What is the difference between qigong and tai chi?

Quite often when practices cross from one side of the world to another there is a lot of misunderstanding. Qigong is composed of two words qi and gong. Qi means air and also equates to life energy. Gong means work or exercise. When you put both words together it means an exercise that uses breathing methods to enhance your life energy.





Taijiquan (another spelling of tai chi chuan) is a martial art that uses principles of qigong, meridian theory, a very refined sense of body mechanics, etc.





Qigong is purely health and healing oriented while arts like Taijiquan, though very good for health and longevity, are martial in nature. Unfortunately most Taijiquan instructors (especially in the West) only teach the health and meditative aspects and neglect the martial. This is a very sad situation, as it only gives its practitioners a small slice and not the whole pie. Even if done for health purposes, the training should involve a broad spectrum. For the Taijiquan path this gives the best results for health. It does no good for anyone to water down this beautiful art.|||They are similar, but the primary difference is the meditations that are incorporated into the qigong. Qigong is more mind-body oriented in that it specifically aims to quiet the mind and encourage the flow of chi throughout the body and soul. Tai Chi is also good for balancing the chakras and encouraging the flow of chi, but does not incorporate as much in the way of meditation and calming of the mind. I have tried both, and i highly prefer the Qigong.|||Qigong falls under the tai-chi umbrella. To put it in very simple forms, qigong is like a type of exercise that can be done in tai chi style. There are also bagua, kung fu, and xing-yi qigong styles which are other forms of Chinese martial arts. Each qigong exercise works a different part of the body in a different way. Much like other Chinese martial art styles, qigongs have some wonderful health benefits to them too. I have been studying for years now and I always start my workout or practice routine with a few qigong exercises.