Chi kung practices are all derived from their parent Nei Kung systems. Nei Kung moves from the inside out, Chi Kung moves from the outside in. The emphasis in Nei Kung is on developing the core energy that travels through the center of the body and from there opening and energizing the peripheral energy lines. Chi Kung concentrates on working the more superficial energy lines first and through these affecting the core energy. In this sense Chi Kung is similar to accupuncture, which also manipulates the more superficial meridians to bring about changes at a deeper level.

A Person Evolving from the Maelstrom of Life, NASA photo

In Chi Kung the practitioner works one technique at a time. For instance one accupuncture channel is energized and then, once opened, the practitioner works on the next in line. The Nei Kung systems, on the other hand, seek to work all the energy flows at the same time, the objective being to synergistically combine all of the hundreds of chi flows in the body. The person then functions in the manner of a huge cell, with all their chi pulsing in unison.

Of course Nei Kung is learned one piece at a time but it is practiced in a way that many of the learned pieces are performed at the same time, like overlapping layers. This has a synergistic effect. It also saves a great deal of time because it concentrates the practice so that it works on strength, flexibility, energy work, and meditation all at the same time, which is another beautiful efficiency of the Tien Shan system. Eventually the practitioner's energy permeates to the center of the bone marrow and the spine. For this reason Nei Kung is considered superior for people who want to have the seemingly conflicitng goals of both superior health and great physical prowess.

Most Chinese medical Chi Kung systems use physical breath to activate the chi. Similarly, most Buddhist Chi Kung practices are based on awareness of physical breath. In Nei Kung, however, movement and postures are used to move chi without the assistance of breath. The mind remains purely aware of the internal energy. In Nei Kung chi movement is independent of the breath, regardless of how you are breathing.

A Nei Kung expert will normally know all Chi Kung methods but a Chi Kung expert will usually not know of all Nei Kung methods. Most types of Chi Kung consist of forms which contain a limited number of techniques, Sky Mountain Chi Kung is an entire system. It takes many years to learn all of the techniques and variations, and many more to continue to discover the treasures contained therein. There are so many variations and methods that it is said of Nei Kung systems that they contain ten thousand techniques. The ultimate goal is to go beyonds forms and arrive at the formless, wherein the practitioner achieves the inner essence of the practice and leaves the external scaffolding behind. This aspect, of arriving at the formless, is a fundamental principle of Taoist philosophy. Tai Chi Chuan, at it's higher levels, also has the goal of achieving formlessness, but as it says in the Tai Chi Classics, one must first study the forms in order to eventually arrive at formlessness.

Chi kung usually uses specific techniques for specific problems while Nei Kung energizes the whole system and this overall increase and improvement leads to the eventual resolution of particular problems. Therefore Chi Kung can be a superior practice for healing many diseases and dysfunctions because these are often caused by an imbalance in only one part of the system and only a small number of chi flows need to be learned and practiced to solve the problem.

Therefore people who have a specific health problem that they wish to address may get quicker results with Chi kung.  Nei Kung is more for supercharging your system and it works fastest for people who are already in fairly good health.  Some Chi Kung involves only sitting and doing visualization exercises. This Chi Kung is not like that, this Chi Kung is physical exercise as well as mental exercise.

In the final analysis, Tien Shan Chi Kung is all about cultivating chi power. It is very power oriented and it is very fast. Before one can cultivate much power they must first heal themselves and Tien Shan Chi Kung is amazingly efficient at that as well.