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Ancient Health Science: How Do T’ai Chi and Qigong Work?

by: Bill Douglas

Copyright 2005 Bill Douglas

Western medical science is only beginning to understand what T’ai Chi and Qigong offers us. However, just the tiny amount of research that has been done so far indicates that T’ai Chi and Qigong are very powerful health tools that can save each of us and our society a great deal of money and personal suffering.

Both T’ai Chi & Qigong are a combination of “bio-feedback”, “visualization”, and “classical conditioning” techniques that can not only provide powerful adjunct therapy for most maladies, but also can teach us tools that may head off physical illness long before it actually occurs. There is a newly emerging science of medicine known as psychoneuroimmunology, which is the study of the mind’s influence over the body. This new science, although new in the West has actually been practiced and refined to an extremely high level in China in the form of T’ai Chi and Qigong.

Although, new to Westerners, T’ai Chi and Qigong are centuries or even millennia old, and in fact provide the backbone of healthcare in China today, even though China also employs all the wonders of Western medicine. T’ai Chi and Qigong is a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and therefore based on the same principles as acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s (TCM) herbal medicine. The premise of all Traditional Chinese Medicine, whether it’s acupuncture, herbal medicine, or T’ai Chi and Qigong is that there is a flow of subtle energy, or bio energy, flowing through the body, and when this flow gets blocked or obstructed our health systems are diminished as a result. There are 2 ways this energy gets blocked, one by an external accident, obviously if you break your leg it will affect the way the energy flows through it. However, the most common way that energy gets blocked is by internal unmanaged stress. We know this is the most common way, because most research indicates that about 70% of all illnesses sending us to the doctor are due to stress.

At www.worldtaichiday.org you can find a free Sitting Qigong exercise in the Free Lessons menu that will enable you to begin to actually feel this experience of energy and energy blockages. If you book mark it and use it daily, you will likely find a significant shift in the quality of your life.

Tai Chi brings this qualitative shift to another level by physicalizing it throughout your entire body. Tai Chi’s motions replicate most of the motions the body is capable of performing in the normal day’s activities, and thereby it begins to trigger the relaxation responses of flowing life energy into the everyday tasks we perform.

Again, since 70% of illness is cause by stress, this incorporation of stress cleansing techniques into the fabric of our lives can be a powerful technology for everyone to learn. These were up until recently ancient secrets of China, but today are available to people worldwide who take the time to learn them.

About the author:
Bill Douglas is the Tai Chi Expert at DrWeil.com, Founder of World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day (held in 50 nations each year), and has authored and co-authored several books including a ##1 best selling Tai Chi book “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to T’ai Chi & Qigong.” Bill’s been a Tai Chi source for The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc. You can learn more about Tai Chi & Qigong, and also contact Bill Douglas at

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