Intro to qi gong

I want to talk about one of my interests: qi gong. I've seen conservative estimates that say there are around 3,000 different styles of qi gong, but what it boils down to is the essential quality which they all share: the generation and manipulation of essential energy within the body. In fact, that's what the name means: vital energy skill.

In the martial arts world, there are internal and external styles. Internal styles are for developing internal strength and health, whereas external styles are for defeating aggressors and opponents. Summarized, internal styles are for defeating oneself, and external styles for defeating others.

Also, there are soft and hard styles. Soft styles defeat an opponent by redirecting his or her energy in another direction or using it against him or her (think of judo or aikido.) Hard styles defeat an opponent by, well... hitting him or her - think of boxing or karate.

Internal, external, soft, and hard styles have overlap and all martial practices are defined by their position on these two poles: internal-external, and soft-hard. Boxing, for example, is an external hard style like karate and taekwondo; aikido is an external soft style; tai chi can arguably be classed as a internal soft style, and some of the more esoteric practices of karate and kung fu could be classed as internal hard styles.

The style of qi gong I'm practicing is an internal hard style - the techniques are actual movements from chang-hon taekwondo, but are paired with organ massage, breath practice, internal locks, muscle tension, and guided spirit. These principles would be recognized in any qi gong school, and they're what I'm bringing to my own qi gong class on Monday nights.

I'll chat more about this in the future, so feel free to join in the conversation with any questions! Until then, I found this really excellent Venn diagram and thought it did such a good job explaining things that I thought it was worth sharing.