While the rattles, totems and drums of the traditional shaman may be an anachronism today, many of the characteristics and skills of the shaman are still very much in demand. From the charismatic motivational speaker at corporate events, to the Feng Shui consultant helping to construct a modern office block, ancient beliefs still influence the modern world.
What is Qigong?
Ki (Chi in Chinese), according to the Yi Jing (Book of Changes 1122 B.C.) is the life force that enables all life in the universe to function. The "gong" element is simply the practical skills and knowledge developed by practitioners over time and passed from master to student down through the ages. Typically, Qigong (pronounced chee-gung) is used to gather and store Ki to promote health, to channel and direct the Ki energy for the purpose of healing, and promote spiritual growth and enlightenment for the individual practitioner.
Qigong consists of a series, or sets, of exercises emphasising posture, movement, breathing and visualisation carried out in a meditative and relaxed manner. The movements are slow and graceful and take considerable practice to perfect.
Historical Background of Ki Arts
The roots of Qigong, according to anthropologists, can be traced back several thousand years to the shamanic practices of nomadic peoples who inhabited northern Asia and the Ural Altaic region of Siberia. Core shamanistic beliefs, which include body forms derived from dance, breathing and trance inducing techniques, animistic and polytheistic beliefs and myths, were assimilated by other major cultural and religious movements like Buddhism (India), Taoism (China) and Shinto (Japan).
A shaman is someone who assisted individuals or groups with negotiating life changing transitions, often acting as an intermediary with the "other world" in the process. The word "shaman" comes from the Manchu-Tungu (sub-family of the Altaic language family) word šaman, and is formed from the verb ša – "to know." It means literally "one who knows."
In China the history of the Ki arts, in which Qigong is used generically, is generally divided into four somewhat arbitrary periods. While scholars disagree about some of the evidence, there are at least some clear indications of Buddhist and Taoist influence in the development of the Chinese Ki arts.
Buddhist and Taoist Influence in the Chinese Martial Arts
The movement of Buddhism from India to China around 206 B.C. during the formative period of the Han Dynasty, helped lay the ethical groundwork for many spiritually oriented arts in China. This foundation was further reinforced by the Indian monk Bodhidarma ("Da Mo" in Chinese, 502-557 A.D.), who instituted a disciplined training regime at the now famous Shaolin Temple, located in East China on Mount Sung in Honan Province. From there, this new style and approach spread to influence other martial arts throughout China and beyond.
While there are those who distinguish between Buddhist and Taoist influences in the Ki arts, viewing the latter as predating Buddhism, ultimately there proved to be more similarities than differences between the two religions. This later resulted in a merging of the two that became known as Chan Buddhism in China, or Zen Buddhism in Japan and the west. Zen was to go on to have a major influence on Japanese martial arts.
Ki Experiment
The following comes from a confidence building seminar, and requires two people to complete the exercise. One person stands with their feet shoulder width apart, arms extended out in line with their shoulders at a 90 degree angle to their body. While standing in this way, the person silently engages in negative self-talk: “I’m hopeless, ugly, can’t do a thing right,” etc. At the same time another person stands behind the first person and pushes down on their arms. The arms go down easily.
The exercise is repeated. But this time the person relaxes and engages in positive self-talk: “I’m wonderful, valuable, loving and warm hearted,” etc. At the same time they visualise energy being drawn up from the earth or floor, through their feet, legs, torso, shoulders, along their outstretched arms and out through their fingers and the top of their head. With each inhalation energy comes into the body, and with each exhalation the energy goes out in a continuous cycle. The other person then tries to push their arms down as before. With practice the arms will be immovable.
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Alister Gillies - Alister's background is in project development. He is trained in counselling and personal development, although his academic background is ...
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