"The Ordinary is the Extraordinary"

"The ordinary is the extraordinary" [Wang Xiang-Zhai, Qigong Master, 1885 - 1963]

These 5 words teach a powerful principle.

The principle applies to all areas of life not just the practice of Qigong, Yang Sheng / Nourishing Life (養生) or the Martial Arts. Let me expand a little: extra-ordinary levels of skill or success are achieved through consistent, deliberate practice of ordinary actions.

Fei Bo-Xiong, a Chinese Doctor writing in 1863, helps us to grasp this principle further: "There exist no miraculous methods in the world, only plain ones, and the perfection of the plain is miraculous."

The modern-day Self Development guru Jim Rohn shared a similar belief: "Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals."

But what are these ordinary actions? What are the fundamentals that we are to perfect?

Within the Wild Goose Qigong system, our fundamentals are essentially these two things: Dong Gong (moving exercise) and Jing Gong (meditative exercise). When these simple exercises are practised daily and accurately, all things are perfected, extraordinary results and success will naturally follow.

But beware of this temptation...

In today's digital, 'on-demand' world, the ordinary can appear, well... unattractive. The ordinary gets buried beneath the promise of new shiny objects and quick & easy fixes. So let us resolve to;

• Honour the (extra)ordinary.
• Perfect the plain, instead of seeking some 'secret' method or the latest technique.
• Master the fundamentals, instead of looking for 'hacks' to shortcut the process.
• And every day, repeat to yourself - "The ordinary is the extraordinary."