By Charly SHELTON

There is a long-held belief in Chinese culture that life is energy. This life force – qi or chi in Western spelling – is in all things, from rocks to plants to water and more. Everyone and everything is connected with chi and the universe-at-large is filled with this energy that can be called upon for anything in daily life. Some practitioners can channel this chi to effect positive change in their own lives and the lives of others. These energy healers act as a conduit to clear negative energy blockages from their subjects and fill them with positive energy to heal and maintain balance. One such energy healer is Sifu Alan Lamb, a master of Wing Chun Kung Fu and a Chi Gung healer.

“In Chinese kung fu, kung fu and healing are opposite sides of the same coin. And the difference, say from someone who’s doing boxing style, is derived from mechanical application of technique. With kung fu it’s based on chi gung energy healing so the energy flows in certain patterns,” Lamb said. “The idea is that the more internal kung fu systems [are] chi gung. It’s chi gung for healing the body and self-defense, but it’s not used offensively. And what that does is strengthen the body so when you do the chi gung exercises themselves, you have a better foundation.”

For those completely unfamiliar with the concept of chi energy, think of the force from Star Wars and Jediism, which was based on chi from Daoism. It is energy that surrounds all and penetrates all, which binds the galaxy together and can be tapped into by those trained in the ways of chi gung to affect the physical world. Put in this frame of reference, most anyone can relate to the concept and understand how it functions.

There are three ways in which someone can tap into this chi for healing, Lamb said. Self-healing, which the subjects can do themselves through exercises and meditation, energy healing work from a trained professional, in which someone else can do the energy work on a subject, and remote healing, in which the energy worker can work on the subject from a remote location, contacting and performing the healing from long distances while deep in meditation. Lamb can do and teach all three forms, which he has done at churches and spiritual centers across Southern California, including working repeatedly at the Center for Spiritual Living in La Crescenta.

“When I first went to [The Center for Spiritual Living, they] had a congregant who was scheduled for a quadruple bypass. And he said, ‘Do you think you can help me?’ and I said, ‘Yes, but it’s one of those things where I can do energy work on you but if you also do it yourself, you’ll get a better result quicker.’ So he said okay, and I taught him this exercise and did energy work on him several times, and he went to his doctors at UCLA and said, ‘I would like to hold off on the surgery because I’ve got someone helping me with chi gung.’ The doctor said it’s fine, and after three months he regrew arteries all around the blockages. So it works, it’s just that sometimes it doesn’t work instantaneously. Sometimes it can take as long to get a healing as it took for the person to develop a sickness.”

Lamb works as a consultant and private energy healer, and teaches classes and workshops on chi gung healing and wing chun kung fu. Every Tuesday and Thursday at Inspire Dance Studio in La Cañada, Lamb teaches wing chun kung fu and his chi gung workshops are held regularly at locations around L.A., with the next one being held at the Center for Spiritual Living on Sunday, Aug. 7 at 1 p.m.

More information can be found on Lamb’s website about this and all other upcoming events, at alanlambwingchun.com.

  Alan LAMB, Charly Shelton