# how many qigong types are there?



## KempoGuy06 (Feb 6, 2009)

Ive been ready a lot about qigong and it seems that every style i find interesting refers to another style. So in a broad sense how many are there and what is the difference. nothing specific as i have a feeling there isnt enough space on the server to list them all D). Just basic stuff and then i will pose more questions/threads as they come up. is this is to vague let me know and i will try to be more precise

B


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## Xue Sheng (Feb 6, 2009)

There are 3 general types medical, martial and philosophical 

As to how many forms, you might find it easier to find out how many grains of sand there are on the average beach 

Qigong was called Daoyin before and there were one or 2 other names for it before that, I would have to look those up however and it has been around for thousands of years


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## JadecloudAlchemist (Feb 6, 2009)

> Ive been ready a lot about qigong and it seems that every style i find interesting refers to another style. So in a broad sense how many are there and what is the difference. nothing specific as i have a feeling there isnt enough space on the server to list them all D). Just basic stuff and then i will pose more questions/threads as they come up. is this is to vague let me know and i will try to be more precise


 
In the thousands. I mean if we just look at Ba duan jin (eight pieces of silk a popular Qigong exercise) There is quite alot of varities a sitting form,standing form,sleeping form(I am sure someone made it)

The differences really go into two major catagories:

1. Movement stimulation(waidan) 2.Mental stimulation(neidan) though other stimulations exist such as massage and the likes I will just present these 2 as they pretty much sum up the subcatagories.

You would have to ask more precise questioning.

And what Xue said I forgot about to mention the different catagories and even in those catagories the subcatagories. See how vast Qigong is!!


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## KempoGuy06 (Feb 6, 2009)

thanks to both of you. Next is a two part....somthing

lets say I was interested in medical qigong, what types/styles should i pursue? Or does the answer depend on my goals?

lets say I was interested in martial qigong, what types/styles should i pursue? Or does the answer depend on my goals?

I hope those make sense

B


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## JadecloudAlchemist (Feb 6, 2009)

> lets say I was interested in medical qigong, what types/styles should i pursue? Or does the answer depend on my goals?


 
Usually someone who practices Medical Qigong is either 1. A TCM doctor 2. Learned from a TCM doctor a specific Qigong exercise to cure an ailment. However there are some who do teach Medical Qigong to the general public and the line is blurred with other Qigong styles.
Dr. Jerry Alan Johnson wrote like 6 300+ page books on Medical Qigong I don't have them but there is a huge amount of Medical Qigong,Taoist Qigong(he is after all a Taoist priest) I am sure there is martial Qigong(He studies Bagua and I think Taiji among other things)

I don't think I can really say what style or type it is generally up to the teacher who will asses your condition and yes goals.



> lets say I was interested in martial qigong, what types/styles should i pursue? Or does the answer depend on my goals?


 
Alot of it depends on the goal. This is somewhat how the different catagories developed. Taoist aim was Immortality in some way
Buddhist want to be enlighten,Medical wanted to heal and have long life,
Scholars to maintain health and virtue,Martial artist for strength.

And they all kinda of overlap and run into each other.


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## KempoGuy06 (Feb 6, 2009)

JadecloudAlchemist said:


> Usually someone who practices Medical Qigong is either 1. A TCM doctor 2. Learned from a TCM doctor a specific Qigong exercise to cure an ailment. However there are some who do teach Medical Qigong to the general public and the line is blurred with other Qigong styles.
> Dr. Jerry Alan Johnson wrote like 6 300+ page books on Medical Qigong I don't have them but there is a huge amount of Medical Qigong,Taoist Qigong(he is after all a Taoist priest) I am sure there is martial Qigong(He studies Bagua and I think Taiji among other things)
> 
> I don't think I can really say what style or type it is generally up to the teacher who will asses your condition and yes goals.
> ...


Thanks. For the medical aspect would it be better to see a TCM or is it ok to learn for yourself? I have found two site for local qigong this is one for Tai Chi and another one of Zhineng Qigong. are they legit? 

as for the martial aspect. I want to learn to develp more power for shorter distances with out using my strength. I want to also gain a larger range of flexibility (thought that may fall into the medical side, i see the over lapping)

B


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## JadecloudAlchemist (Feb 6, 2009)

> Thanks. For the medical aspect would it be better to see a TCM or is it ok to learn for yourself?


 I caution trying to learn Qigong by yourself because of bad habits,improper feeling,Improper understanding of theory. However general Qigong such as Ba duan jin,Standing mediation, and a couple of simple Qigong exercise may be ok to practice by yourself without doing much harm but there is still a risk or injury. A TCM doctor should be able to assist you with proper Qigong exercises and be able to fix stagnation resulting from improper Qigong practice.



> have found two site for local qigong this is one for Tai Chi and another one of Zhineng Qigong. are they legit?


 Taoist Tai chi society is not a legit Taoist anything really. Though the founder May have been a Taoist priest just about everything has been stripped making it Taoist and more old lady social dance gathering. The other school I am not sure of seems better than Taoist Tai chi society but I am not to familar with Zhineng Qigong. You have to go to a seminar and learn 4 moves that to me seem basic and I personally could not spend 7 hrs teaching that. Looking at the brochure we see more Qigong exercise listed 
to include 7 areas. I really don't know how good this is but best way to see if someone is a good Qigong teacher is to see if they know Qigong theory.
 I see some Qigong exercises used by Zhineng what they call "5 organ method"it is usually called 6 healing sounds I wonder why they took out triple burner.
The Lift Qi up and pour down is a popular exercise you find in alot of Qigong. The wall squating I have seen a different varation. Does not look to bad to me. I have seen much worse.



> as for the martial aspect. I want to learn to develp more power for shorter distances with out using my strength. I want to also gain a larger range of flexibility (thought that may fall into the medical side, i see the over lapping)


 Like Fa jin? Flexibilty does fit in within the different schools and catagories so I don't see that as a problem.


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## KempoGuy06 (Feb 6, 2009)

JadecloudAlchemist said:


> I caution trying to learn Qigong by yourself because of bad habits,improper feeling,Improper understanding of theory. However general Qigong such as Ba duan jin,Standing mediation, and a couple of simple Qigong exercise may be ok to practice by yourself without doing much harm but there is still a risk or injury. A TCM doctor should be able to assist you with proper Qigong exercises and be able to fix stagnation resulting from improper Qigong practice.



I will make sure to do that. I found an acupuncture place in town that seems legit. Here is a link 



> Taoist Tai chi society is not a legit Taoist anything really. Though the founder May have been a Taoist priest just about everything has been stripped making it Taoist and more old lady social dance gathering.


I will stay away from this



> The other school I am not sure of seems better than Taoist Tai chi society but I am not to familar with Zhineng Qigong. You have to go to a seminar and learn 4 moves that to me seem basic and I personally could not spend 7 hrs teaching that. Looking at the brochure we see more Qigong exercise listed
> to include 7 areas. I really don't know how good this is but best way to see if someone is a good Qigong teacher is to see if they know Qigong theory.
> I see some Qigong exercises used by Zhineng what they call "5 organ method"it is usually called 6 healing sounds I wonder why they took out triple burner.
> The Lift Qi up and pour down is a popular exercise you find in alot of Qigong. The wall squating I have seen a different varation. Does not look to bad to me. I have seen much worse.


I might have to see what this is about then.



> Like Fa jin? Flexibilty does fit in within the different schools and catagories so I don't see that as a problem.


What is Fa Jin? 

Have you heard of chow qigong?

Also her are some other website I found I would like you input if you do not mind Kentucky Tai Chi and this 

thanks

B


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## Xue Sheng (Feb 6, 2009)

Avoid the Taoist Tai Chi Society at all costs.

I am not a big fan of the Yang Family&#8217;s International Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Association but I would choose it over the Taoist Tai Chi society any day. Go check out the school and see what you think and let us know 

For all thing Qigong I defer to JadecloudAlchemist but a good form to start with is Ba Duan Jin (8 pieces of Brocade). However most forms of taiji have associated qigong training and I do believe the yang family has their version of Silk reeling called silk pulling or something like that. 

Fajin (Chen Xiaowang) Basically a very relaxed strike so your muscles do not get in the way of the energy (power)

EDIT

From here 



> Chen Taijiquan fajin should be elastic in quality, forceful without being stiff. In the words of a Chen family saying, fajin must be performed as though &#8220;shaking cinders from the back of the hand&#8221; or akin to &#8220;a golden lion tossing its mane&#8221;.


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## KempoGuy06 (Feb 6, 2009)

Xue Sheng said:


> Avoid the Taoist Tai Chi Society at all costs.


 


> I am not a big fan of the Yang Family&#8217;s International Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Association but I would choose it over the Taoist Tai Chi society any day. Go check out the school and see what you think and let us know


will do



> For all thing Qigong I defer to JadecloudAlchemist but a good form to start with is Ba Duan Jin (8 pieces of Brocade). However most forms of taiji have associated qigong training and I do believe the yang family has their version of Silk reeling called silk pulling or something like that.





> Fajin (Chen Xiaowang) Basically a very relaxed strike so your muscles do not get in the way of the energy (power)


that was cool


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## JadecloudAlchemist (Feb 6, 2009)

I don't know much about Dr. Chow's system. I suspect since she is a TCM doctor she understands theory hopefully. To me it looks sort of a mixture of things and the whole get 8 hugs a day kinda of creeps me out as some sort of hippy thingy.  The other one is Dr. Roger Jahnke a popular Qigong writer and teacher.

I had one of his videos it was not the best quality. He did show a type of marrow washing but I don't think it is the type of marrow washing as done as Shaolin and he did not go into much theory about it. In fact his marrow washing was similar to Ken Cohens,and Stephen Chang's marrow washing form. So how legit it is I don't know nor do I know if either of these 3 train together or how this form came about. But none of them go much into detail as this marrow washing qigong.

You would have to talk to these people and ask them questions.

I wrote on this forum I think about what to look for in a good Qigong teacher because there is so many teacher's out there teaching Qigong and writing books on it and half have no idea what they are talking about.
Also what I have been noticing is that those who study TCM in America are teaching more Qigong some use their TCM credit to embellish themselves as Qigong teachers. TCM schools do teach Qigong but depending on the school the detail and theory may not be enough in depth to teach it to others. Think of Qigong as a skill like Acupuncture that requires in depth study. I actually dropped out of TCM school because the school I was in was teaching mixture of Qigong,yoga,angels and what ever and I was at odds with the teacher concerning this.


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## KempoGuy06 (Feb 6, 2009)

JadecloudAlchemist said:


> I don't know much about Dr. Chow's system. I suspect since she is a TCM doctor she understands theory hopefully. To me it looks sort of a mixture of things and the whole get 8 hugs a day kinda of creeps me out as some sort of hippy thingy.  The other one is Dr. Roger Jahnke a popular Qigong writer and teacher.
> 
> I had one of his videos it was not the best quality. He did show a type of marrow washing but I don't think it is the type of marrow washing as done as Shaolin and he did not go into much theory about it. In fact his marrow washing was similar to Ken Cohens,and Stephen Chang's marrow washing form. So how legit it is I don't know nor do I know if either of these 3 train together or how this form came about. But none of them go much into detail as this marrow washing qigong.
> 
> ...


thanks for the input. 

I was talking to Xue Sheng about this in a PM, but i was looking at taking some Bagua. Found an instructor in the Park Bok Nam style. One thing or another and I was unable to train. I know have these issues with my knee and notice the many twisting motions in bagua. Would you recommend that I talk to the instructor and see if he will work with me on a different course to help me with my problems before persueing bagua? Do you know much of this style and the associated qigong?

B


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## Xue Sheng (Feb 6, 2009)

JadecloudAlchemist said:


> I actually dropped out of TCM school because the school I was in was *teaching mixture of Qigong,yoga,angels* and what ever and I was at odds with the teacher concerning this.


 
:lfao:

Yes there is a special class at Beijing University of TCM on angles...and yoga because we all know how big angles and yoga are to the Chinese :lfao:


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## Xue Sheng (Feb 6, 2009)

KempoGuy06 said:


> thanks for the input.
> 
> I was talking to Xue Sheng about this in a PM, but i was looking at taking some Bagua. Found an instructor in the Park Bok Nam style. One thing or another and I was unable to train. I know have these issues with my knee and notice the many twisting motions in bagua. Would you recommend that I talk to the instructor and see if he will work with me on a different course to help me with my problems before persueing bagua? Do you know much of this style and the associated qigong?
> 
> B


 
Park Bok Nam is suppose to be good as for anyone that learned form him I do not know I am not a Bagua guy. 

As to showing up and asking to be taught only the qigong, I don't know about that either but I am pretty sure if you showed up to my Sifus Yang style class and asked to be taught only qigong he would refuse and/or tell you he is not a qigong teacher. My last Xingyiquan teacher would likely not teach anyone the qigong of Xingyi unless they were his Xingyi student first.


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## JadecloudAlchemist (Feb 6, 2009)

Funny you should mention the knees and Bagua because me and my teacher were just talking about that.

We were talking about circle walking and the different footwork used.

We were talking more about toe in and toe out foot work Pai and Kou.

Some people toe in very narrow look at 0:23 





 
About 0:27 or so you see a wide toe out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6TVYw8moFI&feature=related

So if you have knee trouble you might not be able to toe in and toe out as wide or narrow. My teacher toe in and toe out is not so extreme but to each their own.  Park's is very flexible and his toe in and toe out from what I see is very extreme. Talk to the instructor about your concerns.
Park has his own style from his teacher Lu Shui Tien it is said his linerage comes from the Yin fu line. I don't know Park's Qigong system so I can not comment on it.


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