A reader asks:<\/p>\n
Hi Marcus
\nI observed that many of the people I see practicing Qigong in the park have big belly. Some people on the net say that the belly is big because it’s full of chi. But I wonder if it’s just omentum fat which is usually under the abdominal muscles…
\n<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\nOkay, here’s my reply:<\/p>\n
I’ve certainly heard the ‘Qi Belly<\/em>‘ theory. If you’ve ever heard of the martial arts pioneer ‘Robert W. Smith’ (no, not the lead singer from the ‘Cure’<\/em>), you’ll know that in a lot of his books you’ll see photos of internal martial arts masters taking a full force punch from him to the belly.<\/p>\n
Now they certainly had Qi Belly’s.<\/p>\n
However, I believe today there are far more ‘Blubber Belly’s<\/em>‘ than Qi Belly’s<\/em> out there. This has certainly been my experience. <\/p>\n
Having been the proud owner of a belly I can tell you I feel much healthier without it.<\/p>\n
Qigong is a Chinese art and the Chinese have a different view on what a healthy body should look like.<\/p>\n
Or they did until exposure to Western cultural influences took over.<\/p>\n
The Chinese ideal of a beautiful, healthy body was one that was rounded and smooth. The theory being harmonious and abundant Qi flow fills the body.<\/p>\n
A little bit like the difference between a hosepipe with water flowing through it and one without.<\/p>\n
Not the best metaphor but it will do.<\/p>\n
What I say now is just my own humble opinion based on my own direct experience of 20 years in the Chinese martial arts and Qigong world.<\/p>\n
So if you don’t like what I have to say, fine, believe what you will. My aim is to share my experiences with you, to help you avoid the dead-ends and pitfalls I’ve encountered on my Qigong journey.<\/p>\n
So here goes…<\/p>\n
If there’s one lesson I’ve finally learned and it’s been a long, drawn out and often painful lesson, it’s this:<\/p>\n
You’ve got to take everything people in the Qigong\/Martial arts world say (including me) with a healthy pinch of salt.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Do your own research, trust your own instincts, rely on teachers that have earned your trust and believe your own direct experiences.<\/p>\n
Do this and you won’t go too far wrong.<\/p>\n
Oh, and if you’d like to find out how I lost my fake ‘Qi Belly<\/em>‘ I invite you to read this blog post I wrote:<\/p>\n
Qigong and Weight Loss<\/a><\/p>\n
Enjoy your practice,<\/p>\n
Marcus<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A reader asks: Hi Marcus I observed that many of the people I see practicing Qigong in the park have big belly. Some people on the net say that the belly is big because it’s full of chi. But I wonder if it’s just omentum fat which is usually under the abdominal muscles… Okay, here’s … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qigong15.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qigong15.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qigong15.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qigong15.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qigong15.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qigong15.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qigong15.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qigong15.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qigong15.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}