Exercises for Externally Training the Muscles and Bones While Internally Cultivating Qi

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Today globalization is a worldwide trend. With such a development, quite a number of English words have been adopted into Chinese language, such as sofa, coffee and jeep. However, the English language has also adopted some Chinese concepts; Kung Fu is one example. Kung Fu is an exercise composed of the elements of traditional Chinese military skills, training arts and physical and mental cultivation. In a narrow sense, training arts refer to what is known as martial arts in the West, including various schools of art, such as Shaolin, Wudang, Emei, Nanquan, Xingyi, Taiji and Bagua, etc. Military skills are often related to traditional weapons, such knife, arms and sword. And physical and mental cultivation concentrates on directing Qi to flow all through the body by means relaxation of the mind.

Li Xiaolong and Jin Yong contributed greatly to the dissemination of Kung Fu to the world.Thanks to films，the Kung Fu developed by Li Xiaolong is very popular in the Western world.Jin Yong has written many novels about Kung Fu.His novels are full of the traditional cultural elegance and Chinese spirit.Li practiced Kung Fu while Jin writes about Kung Fu.Both of them contributeda great deal to the development of Kung Fu all over the world.

Traditional Chinese Kung Fu concentrates on training both the external and internal body，known as the internal school and external school as represented by Shaolin and Wudang，both of which are the representatives of Chinese Kung Fu.The martial art represented by the Shaolinschool is marked by sturdiness，pose，resistance and human sense while the Kung Fu represented by Wudang school is characterized by gentleness，mental direction，body cultivation and stillness.

The internal school of Kung Fu concentrates on cultivating Qi. This way of practice is known as Qigong, which is marked by self-regulation through mental direction, respiration and pose adjustment as well as regulation of the mind, breath and physical activity so as to invigorate the potential energy in the body, balance the psychological aspects and strengthen the body. Qigong isthe supreme stage of health cultivation and can only be managed by a few masters.

Qigong is a magic exercise and is not easy to practice.

So today in China the most commonly practiced exercise is Taijiquan which was developed about 300 years ago. Though there are various schools of Taijiquan, theessentials are the same, that is, mental concentration, spiritual relaxation, gentle action and continuous performance.

Nowadays, martial arts masters are hard to come by, but the concept that “Life depends on doing exercises” has taken roots in the hearts of people. Considered as the contemporary”Kung Fu”(martial arts) by the Chinese people, doing exercises and fitness training at present have become the essential ways the Chinese people arecurrently practicing for keeping fit both in body and mind.

Playing football and basketball, which is all the rage throughout the world, is also extremely popular among the Chinese people. There is no lack of spare-time master players of football and basketball among young people, particularly among college students. Our national ball, table tennis ball, and badminton, which is easy to learn and play, boast a massive of players in China. Peopleoften play table tennis ball and badminton in earlymorning, at dusk or during noon breaks. Though it has not been a long time since the sports events like billiards, tennis and squash were first introduced to China, they immediately became popular among office workers.

The ancient people often wrote about mountains and rivers to express their feelings, whereas the sports events the contemporary Chinese people are going in for at present are also closely linked with mountains and rivers. Mountain-climbing and swimming, two outdoor exercises suitable both for the old and the young, can be either athletics sports or entertainment activities, either fashionable or traditional exercises. Moreover, outdoor exercises like rock-climbing, skiing, diving, windsurfing, automobile race, extreme sports popular mainly among the younger generation and team events which focus on team spirit make up all the entirely new parts of the fashion sports in China.

In comparison with athletic sports, fitness training is the way of keeping fit that is closer to everyday life.

Nowadays, varieties of professional gymnasiums, fitness centers and body-building clubs are nothing new in big and mid-size cities in China. Going to fitness centers has almost become the third most important spare time activity in which the urban white-collar employees are interested, ranking right after shopping and entertainment. In fitness centers, men would prefer to do physical exercises through sports apparatuses, while women are deeply interested in specialized training courses. Men keep fit through body-building, while women pursue beauty through fitness training. Practicing Oriental yoga can not only help to improve one’s health, but also help to cultivate one’s mind or moral character.

Practicing Western Pilates can not only help one to keep fit, but also help to better one’s build. Calisthenics is dynamic and full of vigor. Ballet sends forth graceful charm. Overflowing with enthusiasm, Latin dance and belly dance transmit the cultures and customs of SouthAmerica and the Middle East respectively. Moreover, with the implementation of the”Nationwide Body-building Project,”body-building activities have become popular in most urban communities, and even have reached ordinary households in China. The sports and body-building apparatuses installed within the communities have made it possible for the aged and the children to have the chance to do physical training right in front of their houses. In addition, household sports apparatuses have also helped to turn households into “domestic gymnasiums.”The Chinese people shall never call a halt to the pursuit of a healthier life.