Don't take that sword as a sign of aggression. It is anything but. Dr Chen Qiang uses it for tai chi. The Chinese medicine therapist shares his passion for the Eastern arts with Lorraine Chandler and explains how the mind and body are connected.
"Call me Chen," says the spry young man, as he smilingly offers me a cup of Chinese herbal tea from his parents' small plantation in Zhejiang province, China.
The 31-year-old Dr Chen Qiang looks too young to be a qualified acupuncturist, with more than a decade of experience in China and Dubai, yet his calm face and thoughtful eyes hold the key to some Eastern wisdom.
His living room has an air of tranquillity that is mirrored by Chen, who focuses on the 'here and now'.
"I am a very happy person and I appreciate every moment in my life. I'm content with what I have," he says.
"If I had to die tomorrow and someone asked me if I have done what I wanted to, then I would have to say yes. I'm happy with my job, I have such a good family and am surrounded by good people. I'm really blessed."
Despite this air of contentment, Chen is a man who drives himself to increase his knowledge and skills in order to help others. An avid student at school and college, his appetite for knowledge hasn't diminished and he constantly reads books and attends seminars.
In addition to practicing as an acupuncturist and a Chinese medicine therapist, he promotes acupuncture by participating in health events and giving interviews. He is a columnist on alternative therapy for the www.godubai.com website, answering people's queries for free, purely because he is passionate about acupuncture.
He is equally devoted to tai chi, an ancient martial art that uses a relaxed flow of coordinated movements and breathing techniques to make the body and mind stronger and healthier.
Chen has been teaching tai chi since arriving in Dubai in 1997 and he recently took his class to China, where they took part in early morning sessions in the parks with the bemused but welcoming locals.
His path to practising Chinese medicine started when he was in high school. Because of a dearth of doctors, the Chinese educational system allows students to start studying medicine, as well as other subjects, at school.
At first, he didn't realise the potential he had to help people, but he now credits his growing awareness to a great doctor who taught him during his first internship - Dr Jin Ren Qi, who was among the first batches of tai chi students to study acupuncture at university. (Prior to this, it was not taught at university, it was taught by traditional means.)
When Chen graduated from high school at 17, he was already on the way to becoming an expert in Chinese medicine. He then attended Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) College from 1992 to 1997, when he qualified as a doctor.
He then took up his first doctor's post at the Second People's Hospital of Jiande City in Zhejiang, where he established an acupuncture department. Having done this, in the same year, Chen moved to Dubai and started work at the Chinese Castle Medical Centre.
At first, his English was limited and he required the help of an interpreter when treating patients. However, he studied English in the evenings and it wasn't long before his language skills improved.
In 1999, he left this job and joined Jumeirah Medical Centre for a year.
At the time, acupuncture was still new in Dubai and Chen was one of only a few acupuncturists in this city. He was keen to promote the ancient art of healing and whenever he got the chance to tell people about it, he spread the word.
Chen joined the Gulf American Clinic in 2000 as acupuncturist and Chinese medicine therapist.
In 2005, while working, he completed a bachelor of health science degree by correspondence with the University of New England, NSW, Australia.
In the same year, he joined the Neurospinal Hospital as a visiting acupuncturist, specialising in neuro-rehabilitation and chronic pain management.
While all of this was going on, Chen also taught tai chi, a martial art he learnt at high school. He sees both acupuncture and tai chi as hobbies and is delighted that he gets to do what he loves for a living.
Chen says the key to good health is the harmony of the mind and body. He is a shining example of this. A happy, contented man who is always eager to improve himself, he is an example for all of us.
I
I am a very happy person. I'm also a simple person. I'm so transparent that my wife can see through me. I can't hide anything and I could never be a politician. If I like or dislike something, it's obvious.
I'm very single-minded and my wife used to get mad at me because I get so focused on one thing that I can't think of anything else.
I see acupuncture not just as my job.
It's my life and my hobby too. To me, money is secondary. I focus on the extent to which I can make a person better. Sometimes I tell my wife that even if we won lots of money and didn't need to work, I would like to run a clinic for free. I'd like to be able to help people and see the smiles on their faces. When I retire, I want to do charity work.
I'm good at acupuncture and it's my mission to use my skill to help people. You can never get bored with this job. When I have a challenging patient with a difficult ailment, I have to think of maybe 10 options to try for him.
I was brought up to be very hard-working, so I am always doing new things. I created and maintain my own website, where people can ask questions about acupuncture. I also give talks at various events and at hospitals on a voluntary basis.
I keep studying in my free time and I would like to go to Taiwan at some stage to learn about new techniques. I have improved my skills, but I want to keep learning so that I can teach others in about 30 years.
I didn't think my life would lead me to Dubai, but I went with the flow. I'm here now, but I'll see where the energy takes me. The key is to be happy wherever you are.
Me
Me and growing up in China:
My father, Chen Qin Hai, has been a teacher for 40 years in Zhejiang [a province south of Shanghai]. Wherever he goes in our town [Dayang, near Jiande City] he is greeted with respect and he knows three generations of many families.
He's a very gentle, kind person. Sometimes when we would be on a trip, he'd be stopped 20 times by people wanting to talk to him. At the time I was impatient but I also felt
very proud of the respect he commanded in our community.
He doesn't talk a lot but when he says something its simplicity carries an important lesson.
My mother, Song Zhu Hua, was a seamstress and used to make clothes until she retired. In fact, she is the one who sewed my tai chi outfits. It is from her that I learnt about love and caring and how to treat other people.
I have one brother, Chen Gang.
It's unusual to have a sibling in China because of the 'one child' policy and we must have been in the last batch of families allowed to have more than one child. In fact, all of my cousins are only-children. I can understand the [logic behind the] policy - [without it] the country would have suffered terrible poverty from overpopulation.
Our family has a small farm [near Dayang] split over different areas of land and we grow oranges, kiwi fruit, chestnuts, peaches, bamboo shoots and tea. We all had to work hard and every weekend and summer I helped my parents. It was good because I learnt about hard work from a young age.
I worked hard at school too, as did most children. As I grew up, there were more than 50 students in each class and there was a lot of pressure to do well. Students work hard to reach the top and Chinese people are very knowledgeable from a young age. There is a lot of stress on creating bright young brains full of knowledge.
Me and acupuncture:
I thought of choosing teaching as a profession because I saw how much respect my father got at home, but he suggested I go for the medical profession. In China, acupuncture and conventional medicine are on par.
I learned a lot when I did some training at Pinghu TCM Hospital while still at high school. I studied with Dr Jin Ren Qi, a great doctor who had learned from the Masters. Combining knowledge with experience really hooked me on healing people.
While studying acupuncture in high school and college, I had to learn a lot about conventional medicine too. Since then, I've always tried to upgrade my knowledge by reading magazines and attending regular courses.
Acupuncture is a very safe procedure and traditional in China. Nowadays, a lot of people turn to conventional medicine first because they are looking for quick fixes but then they sometimes come back to Chinese medicine.
More than 3,000 years old, acupuncture uses needles to help restore a person's balance and relieve his health problems. The body has an energy flow and I compare it sometimes to a drainage system which you don't see but you know exists.
If you have a blocked toilet, you might not see the blockage but you know it exists. Like a plumber, an acupuncturist helps restart the flow and restore balance.
It can work for so many health problems. For example, if someone has mood swings, acupuncture can help to regulate this, bringing the mind back to the normal range. It has also been used as an anaesthetic for surgeries in China and Russia. It can stop headaches instantly, faster than conventional medicine.
It's useful for relieving pain such as arthritis, shoulder pain and lower back pain. It also works well against stress-induced illnesses such as migraine, ulcers, fatigue, sleeplessness and emotion swings.
But as an acupuncturist you also have to know the boundaries. If someone has an ulcer and it's bleeding, then I have to send him to the hospital. The body releases and recharges with lots of energy, like the weather.
If you are releasing a lot of energy but not recharging, you can end up with a lot of stress-related problems and acupuncture can help in restoring balance to your body. There are different types of acupuncture and I use a mix of Eastern and Western methods.
In 2001, I read a book by a Texas-based anatomist and acupuncturist, Professor Houchi Dung. I wrote him a six-page letter with some queries and he invited me to come to Texas for a couple of months to watch him work. He has a very unique system of relieving pain and I use much of this now when I treat patients.
Me and tai chi:
I started tai chi in high school as part of the curriculum. In the hospital in China, there used to be a big group of us who really got into it. I decided to learn from a Master, so I used to wake up at 5.30am to meet him. I would practise for one-and-a-half hours and then join a group doing it.
When I came to Dubai, people started asking me about tai chi. First I just taught patients but then I started giving classes in various clubs. Now I run a three-month course that meets twice weekly at the beach near my clinic.
I like doing it on the beach because the energy flow is very strong there. I love tai chi because of the health benefits it brings. It promotes calmness and inner strength. As an acupuncturist, I need good levels of energy. You can't be on the same level of energy as your patients; otherwise you might be drained by sessions.
Teaching tai chi is a hobby for me.
I love meeting people with the same interest and enjoying the flow of the chi [energy]. I have also made some great friends and we have a good social network. Many of my students expressed a wish to practise tai chi in China, its birthplace, so I decided to organise it all.
It took three months for me to arrange but it was worthwhile when we went there in March. One of them told me afterwards, "You brought us to see China as travellers, not as tourists."
We used the bus and the subway and practised tai chi wherever it was convenient, often with Chinese people. People got to experience the real China while I enjoyed the experience of performing tai chi in a big group and the energy and tranquillity it brought me.
Myself
Tai chi has an Eastern heritage. Do you think Westerners can ever truly understand it?
A lot of people are studying it nowadays because they are searching for a way to recharge and tai chi is a very powerful technique. I also recommend yoga, meditation and salsa. I think salsa dancing is great for connecting the body with the mind. You need to focus on your body's movements and control the rhythm.
Can the mind heal the body?
In Chinese medicine, we say the mind and body never separate from each other. A person who's always anxious may end up with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). When addressing energy we sort out the mind and the body.
Someone who can relax, using yoga and other methods, will be in better shape physically than someone who cannot. People often tell me, "I can't focus. I'm doing 10 tasks at once." Their minds have gone into overdrive and I [make] a special point to slow down their minds.
You can sense other people's energy. Tell me more about that.
I can feel other people's energies but I'm not an energy healer. When I am practising acupuncture on patients, I can sense how high their energy levels are. If they are very low, I have to work hard to make sure that mine are not brought down too.
Do you think the mind and body need to work in harmony?
That's the key for health; it has to be. Some patients tell me, "I can work fast. I used to work at 170 per cent capacity." But you get burnt out and energy is drained away.
Mostly, it's the mind that runs too fast while the body is neglected, but you always have to pay attention to the body and how it feels. People are not paying enough attention to this. The mind also needs to rest, and not just when you're sleeping.
