Jiangan - The Chinese Health Wand

When Bruce Johnson, a young American sailor and fitness enthusiast, discovered a gentle exercise system in China in 1945, it made him re evaluate everything he thought he knew about exercise, health and fitness. After studying under Dr Cheng, an elderly Chinese master, he gave up the strenuous unsafe and badly-devised exercises prevalent in the West in favour of this gentle method based on Chinese internal medicine.

Johnson called the system the Chinese Wand Exercises but it is also known as Jiangan (健杆) which means Health Wand or Pole. It involves the manipulation of a pole 48-50 inches long and about 1 inch thick, traditionally made of bamboo, though wooden dowels or other light and strong poles / tubes of the correct dimensions can be used.

The practitioner coordinates slow diaphragmatic breathing with gentle, graduated, safe stretching and strengthening exercises that promote circulation and stimulate the cardiovascular system to maintain health and well-being. There are hundreds of postures but Johnson presented 17 core exercises that are the basis of all other variations.

Thirty Years after Johnson published his book “Chinese Wand Exercises” (now out of print), Michael Davies, senior instructor with the Tai Chi Union for Great Britain, evaluated the system. The result was that Davies now promotes the art as a superior, cost effective daily routine for health and fitness in place of Tai Chi and the Qigong routines he used to practice. He also wrote a book “Jiangan – Chinese Health Wand.”

Qigong and Taoist Yoga

Although the art has unique methodology is can be regarded as an early form of Qigong and traced back to the practice of Taoist Yoga.

One Exercise to Rule them All

Jiangan is a comprehensive exercise. To understand the relationship between Jiangan and the myriad of other exercises there in an analogy of the `wonder substance' - Bicarbonate of Soda. On one hand there are the many over-priced products marketed for specific cleaning and hygiene uses and on the other hand Bicarbonate of Soda can be used as a cleaning agent for virtually any surface, a toothpaste, mouthwash, deodoriser, shampoo, soap powder, anti-acid indigestion relief to name but a few cost effective and safe uses.

In the world of exercise systems we have gyms, aerobic workouts, Pilates and Yoga classes, Tai Chi and Qigong lessons, exercise gadgets and DVDs - all marketed to improve different aspects of health or fitness. Jiangan eclipses most other exercise systems because if practised daily and diligently over time it can provide the combined health benefits of practicing Tai Chi, Qigong and Yoga. The way in which it also raises your fitness levels and physical strength is similar to the results of practicing aerobics, Pilates and gym workouts.

So wht it it about Jiangan that makes it an `all-in-one' comprehensive exercises that ticks all the boxes for a daily exercise routine? It is a gentle art but the ingenious addition of a light pole transforms the movements so that the external body is worked without being vigorous or taxing. It encompasses the truism that health and fitness are not separate; they should be approached together holistically. Most exercise systems are either too robust or too soft for effective exercise. Jiangan offers the middle path.

Devised for the Chinese Gentry

The success of Jiangan, the gentle art, in reducing weight and improving muscle tone is due to the ingenious design. It is said that it was especially created to counter the lifestyle of the Chinese Imperial family and gentry classes, who ate copiously, drank fine wines to excess and were carried everywhere in sedan chairs. They had, in effect, similar sedentary lifestyles to modern day `couch-potatoes'. The Wand or pole seems to add a physical dimension to the gentle movements, tasking the body to just the right degree.

Cost-Effective Health & Fitness

Bruce L Johnson was keen to tackle health problems that were increasingly facing American society; sedentary lifestyle, obesity and safe exercise for seniors. But he rejected the profit-making model of `exercise as a commercial product'. He wanted to see the exercises adopted by nursing homes, hospitals, physical therapy rooms and doctor's surgeries so that doctors could prescribe the exercises to patients.

The art can be part of community health and fitness programs with families and workers in offices and factories practicing together to increase productivity and health. To these ends it is important that the exercise system is safe and effective for everyone and that it can be be taught easily, quickly without need to pay for classes or rely upon long-term support and instruction.

Evolutionary Approach and Specialist Activity

Most exercise systems in the West have been put together by a single person or small number of people over a comparatively short period of time, so that the methodology they employ comes from their `ideas' and `theories' and their own individual experience rather than from trial and error and experimentation over many generations involving input of many people.

The hypothesis of Jiangan is that it evolved over many centuries and generations from observation, experience and trial and error. The result of this communal input by countless masters is that effective and safe movements were kept and ineffective and unsafe movements were removed. Anyone who performs the routine each day for a few weeks will certainly feel that it is a mature and evolved system and not something thrown together randomly.

As for other Eastern health systems, they have many styles, schools and thousands of routines and focus of spiritual advancement, meditation, martial art or specific healing. Jiangan, hovever, evolved as a daily health and fitness routine only - and it excels at this task.

The Health Benefits of Regular Practice

Health & Well-being
- increased blood circulation
- combats stress and depression
- improves functioning of the internal organs
- reduces high blood pressure
- improves mental attitude

Physical Fitness
- increase muscle strength and flexibility
- reduces fat and tones muscles
- improves back, neck and shoulder pain
- improves flexibility of joints

Beneficial for all Activities

Jiangan can also complement a wide range of health and fitness classes and many instructors of Pilates, Tai Chi, Qigong and Yoga find that Jiangan fits perfectly within their lessons. Some Alexander Technique practitioners are also taking an interest in the art because of its beneficial effects on the back, neck and shoulders and the way it promotes posture improvement.

The Perfect Exercise?

Many exercise systems claim the accolade of being the `perfect exercise' but this is so often a marketing ploy to sell classes or DVDs. Most exercises are suitable for young fit people but it is their suitability for the weaker members of society that gives us an indication on how `perfect' they are.

Jiangan has more advantages and less disadvantages than any other exercise system and is highly suitable for the sedentary, obese and seniors in particular. Some interesting facts about the method:-
- stretching and strengthening is made in progressive, graduated stages.
- postures are not held for longer than a change of breath.
- the number of repetitions are up to the individual.
- it is low impact with no jerky, fast, sudden or strenuous movements.

Jiangan is therefore worthy to be called a perfect exercise.