Lohan School of Shaolin - A Non-Profit Organization

What is Chi Kung?
Chi kung or “energy control” is the art of developing vital energy particularly for health, vitality mind expansion and spiritual cultivation. It is an important aspect of Chinese medicine and Tai Chi Ch’uan, used throughout China as a therapeutic exercise in many hospitals and clinics. The deep breathing relaxes the mind and promotes a state of well-being enhancing “chi” (energy) and oxygenating the blood, organs and cells of the body.

Is Chi kung the same as Qigong?
Yes, they are the same. “Chi kung” is the usual English spelling, whereas “Qigong” is the Romanized Chinese spelling. In romanized Chinese, “q” is pronounced like the English “ch”; and “o” like the English “u”. hence, both “Chi kung” and “Qigong” should be pronounced like the English “Ch’i gung”.

Are there many types of Chi Kung?
Depending on how we would define “types”, there are thousands of types of Chi kung. There are various schools of Chi Kung, such as Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung, Shaolin Damo Chi Kung, Taiji Eighteen Steps Chi Kung, Flying Crane Chi Kung, Fragrance Chi Kung and so on. Hence, it is understandable that there are also different levels of attainment in the various types of Chi Kung.

Is Chi Kung the same as Tai Chi Ch’uan?
They are different, although Tai Chi makes extensive use of Chi Kung. Basically, Tai Chi is a martial art, whereas Chi Kung is a collective term for various arts of energy, which may or may not be used for martial art purposes.

What are the benefits of practicing Chi Kung?
There are many wonderful benefits derived from practicing Chi Kung, and they may be generalized into the following five categories: * Curing illness and promoting health * Enhancing vitality and developing internal force * Promoting youthfulness and longevity * Expanding the mind and the intellect * Spiritual cultivation

What kinds of illness can practicing Chi Kung overcome?
According to Chinese medical thought, practicing Chi Kung can cure as well as prevent all kinds of illness, including diseases like asthma, diabetes, hypertension and cancer which are generally considered “incurable” by conventional medicine. Practicing Chi Kung is also very effective for overcoming psychological problems.

How does practicing Chi Kung cure so-called incurable diseases?
According to the Chinese medical paradigm, there is no such thing as an incurable disease, although a patient may be incurable if his disease, even a simple one, has done damage beyond a certain threshold. No disease is incurable because it is our natural birth right to overcome all types of diseases — if our psychological and physiological systems are working the way they should work.
Illness occurs only if one or more of the natural systems fail in their functions. When all our systems are functionally naturally, the Chinese figuratively describe this condition as harmonious Chi flow, i.e. the energy flow that supplies the right information to every part of tour body and mind, that provides the right defense or immunity when needed, that repairs all our wear and tear, that channels away toxic waste and negative emotions, and that performs other countless things to keep us alive and healthy, is functioning the way it should. If this harmonious Chi flow is disrupted, illness occurs.
The forte of Chi Kung is to restore and enhance this harmonious Chi flow, thus overcoming illness, irrespective of the labels one may use to define its symptoms, and promoting health, which the Chinese have always considered to be more important than curing diseases. It is significant to note that the claim of Chi Kung to overcome illness and promote health is not based just on the above philosophical explanation, but upon thousands and thousands of practical cases.

How is Chi Kung related to Kung Fu?
All great kung fu makes use of energy training (which is Chi Kung) to develop internal force, without which it remains at its external, mechanical level, considered by Chinese martial artists as rough and low-class. Hence, a kung fu master may look, and actually is, gentle, yet with his internal force he can cause much damage to his opponent if he wishes. More over, his internal force does not diminish with age, and he can apply it for peaceful uses in his daily living. Unlike emotional injuries, kung fu training with Chi Kung enhances harmonious Chi flow, thus promotes health, vitality and longevity.

How is Chi Kung related to Zen meditation?
There are three aspects in all types of Chi Kung, namely form, energy and mind. If you practice only the form, without the energy and the mind dimensions, then you are merely performing physical exercise, strictly speaking not Chi Kung, for there is no training of energy. For an effective control of energy, you have to enter what is called in modern terms ” a Chi Kung state of mind”. In the past, this was called “entering Zen” or “entering silence”. When you are in Zen or a meditative state of mind, you can, among other things, tap energy from cosmos and direct the energy to flow to whatever you want in your body. It is this mind aspect of Chi Kung, even more than its energy aspect, that enables Chi Kung masters to perform what lay people call “miracles”, or depending on their attitude, fakery.

The Lohan School of Shaolin and its representatives offer spiritual healing work as a part of its centuries-old religious mission of spiritual upliftment, world service and charitable activities. The spiritual healing work offered by the school is in no way intended to be a diagnosis, cure, healing, or treatment of any disease, condition or illness, in the medical sense of these terms. No part of our spiritual healing work is ever intended to be a substitute for professional medical treatment or advice. If you have a current medical condition, or even the possibility of a serious medical condition developing, you should seek the advice and care of a licensed physician or health care professional immediately. Any reference to “healing” in our programs, refers exclusively to personal spiritual healing, which may or may not occur through your participation in our religious and spiritual activities. You are solely responsible for your own medical situation and care, and the health of your physical body.