I had to curtail my Xiamen trip because I got a slight case of sun stroke. The culprit was that those were the hottest days; and that in typical Chinese fashion, the electricity department decided to shut down the power in the middle of the nights for some sort of repair; the neighbours were too loud to catch up on some sleep during the day (it was still too hot anyway); and that we had too many passengers for an 9 hour ride.
This gave me the chance to visit Dr. Choi here in Taipo. I have passed by Dr. Choi’s clinic many times, and I felt in my mind that my next visit would be too him. His client felt different, in that it was clean and tidier than most Chinese doctor’s. Most Chinese doctors here in HK are simply those who have a little table inside a Chinese pharmacy. You would feel that that the emphasis isn’t with the doctor and the patiences, but with selling of Chinese medicine, or delicacies. Dr. Choi’s set up has a small pharmacy in the front, and there are two rooms in the back to treat patients, and more room around the corner for a place to boil those hold-your-nose-bitter-quickly-pound-it-down-the-hatch concoctions he would prescribe; and a reception. Yes, a reception with these little files where Dr. Choi keeps track of patience’s progress! Most Chinese doctor in HK would just have one of those big black note books with the red binding on the side from China to jot a few things down. And finding the notes from your last visit is next to impossible.
In I went and found my pulse being taken by Dr. Choi. He was explaining to me what my problem is, and I thought, “yeah, yeah, yeah, I have heard that before”. I wasn’t carrying a bad attitude, I just know that the proof is in the pudding much like when you first got up from being put down by Master Chen. You have heard all the cliches about Taiji or even martial arts in general, unless you have a hands on experience with it, you wouldn’t be able to define it or give it life.
Here I was lying on the bench waiting for the needles. Right away, the way Dr. Choi plants his needles is way different than most modern Chinese doctors. It had a lot of kung fu to it: swift and painless, and once he lays it in more you have this sensation, which when you lay on the bench for a little while with all the needles in, you feel really good, you feel that something is happening, like your body is repairing itself. In fact, during that last couple of visits, I dozed off to be waken by my own snores.
What is more therapeutic was Dr. Choi’s way of accupressure and massaging. He has this way to use his fingers where his strikes are generated at the bend of the knuckles. On top of that, he would press hard near the upper part of my stomach, and my back would start to feel really warm.
Having had a few treatments, I am now ready to find out more about Dr. Choi. I found out his influence of medicine is passed on through the generations of which he is the fifth. His ancestors were already doctors back in the Qing dynasty. The accurpressure was some sort of Shaolin method. Dr. Choi practiced martial arts and Chi gong, and hence we also got to the topic of Taiji. I told him that my reactions to his treatment seemed rather quick. According to Dr. Choi, that is because people who practice kung fu or at least have regular exercise, are able to receive chi a lot quicker. Most of the people in HK lack exercise and that is why it would take them nearly 10 treatments to get started. In fact, when I first sat down for my examination, Dr. Choi asked me if I was a PE teacher. And right away, I thought, that must be either from my Taiji and/or dancing. I recall many times Master Chen tells me about how he is able to sense how much kung fu a person has by watching him walk; this is similar.
So, kids! Practice your Taiji!
Nicholas
