In 2019 I sat in an online session with Jesse Lee Parker for the first time. At that point I already had more than 25 years of experience in Qigong, Tai Chi, and martial arts. I thought I knew what to expect.
I was wrong.
Who is Jesse Lee Parker?
Jesse began in 1985 — his father ran the Third Coast Center for the Healing Arts in Austin, Texas. From an early age he was immersed in Taoist traditions. That search eventually brought him to Hawaii, Taiwan, and the sacred mountains of China, where he studied under modern Taoist masters.
He now lives in Kamakura, Japan. He is certified in Qigong through the Kong Ran Healing Qigong Institute and qualified as a TuiNa therapist under the Taoist Traditional Therapy Association of Taiwan.
But what sets him apart is not his credentials. It is how he teaches. Jesse is not an authoritative teacher. He sees himself as a friend and guide — someone who offers Taoist wisdom as support on your own path. Not as dogma.
What makes Immortal Arts different?
The system is formally called Tan Tao — "the Way of Cultivating the Inner Elixir." It combines Qigong, Neigong, and Taoist Inner Alchemy in a structured progression.
What struck me most: it works from the Three Treasures (San Bao) — body, energy, and spirit. Not as separate parts, but as one integrated system. You don't train your body and hope your mind follows along. You work on all three simultaneously, in the right sequence.
The first step is always the body. No spirituality without a grounded, healthy physical foundation.
The Three Foundational Forms
The system begins with three practices I have now trained for hundreds of hours:
Golden Lotus Neigong is a seated exercise that opens the meridians, transforms the fascia, and strengthens the tendons. The effect on metabolism and overall vitality is noticeable — not after months, but after weeks of consistent practice.
Marrow Washing Qigong (Xi Sui Jing) focuses on cleansing and revitalising the bone marrow. In Chinese medicine, bone marrow is closely connected to primordial Qi — the deepest energetic reserve of the body. This is not a quick fix. It is slow, deep regeneration.
Iron Turtle TaoYin integrates movement with breath in a way I have not encountered elsewhere. It develops not only flexibility and strength, but also a refined awareness of how breath and movement work together. After learning Iron Turtle, I finally understood why breathing is central to every Qigong system.
The Dantian — the energetic core
Central to the entire system is the Dantian: the "elixir field" in the abdomen, roughly two finger-widths below the navel and deep inward. In Taoist practice this is the primary reservoir of Qi energy.
Most people know the concept vaguely. But when you spend months cultivating your Dantian, it starts to become physically perceptible — a warmth, a density, a presence that wasn't there before. This is not imagination. This is what traditions around the world describe as hara, kath, solar plexus power — all variations on the same phenomenon.
What I carry into my work
I am a certified teacher in the Immortal Arts system and still study with Jesse. That learning never stops — and that is precisely what Taoist tradition means by Pu, the "uncarved block": a mind that stays open, never finished learning.
What I carry into every session:
- Sequence over randomness. The body needs to feel safety before you can cultivate energy. Energy needs to be stable before you can deepen the mind. Order is everything. - Quality over quantity. Ten minutes of real presence does more than an hour of mechanical repetition. - The body as access. Spirituality that bypasses the body has no foundation. Everything begins here, now, in this body.
A final thought
Jesse once said something to me that I have never forgotten: "The system doesn't work for you. It works through you, if you're willing to get out of the way."
That is the difference between Immortal Arts and many other systems I have experienced. It does not ask for performance. It asks for surrender.
Want to know more about the Immortal Arts system? Visit immortalarts.org — or get in touch to discover how this fits into your practice.
