QiGong

Qigong (or chi kung) uses breathing techniques and slow graceful movements to develop qi and is said to improve health. Although qigong is often confused with martial arts or tai chi, qigong is usually much slower and focuses on the "qi" aspect to a much greater degree. With more than 10,000 styles of qigong and 200 million people practicing there are a variety of methods. There are three main reasons why people do qigong: 1) To gain strength, improve health or reverse a disease 2) To gain skill working with qi so as to become a healer 3) To become more connected with the "Tao, God, True Source, Great Spirit" for a more meaningful connection with nature and the universe.

The Chinese character for qi in qigong means air in Chinese. Jeff Primack suggests it is possible ancient masters (Yellow Emperor, Lao Tzu etc.) saw the direct link between breathing techniques and the "electrical force" that moved through their nervous system. Gong means discipline or skill, so qigong is therefore breath or energy skill. The term was not widely known until the 1980s during a period some call the "Qigong Wave" where groups of 10,000-40,000 people regularly gathered inside Chinese stadiums to practice qigong together. Many in the Chinese government became concerned that qigong could turn into a political weapon and in 1999 banned all large qigong gatherings. Many practitioners wanted to see qigong studied scientifically and not be affiliated with a political agenda or any superstition, but these efforts have largely failed in China as they still do not allow classes to be offered publicly to the citizens. Currently there is a movement underway in the United States, Europe and other western cultures to preserve the valuable aspects of these traditional Chinese practices.

Attitudes toward the scientific basis for qigong vary markedly. Most Western medical practitioners and many practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, as well as the Chinese government, view qigong as a set of breathing and movement exercises, with possible benefits to health through stress reduction and exercise. Other practitioners view qigong in more metaphysical terms, claiming that qi can be felt as a vibration or electrical current and physically circulated through channels called meridians. Many testify a reduction or elimination of pain through the use of qigong.