About a week ago, I participated in a free Zoom workshop offered by Energy Arts, a Colorado-based company that offers instruction in meditation, qigong, tai chi, and bagua, all with a Taoist focus.
The workshop was on Dragon and Tiger Medical Qigong, a form of qigong that has been shown to be of value to people with medical problems; however, its benefits are not limited to that group.
Qigong, also spelled chi kung, is pronounced chee-gung. It means “energy workout.”
Dragon and Tiger Medical Qigong contains only seven movements. They are done slowly, mindfully, and precisely. In this video, Paul Cavel, a senior Energy Arts instructor, demonstrates the form.
Don’t be deceived by the slowness of the movements. In the workshop, Craig Barnes did three sets of the form, doing each movement 20 times. If you do not think that is a good workout, you either have never done it or are not doing it correctly.
In his webpage titled “What is Qigong?” Bruce Frantzis, the founder of Energy Arts, defines it as
a form of gentle exercise composed of movements that are repeated a number of times, often stretching the body, increasing fluid movement (blood, synovial and lymph) and building awareness of how the body moves through space.
One thing that differentiates qigong from both exercises people in the Western world do is that it is not just an external (physical) exercise.
Frantzis writes,
When you practice and learn a qigong exercise movement there are both external movements and internal movements. These internal movements, or flows, in China are called neigong, or ‘internal power’. These internal neigong movements make qigong a superior health and wellness practice.
Need more evidence that qigong works?
According to Frantzis, “qigong has been proven in China by its beneficial impact on the health of millions of people over thousands of years.” No Western exercise can match that claim.
For more information about Dragon and Tiger Medical Qigong, view this video narrated by Frantzis. Besides a demonstration, it offers background information on Dragon and Tiger.