Pedro Jesus Jimenez Martin,Melendez Ortega Agustin
Technical University of Madrid, Spain
Keynote: Prim Health Care
Qigong was officially adopted in China in 1949 under the influence of the communist party to designate a set of traditional physical health practices that goes back to Chinaâ??s early history. Currently, it represents a generic term to designate a heterogeneous set of more than 5,000 activities with therapeutic, physical-sports, recreational, martial, religious, cultural, spiritual and even esoteric aims, each with its own objectives, methods and benefits for the practitioners. Qigong is commonly divided into static and dynamic forms. Static forms contain meditation techniques whereas dynamic forms afford bodily movements. The purpose of this presentation is to outline our opinion on the advantages and limitations of the postures, static or dynamic dimensions as a Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM). The ideas set out in this study are based on the practical experience in this area and have been complemented with the contents of different articles. Healthy people could obtain more health benefits from dynamic practices than from static practices and from standing positions than from sitting or lying positions. In the case of people with physical and/or cognitive limitations or who suffer from some illness, it is necessary to investigate what posture, practice time and combination of static and dynamic activity is the most suitable for their needs. The use of Qigong as a TCM raises the debate as to how to take advantage of these practices as a resource, not as an end in themselves and the need to take advantage of modern technological and scientific advances to verify the effectiveness of their approaches. Qigong needs to compare, select, adapt and modify the postures and techniques to make them accessible to people of any age, with physical or mental limitations or pathologies to take maximum advantage of its benefits.
Pedro Jesus Jimenez Martin is an Academic Secretary of the Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain, Full Professor, Doctor in Physical Education, Director of the research project, Oriental Physical Culture and Traditional and Complementary Medicine, Lecturer in Psychology of Physical Activity and Sport. He was also the Secretary of the Spanish Association of Social Research applied to Sport (2008-2012), Expert Advisor to the Real Madrid Foundation for the designing of value education programs using physical activity and sport (2008-2016). He is also the author of the books Qigong y Medicina en la China Tradicional, Yi Jin Jing and Chikung Tai Chi System. Agustín Meléndez Ortega. Honorary Professor of the Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain), Master of Science and Ph.D. in Applied Physiology. University of New Mexico (UNM) 1985. Former Full Professor of Exercise Physiology, Research Designs, and Physical Activities for the Elderly. Invited Key Speaker in International and National Symposia and Conferences. Founder of EGREPA (European Group for Research into the Elderly and Physical Activities), and member of the board of directors of EGREPA (1992-1999). Former Judo teacher (3rd Dan) and Aikido practitioner (3rd Dan). He has practised TCC, Chikung and Tae Kwon do during several periods. Co-author of several research paper on TCC and Chikung.
E-mail: pedrojesus.jimenez@upm.es
