Controversies within Qigong
In the 1980s and 1990s, the increasing popularity of qigong and related practices led to the establishment of many groups and methods in China and elsewhere which have been viewed in a critical light by more traditional qigong practitioners as well as skeptical outside observers. In this view, a large number of people started studying qigong under inadequate supervision, indeed, perhaps the majority of people today who study qigong study from books or video without any supervision by a teacher. This can lead to several problems, according to those who view themselves as representative of more orthodox schools. Most traditional training takes many years under the supervision of someone who has learned well in their turn, someone who can prevent the student from taking an unbalanced approach to their qigong. The theory is that unbalanced circulation of inner energies eventually leads to unbalanced effects on the various systems of the body, both mental and physical. Stories are told of people gradually developing chronic mental and physical health problems as a result of such training. A common term used by
English speaking practitioners for one example of this is "Qigong Psychosis."
This popularity has also led to increased attention for quasi-religious groups teaching styles of qigong in an atmosphere of New Age-like spirituality. As mentioned above, qigong has been associated in China with Taoist and Buddhist meditation practices for two thousand years, and this association has been exploited, according to traditionalists, by many would be cult leaders. Perhaps the parade example of a group promoting a synthesis of overt religiosity with their qigong is the Falun Gong, whose worldwide popularity grew to the point that the People's Republic of China government banned their practice outright in 1999.
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