Fundamentals of Qigong Health Preservation
The modern term "qigong" encompasses ancient practices such as "tu na" (breath regulation), "dao yin" (guiding and pulling), "cun shen" (mental concentration), "jing gong" (static exercises), "dong gong" (dynamic exercises), "nei gong" (internal skills), "wai gong" (external skills), "xiu lian" (cultivation), "zuo zuo" (sitting meditation), "ru ding" (deep meditation), "zuo chan" (Zen meditation), "jing zuo yangsheng" (still sitting for health), "xiu shen yangxing" (self-cultivation), "huxi yangsheng" (respiratory health), and even certain martial arts like Tai Chi, provided they are based on internal skills.
Qigong is divided into two major categories: dynamic and static. Dynamic qigong is also called external skill; static qigong is also called internal skill. External skill is based on internal skill. Stillness leads to movement—“train essence, qi, and spirit internally; train tendons, bones, and skin externally.” When essence, qi, and spirit are abundant, tendons and bones become strong. Static qigong is not truly still—it is “externally still, internally moving,” a special state of bodily activity. As Wang Fuzhi said: “Stillness is still movement, not immobility.” Static practice nourishes the spirit, primarily through breath regulation; dynamic practice trains the body, primarily through physical movement. Whether static or dynamic, qigong always involves the three fundamental techniques: regulating the mind, regulating breath, and regulating posture—also known as intention focus, breathing, and posture. Stillness generates yin; movement generates yang. Combining both, with the “three regulations” integrated, achieves yin-yang harmony, curing diseases and prolonging life. As Tao Hongjing wrote in The Record of Nourishing Life and Extending Years: “Being able to move and still, one can live long.” From this, qigong emerges as a mind-body exercise for disease prevention and longevity, guided by TCM health preservation theory. It connects with modern preventive medicine, psychosomatic medicine, sports medicine, natural medicine, geriatrics, and athletics and martial arts. By self-regulating intention, breath, and body, it adjusts internal organ function, strengthens self-stabilizing mechanisms, and thus achieves disease prevention and health enhancement.