How to structure your development and practice using the 5 pillars of qigong. The protocol of relaxation, cleansing, accumulation and harmonisation of energy.

Qigong is a very vast world with countless forms and techniques. Moreover, the same form or the method can be vastly different based on the lineage and the quality of the master teaching it.

The method with the same name can even unrecognisable depending on the master.

In Taiwan, we quickly discovered that the grandmaster was a true encyclopedia of Qigong and Kung Fu — that's what 30-40 years of commitment and dedication looks like. 

Particularly Qigong the grandmaster has researched for over 30 years. 

His studies has gone far beyond fighting sequences and martial applications. They also include Daoist alchemical methods, Buddhist and ancestral breathing practices, internal energy work and other health-preserving exercises.

But with so much of training out there, what should you learn? How should you learn? In what order should you learn? 

How to actually develop a truly healthy, powerful and calm body systematically and progressively?

The grandmaster discovered that the answer was not to collect more exercises or immediately begin advanced practices. It was to first establish the proper order with the fundamental pillars.

Why The Foundation Must Come First

If you want to get the best results of any Qigong practice, you first need to understand how to develop the proper foundation.

You see, movement without correct breathing and internal awareness remains largely a coordination exercise when in reality we want it to be an internal exercise as well.

Jumping directly into hard Qigong, soft Qigong or advanced martial methods can also be premature because the practitioner has not yet created the conditions needed to benefit from them.

The body must first become the correct vessel.

That vessel should be stable, relaxed, open and clean enough to receive and accumulate energy. Years of stress, emotional pressure, physical tension and what the grandmaster describes as dark or negative vibrations can interfere with this process.

The first stage of Qigong must therefore prepare the body, regulate the breath, release unnecessary tension and establish greater inner calm.

This is exactly the grandmaster's reasoning that led to The Five Pillars of Qigong, a foundational system assembled from Daoist, Buddhist and ancestral methods, and methods the grandmaster has specifically developed by himself.

Each pillar develops a different quality, but together they prepare the practitioner for deeper internal and martial work with a calm, clean and pure vessel.

Pillar One: The Five Relaxations

The first pillar teaches relaxation, known in Chinese internal practice as Wu Song 

五鬆.

Initially, you will learn how to recognize the difference between contraction and release.

Many people carry tension without realizing it. The shoulders and back are stiff, the chest is tight, breathing is shallow and the body remains in a constant state of readiness.

Through the Five Relaxation Methods, the practitioner learns to identify where the body is holding pressure and release it consciously.

Grandmaster Jiang describes the practitioner as the conductor of the body: the person who decides where to expand, where to contract and where to let go.

A tense body restricts movement, breathing and internal circulation. Most importantly, it suppresses your mental state and creates a state of agitation.

A relaxed but connected body can respond more freely. This first pillar establishes the foundation for everything that follows.

Pillar Two: The Fairy Hands

The second pillar is the Fairy Hands practice (Mei Ren Shou 美人手).

Its purpose is to develop awareness of the body’s energetic levels, particularly through the hands, fingers and palms.

The hands are important points of expression, sensitivity and transmission. They may be used to comfort and support another person, participate in healing practices or express destructive power through martial applications.

The aim is not merely to imagine sensations. Attention, breathing, relaxation and movement are combined until the hands become responsive and alive. There is true energy transmission happening and you will feel it.

The grandmaster himself has used his hands to heal people and it's largely because of the Fairy Hands.

Once you learn this, all Kung Fu and Qigong movements become more powerful. This is why this is an important pillar.

Pillar Three: The Spiritual Energy Shower

The third pillar is the Spiritual Energy Shower.

This practice is designed to release accumulated stress, emotional pressure and the dark or negative energies that a person may feel they have absorbed over the years.

Instead of suppressing these influences, the practitioner brings them into surface, guides them downward and releases them into the ground. As this burden is discharged, the body becomes cleaner and the mind calmer.

This cleansing process is essential and one of the most important steps to building the correct vessel.

Advanced exercises may produce limited benefits if the body remains filled with unresolved tension and emotional pressure. The Spiritual Energy Shower creates space by helping the practitioner release what no longer needs to be carried.

This method personally surprised me. It's hard to understand it before you see it in action. It's an incredibly intelligent way to cleanse the body.

Pillar Four: Nourishing The Qi in Three Ways

The fourth pillar is Yang Qi San Shi 養氣三式 - Nourishing The Qi in Three Ways.

This practice draws from ancient Daoist health and breathing methods. After the body has been relaxed, sensitized and cleansed, the practitioner begins working more deliberately with nourishment and circulation.

The focus shifts from releasing unwanted pressure to strengthening what is beneficial. You are now accumulating pure energy.

Breath, movement and attention are coordinated so that energy can circulate through the body in a more pure way. The practitioner gradually learns how inner and outer movement can function together rather than as separate actions.

This coordination cannot be forced or done with stiffness. It develops step by step through repetition, sensitivity and calm practice. That's why the body has to be cleansed first.

The fifth pillar teaches the opening Yin energy and uniting Yang energy.

This method is connected to the principles of Yin and Yang. Opening and closing are not opposing actions that cancel each other. They are complementary movements that must remain coordinated.

The practice teaches the student how to expand and contain their energy. The purpose here is the harmonisation of energy. The balancing of energy and getting rid of excess fire that often leads to burn out.

Grandmaster Jiang also connects this ability to the development of an energetic protective shield that the practitioner can maintain while in public or around people whose condition feels heavy, chaotic or unhealthy.

The practitioner should not remain completely open and affected by every environment. They must learn when to receive, when to release and when to protect their internal state.

A Foundation for All Qigong Practice

The Five Pillars of Qigong are considered the step Zero - the step before all steps due to the importance of having a pure & clean vessel.

Once the vessel has been relaxed, energized, cleansed, nourished and protected, the practitioner is better prepared for soft Qigong, hard Qigong and combined hard-and-soft methods such as the Monkey Fist Door 24 Warrior Set.

The same foundation can support more demanding practices involving breathing, posture, stretching, rising, lowering and the development of martial power.

The central lesson is simple: Power should not be built on disorder.

Before accumulating more energy, the practitioner must become capable of carrying it.

Before beginning advanced Qigong, the body and mind must be ready to receive the practice.

The 5 Pillars protocol moves in phases such as this: Relaxation & Awareness → Cleansing → Accumulation → Harmonisation → Further Development.

That is why these five methods are called pillars. They hold the entire structure of Qigong practice steady. 

This is what the grandmaster recommends everyone to learn and the grandmaster does not recommend anything for no reason.

You can learn the Five Pillars of Qigong at WarriorNeigong.com/pillars

Stay strong.