Qigong
Qigong, also spelled as Chi Kung, Chi Gong, or Chi Gung, is pronounced “chee
goong.” Qigong is a Chinese discipline, consisting of breathing and mental exercises
that may be combined with modest arm movements. Qiis the term for vital energy
and life force and gongmeans work or discipline. Qigong can be translated as “mas-
tery of qi,” “cultivation of energy,” “air energy,” “breath work,” and “energy work.”
People discover how to generate more energy and conserve what they have in order
to maintain health or treat illness.
Written records on Qigong go back 4,000 years. For almost all of that time, this
practice remained a closely guarded family secret, available only to the elite classes
in China. This discipline was handed down covertly and was not revealed until the
beginning of the 20th century. In the late 1970s, the Chinese government funded
several scientific studies of Qigong, which had been banned during the Cultural
Revolution as superstitious practice. When a scientific basis was established, the gov-
ernment added Qigong to the list of treatment methods offered in Traditional
Chinese Medicine hospitals.
Qigong is an easy and nontiring exercise that contains sets of moves designed to
gather qi. Most people spend 30 minutes a day doing the exercises and another 30
minutes in meditation. Some forms are quite complex. For example, Wild Goose
Qigong has two sections with 64 movements in each section. While it is difficult to
learn, Wild Goose Qigong is exceptionally beautiful. In China, the goose is consid-
ered to be a marvelous creature that flies high into the clouds to gather cosmic
energy and information and bring it to earth. Guo Lin Gong is a walking form of
Qigong that is practiced in China particularly by people with cancer. Improvements
have been documented in a wide range of conditions such as stroke, hypertension,
spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, joint disease, cerebral palsy, headaches, and
many forms of cancer.
T’ai Chi
T’ai Chi, sometimes spelled as taiji, is pronounced “teye chee.” T’ai Chi is a disci-
pline that arose out of Qigong, and combines physical fitness, meditation, and self-
defense. Literally translated, it means “great ultimate fist” and is sometimes
translated as “supreme boxing” or “root of all motion.” Although it is considered a
martial art, T’ai Chi is mainly practiced today as a health discipline.
T’ai Chi, a modern offshoot of Qigong, was created by a Taoist priest in the 14th
century. T’ai Chi gained popularity in the United States in the 1960s as people
explored alternatives to conventional medicine. Some experts estimate that more
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