Exercise, Energy, and Awareness

[Aetherous]

Can one by doing ONLY Qigong achieve and maintain a great degree of physical fitness?

 

My view on this is that it's necessary to do the minimum recommendations by the AHA. Moderate exercise 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week.

 

The circulatory system is the most important thing to keep healthy. So the heart rate should be increased, but it doesn't have to be intense. Brisk walking, or a slow jog is good. I think doing a taiji form 30 minutes a day would be a little too light...but there are some energy practices which would work very well due to raising the heart rate.

 

Having taken a few exercise physiology courses, it seems that trail walking for long periods is the best Western physical activity. Or cross country skiing. Those athletes are the healthiest of all (really high vo2max).

 

Something fun to look into is the electron transport chain, where the body can actually produce more ATP (energy) than it burns, and the byproduct is pure water (versus carbon dioxide, lactic acid, etc). Ideally your mitochondria is doing this, and using fat as its main energy source. Exercising appropriately trains the body so that it can do this more often.

 

Whereas high intensity exercise trains the body to work in a more inefficient way.

 

A little bit of resistance training is necessary for bone health, as well as the appropriate amount of strength you desire. But I think muscles pretty much take care of themselves if you're healthy...unless you want to look like Conan the Barbarian.

 

So that in addition to a good energy practice, and you'll be very healthy.

 

Back to the original post, about having more awareness, I don't think there's a strong correlation with exercise.

Edited September 4, 2010 by Scotty

[LBDaoist]

I know that a lot of kung fu people do qigong as part of their training, but what I do not understand is how exactely the two are related. How does qigong benefit kung fu or other hard exercises?

 

In my experience the qigong helps me become attuned to the qi flow, both internal and external. I study a modified form of wing chun. Wing chun, especially the trapping and "touching hands" really relies on sensitivity. The heightened awareness makes for better sensitivity.

 

It is hard to explain, and even what I explain you might not comprehend due to my lack of ability to properly describe it. When you practice both the questions that you ask will be answered through the practice. There are so many different ways that they mesh with each other. For example, at the temple we train hung gar. Specifically there both the six and thirty-six dynamic tensions. A background in qigong compliments those dynamic tension exercises because the mind already has an awareness of moving qi to the extremities. Another example is stance training and the correlating qigong practice of breathing through the feet.

[Ya Mu]

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Yeah, during Ya Mu's workshop, he brought his rebounder. That would be a good investment in the near term. In my small apt., I'd have to creatively find a good place to store it.

 

You may have not noticed but the Needak rebounder I use folds in half and has a carrying case. The legs are neatly tucked and the whole thing uses little space. I love mine. After purchasing a Needak at retail, I liked it so much that I became a dealer for them. I had previously gone through over 10 of the cheaper rebounders that have the hard surface compared to the soft bounce surface of the Needak; no camparison to the USA manufactured Needak. I do sell it at the lowest price Needak will allow anyone to sell.