If you are new to Qigong or just want to expand your knowledge this Q&A page will be a good way for you to answer the most pressing questions. If you have any further questions that you don’t find answered on the following pages please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to provide a high quality answer.

If you want a more personalized answer or just want to talk more individual to find out whether Qigong might be a good fit for you or not, we provide the opportunity of a free personal life call to talk about your questions.

What is Qigong?

A loose translation of the term “Qigong” is “intensive work with life force energy”. The word “Qi” means life force or energy, and refers not only to physical energy but to a basic form of energy that permeates everything. “Gong” means “cultivation” or “to work” and in certain contexts can be interpreted as mastery. Combined to Qigong the words are an umbrella term for Chinese mind-, body-, energy practices that have a strong focus on health. Typically Qigong involves movement, posture, conscious breathing, a clear mental focus, a certain rhythm and intent and the more or less conscious directing of the life force “Qi”. Many Qigong systems go back thousands of years and the origines of what’s called Qigong today are considered to have emerged around 5000 years ago. It’s true ancient roots however go back even further than that.

It’s estimated that there are currently about 4000 different styles of Qigong with tens of thousands of single exercises out there. This vast number devides in four main roots out of which, or for which Qigong practices where created and originate.

The five main branches of Qigong are:

Qigong for healthy life and wellbeing
medical Qigong
Qigong for martial arts
spiritual Qigong (sometimes also religious)
Qigong for longevity (This isn’t a totally seperate branch but it deserves mentioning because the thought of increasing once lifespan is quite common in many daoist practices. It’s practices are a crossover of the afore mentioned four roots.)

Qigong is linked to philosophy, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and martial arts.

What to expect in a Qigong class?

What’s the difference between Qigong and Taiji?

Qigong, Qi Gong, Chi Kung - what’s the difference?

There is no difference in what it refers to! The only difference is that they are different transcriptions from Chinese to our roman/latin alphabet and our arabic numbers. Sometimes it’s hard to transcribe Chinese signs into our simple letters and over the years different systems were developed to do so. You migh have actually come across even more different ways of spelling Qigong than those three, because some countries chose to adapt the already transcribed word even further to better fit the phonetics of their own language.

Which is better - Qigong or Taiji?

The simple answer is it really depends on your intention and goal. Taiji was originally a martial art that included specific training aspects designed to optimize health and performance or stay in good shape. Qigong can have many faces and you will find forms specifically designed for therapy, wellbeing, strength training, martial arts or spiritual practices. However, originating roughly from the same background there are also many commonalities especially with regard to the type of movement, it’s activation, the use of the mind and the basic philosophical ideas.
Additional to that, most Taiji that is taught nowadays has lost most of it’s martial side for the sake of being more accessible to a broader audience.

In Qigong you often find specialized exercises for either certain organ systems or even specific ailments. Basically the vast diversity of different systems and exercises Qigong offers is much more spezialized on potential requirements or needs of an individual although there are also some meta-systems of Qigong that combine different exercises to simply boost overall wellbeing and health.

Taiji when it comes to it’s health benefits is a different story entirely. Whereas the old traditional Yang style froms and most of their first generation derivates work very deep in organ function and the balance of physiological cycles on top of the pure benefits of slow controlled, well balanced movement, more modern forms of Taiji, especially simplifications like the 24, or 48 form not to mention all the very young competition forms, do not provide such rich health benefits because most of the knowledge that was used to create their much more powerful predesessors was deliberately left out of the equation, and in some instances simply wasn’t known to their creators any more. I would argue that with regard to overall physiological health, some of the modern forms an competition forms are potentially even detrimental to the health of the practitioner. (This alone would require at least one thick book to be explained in detail.)

The next question one has to ask themselves is “what type of form or exercise is better suited for me”. Qigong is mainly seperate exercises that are done one after the other, or, like in some systems are linked with simple linking movements that often repeat themselves. (Yes there are exceptions to this which is only natural considering the amount of systems there is) Taiji is more flowing, meaning, one exercise flows almost seemlessly into the next and the whole form together almost has the charachteristic of one large movement.

Health benefits of both Qigong and Taiji

improves bone density
supports and trains healthy breathing
helps to clear mind and emotions
improves cardiovascular health
improves healthy muscle tone
supports balance
trains coordination

Beyond that are specific foci in Qigong like a system specifically for the lungs, or to aid regeneration after a fever, or a method to support cancer treatment and so on.

Taiji, if one of the old forms is in use, balances the whole organ system and all it’s rhythmic functions, both physically and energetically but lacks the specifity.

Both Qigong and Taiji are designed to balance and effect the life force energy “Qi”.

I consider both, Taiji and Qigong to have great health benefits and to carry huge potential to improve ones life.

If your interest is very specific and health related, it might be better to check for a suitable Qigong style. If you like a challange to learn a form that might even include some martial arts related elements Taiji will most likely be the better choice for you.

If you are in doubt please just use the contact form at the end of this page to reach out with your specific question or to book a consultation.

How does Qigong affect breathing?
Can I balance my breath with Qigong?

Litterally all Qigong exercises have a very close relationship with one or the other form of deliberate breathing. Rest asured, this central regulatory mechanism of ours is not left to coincidence when it comes to Qigong. There are Qigong exercises that use breathing quite specific and even in such a way that one creates certain sounds while ex- or inhaling. Generally speaking, especially health oriented Qigong systems are amongst the best exercises you can find to improve ones breathing pattern and regulate dysfunctional, stressful or even trauma- and stress related habitual breathing. Hereby even more important than whether the specific breathing method is normal- or reversed abdominal breathing, or any other special technique for that matter is the deliberate pacing and rhythm of ones breath and the synchronization with physical movement. This connex of conscious breathing and mostly calm movement accompanied with great awareness is what makes many Qigong systems so highly effective tools to balance breathing related psychological and physiological ailments and increasing levels of wellbeing, focus and overall vitality.

Is Qigong dangerous?

The quick answer is “NO”, most Qigong systems are quite safe to practice. Since there are so many different styles of Qigong some of them are more demanding on the body than others but the vast majority especially of the Qigong practiced today is for health purposes and because of that relatively safe. That being said, of course it’s a good idea to pay attention to possible individual limitations, past trauma or injuries or specific weaknesses. There are so many systems to choose from an for someone who had massive knee surgery a system with deep spiral leg movement might not be the best choice to start with. Contrary to Yoga, only very view Qigong systems demand endranges of motion in the joints, so it’s a lot more accessible even with less flexibility.

There are certain Qigong practices that deliberately create high tension in the body or even use explosive movement. Those are mainly styles found to have a clear link to martial arts training, which is one of the five branches Qigong plays a role in. However, those martial related systems, are typically not trained by beginners, and are rarely accessible to the mainstream. So most Qigong you will find focuses on gently movement, flow, propper breathing and improving or maintaining health and wellbeing.

Some Qigong styles focus a lot on developing energy and some are even used as foundation in spiritual practices. Here I have to say it largely depends on you and your background aswell as your teacher/ master what is safe and what might be too much. I have experienced people exposing themselves to too much energy (created by specific Qigong styles) too soon in their development which in some cases created nausea, vertigo, headaches or heart palpitations and in some other cases even triggered old psychological or energetic trauma. However, again, such practices are rare and shouldn’t be practiced by beginners or inexperienced people who randomly stumble over it.

So to sum it up, Qigong in general and apart from above mentioned exceptions, is a relatively smooth and low impact practice that ideally (depends on the teacher) focuses a lot on natural movement and alignment (not forced in any way!) and because of that can be considered a safe practice for the vast majority of people no matter their age. Many styles even have adaptations so that less able or sick people can practice a reduced version of it even while sitting up in bed.

What is Taiji-Qigong?

Taiji- Qigong mixes the benefits of Taiji exercises with the way of repetitive training that you can find in most Qigong systems. In Taiji most exercises are only done once and often only on one side while moving through the Taiji form. However in Qigong you repeat exercises more often and typically on both sides to enhance focus and depth of training on a very specific aspect. The full health benefits of Taiji emerge mainly in traditional form when the whole form is practiced as this kind of closes the loop and makes the practice round and efficient. However in real traditional forms that deserve the (relatively young) name Taiji Quan, every single movement correlates with a certain physiological, psychological and energetic function. In Taiji- Qigong one basically takes a specific exercise out of the Taiji form and practices it in a Qigong sense. An example would be the exercise that is known as “grasping sparrows tail” in Taiji Quan. Singled out it has incredibly powerful balancing and harmonizing effects on the large intestine and even on our inner physiological clock which makes it a wonderful exercise to consider when having to deal with jet-lag or just a disturbed day- night- and sleeping pattern for example due to hard work or a party where you didn’t go to bed or wake up at your “normal” times.
In short Taiji- Qigong is a wonderful way of training slightly more complex movement patterns with a high degree of health benefits yet still in the deliberate and focused way of a Qigong practice.

Is Qigong a martial art?

No. Qigong is deffinitely not a martial art but it has ties to martial arts in a couple of different ways.

There is a branch of Qigong that focuses on exercises that are specifically designed to support martial arts practice. Those can be exercises to increase explosiveness, build significant amounts of physical, mental and energetic stamina, build up energy and/or increase strength and resilience.
Some Qigong exercises where created to support the overall health of the martial arts practitioner.
There are specific exercises in Qigong that don’t strictly count as Qigong for martial arts but that were created as highly specific tools to supplement aspects for internal chinese martial arts training. The three main internal martial arts are: Taiji Quan, Baguazhang or Xin Yi Quan. An example for such a system would be the Chan Si Jing or silk reeling Qigong.

Is Qigong safe?

What are the effects of Qigong?

What’s the target audience? Who can benefit from Qigong?

Is there proof that Qigong works?

Generally speaking, if a system manages to develop over thousands of years and is used by a large number of people who love doing it for the incredible results they get from it, chances are already pretty good that they are on to something. However, let’s be a bit more objective and get scientific. There are a lot of studies some of which carried out by renowned universities like the Harvad medical school etc. that proof the effectiveness of Qigong. I will link some of them for reference down below. That being said, please keep in mind that there are tens of thousands of Qigong exercises and it’s not exactly a mainstream research field which means that there are still many exercises that have never been studied by western science. An additional difficulty is that some positive sideeffects of Qigong exercises lie either on the edge or even beyond the current limits of medical science. On top of that, if you know anything about science and how scientific studies are actually done you know, that they typically focus on a very very small portion of the whole and are quite deductive. When you read the following studies in this light I think it’s clear that they proof the potential of Qigong just as they proof how much science still doesn’t have an explanation for but can observe specific effects on body mind and emotions.

In short, YES there is a lot of proof that Qigong can have incredible benefits for the practitioner.

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