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Tai Chi  Qigong

QIGONG, AN OLD AGE ART FOR THE NEW AGE PRACTITIONER
An Article by Erle Montaigue

The Chinese healing art of 'QI-GONG' has very quickly become quite a fashionable practice in the west and this series of movements with breathing techniques is gaining popularity in much the same way that T'ai chi did in the seventies and eighties, at a rapid pace. An ancient healing art, Qi-gong along with the moving Qi-gong of T'ai Chi is an ideal internal movement for all NEW AGE PRACTITIONERS as it deals not only with physical bodily functions but also with spiritual and energy flows.

T'AI CHI is a form of moving QIGONG, the word QIGONG or Ch'i KUNG literally means 'internal work'. In fact, any series of movements or 'thought movements', those movements that cause an internal flow of energy just by the thought, and when combined with a certain breathing technique can be considered to be Qi-gong.

There are over two thousand different types of Qigong including those postures from the T'ai chi forms etc. But don't be alarmed and think that if you wish to pursue this type of therapy you will have to spend your whole life learning so many techniques. The reason for so many differences is simply that the different provinces in China did things in a slightly different way to gain the same effect. Most provinces have their own, 'folk Qigong' and all claim that theirs is the best. There are even Qigong tournaments held in China each year where practitioners see how many bricks they are able to smash over their respective heads etc. But we are not concerned with this theatrical area of Qigong.

Standing Qi Gong

It is the job of the 'STANDING QI-GONG' to build up our 'PRENATAL' CH'I or QI while it is the job of the T'AI CHI FORM to cause this extra energy to flow freely to all parts of the body.

The whole of the Qi-gong techniques can be split up into three main groups. Those for self-healing, those for medical and those for the martial arts. Usually, it is the self-healing and the martial arts area that we in the T'ai chi area are concerned.

 

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Self-Healing Qi Gong
 

Using the self-healing Qi-gong we learn to help our own body and mind to heal ourselves of disease. When we practice the martial arts Qigong, we make use of the internal work to gain power and speed and timing for the purpose of self-defence. The more difficult, 'medical' Qi-gong comes when a doctor of Qigong actually treats people himself with Qigong to heal those people of some disease which is perhaps a little too advanced for our own system to cope with. This Qigong is a very advanced technique and not only involves the patient learning his/her own self healing Qigong but also the doctor attempts to either put in or pull out Ch'i to add to the healing process. I am told that many doctors in China are having a success rate with breast cancers and other deadly diseases.

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When T'ai chi is performed using the 'three main breathing techniques', it also becomes quite a potent Qigong practice hence it's excellent name in the self-healing area. We are told through ancient Chinese texts that whatever the external body does, so too does the internal flow of Ch'i try to emulate. So it stands to reason that if we are performing harsh, unnatural movements that go against the natural bodily flow, so too will the internal flow of Ch'i be impeded by this external show. If however, we try to perform natural, flowing movements we have an enhancement of a natural flow of Ch'i to all parts of the body internally.

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Can Qigong Be Harmful?

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Yes and no. If one practices Qi-gong to excess there can be a harmful effect but if one only practices the basic Qi-gong stances and movements and never over does it, there can be no danger. If for instance one is told not to practice a certain Qi-gong stance because it is an advanced practice then one must simply not practice that stance. Many students are eager to learn and so they try to practice certain Qigong stances long before they are ready any so they are open to a certain amount of harm. This is where your teacher must guide you through the basics and slowly up to the advanced forms.

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The danger lies in the fact that once a certain flow has been established by practising a certain method, we are sometimes fooled into believing that we are able to take much more than our physical body is able to at that given time. Slowly, the Qi takes over our body and we are literally held in place by the flow of Qi, our muscles having given up long ago. If that flow is suddenly interrupted, perhaps by a telephone call, our physical mind takes over again and the great flow of energy slows to the normal rate and we go back to using our physical muscles again.

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But our muscles have become useless because they have been over used and we fall onto the ground. This phenomenon happened to myself in my initial training and has since happened to three of my students, because we all did something that our teachers told us not to. But then what inquiring mind can resist doing something that someone tells us not to because it is too powerful! This is the only danger that I have ever found in the practice of Qigong. The only other danger comes if a person has certain ailments such as blood clots or kidney stones etc, the Qigong tries to release these blockages and this can cause great pain and sometimes immobility.

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T'ai Chi And Medical Qigong
 

Qigong is also used as a total healing method. That is, the 'doctor' of Qigong is able to use the Qigong stances to not only heal but also to diagnose any problems. Firstly on a large scale whereby he/she places the disease into one large area of the body and whether it is a 'yin deficient' disease or a yang deficient' disease.

The way that this is established is, (and his is on a very basic level), the doctor takes note of the position of the palms after some minutes of the patient practising his/her own Qigong stance. (The position of all of the limbs is also taken into account but for this article I will only deal with the simpler palm positions). If for instance the right palm has fallen to a lower level than the left palm then this indicates that there is a yang deficiency in the right side of the body. One has also to take into account the position of the other limbs to establish if upper of lower body is effected. To further pin point the problem, the patient is placed into a series of other postures including some of the T'ai chi postures to find out which ones cause pain or are extremely more difficult than any of the others.

If for instance the posture of 'brush knee twist step' causes some pain around the chest area and is grossly difficult (more so than normal for a beginner) to perform then this would indicate a heart problem of the yang deficient variety. Further diagnosis including tongue, face and kin condition would further confirm the problem. The Qigong doctor has then to decide how to heal the ailment. He may decide to use acupuncture to heal the immediate effect of the pain and then use some Qigong postures to put some yang energy into the heart. He may also practice his own Qi-gong for either twenty minutes for a minor ailment or for ten days and fast on only fruit for that time for a more serious disease. He will then place his palms around the affected area or over the relevant acupuncture points and put his own yang energy into these points to further help the cure.

There is a point on the palm called 'laogung' point, which is a pericardium 8 point; this point is said to be the point where the Qi is sent from one body into another. If you close your fist and see where the longest finger points to, then this is the point to which I am referring.

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