Stephen Chen in Beijing
In a secluded hot spring pool in the coastal town of Xingcheng in northeast China, a group of 50 robust men move their bodies in unison, practising a form of qigong known as baduanjin while a melody drifts through the mist.
Aged between 23 and 48, the men are China’s top fighter pilots, many hailing from the country’s most competitive carrier-based aircraft squadrons. They are using an ancient Chinese practice to harness the body’s vital energy, or qi, to improve muscle development.
According to scientific data analysis, this unconventional approach is proving to be “remarkably effective”. A peer-reviewed paper published in the Chinese Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine this month revealed that, compared to pilots engaging solely in Western-style exercise, those practising qigong have seen an average increase of 15 per cent in the thickness of their core muscle groups, including their back and waist muscles.
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