Theory of Qigong, Chinese Martial Arts and Spirituality

Qigong and its intimate relation to the Chinese martial arts are often connected with spirituality. They have thereby been considered the province of religious practitioners in the popular imagination for many centuries. This link is much stronger than with other techniques in traditional Chinese medicine. Qigong was historically practised extensively in Taoist and Buddhist monasteries as an adjunct of martial arts training, and the claimed benefits of martial qigong practice are widely known in East Asian martial traditions and popular culture. In addition, the traditional teaching methods of most qigong schools (at least in Asia) descend from the strict teacher-disciple relationship conventions inherited in Chinese culture from Confucianism.

In some styles of qigong, it is taught that humanity and nature are inseparable, and any belief otherwise is held to be an artificial discrimination based on a limited, two-dimensional view of human life. According to this philosophy, access to higher energy states and the subsequent health benefits said to be provided by these higher states is possible through the principle of cultivating virtue (de or te 德, see Tao Te Ching). Cultivating virtue could be described as a process in which one recognizes that one was never separated from nature (a Taoist metaphor for this is the “uncarved block” – which refers to a primal, undifferentiated state of being free of artificial discrimination), a process made possible with the energy made available to the qigong students after they sincerely choose and implement what they are taught as positive lifestyle choices, which will include practicing specific qigong techniques for ameliorating the effects of previous choices seen as less virtuous (see karma).

It is claimed by some that the level of an individual’s qigong accomplishment is fundamentally dependent upon the level of their virtue. Therefore in qigong, the practitioner’s focus on virtue is an extremely important technical requirement, especially in the advanced levels. Without such continuous cultivation of virtue, one will not be able to achieve a highly relaxed and tranquil mind/body state.

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