Sifu Dan Ferrera – Qigong & Tai Chi Instructor

Teaching approach

Every course on this site is built on one root practice: learning to feel Chi, then build it, then use it. Dan teaches in plain language, one step at a time, with the traditional method left intact. Students email him directly with questions about their practice, and he answers personally. Where clinical research exists for a practice, he says so and links to it — see the research hub.

Teaching history

Dan Ferrera has taught Qigong and Niikura Ki Breathing since 2004. From 2004 to 2012 he was head instructor at Katsumi Niikura Sensei’s dojo in Sterling Heights, Michigan, leading the evening Ki class and instructing at the annual Ki camps, which regularly drew 300 or more participants from across the United States and overseas. From 2008 to 2010 he taught Qigong through Livonia Public Schools’ community outreach programme, running morning and afternoon classes twice a week. From 2008 to 2012 he taught for the Michigan Institute of Qigong Healing & Wellness at the World Class Institute of Martial Arts on Eight Mile Road in Livonia, Michigan. For several years he taught at both locations on the same day, driving from one to the next. In total he has taught well over 2,000 people face to face, alongside more than 1,600 course enrolments online since the site began. DevelopYourEnergy.net was created in 2010 by one of Dan’s students, after his teaching practice was already established.

“I trained under Sifu Dan in-person from 2008 to 2012, most days of the week, from 1 to 3 hours per day across every course he teaches. … Even now, 13 years later, Sifu Dan’s commitment and follow-through to mentor and support his student’s learning is unrelenting and as fresh as ever.”

Training history

Sifu Dan Ferrera has a vast knowledge of internal energetic training and healing experience from a wide variety of systems (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Indonesian, Tibetan & Indian). On average, he trains 5 hours/day and has done this since 2002. His internal energy practice, or qigong training, began in late 2002.  Originally he started learning a unique system of circular Chi Kung from Sifu Robin Jones of Lebanon, Ohio.  Also in that same year, he began practicing an ancient form of Shaolin Standing Chan Qigong known as One Finger Zen through correspondence with Master Teresa Halliburton (Idyllwild, CA), who was a senior teaching student of Grand Master Que Bai Cai, a lineage holder of the Great Grand Master Que Ah Shui. In 2003 he travelled to London to attend a three-day workshop and a one-day seminar with Master Lam Kam Chuen, the teacher who brought Zhan Zhuang standing practice to a wide British audience through the 1995 Channel 4 series Stand Still Be Fit. Master Lam learned the method from Yu Yong Nian, a direct student of Wang Xiangzhai, the founder of Yiquan. Dan still teaches from Master Lam’s books Chi Kung: Way of Power and The Way of Energy, and standing practice has remained a daily part of his own training ever since. He also studied three correspondence courses on this style of Qigong: one from Master Zi Sheng Wang, a Tibetan Qigong master; Master Peng Jiu Ling from Shanghai, China; and another from Master Zhang Jing Fa (Vancouver). In the year 2005, Sifu traveled to Toronto, Canada, to privately study with Grand Master Zhang Jing Fa, who was also a lineage descendant of Grand Master Que Ah Shui. This system allows one to develop the ability to accumulate and project Chi (life force energy) for healing or martial arts purposes via the 10 fingers & toes. In January 2004, Sifu Ferrera became a student of Katsumi Niikura Sensei (Ki Master of the Year 1997 Annual Qigong Conference) of Sterling Heights, Michigan. Sensei Niikura is an internationally recognized energy healer who has developed his own unique system of internal energy development and healing. As a result of prior Qigong training, Sifu Ferrera quickly became a teacher of Niikura’s system and taught at his dojo for 3 ½ years. In addition, he was a high-level instructor at his annual seminars and Ki training camps, which are held in July each year.  Sensei has always focused on helping and healing others and has dedicated his life to this cause. Sensei developed a unique breathing method that uses the coordination of body, mind, and breath to achieve miraculous results. According to Sensei, Ki is love. In March 2004, Sifu Ferrera began correspondence with Kundalini Master Larry Short, simply known as Lar to his students. Lama Lar Short is the spiritual director of Grace Essence Mandala (GEM) in Taos, New Mexico. Lar is an accomplished teacher & practitioner with over 50 years of experience. He is a gifted teacher/innovator and is one of the most highly initiated energy and spiritual instructors living in the United States. He was initially trained in the kriya yoga system of Swami Rudrananda of New York City by Swami “Rudi” himself, which he transmitted over several years to Dharmanidhi. Lar was also fortunate enough to be a favored student of H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and received training in many tantras and meditation techniques of Vajrayana and Dzogchen.  He is also the 5 Branches Institute College & Clinic of Traditional Chinese Medicine treasurer.  In 2006 Sifu Ferrera received initiation and empowerments from Lar for the Amitayus “Limitless Life” practice, which can also be used as a method of healing others and bringing peace to their hearts. In late 2005, Sifu began corresponding with Guru Tao Semko & Guru Santiago Dobles in regard to Lightning Path Qigong, also known as Hoshin Tao Qigong or Heaven’s Way. This particular method was developed by the late Dr. Glenn Morris and is one of the fastest and safest methods of awakening the latent primordial energy within all humans known as Kundalini or Kan & Li. It combines the orbit practice common to many Qigong systems with Kriya Yoga, Raja Yoga, and Zen meditation methods to bring about a rapid awakening within the practitioner. Sifu Ferrera has also done a lot of self-study, practice, research, and Qigong work through books, videos, and correspondence with several other teachers and students over the years. Due to synergism, personal favorites include Primordial Qigong (Enlightenment Tai Chi), Dragon & Tiger Medical Qigong, Tenaga Delam, Shamanic Qigong, Fusion of the 8 Cosmic Forces Qigong, Bagua Mystical Qigong, Wu Zang Qigong, Yi Chuan Zhang Zhuang, Taoist Kun Lun Qigong, Cosmos Palm, Kan & Li Internal Formulas, Ilmu Batin from Guru Pak Muhammad Ifrin, TENDAI, numerous Reiki systems, and much more.

Sifu Dan Ferrera also writes about Qigong and Tai Chi research on Medium, including a preview of the 2026 Harvard Tai Chi & Qigong conference. See also our summary of the clinical research on Qigong.

Writing elsewhere

Dan also writes about Qigong and Tai Chi research on Medium, including a preview of the 2026 Harvard Osher Center Tai Chi & Qigong conference. Videos are on YouTube.