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Thread: Qigong and Yoga

  1. #61
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    Its funny you bring up sensory deprivation because thats exactly what some forms of Indian meditation seek out to do.

    "better to reside in hell knowing the truth than to be blissfully ignorant in heaven."

    "Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."- Doug Adams

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  2. #62

    Re: yoga vs qigong/neigong

    Originally posted by SevenStar
    what is the difference in internal development between these two?
    Hi. This is difficult to generalize on; firstly, because these terms encompass a diversity of practices, and secondly because there is considerable overlap between them. For instance, there are Buddhist qigongs which are almost indistinguishable from what might be called yoga; whereas, a more Taoist method might be somewhat different.

    The Buddhist/yogic methods are relatively more forceful and isolated, compared to more natural and generalized Taoist methods. We could say that the Taoist methods are particularly good at building energy, as well as the awareness, control, and distribution thereof; while the more yogic methods are particularly good at binding or focusing existing energy in a certain way. For this reason, the latter can be thought of as more dangerous.

    As far as "ending up in the same place," I think this is misleading. Do plyometrics and core strength exercises end you up in the same place? Well... they both make you stronger, but strength turns out to be a fairly nuanced thing when you start exploring it. There's no reason to imagine that psychological development is any different.

    A distinction of interest to martial artists would be that there is a subset of qigong/neigong which is specifically oriented towards martially useful goals (beyond simply making you a more healthy person generally), but this isn't true of qigong generally. This is a somewhat distinct issue as it brings us into the vocabulary of the internal martial arts.

  3. #63
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    How different can someone really be psychologically when they reach a certain point?

    Anyway...... This link elaborates on what i mean by them being closely tied together.

    http://www.acupuncture.com/QiKung/History.htm

    "better to reside in hell knowing the truth than to be blissfully ignorant in heaven."

    "Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."- Doug Adams

    I dare you to make less sense!

    "Freeze?! You know if i drop the tooth fairy i'm only gettin' started mother****er!"

    "It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." - George Carlin

  4. #64
    Originally posted by FuXnDajenariht
    How different can someone really be psychologically when they reach a certain point?
    At least as different as someone can be physically when they reach a certain point in physical conditioning, don't you think?

    I'm sure the mind is nuanced enough to permit a wide spectrum of developmental possibilities.

    This link elaborates on what i mean by them being closely tied together.
    Sure. But pushups and jumping jacks are closely tied together too, but they still develop you in different ways.

  5. #65
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    Yes they are 2 different exercises but the end result is that they both make a person healthier. Of course there are hundreds of different ways to build strength but no matter how nuanced they are it can only have so many results. I think the nuances have more to do with what muscles they work out than what they seek out to do. People a few hundred years ago didn't have a label for what we know as plyometrics, isometrics, core strength training etc. They did whatever exercises they knew about about or were available to them to build strength, and its probably safe to say some are more effective than others. I dont think they sought out to limit themselves though.

    I also dont see how someone can be that different psychologically. Its on another level than your physical body. Even though our minds and personalities are all unique we still have the same emotions and instincts on a basic level. Psychologically i think its a case of someone being either mentally healthy or not. It just depends on how you define either. I know the mind can be developed different but thats like someone being gifted in music and another being able to speak many languages. I dont think thats what they mean by development though.

    "better to reside in hell knowing the truth than to be blissfully ignorant in heaven."

    "Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."- Doug Adams

    I dare you to make less sense!

    "Freeze?! You know if i drop the tooth fairy i'm only gettin' started mother****er!"

    "It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." - George Carlin

  6. #66
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    Qigong vs. Yoga

    Couldn't resist the that thread topic title.

    Mat race? Qigong slowly but surely catching up with yoga
    TNN, Feb 9, 2011, 08.31am IST

    WELLINGTON: Just as yoga became popular when the Beatles came to India, a 5,000-year-old Chinese energy cultivation system is poised to become the new kid on the block among rat racers hungry for a more serene form of fitness.

    Sometimes called Chinese yoga, Qigong is a mind-body practice that melds slow graceful movements , mental focus and deep abdominal breathing to boost and balance a person's vital energy, or 'qi' .

    "As China becomes more of a player in the world, Chinese practice is becoming more mainstream," Stuff.co.nz quoted Matthew Cohen, creator of the Tai Chi & Qi Gong Basics DVD, as saying. Cohen, an instructor at Sacred Energy Arts in Santa Monica, California, said unlike in India, yoga in the west has come to favour the athletic at the expense of the meditative.

    "The world is getting more crowded, cars and computers getting faster," he said. "Qigong is about going slower, so internally you create space," he added. Tom Rogers, president of the Qigong Institute, a non-profit educational organisation, said Qigong is the precursor to all Chinese energy practices."Tai chi is the most well known moving form of Qigong. Kung fu is also a form of Qigong," Rogers said from his home in Los Altos, California.

    The slow, spiral exercises of Qigong, such as rolling the ball or wave hands in the cloud, require no equipment, can be done anywhere, and are easy to learn. "I call it getting an MBA: movement, breathing and awareness," said Rogers. "One is adjusting your posture so energy flow is better; two is slow, deep, abdominal breathing; three is awareness , or trying to get thoughts out of your head," he added.

    Jessica Matthews, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise, said research trials have reported statistically significant decreases in the incidence of stroke, decreased blood pressure, increase in bone density and improved effectiveness of cancer therapy among practitioners.
    Gene Ching
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  7. #67
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    So Gene do you have a preference? I've done both Qigong and Yoga, they both have there strengths, but I prefer Qigong as to me it is more meditative. I thought it was a brilliant counter balance to Choy Li Fut. Yoga is more athletic in nature, to me, which is good if you're the above choice isn't available to you. I do yoga to enhance and counter my 24hr Fatness gym work outs. I don't have any real experience with Tai Chi.
    "if its ok for shaolin wuseng to break his vow then its ok for me to sneak behind your house at 3 in the morning and bang your dog if buddha is in your heart then its ok"-Bawang

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  8. #68
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    There are forms of yoga that could be classified as more meditative.

    In the west when people speak of yoga they usually mean the Ashtanga vinyasa series.

    Yoga is a broad discipline of self-cultivation; engaging in philosophical thinking is a form of yoga.

    The parallels with qi gong are much deeper than may be immediately apparent. Not only qi gong, but gong fu as well.

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  9. #69
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    Do I have a preference?

    Well, of course I have a preference. I work for Kung Fu Tai Chi. I don't work for Yoga Journal.

    I've studied Yoga in Pune and Rishikesh, India. My wife is a former yoga instructor. Truth be told, I'd probably be in better overall health if my practice was yoga, but I like qigong because it's more connected to martial arts. I like weapons and I like to fight. You just don't get that in yoga.

    @wenshu, you are totally right. Yoga embraces a wide variety of spiritual disciplines. The postures are just one branch - asana yoga.
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  10. #70
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    i think qigong will win in the 3rd via gnp.
    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

  11. #71
    Doesn't have to be qigong versus yoga. There are different kinds of qigong and different kinds of yoga.

    Yoga can be a prelude to meditation. Also. many traditional Indian martial routines were/are based on yoga.

    joy chaudhuri

  12. #72
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vajramusti View Post
    Doesn't have to be qigong versus yoga. There are different kinds of qigong and different kinds of yoga.

    Yoga can be a prelude to meditation. Also. many traditional Indian martial routines were/are based on yoga.

    joy chaudhuri
    Said like a true Yogi...
    "if its ok for shaolin wuseng to break his vow then its ok for me to sneak behind your house at 3 in the morning and bang your dog if buddha is in your heart then its ok"-Bawang

    "I get what you have said in the past, but we are not intuitive fighters. As instinctive fighters, we can chuck spears and claw and bite. We are not instinctively god at punching or kicking."-Drake

    "Princess? LMAO hammer you are such a pr^t"-Frost

  13. #73
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    There's been a group of these "introducing Qigong" articles and press releases.

    I think that people are finally starting to be interested in it.

    I know if the 10 different locations that I teach, it is mostly people that used to do Yoga that attend my Qigong classes.
    At least they already know how to do abdominal breathing and have practiced some patience.
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  14. #74
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    Almost as popular?

    Not even. Why would any qigong instructor make such an ignorant statement? It totally invalidates them as they are clearly out of touch with the the status of yoga vs. qigong in pop culture.

    'Qigong' becoming almost as popular as yoga, instructors say
    By Horace Holmes May 5, 2014 - 04:06 pm

    SILVER SPRING, Md. (WJLA) - On this warm and sunny afternoon, people of all ages and walks of life have packed into a large martial arts studio in Silver Spring not to learn self-defense - but to learn to manage their chi.

    Continue reading
    "Chi" is a Chinese word for energy. The class is on how to manage one's chi.

    "It's not easy to see it, but you can feel it," explains the teacher, Shuren Ma.

    An ancient Chinese practice called "qigong," the only sound you'll hear is Ma's voice as she leads students through slow exercise movements and visualizations.

    Ma helped bring qigong to the Washington area 33 years ago when he moved here from China. Just about two to three years ago, he started seeing his classes fill up, as people like William Pettiford, who came suffering from lymphoma.

    Pettiford says practicing qigong has been helping him heal.

    "It was like someone taking a straw and putting it down my throat, and it just opened up," he said.

    Ma says, in an often high-stress area like Washington, qigong can make a big difference for many people.

    "It's a wonderful relaxation process. Especially in a society with so much stress - you need tools to manage that stress," he said. "It can make them healthier, support their immune systems, and bring balance and harmony."

    Regular attendee Carolina Esteva agrees.

    "If you feel any pain or if you have something that is bothering you or you are stressed, whenever you take this class, it is really great," Esteva said.

    Eve Soldinger is a medical qigong practitioner and a licensed acupuncturist who leads patients through meditation and mystical movements called "Managing the Chi."

    Catalina Schrader suffers from pain due to a torn Achilles tendon.

    "When I come it really rearranges my energy," she explained. "It feels different once I'm done."

    Doctors from Georgetown University to the University of California and Harvard are studying qigong. While they won't support claims it can miraculously heal diseases like cancer, studies do show the meditation and slow, repetitive movements of qigong can help with depression and in lowering blood pressure.

    "Those who teach qigong say it is bcoming so popular that very soon it will be like yoga, where there are studios and classes being offered just about everywhere," said Soldinger.

    "If it's good enough for the chinese for 2,000 years, it's good enough for us here, right?" said loyal attendee Albert Zara.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  15. #75
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    Yoga is super popular.

    Qigong is just weird to most people. lol.

    Plus, it is presented so vaguely when it's in the context of setting up some wellness classes etc.

    "Qi is energy, blah blah blah"...

    If I had my way, meditation would be promoted as "seated quiet time" and qigong would be promoted as working on "body movement and breathing" together.
    The terminology is what maks people stuck in their minds. Presented in teh right frame of cultural context and boom! You can make it popular.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

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