Dr Shen Hongxun was born in Shanghai, China in 1939 into a wealthy Catholic family. He was a physician trained in both western and traditional chinese medicine and a Taiji Grandmaster. He was also a teaching lama who chose to teach as a lay person, without a religious framework. His unique combination of education and experience allowed Dr Shen to create and develop the Buqi system of healing, including the Taiji based Qigong practice known as Taijiwuxigong.

Dr Shen first began to study Taijiquan at the age of 11 and as a youth worked with many renowned Chinese masters. They included Professor Yao Huanzi and Tian Chaolin who practiced styles from the Northern School. Professor Yao was famous for his ability to use Taiji forces to prevent people touching or even coming close to him. Tian Chaolin was a prominent student of the Yang family, and had studied with Grandmaster Yang Chengfu, reaching a very advanced level of Taiji. Later Dr Shen also studied with Grandmaster Xia Zixin of the southern school ‘Nanpai’ tradition, where he learned Taiji 37. All of these masters gave ‘buqi’ treatments whilst they were teaching, using forces developed from their Taiji practice. Through many years of hard work and study, Dr Shen also developed these Taiji forces.

Dr Shen also studied with Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist monks as well as Daoist monks. Principal among these was the Buddhist monk Lama Fahai.

During the 1960’s Mao Tse Tung encouraged physicians to combine Chinese and western medicine. Already qualified in western medicine, Dr Shen began to study acupuncture and herbal medicine. He also used his work as a physician to begin to treat patients with some of the buqi techniques he had seen his early Taiji teachers using. Through a number of years of reseach, this developed into the Buqi healing system.

At the same time, Dr Shen was also teaching Taijiquan. He found that older students suffering from a range of health problems struggled to learn the Taiji form. He began to work with them on a few individual standing postures, and noticed considerable health improvements. From this work, the Qigong system of Taijiwuxigong was created. The principles and practice of Taiji are central to both the Buqi healing system and Taijiwuxigong.

During the 1980’s the political climate in China promoted the practice of Qigong. Taijiwuxigong was at the forefront of this development, and Dr Shen was honorary director of the Qigong Science Society of China. In 1987 Dr Shen left China to teach in the west. Based in Ghent, Belgium, he taught Taijiwuxigong, Taiji 37, Buqi healing, and Wuxi Meditation across Europe and the USA until his death in 2011.

The Buqi Institute, founded by Dr Shen, is now directed by his daughter, Master Shen Jin.

For further information on Dr Shen and his life work, please look at the Buqi Institute website and Dr Shen’s Biographical website.