Twisting & Spiraling Qigong (Cloud Hands Qigong)

This practise builds on Taoist breathing and internal strength and awarenss practices and enables people to extend these natural practises into natural movement and emphasises the natural twisting and spiraling of the tissues of the body.

The twisting and spiraling of the tissues works in sympathy with the natural coiled structure of the muscles and tissues in the body. It unravels and lengthens the tissues more gently and effectively than linear stretching opening the flow of blood and fluids to all parts of the body.

This gradually removes tension and injury from the neck, shoulders, legs, hips and around the spine and organs, enabling them to move more naturally, as we did when we were children or as you may observe in "natural" sportsmen and women. It is also indicated if the muscles and soft tissues are very bound (as they often are in sportspeople) and/or injured, and in this case may be a useful precursor to the “Qigong for the Vital Organs, Joints & Spine”.

It is the heart of the Tai Chi form, containing the basic physical and energetic processes of Tai Chi within one simple movement. There being no long and varied set of movements to learn, students are enabled to focus on the internal processes (neigong) contained within Tai Chi much more directly. It is these internal processes which give Tai Chi its much reputed ability to heal the body, generate strength and energy, and release stress. This qigong is therefore recommended to students of Tai Chi and the other Internal Martial Arts.

In sports, this qigong’s emphasis on body alignment, turning, twisting, and shifting the weight is noted for developing the practitioner’s ability to sink, rise, turn and twist strongly, rapidly and without injury (preventing injury especially to the knees, hips and spine), essential in any sport, dance or martial art. It also develops superior body balance, speed and strength by unifying the body into a highly integrated whole.

At an intermediate level, it is particularly suited to integrating the Internal Arts into one movement, and as such forms the stepping-stone for bringing balance, relaxation, ease of movement, strength, energy and clarity into the movements of everyday life.