Tai Chi Classes in Yorkshire 07855 850 427
Tai Chi & Qigong classes
Qigong/ Chi Kung
Most people haven't even heard of Qigong. You may have seen it, but thought it was Tai Chi. The two have a lot of similarities but are actually different:
Qigong: SAY it 'Chee-Gung'.
Sometimes you'll see it written as Chi-Kung. It's exactly the same thing as Qigong.
Qigong exercise has a 5000 year old history. It originated and has been practiced in China continuously since then.
Qigong is an umbrella term used to describe various systems of physical and mental training for health, self-development or enlightenment. Together with massage, acupuncture and herbal remedies, Qigong is one of the core elements of Chinese Medicine which is used to balance the energy of the body, staving off premature ageing and poor physical / mental / emotional health.
Chinese Medicine is based on the Eastern concept of 'Qi', or universal life energy, which sustains every living thing. Qi circulates through energy pathways in the human body called Jing Luo or 'Meridians' .
When we become ill, Chinese Medicine points to the cause of the illness being a blockage, imbalance, stagnation or adverse flow of this qi energy within the body. . An illness (mental emotional or physical) will then arise unless the flow of Qi can be smoothed out.
Qigong exercise promotes HEALTH-KEEPING - preventing illness & prolonging life via daily Qigong exercises, rather than waiting until we get sick and then taking a medicine to control a specific symptom without getting to the underlying cause. Eg: You have high blood pressure -the doctor prescribes a pill to lower the blood pressure, rather than addressing the cause the high blood pressure. This is the 'sticking plaster' approach, you never actually get well, you just mask the symptoms, for a while.
The practice of Qigong stimulates the Qi ( bio-electrical life energy) to flow correctly within these pathways via specific movements. The manipulation of the Qi through the energy channels breaks up blockages, removes stagnation and turbid Qi energy, allowing the body to naturally heal itself.
In the same way that an acupuncturist would use needles to stimulate certain acupoints, so Qigong uses movement as a self-treatment which can be done in your own time, whenever you want.
Conditions helped by Qigong practice are many -there's really not much it doesn't help. As well as illnesses, it improves sleep, digestion, tones the body increases strength, helps joints and bones, calms the mind, reduces anxiety and lifts the mood to keep us feeling young at heart!
Tai Chi / Taiji
Like it's counterpart Qigong, Tai Chi Chuan (Tai Chi for short) is also spelled two ways.
You might also see it written Taijiquan, often shortened to Taiji.
Understanding what Tai Chi is becomes easier when you have an idea of what Qigong is, because Tai Chi Chuan is MARTIAL ARTS QIGONG.
Tai means supreme and Chi means ultimate, so with the addition of Chuan (Fist) we have Supreme Ultimate Fist
About 500 years ago a retired army general called Chen Wangting who had a deep interest in the philosophy of yin and yang, wondered why, when it came to fighting the underpinning philosophies of yin and yang, were completely ignored.
He set about devising a fighting art which utilised the qualities of Yin and Yang, so that instead of meeting force with force, (Yang on Yang) used yielding (Yin) to overcome an incoming force (Yang), using the opponents own force to defeat them.
By yielding to the incoming force he found he could borrow the opponents power and by following a circular path, could lead the force to a place where it compromised the opponents structure or even turn the force back on them. Chen Taijiquan, the martial art, was born!
Yang style Tai Chi - a very popular style was developed out of Chen Tai Chi by Yang Luchan, who studied with the Chen family but is a less martial style than Chen.
Since it's origin, other less widely practiced styles have sprung up, Sun & Wu style are also older mainstream family styles but some less well known experimental styles have been developed by various individuals over the years. It pays to do some research and stick with a traditional style which is taught around the world if you want to be sure it's genuine, tried and tested, or you may spend many years learning something that is only practiced in your hometown and one or two other cities in the UK and isn't known of anywhere else in the world!
