That's kind of the point though with highlighting MCO, especially if you read Gopi Krishna. Some people stumble upon things spontaneously before they're ready, and some just go off on their own focussing on the higher centres or overdo it (like 10-day retreats before they should). MCO for beginners is about opening the pathways to handle greater energy flows. Anyone writing books trying to educate the masses should focus on safety first, which he does.

He specifically calls out Kundalini yoga schools as only focussing on sending energy up, without safely describing how to bring it down. That's not my experience - the Kundalini yoga I learnt included the MCO but, as you say, didn't make a big deal of it. But, you know, Gopi Krishna again... you can never be too careful. Chia must have come across some schools that didn't mention keeping the tongue up and bringing energy down, or bringing in earth energy for balance.

I've found the Lesser Kan & Li - as taught by Chia - very effective (when I finally got it right), and haven't read about it anywhere else. Some say MCO is all you need.

My criticism of Mantak Chia is that he doesn't sufficiently emphasise single-pointedness, i.e. what others generally refer to as meditation. If you read his books you could come away with the impression that meditation is always active, always moving energy around.

That's why I prefer the aypsite approach - half chi kung/pranayama, half awareness with a mantra. It's much more balanced with an emphasis on going slowly and self-pacing. And the really interesting stuff happens in the stillness anyway...