Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi: The 18 Movements, Explained

What is Shibashi?

Qigong is an ancient Chinese practice of working with breath and movement. Shibashi is its most popular modern form, and it can be practised by anyone. It is believed to promote self-healing by improving the flow of energy through the body.

The movements are as simple as raising and lowering the arms, turning at the waist, shifting weight from one foot to the other. Each one is performed on both sides of the body, so nothing builds up unevenly. No previous experience of qigong, tai chi or any physical discipline is needed.

Despite being simple and accessible, Shibashi stays engaging. The simplicity is what makes it repeatable — and repetition is where the practice actually works.

Where Shibashi comes from

The set was created in 1979 by Lin Housheng, a Chinese qigong master who worked as a physician and researcher at the Shanghai Qigong Research Institute. He built it with a specific purpose: to make the health benefits of tai chi available to people who would never take up tai chi itself.

The movements are drawn from Yang-style tai chi and simplified. Anyone who has seen tai chi will recognise several of them — Waving Hands Like Clouds appears almost unchanged, and Pushing Waves echoes the pressing movement from Grasp Bird’s Tail.

What Lin Housheng removed matters as much as what he kept. Tai chi forms are long, they are built on footwork and stepping patterns, and they take years to learn in sequence. Shibashi keeps the quality of the movement and drops the complexity, which is why it spread so quickly outside China.

The difference between tai chi and qigong

Qigong works with qi, your life energy — the same syllable as ki in Reiki or Aikido. Tai chi is a martial art with a set of slow, graceful, fluid movements. Both involve stretching and both look similar from the outside, but they come from different intentions: one cultivates energy, the other trains a form of combat slowed almost to stillness.

Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi is a hybrid. It uses the movement vocabulary of tai chi to serve the aims of qigong.

The 18 movements

The order below is the standard first set. Each movement is repeated several times before moving on, and each is performed equally on both sides.

1. Opening Form — settling the stance, the arms rising and falling with the breath
2. Expanding Your Chest — opening the arms wide, then gathering them back in
3. Painting a Rainbow — the arms arc overhead from side to side
4. Circling Arms, Separating the Clouds — the hands part outward from the centre
5. Repulse Monkey — the arms roll back alternately, weight shifting behind
6. Rowing a Boat Across a Windy Lake — a long backward sweep of both arms
7. Holding a Ball in Front of the Shoulders — one hand rises as the other settles
8. Gazing at the Moon — turning at the waist, the gaze following the hands
9. Pushing Palms — turning and pressing forward, alternating sides
10. Waving Hands Like Clouds — the classic tai chi movement, hands circling at the centre
11. Pouring the Ocean into the Sky — scooping upward, then releasing down
12. Pushing Waves Back into the Sea — the weight rocking forward and back with the hands
13. Flying Dove Spreads Its Wings — the arms opening and closing before the chest
14. Punching with Outstretched Arms — a slow, unhurried extension, not a strike
15. Flying Wild Goose — the arms lifting and lowering like slow wingbeats
16. Spinning the Wheel of Life — the arms circling together around the body
17. Stepping and Bouncing a Ball — the only movement with a real step in it
18. Calming, Balancing and Storing Your Qi — the hands settle and the practice closes

The list looks long written down. In practice the whole set takes around twenty minutes, and most people learn the shape of it in a few sessions.

How the breath works

The breath is never held or forced in Shibashi. As a rule the body opens on the inhale and closes on the exhale: arms rising, chest expanding and weight lifting happen as the breath comes in; arms lowering, hands settling and weight sinking happen as it goes out.

Beginners are usually told to let the breath find the movement rather than the other way round. Once the movements are familiar the breath lengthens on its own, and this is where the practice stops being exercise and becomes meditation.

Why Shibashi is easier than tai chi

Three things make the difference.

Almost no footwork. Only one of the eighteen movements involves a step. Tai chi forms are built on stepping patterns, and those take longest to learn.

Symmetry. Every movement is done on both sides, so there is no long asymmetric sequence to memorise.

Short units. Each movement stands on its own and is repeated. You are never trying to remember what comes forty steps from now — only what comes next.

What practitioners notice

Shibashi is a form of meditative movement, and what people most often report is a change in how they breathe and how they carry tension: deeper relaxation, easier and more natural breathing, more freedom through the shoulders and spine, steadier sleep.

It can be practised at home with no equipment and very little space, which is why many people keep it up when other practices lapse.

Who can practise Shibashi?

Shibashi is suitable for all ages and abilities. It is often taught to people who cannot manage more demanding forms of exercise, and equally to experienced practitioners looking for something to do daily rather than occasionally. Anyone can learn it.

Learning Shibashi with Paramita

Shibashi is one of the qigong forms the school teaches. It is part of the retreats that run in the Kathmandu Valley — see what is open there.