The term 'duration and degree' refers to the condition in which the qigong exercise is practiced. The 'sensation of qigong ' in the part of the body involved in the exercise is induced by thought, breath, etc. The 'sensation of heat' is commonly found. By means of analogy and comparison, the ancients compared the duration and degree in exercising qigong to the duration and degree of heating bricks in a burning skin The duration and degree is an important theoretical and practical issue. It is a secret that any alchemist would not pass on to other people. It's more than 2000 years since the term 'duration and degree' appeared in the book Zhou Yi Can Tong Qi. On the basis of the alchemy and with the help of current psychological and physiological theories, the theory of biofeedback and scientific electronic techniques, we have developed a ' qigong exercise indicator.' This apparatus combines the interior feedback of the qigong exercise with the theory of exterior biofeedback. It employs the skin temperature difference (STD) between Dantian and Sanyinjiao (Sp 6) as an objective index to evaluate the duration and degree. The kinetic changes of the skin temperature at these two acupoints are determined simultaneously with a numeral thermometer. The STD lights up an indicator lamp with every 0.3° C difference. Using this apparatus we tested three groups of subjects. In Group A the subjects practiced small qi cycle using this apparatus, in Group B the subjects practiced the small qi cycle qigong without using this apparatus, and in Group C the subjects did not practice the small qi cycle qigong, but sat silently with their eyes closed. The results were as follows. In Groups A and B, the STD between the above two acupoints significantly increased with the duration of the exercise, reaching a relatively steady level after 15 minutes. In Group C the STD showed no significant alteration at any time, and the STD value was significantly lower than that of Groups A and B (P<O.O1). This suggests that practicing the small qi cycle qigong may increase the skin temperature at Dantian, thus increasing the STD between Dantian and Sanyinjiao (Sp 6). But the STD of Group A was significantly greater than that of group B. This shows that this apparatus can increase the effects of the small qi cycle. We tentatively take an STD of 1.2° C as a relatively appropriate degree for the small qi cycle. In Group A, this degree was reached by practicing the small qi cycle qigong for about a month on the average, but in Group B the duration of more than three months is necessary for reaching the same degree. Group A was significantly faster than Group B. This suggests that this apparatus can accelerate the effect of the small qi cycle. From these results. it is suggested that this apparatus is a useful supplementary instrument for practicing qigong . It can resolve problems such as long duration and difficulty in attaining the appropriate degree in practicing qigong.

Study of the duration and degree of the small qi cycle in qigong