健康英语新闻:Westerners sold on Health Qigong benefits

VANCOUVER, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- At the fourth International Qigong Tournament and Exchange currently going on in Vancouver, many of the competitors spoke Sunday of how the practice had improved their lives after being able to overcome the complications of illness and injury.

While many of the more than 300 competitors in the eight-day tournament were out to demonstrate they were among the best practitioners in the world, others were clearly happy to be competing after previously living with various ailments that had affected their mobility and overall way of life.

"I've been very ill," said competitor Felicia Kazmer of the New Jersey-based U.S. Health Qigong Association. "I have Lyme disease and infections. I was out on medical for six months last year and through the practice of Qigong, and especially the intense practice because I knew we were coming to the tournament, I am feeling better than I have in years and years. I know that this has opened the meridians and allowed the qi to flow and it's worked better than any drug."

While Qigong has been practiced in China for centuries, it is relatively new to the outside world. It is for this reason that after holding the biennial International Qigong Tournament and Exchange in China on the first three occasions, the event was moved abroad for the first time to help increase its awareness and growing popularity.

Altogether, 44 Health Qigong teams are in Canada from 25 nations and regions for the tournament.

Philip Moot, a 26-year-old from The Hague, was attending the tournament for a second time after taking in the last competition in Shanghai in 2009. Now studying Chinese acupuncture, the Dutchman said he took up Qigong after suffering from Pfieffer, a glandular fever that is a fatigue illness.

"I was always tired and when I woke up in the morning I felt already tired. Then I started with Qigong and exercises and it improved my health enormously. I'm doing it now, I think four years, and it made me stronger. The tiredness is gone."

Moot said the more you put into Qigong, a series of movements and postures that focuses on regulated breathing techniques, focused meditation and self-massage, the more a person will get out of it.

He compared the practice to charging up a battery and added he had now turned his parents on to Qigong, as well as a friend's father who is battling cancer. "It's helping him also to relieve the pain a little and not to think constantly of this disease."

According to various clinical studies, the regular practice of Qigong has shown to be beneficial in reducing stress, better balance, lowering blood pressure, enhancing the immune system, improving sleep patterns, as well as improved cardiovascular, respiratory, circulatory and digestive functions, among many others.

Depending on who you talk to, the benefits of Health Qigong means different things to different people, according to practitioner Susan Gallin. The New Jersey nurse took up the practice 18 months ago after undergoing knee surgery.

"But after the surgery my knee was never back to normal. So someone suggested to take Qigong," she said. "And I started taking it and it was amazing. I guess maybe after a couple of months my knee started to feel better and I'm not 100 per cent right now, but I do really well. I can squat down, things I couldn't do before the surgery."

Working in the medical industry, Gallin said she was at odds with the western mentality of taking pills for everything. She felt hospitals should offer more wellness programs than they do.

"Some of the hospitals in the United States offer such things that include this type of alternative medicine, but I don't think it's enough. Some of the bigger pharmaceutical companies offer wellness programs before the hospitals and you would think we are in a healthcare system that they would offer a wellness (program), try to keep you well so you don't get sick. I know for myself I always try to do whatever I can before I take a pill."

Reg Carter knows what it is like to endure a steady diet of pills after having to take anti-inflammatories and painkillers for problems with his joints. For the past two years the native Derby, England, has been practicing Qigong and was in Vancouver as part of the British team taking part.

"I had shoulder injuries, a broken collarbone, arthritis of several joints, elbows, my hands, fingers and the mobility has improved considerably since I've been doing the Qigong. The mobility has improved and also with the strengthening through the lower body and legs. The back injuries has improved. I don't get so much pain and I find I can move about a lot more fluidly," he said.

"I just feel like I've had a lot more life balance. I feel a lot more calmer. My sleep pattern's improved. I don't get angry so often, and if I do I find that I can get to grips with it and keep a lot calmer."

Toronto resident Karen Widmer has never endured the pain suffered by Carter, but credits the energy of Qigong in aiding the recovery of a broken wrist she suffered four years ago while studying a level one Qigong course.

Through regular practice, Qigong practitioners are said to be able to direct the energy in the body, the qi, towards the limbs.

"I completed it (the course) with a broken wrist and I could feel the energy repair much faster and the recovery time was better than they had actually thought," said the yoga instructor.

Now totally hooked on Health Qigong and with 5,000 hours of practice to her credit, the 50-something Widmer explains it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve the title of "master."

"While it looks like a physical process, it's actually very much more a spiritual process. Since we are electro-magnetic beings, it makes sense that we could send that current around in a positive way. But it does lead a person to longevity. It's a wellness that is authentic and I hope to be 100 years old and still doing it," she said.

"I have always enjoyed movement knowing that movement is health. And I would say that even people who aren't athletic can do this. It helps balance. Balance prevents falls, which prevents breakage. It is very beneficial to do this."