The 2001 National Qigong Gathering (“Moving into wholeness; the transformational power of Qigong) took place at the Omega Institurte in Rhinebeck, upstate New York from October 4-8. I was invited along as TCUGB representative on the Taijiquan & Qigong Federation for Europe (TCFE) by Jim MacRitchie, Qigong author and old pal of Ronnie Robinson.
Coming just over 3 weeks after the terrible events of September 11 in New York City attendance was well down – around 200 people in place of the anticipated 500 plus and as a result the mood was rather more subdued than might otherwise have been the case. Indeed Jim himself did not come due to family concerns about the safety of flying. However, in his absence I was treated with every courtesy especially by the impressive Chairperson, Roger Jahnke, and the Administrative Director, Rebecca Kali. The organic food and the accommodation were first class.
I sat in on a number of workshops; not surprisingly, there was a strong emphasis on healing and energy, and I was generally very impressed with the professionalism of the presenters such as Richard Leirer and Mark Johnson. I enjoyed the keynote address by Michael Winn on “Qigong and the Evolution of the Three Human Brains”. These were the instinctive/primitive, the emotive and the logical and the idea was to know the “universal Qi laws” that can “accelerate the evolution of individual body-mind consciousness into a steady state of joy and bliss, known as the Qigong state”.
“The National Qigong (Chi Kung) Association (NQA) is the umbrella organisation that embraces and supports equally all schools, traditions, teaching styles and philosophies of Qigong and Tai Chi. We are a professional organisation as well as a community of Qigong enthusiasts with all levels of experience.” From my observations this is an accurate description of the NQA as evidenced by the presence of a group of Falun Gong practitioners and the most interesting though technical lecture and seminar from Dr. Lili Feng on “Recent Discoveries in Scientific Qigong Research”. What set the whole event apart from a proper academic approach to an art or science was that nobody really seemed to even want to question anything no matter how bizarre or obscure; everything was indeed “embraced and supported equally”. In one sense this is noble, in another it means that the Chinese Internal Arts have a credibility gap that cannot be narrowed until a more scientific approach is adopted.
I also attended an important “Panel Presentation: Standards, Credentials and National Examinations in Clinical Qigong”. The panel discussed suggested requirements such as “Instructors” having a minimum of 200 hours tuition over 2 years including (most sensibly) a “Qi Deviation Class”; while “Medical Specialists” would be expected to have 400 hours of experience in Qigong and related subjects such as anatomy and including a clinical element over 4 years. There was also a suggestion that acupuncturists should also teach Qi cultivation. These are all issues that we will have to face in Britain, but also in Europe eventually. The Americans are dealing with them now.
Before I left I was asked to say a few words and told the participants that I had arrived thinking I knew what Qigong is, but was leaving wondering quite what it isn’t.
The TCFE hope to continue the transatlantic connection. I would like to thank the NQA for their generosity and courtesy.