More about Chi and Chi Kung

I've probably yapped about this topic before. But after reading  some very erroneous opinions on the subject on the latest issue of Tai Chi union magazine, I can't help saying a word or two on this much misunderstood concept of Chi again.
Chi in the context of Chi Kung (energy work) does NOT mean breath; it means the vital force within the human body. Chi Kung is not gentle stretching with breathing exercise. Chi Kung has its roots in the Taoist internal alchemy the aim of which is for practitioner to cultivate and refine the life force within the body before eventually transmuting it into higher spiritual forces to aid self-realization or enlightenment. Correct practice will actually result in a changed mode of breathing termed 'fetus breathing'(tai xi in Chinese) or 'real breathing' where the normal nostril breathing is reduced to the minimum or even ceases completely (in very advanced stage). So this is rather contary to the common western belief that Chi Kung is about deepening once's breathing. Such a wrong belief also leads to the wrong way of practicing Chi Kung - moving the Chi (in such a case, erroneously understood to be one's breath) from this side of the body to that side, up and down or sink it to this location or that.

The  life force Chi within one's body has to be cultivated in a very scientific and systematic way. It needs to be nurtured, accumulated before circulated around the meridiens (energy channals) of the body. The way Chi is distributed within the body can be compared to an irrigation system. To irrigate a field, first there has to be abundant water at the source; then there has to be irragation channels to transport the water to the field. The channels also need to be kept clear to allow the water to pass through without hindrance. In the mircocosm of the human body, the energy channels within most people are clogged up to some extent and they take some special Chi Kung exercises to open up and enlarge again. This is normally a slow painfull process and takes a lot of persistance and strong will on the part of the practitioner to do. No amount of gentle stretching or breathing exercise will achieve any result to such an effect.