Where should a beginner to Tao start? Tai Chi or Qi Gong?

[DalTheJigsaw123]

Where should a beginner to Tao start? Tai Chi or Qi Gong? Please, discuss.

[King Kabalabhati]

I've "started" with Tao Yin, which is a sitting/lying down kind of qigong. I've done hatha yoga and pranayama before that but this really started doing things for me, meaning a new experience of energy flow within the entire body, all the way to the tips of my fingers and toes.

 

From here I'll probably move on to doing some standing qigong/taichi too but now I'm just enjoying this leisurely combination of exercices, stretches, smiling meditation and breathing technique. It's really enjoyable, makes me want to do it an hour / hour and half a day, and it's quite easy to learn through the book (M.Chia:Energy Balance through the Tao), which is probably harder or even impossible when concerning standing practices.

[Sloppy Zhang]

I always point beginners to B.K. Frantzis' book "Relaxing Into Your Being", read through it and do the practices, then go from there.

 

He gives a great overview of Taoism, talks about the similarities and differences and the end goals of some different groups of Taoism, of Yoga, while at the same time giving simple practices that anyone can do

[Dainin]

Well, I'm not sure if either should be the starting point for a beginner to tao. Reading Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, and learning to meditate might be better. But since you've asked, I would say both. Generally speaking, many qigong forms can be learned (not mastered) fairly quickly, and you can begin practicing and benefitting right away. Tai Chi takes much longer to learn, and a lifetime to refine...it's a long-term commitment. Many start, but do not continue for long. But it's very rewarding if you have the patience to stick with it. In my opinion, the two practices complement each other, and indeed many or all schools of tai chi include various qigong forms, both as warm ups and stand alone practices.

[Ryan T.]

Where should a beginner to Tao start? Tai Chi or Qi Gong? Please, discuss.

 

Personally, it would depend on which was more accessible to me, a qualified Tai Chi instructor or a qualified Qi Gong instructor.

 

I do also think that Tai Chi is a bit more accessible to most people. I have found Tai Chi to be a great opening to various other Qi Gong practices that might be a little more obtuse for the otherwise uninitiated.

 

But it really depends on the individual.

[Pietro]

Where should a beginner to Tao start? Tai Chi or Qi Gong? Please, discuss.

tai chi is qi gung.

 

and a good tai chi teacher will give you qi gung exercises while you are learning the form.

 

So the question is more what is the best teacher you have access to.

[Encephalon]

Since I've only been doing Taoist internal energy work for approximately two years, I hesitate to even put in my two cents, but here goes. After studying Buddhism for decades and meditating on and off for over twenty years, Taoism seemed the answer to a body-centered philosophy. For Taoists, physical development and perfection is as important as the redemption of the soul is for Christians, and I am far enough along to understand why.

 

I would read everything by Deng Ming-Dao you can get your hands on, especially "Scholar/Warrior: An Introduction to the Tao in Everyday Life." I would also read the classics, but jumping into the ancient texts without some philosophical background invites many perils of misinterpretation. "Picking and choosing" is a practice that can befall any student of Asian thought, just as it can befall Christians who do the same with the Bible.

 

I got my physical practice started with Nei Kung as taught by Master Chu in NY, but I was instructed by his student Jim Borreli in Los Angeles. A superb introduction of the theory and practice of nei kung, or "internal chi kung" is available at www.neikungla.com.

 

If you have a healthy curiosity, you may dive in and go crazy on Amazon with book purchases. I did so, but I inadvertantly created a "soup" of teachings, practices, theories, approaches. I would be delighted to know that I could successfully warn you away from the same mistake I made. There is a great deal of overlap, obviously, between the various teachers, but certain instructions differ, and it can quickly get confusing. A seasoned veteran in this forum has created the website

http://www.alchemicaltaoism.com/ that can serve as a valuable navigational tool.

 

The Microcosmic Orbit is considered the essential achievement before more advanced Taoist meditation and chi cultivation practices can be commenced. I made the mistake of attempting this too soon, when I should have been concentrating first on establishing "The Little Orbit." (Go to the link above and click "Establishing the Abdomen," and then click "The Little Orbit.") Practice this first; get a nice hot "embryo" of chi pulsating in your abdomen first, and then move on to the Microcosmic Orbit. This is perhaps the finest, most helpful piece of advice I have garnered, and I can now generate a tremendous amount of heat and energy that would have otherwise been scattered into other areas of my body. I overheated and broke out in rashes on my face and the bottom of my feet; this was unpleasant and avoidable.

 

You will no doubt discover very quickly that Taoism is a vast subject that is particularly vulnerable to delusional interpretations and applications. I would encourage you to keep an enlightened faith in the validity of your senses and stick to a path toward mind/body union, rather than honing your ability to recite metaphysical esoterica. There's a place for that, but that's years away for most of us. The bottom line goal is to reawaken the feel of your nervous system, the part of your body that represents the real intersection of body and mind. BK Frantzis offers very lucid accounts of this phenomena in "Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body."

 

I'm assuming you are a westerner. Whether that is true or not, I would listen to the westerners who have done the hard work of moving to China, studying the language, the culture, the artforms. They offer the rest of us the gift of making comprehensible what is often couched in impenetrable language. I found the following eassy extremely helpful in getting my western mind around the chi gung, and it might offer you a means of answering questions that people will inevitably ask you as your path into Taoist studies continues.

 

http://www.ancientway.com/Pages/QiGong.html

 

Good luck.

 

Oh, I almost forget the most important stuff! Chi Kung is vastly easier to learn than tai chi. Nei Kung is even easier (at least the way Master Chu and Jim Borrelli teach it). There are many stories of people studying tai chi for years, carefully mimicking the physical movements, without ever getting to the real stuff, the chi flow, which is what it's all about. Ryan T's advice about accessibility to teachers is important. If that's not an option, at least make use of this guy, who offers sound advice on postures.

 

Edited September 11, 2009 by Blasto

[Mal]

tai chi is qi gung.

 

and a good tai chi teacher will give you qi gung exercises while you are learning the form.

 

 

Yes. My Sifu specifically teaches Qi Gongs at the start of Tai Chi so that people can start to get health benefits immediately.

 

Thoughts

 

 

I like Chi Gungs because they are more fundamental and quicker to perform than my entire Tai Chi form.

 

The complexity of Tai Chi makes it very enjoyable to practice over many years as it's always challenging.

I sometimes get caught in my thoughts with Chi Gungs, basically not paying attention, while doing these "simpler" movements. If this happens in Tai Chi I quickly loose my place in the form or feel my body awarness sliping so it's "easier" for me to notice this "mind trap"

 

I tend to learn different Chi Gungs but then stop practicing them. While I have been doing my Kung Fu ones for almost as long as Tai Chi, they have a specific aim and it's not health related. So apart from them the longest time I have consistently practiced Chi Gungs has only been 10 months vs approaching 7 years for this Tai Chi form.

 

Start with what you like practicing as it's how good your practice is, not how good is your "method", that is important IMHO.

[Old Man Contradiction]

I first started seriously training with tai chi and I'm glad I did because the immediate physical benefits from exercise giving me a healthy body made me feel good and be a little happier straight from the get go.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Old Man Contradiction

[bindo]

Learn qigong first. Tai Chi is a more advanced form of qigong and has a huge drop out rate.

[Mal]

I first started seriously training with tai chi and I'm glad I did because the immediate physical benefits from exercise giving me a healthy body made me feel good and be a little happier straight from the get go.

 

You also have a background in yichuan and hsing-I and various cultivation methods so you are not the average newbie off the street

 

But yes the physical side of Tai Chi is not to be underestimated. I always tell beginners they may feel a bit sore in the legs after the first class and they usually look at me like I'm insane "But we are justs standing here It's not like we are jogging or lifting weights" But for may people even just standing through a Yang Tai Chi lession can be strenuous.

 

My teacher Talkes about Tai Chi giving 3 benefites which I usually refer to as as the ABC of Tai Chi.

Abdominal breathing

Balance

Concentration

[DaoChild]

Where should a beginner to Tao start? Tai Chi or Qi Gong? Please, discuss.

 

Tai Chi if you want a martial art + health benefits.

 

Qigong if you just want health benefits.

[Gerard]

Clean internal organs first if there is a serious blockage. Visit a TCM practitioner.

 

Otherwise heaps of Zhan Zhuang then go for Xingyi or Bagua.

 

It is very difficult to find a good Tai Chi teacher today; same for the other two but probably not as difficult as the latter.

[Ya Mu]

Tai Jee is a martial art. Qigong is an energy system. Tai Jee will take many years to get proficient. A real qigong form can get you very far in 1 year. Tai Jee is a great way of exercise - not sure it is as beneficial as rebounding exercise. Qigong is a great way of raising your energy body vibration rate for awareness enhancement and is good overall for health - not sure it is as beneficial as rebounding as a physical exercise. A really good idea is do both or at least a movement qigong form and internal qigong form simultaneously.

Why don't you try both and see what you like - only learn from teachers that actually know what each is.

[DalTheJigsaw123]

Tai Chi vs Qi Gong? I am trying to find a practice that would incorporate my mind and body. What practice is more practical for a beginner? Thank you!

[Mal]

{merged as a little practice run for myself }

[DalTheJigsaw123]

Well, I'm not sure if either should be the starting point for a beginner to tao. Reading Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, and learning to meditate might be better. But since you've asked, I would say both. Generally speaking, many qigong forms can be learned (not mastered) fairly quickly, and you can begin practicing and benefitting right away. Tai Chi takes much longer to learn, and a lifetime to refine...it's a long-term commitment. Many start, but do not continue for long. But it's very rewarding if you have the patience to stick with it. In my opinion, the two practices complement each other, and indeed many or all schools of tai chi include various qigong forms, both as warm ups and stand alone practices.

 

I have read Tao Te Ching at least 4 times and I have also read Hua Hu Ching as well. I have meditation of an off, but haven't been consistent with it. I have taken an introductory course in Tai Chi. I enjoyed it, but did not continue with it. I want to start it up again. I have never done Qi Gong, but have been reading/researching about it and it seems quite interesting.

[33865_1494798762]

Where should a beginner to Tao start? Tai Chi or Qi Gong? Please, discuss.

I started out when I was fortunate enough to (die and) reincarnate. It was a very alert and focus process but at the end it all had to do with surrender.

Qi kung (meditation) is spontaneous.

 

All yoga is about that, moving from the mind, which is all dead being in the past, and enter into the living body, universe. So in fact we have to be walking dead to benefit from qi kung (an any other yoga)

Edited September 18, 2009 by Guest

[Mal]

I have taken an introductory course in Tai Chi. I enjoyed it, but did not continue with it. I want to start it up again.

 

I started learning Tai Chi in high school, our art teacher actually took the entire school through it at morning assembly for a while. I kept trying to learn various forms but it wasn't till I found my present Sifu in my 30's that it started to "click" for me.

 

Qi Gong was a similar path, but not as long. Started looking for forms of Qi Gong to practice daily and have only recently started seeing results thanks to Santi's teachings.

 

So for me it was a process of learning both, with Tai Chi being my initial introduction.

 

I'm currently doing Qi Gongs in the morning and Tai Chi at lunchtime and later in the day if there is time around Kung Fu practice.

[DalTheJigsaw123]

I started learning Tai Chi in high school, our art teacher actually took the entire school through it at morning assembly for a while. I kept trying to learn various forms but it wasn't till I found my present Sifu in my 30's that it started to "click" for me.

 

Qi Gong was a similar path, but not as long. Started looking for forms of Qi Gong to practice daily and have only recently started seeing results thanks to Santi's teachings.

 

So for me it was a process of learning both, with Tai Chi being my initial introduction.

 

I'm currently doing Qi Gongs in the morning and Tai Chi at lunchtime and later in the day if there is time around Kung Fu practice.

 

 

What kind of results? Where do you work? You do the practices in the office or outside?

[vsaluki]

Where should a beginner to Tao start? Tai Chi or Qi Gong? Please, discuss.

 

I would say with a nice nap and a walk in the park.

[Teddy]

A beginner to Tao? ...Is it Chinese taoist culture you are interested in? ...or developing your chi? ...or philosophy? Qigong is a very broad blanket term that could apply to numerous very different practices ranging from sitting and meditating, to the hard qigong practiced by Shaolin monks that involves smashing iron bars over your head etc. If you want a practice that will quasi-miraculously change your life, I would recommend Lam Kam Chuen's books - Start with 'The way of Energy'.

[JazZen]

I suggest start out simple.

 

Look for group/teacher in your area.

Try out different things then commit your self to one that works for you.

 

5 elements

Qi gong postures

simple meditations - starting with grounding One breath or Buddha breath

spontaneous nei gong

Tai chi

 

If you are in NJ come visit and practice with us.

[DalTheJigsaw123]

I would say with a nice nap and a walk in the park.

 

That sounds quite lovely. I started taking naps and running/walking:)

 

A beginner to Tao? ...Is it Chinese taoist culture you are interested in? ...or developing your chi? ...or philosophy? Qigong is a very broad blanket term that could apply to numerous very different practices ranging from sitting and meditating, to the hard qigong practiced by Shaolin monks that involves smashing iron bars over your head etc. If you want a practice that will quasi-miraculously change your life, I would recommend Lam Kam Chuen's books - Start with 'The way of Energy'.

 

I would say the Philosophy and the Tai Chi and Qi Gong.

 

I suggest start out simple.

 

Look for group/teacher in your area.

Try out different things then commit your self to one that works for you.

 

5 elements

Qi gong postures

simple meditations - starting with grounding One breath or Buddha breath

spontaneous nei gong

Tai chi

 

If you are in NJ come visit and practice with us.

 

Thank you! I will definitely consider it:)

[Vajrasattva]

CHI KUNG is the root of Tai chi so start with that.