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Primordial qigong is a form of qigong purportedly developed by the Taoist sage Zhang Sanfeng. Also known as Wuji gong, it is said to have been developed by Zhang before he invented tai chi.
Practitioner Donald Rubbo wrote in Primordial Qigong, A Gem from the Treasure Chest of Taoist Mystical Qigong, "The Primordial Qigong system reflects the wisdom of the ancient Taoist sages and their theory of the birth of the universe. Primordial qigong is a three-dimensional physical mandala, and as such it encompasses all of the primary aspects of Taoist philosophy: the concepts of yin yang, the trinity (heaven, earth and man), the Five Element wuxing theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the I Ching , the bagua and the mystical aspects of numbers." [1]
The Primordial qigong system reflects the Taoist theory of the birth of the universe. The Taoist sages postulated that from the pre-birth state of wuji (Original Emptiness) came the primal spark and from the primal spark, taiji (Supreme Ultimate) was born. From taiji, yin and yang manifested as opposing forces.
Various English language authors have referred to primordial qigong as Tai Chi for Liberation (John P. Milton), Tai Chi for Enlightenment (Michael Winn) and Enlightenment Qigong (Andrew Fretwell).
The bagua is integrated into the primordial qigong form: the eight trigrams are represented by the placement of the body in the center facing the cardinal directions and awareness of the intercardinal directions: northeast, southeast, northwest and southwest, as one turns both counter-clockwise and clockwise throughout the form.
Roger Jahnke quoted Dr. Chen in The Healing Promise of Qi as saying: "The form called Primordial Qigong [Wuji Qigong] reverses time to reconnect the practitioner with the past and with their prebirth state to alter the course of the future. I practiced this Qigong faithfully and took some herbal formulas and, over some time, completely recovered from cancer." [2]
Primordial qigong was brought to the United States by lineage holder Master Zhu Hui, who allegedly healed himself of hepatocirrhosis by practicing this form daily. Zhu was taught primordial qigong by Master Li Tong.
Zhu's students included Donald Rubbo, Michael Winn, and Roger Jahnke. John P. Milton is another notable teacher of primordial qigong. Milton reports having learned the form at Wudang mountain in China.
Tai chi is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for self-defense and health. Known for its slow, intentional movements, tai chi has practitioners worldwide and is particularly popular as a form of gentle exercise and moving meditation, with benefits to mental and physical health.
Zhang Sanfeng refers to a legendary Chinese Taoist who many believe invented tai chi. However, other sources point to early versions of tai chi predating Sanfeng. He was purported to have achieved immortality.
Baguazhang is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school, the other two being tai chi and xingyiquan. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice. Baguazhang literally means "eight trigram palm", referring to the bagua "trigrams" of the I Ching, one of the canons of Taoism.
In Chinese philosophy, taiji is a cosmological state of the universe and its affairs on all levels, involving the interaction of Yin and Yang, the Five Phases and finally, all the concrete things in the universe. More concretely, taiji is a conceptual current throughout religious and philosophical traditions indigenous to China, contemporaneously studied and applied in the profession of acupuncture, and within traditional Chinese medicine throughout and beyond the Sinosphere.
In Chinese philosophy, a taijitu is a symbol or diagram representing taiji in both its monist (wuji) and its dualist forms in application as a deductive and inductive theoretical model. Such a diagram was first introduced by Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhou Dunyi of the Song Dynasty in his Taijitu shuo (太極圖說).
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Pushing hands, Push hands or tuishou is a two-person training routine practiced in internal Chinese martial arts such as baguazhang, xingyiquan, tai chi, and yiquan. It is also played as an international sport akin to judo, sumo and wrestling, such as in Taiwan, where the biannual Tai Chi World Cup is held.
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The bagua is a set of symbols from China intended to illustrate the nature of reality as being composed of mutually opposing forces reinforcing one another. Bagua is a group of trigrams—composed of three lines, each either "broken" or "unbroken", which represent yin and yang, respectively. Each line having two possible states allows for a total of 2 × 2 × 2 = 8 trigrams, whose early enumeration and characterization in China has had an effect on the history of Chinese philosophy and cosmology.
Bruce Kumar Frantzis is a Taoist educator who studied Taoism in China.
In Chinese philosophy, wuji originally referred to infinity. In Neo-Confucian cosmology, it came to mean the "primordial universe" prior to the "Supreme Ultimate" state of being..
Qigong, is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation said to be useful for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts, qigong is traditionally viewed by the Chinese and throughout Asia as a practice to cultivate and balance the mythical life-force qi.
Chen Wangting (1580–1660), courtesy name Chen Zouting, was a Ming dynasty officer who may have founded Chen-style tai chi, one of the five major styles of the popular Chinese martial art. He reputedly devised his style of tai chi after his retirement following the fall of the Ming dynasty.
Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, also known as Chivalrous Killer, is a two-part 1978 Hong Kong film adapted from Louis Cha's novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.
Wudangquan is a class of Chinese martial arts. In contemporary China, Chinese martial arts styles are generally classified into two major groups: Wudang (Wutang), named after the Wudang Mountains; and Shaolin, named after the Shaolin Monastery. Whereas Shaolin includes many martial art styles, Wudangquan includes only a few arts that use the focused mind to control the body. This typically encompasses tai chi, xingyiquan and baguazhang, but must also include bajiquan and Wudang Sword. Although the name Wudang distinguishes the skills, theories and applications of the internal arts from those of the Shaolin styles, these arts did not originate in the Wudang Mountains: the name Wudang comes from a popular Chinese legend that purports the genesis of tai chi and Wudang Sword by an immortal, Taoist hermit named Zhang Sanfeng who lived in the monasteries of Wudang Mountain. Wudang quan is often used synonymously with Neijia, but Neijia is a broader term that also encompasses Aikido and Qigong, which are not Wudang quan.
Wujiquan, known as the "Ultimate Void Boxing" or "A Rare and Secret Ultimate Void Boxing Skill" and "Mother Art of Tai Chi," is a Chinese martial art. It is a traditional system composed of 36 "Characters" divided into 18 kinds of natural climatic phenomena and 18 of Qi applications.
Qigong, the Chinese practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and martial arts training, has a history that extends back more than 4,000 years. Contemporary qigong is a complex accretion of the ancient Chinese meditative practice xingqi or "circulating qi" and the gymnastic breathing exercise daoyin or "guiding and pulling", with roots in the I Ching and occult arts; philosophical traditions of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts; along with influences of contemporary concepts of health, science, meditation, and exercise.
The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber is a Taiwanese television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same title. The series was first broadcast on TTV in Taiwan in October 1984.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Taoism: