What do you know about Chinese Internal Exercises

As a species, we are no longer hunter-gatherers; therefore, we no longer need to build extreme muscles. This means we really don’t need to do anymore any heavy elaborate muscle building exercises, squash, or jogging. Of course, there are exceptions to this, as indeed there are to everything! What activities most people can derive benefits from are gentle internal activities that enhance blood flow and improve breathing enabling the body to heal itself properly.

These exercises have actually been practiced for a very long time in Asia. They were first introduced to the world three thousand years ago in the medical paper that was introduced by the Yellow Emperor. This 24 volume document is known as "The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine" and it entails a discussion between the Yellow Emperor himself and six of his Ministers. This document is actually a consummation of all the information the Chinese had gathered dealing with medicine and was committed in writing around 250 B.C. It is regarded as the world’s oldest medical treatise. In 1949, it was translated into English during the period when the West was starting to take an interest in Maitland Chinese medicine, particularly, acupuncture.

Lao Tse, the founder of Taoist philosophy also acknowledges in the manuscript "Tao Te Ching" these exercises, which appeared long before the Yellow Emperor’s document, which implies these exercises may have even earlier supporters. If these gentle exercises have been around for thousands of years, it is only logical to assume that they must have helped people restore, develop or maintain their health otherwise they would have been abandoned and forgotten a long time ago.

In our present age, these exercises have found new life in Japanese "Do-In" clubs where business associates meet regularly in order to address their specific health problems and work together. These exercises are called "Chi-Kung" (which translates to breathing and energizing) in China.

Some time ago, the Gauolin Research Report published a study led by Chinese physician Pao Lin. This study involves the participation of 2,873 patients who allegedly were suffering from terminal cancer. In treating these patients, he utilized Chi-Kung exercises. After six months of study, 12 percent of the cancer patients experienced a full remission of their symptoms, while an amazing 47 percent manifested significant improvement. The rest of the patients (41 percent) had no change in their condition despite using those "revitalizing exercises." Be that as it may, a 59 percent rate of improvement rate is extremely impressive considering it was achieved without the use of any type of surgery or drugs.

In 1976, a physician named Cecilia Rosenfeld self-experimented with these exercises. She learned them under the tutelage of Dr. Stephen Chang, author of the book "The Complete System of Self-Healing" and California practitioner. Results from Dr. Rosenfeld’s study showed that she derived almost instantaneous positive effects from the exercises she mastered from Dr. Chang. She was so amazed of the results that she decided to recommend them to her own patients. Her patients manifested an 80 percent overall improvement in their state of health after only a week of exercise. She was impelled to recruit eight nurses who were instructed in these revitalizing exercises. Each nurse was assigned to one group of patients. The outcomes were indeed again impressive. They showed patients experiencing major improvements without any pain or side-effects. The nurses were so inspired of the outcomes that they would spend their days explaining this energy based path to wellness.

One nurse described her routine in this manner: "We felt as if we were ready to die after working (non-stop) for eight hours standing. But since performing these exercises a hundred times a day, we now have more than enough energy to do our tasks tirelessly and properly".