09/22/2025
Five Element Systems and Chi Kung
Whenever you are studying chi kung, pay attention to the “elemental sequencing” that is being provided because, if the sequencing is wrong, there is a chance the information presented is incorrect. This could be dangerous because, remember, we're playing with energies when we practice. With this in mind, we are going to look at the Chinese element system as an example. In old Taoist Traditions, (martial or magical) like Shing Yi, we usually start with the Wood Element. Others in print, sometimes start with metal. While one may ponder “where to start,” the important thing here is the progression. We will now go through an elemental progression:
Chinese 5 Elements Progression (Constructive Cycle)
Wood gives birth to Fire. (Wood catches on fire);
Fire gives birth to Earth (Fire burns wood turning it into ash which becomes soil);
Earth gives birth to Metal. (Metal is found in the Earth);
Metal gives birth to Water. (When Metal gets cold, it sweats. It attracts water to it. Water appears on it);
Water gives birth to Wood. (Water makes trees grow).
We have now come full circle with the Constructive Cycle of the 5 Elements according to the Chinese conception.
If you're doing a chi kung form or a martial arts form that is supposed to help you cultivate (increase) the chi (energy) available to you, then it will follow the constructive cycle if it is of traditional origin.
The usual exception to this is when you are given the information in a “blind” where the presenter purposely presents the form sequence in a wrong pattern to stymy those without a teacher. (If you know the proper pattern, you will naturally correct the “blind”). If you use the incorrect sequence either the exercise won’t work or, worse, it'll hurt you.
Sometimes you will find exercises where people are erroneously using what's called the “Destructive Cycle.”
Let’s look at the Destructive Cycle:
Wood destroys Earth. (The roots of a tree go into the earth and break it up);
Earth destroys Water. (From the human standpoint, we see Earth rise up out of the water. It takes over, it makes water go away through displacement or absorption);
Water destroys Fire. (cancels it out. When we fight fires, we throw water on the fire);
Fire destroys Metal. (The fire of the furnace melts the metal into molten material);
Metal destroys Wood. (a metal axe is used cut down wood);
Now, these aren't really elements in the sense that we usually understand them. A more proper translation would be the “Five Changes,” or the “Five Transformations.” These are dynamic energies that cause matter to manifest through a harmonious anabolic process.
So, if you find a movement sequencing in your chi kung studies (or something that's pairing elements against one another), then I'd probably not do the form unless I deeply understand the reasons for the unorthodox or catabolic elemental parings.
For example, if I want to defend myself from an attacker, I might counter with a fist attack.
The fist used might be of an elemental nature. The strike would target a pressure point of the subordinate antagonist element. The strike will disrupt the chi and cancel out the elemental energy associated with the pressure point and its meridian. This disrupts the attacker’s energy, associated organ, nervous, muscular and skeletal systems when applied with real “juice.”
We don't want our practice, as a general rule, to be destroying energies or canceling them out. If we do so, we may strongly and undeniably “feel the chi.” It might feel good. However, what we are feeling is the release of the energy that's being destroyed.
These two cycles of the Five Elements are part of Traditional Chinese Medicine. A Chinese medical doctor understands these two cycles and their relationships very well. The doc knows how they're mirrored and expressed in the human body.
When doing practices of traditional origin, it’s important to keep these cycles in mind, to understand them and to understand how they relate to the human body.
