Qigong

Qigong
Qigong practitioners at World Tai Chi and Qigong Day event in Manhattan.
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	氣功
Simplified Chinese	气功
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin qìgōng Wade–Giles chi-kung Tongyong Pinyin cìgōng Yale Romanization chìgūng IPA [tɕʰîkʊ́ŋ] Wu Romanization chi去 khon平 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization hei gūng IPA [hēi.kʊ́ŋ] Jyutping hei3 gung1 Southern Min Hokkien POJ khì-kong
Korean name
Hangul	기공
Hanja	氣功
Transcriptions Revised Romanization gigong McCune–Reischauer kikong
Japanese name
Hiragana	きこう
Kyūjitai	氣功
Shinjitai	気功
Transcriptions Romanization kikō

Qigong, qi gong, chi kung, or chi gung (simplified Chinese: 气功; traditional Chinese: 氣功; pinyin: qìgōng; Wade–Giles: chi gong; literally: "Life Energy Cultivation") is a holistic system of coordinated body posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts, qigong is traditionally viewed as a practice to cultivate and balance qi (chi), translated as "life energy".

According to Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian philosophy, qigong allows access to higher realms of awareness, awakens one's "true nature", and helps develop human potential.

Qigong practice typically involves moving meditation, coordinating slow flowing movement, deep rhythmic breathing, and calm meditative state of mind. Qigong is now practiced throughout China and worldwide for recreation, exercise and relaxation, preventive medicine and self-healing, alternative medicine, meditation and self-cultivation, and training for martial arts.

Over the centuries, a diverse spectrum of qigong forms developed in different segments of Chinese society. Traditionally, qigong training has been esoteric and secretive, with knowledge passed from adept master to student in lineages that maintain their own unique interpretations and methods. Qigong practices were brought to the public beginning in the 1950s, when the Communist Party institutionalized and began research into traditional Chinese medicine. Although the practice of qigong was prohibited during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s; it was once again allowed after 1976. On account of the political climate at the time, the emphasis of qigong practices shifted away from traditional philosophy and cultivation, and increasingly focused health benefits, medicine and martial arts applications, and a scientific perspective. Since a 1999 crackdown, practice of qigong in China has been restricted. Over the same period, interest in qigong has spread, with millions of practitioners worldwide.