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NATIONAL ACADEMY OF KUNG FU WUSHU - YI QUAN

GENERAL PRINCIPLES
OF QI GONG




COMMON POINTS OF THE VARIOUS FORMS OF QI GONG :

It should be stressed that the Qi Gong is a method which considers the human being as a whole.
The various forms of Qi Gong are always based on the same principles.

All the exercises of Qi Gong require patience and a steady practice.

SOME PRINCIPLES OF CHINESE MEDICINE AND COSMOGONY

AT THE ORIGIN, CHAOS :

Everything starts from the primitive Chaos : the Way and its Virtue or Tao in Chinese.
WU CHI : state of being, non-energy.

YIN AND YANG :


symbol of Yin and Yang

 

Yin : female principle, dark side of the mountain. Negative -

Yang : male principle, illuminated side of the mountain. Positive +

 

JING : vital essence, fixed on the ovaries or the gonads, generated from ovule or sperm. It is the home of the SHEN (the mind). It represents the potential of the external aspect of the processes part of the fine living matter (like the synthesis and the degradation of proteins).
The most significant organs to maintain in good health for correct use of the JING are the kidneys.
The quality of the Qi (vital energy) will depend of the use of the JING.

 

QI : VITAL ENERGY

The antenatal Qi is the mixture of the respective Qi of the father and the mother.
The health and emotional state of the parents at the time of the conception enormously influences the Qi of the child to be born.

The postnatal Qi depends on several factors :

The Qi circulates in an optimal way through the meridian lines when the relaxation is maximum (relaxation of the muscles, tendons, articulations). An insufficient relaxation blocks the circulation of the Qi.
In the whole Chinese history, the common notion of Chinese medicine is that the diseases appear when the mind is not awake.
The Thought (Yi) includes a higher form of energy which makes it possible for the Jing to provide its functions.
The SHEN (mind) covers the functions of the consciousness, unconsciousness, and controls all the functions of the system.
Information is collected in our environment thanks to our senses.

WEI : external, external
The thoughtless practice of the WEI (external forms) causes a dispertion of the Qi, a premature ageing of muscular tissues and a degeneration of the individual.

NEI : internal
NEI GONG : internal training
The practice of the NEI GONG brings longevity, a wellbeing and a diffusion of energy in all the body, until the extremities.
Exogenic factors of balance of the Qi :

But also way of life : for example the irregularity of wakefulness and sleep overworks the liver, sexual excesses overwork the kidneys.

Endogenous factors of balance of the Qi :

7 emotions :

The 6 sensual pleasures penetrate by the :

The balance and the quality of all these factors determine the quality of the Qi.

Excesses of emotions affect health.

For example : anger acts on the liver, which distils blood towards the brain, sadness and the melancholy oppresses the lungs, which causes an oxygenation of poor quality, etc...

ORGANS OF THE HUMAN BODY :

The 5 organs known as " principal " (heart, spleen, liver, kidneys, lungs) direct organs known as " secondary ".

1) " principal " organs :
Zang organs : organs of reserve of energy
Flat organs, of Yin nature : heart, lungs, kidneys, spleen, liver, pericardium
(pericardium: " around the heart ". Membrane surrounding the heart.)

2) " secondary " organs :
FU Organs (organs of transport) : hollow internal organs, of Yang nature

- large intestine (Yang) : associated with the lungs (Yin)
- small intestine (Yang) : associated with the heart (Yin)
- stomach (Yang) : associated with the spleen (Yin)
- gall bladder (Yang) : associated with the liver (Yin)
- bladder (Yang) : associated with the kidneys (Yin)

3) Heaters :

They control the functions or systems which work out and distribute the new energies created in the body starting from ancestral energy, energy coming from the air and that coming from food.

SANJIAO : triple heater (San=3)
Higher heater : the rib cage and lungs.
Average heater : higher part of the abdomen and the digestive organs.
Lower heater : lower part of the abdomen, organs of elimination and reproduction.


EXERCISES OF THE " 8 PIECES OF BROCADE" OR BA DUAN JIN, CREATED BY
GENERAL YUE FEI.

These exercises, which act on Sanjiao (heaters), make the Qi circulate in the 5 principal organs (heart, spleen, liver, kidneys, lungs) and by consequence in the secondary organs.
Each exercise has specific effects. By activating the circulation of the Qi in the organs which need some, they make it possible to preserve, maintain or improve vitality of those, and by consequence the health of the whole person.
There existed in the beginning 12 exercises, which were brought back to 8.
The brocade was a cloth constituted with pieces of precious silk, richly embroided with gold, exclusively worn by the highest dignitaries of the Empire.
In the chinese symbolics, a long coat represents good health.
The use of the name of this exceptionnal coat symbolises the great value of these exercices.
These exercices are studied in detail within the Yang Sheng Qi Gong courses.