The Hutong » Healthy Habits

These health programs are designed to allow you to immerse yourself in a new perspective of health and learning.
They seek to empower people through the learning of preventative health information and practices that allow a better understanding of the relationship between our environment, lifestyle and health.
The aim is to help you discover the transformative powers of Eastern Health practices for restoring and maintaining balance, health and happiness.

Alex has also set up his Traditional Chinese medicine Clinic to The Hutong

Free TCM Preventative Health & Longevity 6th June 4pm

Stacey Shine — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:16:36 +0000

In this half hour discussion we hope to lift the veil on some of the ideas and philosophy behind Asian health and lifestyle practices. We will investigate how such different models of health and medicine developed in the east and west. How can we use both eastern and western ideas to improve our health and how to incorporate these into our daily lives? The focus is on leaving you with the motivation to use this knowledge in a practical and useful way.

Cost: Free

Teacher: Alex Tan – qualified TCM practitioner & educator

Click here to Register

Eat, Sleep, Breath – Next workshop 12th June (5wks, every Sat)

Stacey Shine — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:25:32 +0000

How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle in Beijing

Developing Healthy Habits Using Traditional Chinese Wisdom

Five Session course

In this five-session program we aim to help you to lift the veil on some of the ideas and philosophy behind Asian health and lifestyle practices. The goal of this 5-session program is to incorporate preventative Chinese medicine into your daily life for restoring and maintaining energy, being more efficient at work and dealing more positively with life’s challenges.

More information

Each class – two hours. The first hour will focus on the practical component aimed at becoming proficient in a set of Qi Gong exercises called the Eight Golden Treasures (ba duan jin). The second hour will be theory orientated, focusing on a discussion topic aimed at stimulating heath awareness along with practical tips utilizing ancient Chinese
wisdom.

Session 1 – Breathing & Daoism

Session 2 – Resting & Rhythms

Session 3 – Eating & Traditional Chinese Diet Therapy

Session 4 – Exercise & Meridians

Session 5 – Thinking & Observing

Aim: is that you will acquire a basic understanding of the concepts of traditional Chinese health and to become proficient in an authentic set of Qi Gong exercises, leaving you with the motivation and ability to include these positive rhythms
into your daily life.
Cost: 800RMB upfront for complete 5-session program for maximum learning outcomes or 200RMB/week – maximum 10 people each session (No refunds – but welcome to join any classes missed in the next course for free)
Teacher: Alex Tan – qualified TCM practitioner & educator

Click here to register

The Benefits of Breathwork – 5th June 10-11.30am

Alex Tan — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:20:44 +0000

To breathe is to live. We can survive for weeks without food, for days without water, but only minutes without breath. Breathing is a master key to the self-healing. We will explore the dynamics and methods of breathing well from both an ancient Eastern and modern medicine point of view.

The benefits of breathwork include: centering the mind, being more efficient at work, dealing more positively with life’s challenges – and the best part is that it is easy to do, requires very little time and is literally right under your nose. Come along and learn why if you do a second more of breath-work today than you did yesterday you will have made spiritual progress.

Cost: 100rmb

Teacher: Alex Tan – qualified TCM practitioner & educator

Click here to register

TCM Food Energetics- 26th June 2pm

Stacey Shine — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:56:06 +0000

Eat Well & Stay Healthy the Traditional Chinese Way

What, when and how you eat flows into every part of your life. In the East, food is described as possessing certain qualities such as a warming or cooling nature, possessing certain flavours or acting on the body in a certain way. The nutritional value of a food is stated as a set of energetic properties, which describe the actions a food has on the human body. Learn about these basic principles of a healthy diet including, energies of foods, flavors and directions of foods and how to eat with the seasons according to Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Cost: 100rmb for 1½ hour discussion

Teacher: Alex Tan – qualified TCM practitioner & educator

Qi Gong Club – Every Tuesday 6pm

chen — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Qi Gong means both ‘breathing exercise’ and ‘energy control’. Qi is a Chinese word, which has no direct English translation, but it roughly equates with the concept of ‘energy’ in the New Physics sense of the word. The Chinese word Gong translates as ‘work’ or ‘discipline’ or something that takes your full attention – so Qi Gong is a form of attentive ‘Qi work’.

In this class, there are no strict rules, no strict master, nor any attendance requirements. The aim of the class is to give people flexibility and the opportunity to experience and practice Qi Gong on their own terms, in an effort to make Qi Gong practice more accessible to those who are interested.

Every Tuesday 6 – 7pm

Cost: 60rmb

Teacher: Alex Tan – qualified TCM practitioner & educator

Introduction to Chinese Herbs – 19th June 2pm

chen — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:00:00 +0000

In this introduction to Chinese herbs we will examine a brief history of herbal medicine and the development of herbal theory, tastes, actions and more. We will also look at how a herbal prescription is formulated with the Emperor, minister, assistant and envoy.
Finally, we explore the different formulations available and learn how to identify common ‘patterns’ for colds and flu in order to buy the most suitable patent medicines from the local pharmacy.

Cost: 100rmb

Teacher: Alex Tan – qualified TCM practitioner & educator

Click here to register

Morning Qi Gong & Ancient Temple Tour

Alex Tan — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:17:33 +0000

The perfect tour for friends or family, (young or old) visiting Beijing to really witness first hand and feel the essence of morning exercise and ancient Chinese health preservation exercises. Take a guided tour with Alex Tan who has a degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and has been practicing Qi Gong for more than ten years.

Total – 90 minutes – 7am-8.30am (flexible)

Includes

Guide – qualified TCM practitioner who specialises in preventive health – fluent in English with Asian heritage
Entrance Fee
Guided tour with history & explanations of the Temple of Earth (di tan)
Explanations of exercises & benefits according to Chinese medical theory
History of morning exercise and the Chinese body clock, and how to take advantage of cosmic cycles for better health and wellbeing (2 page handout incl.)
Qi Gong class – 30 minutes

More information

Tour Costs (Max. 20 pax)

Group Size (Pax)	Cost (RMB)
1-2	600
3-5	800
6-10	1000
11-15	1200
16 – 20	1400

In China, the first rays of light shine on citizens in the park who are starting the day with an ancient tradition of morning exercise. The Chinese believe the best time to wake up is with the rising sun, for at this time the body qi is rising too. You may see plenty of chatting, walking, martial arts, badminton, singing, dancing, feather kicking and gymnastics including Taiji and Qigong. Many of these exercises are based on ancient Daoist ideas of health preservation and longevity.

Alex believes the true treasures of TCM lie in its greater focus on preventative health and lifestyle practices and less about reactive treatment. The key focus of this approach is about learning how we can live in accordance with nature to avoid illness and disease. The wisdom of the ancient Chinese can greatly assist this understanding of our environment and ourselves so that we can use this knowledge in a practical way to adapt our lifestyles for better health and happiness.

Alex is a native English speaker with a Chinese heritage who understands the ‘non-Asian’ perspective and will encourage informal questions and open discussions.

For more details contact Alex Tan – 150 115 10 363

straightbamboo@gmail.com

Wing Chun Kung Fu master

chen — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:35:36 +0000

Gain self-defence skills in the style of Bruce Lee of learn to fight like the man himself!

Master of kung fu, Marco Lee specialises in the form of Wing Chun Kung Fu, made famous by the legendary Bruce Lee. These classes are for those who want to learn self-defence and those keen to develop martial art skills and learn this Kung Fu form in its entirety.

Marco’s links with the martial arts superstar Bruce Lee, go further than just his name and fighting style. Master Lee is an accredited instructor trained under grandmaster Lo Man Kam, who in turn was the “elder kung fu brother” of the late movie star; both Bruce Lee and Lo Man Kam have been trained by the same grandmaster Yip Man in Hongkong. This style of fighting is very popular in southern China because of this heritage and to have this form of training available up here in Beijing from a master of this lineage is very rare.

Classes run twice weekly
Thu. mornings from 10am to 12pm and Sat. from 10am to 12pm. 6ppl minimum = 200 rmb per person
4 lesson advance booking (8hrs) = 700 rmb per person

Kung Fu fighting class – A path to mastery and self-cultivation
Marco’s lessons are perfect for students who want to develop their skills in the traditional kung fu form.

Teachings include;
Siu Nim Tao (basic idea form)
Cham Kiu (seeking bridge)
Biu Jee (thrusting fingers)
Mook Yan Jeung(Wooden Dummy)
Luk Deem Boon Gwan (6½ Long Pole)
Baat Jaam Dao (Butterfly Knives), Theoretical Methodology etc.
Self defence class – It’s not just for the young and agile
Orginally conceived by a female Buddhist nun 300 years ago, the Wing Chun style that Marco teaches has consequently become famous for its effectiveness, practicality, logic and adaptability. Anyone, regardless of strength or body stature, can get fit and learn to defend themselves in a relatively short time.
Teachings / Curriculum includes;
- The philosophy behind Traditional Chinese Wing Chun Kung Fu , Chinese Boxing and its associated Arts
- Giving the individual the chance to comprehend what KUNG FU actually is.
- Enabling the student to project his/her inner potential