilled into a simple format that the Western audience could run with. As of today, 15,000 people have taken the seminar, so, it has come a long way.

GS: Across the board, it’s time for all of these kinds of things to be made more accessible. I think that’s a hallmark of the paradigm shift that we’re going through. It’s interesting to watch it happen in all the different areas of spirituality, metaphysics and even religion.

JP: There’s so much happening now. Qigong is only one small part of everything that’s happening to expand natural medicine and the global consciousness of humanity. The thing that Qigong brings to the table that’sso unique is a biological experience of spirit. Qigong is a biological experience that even the most skeptical person can’t deny. The pulsing, the humming,
the heat vibration is all so tangible with Qigong that it breaks through many limiting beliefs about our healing potential and even who we really are. I think energy cultivation techniques will prove to be very important for the emergence of a higher consciousness at this critical time period on Earth.

GS: Experience is the teacher. You can keep it theoretical and learn everything intellectually, but eventually you’ve got to get down and do it. Give us a working definition for Qigong.

JP: Qigong is a special type of exercise that makes people ‘pulse.’ Imagine if you could circulate as much blood flow from jogging two miles as you could while standing perfectly still. This pulsing of blood is the best way to explain Qigong to a Western audience. You pulse effortlessly with stronger blood flow from specialized movements, breathing techniques and  meditation practices. This increased blood flow is immediately palpable and even helps to take away pain in a great number of our audience members. The blood moving so powerfully while standing or sitting effortlessly is what gives Qigong its real healing power.

Dr. Oz from the Oprah Winfrey show said, “If you want to live to be 100, do Qigong!” He’s not the only one saying such bold things about Qigong. There are many qualified authorities even saying Qigong is the ideal practice for people fighting a disease of the immune system, like cancer.

So to clarify, Qigong is the art of harnessing qi, which directly affects blood flow, digestion and the body’s metabolic energy. If I was to say you have a high metabolism, I would in fact be saying you have a high qi vibration.

GS: What do you start people out with, what’s fundamental?

JP: The way that we teach Qigong is a bit over the top. We assume people are ready for the powerful practices right away. The beginning of the Qi Revolution workshop starts with something we call “Breath Empowerment.” It is a profound transformational tool, especially in bigger groups with a large group energy field. We lay down on the floor doing special breathing techniques and flood our body with oxygen and energy. It feels like a car engine pleasantly humming inside your body. A full-body vibration occurs. A lot of times people experience something profound during this because the energy is so strong in the body. This is actually the same technique that I used to heal my asthma. It’s a very powerful breathing method. 

We also teach something called “Level-1 Form,” which is a routine of five slow-moving exercises woven together in a series that a person would do every morning. It uses flowing, graceful movements to ‘press’ on the edge of a magnetic field surrounding your body. This in turn strengthens qi and blood pulsation. We also root into the ground with postures to enhance jing and leg strength. Everyone can do it. Even 80- year-old ladies come and do all three levels all four days. The goal at the end of these four days is that people have mastered at least this Level I Qigong form. That’s going to be their bread and butter when they go home as a routine, and they can practice daily or however often they’re able.

GS: Of course, the more they put into it, the more they’ll get out of it.

JP: Definitely true. It’s a practice, but after four days, people are usually eager to implement Qigong into their schedule after such a powerful experience. During the four days, we also teach food-based healing, a system of naturopathic medicine where people have reversed diabetes, cancer, heart disease, even created improvements for children with autism.

GS: One thing that stands out right away, four days for $99? That’s a low price and I think that’s very smart. I’ve seen a lot of people over the years overprice their stuff, saying that anybody who really wants it will figure out how to pay for it, and they’re going for quality over quantity. But I think at this particular point, we need to get all of these various things out to as many people as possible. So I commend you for making it so affordable.

JP: I believe in the power of large groups. The more people who come for Qigong… the stronger the group energy field will be. Low price is obviously a key to our success, but it’s not the only secret. Some of our Qi Revolution events draw over 2,000 people for four days, and I can’t even describe to you what the energy is like when thousands of people all inhale at the same second in a coordinated and precisely timed effort. There’s a huge “group energy effect” to Qigong.

We also have a non-profit 501c3 branch to our organization, called Supreme Science Qigong Foundation. Its focus is to get Qigong into the public school system. So far, we have done several successful programs in elementary schools. Sometimes we teach the school kids about food-based healing. I have personally received dozens of testimonials from people reversing diabetes using this knowledge. So many kids are getting obese and ending up with diabetes. It’s like, why don’t more people know about Qigong and food healing? Well, our job is to make sure more people do know about it.

GS: A closing thought?

JP: I know life is busy. Everybody has a lot going on. However, I think we could all use these energy exercises to increase our personal power and take responsibility for our own health, so that when we’re in the real world earning our living and doing our daily tasks, there is ENERGY behind what we do and how we live!

“Qi Revolution” is coming March 27-30 to the Atlanta Georgia World Congress Center. Practitioner Jeff Primack and 20 instructors will teach four days of Qigong Training for $99. To reserve tickets or get more info: (800)-298-8970 / www.Qigong.com.