Chi kung?

[Goju_boi]

Can someone explain what is chi kung and whatit's for?

[David]

Qigong translates directly as "air power". In practical terms, it works on your circulatory systems and musculature fixing all the mistakes you made in becoming you. There's a lot more to it but do you need more?

Rgds,

David

[Master Jules]

Chi Gung.....well, lets just say its gonna be a long answer....Imagine that your body's energy, your life force, if you will, resides in your chi "gas tank"....thats your tanden #1, about 3 finger widths below your belly button. Your chi flows through your body along pathways known as meridian lines. These meridian lines corrospond to various internal organs throughout your body. Along those lines are points, which are the equivalent of doorways, or gates, lets say. In accupuncture, or accupressure, these points are manipulated in such a way as to start, stop, or reverse the flow of energy along a meridian line, depending on what is needed to restore health to a certain part of the body. Manipulation of these points in a "bad" way can equally cause tremendous damage as well. There are 12 meridian lines, plus 2 additional lines as well, which are the governing, and the central meridian lines. Each of these lines are "active" for a 2 hour period during the course of the day....12 lines...2 hrs each= 24 hours.....

Chi Gung involves specific breathing excercises which are designed to facilitate the flow of Chi throughout the body. If youve ever seen Yoga, and the seated position known as the Lotus position, where the legs are crossed and the feet are up on the thighs, this seated position cuts of about 85% of the blood flow to the lower extremities of the body.....all you really need to live is above the waist anyway.....this position allows for massive blood flow to the internal organs, and the chi gung excercises which are done in this position literally bathe the organs in tremendous amounts of fresh oxygen, again, facilitating extreme internal health for the practicioner. There are all kinds of chi gung excercises, not all are done seated, and not all are done with no motion. For example, in Goju Ryu, we have two breathing kata, Sanchin, and the more advanced Tensho, done with open hands. Both of these kata are known as versions of standing chi gung, and because of the "mentality" of the kata, they are also known as moving zen. Very traditonal Goju Ryu, especially Goju Ryu fron either the Shobukan or Shoreikan lineages are rich with chi gung excercises.....as I said to you in an earlier post in another thread GojuBoi.....your entering one of the most "complete" systems known to the arts.....stay with it.....your gonna see some really cool stuff.

[Goju_boi]

thanx again master jules for your great posts as always.But yeah anyways if this is to restore health to certain organs can this cure deseases?Because I have a rare kidney condition that supposedly has no cure but can be controlled.Or can it just help better my condition?Also how does this benefit martial arts training?And sometime ago I read a little about this chi kung in black belt magazine.It said that this guy could shift his organs around and change the pH levels in his body,also a bunch of other unique things

[Master Jules]

Thanks for the compliment Gojuboi.....Ill always try to help where I can. Accupunture and accupressure can definetely help restore health to various parts of the body, and this isnt just "theory", its proven fact. I always find it ironic when you hear people discuss Chinese medicine, because it is often refered to as "alternative" medicine....LOL.....alternative to what ???....Modern medicine as we call it hasnt really been around all that long, relatively speaking, but the Chinese medicine like accupunture and accupressure, and the herbs that accompany it has been around for only.....5000 years......and oh yeah....did you ever notice that China has the worlds largest population of over 1 billion people ????? seems like the "alternative medicine" is keeping a heck of a lot of people alive and kickin'.......Watch around dawn, and youll see literally hundreds of Tai Chi practicioners going through forms......Tai Chi is another "internal" art, the health benefits of which are phenomenal. Chi Gung Masters (real ones...not the ones who are fakes) can do some absolutely incredible things. Hsing I is another type of internal art (all the internal arts are about cultivating and using your Chi). I have a picture from the early 1920's of a tiny little old Hsing I master breaking a stack of about 24 bricks with absolutely no wind up at all......he struck the bricks from about 1 inch away....now imagine getting hit by that.......

[David]

Those 5am t'ai chi practitioners are doing it to avoid the smog of rush hour. Still cool that they make the effort, though.

Rgds,

David

[KarateKid7]

i think the pH level changing is related to breathing in the sense it can be altered by hyperventilation as this increases CO2 levels in the blood and hence the acidity due to formation of carbonic acid

[dtstiachi]

Chi Kung is a set of excercizes that can help one cultivate the chi inside of their body. Chi Kung has breathing excersizes, some movement excercizes and techniques that help increase one's inner strengh. Refer to the above posts as they are really good. Here is my 2 cents.

[David]

In practical terms, it works on your circulatory systems and musculature fixing all the mistakes you made in becoming you.

Nobody commented on this for whatever reason, so I'm going to expand on it with a question. Would my cat, for example, have any need for qigong practice? My answer would be negative because the cat is operating at peak efficiency. We humans just don't have a clue, hence all this (re)training we have to go through.

Rgds,

David

edit: fix quotation box

Edited April 15, 2005 by David

[Master Jules]

It isnt a "given" that the cat is operating at "peak efficiency"....Although the meridian lines of the cat would probably be different than that of a human, the concept of chi flow should still be the same, since it is the "life force". It should be a fair statement to make that any living creature would benefit from any type of chi gung training based on the needs of the particular species. It is quite interesting though, that cats (I have 3) have a somewhat inate skill when it comes to fighting. As I said, I have 3 cats, Tigger, Noodles, and Frankie, who are small, medium, and large. It is amazing to watch them "spar" (for lack of a better word). The grappling skills and techniques which they demonstrate are really quite impressive, considering that they have not had any "formal instruction"...LOL....For example....Tigger weighs in at about 8 lbs, Frankie at about 16 lbs. Through pure technique, Tigger "holds his own", and on occasion, I have seen him actually "throw" Frankie. Thats the equivalent of a 200 lb guy like me, throwing a 400 lb guy....I know I drifted a little of the subject of chi gung, but I thought that was of some interest.