Methods Of Qigong In Kung Fu Training
Qigong is a general name for the systems of hardening and
improvement of body and mind, treatment and health enhancement
created in China. They primarily based on the ability to control
your own consciousness, mentality and through them all the
physiological processes of the organism. Practicing Qigong you
can achieve stunning results some of which even the powerful
modern science cannot conceive and explain.
There are three main categories of Qigong: Health-improving,
Fighting and Mystical.
1. It was Chinese physicians who developed and evolved the
Health-improving Qigong during many centuries. They created
special exercises aimed to preserve and promote health as well
as to cure various diseases.
2. Fighting (or Hard) Qigong was developed by those
practitioners of Qigong who at the same time were masters of
martial arts. These exercises serve to enhance the energy
concentration in muscles and other parts of the body allowing to
hugely increase the bodily strength and its resistance against
the attempts to cause it a physical injury.
3. Mystical Qigong is a child of Buddhist monks and Taosian
anchorites. The goal of Mystical Qigong consists in achieving
the so called Enlightenment - a special psychophysical state of
the human being. Taosian anchorites also developed methods of
anti-aging based on Mystical Qigong. Mystical Qigong is the most
difficult to master.
Qigong is not only the art of Qi energy control; it trains the
mind and helps to work out the ability to control your
volitional impulse. Qigong techniques include a huge variety of
exercises but they all consist of the three main parts: control
of position, control of breath, and control of mind.
Controlling his position, a man can acquire some optimal posture
of body which would allow Qi to flow in the organism without
delays or blockages not causing any disturbing feelings and
removing diseases. The exercises are mostly performed in common
stands, for example, in the Rider's stance.
You need to control your breath to let the external Qi (from the
air) not only to pass mechanically into the internal state but
to spread along energy channels, fully feeding all the organs.
Consciousness is crucial in breath control; it distributes Qi
along the body. At the highest stage, the breath is controlled
at the level of subconsciousness and do not require too much of
your attention.
Step by step learning to control his energy resources, a
practitioner will pass from using the physical strength (Li) to
the internal burst of effort (Tsin). This internal effort, as
Chinese masters believe, is produced not by muscles but in
tendons and marrow.
This is the reason why the most of Kung Fu exercises aimed not
to increase the mass of muscles but to strengthen tendons and
bones. While muscles tend to loose their strength (Li) as the
man grows older, masters preserve their internal effort (Tsin)
until great age. That's why Chinese masters of Kung Fu say: "If
you do not practice Fighting Qigong but train only your physical
strength you'll be left with nothing when you grow old enough."
Qigong exercises advance "internal Qi" our organism contains.
"Internal Qi" is also called "true Qi". The state of "true Qi"
depends on many factors: regular Fighting Qigong exercises,
nutrition, mental state, environment, etc. Every human being has
internal Qi but only few can use it properly, develop it. The Qi
of the vast majority of people is destabilized. The goal of
Fighting Qigong is to fill the organism with "true Qi", calm it,
make Qi flow along channels freely without obstructions.
So what is Qi after all? According to Chinese notions, it is an
energetic substance which represents the foundation of all, i.
e. the energetic foundation of the Universe. Our body can be
compared to an electric appliance: if it is supplied with
electric power it works but if the power supply is cut down the
device operation stops. Likewise with the man: if Qi supply of
his body is insufficient or it gets stagnant in it, the man gets
sick or even dies.
To have a healthy robust body, one needs to learn how to keep
the Qi circulation smooth and to be able to accumulate
sufficient amount of Qi. To do so, it is necessary to understand
the system of circulation and storage of Qi in your organism.
The human body has twelve so called primary channels (meridians)
along which Qi is spread across the entire organism. There also
exist eight "miraculous" vessels serving as a kind of reservoirs
storing and regulating Qi. One end of each channel is attached
to one of twelve internal organs while the other end is
connected to one of fingers or toes.
These twelve channels supply with Qi energy twelve internal
organs. Besides, these channels also take the excessive energy
away from internal organs allowing us to through it out of the
body. When due to blockage or disease the circulation of Qi
along the channels is interrupted, one or several organs cannot
get enough Qi which leads to their functional disturbance.
To be healthy, you need to learn how to keep the circulation of
Qi in the twelve channels smooth and constantly replenish the
"miraculous vessels" with energy.
If you understand the theory of Qi circulation in the human body
you will be able to understand how Qi relates to martial arts as
well. Remember, your body is not simply a machine it is an
organism able to improve itself. The stronger Qi is, the
stronger the human body gets.
Fighting Qigong practice sessions serve to enhance the
capabilities of your body. We know that using our mind we can
control various parts of our own body. The process of control is
simple. Our mind generates a thought, and the thought leads Qi
to the corresponding parts of the body which perform the
requested action. The key thing about Fighting Qigong is in
learning to lead your Qi as efficient as it can be. In this case
you can increase you strength very much.
Chinese martial arts masters learn to focus their minds through
meditation or other kinds of training practice to make Qi obey
them easily. This can substantially enhance the strength of a
fighter and increase the efficiency of his technique.