Question by Marco =D: Is there any scientific support for Qigong? (A.K.A. qi, ki or chi)?
Qi is a kind of energy which supposedly resides in every living being. Shaolin Monks use it for their martial arts, like breaking hard things and strengthening their bodies to superhuman levels.
If you don’t know what Qigong is, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi#Martial_arts
If you DO know what it is, please answer my question very detailed! also give some examples and if it is or will be accepted by modern sciences.
sorry I made a little error in terms, Qi, Ki or Chi isn’t the same as Qigong. Qigong is the use of Qi/ki/chi.
So here’s my edited question: Is there any scientific support for Qi (A.K.A. ki or chi)?
Best answer:
Answer by Jon C
Interesting question.
Don’t know if there is any real proof, I think most of it is mind over matter. I know monks of some kind go almost completely naked out into the freezing snow to meditate and do not freeze or anything. But I don’t think qi exists like it does on DBZ.
Hope that helps.
I think that the Chinese did some research into this, but their results were inconclusive. Things like acupuncture or qigong sometimes seem to work, but it can be explained by the placebo effect, or something similar.
As the article explained, Qi is a quasi-religious belief in the soul, or spirit, and really cannot be proved. Qi is the belief that the life force, or spirit (Qi), actually flows through the body like a fluid or like air, and that this flow of your spirit can be manipulated or controlled by physical means.
Well, controlling your breathing might have some benefit as far as a martial art is concerned, because you don’t want to breathe too heavily and hyperventilate while fighting (you over exert yourself and get tired too soon), but whether or not this cures any disease, or makes you stronger, or faster is debatable. But the article covered all of that.
Like I said, there is no evidence that qigong is anything more than a normal stretching or breathing exercise. It makes you more flexible, and helps you control your breathing, but that seems to be about it.
It might interest you look at what wiki says.
“Science rejects the concept of “qi”. It has been hypothesized that the alleged therapeutic effects of acupuncture can be explained by endorphin-release, by relaxation or by simple placebo effects.[21] The NIH Consensus Statement on acupuncture in 1997 noted that concepts such as Qi “are difficult to reconcile with contemporary biomedical information but continue to play an important role in the evaluation of patients and the formulation of treatment in acupuncture.”[22]
It is hypothesized that qi could be transmitted through the fascia independent of any neurological activity.[23]“
This debate will go on forever, especially with some ignorant people. I’m chinese and i can tell you that Qi does exist(so will koreans and japanese people say the same), we’ve known for thousands of years that it exist and there’s nothing so special or mysterious about this concept, but it’s just that western science doesn’t have the conceptual frameworks to explain this phenomenon. Yet, there are alot of fakes out there, but it’s all because there exist the “genuine” ones to begin with.
To explain for any scientific support for Qiqong is the same case as for accupuncture. Does the ‘chi meridians’ in accupuncture exist? They can’t explain the concepts under existing western science methodologies, but accupuncture surely does the cure job exceptionally well on certain areas e.g. disorder involving nervous system, arthritis, endocrine problems..
We can’t fully explain with scientific support the process involved behind accupuncture, yet there are now more and more westerners that have received this treatment since it was introduced 3 or 4 decades ago and countless successful healing cases from the results it brings. not to mention that the chinese have been using it for thousands of years as an alternative medicine. It’s nothing special/mysterious to us, we wouldn’t be using it and keeping it unless it works….we’re not stupid.
So i think this case can be applied for Qigong as well.
But what I’m trying to stress is: it’s nothing so ‘mysterious’ or ‘big deal’ to us. it’s just that it’s not known in the west, but we’ve known it existed for a very long time.
Here is one from the University of Maryland Center for Integrative Medicine…
http://www.qigonginstitute.org/html/papers/QigongResearchUMaryland.pdf
Here is a whole list of results for studies done and published in various journals…
http://www.qigonginstitute.org/html/papers.php?PHPSESSID=50f5076c40bb4b2a97fb64bc3ad6e3dd
Sophomore is right. The discussion can go on forever. Qi or Chi does not only apply to qigong or tai chi but to other martial arts as well whether internal or external. To understand more I suggest you start with Understanding Qigong-YMAA on Youtube, It’s by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming. They also have a website – YMAA.com.