It was a chilly Melbourne day on 31 May 2025, but those who braved the weather and made their way to Ashburton Primary School in the afternoon were treated to an interesting and engaging account of the history of, and philosophy behind Tai Chi and Qigong by Grand Master Eng Chor Khor. The information provided gave a wonderful foundational understanding of where Tai Chi and Qigong have come from and thus have the potential to add greater depth to our practice in these two disciplines.
Here is a summary of my key takeaways from the talk…
Qigong is a health practice, not a martial art. Using breathwork with movement, Qigong is a system of exercises concerned with cultivating, strengthening and balancing qi - vital energy - and balancing yin and yang in order that the body can function well. Tai chi, on the other hand, is a martial art and, as such, was developed for fighting - attacking and defending. However, the principles of Qigong are present in Tai Chi so it could be said that Tai Chi and other martial arts contain Qigong movements but Qigong does not contain Tai Chi or any martial art movements.
Qigong is a much older discipline, with beginnings around 1122 BC and the I Ching (Book of Change). Qigong developed gradually over time to become a multi-faceted health and medical system. Tai Chi developed from martial arts that had their beginnings during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) when the Daoist monk, Zhang San Feng, dreamt of martial arts knowledge and created Wudang Cotton Fist.
In the early 19th C, General Chen Changxing retired to his Chen Vllage and taught Chen Cannon Fist. Yang Lu-chan who knew Cotton Fist but wanted to learn Cannon Fist, went to Chen Village to secretly learn the Chen-style directly. He then created the Yang-style which mixed Cotton Fist and Cannon Fist and became known as Tai Chi Chuan (taijiquan), or Supreme Ultimate Fist.
The “qi” in Qigong - energy work - is not the same as the “chi” in Tai Chi. Tai Chi is an abbreviation for the more accurate and complete “taijiquan”, Supreme Ultimate Fist. Whilst the qi in Qigong relates to vital energy, life force, breath… the chi (or ji) in Tai Chi relates to the “ultimate" or “extreme”, representing the cosmos and the balanced interplay between yin and yang.
Qigong is largely based on Daoist philosophy - the original Chinese philosophy. Daoism is about freedom and spontaneity in order to live happily and in harmony with the natural flow of the universe. Confucianism is a different and more rigid philosophy that centres around rules and laws and proper behaviour in relationships in order to create a harmonious society. There is little relationship between Confucianism and the development of Qigong or martial arts. Buddhism came into China from India and affected martial arts with the introduction of temples that needed to be protected.
Tips for getting the most out of your tai chi practice:
- movements are soft and gentle
- breathing is comfortable (silent/quiet, long, diaphragmatic)
- stand upright
- be present/focused
- always keep something back eg. don’t lock elbow when punch
- Tai Chi consists of whole body movements
- neck and waist turn together
- it’s a soft approach to defeat heavy attack
- think upper part of body light, lower part heavy
Thank you, GM Eng Chor, for so generously sharing your knowledge with us.
Diane Low
Student, Doncaster East Evening Centre
Updated: 6 August 2025
