"I'm curious about something. Would the active component of Spring Forest Qigong reduce or eliminate the need for physical exercise or do we need both."
Oh yes. There times where I'd ride bike 20 miles in a day for a week straight, (and didn't practice) then I did 20 minutes of Qigong and I felt more balanced and fit, than I did all week.
The important part is to open and keep the energy flowing, which physical exercises does to an extent, though it's usually more muscle based exercise than Qi based. Physical Exercise is good, as long as the exercises are light and simple and repetitive rather than strenuous and you feel "laid out" afterwards. SFQ Active Exercises, not only balance your Qi but your muscle energy as well(depending on the exercises), It doesn't boost as much "muscle power" as much as physical, but practitioners would notice they would have "more physical power" in general, than when they would just do physical exercise.
However, they do go together pretty well, Active Exercises can be a substitute for physical exercises just like Meditation can be a partial substitute for sleep. Some people that meditate sleep for 2, 3 or 4 hours and they are totally fine (though some of the stories I've read, they would balance it with active exercise, to get an energy boost for the day)
I get redundant at times, so in short: do the Active Exercises, and cut down on your exercise time (but still get a little bit in now and then) This is just a suggestion after all, and every body is slightly different, so play around with doing both one day in short sessions, and see how you like it and find a good practice 'set' that works for you.
~Z
Last edited by Zakyrus; 07/26/12 04:39 AM.
