Kigong vs Qigung

[OneKickWonder]

I know Kigong is the Korean and possibly the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese qigong. I know that both are fundamentally exercises that aim to develop good coordination of breath with movement. But are they literally the same thing conceptually, or are there subtle or even significant differences between the two?

[bushido_man96]

That's a good question. Like the similarity between Ki and Qi and Chi. I think they are different spellings for a similar thing, but I am not for sure, either.

[singularity6]

Chi and Qi should have similar pronunciations according to modern pinyin rules. Ki will definitely have a hard k-sound when spoken, but I can't say much about where this variation came from.

[Spartacus Maximus]

It is the same concept overall. The original is Chinese and is a fundamental of both medicine and martial arts. Both of these were spread to Korea, Okinawa and Japan where they were developed further into local interpretations and variants.

The same character(Chinese ideogram/symbol) is read differently in each of the three languages suing them. Although rarer in Korean. In Chinese it is “chi” and in Japanese it is “ki”. It refers to effective and efficient breathing applied to medicine and martial arts. Definitely NOT some sort of mystical force or power as some ignorant minds might construe it.

[Himokiri Karate]

In hoshin ryu book by Glen Morris it has mentioned that the concept of energy that is called different things like chi ki prana or ruh are the same. He refers to it as psi and it has inward and outward application.

Inwards for healing or changing body temperature or martial arts prowess and outward for creating an aura of confidence or creating a sense of warmth in surrounding.

I am deep in to meditation and have experienced great levels of recovery and that is my only personal experience in terms of a fantastic result but nothing to out of this world.

[Alan Armstrong]

No matter the spellings three minutes without breathing is life threatening.

The cleaner the air the more beneficial it is for one's health also in reverse the more polluted the air the less healthier we become.

Harnessing and understanding the use of oxygen as when inhaling and exhaling when exercising or performing physically improves overall performance.

As air is seemingly invisible and free it is very much taken for granted by many but the few make a point of using it as a way to stay more youthful for longer, as in Tai Chi or as in Chi Kung practice.

By harvesting and storing chi on a daily basis, also incorporated in to movements that promotes chi flowing throughout the entire body.