What Is Qigong? Meaning and Pronunciation

How do you pronounce qigong?

Say "chee-gung". The first syllable is "chee", as in "cheese". The second is "gung", said quickly, and it rhymes with "lung".[3] American dictionaries also list "chee-goong" and "chee-gong".[4]

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), the US government's research center for this field, gives the pronunciation as "chi gong".[1] You may also see the word written as qi gong or chi gong. All of these spellings name the same practice.

What does the word qigong mean?

Qi means air, spirit or life energy, and gong means skill.[5] Cleveland Clinic gives the literal meaning as "to work with qi".[2]

In its modern sense, the word is younger than the practices it describes. Before then it turned up only here and there, in martial arts and Daoist circles. A medical team in China's Hebei province chose it in the early 1950s while studying an older method called Neiyanggong. It spread after an award to the Tangshan qigong group in 1955.[6]

The age of the practices themselves is an estimate. Cleveland Clinic says about 4,000 years.[2] Austria's public health portal says more than a thousand.[7]

What is qi?

In traditional Chinese medicine, qi is described as energy that flows through the body along channels called meridians.[8] That idea belongs to the tradition. A 2020 commentary in the Journal of Integrative Medicine notes that the scientific method cannot test qi. It describes qi as a mental picture that guides movement, breath and attention during practice.[9]

What happens in a qigong session?

Reviews describe three parts that run together, often called the three regulations.[10]

Body: gentle movement or a held posture.
Breath: usually slow and deep.
Mind: focused attention, often with visualization.

Dynamic forms emphasize movement. Meditative forms use breath and mental focus with little movement.[1]

The US Department of Veterans Affairs describes classes with breathing exercises, meditation and simple repeated motions. You can follow along standing, seated, or with a walker or wheelchair.[11] A class may run 45 to 60 minutes, once or twice a week.[12] A short home routine can take about 10 minutes.[2] For a first sequence, see qigong for beginners.

What are the main types of qigong?

Cleveland Clinic counts hundreds of traditions.[2] Singapore's national health portal lists four sets under the name Health Qigong.[13]

Set	What the body does
Ba Duan Jin (Eight Brocades)	Eight gentle, slow movements that are easy to learn
Yi Jin Jing	Turning, bending and extending, especially through the spine
Wu Qin Xi (Five Animals)	Movements that imitate tiger, deer, bear, monkey and bird
Liu Zi Jue (Six Sounds)	Controlled exhaling on six sounds, with simple movements

Baduanjin is the Chinese name for the Eight Brocades, and the full sequence is here.

UCLA Health also describes medical qigong, where a practitioner works with another person through touch, breath and focus, and hard qigong, which trains explosive power.[14] This site covers the gentle moving forms.

Is qigong exercise?

Yes, of a gentle kind. Some researchers class it as meditative movement: some form of movement or body position, a focus on breathing, and a calm state of mind.[15] A 2026 review calls it low intensity and low impact.[16] If you also want endurance training, plan it separately.[17]

How is qigong different from tai chi and yoga?

Tai chi began as a martial art.[18] Traditional tai chi follows long, set sequences, and qigong usually uses simpler, repeated movements.[10] NCCIH considers tai chi done for health a form of qigong.[1] The qigong vs tai chi comparison sets them side by side.

Yoga is rooted in Indian philosophy and, in the US, centers on poses, breathing and meditation.[19] Qigong comes from China, so "qigong yoga" is a blend of two separate traditions.

Tai chi walking is the footwork of tai chi forms done as slow, deliberate walking.[20] It belongs to tai chi.

What is qigong good for?

That depends on the condition, and the research is still thin. The qigong benefits page lists what reviews report and how strong each result is. Qigong does not replace medical care, and NCCIH advises against using it to delay seeing a health care provider.[1] If you have a health condition, check who should be careful first.

Do you need a teacher?

A teacher can correct you in the moment, and Germany's TK health insurer recommends learning in a qualified class.[17] In the US, instructors need no license and there is no national certification standard, so ask about training and experience.[1] The guide to finding a qigong class covers what to look for.

What is qigong?