Introduction to Qi Gong

12-Week Introduction Course

Learn a traditional eight-posture standing Qi Gong set in a small, supportive group. Over twelve weeks, you will learn this practice for calm attention, lower-body strength, joint ease, relaxation and greater connection with your body.

Created by Master John Ding, my Tai Chi master, Yeung San Chi Kung is a traditional standing Qi Gong practice within my traditional Yang-style Tai Chi lineage.

Through a sequence of eight standing postures, you will develop a regular practice for calm attention, body awareness, relaxation, lower-body strength and internal wellbeing.

The course also provides an accessible introduction to some of the foundational ways that Qi, intention, grounding and connection are understood within traditional Tai Chi.

Classes are limited to four students, allowing time for individual guidance, questions and careful progression.

The course is delivered once a week in two six-week terms, with a two-week practice break between them.

Q4 2026 dates to be announced
Term 1: TBC
Term 2: TBC
Greenwich, SE10
£200 pilot price for the complete 12-week course. Equivalent to £16.67 per class
Maximum of four students!

This course may help you develop:

  • calmer and more settled attention;

  • functional lower-body strength;

  • softer, more comfortable joints;

  • awareness and release of unnecessary tension;

  • a sustainable personal Qi Gong practice.

Only four places are available. You are welcome to enquire without committing to join.
If you are interested in this course but unable to attend the summer dates, you are very welcome to enquire about future course dates.

Enquire about a place

  • This course may be especially suitable for:

    • people looking for a gentle and structured wellbeing practice;

    • therapists, counsellors, healers and wellbeing practitioners;

    • people wanting to feel calmer, stronger and more connected to their body;

    • beginners curious about Qi Gong, Tai Chi or internal practice;

    • people who find highly active exercise unsuitable or unappealing;

    • existing practitioners who want to explore traditional standing practice;

    • those who prefer learning in a very small and supportive group.

    You do not need to be physically fit, flexible or familiar with energetic practices. The postures can be adapted, although the course is primarily practised standing.

A simple practice with considerable depth

Yeung San Chi Kung Set I consists of eight standing postures. With no complicated choreography to remember, you can focus on posture, tension, weight distribution and how attention affects your physical experience. The intensity can be adapted, making the practice suitable for complete beginners.

No previous experience of Tai Chi, Qi Gong or energy work is required.

  • Although this course is designed to be accessible, the practice itself is not a simplified imitation of Tai Chi. Yeung San Chi Kung Set I is part of the foundational training used within my Tai Chi lineage to develop the mind, condition the body and begin cultivating the internal qualities required for traditional Tai Chi practice.

    The same standing postures can therefore be approached at different levels. For one person, they may offer a quiet and structured practice for relaxation, strength and wellbeing. For another, they may become the beginning of a deeper exploration of Qi Gong, Tai Chi or the internal martial arts.

    The course is non-combative and does not teach self-defence.

  • Standing practice may appear physically simple, but holding and adjusting the postures creates a gentle and sustained challenge for the body.

    Over time, the practice can support:

    • functional lower-body strength and stability;

    • greater awareness of posture and weight distribution;

    • improved body awareness and mind–body connection;

    • the gradual release of unnecessary muscular tension;

    • greater ease and softness around the joints;

    • calm attention and mental stillness;

    • stress and anxiety management;

    • a regular and sustainable personal wellbeing practice.

    The aim is not fitness performance. The focus is on developing strength without excessive tension, movement without unnecessary effort, and a more settled relationship with the body.

  • Standing still gives the mind fewer external tasks to follow.

    Without a sequence of movements to remember, students can begin to notice effort, restlessness, tension, balance and internal sensation more clearly.

    As attention gradually settles, the practice becomes more than a physical exercise. It offers a way to reconnect with the body and explore how the mind, posture, breath and intention influence one another.

    This is one of the reasons standing Qi Gong plays such an important role within traditional internal training.

What you will learn

An introduction to Qi and internal practice

Qi is commonly translated as life energy or vital energy. It is related to the Japanese concept of Ki, familiar to practitioners of Reiki and other Japanese healing traditions.

Qi is understood and practised in many different ways across Chinese medicine, Qi Gong and the internal martial arts. This course introduces Qi specifically through the framework of my traditional Yang-style Tai Chi lineage.

Students are not required to adopt a particular belief about the nature of Qi. Instead, the course offers a traditional framework through which internal qualities can be explored through direct physical experience.

You will be introduced to:

  • the Dan Tian system and its role in internal practice;

  • foundational ways of cultivating and working with Qi;

  • the relationship between Yi—attention or intention—and energy;

  • grounding and rooting;

  • sinking and releasing unnecessary tension;

  • internal expansion and projection;

  • energetic and structural connection.

This is an introductory exploration. The focus remains personal strength and wellbeing. Practitioners seeking a more intensive exploration of deeper Tai Chi practice may progress to Tai Chi for Wellbeing.

You will also explore simple partnered exercises that make grounding, connection and intention easier to feel and understand.

  • Partnered practice is an important part of traditional Tai Chi and one of the distinctive elements of this course.

    Simple, non-combative exercises will allow students to explore how grounding, relaxation, alignment, intention and connection affect interaction with another person.

    Partner work provides direct feedback. It can help students notice when they are relying on muscular tension, losing their grounding or becoming disconnected from their body.

    It also offers a practical way to explore how whole-body organisation, relaxation and intention can create effects that do not depend on obvious muscular force.

    All partnered exercises will be introduced gradually. Physical contact will always be consensual, clearly explained and appropriate to the learning environment.

Enquire about a place

Course details

Duration: 12 weeks delivered across two six-week terms

  • Q4 2026 dates to be announced
    Term 1: TBC
    Term 2: TBC

Location: 15a Nelson Road, Greenwich, London, SE10 9JB
Frequency: Once a week
Class size: Maximum of four students
Course fee: £200 pilot price for the complete 12-week course. Equivalent to £16.67 per class
Experience required: None

Because each week builds upon the previous classes, this is offered as a complete twelve-week course rather than as a drop-in class.

Enquire about a place

  • For some students, this course may become a complete personal practice for strength, calm and wellbeing.

    For others, it may open the door to:

    • continued Qi Gong practice;

    • learning a traditional Tai Chi form;

    • deeper internal energy work;

    • Tai Chi for Healers;

    • further exploration of the internal martial arts.

    The course is therefore both a self-contained introduction and a genuine foundation for those who later wish to progress.

  • Qi practice is highly diverse, and different traditions use different maps, language and training methods.

    This course focuses on the framework taught within my Tai Chi lineage. It does not teach Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture theory, meridian pathways, pressure points or medical Qi Gong.

    These systems may be historically or conceptually connected, but they are not required for the practice taught here.

Enquire about the Qi Gong course

Only four places are available. Use the form below to enquire about joining this course, ask a question, or register your interest in future dates. Enquiring does not commit you to booking.