About Qi Gong
Qi Gong is a set of exercises from a standing or seated position that have been in existence for thousands of years. There are hundreds of different Qi Gong sets.
While Qi (Chi – lifeforce or energy) exists and the Chinese have known and worked with Qi for thousands of years in acupuncture and martial arts, in order for a student to become sensitive to it or connect to it (or do anything with it), your body needs to achieve a certain ‘status’ or ‘condition’.
This is why Qi Gong practices that claim you are “gathering Qi from the heavens and putting it in your body” or even circulating Qi around your body at a beginner level are technically incorrect and often cite the use of the imagination to achieve certain ‘feelings’ in the body.
We are fundamentally not interested in this at all.
If I imagine for long enough that I am shaking hands with a pink elephant, at some point I will feel something. My teacher would say we are ‘scientists’, using what we physically have to explore this work and improve our health, not making things up in the mind.
After teaching me the first Qi Gong set and other kung fu in his system, he refused to teach me any Tai Chi for 3.5 years until certain requirements were met, such was the importance of our Qi Gong to prepare the body for Tai Chi practice.
With the common side effects of:
Building strength in the legs
Producing feelings of calm
Getting our minds in our bodies and out of our heads
Learning to drop the tailbone (sit on the stool) which will be used in the Tai Chi form practice too
Improve coordination
Stretch out and relax the muscles
Lengthen the tendons
Pump the lymphatic system
Regulate blood pressure
The use of the Qi Gong sets in our system are used specifically to:
Students at later levels in the system, Level 3: Earth, tend to be more stretched out and relaxed (some have said taller!) and certainly experience the Yin Qi of feeling ‘magnetised’ to the floor during standing work and can apply the ‘internal compass points’ which is simply my teacher’s analogy for more advanced classical teaching.
The good news is that, for many students, Level One: Water is enough, with those initial benefits getting richer as they practice.
“Thoroughly enjoyed the course. Very clear instruction with a lot of background detail which increased ability to learn and remember moves. Robert very patient and knowledgeable.”
— Kay Porter