Qigong Continued.......
Much has been written upon the rules of Qigong and we do not wish to repeat them here. There are several excellent articles & books available on the subject and some can be found in our media section.
However, a point we would like to raise is some of the claims made by so-called practitioners of Qigong, which range from the sublime to the ridiculous!
Many tricks are used to dupe people into believing that somehow through the practice of Qigong, they will attain supernatural powers or heal un-curable diseases! Whilst we acknowledge that very little is currently understood about the human brain and its ability to certainly influence our body in what may appear to be a ‘miraculous’ way, most of these claims can be easily explained through the science of physics or in some cases as outright cons!
Many renowned ‘Masters’ claim they can attack and disable an opponent without even laying their hands on them through the use of their Qi! Many tests have been conducted and filmed, where these ‘Masters’ have failed to achieve their claims on any person other then their own students! The social network site YouTube, is full of such videos, which have debunked these theories yet, still, these Masters are paraded and allowed to earn substantial sums from their absurd claims!
Circus tricks, such as, the bending of spears on the throat, the breaking of stones using bare hands, lifting heavy weights attached to the genitals etc. are all offered as proof of Qi and Qigong. Some self-styled ‘esoteric warriors’ claim even claims of inanimate objects, such as, daggers moving of their own accord, and levitation!
All this has lead to another ‘new’ breed of Taijiquan practitioners and schools who reject the concept of Qi outright, thus leaning towards the no less an extreme opposite side of the spectrum! This is not surprising, yet is as equally foolish a position as the former! There are some practitioners who have been practicing the ‘Internal’ for merely a decade or less, yet feel that they are in a position to pit their experience against thousands of years of Chinese study and experimentations on the subject, and, with a mere wave of their hands dismiss this deep history!
What both these positions show is perhaps a lack of understanding of the subject in some cases and serious falsifications in the rest!
Daoist breathing techniques and related exercises have been used for many a millennia by both, martial artists and non-martial artists alike. Using the breath to cultivate energy and strengthen the body can be found amongst the indigenous peoples of almost every land on this globe we call earth!
What we need to do is to strip away the crazy notions and see and practice Qigongs for what they are… essentially a beautiful way to unify mind, body and spirit. Leading us to calmer, healthier lives and an inner strength, which can be called upon in the time of battle!