About Sifu Kenny Gong, Jim’s teacher

Master Kenny Gong learned Xing Yi and Ba Gua Zhang from a teacher in Guang Zhou, China in his teenage years, during the early to middle 1950’s. Never divulging his teacher’s name, he revealed only that his teacher had been a general in Chiang Kai-Shek’s army and was keeping a low profile in Guang Zhou. Kenny also said that it is what you know not who you learned from that is important. A Traditional Chinese doctor, like his grandmother, he apprenticed himself in the traditional way to a doctor in Guang Zhou to learn medicine. Mr. Gong passed away in 1996.

Jim fell in love with the new sensations and experiences of qigong, which gave him a previously missed focus to life. His bodily health, mental health, and interest in life increased. Qigong brought him back into his body and connected him with the mystery of life energy, Qi (or Chi). He studied Xing Yi Quan and Traditional Chinese Medicine with the late Kenny Gong in New York City for 8 years before moving to Portland in 1990.

In 1994 Jim graduated with a master’s degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine.

©2009-2010 Xing Yi Qi Gong

Portland, OR

503-528-9814     jim.alan@comcast.net

Since 1992, Jim Alan has taught Xing Yi Qigong in Portland, introducing nearly a hundred students to the practice. His weekly group classes, taught in a private studio, include breathing, active movement, guidance, and an opportunity to ask questions. Through this, the depth and meaning of Xing Yi naturally unfold.

Jim found Xing Yi Quan in 1982 while looking for a Chinese internal-style martial art. He was attracted by the possibility that with internally focused styles one improves with age, even after passing physical prime. In New York City he found Sifu Kenny Gong, a renowned qigong teacher, who along with his students moved his body in novel and meaningful ways. They moved their ribs in powerful ways. They moved the waist separately from the hips. They talked about connection and moving the body as one piece. They practiced abdominal breathing and had exercises where the rhythm of the breath was more important than the rhythm of the action. This was qigong and it intrigued him.