SFQ Certified Master Jim Nance

After a decade of intense and dedicated training, in April of 2005 Sydney James "Jim" Nance was certified as a 2nd Degree Spring Forest Qigong Master by Qigong Master Chunyi Lin, the creator and founder of Spring Forest Qigong. Master Nance is the first of Master Lin's more than 100,000 students to have ascended to the high level of qigong master. He is also believed to be the first African-American in history to be certified as a medical qigong master.

In his youth, Master Nance was an outstanding basketball player. He led his high school team to the Iowa State Basketball Championship in 1967, and two years later he was recruited to play professional basketball in Europe. Master Nance was having an exceptional rookie season and anticipating a move to the NBA when a series of crippling injuries ended his career. He had numerous surgeries that failed to repair the damage to his knees and back.

With no hope of continuing a professional sports career, Master Nance returned to college. He received a bachelor's degree in elementary education and then a master's degree in career counseling. He has worked with students and inner city youth for more than three decades.

In 1995, he met Chunyi Lin and started studying Spring Forest Qigong. "In just that first session, eighty percent of my pain was gone," he recalls. "What I experienced with Master Chunyi Lin was an immediate kind of release and relief. I felt like a load had been lifted off my shoulders and physically I felt like I could move again without a lot of discomfort. That really piqued my interest.

He became devoted to the study of Spring Forest Qigong. Over the years he became Chunyi Lin's most dedicated student, often practicing deep-meditation techniques for 12 hours a day or longer. He also began using the energy techniques he was learning to assist others in healing physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. He became Master Lin's teaching associate in 1998 and continues to work in that capacity.

Master Nance is certified to teach all four levels of Spring Forest Qigong and works with people in private healing assistance sessions at the Spring Forest Center.