The Principles of Qi, Health Cultivation, Spiritual Practice, Chinese Medicine and Martial Arts

This essay is by Shifu Liu Quanjun and is the first in a series on the principles of Qi. It presents the classical understanding of health cultivation, medicine and martial arts as taught within the tradition, lightly edited for house style.

The traditional Chinese approach to health preservation differs fundamentally from modern Western fitness systems. Through generations of exploration, practice and reflection, ancient Chinese people arrived at a profound truth: human beings and the universe are interconnected as one, not isolated entities. All things in creation originate from Qi, transform through Qi, and ultimately return to Qi. This fundamental principle explains the essential life cycle of all creation — birth, existence, and passing away.

Qigong practice has long upheld a classic maxim:

Refine essence into Qi; refine Qi into spirit; refine spirit to return to the void.

These three phrases lay out the three progressive stages of Qigong cultivation and stand as core principles for martial-arts-based health practice.

Practice begins with the Hundred-Day Foundation Building. This phase follows strict disciplines for daily rhythm, diet, and practice timing. Its purpose is to build a solid, uncorrupted Qigong foundation for later advanced stages. During foundation building, one should maintain inner purity, observe restraints, abstain from sexual activity, and preserve essence and physical vitality to accumulate sufficient primal energy for the transformation of essence into Qi.

Upon completing the Hundred-Day Foundation, the practitioner's essence, Qi and spirit become abundant. For men, robust vitality creates an ideal preparatory phase for conception. Women may follow adapted practice methods to harmonise blood-Qi, nourish the mind, and attain full vitality, also reaching their optimal time for conception.

Tradition holds that children conceived under such pure vital energy and peaceful inner states are born physically robust, alert-minded, and of good temperament, often showing exceptional innate gifts from early childhood. This ancient method for pre-conception health holds profound biological wisdom worthy of modern-day research, preservation and promotion to improve human well-being across generations.

Human life cannot exist apart from Qi. Before birth, the foetus draws innate subtle Qi from its mother to sustain life in the womb. After birth, one breathes natural cosmic Qi directly, receives nourishment from breast-milk, and absorbs acquired nourishing Qi to sustain existence. As one grows, nutrition from grains and diverse foods provides subtle cosmic energy to power all bodily functions and sustain mind and body.

Many modern people live out of alignment with natural order: irregular sleep, poor lifestyle habits, imbalanced diet and turbulent emotions. Over time this creates Yin-Yang imbalance, blocked meridians and disharmonised internal organs, giving rise to sub-health and chronic ailments. Inner restlessness and attachment also emerge, bringing hardship and misfortune.

All human suffering and adversity stem from inner unrest rooted in the five poisons: greed, anger, delusion, arrogance and doubt. True peace and happiness cannot be sought externally; they come only through self-cultivation and quieting the mind. Let go of illusory attachments and selfish thoughts, nurture inner calm, maintain equanimity in all circumstances, and accept the world with pure joy. Only then may one escape suffering and live with ease and clarity.

The path of cultivation begins with self-discipline and culminates in inner stillness.

Cultivation first requires abandoning harmful living habits and centering on breath regulation. Practise breathing so it becomes natural, even, slow and long. Allow mind and body to merge with heaven-earth and the universal principle. Harmonised breathing relaxes the physique, unblocks meridians, balances the internal organs, dissolves stagnation and eases many latent minor ailments.

One's state of mind becomes clear and expansive, free from excessive worry over trivial affairs or gain and loss. Inner peace and joy arise spontaneously. From this perspective, the world appears gentle and beautiful, bringing quiet contentment in every season.

Human life lasts but a hundred years, fleeting like a steed glimpsed through a crack. Cherish every encounter in this lifetime. An old saying goes: “Karmic bonds bring people together though a thousand li apart; without affinity, they remain strangers face-to-face.” Affined souls feel familiar and connected upon first meeting; those without karmic affinity remain distant even when they meet. These are echoes of past-life connections re-unfolding in the present.

Sharing one planet, humanity ought to live in mutual respect, support and co-existence. Yet rampant selfish desire and attachment fuel endless conflict and misfortune, running contrary to natural law — a path not to be followed.

Governing a nation and healing the human body follow identical principles. The universal way emphasises harmonising and guiding energy rather than confrontation and suppression; working with nature instead of forcing transformation upon it. Creation itself does not need human alteration. What truly needs reforming, purifying and elevating are human selfishness, attachment and restlessness.

If humanity understood these truths, upheld rectitude, quieted the mind, cultivated goodness and released selfishness, there would be universal peace, health and well-being for all. This represents the Great Harmony dreamed of by sages, the Pure Land of Buddhism, the holy Heaven of Christian faith, and the ideal supreme state pursued by all authentic spiritual traditions.

Ordinary practitioners need not chase esoteric extremes. Begin with breath-work, Qigong and Taiji to loosen joints and sinews, soften the body, open meridians, calm restlessness and quiet a scattered mind.

With consistent practice, one gathers and stores inner Qi to strengthen one's fundamental vitality. The longer one practises, the purer and more powerful internal energy becomes, improving physical health and mental serenity. Latent human potential, mental wisdom and intuitive insight gradually awaken.

At this stage the practitioner truly comprehends the deep bond between human and cosmos, grasps the real meaning of cultivation and health preservation, and tastes the profound joy of martial-arts practice. One enters a state of joyful, absorbed practice, merging mind and body fully with the universal way and experiencing rare, sublime inner states.

Inner wisdom deepens day by day and one's spiritual horizon elevates. This marvellous experience of heaven-human unity and complete mind-body wholeness cannot be fully described in words; it can only be known through sincere, personal practice.

Turning to Qi theory in medicine: every medicinal herb possesses its own nature, energetic quality and flavour. In the classical understanding, Chinese herbal medicine can support healthy energy, dispel illness and produce few side-effects chiefly because each herb acts along specific meridians corresponding to internal organs.

Each organ fulfils unique functions with its own needs and susceptibilities. Illness arises when an organ suffers Qi-blood deficiency, meridian blockage or Yin-Yang disharmony. Physicians diagnose patterns and compose prescriptions by selecting herbs whose properties match the patient's condition.

Herbal formulas follow the principle of “sovereign, minister, assistant and envoy”: primary herbs treat root causes, secondary herbs harmonise effects, some tonify the constitution while others clear stagnation. Skilful combination balances Yin-Yang, tonification and purgation. Without harming primal vitality, formulas remove blockages, harmonise Qi-blood, restore organs and resolve illness to achieve both root-and-branch healing.

Daily dietary health preservation follows the same logic. An old proverb states: “Illness enters through the mouth; misfortune issues from the mouth.” Traditional medicine also observes: “Illness enters through the mouth; illness may also leave through the mouth.” Many ailments stem from poor diet and irregular lifestyle. Chronic and latent conditions can likewise be improved by adjusting diet according to the nature of foods and maintaining regular daily routines.

When we consume grains, fruits and vegetables, we essentially absorb the subtle cosmic Qi and natural flavours contained within food to harmonise our own Qi-blood and organs. That is the core truth of Chinese dietary therapy.

The holistic logic of harmonising body, breath and mind in Qigong and Taiji is entirely analogous to the pattern-based formulation of Chinese herbal prescriptions.

Every manipulation in Qigong acupoint therapy and tuina massage acts like an individual medicinal herb: some tonify, some purge; some are cooling, some warming; all serve to unblock stagnation. Treatments must be tailored to individual conditions with flexible combinations. Only with skilful technique and balanced tonification-purging can deep-seated ailments be resolved, Qi-blood restored, organs repaired and full recovery achieved.

All such therapy operates through the transformation of Qi. The deeper and purer the practitioner's Qigong power, the stronger the therapeutic effect. In the traditional account, many stubborn, complex illnesses resist ordinary medicine and physical therapy, and only genuine, powerful internal Qigong can dispel deep stagnation, restore organ foundations and eliminate long-standing disease.

That is the core value of practising Qigong and Taiji: first, self-healing — resolving one's own ailments, strengthening fundamental vitality, lengthening lifespan and perfecting mind and body; second, benefiting others — using one's cultivated power to relieve suffering and serve humanity.

Acupuncture therapy is also built entirely upon Qi and its movement. Practitioners select meridian points matching the patient's condition, inserting needles to guide smooth circulation of Qi-blood through the channels. Acupuncture uses pattern-based prescriptions, selecting points according to illness.

Tonifying methods are used for Qi-blood deficiency; purging methods for stagnant excess. Complex conditions call for flexible approaches: purge first then tonify, or tonify first then purge. All needle techniques aim to unblock meridians, harmonise Qi-blood and Yin-Yang, and restore proper Qi movement.

The root of most human illness lies in deficient Qi-blood, blocked meridians and disordered energy flow leading to Yin-Yang imbalance. Guided by acupuncture, circulation returns to normal, organ functions recover, and ailments subside.

Like herbal formulas, acupuncture prescriptions have no rigid template. They are adjusted according to the patient's constitution, evolving symptoms and treatment response. Sustained follow-up treatment removes disease at its source, replenishes free-flowing Qi-blood and restores full bodily function to prevent relapse. Afterwards, following natural rhythms and nurturing inner Qi maintains lasting health.

Human life thrives in gentle, continuous subtle motion. While external movements appear soft and slow, internal Qi-blood and primal vital energy circulate rapidly throughout every part of the body without cease.

All phenomena possess a three-sided nature. To understand reality and the universal way, one must examine things from three perspectives to perceive essence and underlying laws. Only by grasping the deep principles of cosmic Qi, mind-body transformation and natural order can we unite knowledge and action, understand what we do and why we do it, and become clear-sighted, self-aware human beings.

Much more remains to be said about the mysteries of Qi, cosmic principles, health cultivation, martial arts and medicine. Further explanations will follow. Should you have questions about the true meaning of Qigong and Taiji practice and health principles, you are welcome to discuss them, learn together and explore the universal truth side by side.