 The
Chinese word qi literally means air or breath.
In traditional Chinese medicine the meaning is broadened to refer
to a person's vital energy (yuan qi, which
includes, but is not limited to , the air one breathes in. Qigong
is a series of breathing exercises aimed at stimulating vital energy
so as to strengthen immunity against disease, adaptability to external
environment and the ability to repair internal health damage. Traditional
Chinese Medicine (TCM) holds that a person full of yuan qi will enjoy
good health. Of course qigong is not a panacea; it must be practiced
in conjunction with other forms of exercise and therapy in order to
affect a cure. To a great extent, all Chinese martial arts (gongfu
or kungfu ) rely on the mastery of qigong techniques for the attainment
of mental and physical harmony.
All
forms of qigong involve three mutually dependent basic processes:
regulation of posture, regulation of respiration and regulation
of the mind.
Of
the many Qigong exercises, the following three forms are the most
common:
 The
Relaxing Exercise
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 Qigong
has proven effective in t reating
certain chronic disorders and, as indicated by recent experience in
China, is particularly helpful to sufferers from stomach and duodenal
ulcers, ptosis of the stomach, habitual constipation, neurasthenia
and high blood pressure.
The
role qigong plays is three-folded:
First,
it helps restore vitality. By inducing a state
of tranquillity, qigong
allows the body to restore vital energy, build up disease-resistance
and alleviate
functional disorders. Physiological experiments show that when a
person is in a tranquil state induced by qigong exercise, his cerebral
cortex is in an inhibited state, which allays the over-excitation
of cortical cells that may result in functional disorders. This
may explain why qigong has proved beneficial in the treatment of
neurasthenia, hypertension and gastric ulcers, which are all closely
connected with the nervous system.
Secondly,
it helps conserve energy. Experimental findings indicate that, in
the course of performing qigong exercises, oxygen consumption is
reduced by 30.7 per cent and energy metabolism by 20 percent.
Thirdly,
it massages the abdominal cavity. Qigong, particularly the Internal
Training Exercise, produces a massaging effect on the abdominal
cavity through the mechanical action of breathing, since the diaphragm
moves up and down over a much larger range than usual. Such massaging
promotes gastrointestinal peristalsis, reduces the amount of extravasiated
blood in the abdomen and aids digestion and absorption. This is
why one who practices qigong may have a sharpened appetite and put
on weight--and also why qigong can cure habitual constipation and
ptosis of the stomach.
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The
Strengthening Exercise
The
Internal Training Exercise 