This is what Wikipedia tells us about it: "Qigong, also Chigong, is a Chinese form of meditation, concentration and movement for the cultivation of body and mind. Martial arts exercises are also understood to be part of it. The practice includes breathing exercises, body and movement exercises, concentration exercises and meditation exercises. The exercises are intended to harmonize and regulate the flow of Qi in the body.

The origin of the exercises goes back a long way, certain forms are already hinted at in Zhuangzi, and silk images from the time of the Han dynasty are available. The name Qi Gong was first used by the Daoist Xu Xun from the Jin period and since then has referred to certain exercises in martial arts. In the history of China, this practice has always played a major role as health care, but was also used for religious-spiritual purposes, especially in Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, and was handed down in the monasteries.

However, the term Qi Gong for these exercises has only been used since the 1950s, and the different styles of Qi Gong are partly completely new developments, but they are based on millennia-old traditions. In the 1950s, the name Qi Gong was used by the physician Liu Guizhen for these health exercises, who in his work used techniques of ancient tradition to promote and stabilize the body's energy balance and to treat diseases."

My view of Qi Gong was of course strongly influenced by my master Paul Shoju Schwerdt, who made the following comparison: The human body is a biomechanical machine and the soul of a person is the actual self and thus the driver.

Metaphorically, we can think of it as follows: the physical body is a car and the soul of the driver. What does a driver need to be able to use a vehicle correctly and, ideally, for a long time and without damage? A driving school where he is taught to drive. Qi Gong is the driving school for our "vehicle", our body. With the help of Qi Gong we learn to understand our body, to "control" it correctly, to keep it healthy and to prepare it for the challenges of life.

Furthermore, Qi Gong can also be seen as a workshop in which we can even repair our body or improve its functioning. When we practice Breastfeeding Qi Gong, we finally realize that we are much more than just the body. We will finally perceive the presence of a "driver" who is able to bring us to our goal without harm – finding our own personality and developing it on a psychological and, of course, physical level.

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As mentioned earlier, the term "Qi Gong" is very young compared to the exercises themselves. It only became common in communist China. Qi Gong is a collective term.  In the past, the masters came from different directions: from Daoist, Confucian and Buddhist religions, from medical fields and from martial arts.

In a monastery like Shaolin or Wu Dang, this knowledge was collected under one roof. Of course, there was a great abundance of exercises and correspondingly many different names for them. All of them are now taught under the term Qi Gong. The names under which the Qi Gong exercises were taught in the past are e.g. such as "daoyin" (gymnastic exercises), "tuna" (breathing exercises) and "yangsheng" (life cultivation).

At the moment, Qi Gong is on the rise. Today, anyone can go to a bookstore and choose a book on Qi Gong from many. In the past, this knowledge was not so easy for everyone to understand.

The secrets of this art have been closely guarded, and many people have risked their heads for the possibility of owning such a book.

In itself, the possession of a book about Qi Gong is no guarantee to understand the knowledge of the art of Qi Gong correctly. The reason for this is that Qi Gong consists largely of the inner work, of the little things that cannot be understood without guidance, at least initially, and in the absence of which the exercises become aesthetic gymnastics without a profound effect on the body and mind. That's why it's important to find a master who is able to impart this wealth of knowledge.

Many people I have met have a wrong idea of Qi Gong, if they have one at all. In our society, Qi Gong is at best understood as a system of certain gentle and loose body movements, which in some way contribute to relaxation.

serve. The fact that these exercises can serve the prevention and cure of certain diseases usually remains hidden.

Qi Gong includes a wealth of different forms that are performed while sitting, lying down, standing and moving. There are dynamic and static shapes, or a mixture of both.

The most important goal pursued in the practice of all forms of Qi Gong is to achieve and maintain good health. And not only that: Through the practice of Qi Gong, the human body acquires extraordinary abilities that amaze even the strongest skeptics and are now being scientifically studied. They are not miracles and there is no mysticism behind the body's self-healing power. Qi Gong is an art that requires a lot of diligence, sweat and full physical and mental commitment.