QI GONG AND TAI CHI

            Tai Chi is one form of Qi Gong (“energy exercise”).  Many of the gentler

exercises can be done by almost everyone.  The focus is on learning correct posture,

regulating the breath, and calming the mind. Qi Gong can restore vitality, store

physical energy, and massage internal organs. It can help to increase resistance to

disease and often leads to a longer life.  The expected results of practicing

 include improved digestion and increased metabolic activity. Skin, hair, and nail

conditions also improve. (From “Qigong for Health” by Masaru Takahashi and Stephen

Brown.)

   "In the human body, Chi is the fundamental energy that sustains life and is present

in the vibrating biological processes of every single one of the millions and millions of

cells.  It drives all the activities throughout the organism. This energy is not uniquely

human. Every being shares in and is a natural manifestation of the vast Chi or

fundamental energy of the universe.  Just as modern science has demonstrated the

elegant unity and constant inter-relationship of all matter and energy in the

elemental structures and processes of our planet and the known cosmos, so too

 has the cumulative Chinese understanding of Chi been based on minute observation

of a correspondingly delicate and interdependent web of energy patterns flowing

through and forming the basis of all that exists.

            Most common ailments are related to tension.  Zhan Zhuang standing

exercises relax both the nervous and muscular systems. You can rediscover and

release powerful energy that is dormant and blocked within you.  Many western

exercises concentrate on developing physical strength.  "Long before your muscles

are worked to their full capacity, the demand on your heart and particularly on

 your lungs is so intense that sooner or later you become fatigued and must stop”.

The result is not only temporary exhaustion, but limited development of your muscle

power.  The Zhan Zhuan exercises  in this book will enable you to exert the full

capacity of your muscle networks over long periods without exhausting your lungs.

Your breathing will become even deeper and slower, generating a generous supply of

oxygen to your heart.” (From “The Way of Energy”, by Master Lam-Kam Chuen.)