Qi Gong literally translates into Qi as: energy, vapor, or vital force and Gong as: work. In reference to Chinese Medicine, it refers to specific internal breathing methods combined with slow physical movement routines to clear, strengthen, balance and circulate qi and fluids of your body, from the inside out. There are numerous internal breathing pathways that the practitioner mentally follows during the session. Sometimes there is no movement at all with a routine other than the inner movement of deep breathing. This can be found with the Standing or Sitting Routines in which the body is still and the mind moves. Sessions can last for five minutes to several hours.
When Qi Gong is utilized for medicinal purposes, it is a very powerful type of internal system that can help to increase and vitalize your personal health, longevity, and create harmony with the world. All of the Qi Gong movements will contain a common thread linking your mind, eyes, body movement and your breath. Another way to express this idea is through the concept that your mind is the presence of intention, your eyes are the focus of your intention, movement is the action of intention and that your breath is the flow of that intention. This is how truth and understanding is cultivated and permeates all of the training.
Qi Gong internal movements was said to have been the first introduced to the priests of the Shaolin Temples of China as the predecessor to Kung Fu animal movements. An enlightened Buddha, named Bodiharma, was said to have traveled from India to teach the Shaolin priests three sets of six movements each including marrow cleansing, brain washing, and sinew changing. These internal exercises changed the health of the Shaolin priests and allowed them to become physically, mentally and spiritually advanced.
As with so many different martial art systems, there are numerous named school systems and sub-types of Qi Gong. There are types of Qi Gong for self-healing, sport, self-defense and practiced specifically for healing others. There is a specialized type of Qi Gong that literally traces the Yin Yang Symbol as the basis for Tai Chi Chuan training. This type of tracing, along with variables of circular movement, is termed Silk Reeling. Tai Chi Chuan Push Hands [Tui Shou] utilizes the Silk Reeling training to build stickiness and exploding power for self-defense and heath.
Today, Qi Gong exercises are an integral part of Chinese Medicine, enhancing Chinese Herbal and Acupuncture Therapy. The movements are reasonably easy to learn and appear to be simple in nature. Do not be fooled by appearances! These exercises are very powerful and sometimes what cannot be seen…can be felt. It is in the discipline of the person maintaining the exercises on a daily regimen that proves to be challenging. If a river were stopped by a dam and not flowing, a lake would develop. The water in the lake would become stagnant and things would start to grow making it undrinkable. This may be a good place for fish or algae to thrive and grow, but not for the Qi to flow!