40 Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 2, Issue No.

6

Tbe Science of i heolinq is a suivey of moie than
ieseaich papeis on the science of Qigong Taiji
quan anu Qi healing iecently publisheu by Tiauitional
Chinese Cultuie Institute Inteinational http
wwwtcciicom In this papei Bi Nawalinski summa
iizes the most ielevant Chinese anu English liteiatuie
foi ieaueis It is available as a fiee PBF uownloau
with iefeience citations Beie aie a few exceipts anu
summaiy of this inteiesting ieseaich papei
Introduction
The Qi healing aits oiiginate in the
Baoist cultivation anu meuical piactices of
ancient China These aits aie baseu in
pait on the use of Qi vital eneigy Yi
intention anu Shen spiiit They in
cluue the aits of Qigong Nei uong Tai Chi
Nei Ban anu Exteinal Qi Bealing
Nany stuuents of Qigong anu Tai Chi
begin stuuying these aits because they
have a numbei of meuical pioblems they
hope to heal with them In China the heal
ing aspects of these systems have been
accepteu since antiquity Westein stu
uents lack this cultuial context anu aie
apt to seek scientiic valiuation of theii
piactice
We aie often askeu by oui Westein
stuuents Is theie any scientiic eviuence foi Qigong
anu Tai Chi health beneits This suivey anu sum
maiy of liteiatuie was uesigneu to offei an oveiview
on the science of Qi healing with ieview of moie than
English anu Chinese stuuies The puipose of this
summaiy is to familiaiize the ieauei with the volume
of mateiial available anu pioviue a staiting point foi
fuithei ieseaich It is impoitant to note that the infoi
mation in this publication is foi infoimational puipos
es only Please ieau caiefully the BISCLAINER above
anu consult with youi physician oi health caie piacti
tionei befoie beginning any foim of exeicise oi tieat
ment
If you uo ueciue to begin piacticing Qigong Tai
Chi oi any of the many othei Chinese healing mouali
ties we encouiage you to inu an ait anu teachei that
iesonates with you These aits aie iaiely quick ixes
It is often saiu that these aits aie a joui
ney not a uestination In many cases they
iequiie uiligent uaily piactice foi an ex
tenueu peiiou of time befoie iealizing any
beneits Foi example in Nei Ban Inteinal
Alchemy the highest level of Qigong
tiaining the iist stage is only ieacheu
aftei a minimum of uays of intense
piactice To maintain this level the stu
uent piactices eveiy uay
Beginnings of Qigong
Tiauitional Chinese meuicine attiibutes
the oiigin of Qigong ) to the legenu
aiy Yellow Empeioi Buangui ) anu
his classic book of inteinal meuicine
Buangui Neijing ), about
yeais ago Bowevei a Neolithic vessel
neaily yeais olu shows a shaman in meuitative
anu gymnastic exeicises associateu with eaily Qigong
In spite of this ancient histoiy it uiu not become popu
laily associateu with health piactices in China until
the s It then unfoitunately became a foibiuuen


The Science of Qi Healing
A Survey of the Research and Benefits of
Tai Chi and Qigong Practices
(Part 1 of 2)
Ted Nawalinski, Sc. D.
(Edited by Shawn Cartwright)
Topics in Research
November -December 2012
41
Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)


piactice uuiing the Cultuial Revolution anu not until
about uiu scientists anu health piactitioneis
ieestablish Qigong as one of the effective methous to
be useu in health caie foi the geneial populace
Qigong can be thought of as the piocess thiough
which cultivation of Qi vital eneigy anu Yi
intent anu consciousness achieve an optimal state of
both minu anu bouy This can be uevelopeu with gieat
effectiveness thiough an inuiviuuals uiligent self-
piactice consisting of guiueu movement anu static
meuitation leauing to a state of empty minu oi still
ness wheiein one senses an expansion of self a con
nection with the iest of the univeise
But the tiuly committeu stuuent thiough long anu
ueuicateu piactice may achieve an enhanceu awaie
ness of Qi anu the ability to guiue it towaiu sites in the
bouy Bighly expeiienceu Qigong healeis can uiiect
theii Qi outwaiu exteinal Qi EQ oi exteinal Qi theia
py EQTto help unhealthy inuiviuuals
balance the eneigy system in theii bouies anu begin
theii own piocess of iecoveiy
Qigong and Tai|i
Taiji is cleaily ielateu to the postuies of
Qigong anu lows fiom Qigongs own ancestial begin
nings It evolveu as a soft maitial application of the
uevelopment of Qi anu is one of thiee extant inteinal
maitial aits Tai }i Quan Ba uua Chang
Xing Yi Quan subsumeu unuei the
Qigong umbiella as its maitial piogeny Not often
piacticeu nowauays as the potent maitial ait it is the
gentle postuies of Taiji aie insteau uone as a health-
builuing exeicise by stuuents who may not even be
awaie of its maitial oiigins
The legenuaiy beginning of the maitial ait of Taiji
Quan Quan ist is attiibuteu to one Zhang San
Feng aiounu AB but the piinciples
weie known at least yeais eailiei 0bfuscating
the founuation of this ait aie the facts that theie may
have been at least two peisons of that name Zhang is
iepoiteu to have liveu in the Sung - the
Yuan - anu the Ning Bynasties -
he is iepoiteu to have piacticeu on Biagon-
Tigei Nountain }iangxi Piovince anu Wu
Bang Nountain Bubei Piovince seveial
hunuieu miles apait anu is saiu to have been taught
by gou thiough a uieam Theie is also a Zhang San
Feng iecoiueu in a book of the Ning Bistoiy but with
no mention of maitial aits oi Taiji Chuan
We uo howevei have cleai histoiical coniima
tion of a human founuei of Taiji in one Chen Wang
Ting (1600-1680), a militaiy geneial at the
enu of the Ning Bynasty ueneial Chen mouiieu the
stanuaiu militaiy tiaining of Postuies Long Fist of
that peiiou combining it with Chinese Neuicine anu
Taoist Nei uong Inteinal Piactice into what
became the beginnings of Chen Style Taiji Quan
the oiiginal foim of Taiji Quan
Beneits of Tai|i
We may think of the health veision of Taiji as
a linkeu set of Qigong postuies constituting a foim
piacticeu foi its piomotion of seienity balance
stiength anu Qi enhancement Both of these activities
shaie the piactice of ueep abuominal bieathing com
monly associateu with meuitation anu which is
known to elicit the ielaxation iesponse although uif
feient aieas of the biain aie tiiggeieu Nany of the
same meuitative beneits acciue as shown by the im
piovement in caiuiovasculai paiameteis skin tem
peiatuie changes anu the psychological health of
wheelchaii-bounu elueily who piesumably weie lim
iteu in theii ability to fully execute the piesciibeu pos
tuies of theii Qigong piogiam
Taiji is iegulaily iecommenueu as an exeicise al
teinative especially foi the elueily in Sunuay supple
ments online meuical E-zines in lay magazines
42 Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 2, Issue No. 6

geaieu to that age segment such as AARP Nagazine
anu Pievention anu even by the 0S National Insti
tutes of Bealth NIB Always touteu aie its meuitative
aspects anu the impiovement in balance to pievent
uangeious falls which account foi some
ueaths annually Two well-known ieseaich papeis
founu that only months of Taiji tiaining in a gioup of
elueily subjects ieuuceu the inciuence of falls by ovei
as well as loweiing bloou piessuie anu impiov
ing seveial psychosocial paiameteis
An impoitant ieview papei uocumenteu the bene
its of both Qigong anu Taiji fiom ieseaich publisheu
only in peei-ievieweu English-language jouinals
which weie citeu in the meuical liteiatuie anu which
useu a ianuomizeu contiolleu tiial uesign Seventy-
seven aiticles with paiticipants foimeu the uata
base foi this meta-analysis Fiom all stuuies ie
vieweu physiological anu psychological health bene
its weie iuentiieu These weie gioupeu into nine
outcomes bone uensity caiuiopulmonaiy effects
physical function falls anu balance quality of life self-
eficacy patient iepoiteu outcomes psychological
symptoms anu immune- anu inlammation-ielateu
iesponses The authois concluue that an impiessive
bouy of ieseaich exists showing that a wiue iange of
health beneits acciue in iesponse to both these meui
tative movement foims Since seveial othei papeis
among the othei iefeiences listeu below combineu
Qigong anu Taiji in assessing health beneits they
weie consiueieu to be similai foi this piesent compi
lation anu no attempt was maue to sepaiate theii
combineu uata some Taiji-only stuuies weie also in
cluueu
Integrating witb Western Medicine
Bowevei the wise patient makes use of the
best chaiacteiistics of oll healing moualities incluuing
sensible nutiition auequate anu vaiieu exeicise uaily
quiet time foi ielection anu ienewal tiauitional
Asian iemeuies of pioven lineage as well as Westein
meuicine with its ability to iapiuly mustei biological
anu technological iesouices foi uiagnosis anu tieat
ment The last of these iemains the alteinative of
choice in most acute situations seiious tiauma fulmi
nating infections acciuents wounus bioken bones
anu the like
But the plagues of mouein Ameiican health aie
the chionic illnesses cascauing fiom too little atten
tion to the pieventive measuies above hypeitension
obesity uiabetes cancei caiuiac anu ienal insufi
ciency musculo-skeletal weakness anu pain Alzhei
meis uisease anu the attenuant psychological issues
of stiess anxiety anu uepiession
Chionic uiseases aie among the most common costly
anu pieventable of all health pioblems
x Seven out of ten ueaths among Ameiicans each
yeai aie fiom chionic uiseases
x Beait uisease cancei anu stioke alone account
foi moie than of all ueaths in the 0SA
x Biabetes is the leauing cause of kiuney failuie non
-tiaumatic lowei leg amputations anu blinuness
among auults
x 0ne in thiee Ameiican auults anu one in ive
youths is obese
November -December 2012
43
Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)


The Centei foi Bisease Contiol estimates that
chionic uisease tieatment accounts foi ovei of
national health expenuituies oi about foi eve
iy Ameiican with a chionic uisease
0nfoitunately the 0S is not alone in this epi
uemic Chionic uiseases weie iesponsible foi mil
lion ueaths woiluwiue in China iepoits that
these uiseases account foi of the total ueaths in
that countiy in Canaua of auults anu of chil
uien aie obese
If we woulu only stiuctuie oui uaily activities
aiounu the sensible piactices known to the ancients
anu to oui gianupaients to builu a healthy base to oui
lives much of the aimamentaiium of Westein meui
cine woulu lie iusting anu we woulu only iesoit to
the backup of the suigeon anu the antibiotic when the
appenuix inlames oi a lump is uiscoveieu Lives
woulu be fullei healthiei anu happiei buugets woulu
balance iniim olu age woulu be the exception teimi
nal illnesses woulu not lingei the yeais auueu to oui
lives woulu be anticipateu with joy not uieau
With this in minu the ieauei must exeicise all
uue uiligence - anu uaie I say obsession - in ciafting a
healthy anu sustainable lifestyle using the pieventive
measuies outlineu heie as well as common sense anu
goou juugment in what infoimation anu piactice to
auopt oi uiscaiu
Tbe How of Qi Healing
Fiom a Westein meuical peispective it is not at all
cleai how Qigong facilitates the healing piocess Some
possible mechanisms incluue the impiovement of im
mune functions incieasing miciociiculation anu
impioving the elasticity of bloou vessels iaising
the pain thiesholu oi iegulating the metabolic
system thiough the ceiebial coitex anu the cential
neivous anu caiuiovasculai systems
It has been suggesteu that nitiic oxiue N0 acts as
an effectoi molecule to meuiate the metabolic func
tions along the Qi meiiuians of the bouy N0 is a gas
uiffuses quickly meuiates many impoitant metabolic
pathways in the bouy anu has both healing anu toxic
piopeities N0 functions in two impoitant ways it is
a messengei by which cells communicate with each
othei anu its toxic piopeities aie useu by the immune
system to kill oi slow the giowth of invauing oigan
isms N0 has been consistently founu in highei
concentiations in skin acupoints which themselves
aie associateu with low electiical iesistance anu con
centiations of ionic calcium anu cholinesteiase as
they tiace neuiovasculai bunules
Waim neeuling of the leg acupoint Zu San Li St
in oluei people piouuceu a signiicant
inciease in peiipheial bloou N0 Nicioinjection
of N0 into the biains of iats uuiing electio-
acupunctuie of the St point facilitateu the noimal
hypeitensive anu biauy caiuiac effects The valiua
tion of N0 as the chemical effectoi foi acupunctuie is
not yet ceitain anu its iole in Qigong even less cleai
but it is possible that similai mechanisms woik foi
both since Qigong piactice anu a neeuleu acupoint
taigeteu to a given oigan both piouuceu myoelectiici
ty at othei sites along that oigans meiiuian

Tbe Effects of Qi Healing
The bulk of ieseaich on Qigong anu its ability
to heal has been uone in China laigely within the past
two oi thiee uecaues The extiaoiuinaiy meuical inu
ings of the eaily woik on this ancient piactice has at
tiacteu the attention of health caie woikeis mainly in
the 0niteu States anu }apan anu has inspiieu moie
iigoious scientiic stuuies with appiopiiate contiols
anu statistical analyses to veiify the healing capabili
ties of Qigong as both a self-piactice anu as a healing
mouality in the hanus of an exteinal Qi piactitionei
This ieview of the stuuies on self-piactice anu
exteinal Qigong healing is baseu on a selection fiom
well ovei papeis Nany weie available only in
Chinese so summaiies by Kevin Chen anu Kenneth
Sanciei weie invaluable in making this infoimation
available to non-Chinese ieaueis 0thei summaiies
44 Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 2, Issue No. 6

anu meta-analyses compileu small iepoits into mean
ingful statistics
Theie aie also a few populai iepoits as may
have appeaieu in health-caie newsletteis online E-
zines anu lay magazines With many iecent empiiical
stuuies theie is little uoubt of the eficacy of Qigong in
positively affecting a iemaikable spectium of human
ailments The inclusion of animal mouels in vitro
stuuies anu the statistically signiicant inuings in
many of these suppoit the aigument that Qigong iep
iesents a healing mouality that ueseives seiious con
siueiation foi uaily use as the base foi a sounu health
piogiam as well as a supplementaiy aiu in conjunc
tion with conventional Westein theiapy when that
becomes necessaiy
0nuoubteuly the ieauei will be most inteiesteu in
those stuuies uiiectly involving human beings anu
theii uiseases The inclusion of woik involving inani
mate objects oi cell cultuies oi laboiatoiy animals
may seem unimpoitant compaieu to those on sick
people but theii inclusion in this ieview is vitally im
poitant to suppoit what might iightly be consiueieu
the moie ielevant woiks Cell cultuies anu mice aie
not subjecteu to a placebo effect as might be human
patients so they may in fact be a moie cieuible testa
ment to the eficacy of the powei of Qi than woulu a
human subject susceptible to the inluence of sugges
tion oi wishful thinking
Application of Qigong
to Ailments of tbe Elderly
Seveial papeis in this ieview of the scientiic
liteiatuie speciically auuiesseu the beneits of Qigong
piactice anu EQT foi both healthy anu iniim elueily
but populai aiticles also appeai almost weekly in
newspapeis anu magazines They univeisally encoui
age piacticing Qigong anu Taiji foi theii health-
piomoting activities in builuing lowei bouy stiength
impioving balance anu ieuucing stiess Anu in gen
eial CAN useis weie signiicantly moie likely to iate
theii health as excellent anu bettei than last yeai
than uiu iesponuents who uiu not use CAN
The speciic beneits commonly obseiveu in those
inuiviuuals who piactice iegulaily incluueu things
such as a ieuuction in pain anxiety anu uepiession
impioveu balance impioveu muscle stiength anu
physical functioning enhanceu immunity ieuuceu
joint stiffness lowei bloou piessuie impioveu cogni
tive functioning a Taiji stuuy ieveiseu symptoms of
aging anu longei lives - all of which uiiectly oi inui
iectly impiove the quality of life these seniois enjoy
In a stuuy of hypeitensive patients Qigong exei
cise impioveu seveial bloou chemistiy paiameteis
anu incieaseu mean levels of the anti-aging enzyme
supeioxiue uismutase theii piesciiption uiug uosag
es coulu be uecieaseu anu theii bloou piessuie im
mune iesponse cholesteiol anu bone uensity all im
pioveu This same ieview noteu a stuuy of pa
tients with ceiebial aiteiioscleiosis who expeiienceu
impiovements in memoiy uizziness insomnia tinni
tus numbness of the limbs anu veitigo heauache aftei
only one to six months of Qigong piactice
In a stuuy of patients eithei piesenile oi with
ceiebial functions impaiieu by senility six months of
Qigong piactice piouuceu impiovements of oi
moie in eight of the fouiteen main clinical signs anu
symptoms contiol gioups that eithei walkeu walkeu
quickly oi ian slowly insteau of piacticing Qigong im
pioveu in none of the symptoms moie than
Rheoencephalogiaphy showeu that bloou low to the
biain was incieaseu uuiing Qigong exeicise
In one stuuy of pain the analgesic effect peisisteu
foi six months aftei the tiial enueu Bowevei long-
teim chionic conuitions may not iesolve as shown in
a stuuy of neck pain in elueily patients wheie theie
was no signiicant uiffeience between Qigong anu ieg
ulai exeicise gioups A similai stuuy of neck pain
which hau peisisteu an aveiage exceeuing thiee yeais
November -December 2012
45
Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)


founu a beneit with Qigong piactice ovei the no-
tieatment contiols but it was not statistically signii
cant
To be continueJ

Bownloau the entiie uneuiteu papei with all iefei
ences in PBF foimat
Refeiences
Yang }W Auvanceu Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan vol 0ne
Tai Chi Theoiy anu Tai Chi }ing YNAA Publ Cen
tei }amaica Plain NA 0SA
Zhang X} et ol Chinese Encyclopeuia of Qigong
Beijing In Chinese
Wan ZC Chan uX Fang WZ et ol A Pieliminaiy
0bseivation on the Effect of Qigong Waiqi on the Func
tion of Naking Bloou Pioc iu Natl Acau Conf on
Qigong Science uuangzhou
Shen uX anu uao }X Exploiation of the Necha
nisms of Qigong Anti-Cancei Theiapy China Qigong
Science - In Chinese
Wang }S Li BZ anu Zhao }Z Expeiimental Stuuy
of Compounu Analgesia by Qigong Infoimation Tieat
ing Instiument anu Acupunctuie Pioc nu Intl Conf on
Qigong Xian
Wang }S Li BZ anu Zhao }Z Expeiimental Stuuy
of Compounu Analgesia by Qigong Infoimation Tieat
ing Instiument anu Acupunctuie Pioc nu Intl Conf on
Qigong Xian
Chen K anu Yeung R Exploiatoiy Stuuies of
Qigong Theiapy foi Cancei in China Integiative Cancei
Theiapies -
Nailetta NA anu Spieiing NN Tiace Elements
anu Nitiic 0xiue Function } Nuti Nay Suppl
S-S
Na SX Enhanceu N0 Concentiations anu Expies
sion of Nitiic 0xiue Synthase in Acupunctuie Points
Neiiuians } Altein Compl Neu Api -
Wei B Buang CL anu Kong } The Substiate anu
Piopeities of Neiiuians A Review of Nouein Reseaich
Acupunctuie Neu -
Li S Chen K Wu Y }iao } anu Tao L Effects of
Waim Neeuling at Zusanli ST on N0 anu IL- lev
els in the Niuule-Ageu anu 0lu People } Tiauit Chin
Neu -

Ted Nawalinski, Sc.D., has more than 36 years experi-
ence in Chinese Internal Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Qigong ana
meaitation. For the last 15 years he has aevotea most of
his attention to Taifi, Qigong, ana the healing properties
of fooas ana meaitation. His classes with elaerly people
in the western suburbs of Philaaelphia offer a holistic
approach to wellness, with nutrition ana exercise aavice
to complement the movement ana breathing of Taifi. Tea
is a lifelong biologist ana brings a global perspective to
his interest in fitness ana health.