FAQ & Information

Qigong is a relatively recent term (dating from the fifties of the twentieth century) for different types of training from China and even from other cultural areas (e.g. yoga from India). In essence, the term means "long-term intensive qi-practice". Qi is an untranslatable word, because it has many meanings that we cannot summarise in English. In some contexts, qi means something like "breath", but often more processes are associated with it. All kinds of processes in the body are initiated and maintained by breathing and this breathing also connects people with their large environment, which in turn "lives" by means of qi. In qigong, the practitioner becomes more familiar with all these processes and can gain more insight into them in order to better adapt the body to survival in the cosmos. Depending on the tradition, the methods and their intentions, the competence of the teacher and the abilities of the student, qigong can be a simple Chinese gymnastics, or a meditative training, a health practice, a religious practice, a therapy, an art of living, etc. Many forms of qigong have been developed. Some are very old (they were originally not called "qigong", but for example "daoyin"), others have arisen quite recently. Important research by qigong scientist Prof. Dr. Dan Vercammen has shown that the older systems with their methods that have been tried and tested for many centuries are often safer and more efficient than the younger ones, which cannot yet provide sufficient evidence of efficiency. Fieldwork and scientific analyses by Vercammen have also determined that a number of methods that are currently gaining ground in qigong environments in China and abroad can be very dangerous and can totally destabilize human personality and health. Practicing qigong can therefore not only lead to better health, but also to disease. If not taught in a correct and step-by-step manner, the practices can lead to insanity, inexplicable syndromes, and other undesirable results. On the other hand, well taught and well practiced qigong can greatly improve health, solve ailments, provide a stronger personality, have a calming effect and increase the general quality of life.

The biggest difference between these two related practices is that taijiquan is a martial art and qigong is not. In some modern methods, however, this boundary has been artificially blurred: some taijiquan teachers do not know enough about their taijiquan method to be able to teach it as a martial art or they have no interest in that aspect. Others overemphasize the possible use of qigong techniques during the martial applications of Taijiquan. Taijiquan is essentially also a form of qigong practice, because it emphasizes the influence and effects of qi in the body, but qigong is not a taijiquan form, although there are modern qigong forms derived from taijiquan movements.

Our qigong is called yuanqigong. This means the “skill of primary qi”. The training is mainly composed of ancient techniques from the Jindan (Golden Cinnabar) Southern Tradition of Taoist alchemy and the Longmen tradition of the Quanzhen Taoists. A number of “newer” techniques and movements were added (in fact, also ancient techniques derived from the taijiquan, xingyquan and baguazhang experiences of the founder of yuanqigong, Dr. Fu Qinglong (Jiangnan, China). However, these techniques were completely adapted to the requirements of the thousand-year-old Jindan tradition. As a result, yuanqigong has become an extremely safe, comprehensive, and far-reaching system, which, through simple exercises, holds a great potential. The main and most feasible purpose of the training is to improve the health and quality of life of the individual practitioner. As a Jindan practice, it aims at authenticity and dispelling illusions and as such it is far from the usual qigong spheres, where illusions and fleeting effects are usually sought. Yuanqigong is scientifically based and is still being improved on the basis of further research. The training includes ancient daoyin exercises, many walking exercises (xinggong), standing practice (zhanzhuang), sitting (zuo-wang) and lying (shuigong) meditation practice, breathing practice (lianqi, sets and single techniques), often techniques that imitate the movements of animals, as well as medical applications. In addition, further study may include learning the classical texts of the tradition and the accompanying commentaries. The student has the opportunity to deepen his knowledge of all these facets or to do only simple exercises. See also our books (new editions will be printed in the near future), Qigong, an Exercise Book; Baxian Xinggong, the Walking Exercises of the Eight Immortals; The Way of Qi; Food for Thought. And our short program " "

There are various versions and styles of qigong. There are traditional methods of teaching these practices and non-traditional ones. There is superficial knowledge and there is extensive knowledge. Some teachers have a high level, many have not even understood the basics. Sufficient reasons to no longer see the wood for the trees as a would-be practitioner. It is impossible for the general practitioner and those with insufficient insight into the historical and evolution of these practices to discern what is genuine and what is not. But there are criteria that can be used to clarify things. Qigong is basically an extremely complex practice. Anyone can practice qigong (on one level or another). Teaching is a different matter. Without long-term experience with and extensive knowledge of the body, its functioning, health practices, Chinese philosophy, Chinese medicine, etc., one does not have sufficient foundations to teach these techniques safely and correctly. In addition to the benefits that these workouts can bring, they can also cause serious health problems due to incorrect training. A well-trained, well-informed teacher is a first, absolute necessity. With Taoist-Lifestyle.Com you can be convinced that you are in good hands. Prof. dr. Dan Vercammen wrote a PhD on taijiquan, qigong, xin(g)yiquan and baguazhang. To do this, he studied all available material (ancient and modern Chinese texts and reference works, Chinese medical and philosophical works, etc.) and visited various old (and younger) masters in China, interviewed them and trained under their guidance. Dan Vercammen has been training and studying various forms of Chinese martial arts and health exercises in theory and practice for five decades. He still continues to collect, research and purchase relevant works for our very extensive library at TASC (Taoist Alchemical Studies Center) and works daily to expand his knowledge and experience together with his partner Angela Verkade.

There are some widely used versions of medical qigong. There are also traditional sets of qigong, such as the “eight pieces of brocade (baduanjin)” or the “game of the five animals (wuqinxi)”, but these are taught in various versions. Many traditional forms of what is now called qigong were passed on for generations within a family or within a religious community and were thus practiced in a relatively limited circle. New forms of qigong are still emerging every day. The propagandists of these often take a much more commercial approach from the start and use all modern (multi- & social) media to become as big as possible as quickly as possible (see for example the falungong success story). Not every method is suitable for just anyone. Some old traditions are very solid, some are no good and can be dangerous. All new versions have yet to prove their reliability (or lack thereof).​ Inform yourself thoroughly before you start. Check your teacher’s credentials.

There are authentic spontaneous movements and manipulated, induced “spontaneous” movements. When the practitioner stands/sits/lies in a certain position for a while, muscle contractions and internal shocks will spontaneously occur. In some, these are very small and almost unnoticeable, in others they become very strong over time. In qigong terms, this is referred to as the “thumping movement of the qi” and the “activation of the field of cinnabar (dantian)” in the lower abdomen. This is a natural and normal phenomenon. It increases over a period of time and aims to cause as much profound relaxation in the body as possible. When this has been achieved, the spontaneous movements decrease and disappear almost completely. In addition, there are the suggestive and induced “spontaneous” movements. This method comes from the shamanic and Taoist fashi (technique masters). It was developed to make people in trance make all kinds of movements and to teach martial arts (so-called shenquan or spirit boxing). The master uses his pupils as “puppets”, who perform the movements he wants and in that way they demonstrate his power over them. In the fifties of the twentieth century, the therapeutic potential of this method was discovered in the People’s Republic of China: it could solve certain limitations caused by disease. In the second half of the last century, this method was often tried, studied, refined and, above all, widely distributed. It was not until the end of the twentieth century that attention began to be paid to the warnings of a number of experts/scientists (including Taoist alchemists and Western scholars and practitioners such as Prof. Dr. Dan Vercammen), who made it clear that there are also great dangers in such practices. For example, this method is frequently used by medically untrained or poorly trained masters, who therefore have no insight into the evolutions of various health problems and the side effects of their method. Furthermore, manipulating people in this way often leads to (sexual, political and other) abuse by the “master” of his/her students. Moreover, doing these techniques can lead to addiction to the “spontaneous” movements and to the development of uncontrollable involuntary movements (similar to Parkinson’s disease symptoms) As stated above, “spontaneous” movement is mainly a phenomenon in an early phase of training. It is not the goal of the training and should disappear spontaneously after a while. It should be properly supervised and in most cases it is better not to be encouraged. Maintaining these imposed “spontaneous” movements among the students is a bad thing. For a large number of people, stimulating this kind of qigong training is very detrimental and leads to very important problems. This cannot be emphasized enough.