Hua Tuo
Hua Tuo was a family physician who was not only the first person to have used anesthesia during surgery, but also developed a number of exercises that were recommended to be practiced by people of any age in order to maintain fitness and health, as well as slow the process of aging. These exercises were created by Hua Tuo during the latter Han Dynasty (Eastern Han), and utilize the concept of Qi to achieve their desirable results. Hua Tuo, having performed these exercises himself, was believed to have appeared quite young despite dying at a very old age.
The Exercises Developed by Hua Tuo
Hua Tuo’s exercises were known as the Five Animal Forms or Games (known as Wuqinxi in Chinese, and can be translated into The Frolic of the Five Animals). The five animals the movements of the forms imitated were the deer, monkey, bear, crane (or stork) and tiger. A specific posture and movement of each animal was copied to target and improve a specific part of the body. For the kidneys, a stretching deer is mimicked. A jumping monkey is imitated to target the spleen, while a bear crawling treats ailments of the liver. A flying crane is to improve the workings of the heart, and a tiger seizing is for the lungs.
The development of these exercises, though they were a form of Qigong, have been recognized as the basis of several styles of martial arts in the country, including those that rely heavily on the internal development of Qi.