Simply put, chi is the animating life force that enables us to be. The process of learning to connect to, work with, increase, direct, control and use this energy is Chi Gung. It is not a mysterious, mystical or esoteric practice, but rather a clearly oriented, highly developed technique, which utilizes both mind and body to understand the nature and movement of our life force or chi.

Chinese Medicine understands that the chi follows the mind and the blood follows the chi. As humans we have the capacity to focus our minds and create intent. It is this intent that enables us to transform and move energy. The mind engages the body via the central nervous system. By transforming the nerves through releasing tension and improving their efficiency, blood flow (via chi and intent) is increased throughout the entire system, right down to the cellular level. This increase in blood flow, which enlivens and invigorates the body, is one of the methods Chi Gung employs to generate more energy.

Structural integrity is also a vital component of the extensive Chi Gung equation. The passage of chi through the physical body can be likened to the passage of water through a hose. In order for that water to flow freely at an even and controllable pressure, the space inside must be supported; the shape or circumference outside the hose maintains the room inside it. Any excessive twisting, sharp turns, collapsing of, or debris inside the shell will impare efficiency, distort and dissipate flow and make the pressure of the water (or blood and energy in the case of the body) uneven and difficult to control. Chi Gung removes the internal blockages by working with the mind, nervous system, breathing and so on, and maintains and builds structure by working with body alignments, joints and the mechanisms of movement.

Chi Gung is a very practical extension of an inclusive philosophy; one which views humans as an interacting amalgam of energies known as jing-chi-shen (physical-energy-spirit respectively), rather than a collection of isolated ones. As a method of health care and medicine it functions by requiring and encouraging the practitioner to became active partners in their own well being and healing processes. It is a practice of empowerment, of accessing the full potentials of body and mind to either balance and heal, or balance and refine.

While the science of this work rests in the techniques of body alignments, of specific movements, in the "how to" of making particular internal connections, the art rests in the application of these techniques, in calibrating the measurements and pressures to find comfort, fluidity and spring in your body, in maintaining a relaxed and centered ease under pressure and in using this awareness to enhance the quality of your every day life.