The third cross-straits Health Qigong Competition saw the Hong Kong delegation's clean sweep of top awards for group competitions among Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and the Chinese mainland.

In the competition co-organized by Chinese Health Qigong Association (CHQA) and Health Qigong Association Hong Kong and sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the Hong Kong delegation bagged all top team awards in the categories of Yi Jin Jing, Wu Qin Xi, Liu Zi Jue and Ba Duan Jin, four major modern exercise methods of health qigong developed from tradition by CHQA.

A total of 138 people from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Fujian and Guangdong provinces joined this competition for 24 team awards and 48 individual awards.

In group competitions, the Macao delegation won two runner-up awards and one third prize and the Taiwan delegation won one runner-up award and five third prizes.

It was the first time the competition was held outside the mainland, engaging referees from the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, said Zhang Zheng, vice secretary-general of CHQA.

To encourage more people in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to participate in health qigong competitions, CHQA has since the competition last year been certificating awards for delegations from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan separately from teams of the mainland, Zhang said.

This year's competition saw improvements in the Hong Kong delegation in flexibility and strength of postures as well as group coordination and cooperation in team performance, said Hu Xiaofei, chief referee of the competition, who is also the director of Health Preserving Teaching and Research Section of Beijing Sport University.

Hu said he was glad to see young contestants from the Hong Kong delegation exercising health qigong at a high level.

Lam Sin-yu, a 13-year-old from Hong Kong, was crowned with the first individual award in Wu Qin Xi and Ba Duan Jin. Lam was introduced to health qigong at the age of 3. She said regular practice of health qigong helps increase concentration span and release the stress from academic pressure.

Coach of the Macao delegation Che Kuai-heng, in his seventies, said more and more people in Macao have recognized the benefit of exercising health qigong and participated in the exercise actively in recent years.

"Some 20 years of practice of health qigong benefitted me in healthy muscles and tendons. My cardiovascular and respiratory systems function as well as young people's," Che said.

People with obesity or high blood lipids are advised to do half-an-hour's exercise of health qigong four to five times a week. Practicing it for three months will have an obvious positive effect on health, Hu said.

Hu also suggested employees do health qigong for 10 to 20 minutes in the morning. That will make them feel refreshed and energetic and also enhance their mental wellbeing, he added.

Health qigong is an exercise that meets the fitness needs of people of all ages and could be promoted in physical education among schools and universities, said Xin Yi, deputy director general of Health Qigong Administrative Center of the General Administration of Sport of China. That would help improve students' physical quality through a better knowledge of preserving health, Xin noted.

The competition next year is planned to be held in Guangdong province, Xin said.

dara@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 11/07/2016 page8)