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It comes from the Sanskrit word "Yuj", which means "yoke" in English. My interpretation for "yoke", is a frame that fits over a person's shoulders to carry a load equally divided between two ends. Think of a person carrying a bucket at either end of a carrying bar with them in the middle, carrying the load evenly.

In one bucket, we have our physical bodies and in the other bucket we have our mind. If you fill one bucket more than the other then it is difficult to carry. If we simply work on our physical bodies then this is not true Yoga. We have not filled the bucket for the mind, the reverse obviously applies. If we only work on one side of the equation then we do not gain the true improvements for body, mind and spirit that Yoga offers.

Tai Chi and Qigong work in exactly the same way. You need mental development and physical development coupled together in order to gain the wonders that these disciplines offer.

Tai Chi was originally and indeed still is a martial art. This does not mean that everyone who practices Tai Chi aspires to be like Bruce Lee! The "martial" side of Tai Chi is one facet of a vastly multi faceted diamond.

The martial aspects of Tai Chi however are vital to gain the true benefits of the art. It is how we fill the bucket for the "mind". An understanding of how the martial aspect of Tai Chi works will alter the way that you move and the way that you think about moving. This is sometimes called "intent".

In Tai Chi, we balance the physical training with the mental, "intent" training . From this dynamic balance we achieve the full scope of body, mind and spirit training that Tai Chi offers. This should be true at all levels of Tai Chi training whether you are a beginner or a master.

Qigong is exactly the same. The training is a union of body and mind, or physical with intent. Qigong, however is not a martial art. It can be used to supplement martial arts training but it is not in itself a martial art. This means that the "intent" used in Qigong cannot be the same as that used in Tai Chi. However, if we ignore the intent part of the art and focus entirely on the movement, we do not gain the full benefit of our training.

So, instead of a martial intent, we learn how to send our attention inwards to our fascia, meridians, chakras or whatever the exercise demands, but we still have the unification of body and mind that allows the spirit to lift.

There are many cross-over areas between Tai Chi, Qigong and Yoga. This is not surprising as they are all aiming at achieving similar things. An important thing to remember with these art forms is that if you are just training with your body or just training with your mind that you are missing a huge part of what is on offer and will struggle to gain the riches that are on offer.