Is Siu Nim Tao Qigong?
Siu Nim Tao: A Deeper Look at Why It Is Qigong (When Done Right)
There’s a lot of confusion today about Siu Nim Tao.
Some say it’s just a basic form.
Some say it’s just structure for fighting.
Some even claim it has nothing to do with internal development or Qigong.
Here’s the truth:
Siu Nim Tao, practiced properly, IS Qigong.
It always was.
And it always will be.
The problem isn’t with the form.
It’s with the way most people practice it.
What Siu Nim Tao Is Actually For
Most people stop at the surface.
They memorize the moves.
They stand there stiff.
They think doing the sequence slower or faster is all there is to it.
That’s not what Siu Nim Tao is for.
Siu Nim Tao teaches you:
- How to relax without collapsing
- How to connect the body through internal structure
- How to breathe naturally with the movement
- How to sink your energy, ground yourself and root properly
- How to use intention instead of brute force
- How to develop calm awareness even when moving
That’s Qigong.
Not theory — real, living, breathing internal development.
Siu Nim Tao isn’t about fighting techniques.
It’s about creating harmony between the body, breath, and mind. Through its practice you develop internal awareness and connectivity. Siu Nim Tao cultivates internal energy through deliberate practice — using posture, relaxation, breath, and focused intention. It litereally changes how you move, breathe, and perceive your body from the inside out – building a foundation that external techniques alone can never touch.
When practiced slowly as it should be practiced, Siu Nim Tao allows you to sense the tension patterns inside your body and dissolve them over time. Proper structure creates natural energy pathways, while stillness trains the ability to move your energy without brute force. The ability to relax under structure and unify the body’s internal connections is key to developing real martial skill — not just mechanical speed or strength.
Many people misunderstand Siu Nim Tao because they only see its outward positions and movements. But Siu Nim Tao is not about “what” you do — it’s about “how” you do it. Without internal awareness, breath connection, and focused intention, Siu Nim Tao is empty. Without the internal work happening inside the form, it becomes just another set of motions. Done properly, however, Siu Nim Tao becomes an active form of Qigong — training the mind, body, and energy in a unified way, building the kind of effortless power and sensitivity that defines true internal skill.
Why People Get It Wrong
There are a few reasons people miss the internal side of Siu Nim Tao:
- They rush through it to “get to the good stuff.”
- They were taught by instructors who never developed internal skill themselves.
- They confuse external appearance (slow, smooth motions) with internal transformation.
Moving slow doesn’t mean you’re doing internal work.
Relaxing doesn’t mean you’re doing Qigong unless it’s structured the right way — from inside out.
True Siu Nim Tao practice is slow because your mind needs to catch up with your body.
It’s mindful because your awareness needs to sink deeper than your muscles.
It’s deliberate because your energy and structure need time to connect.
If you’re not working on those things, you’re just going through the motions.
The Connection to Qigong
Real Qigong builds:
- Structure
- Breath
- Intention
- Energy flow
- Awareness
Real Siu Nim Tao builds the same things — if you know how to train it.
In fact, Siu Nim Tao gives you the perfect platform to develop the most important internal skills that Qigong masters talk about:
- Mind leading the energy
- Energy leading the body
- Softness and structure working together
- Rooting deeply into the ground
- Expanding awareness inside and outside the body
None of this happens automatically.
It has to be trained, layer by layer.
And Siu Nim Tao, done properly, gives you the exact process to make it happen.
The Problem Isn’t the Form — It’s How It’s Trained
A lot of people judge Siu Nim Tao without ever practicing it the way it was meant to be practiced.
If you rush it…
If you stay on the surface…
If you think it’s just about choreography…
Then of course you’ll miss the internal side.
You could say the same thing about any internal art — Tai Chi, Bagua, Xingyi — if you don’t train properly, you’ll miss the internal too.
Blaming the form is easy.
Taking responsibility for your own depth is harder.
Final Thoughts: What You Get If You Go Deep
When you train Siu Nim Tao correctly, you don’t just get a form.
You get something inside you that wasn’t there before:
- A body that moves from internal connection
- A mind that stays calm under pressure
- A breath that powers your movement naturally
- An energy that roots you and expands outward
- A way of being that’s harder to shake, harder to break
That’s what Siu Nim Tao is really about.
Not fighting moves.
Not choreography.
Not looking good for a video clip.
It’s building yourself from the inside out.
And that — at its heart — is what Qigong is about too.
Siu Nim Tao is internal work, for those willing to do it properly.
Always has been.
Always will be.