An Ancient Art |
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Legends abound in China of Shaolin priests and warriors who were able to perform amazing feats. Even today, there are many local movies in Asia with legendary Chinese stories where priests are characterised as magicians in a similiar vein as Merlin in Arthurian legend. Amazingly, the feats that can be performed were not paranormal and the powers they possessed were attained by practicing the ancient Chinese art of Qigong (Qi is pronounced chee which means breath or life force whilst gong is pronounced kung - as in Kung Fu, the martial art). Qigong is actually a form of exercise that combines breathing and slow movements. These actions are not really what we might define as exercise since there are no forceful movements or laboured breathing. So what has this got to do with Masters Swimming you might ask? At the Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Qigong, it was reported that runners improved their lung capacity by 30% within three months by just spending a few minutes each day with gentle qigong movements !! It therefore goes to reason that Masters swimmers who have occasionally found themselves short of breath during training could benefit by practicing Qigong movements. It would also appear that if lung capacity can be improved, then other tangible health benefits could also be achieved. As with all exercise however, there are different Qiqongs for different purposes but it only needs to be practiced for 5 to 10 minutes per day. Whilst longer periods are not beneficial, they must be performed every day. Qigong is already on the web and you can use your search engine to learn more. |
 if you have no time for recreation you'll surely find time for illness
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