Welcome friends. Today I would like to share Part 1 of a 3 part radio interview I did with Rashid Westcott of OXFIT RADIO.
Radio Interview Part one
In the rest of this blog, I summarize the first part of the interview and I added some pictures and many interesting links; enjoy. One of the stretches, or body marker, I talk about in the interview, for example, is for your quads which I like to call the Heron stretch.
You can see where you are on my scale of flexibility and how to practice it 3 different ways depending on your flexibility. I also added pictures for another, more advanced stretch which I did not talk about in the radio interview (Seza) for those of you that have healthy knees and want to give it a try.
In the beginning of the interview, I talk about how I got into practicing the eastern health and martial arts (Chinese philosophies) in Israel in 1978 at the age of 16. I started with passive complementary practices such as massage, moxa, suction cups, as well as passive stretching. Then I met my first Zen teacher Zvi Wiseman who I practiced and trained with for 3 years in Jerusalem focusing on Zen meditation, Kung Fu and Tai Chi.
After working with Zvi I wanted to dedicate myself to real traditional training and ended up coming up to Boston in 1983 to study with Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming. In Boston I got into intense training at Dr. Yang’s school called YMAA. I learned and trained Kung Fu with him at his school for about 10 hours every day! I studied Long Fist bare hands and weapons, White Crane bare hands and weapons, Ti Dau (a large, heavy weapon used to cut the horse’s legs to get the rider off his horse) Staff, Saber, Narrow blade sword, Chin Na, Knife Defense, Xing Yi, Ba Gua bare hands, Deer hook, and Meditation.
I also studied Tai Chi, Pushing hands, Tai Chi sword, Tai Chi ball, Chi Kung theory and different styles of Chi Kung and Tai Chi, Chi Kung massage and more. I studied with Dr. Yang and a few other masters like Liang Shou Yu and Wei Lun Huang and continued to practice and teach for another 30 years in Boston and all over the world.
About 20 years later in I got into working with Cancer patients at Dana Farber and was involved with the creation of the Zakim center. I found that the eastern philosophies could be developed into a powerful method of healing and developed mind body interventions for chronic conditions, especially for the side effects and symptoms of Cancer or autoimmune conditions. I use this method to help people feel better mentally and physically in both personal classes as well as online.
If you are interested, check out the lecture at Dana Farber I presented to caregivers and nurses explaining how a mind body practice based on the principles of Yoga, Tai Chi and Chi Kung, complement western health care.
Free pre-recorded videos I offer on the Dana Farber YouTube channel
Cleansing and Nourishing Meditations
The Tai Chi Move Begin Tai Chi
Tai Chi Walking Meditation
The Tree meditation
One of the guiding principles behind my teaching is that we are made up of 5 building blocks. I call them the 5 building blocks of our being or Body, Breath, Mind, Energy and Spirit. I am also a believer in the concept of “freeing the skeleton from being the prisoner of the soft tissue” which draws on some of my studies and training with BKS Iyengar Yoga.
In the interview you can hear a little bit about the method I have developed for measuring flexibility and strength which I call “BodyMarkers” - my next book! My first and second books are Sunrise and Sunset Tai Chi (Now called Tai Chi AM Workout and Tai Chi PM Workout).
In this blog I want to show you what I mean by “Body Marker.” The Heron stretch, for example, is one way to improve the quad body marker. To get a 10 on the Ramel Rones body marker scale of flexibility your heel should touch your sitting bone. This is the most you can stretch your quads.
Practice this stretch for 1 to 3 minutes, 5 to 10 times a week, with deep breathing to improve balance, increase flexibility and to prevent or deal with knee issues.
I call this stretch the Heron stretch after the patient, graceful heron who stands still for long periods of time waiting for fish.
I did not mention it in the interview but for individuals who have healthy knees another way to improve your “quad Body Marker” is by practicing the slightly more advanced Seza.
I talk more about this stretch and another way to stretch your quads in my blog series about Freeing the Skeleton with the Body Markers. I also go over how to stretch your ankles and your hamstrings. Both of these stretches are important for preventing falls and for preventing stiffness in your lower back. Give it a try!
Some of the other concepts I talk about in the interview
We are shallow breathers and we need to make a conscious decision to breathe deep throughout the day.
Abdominal breathing and the importance of massaging your internal organs.
The energetic system and about the lower energy center, your life force and energetic battery.
Evoking the spirit and how it leads to a positive hormone production.
The 4 schools of Chi Kung: Religious Chi Kung, Confucius Chi Kung , Health Chi Kung and Martial Chi Kung.
I finish the first part of the interview with an explanation of the difference between Chi Kung and Tai Chi.
Come back next time when I release the second part of the radio interview or you can go ahead and listen to it at OXFIT Radio.
Happy stretching, deep breathing, empty your mind, strengthen your energetic system and evoke your spirit!
May the coming year be a good one!
Ramel Rones (Rami)