The »Dao of the Night« or how to improve your Taiji while you sleep – a tale of experience and inspiration
By Kai Schoppe
Dreams can be fascinating, confusing and terrifying. But they can also be consciously used, as in dream yoga and recently even in high-level athletics. Kai Schoppe describes his experiences with conscious dreams in relation to Taiji and Qigong training which he has acquired over the last twenty years. His personal practice, together with his overall sense of life, has been enriched by his experiences of things such as fully free movements or a sense of wholeness as well as by dreams containing exercises and corrections by teachers.

Getting better and better. Are Qigong and Taijiquan instruments for self-optimisation?
By Dietlind Zimmermann
Why do we practice Taijiquan or Qigong? Because of an inner sense of need or because we want to achieve something that will be assessed positively by others? Dietlind Zimmermann points to the danger that the general trend to »self-optimisation« will take hold of our arts, too, and contribute to a new sense of stress and to orientation towards external standards. The wish for self-realisation which powered the spread of Qigong and Taijiquan in Western countries in the early days can be contrasted to the social pressure to get the best out of yourself. But to achieve the full potential of these arts, we need to let go – not only of physical tension but also of demands and expectations, of social and personal norms.

The silk-reeling exercises. A practical concept for physical work with the inner energy Qi
By Vera-Dorothea Neumann
»Silk-reeling exercises« refers to a range of diverse exercises intended to develop Chansijing: the »power of silk-thread reeling«. These are seen as the basis of energy work in various Taiji and Qigong approaches. Since they have become known in German-speaking areas chie y in association with Chen style Taijiquan, we begin our short series on this theme with a contribution presenting the concept on the basis of the movements compiled as basic exercises by Chen Xiaowang.Vera-Dorothea Neumann explains the origin and signi cance of Chansigong, which stands in close relationship with the Taiji principle, i.e. the transitions of yin and yang in physical movements. On the basis of the frontal silk-reeling exercise she demonstrates the connection between external movement sequence and internal ow of energy – how an »empty« movement becomes one imbued with Qi.

An exceptional teacher – Professor Ding Hongyu of Nanjing University
By Alexander Callegari
Professor Ding Hongyu is one of the Chinese teachers who has had a major in uence on the German-speaking Qigong community. Alexander Callegari here describes him as a person who has devoted his whole life to the promotion of health-enhancing sport. Both his research at Nanjing University, where he combined Western and Chinese medicine with sports science criteria, and his creation of new Qigong forms have given him an important role in the development of a contemporary Qigong.

Realising one’s own nature – Interview with Liu Deming
Ziran is an essential concept of Daoism that indicates complete naturalness. Liu Deming, who has been training Ziran Men Gongfu since he was a child, has developed a Qigong system that follows this concept. In the interview he talks about his training process and how his increasing experience led him to shift his focus from martial arts to the inner aspects of being. Working on the basis of traditional forms he began creating new Qigong exercises, in particular Wu Xing Qigong and Ziran Men Qigong, the essential aspects of which he explains here.