Qigong

3,000 Year Old Exercise Routine Still Changing Lives

Qi is a Chinese character which literally means "air." Gong means great effort or work put into any practice, there for if the first part of Qigong was another character, gong would still be useful so that the reader would know that they would have to work at developing their skills at this ancient art of achieving perfect harmony and balance within your body. This Chinese exercise is pronounced 'Chee Gung'. Practitioners of Qigong are working toward a healthier balance of spirit, mind, body, and for a more energetic and healthier lifestyle. Most people who are interested in qigong and attend classes regularly, as well as practice the meditation and exercises are also practitioners on some level of one of the Eastern religions such as Taoism or Buddhism.

The Origins of Qigong

The history of qigong begins in China 3,000 years ago. Through the struggle to survive in ancient China, people began to realize that through specific movements and meditation that they were able to breathe fully and more deeply and that such exercises improved mental concentration. They also became aware that through the use of these exercises consistently, they could improve some body functions, such as digestion. Qigong is often mistaken for Tai Chi which also has strong ties to Taoism and Buddhism. A little known fact is that Qigong is the base for all martial arts, and there are over 200 forms of Qigong. The most popular in Europe and the United States are Taoist, Confucian, and Buddhist forms. Another interesting fact is that although now incense burning has become a traditional part of the Qigong meditation ritual, but was originally simply intended to keep away bugs from bothering the practitioners by flying around and causing them to break their concentration!

Yin and Yang

Qigong is the natural method by which the individual tries to hold in balance the two polar extremes of the human condition- as well as the universe- the Yin (female) and the Yang (male) and practitioners believe that the disruption of the balance between yin and yang is the basis for all disruption, such as sickness or war.

Practitioners are attempting to obtain balance through exercising the body which, is identified as posture, relaxing the mind - obtained during concentration and a form of massaging yourself through exercising the limbs. They practice breathing properly by long, slow inhales through the nose and slow, controlled exhaling through the mouth. Beginning mediation is extremely hard for most people at first, but even though you may feel as if you are not progressing, the very act of trying consistently is progress in itself

Relaxing the mind is done through what is called "still" qigong and focuses on meditation and concentration, which is practiced standing as well as sitting, and external quiet movement that is commonly mistaken for "Tai Chi" when observed by the casual passer-by in the local park early in the morning.

Each Qigong school in China is autonomous, in that each one is allowed to develop their own, unique way of practicing Qigong. Here are a few variations to keep in mind while searching through the different types of Qigong schools in your local area:

• Soft Qigong: refers to meditation and low impact exercises which are primarily designed for alignment and are best for the beginner and people who may have limited motion of their arms and legs. It is sometimes referred to as "still Qigong" in the West; however this can be misleading as it is also referred to as "still" in China but is meant as the meditation part of the entire Qigong ritual.
   

• Hard Qigong: refers to a higher impact, martial arts like strengthening of the body designed to ward off attacks on the self. It is also referred to as "moving Qigong." The exercises used in this example of the practice are intended to allow the 'victim' of an attack to use the assailant's weight and trajectory against themselves. Upon attack, a Qigong practitioner may simply appear to just sidestep the attack, allowing the assailant to project themselves forward, landing on their face. It looks as though it's simple, but training and practice have allowed the Qigong student to have instant reflexes and perfect balance, allowing him not only to side step the attack but to gracefully land on both feet, a feat particularly stunning to observe, especially when you also watch the assailant land on his face with a thump. True to their training, though, chances are that you will also witness the student reach out to help the sheepish attacker to his feet.

Qigong has been a standard part of the medical routine in Chinese hospitals since 1989, and the spirituality aspects of the practice have had documented cases of patients recovering faster than simply by medication alone. This spirituality has connections with Taoist and Buddhist monasteries and is a daily part of their martial arts training. The teacher/disciple relationship is strict. While you wouldn't normally think of a Buddhist monk as a martial artist, that is where the martial art of Qigong, the base of all martial art, differs from the martial arts of the modern day Hollywood movie.

With the belief in Yin and Yang, it is taught that humanity and nature are inseparable and access to higher energy states becomes achievable through virtue - a process by which the practitioner realizes that they were never separated from nature to begin with, much like the doctrines governing Buddhism. And the opposite is the repeating of past unhealthy behaviours which result in unfortunate circumstances, or Karma.

Controversies around qigong include biologists and physicists claiming that there is no, in fact, "Qi" or "air" life breath that exists outside the self as a non-physical force. They contend that there is no physical evidence of 'life force", and therefore, no way to harness it. Yet both are unable to argue that Qigong has certain health benefits, who could argue that proper breathing and relaxation techniques do not have health benefits? They simply prefer to explain the effectiveness as "Qi" being a metaphor for the biological process of regulating blood flow, or stress management.