China is famous for many things: tea, inventing paper, Chinese food, little yellow bread box taxi cabs, and of course kung fu. But not so many people know much about another part of Chinese culture: qigong. There are many different types of qigong (pronounced chee-gohng), but the basic idea is to strengthen your "qi," or energy.

The concept of qi is very old and the word can be interpreted in many different ways. The most simple and literal meaning is "air." It also means "breath," and so qi, when referring to the energy in people, is sometimes defined in English as the "divine breath" that was given to humans and that separates us from the beasts. In the Chinese language, the word qi appears in other contexts as well. For example, "sheng qi," literally "producing qi" means "to be angry." "Tian qi," or "Heaven's qi" means "weather," and of course "qigong," which is usually not translated but actually means "the practice of qi."

The two main types of qigong are separated into "hard" and "soft."

Soft qigong is more of a meditative type, mostly breathing exercises and fairly simple nonstressful movements. Hard qigong, on the other hand, is more intense and is practiced to cultivate great strength, serious stamina, and almost super-human abilities (supposedly). The guys who practice hard qigong are the ones who like to place themselves under bus wheels (while the wheels are still attached to the bus!) or smash bricks over their heads. Soft qigong practitioners don't go in for that type of performance stuff; they are more content to peacefully meditate and go about their business.

A basic tenet of soft qigong is the concept of "holding the ball." This is a simple position which is seen in many different forms of qigong. The basic idea is that you picture a ball in front of you (usually about as wide as your shoulders) and you place your hands on either side of the ball so that you are holding it up.

The aim is to create a circuit of qi. Energy (including electrical energy) circulates through your body and by creating this circuit with your arms you can exercise the flow of your qi. Sounds weird, but if you hold the ball for a while your hands start to get warm and kind of tingly. If you are doing it correctly, after a little while you should feel like the ball expanding and contracting. Then you just move your hands farther apart, then back in, then out again, etc.

There are many other simple ways of practicing qigong. Have you ever been walking along the street and seen somebody sort of waving their hands back and forth? Or just walking backwards? These are also types of simple qigong.

When my dad came to visit me recently, we saw an old woman walking back and forth on the sidewalk, backwards. Dad looked at me as if to say: "Is she completely off her rickshaw or what?" So I said, "It's OK, Dad, it's just qigong." Then he looked at me understandingly, as if to say: "Ah, I see. It's you who is insane!"

The "holding the ball" movement is also an integral part of taiji quan (sometimes spelled tai-chi), the "Supreme Ultimate Fist." Although not strictly a form of qigong, taiji is also a form of meditative movements.

By going through the movements over and over, you condition your body while at the same time relaxing your mind. This, combined with movements specially formulated to increase qi flow (including lots of ball-holding), creates a veritable qi fest in your system.

Taiji also has other practical applications: many of the movements are defensive and offensive and useful for fighting. Although the movements are slow (in most styles), when sped up they can be applied to combat situations. However, to actually be able to use taiji in a fight you have to practice it for many years.

Most people associate taiji with old folk. If you go to a park (the best one is the Temple of Heaven) in the early hours of the morning, you can usually see lots of older folk doing taiji and other forms of qigong. However, this is just because they have more time on their hands.

Taiji is a good thing for anyone of any age to practice. It, as well as other forms of qigong, can give you more energy for the day and reduce stress, and is also said to prevent illness, extend your lifespan, and even increase virility.

Serious practitioners of qigong are reputed to not only prevent illness in themselves, but actually be able to cure others of disease. The theory is that after cultivating a certain amount of qi, you become able to shoot qi out of your body. Not so much like Liu Kang in the computer arcade game, Mortal Kombat, but more subtly, like Pat Norita's character, Mr. Miyagi, in the movie "Karate Kid," when he does that clapping thing on Ralph Macchio's leg.

Basically you can produce heat or electric current with your hands, which you can transfer to others. I have never seen anything like this myself, but I have heard from other people who have seen it. In any case there is enough hearsay to give one pause for thought.

If you are in China, for more than a tour, it is worth it to explore this ancient part of Chinese culture. How cool would it be to go back to the States or wherever and say, "I learned martial arts in China"?

If you are interested in learning taiji or other martial arts, you can contact the Martial Arts Community Club. The contact person is Derrick Cope, and his phone number is 86(0)10-65323115.

For qigong, there is a place located within the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) with a guy who teaches both hard and soft qigong. But he doesn't speak English.

There is also an old man, named Master Qiao, who teaches people martial arts in a small wooded area beneath Jimen Qiao on the North Third Ring Road. If you go there, go between 5 and 9 am.

Hey, you're in China! Might as well learn some Chinese kung fu or qigong!