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hi Gong is a collective name given to a multitude of breathing exercises that have been practised by the Chinese for more than 3000 years. Like Tai Chi, these exercises provide a way of preventing disease and improving the health. The only difference is that while Tai Chi has evolved from the martial arts, Chi Gong is purely a healing exercise. Although the movements are simple in Chi Gong, its practice involves the whole body and its slowness and simplicity make it suitable for everyone, no matter what their age. For the elderly and infirm it can even be done while sitting in a chair or when lying down.
Some Tai Chi teachers even make Chi Gong a prerequisite before a student can advance to learning Tai Chi. All the principles, such as the correct posture, relaxing, concentrating and moving without energy that Tai Chi students learn, are equally important for those performing Chi Gong.
Chi Gong relaxes the mind and the gentle, flowing movements not only reduce stress in the body, but also remove the physical effects of stress.
Health Benefits of Chi Gong
The health benefits of Chi Gong are numerous and the exercises enhance the function of every system in the body. Here are a few examples:
Circulatory System: This is vital to the efficient functioning of the body. During practice the blood vessels dilate gently and this increases the volume of blood flowing to the brain, hands and feet, and also through the small capillaries.
Heart: Chi Gong strengthens the heart muscles and thus makes the heart function more efficiently. This boosts the volume of oxygen available to the tissues, and assists in the removal of waste products. As Chi Gong is a meditative exercise the heart rate also slows down during practice.
Respiratory System: Deep breathing into the lower abdomen, also called abdominal breathing, increases the lungs’ ability to take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide. This helps one to relax and quietens the mind.
Digestive System: The Chi Gong method of deep breathing into the lower abdomen increases the diaphragm’s movement. The resultant massaging movement stimulates the digestive organs.
Immune System: Traditional Chinese medicine maintains that by strengthening the chi, one is better equipped to fight off infection and disease.
For more details on Chi Gong courses see the section on COURSES.
Chi Gong Research
In recent years much research has been conducted on Tai Chi and Chi Gong. Scientists have begun to document the benefits of these exercises in hard quantitative terms, and most of the claims made by the traditional teachers have been proven in clinical tests. There is now a vast amount of data available on the internet, and here are just a few examples of what has been discovered:
- Research conducted in the Department of Qi-Medicine in the Republic of Korea in 2003 proved that the number of white blood cells, which are responsible for fighting infections, increased significantly two hours after Chi Gong training.
- In 2008 the University of Colorado investigated the effectiveness of a Chi Gong training program in reducing stress in hospital staff. After the six-week course the group demonstrated a statistically significant reduction of perceived stress compared to the control group. It was also found that Chi Gong reduced pain and improved the nurses’ quality of life.
- Paul Zucker of Columbia University ran a program during which 15 hypertensive adults performed a series of Chi Gong exercises twice a week for eight weeks. He found that the average blood pressure of the participants dropped by 10%.
- An article in Newsweek of December 2002 states that at many United States leading medical schools and research institutes (including Columbia, Duke and Harvard), conventionally trained physicians are now studying herbs, acupuncture and Tai Chi as rigorously as they would a new antibiotic.
- In 2002 twelve medical schools in America formed a consortium to push for “fundamental changes in the way we are training future physicians”. Many medical schools in America are now introducing a new kind of medicine, also called “integrative medicine”, and already two-thirds of the medical colleges offer Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) courses.