Good Health!
CHINESE FITNESS & HEALTH
Welcome to our help site for all those interested in health, fitness and self-defence. Here you will find the most basic information you need, links, media references and much more. We hope that you both enjoy and benefit from this. Love & Peace.
Qi is energy, often called “Bio-energy” in the West. To the Chinese, who like to be specific at the same time as vague, there are many kinds of Qi. >>
Qigong comes in two main forms, Health Qigong and Medical Qigong. Medical qigong has specific exercises or treatment for specific ailments while health qigong can be done by just about anybody, anywhere and at any time.
There are sometimes “Sets” of exercise or movements, such as Shibashi - taken from Yang Style Taijiquan movements, or Baduanjin (The Eight Strands of Brocade) which was created specifically for daily general health care practice.
Qigong?
You posses the ability to tap a bottomless well of physical and psychic energy (called "chi" in Chinese). With it, you can harness the magickal power of the universe. Yet most of us unknowingly block the flow of this power, and live out our lives not reaching the potential that we could achieve if we only knew how.
Lily of the Valley Carnie
Qigong has been around for many centuries and is next to Taijiquan in popularity. The two health arts share similar qualities, though Qigong can be a personal work-out or a medical treatment.
The Art of Breath Training
Qi = Energy. Gong = Training. Combined they can mean “Training for better energy”. Translations from original Chinese is always somewhat vague and like any other name or phrase it can vary depending on the context of the sentence or paragraph it is in; a keyword or identifier word giving further reference to its meaning.
Western Medicine is somewhat behind Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in areas like recognising the importance of the energy that supports the major processes, like Acupuncture treats and re-harmonises. Western Medicine is also behind in recognising the effects of energy in a more spiritual sense too, like the balance of mind and energy, trauma, shock and other energy debilitating illnesses that are all linked to mind and qi.
Quote: “When I see many ill western people I see an imbalance of diet and qi. It’s simple, so simple that it is overlooked by western doctors through their microscopes. They need to step back and view the whole picture.” Shih-fu Symonds - author of ‘Qigong & Baduanjin’.
General health qigong can, through a series of simple yoga-like movements and breathing control, help to restore daily imbalances caused by work, lifestyle or posture related issues. It can also help to restore spirit, in cases where the patient has received trauma or shock. Long term practice will strengthen the body, the immune system and the mind’s resolve to get better. Qigong by itself is superb, really brilliant, but there is nothing in the world as good as Qigong when combined with Taijiquan!
Qigong also comes in two main flavours, Medical Qigong and General Health Qigong; the latter also contains specific qigongs for concentrated areas of development.
