Qi Kong (QiGong)

The idea of a universal life energy similar to qi is found in the healing and spiritual traditions of many cultures, such as prana of the Indians; pneuma (Greece); ki (Japan); mach (Hebrew) and mana of the Polynesians. In the eighteenth century, Mesmer’s “animal magnetism” and more recently, Wilhelm Reich’s orgone energy and Henri Bergson’s “vital impulse” or elan vital describe life energy. The breath as a manifestation of spirit is our intimate connection to this vital source.
“Subtle energy” is a contemporary Western term that is close to the meaning of qi The study of subtle energies and energy medicine is concerned with learning about”informational systems and energies that interact with the human psyche and physiology,either enhancing or perturbing healthy homeostasis.” (Subtle Energies, 1992)
Scholars and scientists have acknowledged the difficulty in translating qi and defining healing energy. David Peat, Ph.D. cautions against the fragmentation that may result from the superimposition of one world view on to another:
Have we really discovered a single entity “energy” that is universally known, but under different names? Or are we perhaps missing some important and subtle differences? In other words, has that word energy, and its various European equivalents, been projected onto something or some process or some way of thinking or some spiritual practice, or some
ceremony that may be subtly but significantly different from anything we know? While some ideas of “energy” may correspond quite well within our own European languages, others are rnistranslations or attempts to project the language and thought of one world-view upon another that is quite different. (peat, 1992)
Keeping in mind that qi is associated with process and pattern, meaning and relationship, its various functions in TCM can be described and a definition approximated.
Without relationship there would be no chi because chi is not empty air. It is the structured pattern of relationships, which are defined in a directional way. (porkert, Capra Ed., 1988:164)
“Directional” implies the cyclical movement inherent in yin and yang.
Ancient Chinese cosmology holds that in the beginning there was Wu Qi, Primordial Chaos or Emptiness, a state of undifferentiated qi that held the potential of the universe. This diffuse state of energy is thoughy of as …
. . . the chi the “breaths” or pure energy-matter which have not yet emerged from chaos, from dark confusion. This primeval matrix is subject nonetheless to the influence of the Tao, to its action of cyclical time. At a given point, the matrix comes to maturity, breaks up, and frees the chi (breaths, energies) contained within, which then escape and separate. The light, transparent chi rise and form heaven; the heavy, opaque ones sink, fonning Earth. Thus, having established the polarity of Heaven and Earth, the chi join and unite in the Center, which constitutes a third fundamental modality.
Schipper continues …
In this creation, the human being occupies no special position, except that of the most complex conglomerate, incorporating all the differentiated energies of the universe. (Schipper, 1993 :34)
This story of the birth oflife in which the human being holographically embodies and is animated by creative forces of qi and yin and yang is at the very foundation of Chinese medical theory.
Qi has been defined as the energy of everything in the universe, organic and inorganic. It enables all human activity, physical and mentaL Ted Kaptchuk, OMD reminds that there is no English word for “qi” and “vital energy” is an inadequate translation. He suggests a shift in view to understand the nature of qi.
Chinese thought does not distinguish between matter and energy, but we can perhaps think of Qi as matter on the verge of becoming energy, or energy at the point of materializing. To Chinese thought, however, such discussion that the Western mind expects in any systematic exposition – is completely foreign. Neither the classical nor modem Chinese texts speculate on the nature of Qi, nor do they attempt to conceptualize it. Rather, Qi is perceived functionally – by what it does.
The many kinds of qi are defined by their functions, qualities and associations. Heaven qi includes planetary influences such as that of the sun and moon on the Earth and its inhabitants. The weather, with its varied extremes and fluctuations is Heaven qi in the continuous act of rebalancing.
Earth qi is of course under the domain of Heaven qi; it includes the magnetic field of the Earth as well as underground heat and lines of energy that are the subject of geomancy.
In between the qi of Heaven and Earth is the qi of the human being. The three qi(s), Heaven (Tian), Earth (Dih) and man (Ren) are called “The Three Natural Powers.” (Yang, 1989:7)
When practicing qigong outdoors in a natural setting one can absorb qi from flowing streams or trees, especially evergreens. There are qigong meditations and visualizations on the sun, moon and stars (Big Dipper constellation) to receive their various healing energies.
In Chinese medicine all bodily activity is related to acquiring qi from the environment and using, storing and circulating it through the body. Qi in the body is generally referred to as Zheng qi (or True or Normal qi) which has three sources.
Yuan qi (prenatal or congenital qi) is one’s genetic inheritance, transmitted from both parents at conception. In addition to DNA configuration, intra-uterine environment including nutrition and psycho-physiological factors effect Yuan qi. Everyone receive enough Yuan qi to last a lifetime, though it is a finite amount that can be preserved by
healthy habits or depleted by poor nutrition, substance abuse, excessive sexuality or emotional upset. Yuan qi is stored in the kidneys.
The two other types of qi are acquired from the essences offood (Gu qi) and air (Kong qi). Roger Jahnke, OMD, points out the clear correspondence between the Western understanding of the energy generating relationship of food and air and the Chinese view of acquired qi:
Oxygen (O:z) plus glucose (CJI1206) through BMR (basal metabolic rate) yields energy in the form of high energy phosphate bonds (especially ATP) plus water H20 which dissolves carbon dioxide (C02) and facilitates the hydrolysis of energy yielding phosphate bonds. It seems the Chinese knew, without a particularly refined scientific method, that only a portion of the air and food, the essence, was employed in the process: only 20% of air is oxygen and glucose is approximately 60% of food. (Jahnke, 1991:25)
Zheng qi is divided into Ymg (Nutrient) qi and Wei (protective) qi. Yin qi is brought deep into the body to nourish the internal organs, it manages autonomic functioning of the body as well as activity directed by intention and thought. Wei qi is on the surface of the body, in between the skin and muscles and in the thoracic and abdominal cavities. It is associated with immune defense, body temperature and the functioning of the pores.
Qi is conducted through twelve major organ channels and eight extraordinary channels. The extraordinary channels serve as reservoirs for the others, providing qi when there is a deficiency and storing it for future use when there is an excess. A total of 71 named channels creates a network supplying all the tissues of the body with qi. The nerves and all bodily fluids are also highly conductive media for qi.
Acupoints on the surface of the skin absorb qi from the environment and are all points where the acupuncturists’s needles access the meridians to adjust the flow of qi to the various organ systems. There are 365 acupoints, “the spots where spirit and energy come and go, enter and leave” (Ishida, trans., in Kohn: 1989:59) according to the Lingshu chapter of the Huangdi Neijing.
A drop in measures of electrical skin resistance (increased conductivity) has been found at acupoints in contrast to the surrounding skin area. (Becker, 1985:235)
The channels or meridians have been likened to bio-electrical circuits and individual cells compared to electric batteries.
Dr. Yang Jwing-:Ming writes about the electrical nature of the body in relation to metabolism, mind and movement:
It is understood now that the human body is constructed of many different electrically conductive materials, and it forms a living electromagnetic field and circuit. Electromagnetic energy is continuously being generated in the body through the biochemical reaction of food and air, and circulated by the electromagnetic forces (EMF) generated within the body by, for example, thinking or movement. (Yang, 1989:40)
In Chinese medicine it is said “the mind leads the qi, the qi leads the blood.” This is comparable to the student of biofeedback learning to apply volition to influence the autonomic nervous system, for example, developing the skill of warming one’s hands through intention. (Green & Green, 1977:45, 61)
The implications of this statement are carried much further in the Chinese medical context as both qi and blood are accompanied by the heart, mind and spirit flowing through channels and vessels.
The presence of the paired meridians and consequences of their imbalance have been determined by scientific methods. Richard Gerber, M.D. recounts the work of French researcher Pierre de Vernejoul:
Radioactive technetium 99m was injected into the acupoints of patients, and the isotope’s uptake was followed by gamma camera imaging. De Vernejoul found that the radioactive technetium 99m migrated along classical Chinese acupuncture meridian pathways for a distance of30crn in four to six minutes. Injection of the isotope into random points on the skin, as well as deliberate venouS and lymphatic channel injection, were unable to demonstrate similar results, suggesting that the meridians were a unique and separate morphological pathway. (Gerber, 1988:123)
Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama has developed the Apparatus for Measuring of the Meridians and Corresponding Internal Organ, or the A11I machine. The AMI machine is a computerized system for measuring the activity of acupoints via electrodes placed at the terminal points of the paired organ channels on the fingers and toes. Comparing the end points on both sides of the pairs reveals any discrepancy between left and right.
Motoyama and others working with the AMI machine have found strong correlations between meridians that are electrically out of balance and the presence of underlying disease in the associated organ systems. (Gerber, 1988:186)
Dr. Gerber defines the difference between the electric and magnetic character of life energy and its essential role in health:
The subtle energies flowing through the meridians are not electrical in nature, but they are able to induce electrical fields and currents because of their magnetic properties. This energy known to the Chinese as chi is actually a manifestation of the life-force which animates and energizes living systems. Ch’i energy is negatively entropic in nature. It moves the organism toward states of increased order and greater cellular energy balance. When the flow of life energy to a particular organ is deficient or unbalanced, patterns of cellular disruption occur.
(Gerber, 1988:204)
The energetic structure of the body known to ancient Chinese physicians and adepts of meditation and qigong was discovered experientially. By tuning into the currents and springs of energy naturally occurring in the body and experimenting with various movements to effect these energies and the internal organs to keep the body strong and supple was probably the origin of qigong.
It has been said that the ancients (from remote antiquity to the 21st century BCE) “knew how to promote qi circulation by dancing.” (Shih, 1994:5)
The image of qi, vital energy circulating through the body, is a vibrant and powerful one, so distant from the ordinary Western concept of the body as something more mechanical. I think qi must have enough of a natural resonance with people that they are willing to suspend skepticism enough to try qigong.
Accepting that one can influence this energy by working with intention, movement, and breath requires a shift in self-perception and perhaps, world view. I also feel that illness can be a strong motivating force in opening minds to new ideas. Even in China, until recently qigong was a last resort for treatment after all else had failed.
Through methods tested over millennia, the modern day qigong practitioner can develop sensitivity to qi and bring the element of self-regulation to the maintenance of their health.