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An elderly man with a long white beard performing a Qigong posture

What Qigong Forms Should I Study?

5 animal qigong 5 element qigong 8 trigram organ Feb 14, 2021

White Tiger Qigong’s Trinity System is a system that was put together by Tevia Feng. He trained over 50 different kinds of Qigong styles and martial arts. He put together 3 ancient Taoist systems of Qigong that he believes are the most effective forms of Qigong he has ever learned. He believes that these 3 forms of Qigong will get you tangible results in the modern-day. He calls these forms, “functional Qigong” as there is a lot of Qigong that will take many many years to reach proficiency and for the average person it is unreasonable to practice. These forms of Qigong have the depth that even an advanced practitioner can still be challenged while allowing the complete beginner to go deep.

Each of the 3 forms of Qigong, 5 Element Qigong, 5 Animal Qigong and 8 Trigram Organ Qigong are distinctly different offering a variety of pathways in which to explore Taoist Medical Qigong.

Differences between the 3 systems of Qigong and the unique advantages of each.

Each system of Qigong has its unique qualities and style.

Glossary:

System- a system of Qigong that consists of Qigong forms and sets
Set- a combination of Qigong forms
Form- a single Qigong exercise

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8 Trigram Qigong’s unique attributes:

The breath and movements are continuously flowing. They are soft and gentle so that anyone at any level can jump in and do them. The movements give a gentle massage to the internal organs.

The forms are done in a horse stance while focusing on rhythmic, coiling, dragon-like, undulating flows. This is the most gentle, yet internal of all the 3 Qigong systems.

People this is best suited for:
8 Trigram Qigong Teacher Training Online
People who want a more gentle and flowing Qigong. People who want to gently massage their internal organs and a supple spine.
This Qigong system is the best for people with back and neck pain or back mobility issues. It is also really good for shoulder mobility.

Number of forms=8
Age: Shrouded in mystery, some claim 140+ years old while others claim over 2,000 years old
Origin: Wudang Mountain, China

5 Element Qigong’s unique attributes:

This Qigong is a staccato Qigong done in place with 5 different stances that are related to the 5 Elements. Each Qigong form focuses on one of the 5 specific organ systems and those related meridians through 5 different animal movements that relate to the element. For example, Dragon is the water element and moves like water as a soft, spiral movement, working on the kidney system while Tiger is with the Metal Element and is hard and linear, working on the lung system.

People who this is best suited for: 5 Element Qigong

People who want a deep satisfying squeeze, want to sweat and feel like they got a deep whole body mind workout. People who want a mix of deep movement coupled with meditation.

For those who want to do Qigong in one place. People who like deep stances and deep stretching while strengthening at the same time.

Number of forms=6
Age: 1,200+ years old
Origin: Wudang Mountain, China

5 Animal Qigong’s unique attributes:

This Qigong system is from Hua Tuo who is the creator of Medical Qigong. It is the oldest known and first Medical Qigong system ever created. It is based on 5 different animal movements that work on the meridians, organs and bones. It was designed so that you move the way the element does to benefit that organ system. It has 5 different animals and each animal has 4 different forms laid out in seasons. Thus, there are 20 total forms. It is the most dynamic of 3 Qigong systems and has the most variety of movements.

People who this is best suited for:
People who want to walk in their Qigong as this is a walking form.
People who want a variety of movements and ways to move in their training.

Number of Forms= Contains 4 Roads (Set), each Road (Set) consists of 5 Animals. 5 Animals X 4 Roads= 20 Qigong forms in total.
Age: 2000+ years old
Origin: Anhui, China

How the Trinity System comes together

All 3 Qigong systems of the Trinity system are very different styles of Qigong, but all share some common traits:

  1. They are all ancient Taoist Qigong forms from Lao Zi Taoism which is based on nature and is not religious.
  2. They all predated the standardization of Qigong forms after 1949, thus they are original.
  3. They are all focused on health and longevity.
  4. White Tiger has fused them with cutting edge science (sports and neuroscience).
  5. These are all used for mobility and emotional balance.

All of our Qigong maintains it’s original spirituality based on Lao Zi Daoism. We did not alter or change it. What we did is add cutting edge scientific frameworks to apply to the ancient teachings to help modern people understand the Qigong more and for a better learning experience. We are also utilizing it to evolve the practice.

Learn more about each and see them in action:
https://www.whitetigerqigong.com/5-element-qigong-rt-4
https://www.whitetigerqigong.com/8-trigram-qigong-online-course
https://www.whitetigerqigong.com/5-animal-qigong

 

We ranked each form in order from Best, 2 and 3 (last place)

Quality 8 Trigram 5 Element 5 Animal
Flowing Best 3 2
Strengthening 3 Best 2
Core Best 2 3
Soft Best 3 2
Intensity 3 Best 2
Variety 2 3 Best
Complexity Easiest 2 Best
Deep breathing 3 Best 2
Diversity 3 2 Best


Still don’t know which Qigong system is best for you? Try our Qigong online courses or free Youtube videos and try them out.