WHEN JOAN FOO MAHONY was 43, doctors told her she had the bones of a 90-year-old. She suffered from osteoporosis, a potentially crippling disease common in post-menopausal women. Her blood was constantly 'stealing' calcium from her bones, making them brittle. Her doctors' prognosis was not good: she would end up in a wheelchair.
Meet her today and it's hard to believe that grim prognosis. She has experienced what's been described as a miracle cure, all thanks to a Hong Kong qi gong master whom she credits with literally saving her life. The man who performed the 'miracle' in 1992 was Mak Chung-man, 49, a high-profile herbalist and qi gong master from Cheung Chau who claims to be the only practitioner of qi gong massage in Hong Kong.
He remembers that initial examination vividly. 'When she came to see me, her bones ached and she often cried. I felt the pulses of her acupoints which reflect her bone quality - they were very weak,' the qi gong master recalls. He treated her with qi gong massage, a mixture of energy exercises and massage. The technique, he explains, activates the circulation of her energy to expel the elements that caused her bones to weaken.
Then he taught her to practise qi gong (which literally means 'energy exercise') herself, in which breathing and posture are most important. By placing our bodies in the correct posture, Mak says, our muscles and organs will be relaxed, allowing breathing to become smooth. Oxygen circulation is improved, reaching our nerves, joints and organs, making them stronger, he says. A year after adopting qi gong practices, Mahony returned to her American doctors in Boston. 'They were flabbergasted at how I had managed to confound such a debilitating illness and triumph with the aid of something as simple as qi gong,' she wrote in her book, Indispensable Qi Gong For People On The Go.
Mak likes to cultivate an air of mystery about his treatment. He says the massage is a lost secret remedy, the practice of which was only permitted on Chinese emperors in ancient times.
Even so, Mak is happy to discuss his powers. He administers the massage in sessions lasting 45 minutes and costing $350. 'Through the massage, I direct the person's internal accumulated useful energy to the area of injury or weakness to heal,' he says.
