It's possible for a person to be fit and not healthy. No matter how many weights you can lift or push ups you can do, your energy will waver if your internal energy isn't strong.
It's true that aerobic exercise has been shown to prevent memory loss, heart disease, diabetes, depression and obesity. Weight training stops our muscles from shrinking as we get older. But what about our internal organs? Because we can't see them, we tend to only think of them when something goes wrong. But it's the internal organs that govern the body. They are the key to living young and having excellent health.
Most people who do intensive exercise, for example professional footballers, age rapidly and burn out when they are in their thirties. Shaolin monks and disciples do as much exercise but do not age or burnout in the same way. This is because we practice Qigong.
Qigong exercises the internal organs through stimulating them and getting rid of energy blockage. Qigong has a regulating effect on the bodies energy. If a person's metabolism is too fast, it will slow down, if it's too slow, the body will shift accordingly. Too much stress leads to an increase in cortisol which leads to fat gathering around the belly. Qigong balances the hormones helping the stubborn visceral belly fat to melt away.
Going through life without practicing Qigong is like driving a car and never topping up the air in the tyres. The air is our Qi, it gets us places. Take the air out of the tyre and the car will go nowhere, take the air out of our bodies and we die. It is as simple as that. On a basic level Qi is breath, it flows where the blood flows, but on a deeper level it is the energy matrix of the body and when we do Qigong we optimize it to get the most out of ourselves.
When the Bodhidharma came to the Shaolin Temple he found the monks were weak from sitting meditation so he developed a unique system of Qigong to energize the monks and help them gain enlightenment.
While our goal may not be to become enlightened, we can use this simple but effective system today to have more control over our energy levels . Life is about energy. When we love something or feel passionate about something we have a lot of energy. Our love for martial arts gives us the mental energy to keep training. The Qi in our bodies gives us the physical energy to keep training. The more energy we have the more we can get out of our life. All you have to do is 20 minutes practice of Eight Treasures Qigong 4 - 5 times a week and within a month you will see the benefit.
Shaolin 8 Treasures is taught in 2 DVDs, Instant Health: The Shaolin Qigong Workout & The Way Of Qigong Volume 1
