Learn Taoist Way of Staying Healthy at Wudang Mountain

Do you want to stay healthy? The answer is obviously "yes" to most people.

But, how?

Many people from around the world are now turning to Taoism for answers.

Today, Xu Weiyi will visit Wudang Mountain, considered the 'holy land' of Taoism, to learn the Taoist wisdom of "nourishing life".

"I'm Ben from Australia. I've only been here for one year and nine months."

"My name is Ivan. I came from Portugal. I practice Taichi and every other form that are possible to learn. I want to live better, get stronger body and get some inner peace."

"I'm Wang Shengbo. This is my third year leaning Wudang Taoist Kung Fu."

These people are students from a Wudang Taoist Kungfu training school at the Wudang Mountain.

As Zhong Yunlong, a master of Wudang Kungfu, says, practicing Taoist Kungfu, such as Taichi, is one of the Taoist approaches to nourish life.

"Nourishing life" or "Yangsheng" in Chinese is nowadays a catchy word among modern Chinese and even foreigners who are looking for ways to stay healthy.

"'Yang' means preserving and taking care of ones body. 'Sheng' means to create new life-force energy. Yangsheng means to create new energy and resource by adopting certain approaches."

Taoism was created in China more than 2000 years ago. Taoist thought generally focuses on nature, the relationship between humanity and the cosmos; health and longevity; and wu wei, which means action through inaction.

Master Zhong Yunlong says Taoism puts special attention to "nourishing life" starting from the beginning.

"The key thoughts of Taoism all focus on nourishing life. It's about finding a good environment, good timing and proper place to relax and create new things. It's about the rotation and balance of Yin and Yang."

How does one nourish life? Master Zhong Yunlong says there are several major approaches.

"First, you get along with the nature harmoniously. Second, you follow the order of nature in daily life. Food, drink and bathing with medicinal herbs also help the body to stay healthy. Another major one is to practice martial arts under the Taoist principle of staying calm and still."

As Master Zhong says, practicing Taoist Kungfu like Taichi, Bagua Zhang, and Xing-Yi is a very important way of "nourishing" life.

That's why Taoist Kungfu schools, including his, at the Wudang Mountain have attracted students from all over the world.

"Since Wudang Taosit Kungfu officially opened to the public in 1989, we founded our Taoist Kung Fu academy. As far as I know, we have received students from over 40 countries. After finishing study, they go back to their countries to promote the Taoist culture."

At the moment, there are 14 foreign students in his academy. They are quite excited about the changes they have experienced after practicing Taichi and other Wudang Kungfu.

"I've get much healthier and my mind much calmer. It's been without doubt a benefit to come here to train like this.
"Definitely. It helps a lot. When you are sick, when you are hurt whatever if you practice the right thing, you can help yourself really good. I was a nervous person and way too loud. But since I'm here, I think I'm bit peaceful."

"Before I came to the training center, I became sick frequently, didn't eat enough, and always surfed on the Internet. But since I came here, my body has become stronger."

In addition to Taoist Kung Fu, the Taoist food therapies and lifestyles have attracted many enthusiasts.

Olaf Kastner, a senior executive of BMW from Germany, is one of them.

"The holistic concept of combing human and nature, the Yin and Yang principle, all these are things that we can learn from for all our life. Not that we can take it the same way as it probably applied in the past but I think we can learn from essentials and adapt them into modern life and pass them on."

If you can't practice Taoist Kungfu, don't worry. As Master Zhong suggested, you can remind yourself to stay calm, gather your energy and always be at peace. This will help you nourish your life and pursue longevity.

Good luck!

For CRI, I'm Xu Weiyi.