This is the story of my personal experience meeting and experiencing the issuing of Qi energy from one of the most noted Qigong Masters of the time, as she supposedly issued chi energy out of her body into a room of people, and had them moving and hopping around like chickens.
Some say that moving people with Chi or Qi energy has been debunked.
I say that part of what happened at this seminar has been debunked, and part hasn’t.
I will tell you about that in this article.
Table of Contents
The Qigong/ Chi Gong Seminar In Las Vegas
In the early 90s, I attended a mind-blowing Qi Gong seminar at a Chinese restaurant in Las Vegas where a lady Taoist chi gong master named Gao was gonna issue chi energy out of her body into the crowd of attendees, and the chi energy was gonna set them in motion, make them move around, and even hop like chickens, and waddle like ducks.
(The name Gao is a common Chinese surname meaning high, or tall.)
For this article, I decided not to give the teacher’s full name.)
In the process of moving around, the Chi, or Ki energy was supposed to open up new Chi energy circulations and pathways, and this was supposed to help balance and heal bodies, minds, and spirits.
Back then, early 90s Las Vegas was desperate for every bit of Chinese culture that it could get.
And any interesting Chinese cultural event that could come into town, we all looked forward to.
I don’t remember how we found out about this event.
Perhaps from the Lien Hua Buddhist temple, or reading about it in the Chinese newspaper.
In whatever way we learned about it, my Tai Chi and Pa Gwa classmates and I decided to check it out together.
When we showed up at the Chinese restaurant, there was a pretty good crowd.
They were offering a free, or low-priced informational orientation as to what this type of Chi Gung was all about, and what was involved.
Then after that, anybody that was interested could pay and sign up for the full seminar.
At that time, I had been learning Tai Chi and Qigong for close to 12 years.
I felt so happy to be there, and it was good to be there with my friends.
We had a good feeling of camaraderie.
We felt like we were classmates from a Kung fu movie, and I was strutting along thinking I had skills and all that; but when I walked past a mirror, I looked like a little, high-voiced, snot-nosed sinophile.
Then Taoist Chi Gong Master Gao came in.
Master Gao appeared quite youthful and in good health.
Back then, she probably would have been about 40 or 50 years old, but she only looked about 28.
In fairness to her, it did look like her method of practice had brought her some good health results.
Our tai chi teacher, Master Alwin Sit Sun Leung from the Las Vegas Wan Tou Tai Chi Association, whose Father had been one of the favorite students of Tai Chi Master Chen Wei Ming, also attended the introductory seminar, and sat at one end of the room, and watched.
We were really glad he was there.
We figured that if this Chi Gung was the real thing, he would definitely know and that watching his reaction could help us decide if we should pay to take the full seminar or not.
We closely watched his reaction to the demonstration.
After the demonstration though, he just sat there, didn’t comment on it one way or another, and just decided not to take the seminar himself.
Qigong Powers: Is It Possible To Use Chi Energy To Move People?
Ideas similar to those taught at this seminar have been debunked as dependent on Hypnosis or the power of suggestion, but not all of it.
This type of effect has been studied and attributed to hypnosis and the power of suggestion.
It has been shown that to get people moving around like that, moving and squirming and hopping like chickens, they generally first need to see an orientation with a demonstration of the response expected.
If they can know the response that is expected, many of the people in the room will do exactly like what they saw demonstrated and will move and hop around all over the room.
Here is the surprising thing though:
If you just bring someone in off the street that doesn’t know what’s going on, or what is expected, and have them just stand there blindfolded while the Chi Gong master does the exact same thing, they won’t respond.
Even if the teacher uses the exact same energy issuing technique on them.
It was disappointing to me, to learn that.
I will say, in fairness to Chi Gong master Gao though, that I didn’t see her tested in that way, and didn’t see her fail in that way.
But I did see several tests of other Chi Gung masters in videos, where one moment they are able to do it, and then someone shows up from off the street, doesn’t know what is going on or what is expected, and just stands there without moving.
I was hoping that this kind of Chi Kung technique would always work, on everyone, and not because they were hypnotized or in some trance.
So Here Is What Happened At The Qigong Introduction.
Master Gao had previously collected video testimonials of people from previous seminars, that had experienced or imagined some benefit.
She showed us videos of their testimonials.
Person, after person, after person.
All of them raved about this type of Qi Gong and described the before and after benefits that they thought they had obtained.
They also testified about their various health conditions.
Master Gau had one or two assistants there.
One assistant was a young Chinese guy around 30 years old.
He testified in person too, and then she demonstrated her method of issuing chi gong energy out of her body while exhaling and got him squirming and moving all around, hopping around like a kung-fu chicken in front of us.
He looked like he had termites in his pants.
After we saw that, we for sure knew what was expected, and how we might respond.
And it cleared the way for us, that if someone felt like moving around in such a way, we wouldn’t think that they were afflicted or a nut case.
The testimonials and the videos had done a lot to build the audience’s faith, confidence, and belief.
And there were some attendees there that could identify with the testimonials they saw in the videos.
They were seeking new healing methods for their own health problems, and the video testimonies were good enough to convince several of them to cough up the money, to try out this rarely accessed opportunity.
How Much Do Qigong Seminars Cost?
I forget how much we paid for the whole seminar, but it was something like 250 dollars or so to attend.
Teacher Gao had about 20 people sign up for the seminar and that was bringing in some good money.
Something like 5,000.00 was collected just for that weekend.
Besides Las Vegas, she was traveling around to other potential Qi Gong destinations and cities on a circuit, visiting several places and locations.
With the attendees all signed up, now she just needed the seminar to be a good one.
This is because besides videotaping the event, she was also going to videotape new testimonials from the participants of this seminar.
Qigong Seminar Registration
Qigong Teacher Gau started out with a registration table. She had scrapbooks there with several news articles about her, photos, promotional write-ups, testimonials, and articles showing her touring around, etc.
There were a lot of impressive photos on the wall too.
One photo was of a famous old Monk that had made the news for amazingly being able to support his entire body weight while doing a one-finger, one-armed handstand upside down.
The photo showed him upside down and balancing his entire body using only one finger.
She claimed that he was one of her Qigong Teachers.
So with all that evidence, the photos, the demonstrations, the video presentations and testimonies, it really looked like it would be a pretty great thing to try.
Pretty great to actually feel such unusual chi energy, and experience what it is like to move around like a kung-fu chicken or duck, or Jackass.
Qigong Testimonials
After this seminar, I was to be one of those that stood up there and testified about my Qigong experience.
And sure enough, when the time came to testify, I couldn’t resist.
The whole idea of giving testimonials in Chinese was old stuff to me.
15 years earlier I had been a Mormon missionary in Taiwan and had ridden my odd-looking bike all over the northern part of the island, testifying all over the place.
So when I stood up there and testified in Chinese, it was like second nature.
I just flipped back into my LDS/ Mormon missionary mold.
I wanted to testify about some positive effects, so surveyed the way I felt and came up with my testimonial.
It seemed that after receiving the Qigong technique, the tiny bone located just below and connected to my sternum (called the xiphoid process) was no longer jammed in as much as I had thought it had been.
So I got up there and got all watery-eyed and had fun testifying.
Hahaha.
Later though, I started wondering about how accurate that change actually was.
Because I didn’t accurately check how it was right before the Qigong seminar, and I realized that I might have just imagined a difference there.
What Does Qigong Look Like?
What does it look like when someone supposedly receives Qi Energy and begins moving around.
Others looked pretty cool.
I looked asinine.
When I saw the videotape of the Gao Chi Gong event afterward, it was laughable.
In previous videos, they had showcased some people that had never studied martial arts before, but somehow, through the issuing of Qi energy, they were supposedly, and unexplainably now able to move as if they had trained in kung fu, Bagua, etc. for years.
When I saw those testimonials, that was all I needed to hear. Because I was a kung fu jackass.
I was there with my Chinese Tai chi and Bagua classmates and wanted to finally come up with some way to shine.
I thought, “Who knows if they will move like kung fu masters when they receive the Chi energy, but by God, I will.”
Haha. What an idiot.
So here’s what I looked like doing Qigong.
I was just jumping around in a room full of Chinese friends and classmates, looking like a drunk with my eyes closed slapping myself, and thinking it would look impressive as a martial art.
I was doing Kenpo/Polynesian traps and body slaps, beating myself up at least as much as any imaginary opponent.
Which made zero sense anyway.
It was probably leftover from the Kajukenbo days in Dover, Delaware, and the Shorei Kenpo days at BYU.
I saw the video of it later.
It did not look impressive. What a crack up.
What Does Qigong Feel Like?
I didn’t feel anything supernatural or out of the ordinary though.
I could not detect any unusual or irresistible wave of energy, leading the movements.
But the response potential was there to come up with some kind of movement, so I did.
I didn’t want to look like I couldn’t feel the Chi Energy, because that would mean that I was spiritually dense, especially when the others that apparently could, and were starting to move around.
I didn’t want to be the only one standing there and not moving.
Others could supposedly feel it because they were starting to move, and there I stood, like an idiot.
I didn’t want to look like I couldn’t feel chi movement, so this is how I figured it, and what I did.
I asked myself that if I was inclined to move in some direction, what direction would that be? What direction of movement would be easiest?
And then I just moved in that direction till it felt like that movement had dried up, or was drying up, and then just surfed that direction of ease, wherever it would lead.
If I got stuck, I re-took inventory, asked the question again, found the next easiest movement or range of possibility, and did that.
Well, one movement led to the next, and I was moving.
So basically, when it was time to lift or move an arm, If I moved it one way, that way seemed easier than moving it another, and so I simply followed the direction of ease, and when it seemed too boring or not flashy enough, and when the video camera came around (Hahaha), I essentially just bailed on that idea so I could try coming up with some kung fu that would look cool on video.
And that ended up with me looking like a fool out there.
Hahaha.
Externally, I know that it looked like postures were generated by Chi energy issued by the teacher, and in fairness to her, maybe some were, but to me, I felt that I was moving as always.
Naturally and under my control.
Part of the explanation at the seminar was that the teacher’s energy was gonna amplify the healing chi energy already present in the attendees, amplifying the effect.
Are Qi Gong Seminars Worth It?
In fairness to the teacher, this seminar did show me the technique of moving in the direction of relaxation, and that is a technique that I still use to this day.
For me, that alone was worth the price of the entire seminar.
I have used that method to generate my own personal set of Tai Chi postures and the Postures Of Prayer.
Whether hypnosis, the power of suggestion, or the real issuing of Qi energy, it had never crossed my mind to jump and hop around in exactly those ways, before.
So something did happen. There were for sure new movements, and new ranges of motion, with whatever circulation of vital energy that would be needed to move in those ways.
And for sure, there would be whatever health benefit would be related to moving around like that.
Even if it was just exercise.
So, even if it was just group hypnosis or the power of suggestion, it for sure had people moving through new ranges of motion and possibility, and who is to say that wouldn’t have a health benefit.
It is for this reason, that I say that it was a valuable experience, and worth every penny. Also…
Master Gao Did Teach Us Some Cool Taoist Health Exercises.
Master Gao also showed us a set of some really cool Taoist health and longevity exercises, that were especially great for the shoulders, back, neck, and spine.
I had previously spent a bunch of time in the parks of Taiwan and Singapore working out with the locals and because of that, could recognize that her exercises were among the best that I had seen.
Her teachings and explanations, at least for that part of the seminar were quite good.
When she found out that I was a licensed health professional, and that spinal health care was my specialty, she had me come up in front of the room while she showed everyone her muscular back.
She asked me to evaluate her spine in front of everyone as evidence that the method was good.
Essentially vouching as to her spinal health.
In fairness to her, the results of her method did seem quite good.
Can Qi Gong Be Harmful? Is Qi Gong Safe?
Somebody asked Qi Gong Master Gau if Qi Gong can be harmful.
They asked if Qi Gong is safe, and if the movements of someone being moved by “Fa Chi”, or the issuing of chi energy into a room of people could have side effects, such as being unable to stop moving.
They asked Master Gao if their movements could get out of control like a runaway train, and if so, can they be stopped?
She replied that this is a common question and said that at least with her Qi Gong method, it is safe.
She said not to worry about any potential side effects, or about the movements being led by the Qi becoming too big or fast, or too strong, because she was there, and was trained in the way to prevent or solve that. She said that her method of Qi Gong is not harmful, and is safe.
So once again, that implied that she had some kind of spiritual ability or technique.
What Does A Qigong Master Do?
Then what was the Qigong Master’s actual technique like, what did she do?
She acted as if she had spiritual powers.
She appeared almost like a conductor, leader of music, or choir director, but instead of music, it looked like she was a leader of movements.
And it appeared that she was leading the movements with her whole body, including her face.
She had the attendees form a circle, and she would walk along behind them and would pause, standing behind one person at a time, pacing that person’s movements, establishing correspondences, and making her movements match something about the person.
It looked like she would match their rate or depth of breathing or some other subtle movement of the person, and gradually, entraining with them, then lead those movements to become either smaller or bigger.
The person did not see her doing this, because she was standing behind them, but they could hear her exhaling and breathing.
In this way, to an observer, it could seem like she was leading them, issuing Chi to lead them, or influencing their movement.
Sometimes she would stand right behind someone making large movements and appear to catch the movement by duplicating it a time or two, and then shake her head no, as if to direct that movement to decrease.
I don’t know if she was doing that for theatre, or not.
She would do that a time or two, almost as if catching, or intercepting the movement, and then when that person would eventually tire of doing it and move on to something else, it could seem to onlookers as if she had reigned that movement in, or made it reduce.
Maybe it actually worked, but I had no way of knowing.
This made it look like she had spiritual power over the movements.
But similar performances can be done with just observation and timing.
She also used another method to convince the attendees that she had spiritual power.
She told them that they can keep practicing this, even when they return home, and that no matter where in the world they are, they should start the practice by saying the mantra: Gao Lao Shr, Dau Wo Jeli Lai. This means, “Teacher Gao, come here to me”.
To show consideration to Teacher Gao, I have changed that wording slightly, but kept the basic idea.
It implied that she would travel to them in spirit to watch over and direct their safe Chi Gong practice.
As you can see, this would imply that she has the exceptional spiritual power to do such a thing, or else it wouldn’t make sense for her to tell them to say that before they started practice.
Is Gao Chi Gong A Type Of Spiritual Initiation?
It was set up in a similar way to a spiritual initiation because of that mantra she gave for people to say before they practice at home.
Something close to: Gao Lau Shr Dau Wo Jeli Lai. or, Teacher Gao, come here to me.
As if to imply that Teacher Gao was spiritual enough that she could travel beyond the body and be involved in their continued movements and practice wherever they would be, no matter how distant.
Yes, it was treated similar to an initiation that was supposed to establish a connection between The Teacher Gao, and the students that had received the issuing of the energy.
Final Thoughts.
In summary, Master Gao’s Chi Gong seminar was a nice bit of something new to experience and added to what otherwise could have been a more boring life.
In fairness to her, her technique did have the attendees moving and hopping like chickens, and I was hopping right along with them too.
In that sense, though it may have been due to hypnosis, or the power of suggestion, it was a real technique that actually produced movement in people without any physical contact.
So that is interesting.
Without any physical contact, someone claiming to issue Chi energy into a room can indeed have a room of people moving around, doing Kung fu-type movements, and hopping like chickens.
There is a cool parlor trick that you can do that makes it seem like you are knocking people off their feet without touching them. Here is the link for that: How To Do No Touch, Touchless, No Contact Strikes, And Throws.