What is QiGong?

What is QIGONG?
Man is born of nature and is closely related to it

Chinese QIGONG has a history of more than five thousand years. In Ancient times, however, it was known by many other names:
1 = daoyin, 2 = tuna, 3 = zuochan, 4 = qi, 5 = xingqi
The previous mentioned meaning:
1 = physical breathing exercise, 2 = breathing, inhale, exhale, exercise, 3 = meditation exercise in sitting position, 4 = development of internal energy, 5 = promoting your circulation and the enhancing of Chi

This form of exercise was widely practised by people in the martial arts, medical and religous circles for the purpose of cultivating mental stimulation and calmness, improving physical fitness, strenghtening the entire physical body and in so doing, prolonging life.

QIGONG is the cultivation of vital internal energy by the regulation of body posture, mind, concentration, harmonizing breathing and self massage.
QIGONG means resistance to disease, to adapt to the external environment, the ability to overcome internal problems and/or to regain your wellbeing and health.

QIGONG is classified as Taoist, Buddhist, Confucian, Medical Or Martial Art
QIGONG varies widely in form and function. Apart from preserving health and the prevention of disease, it enlighten man's thinking and improves intelligence.
The rich knowledge of the human body, combined with an understanding of the Universe, makes this a unique branch of science.

It's multi-faceted theories are related to various fields of learning, containing a wealth of essential elements of traditional Chinese culture.


Basic Principals for QIGONG Practise

Erectness

 

There are countless methods of practicing Chinese QIGONG, they are all however, based on the same principles and theories. These basic principles are observed in all exercise, providing guidance to each and every movement, physically or mentally. Although the human body is by nature gracefull and symmetrically constructed, most of us are distorted, to various degrees, by our daily work and other physical activities. Such distortion brings a phychological pressure to bear on us. Restoring the symmetry of the human body is an important way of tapping it's latent energy and improving physical and mental health. By ERECTNESS we mean keeping your body in an erect position during work or exercise. Many requirements in QIGONG practise, such as raising the head slightly, tucking in the chin, and keeping the spine naturally upright, are aimed at achieving "erectness".

Tranquility

This can be achieved by keeping the body still, either in standing or sitting positions, and by bringing about a calm state of mind and a relaxed body. With tranquility of both mind and body, you are at one and in a special state of self protection. In QIGONG theory it is believed that motion means consumption, while stillness helps the nourishment of your Chi. The human body constantly suffers from unnecessary energy consumption caused by outside interference. Tranquility, which reduces outside interference to the minimum, is a good way to conserve energy. When the cerebrum is free from disturbance and distracting thoughts, the cranial nerves can take a full rest. This way all your internal organs will gain harmonious development due to an untroubled state of mind.

Emphasis on Tranquility
Of course stillness and motion are only relative and by laying emphasis on stillness, we are not denying the need for motion altogether. In QIGONG practise, ultimate stillness will result in a flow of internal energy. This is a special form of motion, considered to be of a high grade, promoting the exercise of the internal organs.

Relaxation / Tension

This is the most basic requirement for the practise of Chinese QIGONG. Many diseases are caused by TENSION. Relaxation means alleviating physical and mental stress, thus bringing about better co-ordination among all the body functions. In QIGONG exercises the term relaxation may be applied to either the whole body or to certain key acupoints or body parts. For example, the baihui point on the head, the huiyin pont of the perineum, the yongquan point on the foot, or major channels in the body such as the Dai channel around the waist. Relaxation can also be mental, which means that when you practise QIGONG, you should take it easy, and avoid too much effort in order to achieve sensations which should come to you in a natural way. The principle of relaxation should manifest itself in all aspects of QIGONG exercise. Breathing should be even, continuous, fine and deep, while movements should be slow, effortless and circular with limbs alternating between "open" and "closed" positions, bending and stretching in turns, in an easy manner.

Naturalness

This means that all the postures, physical movements and mental activities must conform to the laws of human nature and life.

The following points should be observed:
All movements should be smooth. When exercisingthe limbs, the movement of the arms and hands should be co-ordinated with those of the legs and feet. The range of movements should be moderate, so as to avoid, stiffness when extending the limbs, and the exertion of pressure on the body when withdrawing them.
All movements should feature good co-ordination among different parts of the body, upper, lower, left or right, internal or external.
Exercises should conform to phycological laws and done methodically, a good set of exercises should compromise of a number of parts, that are so arranged as to bring about a progressive improvement of the body functions.

Therefore, when doing a set of exercises,one should proceed from step to step and not be in A HURRY to learn everything in one day.
Proceed according to the prescribed order so as to achieve best results. Also one should choose the kind of exercise best suited to your own physical condition and ability.



Human Life is closely related to and with nature, exercise should therefore be done in accordance to the changes taking place in nature.
China has many seasonal changes and they therefore exercise accordingly.