As part of the Europalia China Art Festival, Chinese Health Qigong training courses were held at the Health Qigong Association in Belgium from Oct 24 to Nov 1. Wang Lan, vice president of Health Qigong Center of the General Administration of Sport of China, led a team of six Chinese Qigong coaches to attend the cultural event.

Lectures, demonstrations and group performances were included in the training course held at Saint-Gillis, Brussels city hall on Oct 30. Among the 200 participants were the culture counselor of the Chinese embassy in Belgium, the vice mayor of Saint-Gillis, and EU officials.

Professor Lei Bin from China delivered a lecture titled “Qigong—Source of Life and Happiness” which explained the nature and principles of Qigong. Other masters and students presented demonstrations on the four forms of Health Qigong: Yi Jin Jing (a health-building exercise aimed at strengthening the muscles and tendons); Wu Qin Xi (a group of physical and breathing exercises imitating the movements of five animals— tiger, deer, bear, ape and bird); Liu Zi Jue (a set of Qigong exercises for health and fitness, with focus on breathing accompanied by simple guiding movements); Ba Duan Jin (consisting of eight sections of many elements with inner connections—“Ba” literally refers to the number eight).

At the 3rd International Health Qigong Tournament and Exchange held in August, the team led by the Health Qigong Association in Belgium won two second place titles and one third place title in the team final and five medals in the individual events.

Chinese Health Qigong has gained great popularity since its introduction to Belgium in 1990, with the amount of new students increasing each year and training sites being set up in various places.