Franklin Fick

24 Section Brocade Qigong Franklin Fick

This book illustrates a 24 Section Brocade Qigong that was lost in China, but preserved in Japan. To reintroduce the art back into China, the author examined and translated the Japanese text and this set of exercises was published in 1935. One of the most popular Qigong sets is the 8 Section Brocade Qigong. There are many different versions of this exercise set.

I have also seen 6 Section Brocade, 12 Section Brocade, and a version with 32 exercises (which was originally 64 exercises before it was simplified). These sets are usually either Seated Sets or Standing Sets. This 24 Section Brocade contains both seated and standing exercises.

I feel that there is some Japanese influence on how the exercises are presented. Most notably, the seated exercises use the kneeling position, called Seiza in Japan. Although the exercises might not be presented exactly how they would have been practiced in China long ago, I feel practitioners will still find this information useful and interesting in their research.

I also think this book will be interesting to practitioners of Japanese arts who wish to research body training methods and energy training methods. The author of this book claims that these exercises were used by the Japanese Samurai as their body strengthening and longevity method.

"According to the original authors words, after practicing this method for 100 days, it can make the tendons, channels, bones, and muscles of the whole body reach the condition of being solid and strong, the activity of blood circulation increases, and it can make the putrid that is stored inside the body exit completely and all sorts of diseases will not be generated. After practicing for 3 years, your strength will grow by 1000 times. The muscles are strong and solid like iron. No matter where, even using knifes and swords to stab and hack, one can not be hurt."