The significance of Qigong in daily life
Results of an empirical study
By Gabriele Rademacher
Probably everyone who has been practicing Qigong or also Taijiquan for some time notices how the experiences they gain in this practice also have an effect on their daily life. Gabriele Rademacher wanted to explore this issue in more detail and conducted in-depth interviews with long-term practitioners about ways that Qigong in uences life in areas outside the actual practice time. This related both to dealing with daily challenges – where principles such as letting go, relaxation and exibility were helpful – and also to essential values, approach to life and self-reflection.

The art of tactile encounter
By Helmut Jäger und Dorothea Hauswald
How can we understand and learn the special quality of touch that – in various ways – we aim for in Taijiquan? Helmut Jäger and Dorothea Hauswald take a closer look at the moment of contact, the ne processes that take place in us when another person approaches us physically. Here they differentiate ve phases, from calm self-perception through the gestures of approach, the moment of physical contact, the sensitive questioning and understanding and nally the shared movement. An essential aspect here is how tensions that often appear unconsciously in response to a physical approach can be avoided or dissolved.

Regulating the ow of Qi. The effect of Qigong on the meridians
By Lie Foen Tjoeng and Heribert Mittner
There has recently been an increase in the number of attempts to develop Qigong exercises for individual organ function cycles or meridians. Lie Foen Tjoeng and Heribert Mittner explain the ways in which still and moving Qigong exercises influence the energy pathways and how these can be understood from the perspective of Western physiology. This reveals that in practical terms multiple energy pathways are always activated and it is not possible to stimulate individual meridians in isolation.

The »mysterious being« – Being a judge at Taijiquan tournaments
By Divyam de Martin-Sommerfeldt
In recent years there has been an increased acceptance that tournaments can be an interesting possibility for subjecting one’s own abilities in Taijiquan to external assessment and in this way to get new suggestions and an incentive to train more intensively. But tournaments are only possible with judges and these are still rare in our part of the world. Divyam de Martin-Sommerfeldt draws on several years of personal experience to describe the tasks and challenges facing a judge as well as the relationship between competitors and judges. Here he advocates a friendly and generous relationship between the two groups and recommends that those with sufficient experience should themselves take on the task of judge.

Decelerate and write your life anew. Notes on the interaction of life force, resilience and transformation
By Manfred Folkers
The ability of people to shape their daily lives productively despite many hindrances is de- scribed as resilience. Exercises that promote deceleration, such as yoga, qigong, taijiquan and meditation, help to develop and maintain this ability. Both these concepts refer to human strengths that manifest themselves towards the external world. Manfred Folkers describes how the practice of decelerating opens direct access to life energy – resilience applies this energy, meditation shapes the mind – resilience works with it, meditative methods lead to an awareness of the basic elements of life – resilience uses this knowledge. In view of the fragile state of our civilisation and its need for transformation, this interaction is both illuminating and fruitful.