Master Tse’s Qigong Dao 230

Dong Gong 動功

Master Tse practising Qigong – Dong Gong 動功

In Qigong we have Jing Gong 静功. Quiet and still exercises like meditation. These help us to calm down and settle. We also have Dong Gong動功. Dong 動 means moving, so these are like our forms. Stillness and movement, this is balance, we need both. When we practise Qigong we always do our movement first and then we practise meditation or stillness.

Dong Gong or movement is very important. The Chinese character for Dong動 is made up of two parts. The left hand side is Chong 重, which means heavy. The left side is Li 力 and this means strength (Li is also in Gong 功). One is heavy and the other is strength. It means if we want to lift up something heavy, we need strength, this is an action, a movement. So it is totally opposite to Jing – quietness.

In Jing静, the left side is Qing青, which means green. Whenever we see greenery we feel more relaxed, calmer and enjoy the view. When we see something heavy we know we have some hard work in front of us and so we need to move. So in Qigong we need both Dong Gong and Jing Gong to balance the Qi inside the body.