Is Zhineng Qigong out of date?

In childhood I was someone who liked to pull things apart to see how they worked… I think this tendency has remained with me in adulthood… This approach has been an important aspect for me in my exploration of Qigong and has led me to question many things. One recurring question that keeps coming up is:

Is Zhineng Qigong still fit for purpose?

I’m going to break with the rules and start with my conclusion… In short: I don’t believe that Zhineng Qigong is still fit for purpose, but I would like to soften this statement by breaking down some core principles and explaining why I still fully align myself with Zhineng. So let’s start with the key aspects that I find to be questionable.

It’s so 1990’s

If we go back to the origins of Zhineng, we arrive in China in the 1990’s. I know the original form is older, but the version that is considered by most to be the foundation of the practice is the evolution of the practice that came from the Huaxia Centre in the mid to late 90’s. This is the point at which most of the Chinese teachers who work in West trained. This is the point at which the system as we know it really came into existence, and although these are evolutions from earlier forms, you could argue that these forms are potentially even more out of date.

Western needs in the 2020’s are different to Chinese needs in the 1990’s

China in the 1990’s was a very different place to the West in the 2020’s. Three key differences are listed below, but I’m sure there are many, many more we could point to:

• At the point that Zhineng Qigong rose to prominence, there was a public health crisis which led to the Chinese government promoting Qigong that was Scientific and Health focussed (sound familiar?).
• The nature of healthcare in China at this time meant that people were far more willing to take responsibility for their wellbeing and devote the 24 days required by the Huaxia centre to complete its programme (how many of us have done anything near a 24 day intensive?)
• At this point in both China and the West, the internet was still very much in it’s infancy. This meant that access to information was far more limited, and we found out about things and learned about them in a very different way.

The list could easily go on, but the bottom line is that the needs of the modern Western Qigong practitioner, while still focussed on healing and wellbeing on multiple levels, are influenced by the changing face of the online, social media informed society that we live in. In short, we have shorter attention spans, access to an almost infinite amount of information, and we can find convincing arguments for and against almost everything that exists.

The forms are too complex

Given the shorter attention spans and the time pressure we now feel, the more traditional approach of practicing for 2 to 3 hours a day is increasingly difficult. On top of that, the complexity of the moving forms that would support this length of practice become a significant barrier to anyone starting out on their qigong journey.

The way in which we consume Qigong has changed

Our tendency to attend a weekly class, and an increase in online resources (neither being representative of the way in which qigong was taught) means that we can no longer rely on the traditional teaching methods.

Tribalism, Ownership and Marketing

In an increasingly divided world, finding our tribe feels hugely important, but this can also limit our potential hugely. We can find ourselves operating in spiritual echo chambers where there is a whole load of Hao La! and not much that will actually challenge us to authentically change out ways. In these situations we have a tendency to comply instead of question, as we fear loosing our connection with the group.

This issue is further compounded by the way that every single high profile teacher reaches a high profile due to the marketing machine that supports them and ensures that they can operate as a financially successful business. In this model, it’s important to keep your customers coming back for the next course, the next practice session and the next update. In this space it’s about hooking your clients in and creating a sense of dependancy.

Is it really that bad?

I’ve become increasingly disillusioned with the modern face of Zhineng Qigong, but I still find myself aligning with what I perceive are it’s core principles. Dr Pang’s vision and ability to express it in an accessible way remains a huge inspiration to me, but I find myself increasingly pushing back against the way in which it is presented and sold. My sense is that we need to understand the underlying principles and recognise how we behave in relation to these principles in light of the issues that I have raised. Please allow me to explain:

It’s so 1990’s, Western needs in the 2020’s have changed.

The first thing to say here is that we don’t need to just bring Qigong into alignment with the needs of the 2020’s, we need to recognise the restrictions that existed in the 1990’s so that we can avoid diluting the wisdom that resides at the heart of the practice.

From it’s rise to power in 1949 the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has had an uneasy relationship with certain aspects of Classical Chinese and Taoist Medicine. While there is much to say that is positive about the way the CCP standardised the disparate approaches to Chinese Medicine that existed across China at the time, there are elements that were less well aligned with the CCP’s ideals. In short, we need to have an understanding of what was taught, and what was implied within the practice so that we can best adapt it to the needs of a modern western audience.

We also need to consider what is relevant and accessible to a modern Western Audience. For all our potential open-mindedness, we live in a society that is quick to judge and even quicker to discredit. It’s important that what we offer is relevant, accessible and defensible. This feels like one of the core principles that Dr Pang expressed in a letter to the Shijiazhuang Zhineng Qigong Guidance Hub (the full transcript can be found here and our members can access here). In particular this seems to align with the removal of the esoteric and superstitious aspects and make the practice more scientific. While this obviously aligned with the requirements of the CCP, it also meant Zhineng had the ability to be accepted by a far broader range of people.

In addition to this, we need to consider the time pressures, learning approaches and methods of consumption of a modern western audience. We don’t need to stop teaching the core practices of Lift Qi Up Pour Qi Down and Body Mind, but we do need to make them accessible, beneficial and safe for the current generation. Safety is a hugely important aspect here as the rise of online learning creates a whole different range of considerations for safe practice (which we regularly discuss in our teachers community)

The Forms are too Complex

As already stated, we don’t need to stop teaching the core practices, but having an understanding of the layers of learning and application that exists within the forms gives us the opportunity to simplify and share them in a skilful way with different audiences. A good example of this would be to explore the power of Lift Qi Up Pour Qi Down in releasing physical and mental blockages that prevent qi from flowing well and then approaching the practice as a series of La Qi movements that help to unlock different parts of the body. We can similarly approach Body Mind as a Neigong practice that enables us to recognise societal and personal restrictions that we hold onto within specific parts of the body.

In short, there is a vast amount of potential in making Zhineng accessible without over-simplifiying it and getting caught in a practice that supports spiritual bypassing through simply inviting people into a pseudo enlightened state of unaware ignorance.

The way in which we consume Qigong has changed

Even before the advent of online teaching, most westerners engaged in a weekly Qigong class. Neither online classes or weekly sessions are what the teaching methods in Qigong were designed for. On top of this, the pedagogic style in China is quite different to that in the West. While those of us who are genuinely passionate about Qigong are willing to put up with the traditional teaching methods, it will quickly switch off those who are less interested and limit it’s potential to spread as well as it should.

As previously mentioned, understanding how to teach Qigong in an accessible, beneficial and safe manner in the West needs to be part of an ongoing conversation to ensure that what is offered meets the needs of both the individual and society (again, we talk about this in our teachers community)

Tribalism, Ownership and Marketing

The principles that I understand in this area are of an open, non-hierarchical and mutually beneficial practice which has the ability to empower everyone. None of this sits well with the commercialisation of Qigong that seems to be common nowadays.

On that note of commercialisation, back in the 1990’s, a month at the Huaxia Centre typically cost between 100 and 300 Chinese Yuan a month for bed, board and tuition. This equated to around £10 to £30 a month, and this made Qigong truly accessible. While financial pressures mean that costs have inevitably risen since then, the premise was that Qigong should be a truly accessible form of wellbeing, but increasingly we find the price point makes Qigong something that is only accessible to those with a good income or reasonable financial resources. While I have no issue with passing on costs and I do think that Qigong should be able to make a reasonable living, my sense is that there are quite a few people who are cashing in.

I also find that those who prioritise being a Qigong businessperson over and above living a Qigong informed life seem to be on the rise. This is probably because they (or their team) understand how to market their offerings using all kinds of tricks such as claiming this is Dr Pang’s latest work, or this will take you to the next level. None of this sits well with the principles of Zhineng…

Finally the tribal nature of certain groups (yes, I have had one teacher say that they will take all my students away from me if I don’t support them), flies in the face of Pang’s ideas of everyone supporting each other, no hierarchies and everyone learning from everyone else.

Actual Conclusion

While I never want to align myself with certain modern interpretations of Zhineng Qigong, they all have their roots in the practice that inspires all of us. We are all one family and we all gain benefit from our shared interest in Zhineng. The vision we have within the Qigong Academy is informed by our understanding of the principles of Zhineng Qigong. We believe that we should learn from each other, that we must prevent false hierarchies and esoteric aspects from entering Zhineng Qigong. We want our door to remain open to everyone and we will ensure that money is never a barrier to being part of our growing community…

We would love you to join us, we would love to learn from you and we would love to grow and evolve together.

Hun Yuan Ling Tong!!!