The Eight Brocades are qigong’s most-studied moves, and the evidence for them is modest

Key takeaways

• Qigong is a family of Chinese practices that pair slow movement or still postures with breathing and focused attention, and the NIH counts tai chi done for health as one form¹.
• Researchers counted 614 randomized trials of Baduanjin, the “eight brocades,” published from 2000 to 2019, but most were small and of generally low quality².
• A 2017 review of 19 Baduanjin trials found gains in balance, sleep, blood pressure and quality of life, but its authors flagged weak blinding and results that varied widely from trial to trial³.
• In a 2007 review, five small trials of external qigong, in which a practitioner aims to send qi to a patient, reported less pain, but the pooled analysis covered only 80 people⁶.
• Qigong appears safe for most people, though Chinese psychiatrists have described mental health crises linked to overdoing it or practicing without a teacher¹⁹.

Sometime during China’s Song dynasty, which ran from the 10th to the 13th century, a short set of eight movements took shape². It became known as Baduanjin, usually translated as “eight pieces of brocade”¹².

The routine was handed down for more than a thousand years³. Then, in 2003, the Health Qigong Management Center of China’s national sports agency compiled an official version and promoted it nationwide²¹².

What happened next is a research story. A 2020 review counted 810 clinical publications on Baduanjin from 2000 to 2019. Of those, 614 were randomized controlled trials, studies in which chance decides who practices and who doesn’t².

That’s a remarkable volume of research for one short routine. Yet the same review found most of those trials were small and their quality generally low².

So which claims hold up? This guide covers what qigong is, what the best-studied form can and can’t do, where the evidence runs thin, and a gentle 10-minute routine you can try at home. Our tai chi article covers that practice’s trials, so we won’t repeat them here.

Qigong is a family of practices, not one exercise

Qigong (say “chi gong”) is thousands of years old and was born inside traditional Chinese medicine, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), part of the National Institutes of Health¹. Its exercises are designed to make the most of a person’s energy, in body, mind and spirit alike¹.

Practitioners call that energy qi, a traditional idea our article on old healing philosophies explores. None of the studies in this article measured it. They measured things you can feel or test, such as sleep, balance and blood pressure.

Most qigong uses slow, deep breathing, smooth movement and focused attention or imagery¹. NCCIH sorts it into two broad types:

• Dynamic qigong centers on moving the whole body or the limbs. Baduanjin belongs here.
• Meditative qigong uses breath and attention with little movement, in any posture you can hold¹.

Named forms include Baduanjin, Liuzijue, Yijin Jing and medical qigong¹. Tai chi, which began as a martial art, counts as a form of qigong when it’s practiced for health¹.

The scale of the tradition is easy to miss. Until the early 1980s, a 1999 review from Singapore’s Institute of Mental Health notes, qigong was a guarded practice open mainly to a privileged few¹⁰. By 2000, a Shanghai psychiatrist wrote that more than 40 million people in China practiced it, choosing among about 2,400 methods⁹.

What the trials say about the eight brocades

Most papers in the 2020 review didn’t say which version they taught. Among those that did, the 2003 official set was by far the most common, used in 264 of the 767 studies².

A typical study program asked people to practice about 35 minutes at a time, once or twice a day, three to five days a week, for about 18 weeks². The conditions studied most were diabetes, lung disease (COPD), high blood pressure, low back pain and neck pain².

To see whether the results add up, researchers pool trials in a meta-analysis, a study that combines the results of many studies. Here is what three recent ones found:

• A 2017 review of 19 trials with 1,535 people aged 19 to 75 found Baduanjin improved quality of life, sleep, balance, hand-grip strength, trunk flexibility, blood pressure and resting heart rate, compared with control groups³.
• A 2025 review of 15 qigong trials in 1,074 older adults found better sleep scores. Eleven of the trials tested Baduanjin, and that group showed the clearest benefit⁵.
• A 2026 review of 18 trials with 1,527 adults aged 60 and older found Baduanjin improved sleep, depressive symptoms, quality of life and grip strength, and lowered body mass index and waist size⁴.

For blood pressure, NCCIH describes a 2021 review of 7 qigong studies with 370 people¹. Qigong may lower both the top and bottom numbers, the reviewers found, but they said firm evidence is still lacking¹.

The pattern is telling. Against no treatment, qigong came out ahead in five of six studies. Against ordinary exercise, in the single study that tried it, qigong did no better¹.

For balance, NCCIH reports that a 2019 survey of reviews found enough evidence to support qigong for balance training and fall prevention¹. Our tai chi and balance articles cover the stronger falls trials.

Why hundreds of trials still add up to “promising”

Several problems run through this research, and the reviewers name them themselves.

Blinding was weak. The 2017 reviewers reported shortfalls in keeping upcoming group assignments secret and in blinding participants and teachers³. You can’t hide qigong from the person doing it, but that makes hope and attention harder to separate from the practice itself.

The comparison was often nothing. Of the 15 trials in the 2025 sleep review, only one compared qigong with another active program⁵. Beating “no change in routine” is a low bar.

Most trials came from one country. Fourteen of those 15 sleep trials were done in China⁵. In the 2017 review, 14 of 19 papers were published in Chinese³. That doesn’t make them wrong, but results need checking by teams elsewhere.

Risk of bias was high. The 2025 reviewers rated 8 of 15 trials at high risk of bias, 6 with some concerns, and just 1 at low risk. They rated the certainty of their main sleep finding as low⁵.

Results varied widely. The 2017 review found large differences between trials on most outcomes, and the paper itself has a few misprinted numbers, including a confidence interval in its summary³. The 2020 review called for standard programs and better trials².

None of this means Baduanjin doesn’t work. It means the true benefit is probably real for some outcomes but smaller and less certain than the pile of positive trials suggests. Our articles on publication bias and on testing traditional medicine explain why in more depth.

External qigong: healing by a master’s qi has thin support

Everything above is internal qigong, which you practice yourself. External qigong, also called qi therapy, is different: a practitioner works on another person, aiming to guide qi into them¹⁶.

In 2007, researchers Myeong Soo Lee, Max Pittler and Edzard Ernst reviewed external qigong for pain. They screened 141 possible studies and found just 5 randomized trials⁶. All five reported less pain with qigong.

When they pooled two of the trials on chronic pain, external qigong beat general care by about 36 points on a 100-point pain scale. But those two trials included only 80 people in total⁶. The authors called the evidence encouraging and asked for more research⁶.

The same team’s 2009 review of internal qigong for pain, using seven controlled trials, was less upbeat. They judged that evidence not convincing⁷.

Comparing a practitioner’s session with ordinary care can’t separate a transmitted energy from attention, expectation and relaxation. Only a sham-controlled design can do that.

NCCIH’s qigong page doesn’t address external qigong. But on Reiki, which rests on a similar belief in a healing energy, the agency says there’s “no scientific evidence supporting the existence of the energy field thought to play a role in Reiki”⁸. Until external qigong passes larger, well-controlled trials, treat healing-at-a-distance claims with care, especially when the price is high or the illness is serious.

When practice goes wrong: a risk Chinese psychiatrists documented

For most people, qigong appears to be a safe form of activity¹. In one neck pain review that NCCIH describes, side effects were about as common with qigong as with exercise and hit fewer than 1 in 10 adults. They were mostly muscle pain, soreness and headache¹.

There is another risk, apparently uncommon, worth knowing about. Chinese psychiatry has a name for mental disturbances after qigong: qigong deviation. China’s psychiatric classification has listed it since 1989, for symptoms such as abnormal speech or uncontrolled behavior that begin after practice and persist after it stops⁹.

The Shanghai psychiatrist H.H. Shan wrote that DSM-IV, the American diagnostic manual of the time, also recognized it⁹.

In a group of 207 people seen for problems after qigong at a Shanghai research institute, Shan reported that 129 had these culture-linked reactions. Of those, 100 had practiced alone⁹. Most episodes were sudden and short⁹.

Shan’s list of risk factors included pushing too fast, practicing too much, learning without a teacher and existing mental health problems⁹. A 1999 review cautioned that cause and effect are hard to prove, and that qigong may act as a trigger in people who are already vulnerable¹⁰.

If practice ever leaves you confused, seeing or hearing things others don’t, or feeling out of control, stop and contact a clinician. If you’re in crisis or thinking of harming yourself, call or text 988.

What the evidence shows, claim by claim

Claim	Evidence level	What the research shows
Qigong is safe for most people	Strong evidence	Side effects mostly minor and similar to exercise, though many trials didn’t report them12
Baduanjin improves balance	Promising but early	Positive reviews, but small trials with weak blinding; a 2019 survey of reviews supports qigong for balance13
Baduanjin improves sleep in older adults	Promising but early	Two recent reviews agree, but certainty is low; most trials from China, many at high risk of bias45
Qigong lowers blood pressure	Promising but early	Lower readings than doing nothing; no better than standard exercise in the one head-to-head study1
Qigong eases knee osteoarthritis	Promising but early	Beat a waiting list or education in 7 studies, but only 3 were well designed, so reviewers held off recommending it1
Practicing qigong eases chronic pain	Promising but early	Mixed: some reviews suggest less pain, but a 2009 review of 7 trials wasn’t convinced17
A practitioner’s qi relieves pain or treats disease	Not enough evidence	One 2007 review, covering pain only: five small trials, with 80 people in the pooled analysis, compared with usual care6

A 10-minute gentle qigong-style routine

This routine is our own. It uses simple, slow movements in the spirit of dynamic qigong, not any named program, so treat it as a sampler before you find a teacher. Do it standing, or seated in a sturdy chair without arms.

How it should feel: easy. Breathe slowly through the movements without forcing deep breaths or holding your breath. Stop any move that causes pain or dizziness.

Time	Move	How to do it	Seated version
0:00–1:00	Settle	Feet hip-width apart, knees soft, arms loose. Notice your feet on the floor and let your breathing slow.	Feet flat, hands on thighs
1:00–2:30	Float and sink	Breathe in as your arms float forward to shoulder height. Breathe out as they lower and your knees bend slightly. 8 times.	Arms only
2:30–4:00	Open the chest	Hands in front of your chest, palms facing. Breathe in as you draw them apart; breathe out as they return. 8 times.	Same
4:00–5:30	Easy waist turns	Turn gently from side to side and let your arms swing loosely. 10 each way.	Smaller turns, hands on thighs
5:30–7:00	Rock and shift	One foot a half step forward. Rock your weight forward and back slowly. 6 times, then switch feet. Hold a chair back if needed.	Lean forward and back from the hips
7:00–8:00	Side reach	Reach one arm overhead and lean slightly to the other side. 4 each side.	Same
8:00–9:00	Loosen	Shake your hands and arms gently, then roll your shoulders.	Same
9:00–10:00	Close	Rest your hands on your lower belly. Take three slow breaths, then walk a few steps.	Stay seated for the breaths

Building up: Start most days at 10 minutes. If you enjoy it, work toward the roughly 35 minutes, three to five days a week, that trial programs often used². China’s Health Qigong program added a seated set in 2010, called the Twelve Pieces of Brocade¹².

Finding a teacher: Qigong teachers don’t need a license, and no state or federal agency regulates them. Groups offer their own certificates with differing standards, so ask about each teacher’s training and experience¹.

A daily practice that respects the tradition and the evidence

Qigong fits values many natural-health readers hold dear. It costs little, needs no gear, uses breath and attention you already have, and comes from a living tradition centuries old¹².

Taking that tradition seriously means testing it fairly. The trials so far say gentle qigong is a reasonable way to move, sleep a bit better and feel steadier. They don’t show that anyone can send healing energy into your body.

Questions readers ask

The bottom line

Qigong is a family of slow, breath-linked practices with deep roots in Chinese medicine. Its best-studied form, Baduanjin, has hundreds of trials behind it, and they point to modest gains in balance, sleep, blood pressure and quality of life. Most of those trials are small, poorly blinded and from one country, so the benefits are promising rather than proven.

External qigong, healing by a practitioner’s qi, rests on a handful of tiny studies. Try movement-based qigong as gentle daily exercise, find a teacher who can describe their training, and keep it alongside your regular care, never in place of it.

Related reading

• Tai chi began as a martial art, and its best-proven use is preventing falls
• Humors, doshas and qi: what science kept from old healing philosophies
• Traditional medicine got WHO codes, and testing it fairly is the harder part
• Antidepressant trials succeeded 94% of the time in journals and 51% of the time in FDA files
• Balance fades after 50, and a 10-second test shows where you stand

Sources

1. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. “Qigong: What You Need To Know.” NIH, last updated February 2022. nccih.nih.gov
2. Zhou J, Yu Y, Cao B, et al. “Characteristic of Clinical Studies on Baduanjin during 2000–2019: A Comprehensive Review.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2020;2020:4783915. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
3. Zou L, Sasaki JE, Wang H, Xiao Z, Fang Q, Zhang M. “A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Baduanjin Qigong for Health Benefits: Randomized Controlled Trials.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2017;2017:4548706 (full text, ScienceOpen). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
4. Zhao L, Chong MC, Lee WL, Song W, Xu N, Lou Y. “Effects of Baduanjin Exercise on Sleep Quality, Depressive Symptoms, Quality of Life, and Body Composition in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.” Frontiers in Public Health, 2026;14:1882039 (abstract, Qigong Institute research database). qigonginstitute.org
5. Xiong X, Zhang L, Zhang E. “The Effects of Qigong Exercise on Sleep Quality in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Frontiers in Public Health, 2025;13. frontiersin.org
6. Lee MS, Pittler MH, Ernst E. “External Qigong for Pain Conditions: A Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials.” The Journal of Pain, 2007;8(11):827-831 (abstract, Qigong Institute research database). qigonginstitute.org
7. Lee MS, Pittler MH, Ernst E. “Internal Qigong for Pain Conditions: A Systematic Review.” The Journal of Pain, 2009;10(11):1121-1127. em-consulte.com
8. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. “Reiki.” NIH, last updated December 2018. nccih.nih.gov
9. Shan HH. “Culture-Bound Psychiatric Disorders Associated with Qigong Practice in China.” Hong Kong Journal of Psychiatry, 2000;10(4):12-14. easap.asia
10. Ng BY (Woodbridge Hospital and Institute of Mental Health, Singapore). “Qigong-Induced Mental Disorders: A Review.” 1999;33(2):197-206; journal listed as “J Psychiatry” in the database record (abstract, Qigong Institute research database). qigonginstitute.org
11. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. “Traditional Chinese Medicine: What You Need To Know.” NIH, last updated April 2019. nccih.nih.gov
12. Academy of Chinese Studies. “Health Qigong.” Chinese Culture, last updated October 28, 2019. chiculture.org.hk
13. National Institute on Aging. “Exercising With Chronic Conditions.” NIH, accessed October 2026. nia.nih.gov