History Of Chi Kung
Chi Kung was not invented by any person or persons, it is the result of a few rhousand years of man's experience in and development of the use of cosmic energy for various definite pruposes. Past masters developed the art of energy for curing illness, promoting health and longevity, enhancing fighting skills, expanding the mind, attaining different levels of consciosness, and achieving spirituality. These arts of using cosmic energy developed seperately, though they often influenced one another, and were known by different names such as the Art of Developing Elixir, the Art of Internal Strengthening, and the Art of Longevity. But they all had one common factor - they all involved chi, or energy. It is only in modern times, since 1950s, that these arts have been collectively known as chi kung, that is the 'art of energy'. For convenience, it is classified into five major schools, namely the medical, the martial, the Confucianist, the Taoist, and the Buddhist.
Chi kung began when prehistoric men discovered that they could manipulate their breath, which is a form of energy, in different ways for particular purposes. For example, they found by softly blowing 'shss...' onto a wound, they could marshal more strengths - perhaps to lift or move heavy objects. Such knowledge was initially acquired mainly through trial and error, but gradually accumulated to form a larger body of knowledge.
Chinese records show that by 2700 BCE, chi kung had become an important aspect of Chinese medicine. The earliest type of chi kung was probably a form of chinese meditative dance which encouraged energy balance in the body. There were also numerous dynamic chi kung patterns devised to cure as well as prevent illness. This manifested the health dimension; and the various practices constituted what is now collectively called the medical school of chi kung.
Since the Zhou Dynasty in the 6th century BCE, Taoist hermits, whose pre-occupation was longevity,...
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