What Is Qigong?

Qigong is a traditional Chinese practice that uses movement, posture, breathing and focused attention to develop greater awareness and connection between body, mind and energy.

The word Qigong (氣功) is commonly translated as “energy work” or “energy cultivation”, but Qigong encompasses a wide range of practices and traditions. Some use gentle movement, while others involve standing exercises, breathing practices or meditation. What connects them is not simply a particular sequence of movements, but the purposeful cultivation of how we organise the body, direct our attention and experience ourselves through practice.

More Than a Set of Exercises

From the outside, Qigong can sometimes look deceptively simple. A movement may be repeated slowly, a posture may be held for some time, and in other practices there may be very little visible movement at all. But simplicity does not mean there is nothing happening.

As we become familiar with an exercise, our attention can begin to move away from simply remembering what to do and towards noticing how we are doing it. Where are we holding unnecessary tension? How is our posture organised? What changes when we relax? What happens to our breathing when we move? What can we feel within the body?

These observations gradually turn a simple exercise into a method of developing greater awareness.

Body, Breath and Attention

At Kung Fu Blue Mountains, Qigong begins with the body. Through posture, movement and relaxation, students learn to recognise unnecessary tension and develop a more balanced and connected way of moving.

Breathing and attention are gradually brought into the practice. Rather than treating the body, breath and mind as separate things to train, we learn to coordinate them so that each supports the others.

This is one of the reasons Qigong exercises are often deliberately simple and repetitive. Once we no longer need all of our attention simply to remember the movement, we can begin exploring what is happening within the movement. Over time, the same exercise can reveal increasingly subtle layers of structure, relaxation, breathing, intention and awareness.

The exercise hasn't necessarily changed. The practitioner has.

What About Qi?

The concept of Qi is central to Qigong, but it is also one of the most easily misunderstood aspects of the practice. Qi is often translated simply as “energy”. While that can be useful, treating Qi as a mysterious substance that we need to believe in can make Qigong seem more complicated or esoteric than it needs to be.

You don't need to begin Qigong with a particular belief about Qi. You can begin with something much more immediate: your own experience.

You can notice tension and relaxation, feel your breathing and become aware of pressure, warmth, movement, balance and changes within the body. You can observe how attention influences what you notice and how you move. Traditional ideas about Qi can then be explored through practice rather than accepted simply as an abstract concept.

Qigong and Internal Training

At Kung Fu Blue Mountains, Qigong is taught both as a practice in its own right and as an important part of traditional internal training. The qualities developed through Qigong — relaxation, structure, awareness, sensitivity and connection — also support our Tai Chi and Kung Fu training.

But their usefulness doesn't end when we leave the training hall. As our awareness develops, we can begin recognising unnecessary tension in everyday movement. We may notice changes in our posture or breathing when we're under pressure. We can become more conscious of where our attention goes and how our body responds to different situations.

In this way, Qigong becomes more than simply performing an exercise. It becomes a practice of paying attention.

Do I Need Experience to Begin?

No. You don't need previous experience in Qigong, Tai Chi or martial arts to begin training. The practices can be introduced progressively, allowing beginners to first become comfortable with the movements before exploring deeper layers of breathing, attention and internal awareness.

There is also no need to rush. Qigong is not about collecting more and more exercises. A relatively simple practice can continue to develop as our understanding and sensitivity improve. Like all traditional training, there is always another layer to discover.

Begin Your Qigong Journey

If you'd like to experience Qigong for yourself, the best way to understand it is through practice. Classes at Kung Fu Blue Mountains in Wentworth Falls introduce Qigong progressively in a welcoming environment, helping students explore movement, relaxation, breathing and awareness at their own pace.

Book Your Free Qigong Trial

Want to learn more first? Explore our Qigong classes in the Blue Mountains.