What Is Medical Qigong?
External Qi projection can be used in therapeutic clinical practices.
Medical Qigong As A Healing Therapy
Medical Qigong is the specialized skill of applying Qigong principles within the theory and diagnostic parameters of Chinese Medicine. The eldest therapeutic modality of Chinese Medicine, Medical Qigong is a holistic approach to healing and addresses symptoms as well as the cause of disease.
Medical Qigong is a non-invasive, potent, and efficacious therapeutic practice.
Chinese Medicine in general excels in the treatment of singular, as well as complex medical issues.
Medical Qigong as a modality can utilized in response to chronic, debilitating, and idiopathic disorders that are resistant to conventional treatment methods.
Qigong as a practice and healing modality is recognized for its effectiveness as a measure of disease prevention.
Medical vs. Health Qigong
The term Medical comes from the latin medicus, meaning: Physician (one who is trained and qualified to practice medicine).
As the name implies, Medical Qigong is directed under a competent and thoroughly trained practitioner who is cable of making a differential diagnosis rooted in Chinese Medicine theory.
Health Qigong (or Qigong for Health) on the other hand, is Qigong practiced and taught for personal health and wellbeing.*
The focus of Health Qigong can be generalized (overall health), or incredibly specific (i.e., the health of an individual organ). Regardless of scope, practices can provide fabulous health benefits.
We love Health Qigong for its universal appeal, accessibility, and effectiveness. And we regularly recommend Insight Qigong™ to anyone looking for a complete, profound, and rewarding practice.
However, it’s important to note that the term “Medical Qigong” may be erroneously applied to what is in reality Health Qigong. The alarming increase in this trend may be due to intentional marketing strategies, misinformation, or both.
“The biggest difference between Medical Qigong and Health Qigong is the focus and level of practitioner training.”
Health Qigong is usually taught in group classes—either as a workshop, weekly class, or even online—where everyone is taught the same general practice to receive health benefits.
Health Qigong can be taught by anyone who has been trained to understand the practice (how it works and why you would do it)—and, most importantly, is capable of passing it along.
Medical Qigong is usually conducted personally (one-on-one), as it involves a practice that’s specifically tailored to you and your particular medical diagnosis.
Medical Qigong is a highly specialized skill requiring extensive knowledge of complex theory, anatomy, physiology, and pathology.
The level of training a true Medical Qigong practitioner completes is significant (thousands of hours) and is absolutely essential to provide correct assessment of, and remediation, to your personal health.
*Contrary to recent attempts to officially trademark and brand “Health Qigong” there is no single or standardized practice. While proprietary systems that can be classified as “Health Qigong” practices do indeed exist, the categorical terminology itself is nonexclusive. Practices recognized as “Health Qigong” have been around for thousands of years and are incredibly varied in form, usage, and scope.
Types of Medical Qigong Practice
Medical Qigong is either taught as an “internal” practice of self-healing for a specific ailment and/or employed as an “external” practice whereby Qi is transmitted by the practitioner to address identified medical issues.
Internal Medical Qigong
Medical Qigong as an internal practice utilizes and reinforces your innate capacity to heal.
Self healing internal Medical Qigong may take the form of prescriptive exercises, breathing techniques, meditation practices or a combination thereof.
The internal practices employed will be specifically tailored to each individual based on their constitution, specific diagnosis, and treatment plan.
As with all Medical Qigong practices, internal Qigong prescriptions originate from a differential diagnosis rooted in Chinese Medicine theory.
A skilled Medical Qigong Practitioner will offer detailed guidance for the internal practices and have the knowledge to provide appropriate modifications as your diagnoses and/or prognosis changes.
External Medical Qigong
External Medical Qigong practices involve the direction and transmission of Qi from practitioner to patient.
Through specific, training and with great personal cultivation, a practitioner is able to treat energetic imbalances by purging excesses, tonifying deficiencies, and harmonizing the overall energy within a patient—achieving a holistic restoration of health and balance.
The external application of Medical Qigong is often conducted in a clinical setting.
Consequently there is a contemporary movement to rebrand Medical Qigong as Clinical Qigong. For better or worse, this has garnered support from those wishing recognition as clinicians, as well as individuals seeking common (and therefore diluted) usage of the term “medical.”
Regardless of politics or labels applied, the practice of Qigong as a medical modality should only be performed by a properly trained and qualified professional.
The process of external Qi transmission without proper training and understanding carries significant risk and potential danger for both practitioner and patient.
Medical Qigong Healing Treatments
Receiving External Qigong from a qualified practitioner can have a profound effect, and is usually combined with an Internal Qigong prescription.
During a Medical Qigong treatment the practitioner often works within a few feet of the patient’s body and may (or may not) incorporate light touch to guide the movement of Qi.
The patient may experience sensations such as warmth, tingling, coolness, or vibrations as the Qi moves in the body and as the stagnant energy releases.
Generally, patients experience the treatment as extremely relaxing and rejuvenating. However, as the goal of most treatments is the removal of “energetic blockages,” it’s not uncommon to experience emotional release during—and potentially after—a treatment.
How To Learn Medical Qigong
As already mentioned, Medical Qigong is a highly specialized skill.
200 hours of specific training is considered the minimum entry-point standard within the field. This level of training should provide the foundational skills and guidance to begin practicing Medical Qigong.
In the interest of pursuing excellence, Red Thread’s foundational Medical Qigong Practitioner training is 300 hours.
If you’re considering Medical Qigong training, be sure to take the time to do your research and diligently exam the nature of any given program of study.
As you familiarize yourself, you’ll likely form your own criteria to differentiate programs. For those just beginning their search, here are some good basic points to consider:
Verify that it’s actually Medical Qigong. Or, is the term “medical” being applied to a Health Qigong process?
Credentials. This should seem obvious, and yet it still needs to be said: Anyone teaching Medical Qigong should have the background and credentials to do so (like actual medical training—Chinese, or otherwise, for instance…).
Program requirements. What level of skill do you want to attain? Do you want to be challenged to learn and grow, or are you looking for an easy “certification” to hang on your wall?
Accessibility. Will you get direct access and transmission from the teacher? Is personal attention to detail important to you (being 1 of 20 students), or are you okay with broad strokes (1 of 200…or possibly even more students)?
It’s your education—not a commodity. In general, you really do get what you pay for (and no genuine training ever goes “on sale!”).
Most importantly—don’t be shy in asking questions. Having a direct conversation with a teacher will give you a feel for how approachable they are. It will also give you a sense of their depth of knowledge and teaching style.
How to find a Medical Qigong Teacher
Finding a qualified teacher that is right for you will require some investigation and diligence.
To begin, mastery is highly subjective.
And the title of “master” (Shifu/Sifu) is also a qualification title. The inherent value of the title is also subjective and highly dependent on how it was obtained (like the title “Sifu,”—which may be self-adopted).
So once again, the advice is to do your homework.
To help dispel some confusion (and assist in understanding practitioner qualifications) what follows is a list of progressive levels of training indicative of what you should expect from a reputable school.
Levels of progressive Medical Qigong training include:
Medical Qigong Practitioner (MQP | 300 hr.)*
Advanced Medical Qigong Practitioner (AMQP) | 600 hr.)*
Medical Qigong Master (MQM | 1000 hr.)*
Medical Qigong Doctor (MQD | 2000 hr.)*
*The hours listed here are specific to Certification at Red Thread Institute and may vary depending on the school and/or program or study.
As you can reasonably expect, the Medical Qigong Practitioner should be capable and competent, and the Medical Qigong Doctor a superlative clinician demonstrating excellence in both practice and virtue.
Once again, conducting your own research and comparing trainings is important. With just a superficial search you’ll encounter many programs offering what appears to be similar structure, and even presenting similar language (we’ve encountered a few “borrowing” verbatim from this website!).
Authenticity (and quality) of training however, can not be plagiarized.
When looking for a teacher or a practitioner—take the time to educate yourself, interview prospectives, and don’t be shy to ask a lot of relevant questions.
You will then be well on your way to making a discerning decision for yourself!
