Accidental Qigong in the West

Discuss Qigong, its ideas, theories and practice. Please stay on topic.

Moderators: nyang, Dvivid, Inga

Accidental Qigong in the West

Postby dmattwads » Sun Mar 07, 2010 9:50 am

I was pondering qigong, and what qigong is and does. It occured to me that when I see things like ballet, pilates, calasthenics, and such in the west, I notice that those how maintain a regular practice of those kinds of activities tend to be in better health in general and especially as they get older than others. If you watch a ballet dancer going through a routine a lot of the soft movements look an aweful lot like some qigong/tai chi movements. Also old ballarenias tend to be in fairly good condition and age pretty gracefully. A lot of Pilates moves also tend to resemble yoga, and Pilates was the little secret of the stars back in the day for them to remain healthy and young. Boxers have said for a long time to avoid sexual contact too soon before a bout because it made your legs weak.
Back when I was in the army I noticed that a lot of the streching and loosening up, and calasthenics we did every morning resemble a lot of qigong postures and streching. And of course the army did this in order to keep its soldiers in good physical condition for the battle field.
So my point/question is that with out having a concept of "chi" it would seem that in the west the effects of chi were observed nevertheless. Could ballet be considered a type of qigong if it produces the same effect? Did boxers stumble upon the extrodinary vessles in the legs being drained of chi by sexual activity and just not know what to call it?
dmattwads
Forum Specialist
 
Posts: 102
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:36 am
Location: Fairbanks AK

Postby joeblast » Sun Mar 07, 2010 12:24 pm

:lol: that's why visiting pro football teams were often treated to parties and strippers in the couple nights before a good sunday game!

there's a bit of disconnect in terms, because "physical body" gong isnt necessarily the same as "qi" gong 8)
joeblast
Forum DemiGod
 
Posts: 943
Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:20 pm
Location: CT

Postby dmattwads » Sun Mar 07, 2010 6:09 pm

yea , but I guess thats why I titled this accidental qigong, because lets say a ballerina just by chance just so happened to do the same movements as the 8 brochades, which is layperson qigong and does not require a lot of theory would she not reap the same benefits?
dmattwads
Forum Specialist
 
Posts: 102
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:36 am
Location: Fairbanks AK

Postby joeblast » Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:51 am

Yes, to an extent - for instance some of the 8 brocades movements stretch specific things, so you might "accidentally" do them, but what are the chances they would be done in the same manner with the same intent? Slim, although doing something, anything, is far better than nothing at all :)
joeblast
Forum DemiGod
 
Posts: 943
Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:20 pm
Location: CT

Postby yeniseri » Tue Mar 16, 2010 8:55 am

Fitness and physical conditioning of any kind has always been a positive variable in the formation of a healthy society.
As much as I practice qigong, it is just one variable.

I would not say that a ballerina is doing accidental qigong but she is "exercising" musculature over a period of time to help in her routine through the individualized and ritualized sequence of movements.

I would add that the exercise routine of a ballerina as distinct from her performance of a formalized dance is like the various training regimen (taijizhaung, individual posture entrainment, multiple posture entrainment, etc) of a taijiquan system vis a vis taolu!
yeniseri
Forum ÜberGuru
 
Posts: 511
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2005 3:18 pm
Location: USA


Return to Qigong / Chi Kung

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests

cron