Born in Brazil, Felipe Reitz & the Ancient practice of Medical Qi Gong
Born in Brazil, Felipe Reitz has crossed the world to tell us about the anient practice of Medical Qi Gong
says Olivia Morahan
Felipe Reitz is a man with a mission, a crusader spreading the word of the ancient Chinese practice of Medical Qi Gong. The health and fitness market is swamped with pseudo Indo-Chinese disciplines, from the cardio workouts of power yoga and body balance to the more traditional tai chi and hatha yoga.
While Madonna’s favourite, ashtanga yoga, has a huge following, little has been heard of the damage caused by some of these intensive workouts to well-intentioned but ill-quipped yoga practitioners. Could there be room for any more?
Medical Qi Gong is over 7,000 years old, a safe form of breathing, movement and meditation tailor-made to suit specific ailments. The healing exercises are derived from the ancient wisdom of Taoism and its supporting philosophy. Seventy million Chinese practice it every day and Chinese doctors use the exercises in hospital and clinics to treat patients suffering from ailments including arthritis, asthma, bowel complaints, heart, kidney and liver disease, obesity, and stress.
Born in Brazil and now living in Naas, Co. Kildare, where he practises acupuncture and Medical Qi Gong, Reitz has literally travelled across the world to bring the skill to Ireland.
A martial arts expert and fifth generation kung fu instructor from the Shaolin monastery, Reitz began his journey in his native Brazil where he practised kung fu. “I trained and practised there for six years, 10 hours every day, seven days a week”, he says.
“When I met the master, my translator was reluctant to tell me that he said, I was unsuitable - the wrong size, no good!”
He then spent three years in Israel teaching kung fu to soldiers. Class numbers were inconsistent due to casualties of war. “it was hard to make friends in that environment,” he says. “I’d ask if so-and-so was there and find they’d been killed in Syria or Lebanon. I just stopped asking.”
It was time to move on when the army asked him to join. “I left immediately,” he says. “I’d probably be dead if I stayed.”
Reitz got his first taste for the orient when an acupuncturist treated his kung fu master’s knee and cured it. “I saw what he did, and wanted to learn more, so I decided to do an acupuncture course,” he says. London was the next port of call, and he signed up for a course in acupuncture where he met his wife, homeopath Jean FitzGerald. Jean advised him to go to China for further studies.
In China, Reitz hired a translator who directed him to a Medical Qi Gong master. In Ireland, signing up for a course means simply paying the money and turning up. Not so in China, meeting the master was an ordeal in itself.
“when I met the first master, my translator was reluctant to tell me what he said!” says Reitz. “The master spent some time telling my translator I was unsuitable - the wrong size, no good!” Understanding the Chinese philosophy and realising that the master was testing him, Reitz persevered. The master then asked him to hold a difficult pose without moving, saying he would be back in a while. Almost 30 minutes later, he returned and smiled, saying, “Come back tomorrow.”
His work commitments at the local Chinese hospital meant that Reitz couldn’t attend this master’s class so another, even tougher master was recommended.
This time, the translator suggested he bring master number two a basket of fruit as a sign of respect. “And it worked, as the master opened the door, saw the fruit and smiled and invited me into his house,” Reitz remembers. But he encountered the same negative pounding from the second master. And again he was asked to adopt a difficult pose. Passing the test, he was invited back the next morning at five for yet another test. Joining a large international group of people from the US, Germany, France, Japan, Korea and elsewhere, the master asked Reitz and all the others on trial to stand in a circle facing out to the beautiful gardens of a shanghai hotel. He asked them not to move, promising he’d be back soon.
“I remember feeling lots of flies and mosquitoes buzzing around and desperately fighting the urge to itch,” says Reitz. “My legs started to shake and my attitude was getting really bad. I kept asking myself why I was going through all this. What was the point? I could hear low moans and curses in lots of different languages from the others.”
But after a while those feelings disappeared and Reitz felt a surge of energy flow through him. “I imagined I was like a tree and it felt like my feet were rooted to the spot. I really started to fell part of the earth. There was also a rush of energy up my spine and my attitude was really positive. I was still asking myself what I had signed up for when I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder.”
Spielberg couldn’t have written it better; Reitz turned around and realised he was the last man standing. The entire group had given up and gone home. The master had found his pupil.
“I was in such a trance that I couldn’t move for a few minutes and I found it hard to focus on his face,” says Reitz. “I had really reached a very high level of meditation.”
The master then suggested they go for lunch. Reitz’s translator was in shock as he never asked any pupil to lunch before: he advised Reitz to pay for the meal.
Reitz trained intensively with the master, where he learned Medical Qi Gong. It’s grounded in science, and there is even a research centre in Shanghai dedicated to studying the effects of the practice of Medical Qi Gong on patients. One of Reitz’s last challenges from the master was meditating in the middle of a very busy street in Shanghai. He had to adopt one of the poses as people clamoured around him. “It was difficult at first as there were so many people,” he says. “There’s no Irish comparison - the volume of traffic, the air pollution, and all the car horns and bicycle horns. It was probably the hardest place you can imagine to meditate!”
But it was worth it in the end. Reitz’s knowledge of Medical Qi Gong prevented his father from having major heart surgery. “I told him to do one of the exercises, the Golden Bell, every day, and he didn’t need the surgery,” he says. “Now he feels bad if he doesn’t do the exercises - that’s how effective it can be.”
For the moment Felipe treats patients individually, but ideally would like to give classes so other practitioners can avail of this therapy for their patients. “I don’t want all the knowledge I’ve built up over the years to die with me!”
For further information please contact Irish Centre of Integrated Medicine Tel./Fax.: 00353 0 45 844819 or e-mail: info@icim.ie
Tags: Medical Qi Gong