Photo report: Demonstrating Falun Gong at Houston Health Expo

KPRC TV, affiliated with NBC, reported about Falun Gong on January 12 and the report was repeated five times in "Morning News".

Below is the TV report's transcript.

Houston Practitioners

Jan. 17, 2001

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Transcript of Houston KPRC TV Segments on Falun Gong

01/12/2001

(5:11 AM)

Chuck George: Good morning, guys, and welcome to the George R. Brown Convention Center. Hey, Pauline, have you heard of Falun Gong?

Pauline: No, I haven't. What is it?

Chuck George: Ahhhhh. You know what? We're going to learn right now. Let me introduce you to P (practitioner). Good morning, P. How are you?

P: I'm fine!

Chuck George: Good! Thank you so much for joining us this early. And thank everybody for coming out so early. You guys are all ready to go. Are they meditating behind us?

P: Absolutely! They are.

Chuck George: Tell us a little bit about Falun Gong. First of all, am I saying it correctly?

.

P: Uh huh. Falun Gong or Falun Dafa, they're roughly the same thing. It's a really old cultivation system. By cultivation we mean development of the mind, body, and the spirit. And we do that by two basic mechanisms. One is we have exercises. We have four standing exercises and a seated meditation. And then we study the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and try to apply those principles, which we believe are the fundamental principles of the Universe, to everything in our lives.

Chuck George: Sounds like it would be a better world around us if we all applied those things to our lives. First of all I'm liking this. This is my first exposure to Falun Gong and Falun Dafa. I'm liking it so far!

P: Well that's great. And these exercises make you feel absolutely wonderful. In fact, people, all the time, are talking about how whatever was ailing them before is gone. But primarily this is for self-cultivation. We teach these exercises absolutely free. Nobody makes any money out of this at all. It's all volunteers. And people who come to the Convention Center today or tomorrow, we'll be happy to show them the exercises, we'll teach them the exercises. (Also) if they'll come to our practice sites, we're in the city parks. Y'all come out. We'll teach you how to do this. And you find out that it really is restful, that it really is peaceful. These are tranquil exercises and they give you so much energy.

Chuck George: And you know I can imagine actually watching you do this in the park, just observing you, and being peaceful just from watching it. I'll join in with you coming up in just a second but you go ahead and join the class as we check your forecast on this Friday morning...(5:12AM)

(5:13AM)

Chuck George: This is Falun Gong this morning, everyone.......Just to reiterate for you while you're watching, Falun Gong was brought to the United States, and especially here in Houston, in 1992 (sic) but it goes back millennia. It is very old and more than 100 million people all over the world observe the philosophy of Falun Gong and they also practice it right here in Houston. Can you believe? Not a hundred million people in Houston but certainly 100 million people around the world and a lot of Houstonians are catching on to Falun Gong. If you'd like to get involved in Falun Gong, all you have to do is come out to the George R. Brown Convention Center, to the Houston Health and Fitness Expo. That's coming up today and lasting through tomorrow. We'll have much more coming up with the folks out here. Time for a check on the morning commute with Tanya......

Tanya: That is really mind, body, and spirit, I'll bet.

Chuck George: It really is, isn't it?

(5:14AM)

(Approx. 5:21AM)

Good morning, everyone. We're here with the marathon and the Health and Fitness Expo. We're here this morning looking at some Falun Gong people. Let's check your forecast.....

(5:23AM)

Part of interview with Arthritis Foundation Joints in Motion Program: Runner is describing her experiences running in the Honolulu Marathon. She's happy to have finished the race and mentioned that a 93-year-old Chinese man beat her time.

Chuck George: But, you know what? He was doing Falun Gong, which we saw earlier. That's why he was in shape. He was mentally and physically just totally in shape.

(5:30)

Chuck George: (Has I support Falun Gong t-shirt hanging from one hand. Can only see that it's a yellow thing.) You know what Qigong is, right Pauline?

Pauline: I do. Uh huh. It's kind of, sort of like Tai Chi.

Chuck George: Sort of like that. Because it's sort of that all of the ancient Chinese practices are lumped into a term called qigong, I'm learning this morning. But this morning we're specifically focusing on Falun Gong and also Falun Dafa. It's a very meditative way of exercising. I understand it helps of course improve your spiritual well-being, your physical well-being, cleanses your body of toxins. And you know one interesting thing, guys? The Chinese government is trying to ban this in China. So you know it's got to be good. Here's your forecast for this morning...

Hey they gave me a t-shirt, you guys. Check out the back of this t-shirt. (Hold up front to camera.) I'm getting into politics here.

Pauline: I Support Falun Gong

Chuck George: (Turns shirt around.) There we go: China Stop Persecuting Falun Gong people!

News Desk: Ohhh! Good one.

Pauline: Hey, Chuck, sometimes, when I'm out in Memorial Park I see people doing qigong.

Chuck George: Oh, really.

Pauline: Yeah, in the park, early in the morning.

Chuck George: And they're out there too very often doing Falun Gong, so you've probably seen them doing it.

Pauline: Absolutely. Probably. It's a nice serene way to start out your morning.

Chuck George: Have a great Friday!

Pauline: You, too. Thank you, Chuck.

Bob: I tried that once. I went straight to sleep.

Tanya So it works, huh.

(5:32AM)

(5:44AM)

Chuck George: Good morning. Welcome back. We're at the Health and Fitness Expo at the George R. Brown Convention Center. We've been talking about Falun Gong that's going on back behind us this morning, and telling you about the science of that. Now we're going to tell you about...

(5.44AM)

(7:57AM)

Chuck George: Good morning, everyone. We're exploring Falun Gong this morning, one of the many, many art forms that comes out of China. This one helps you improve your mind, body, and spirit. Here's your forecast...