Although outlawed in China, Falun Dafa is a gentle, accessible exercise to harness the body's energy for improving the mind, body and spirit

Story by Beth Gallaspy * Photos by Scott Eslinger * The Enterprise

Outstretched arms push away from the body then suddenly, gently flow to the front of the chest with hands folded in a prayerful posture. A few seconds later, the arms stretch out in a different direction before returning to the prayerful pose.

The slow, almost floating movements of Falun Dafa seem simple, but practitioners of the exercise and mediation system say it is amazingly effective. And because they feel the practice has helped them, six Falun Dafa volunteers from Houston visited Beaumont on Saturday for a free workshop to introduce it to others. Additional free workshops are scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. each Saturday through June 10 at the Beaumont Public Library, 801 Pearl St. In downtown Beaumont.

Introduced in 1992 in China by Li Hongzhi, Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, aims to improve the overall mental, physical and spiritual health of practitioners through five gentle exercises and meditation. The practice has been outlawed in China since July 1999 and many practitioners there have been persecuted. Though it has been in the public eye for less than a decade, Falun Dafa has a much longer history.

"This is an ancient exercise," said Quin Sun of Houston. "It was passed down one by one from teacher to disciple. What (Hongzhi) teaches are very universal principles. He wants to benefit the whole world."

Sun started learning Falun Dafa two years ago, a few months after his wife, Xuewei Chen, began practicing. They credit Falun Dafa for healing a health problem Chen had that required surgery in China and was expected to require additional surgeries, but has not. Now, she practices with about six others in Memorial Park most mornings, one of about six sites in Houston where an estimated over 100 Falun Dafa practitioners in the area can gather to exercise together.

Testimonials of improved health are common among Falun Dafa practitioners, in literature related to the practice and on the Web site (www.falundafa.org).

But hopes of healing weren't what brought those Beaumont residents to the workshop Saturday. Jean Hammer said she had read about millions of people practicing Falun Gong in parks throughout China and the government's suppression of it.

"I thought if all these people think this ancient art is so important, maybe we should find out about it," she said.

Hammer said that she and her husband, Barney, who also attended the Saturday workshop, had attended one session of tai chi previously, but she found that too difficult. "I thought this would be similar, but it might be easier," she said. Falun Dafa and Eastern philosophies in general interest her, she said, because "it seems like they do the whole body and do the stretching that a lot of our things don't ."

Her husband said he liked what he learned. I think it's good for me and what's different from a lot of other things is it's more moderate. I'm too old to be doing a lot of bouncing around," he said.

The accessibility is one aspect that Falun Dafa volunteers promote. "Everyone can to learn the exercises from a 5-year-old child to a 90-year-old man. Everyone can get a benefit," said Jason Wang of Houston.

Like tai chi, Falun Dafa is a traditional qigong practice designed to improve the mind, body and spirit through the energy of the body and the universe. It often is referred to as a cultivation system because, according to the Web site, practitioners cultivate desirable qualities "like a garden, planting seeds of goodness and not letting that goodness be damaged by circumstances or events."

In Falun Dafa, the universal qualities to be cultivated are Zhen-Shan-Ren, or Truth-Compassion-Tolerance. Visiting the Web site and seeing those three principles at the heart of the practice was what "drew me to want to come here," said Katy Maneman of Beaumont after the Saturday workshop. "The truth, the compassion, the tolerance are the very essence of life we all want to attain." Plus, Maneman said, she finds any type of moving meditation appealing because she is too high energy to stay still for long.

Each of the five sets of exercises has a different purpose. The first is intended to stretch and open all the energy channels of the body. The second is a standing meditation to cultivate wisdom and enhance an individual's energy level. The third is thought to purify the body by exchanging the energy from the cosmos and the body. The fourth is to strengthen and improve circulation. And the fifth is a sitting meditation for a clear mind and increased energy potency.

With many of the movements, males lead with their left hands while females move their right hands. The differences are a connection to the yin-yang principle of Taoism and are thought to balance energy. Both the yin-yang of Taoism and the Dharma wheel of Buddhism are reflected in Falun Dafa's emblem the falun, or law wheel. Many of the exercises are repeated nine times, a number that appears often in Chinese thought as a large number.

While it is not a religion, for high level participants, Falun Dafa is more than a series of movements. The teachings of Hongzhi "tell us how to upgrade our morality and be a good person and purify our virtue and improve our health," said Howard Song of Houston, a practitioner for almost four years.

But even people not interested in embracing all the principles of the cultivation system are welcome to learn more about it, practitioners said. Falun Dafa classes and all materials always are free and no donations are accepted. Books and video clips teaching the exercises and principles can be downloaded from the Internet (www.falundafa.org) at no charge or people can call toll free (877)-325-8699.

"If someone wants to come just for the heath benefits they can do that and not get into the high level cultivation," Sun said.