Chinese traditions and customs, some of them centuries old, have often mystified and enthralled many of us. The Chinese developed the arts of Tai Chi, Qigong and Kung Fu to preserve the well being of the person as a whole - to strengthen his body and sharpen his mind. Not surprisingly, they are also becoming popular in many Western nations and many people are joining million others in practicing these gentle arts.

QiGong

With weight reduction and fitness becoming one of the top priorities in the 21st century, everyone is on the look out for methods that will help them get the best out of the time they put in. Burning almost as many calories in a workout as impact aerobics, helping with back and neck pain and in addition, providing mental relief from stress, fatigue and even depression, Qigong is an exercise that heals your mind and works on your body.

Also written as Chi Kung, this technique literally means breath or energy exercise. At a very basic level, you couple your breathing with gentle movements of your body. However, there is a higher purpose to these movements. The variety of movements used in the practice activate and circulate the qi or energy within the body. Continue through these movements and benefit from regulated breathing and focused attention on special energy centers within and around the body, which is used to heal ones body and vitalize the mind. Accordingly, tis technique forms a core component of most Chinese practices and is used to help in therapeutic purposes, in the medical community, for spiritual well being, health maintenance and in the Chinese martial arts.

Qigong has a fairly intimate connection with Chinese martial arts and with traditional Chinese medicine, and its ultimate goal in both cases seems to be physical well-being but even more, spiritual well-being. It is thought to have been practiced in Buddhist and Taoist monasteries to help in concentration as well as control breathing during martial arts training. The health benefits that this activity provides have been studied and proved in many western studies. As more and more people become aware of the health and fitness benefits that Qigong brings, the popularity of this Chinese art is bound to keep increasing.

Kung Fu

Kung fu is one of the most well known Chinese martial arts with the Shaolin Kung Fu style immortalized on the silver screen after being featured in scores of films. Kung Fu is characterized by coordinated, explosive power and some of the more modern routines include great jumping kicks, which are descendants of the more traditional kung fu forms and acrobatics.

Kung Fu training involves stretching and calisthenics moving onto tougher endurance training, pushing you to levels of fitness that would otherwise have been impossible to achieve. Learning this activity increases your long term and short-term stamina, tones your muscle making you lighter and more flexible on your feet. When you couple this with a healthy lifestyle, it can contribute to lifelong fitness and health.

Practicing Qigong and Kung Fu regularly will take only a few minutes of your time. But their benefits have been proven to be enormous and everlasting.