About Qigong

The History of Qigong

They say that Qigong is potentially over 5000 years old, making it the oldest exercise system in the World.

The story is that tribal dances from the Russian Steppes were formalised in the Yangtze Delta into standard sets of gentle movements. The ancients had noticed that the people who performed these dances stayed supple and healthy much longer than the ones who lead a sedentary lifestyle.

Over thousands of years of investigation and experimentation by many highly skilled practitioners, the form has finally been distilled to what we know today as Qigong or in the old fashioned translation systems you might see it spelled Chi-gung, or Chi Kung.

These names are also fairly contemporary, dating back to the beginning of the 20th Century. Prior to this, these exercise forms were generally referred to as Dao Yin training.

Qigong has many roots and branches – it earned the nickname “the 10,000 things” from the Daoist idea – ten thousand being the highest numeric in ancient China; the implication being – Infinity! The styles were developed and changed within families, organisations, religions and eventually by the government too.

There are many applications for qigong, but it’s principally for building health and strength, whilst calming the mind. The specialisations were often created by religious sects, such as The Buddhists and The Daoists, or by martial schools such as the Shaolin Monks. It is used widley in China these days for healing the body

About Zhineng Style

This style of Qigong was developed by Dr Pang Ming in the early 80’s.

It was developed after Dr Pang studied Martial Arts as a young man, (Reputedly with 19 different Grand Masters) and then became qualified as a Western-style GP and a Doctor of Chinese medicine. he developed it with healing in mind, but also with the larger purpose of developing Human potential.

Unlike most other forms Zhineng is an “Open System”, It embraces simplicity but has the complexity some people require to delve deeper into the movement and philosophy.

During the late 80’s and all through the 90’s Dr Pang used Zhineng in his healing centres, the most notable being the Huaxia Zhineng Qigong Clinic & Training Center 2 hours away from Beijing. There were many extraordinary cases of healings reported from this centre, using this style. Over the years, the Center treated more than 400,000 patients with over 180 diseases and reported an overall success rate of 95%.

Why Do Qigong?

Who can practice Qigong?

This system was designed with everybody in mind. The system has become well known for it’s effectiveness in healing and has also proved to be effective in self cultivation practices that go well beyond simply healing.

How can it help?

Qigong is designed to build the physical body up, from it’s lowest ebb, to full vitality.
In this system there are some exceptionally simple exercises, that can even be undertaken lying down. Often these exercises can be even be performed solely in the mind, not requiring the body to even be moved. Once the body is strengthened and more stable, the physical movement further enhances the practice. With familiarity the exercises become second nature, allowing the emotions to stabilise. Over time this leads to complete harmony and balance in Mind, Body and Spirit.

What can it be used for specifically?

It is often used to counter life-style illnesses, that Western medicine doesn’t have a cure for. Dr Pang proved great success in alleviating all sorts of degenerative illness. Qigong is not a ‘magic bullet’ – but it is able to make a significant difference to one’s life over a period of time. Clearly it requires practice. Dr Pang’s view is that one must take responsibility for one’s own healing journey. Having a Qigong healer or acupuncturist prop you up with their energy is fine, and last for a few days, but learning to heal yourself, and keep the healing going every day is infinity more powerful.