Essence of Boxing Science Interview - Wang XiangZhai

Interview with Wang Xiang Zhai, founder of Yi Quan Qigong 

Wang Xiang Zhai (1885-1963)

In the early 1940’s Wang Xiang Zhai was interviewed several times by reporters from Beijing newspapers. Those interviews have been collected and reproduced in various books on Xing Yi Quan and Da Cheng Quan under the title Essence of Boxing Science.

Mr. Wang Xiang Zhai is the founder of Da Cheng Quan. He is well known and held in high esteem in Wushu circles in China. Recently he moved to Beijing. He has arranged a meeting time every Sunday afternoon from 1- 6 pm in Dayangyibin Alley for practitioners of different martial arts to exchange knowledge and opinions in order to carry forward and promote the martial spirit of China. Yesterday our correspondent called on him and together they had the following discussion.

Correspondent: I have always admired you for your superb skills of boxing. May I ask what your ambition is with regard to the boxing art?

Wang Xiang Zhai: I am indeed embarrassed when I am recommended by my friends as the representative of Da Cheng Chuan. I left my teacher in the year of Guang Xu Reign (1875-1908), Qing Dynasty, and since then I have traveled extensively in the vast areas north and south of the Yangtse River and have met with many great boxing experts of various schools and experienced untold hardships. My greatest gain in the past 30 years and more is that I have had many famous teachers and helpful friends, with whom I have held a lot of discussions, through which I have greatly improved myself. Therefore I count myself as a veteran boxer who has some knowledge of the boxing art. Of late, friends have given considerable publicity in newspapers to me and Da Cheng Chuan. In order not to be misunderstood by personalities of various circles who do not know the facts, I would like to make clear what I have thought in mind. I am now old and infirm without the slightest idea of seeking personal fame or gain. What I am anxious to do is to work in joint effort with my compatriots to carry forward the instinctive martial morality before I am too old to do anything, and to eradicate those heresies which harm others as well as myself. It is the last thing I would do to make others lavish praise on me and to win fame by cheating the public.

Correspondent: What is the basis of the art of Boxing?

Wang: What are the basic principles of the art of boxing? To this question, different people have different answers. Many people are fascinated to learn boxing routines, pay attention to patterns of movements, and to practice hits and beats. This, superficial as it may be, has been has been the popular concept of boxing for many years and has led many people astray.

Correspondent: It is said that Xing Yi, Ba Gua, Tai Ji, and Tong Bei are of the inner family boxing (Nei Jia Quan), but I am not clear about their branches and schools.

Wang: It is a prevailing idea that Xing Yi, Ba Gua, Tai Ji and Tong Bei are of Nei Jia Quan, but I am sorry to say that I don’t know how the names of the inner and outer families came about. So no comment can be made on this point. But by analyzing the master-hands of several generations one can see part of the picture.

Xing Yi Quan of the Orthodox school Xin Yi Ba (Heart-Directed-Movements) and Liu He Bu (Six-Direction-Steps) of Hunan province are of the same origin. When tracing the origin of Mr. Li Dai-dong (known as “Old Dai”) of Henan, you will see that he is the great–grandson of Mr. Li Zhi He, who was the teacher of Elder Dai Long Bang. The Yuans of Jiyuan named the boxing differently, but it is in fact the same school with Mr. Li as its founder. By changing Xin-Yi (Heart-Intention) into Xing Yi (Form-Intention), Mr. Dai did not betray the original meaning of Xin Yi, because boxing originated from Liu Fa (Six-Ways). Thus a connotation of the phrase quan quan fu ying, meaning “to adhere to someone or something most faithfully” was applied to this form of boxing. It must be noted that Xing Yi Quan in its orthodox form had no such thing as the Twelve Forms (Twelve Animals), though their should be twelve forms of the body. Nor did it have the theory of mutual promotion and restraint of the five elements.

The Five Elements are only five terms representing five forms of force, not methods or routines of shadow boxing. I still remember instructions taught by my late masters about the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. ‘Metal’ refers to strength in the bones and muscles which are hard as diamond and can sever gold or iron. “Wood” refers to the force whose range of action is compared to the supporting shape of a tree. “Water” refers to the force which is like a surging ocean and a dragon swimming in the sea, penetrating everywhere. “Fire” refers to the force which, like gunpowder, explodes and burns with a mere touch of the hand. “Earth” refers to the solid, heavy composite force which seems to have been produced by the joint action of heaven and earth. This is what is called five elements combining into one, not the stuff of one form of boxing overcoming another form of boxing as some people are preaching these days. If one observes first and then thinks twice in actual fighting, it is almost certain he will be defeated long before he takes action at all.

Ba Gua Zhang (Eight Diagram Palm) was formerly known as “Chuan Zhang” (Palm of Sichuan Province). I once had an interview with Mr. Cheng Ting Hua. When he was performing art, he was, I recall, like a divine dragon roaming, winding and twisting in the sky. Such superb skills are really beyond the reach of us contemporaries. As to Master Dong Hai Chuan’s boxing, it is even more difficult to have a true understanding of his skills. Mr. Liu Feng Chun is a friend of mine. He has acquired remarkable skills, though his attainments are not so great as master Dong. Yet even then he is far superior to the practitioners of the “64 Palms” or “72 Kicks.” I hope that those who practice Ba Gua should concentrate on the single and double Chuan Zhang, try their best to perceive every movement. At the same time, they should make a penetrating study of the theory and put it into practice.

Among the disciples by direct line of Tai Ji Quan, I think the most outstanding master-hands are the Yang brothers, Yang Shao Hou and Yang Chen Fu. As an intimate friend of theirs, I know there is indeed some genuine knowledge of mechanics in Tai Ji Quan. However, out of one hundred practitioners, less than one knows its essence. Even if one may happen to know some of it, he cannot have a thorough understanding of the whole, because the basic way of perceiving the skill has long been lost, and therefore there is no mechanism of force to speak of in its legwork and footwork. The boxing in question in its original form had only three movements and was thus called Lao San Dao (Old Three Cuts). It was changed by Mr. Wang Zong Yue and increased to 13 forms, which was further abused to as many as 150 forms. That is one of the main reasons why this boxing has lost its quintessence. If it is practiced for the purpose of preserving one’s health, it will only restrain one’s spirit and energy and bring discomfort to the practitioner. If practiced for actual combat, it will only do harm to the limbs. Its other functions, if any, are nothing more than idling away the practitioner’s time and confusing his mind. As to its method of practicing, which is characterized by disorderly blows of the fist and the palm or kicks of the foot and leg, I must say it is really ridiculous. In confrontation with a master-hand, such a practitioner of Tai Ji Quan is sure to fail. Even its master-hand I am afraid, can do nothing with a quite commonplace adversary so long as the latter is not very clumsy. In short, this boxing has been abused to such an extent that it might one day become a mere rigid form like a chess manual. In the last twenty years, most of its practitioners are not aware of its falseness. Even if someone is clear-headed he does not know what he should actually do. As to ordinary students, most of them believe in what they have heard without using their own eyes. Thus Tai Ji Quan is in fact being pushed towards its graveyard. What a great loss! I sincerely hope that those competent followers of that boxing will straighten it out and make it systematic with a view to developing it in the future. Here I take liberty to make comments on Tai Ji Quan, and I don’t know whether my comments are appropriate. Pardon me if I am too outspoken. I think that one day those learners of Tai Ji Quan who have really gained something would agree with me in this regard.

Tong Bei Quan is very popular in North China, especially in areas around Beijing. But to my mind, most of the Tong Bei Quan practitioners I have met are not quite mature. There are some who seem to have got the essence of the theory, but their skills are far from being perfect. This may be due to the fact that they have not got the true teachings from their predecessors, who, I am sure, were certainly not like that. Some of the present practitioners of Tong Bei Quan are very skillful in certain movements, but taking as a whole they can hardly get on the right path.

Mei Hua Quan (Plum Blossom Boxing) or Wu Shi Zhang (Five Form Pile Exercises), has been passed down generation by generation. Its descendants in the direct line can be found in Henan and Sichuan provinces. This form of boxing is quite the same in essence as Wu Ji San Shou (Five Free Hand Skills) practiced in Xinhua, Qianzhou of Fujian province and Santou in Guangdong province. When applied to actual combat, it has its own unique merits, but it is one-sided and not very practical.

Ba Fan, Mian Zhang, Pi Gua, Ba Ji, Da Gong Li, San Huang Pao, Nian Tui, Lian Quan, etc. all have their own merits and demerits, most of them are superfluous in firmness but inadequate in suppleness and lack of inward spiritual strength. As for Da Hong Quan and Xiao Hong Quan, Tan Tui, Chuan Jiao, Long Boxing and Short Boxing, and various other schools, I will not make any comments here.

Correspondent: What is your opinion on preserving the national art of boxing?

Wang:

It is really a pity that the boxing art of our country is now in a state of chaos, which can be summed up in one sentence: It has rejected the essence but assimilated the gross. Boxing arts from Japan and West Europe, though unique in some respects, are not based on the strength of the whole body. As mentioned above, Chinese Boxing is now in a chaotic state, and so it has to be straightened out and systematized with a view to carrying it forward. Who would take up this responsibility except us? This is why I, in spite of my shallowness, make such a forceful appeal to the general public.

Into the world of QIGONG

By SL Luo in the China Daily

The ancient self-healing Chinese art of qigong (Chinese breathing exercise) is set to scale new heights as health awareness intensifies in HK and on the mainland. Renowned HK taichi qigong master, Yuen Chiu-kwan, is aiming to create medical wonders with an ambitious project to give cancer and heart patients a new lease of life. SL Luo reports.

'He went down hard on his knees thanking me as if I were a god, saying if not for me, there wouldn't be him," renowned taichi, qigong master, Yuen Chiu-kwan, recalls. The words were spoken to Yuen by a patient dying of liver cancer.

That was way back in 2000, when Yuen heard about the 56-year-old patient by word of mouth. Yuen felt a "calling" to seek out this ailing man, to perform one of the most humane missions of his life.

"He was already on his death bed after having had one-third of his liver removed, and was given only a few months to live," says Yuen.

"I immediately applied five of the 18 taichi qigong principles I had formulated, and taught him how to use them in exercises for 10 months. That man recovered after that and went on to live another four-and-a-half years before finally succumbing to his illness.

"Although the respite wasn't terribly long, it was enough time for him to do things he wouldn't have been able to do otherwise," Yuen says.

From an illegal immigrant to a registered Chinese medical practitioner, Yuen is a globally-recognized authority on taichi qigong. Now in his mid-60s, he maintains a low profile in Hong Kong, despite his achievements.

Yuen, who is also a director of the World Society of Medical Qi Gong (WSMQG), claims to have attended Hong Kong celebrities, though he declined to name them. His string of accolades is long, arising from his deep-rooted ties with the WSMQG, which has been organizing regular international qigong symposiums on the mainland since its inception in 1989.

The history of qigong dates back as early as the Zhou and Han dynasties, when the art was taken up as a form of meditation to purify the body, mind and spirit.

The practice became popular with the founding of the People's Republic of China, and was thought to be therapeutic, holding the power to enhance the body's natural immunity against disease and to reduce stress.

Yuen calls qigong one of China's national treasures but, to this day, there's still no official definition for it. "The term was actually coined after 1949 by the mainland's first health minister, Li Dequan, and has been used ever since. Theoretically, it's a combination of aligning breath, movement, healing and meditation," he says.

Historically and, in theory, there are five established categories of qigong - medical, Taoist, Buddhist, Confucian and martial arts. The most widely practiced today is medical qigong, with an estimated 50 million practitioners worldwide, while the martial arts type is restrained, and appears to interest only the young and able-bodied.

Master Yuen's expounded qigong principles come under the medical category, with their primary aim to treat and heal illnesses.

He calls them the "18 forms of taichi", and has given them colourful names like "Rowing a Boat in the Middle of a Lake", 'Pushing the Waves" and "Flying Wild Goose". The set combines all three elements - temperate and soft exercise, breathing and meditation.

"Taichi qi ong comes from taichi boxing, with the three principles of revitalizing the body, aiding breathing and enhancing mental capabilities," he says.

"It's easy to learn, allows for rapid building up of the bodily system, and is very effective for people with insomnia and heart-related problems.

"In the process, I found that qigong, together with good food and medical care, offers a powerful weapon against cancer. The exercise stimulates and increases oxygen supply to the cardio vascular system, thereby eliminating potential cancer causing cells, especially those causing lung or liver cancer."

Yuen has been an ardent advocate favoring official recognition for Chinese medical practitioners. In Hong Kong, the traditional healers have waged a long campaign to win back their status and rights.

At the height of the SARS outbreak in the city in 2003, Yuen called for herbalists to be brought in to fight the disease, citing the success of Chinese doctors in Guangzhou in treating SARS and keeping the mortality rate of the illness to a minimum.

But, the appeal fell on deaf ears.

"Western medicine and drugs deal only with combating bacteria. They're unable to get to the root of the problem - controlling the spread of disease-causing cells. Chinese medicine has its healing qualities and excellence," Yuen argues.

Yuen's association with qigong arose from his own poor physical condition at birth. "I was sick most of the time with headaches, due to under-nourishment. At 12, I had liver problems which aggravated my condition", says Yuen, who was born in Zhongshan, Guangdong province.

Qigong struck his mind after he had read books on the ancient art by a former vice-chairman of the National People's Congress. "I religiously followed the rules laid out in his articles and tried meditation. After a year, my health problems disappeared and I began to love and preach qigong", says Yuen.

In 1970 - at the height of the "Cultural Revolution", the chaotic period from 1966-1976 - Yuen decided to make a break. He fled Zhongshan and swam for five nights, surviving on peanuts and leaves, before coming ashore at Taipa in Macao.

Yuen describes his ordeal as a "journey back from the grave", adamant that he wouldn't have survived had it not been for the meditative art he had picked up as a boy. "That shows the hidden power of qigong".

He continued his qigong practice in Hong Kong and at the age of 43, sought the aid of Shaolin and Buddhist masters. "I plunged immediately into taichi qigong (a branch of qigong). It took me more than a year to establish the basis and ideals of the '18 forms of taichi'."

His ties with the WSMQG have been close. Since 2004, Yuen has remained the only taichi qigong master from Hong Kong and the mainland to have staged demonstrations five times at international qigong symposiums in Beijing and Shanghai.

Currently, there are an estimated 50,000 practitioners of taichi qigong in Hong Kong, many of them graduates of the qigong classes that Yuen started in the city in 1999.

"The qualities and aims of qigong are real. Hong Kong is an ideal place to practice it, as it requires very little space. The awareness of maintaining good health has grown immensely with an aging population. The art must be publicized to help the people overcome old age-related sicknesses," Yuen says.

He strongly believes that a real qigong master must devote himself to do a better job on a full time basis.

Yuen's next step is to take the art back to his roots - Zhongshan - the birthplace of Sun Yat-sen, widely regarded as the founder of modern China.

Yuen is teaming up with a mainland entrepreneur to run a hospital-cum-herbal center to provide "convenience store-style" medical care, treatment and facilities.

The five-story facility, located in the eastern suburb of Zhongshan, will be one of the most advanced and comprehensive in the world in terms of medical care, rehabilitative and herbal treatment and qigong training. The center is to become operational by the end of this year. It will include one floor to be used entirely for qigong teaching under Yuen's supervision.

China Daily was taken on a tour of the facility, which will be supplemented by a 1,000-hectare (660,000 square meter) farm planted with about 1 million herbal plants, vast in their varieties. The hospital will be staffed by Chinese medical specialists and nurses with equipment based on Chinese medical principles.

"Zhongshan is now home to thousands of elderly people from Hong Kong who have settled down here. We also have in mind the tens of millions of ethnic Chinese abroad who may return to Zhongshan one day for medical care.

"We will use our resources to give our people the best medical services, train talent in the Chinese medical field, help orphans and make a greater contribution to the country", says a source close to the project.

Yuen's ultimate goal is to spread the art of qigong, not only across the region, but to all mankind.

"I want to have a real dialogue with the relevant government departments in Hong Kong to explain the meaning of qigong and let the world know and understand its benefits", he says.

But, he warned practitioners against expecting miracles overnight, or harboring the illusion that the art is magical. "I want all practitioners of the art to understand that this is all about body building. Qigong cannot resolve all your problems at once. You must be resolute and remain totally committed to practicing it", Yuen adds.

Qi Gong for Longevity

by Bob Flaws 

www.bluepoppy.com

Qi gong means to train or discipline one's qi. According to Ken Cohen, a well known qi gong teacher in the West, this term did not come into use in China until 1934.[1] However, what we today call qi gong has been practiced in China since not less than 400 BC. In the 1970's, a series of tombs were excavated in China at a site called Ma Wang Dui near Changsha. These contained a cache of books written on bamboo slats and silk rolls. A number of these books were on medical subjects. Amongst these books were pictures of various exercises believed to confer health benefits and contribute to longevity. At approximately the same time, the great Daoist philosopher, Zhuang Zi, wrote about such exercises and their healing properties.  During the Han dynasty (25-220 ad), a scholar named Wei Bo-yan wrote a book on what has now come to be known as qi gong. Titled Chan Tong Qi (Three in One), it discusses the relationship between Daoism, the Yi Jing (Classic of Changes), and qi gong. Wei was the first Chinese to write about qi gong from the perspective of the jing essence, qi, and shen spirit. Also during the Han dynasty, Hua Tuo, perhaps the most famous doctor in Chinese created his Five Animal Frolics. This was a series of qi gong exercises based on mimicking the movements and breath patterns of five different animals known either for their strength or longevity. These exercises are still taught and practiced to this day. Hua Tuo lived to be 97 at which time he was executed. He was still married when he died. His two students, Fan Ao and Wu Chin lived to be 100 plus and 90 years old respectively.  

During the next 1,700 years, according to the Dao Shu (Daoist History), 3,600 different kinds of qi gong developed. According to Gan Zhen-yun, "The main features of Qigong development in this stage were: the widespread application of Qigong for health protection and medical care, and its integration with Chinese medicine which promoted the development of traditional medical science."[2] In more modern times, Zhang Zi-yang wrote several books on qi gong and health preservation, including Understand the Truth, 400 Characters on Qi Gong, and Secrets for Keeping One's Youth. In these books, Zhang further developed, enriched, and perfected the theories on the relationship of qi gong to the jing, qi, and shen first advanced by Wei Bo-yan 900 years before.  As mentioned above, there are many different styles of qi gong and literally thousands of different qi gong exercises. However, most qi gong exercises are based on the coordination of three elements: 1) a specific pattern of breathing, 2) a specific posture or movements coordinated with that breath pattern, and 3) a visualization accompanying both breath pattern and movements or posture. As we have seen above, one's qi is manufactured in part from the purest essence of the air we breath. Through qi gong exercises we can manufacture qi more efficiently, store qi more effectively, and circulate our qi more smoothly. In addition, we can circulate our qi to particular places or organs in our body to bath those areas in healing, revitalizing energy.  

In China there are Confucian styles of qi gong, Daoist styles of qi gong, and Buddhist styles of qi gong, each with their own unique theories and techniques. In addition, many qi gong exercises are associated with Chinese martial arts, such as Tai Ji Quan, Ba Gua Zhang, and Xing Yi Quan. Further, there are also types of medical qi gong specifically meant for the healing of disease or increasing one's health. Qi gong has become extremely popular, even faddish, in China in the last dozen years or so, and there are many books available on this subject in both Chinese and English. There are even a number of video tapes available to help one learn qi gong.  Generally, it is best to study qi gong as part of a class under the guidance of a qualified instructor. Qi gong instruction is now available in all large cities and many medium sized cities in the United States. 

It is important to mention a couple of more introductory things about this ancient Oriental exercise art.  First, qi gong emphasizes deep, abdominal breathing. Such deep diaphragmatic breathing rids the lungs of stale air and bathes the organism in fresh air. In addition, this deep breathing has a massaging effect on the internal organs and promotes the flow of blood, lymph, and cerebrospinal fluids. Secondly, the breath associated with most qi gong exercises has four characteristics. It is long, thin, even, and slow. It is not hurried, choppy, coarse, or rough. This relaxed, rhythmic, deep breathing thus helps calm the mind and relieves stress.  And thirdly, qi gong involves concentrating the mind and ridding it of distracting thoughts. In Chinese this is called shou yi. Shou means to concentrate, to attend to, or to look after. Yi means one. Thus shou yi means to concentrate on only one thing. During qi gong, such one-pointed concentration can be on a point within or part of the body, on the breath, or on a visualization or sensation. As Wang Zhi-xing, a qi gong teacher active in England and Europe says:  Shou yi teaches us to rest our mind internally on the oneness instead of restlessly jumping from one idea to the next. Shou yi helps us settle our mind and spirit internally and to focus our senses deeply within instead of looking outward all the time. Shou yi guides us to integrate ourselves with our circumstances and helps us to relax in different situations. Through shou yi, one's mind becomes peaceful and empty; the body, mind, and spirit are harmonized and the shen is therefore pacified and nourished.[3] 

This article is adapted from Imperial Secrets of Health & Longevity (1990) by Bob Flaws, published by Blue Poppy Press. For more information call 1-800-487-9296 or visit their website at www.bluepoppy.com.

QiGong, Now & Then

Qi Magazine (1991)

by Sue Johnson

Qigong can trace its history back over 3000 years. How can exercises formulated so long ago still have a place in the modern world in which we live?

Today, Qigong is recognised by many as an effective means of maintaining good health and curing disease. Even in the time of the Spring and Autumn, and Warring states (770-221 BC), Qigong had a high level of importance. The Yellow Emperors Manual of Internal Medicine written in the fourth century BC refers to Qigong. Qigong exercises were already being practiced when Greece was holding its first Olympic Games (776 BC), whilst the Celts were invading Britain (800 BC) and even before the birth of Confucius (551 BC). Developed by the early Taoists, Qigong evolved through careful study of the natural surroundings and wildlife. The gait of the bear the tiger prowling ,the bird stretching its wings etc.

The Ancient Taoists observed that the animals were able to keep themselves healthy. This observation coupled with a knowledge of internal energy (qi), they devised exercises to regulate breathing in coordination with the movements of the body. It was found that exercise alone could not bring about balance and harmony within the body. Following the principal of Yin and Yang, if movement is Yang, then stillness being Yin is necessary to achieve the balance. Stillness in the form of meditation.



Gaunzi, a book, written in 300 BC notes:

“achievement of meditation will improve the general fitness of the four limbs, and this in turn accumulate abundant energy and vigour in the body. “

What role if any, can exercises formulated in these ancient times play in our world, steeped in science and technology? Is there a place for ancient healing exercises or have they been overtaken by the wonders of modern medicine?

For those who are healthy, modern medicine offers little or nothing to maintain a healthy balance. Without some form of maintenance the body will eventually become weak and unhealthy. It is only when we are ill that we go and see a doctor. We never go when we are healthy! With the wide spectrum of drugs and medicine available today, there are still many conditions and illnesses that are incurable. Many drugs have side effects, so whilst curing one problem they create another. Better to not fall ill in the first place!

Daily practice of the Qigong exercises and meditation build up the qi and can keep the body in balance and prevent illness. Our modern lifestyle creates stress and tension. Coronary heart disease is common in this country. The effects of Qigong have been proven to be beneficial to patients suffering from angina and also those suffering from Hypertension (high blood pressure).

There are even optimistic reports that the condition of some cancer patients can be improved! Insomnia, Lumbago, Hepatitis and other conditions have been eased and alleviated by performing Qigong exercises. Qigong is an excellent way of keeping fit and improving ones health. It is suitable for all, young, old, weak or strong all can benefit. It has been described as a process of “self rejuvenation”. Now, as much as any other time in our history we need to turn to the healing art of Qigong. In order to go forward, we must first go backwards. By using this ancient skill we may prepare ourselves for the stresses of living now and in the future.

For more information about Qi Magazine

The Five Origins of Traditional Qigong

Qi for Life

By David Cowan

Traditionally, all qigongs come to us from five distinct schools of philosophy—these are the Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist, Martial and Medical schools of qigong. Each qigong school shares similarities in form and principals of practice but emphasizes a distinctly different goal.

• Confucian qigong—as practiced by the ruling elite—the goal was to train oneself to remain emotionally detached and centered no matter what the situation.

• Daoist qigong focused primarily on increasing longevity which led to the pursuit of alchemy—the turning of base metals into gold—and an attempt to discover: Dan, the ‘Elixir of Life.’ The goal of Daoist qigong is Immortality.

• Buddhist qigong focuses on the attainment of Enlightenment. The goal of all Buddhist practices is to become a Buddha sustained by undisturbed inner-peace gained through the practice of meditation.

• Martial qigong’s goal is to become invincible in any fight—a supreme martial artist. Kung fu masters train themselves to become impervious to injury and perform amazing feats of skill and agility due to their years of intensive physical, mental discipline, and their heightened body awareness.

• Medical qigong’s goal is the alleviation of illness, freedom from sickness, good health and long life.

Many medical qigongs are Daoist in origin, but Indian and Buddhist yoga is strongly influential too. Interestingly, the fateful blending of Chinese Daoism and Indian Buddhism gave rise to a powerful new branch of Buddhism known as Chan Buddhism—or as it is commonly known in the West—Zen.