https://www.facebook.com/300099376707034/

Dayan Arts Organization, 208 N. Main Street, Delphos, OH (2026)

09/04/2026

Flashback Friday

I had the pleasure of seeing 4 of my longtime Qigong students get inducted as closed door students of Master Chen during the 2019 trip to China.

This also occurred 10 years to the day from my first meeting with Master Chen!

Congratulations to David Deich Steve Cooper Yaga Samitowska and Brit Potter and thank you for your continued dedication to sharing Dayan Qigong!

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!

09/03/2026

Our next workshop in Delphos, Ohio. Open to any level. Beginners welcome!

Also reminder that Instructors and instructor trainees also have training the day before on September 25.

09/02/2026

One of the signature movements of the Dayan Qigong 1st 64 is the vibration. It immediately stands out when you see the form, but like so much in Dayan, there is more happening than what appears on the outside.

The vibration is not simply shaking. When done correctly, the whole body stays relaxed and the movement travels through the structure rather than being forced with muscular tension.

From the traditional Dayan perspective, this helps stimulate the meridians, encourage the movement of Qi and blood, and shake loose stagnant or turbid Qi. I like to think of it as gently rinsing the body from the inside.

The key is not to force it. The more unnecessary tension you remove, the more naturally the vibration can travel.

In the 1st 64, this section also serves as an important transition between the earlier meridian work and the later stages of returning, flying, gathering, and bringing the practice back inward.

It is a simple-looking movement, but there is a lot happening inside it.

09/01/2026

Master Chen Chuan Gang’s story is an important part of understanding how Dayan Qigong survived, developed, and was carried forward into the modern era.

As the son of Grandmaster Yang Meijun, he was closely connected to the preservation of the larger Dayan system, including material that went well beyond the forms most people became familiar with publicly. His training, his understanding of the system, and the responsibility he eventually carried all became part of how Dayan continued into the next generation.

There is much more to his story than can be covered in a short post—his family history, his years of training, the methods he preserved, and the deeper side of the system he helped carry forward.

I’ll be sharing much more in my upcoming book on the History, Principles, and Theory of Dayan Qigong.

There is still a lot of this story left to tell.

08/31/2026

Monday Motivation — Stillness (Jing 静)

Over the years, one thing I have learned through Martial Arts and Qigong is that we spend a lot of time trying to do more.

Train harder. Learn more. Move faster. Fix the problem. Get to the next thing.

But some of the best lessons I have learned came when I stopped trying to force anything and just became still.

There is an old Chinese saying:

“Still water runs deep.”

The older I get, the more I understand that.

In Dayan Qigong, stillness gives us a chance to notice what is really going on. We notice our breathing. We notice tension. We notice where the mind is wandering. We begin to see things we miss when we are always in motion.

Life is really no different.

There have been plenty of times when I thought I needed to push harder, make a decision quicker, or keep moving just because standing still felt like I was doing nothing.

But sometimes standing still for a little while is exactly what we need.

It gives us a chance to think.

To listen.

To see things a little more clearly.

Stillness does not mean giving up or doing nothing. Sometimes it is what gives us the direction we need before we take the next step.

That is one of the things I appreciate about Dayan. The lessons we learn in practice have a way of following us into everyday life.

Sometimes the best way to move forward is to be still long enough to know where you are going.

08/28/2026

Flashback to 2017!

In 2017 I went to Zhengzhou, China with Steve Cooper to train Dayan Qigong with Master Chen.

While we were there we had the pleasure of meeting and training with these four gentlemen, all of whom were students of Grandmaster Yang Meijun.

From left to right:

Yuan Huaizhou
Zhao Chenxu
Chong Peiming
Xie Jihong (Vincent Tse)

It was a great opportunity to spend time with people who had trained directly with Grandmaster Yang and to hear their experiences, share practice, and learn more about the way Dayan Qigong was passed down.

Experiences like this are an important part of understanding the history of the system. There is a lot that can be learned from books and written records, but there is also a great deal that comes from meeting the people who were actually there and learning from their memories and experience.

At the end of the training Chong Peiming presented us with some of his calligraphy. A great honor!

I’m very grateful that Dayan Qigong has given me opportunities like this over the years!

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!

08/27/2026

As I continue to study the Dayan system I keep coming back to the way Yang Meijun was trained by her grandfather, Yang Deshan. What really stands out to me is the order of her training, and also the time period in which that training took place.

Yang Meijun did not begin by chasing the most complicated material. She was given a foundation and then built on it step by step. The 1st 64 and 2nd 64 formed that foundation. From there she moved into deeper methods, including Dayan Palm, Dayan Fist, weapons, internal training, meditation, and other advanced practices.

But there is another part of that story that I think is important.

We have to remember when Yang Deshan was teaching her.

This was not a time when martial arts were practiced mainly as a hobby, sport, or something people did a few evenings a week. China was going through tremendous change and uncertainty. Knowing how to protect yourself and your family could be a very practical necessity.

So the martial side of Dayan had a real purpose.

Dayan Palm, Dayan Fist, the stepping, the body methods, and the weapons were not just old traditions being preserved because they looked interesting. They came from a time when martial skill could actually matter.

At the same time, Yang Meijun was not simply taught fighting techniques.

Her grandfather first built the body that would be able to use them.

Through the foundational Dayan training she learned the stepping, turning, opening and closing, rising and sinking, relaxation, coordination, intention, and the connection of the whole body.

Then those same principles could be expressed martially.

That is one of the things that interests me most about Dayanquan Gongfu.

The Qigong and the martial side are not two completely different systems. They grow from the same roots.

In Qigong, those principles can be used to regulate the body, circulate Qi, open the channels, and cultivate health.

In Gongfu, those same principles become stepping, positioning, issuing power, evasion, striking, controlling, and defending yourself.

Different purpose. Same foundation.

And when I look at the order Yang Deshan taught Yang Meijun, I think there is a lesson there for us today.

Build the Dayan body first. Then learn how that body fights.

I don’t want Dayanquan to become simply a collection of techniques with the Dayan name attached to them. I want to understand and preserve the Gongfu that is already inside the system—the stepping, body method, intention, internal coordination, and principles that make those techniques Dayan.

Yang Meijun’s early training gives us a pretty good roadmap.

Foundation first.

Then Gongfu.

And in the world she grew up in, that Gongfu wasn’t just theory. There was a very real reason to know how to use it.

08/26/2026

The more I study the Five Element Meditation in Dayan Qigong, the more I see that the order of the five methods is important. It is not simply a matter of assigning an element to each part because it sounds good. Each element describes the actual quality of what we are trying to accomplish in that stage of the practice.

We begin with Water — the Natural Qi-Sinking Method.

Water naturally flows downward and collects at the lowest place. In the same way, we allow the Qi to settle and sink. The body becomes rooted, the energy moves toward the Lower Dantian and downward toward Yongquan, and we establish the foundation for everything that follows.

From Water we move to Earth — the Silent Recitation Method.

Earth represents the center and stability. Here the scattered activity of the mind begins to settle. The intention becomes quieter and steadier, and we establish a center. I think of this as giving the practice a place to stand. Before we try to move or circulate anything, we first have to become centered.

Next comes Metal — the Breath-Regulation Method.

Metal has the qualities of refinement, gathering, and regulation, and it has a natural relationship with respiration. At this stage the breath becomes finer, smoother, slower, and more subtle. We are no longer simply settling. We are beginning to regulate and refine what we have gathered.

Then we come to Wood — the Qi-Dispersing Method.

Wood grows, moves, spreads, and reaches outward. Now the quality of the practice changes. Qi is directed into areas where there may be stagnation or obstruction. What has been sunk, centered, and refined can now begin to move freely.

Finally we reach Fire — the External Heavenly Circulation Method.

Fire expands and radiates outward. At this stage we are moving beyond purely internal circulation and beginning to work with the relationship between our own Qi and the energetic field around us. There is expansion, connection, and exchange.

So the progression I see in this practice is:

Water — Sink and Store
Earth — Center and Stabilize
Metal — Refine and Regulate
Wood — Move and Disperse
Fire — Expand and Connect

When you look at it this way, the Five Element Meditation tells a story.

First we sink.
Then we center.
Then we refine.
Then we move.
Finally, we expand.

That is one of the things I find so interesting about Dayan Qigong. The Five Elements are not just philosophical ideas that we place on top of the practice afterward. Their qualities help explain what the practice itself is doing.

We build from the inside out!

For me, understanding that progression makes the Five Element Meditation much more than five separate exercises. It becomes one continuous process of cultivation.

Sink. Center. Refine. Move. Expand.

08/25/2026

THEORY TUESDAY — The Five Elements in Dayan Qigong

This picture gives a pretty good visual of something that is important to understand in Dayan Qigong—the Five Elements are really about relationships and change.

We usually name them as Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water, but they are not just five separate categories. They describe different qualities of movement and function in the body.

Wood expands and grows.
Fire rises and becomes active.
Earth centers and supports.
Metal gathers and refines.
Water sinks, stores, and returns to the root.

The picture also shows the generating cycle. Water nourishes Wood, Wood feeds Fire, Fire creates Earth, Earth gives rise to Metal, and Metal supports Water.

Then there is the controlling cycle, which keeps one part of the system from becoming too strong or too weak.

That is really the heart of Five Element theory. Nothing works by itself. Everything affects something else.

That same idea is built into Dayan Qigong.

When we practice, we are constantly working with opposite and complementary actions. We rise and sink. We open and close. We expand and gather. We move Qi outward and then bring it back in. One action prepares the body for the next.

This is why the Five Elements are more than a chart of organs and colors.

They give us a way to understand what is happening underneath the movement.

Yang Meijun taught the Five Element theory as part of the deeper understanding of the Dayan system, and Master Chen has always emphasized that the outside movement is only one part of the practice. We also have to understand what the movement is doing internally.

The Five Elements help explain that.

They show us how the organ systems relate, how different qualities of Qi support and regulate one another, and why Dayan practice is built around continual change rather than holding one fixed state.

Once you start seeing the Five Elements this way, the theory becomes much easier to understand.

It is not five separate things.

It is one system, constantly moving, changing, balancing, generating, and returning.

That is a big part of the theory behind Dayan Qigong.

08/24/2026

MONDAY MOTIVATION — Emptiness

“We shape clay into a vessel, but it is the emptiness within that makes it useful.”
— Lao Tzu

One of the principles we work with in Dayan Qigong is Emptiness — Xu (虚).

When we hear the word emptiness, it can sound like something is missing. In Qigong, it is almost the opposite. Emptiness is what creates room for something to happen.

If the body is full of tension, the movement becomes stiff. If the mind is full of thoughts, expectations, and trying too hard, we stop paying attention to what we are actually feeling.

Sometimes we have to empty a little.

Relax the shoulders.
Let go of unnecessary tension.
Quit trying to force everything.
Give the body and mind some room to work.

I think the same thing applies to life.

We can fill ourselves up with worries, plans, frustrations, old problems, and things we really cannot control. Before long, there is no room left for what is happening right now.

Lao Tzu used the example of a cup. The clay gives the cup its shape, but it is the empty space inside that makes it useful.

That is a pretty simple lesson, but a good one.

We are always trying to add more—more knowledge, more training, more plans, more things to do.

Sometimes the better answer is to let something go.

Create a little space this week.

In your training.

In your mind.

And in your life.

You might be surprised what can happen when you stop trying to fill every empty space.

Have a GREAT WEEK!

Dayan Arts Organization

09/04/2026

09/03/2026

09/02/2026

09/01/2026

08/31/2026

08/28/2026

08/27/2026

08/26/2026

08/25/2026

08/24/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request