When I say that I teach qigong gymnastics, the reaction is different: from the statements “They say it is useful” to the questions “Can you crack bricks with your hand?”. What is real qigong, why is it needed, and can one consider oneself a good practitioner if one does not want to break bricks?
Let me draw an analogy with yoga: when a person says that he is doing yoga, what do you imagine? How does he stand in tree pose? Or meditating in the lotus position? Or fighting with someone with swords? All statements will be true: in yoga there are meditation practices, and a martial direction, and many, many others.
The concept of qigong also hides a lot of different types of practices. In the article How to Replenish Energy: Qigong for Dummies we talked about the steps of qigong, now I want to talk about the different directions within it so that you can choose which particular practice can be useful for you.
1. Combat qigong
This is one of the oldest directions. It developed in the era before firearms, and a person who mastered combat qigong became the most powerful deadly weapon. The prospects of this settlement depended on whether there was a martial qigong practitioner in the village: whether it would be able to defend its right to a well and whether it would develop.
With the advent of firearms, combat qigong lost its functional significance: who is stronger – a warrior who has been honing his skills for 12 years, or an ordinary person with a gun? Mmmm … Well, 10 people with guns!
You can practice martial qigong to this day: in some traditions there are sparring competitions, in others – only demonstration performances without sparring. In any case, this is one of the most effective ways to develop the body, but it is far from suitable for everyone – for example, a woman over 50 without a sports background is unlikely to want to start her journey in qigong with martial practices.
By the way, martial qigong practitioners can learn to break wood, stone and other substances to demonstrate their skills.
2. Medical qigong
This direction appeared thanks to the combat. Anyone who has suffered in a fight must be able to restore himself. Over time, these exercises have developed, improved, and today there is a wide variety of health-improving sets of exercises.
They help to build such a body structure in which it is easy and comfortable to live: the body effectively resists diseases, has lightness, flexibility and the necessary mobility.
The main task of medical qigong is to build a body through which qi energy flows correctly. And this is not some mystical task. According to Chinese medicine, blood carries energy, that is, the task of qigong practitioners is to build a body in which there are no congestion: all organs and systems are effectively supplied with blood.
This goal of qigong is 100% consistent with Western ideas about health: according to a WHO report, most human diseases at the organ level are associated precisely with impaired blood supply.
People with almost any initial health condition can practice medical qigong. For example, among the students of my school there were people after injuries, in a corset and plaster, people diagnosed with cerebral palsy. In one group with 20-year-olds, people over 80 are engaged – and everyone finds their own interest in this practice and acquires their own health benefits.
3. Religious qigong
This practice is based on the original meaning of the term “relegate”, which means “to bind in a new way”. The purpose of this direction is a spiritual search: that which connects a person with nature, with the divine component of the world, with himself. Religious qigong combines many different techniques, such as quiet sitting practices – meditation.
Does it need to be merged?
Each direction of qigong can exist independently of the others. For example, if you decide to master one of the practices of healing, that is, medical, qigong, this does not mean that you should join religious qigong.
Just as within the framework of health-improving practices, a person will not learn to crush bricks: this is not a health-improving activity, you must agree! Combat qigong is the practice of creating a strong, strong body and developing a lightning-fast reaction, medical qigong helps restore and develop health, religious practices work on the spiritual component of life.
To penetrate the mysteries of all directions in one human life… very unlikely! Therefore, great qigong masters, as a rule, choose one direction and develop in it.
And for us, lay people who are not ready to retire to a monastery for the sake of working on ourselves, qigong can be an excellent help in maintaining and developing health.
Personally, I consider healing qigong the most interesting and useful direction in modern realities. As a person who has been teaching healing practices for over 20 years, I can’t even imagine how to maintain health without practicing qigong.