Where Are all the Men? Reflections on Gender Balance in Tai Chi and Qigong

The other day, I was teaching my weekly class. Looking around the room, I noticed a familiar pattern: attendance was roughly 80%, female. At the end of the session, one of the few men in the class looked around as people were leaving and asked me a simple question.

“Where are all the men?”

It made me smile because it’s a question I’ve asked myself many times over the years.

In my own teaching and in my travels to classes all over the world, I’ve noticed the same thing again and again. Tai Chi and Qigong classes are predominantly attended by women.

It’s not confined to one place or one style; it’s a pattern that repeats across countries, workshops, and diverse teaching environments. And yet, when I step into classes that are more clearly martial in focus, where there is an emphasis on structure, application, or performance, the balance often shifts. More men are present. Sometimes significantly so.

That contrast has always stayed with me.

As someone who runs accredited instructor training courses and has written about practices such as Fragrant Qigong and Shibashi, I know how powerful and beneficial these practices are for everyone. So it makes me wonder why a large group of people is still underrepresented in these spaces.

The “Soft Wellness” Barrier

To understand this, I think it helps to look at how different people approach health and movement. Research on exercise behaviour suggests a fairly consistent pattern. Women are often more drawn to practices that support emotional well-being, stress reduction, and nervous system balance. Men, more often, tend to engage when there is a clear physical outcome, strength, skill, performance, or recovery.

There is also a broader cultural belief that exercise must be hard, fast, or competitive to “count.” Within that mindset, practices like Tai Chi or Qigong can sometimes be misunderstood as too gentle, too slow, or not “real exercise.” But that perception doesn’t really match the reality of the practice.

An interesting example of this came up recently when I joined other instructors for World Tai Chi Day. Across the demonstrations, I noticed a consistent pattern. Most were still predominantly female-led in terms of participation. However, the one clear exception was the sword form demonstration, where there were actually more men than women. I think it speaks to how framing influences participation. The sword form has a stronger visual link to martial tradition, skill, and precision, and perhaps because of that, it feels more familiar or accessible to men who might otherwise not engage with Tai Chi or Qigong in their usual “wellbeing” presentation.

Reconnecting to the Martial Roots

Tai Chi and Qigong today are often introduced as health and relaxation practices, and those benefits are real. But they are only part of the picture. These arts stem from a much deeper martial tradition grounded in structure, control, discipline, and intelligent movement.

In my classes, alongside Qigong forms, I also teach Yang Style Tai Chi. I always include the martial applications behind the movements, not to encourage aggression but to provide clarity. When a slow movement is understood as a structural response designed to deflect, neutralize, or unbalance force, the practice changes. It becomes more precise, more physical, and more purposeful.

For many men, especially, that clarity seems to matter. It gives:

• A clear physical intention behind the movement

• A sense of skill and progression

• A better understanding of body structure

• A reason why alignment, sinking, and grounding are so important

When that martial layer is missing, something can be lost in translation. When it is present, the practice often becomes much more accessible, not less mindful, but more complete.

What I See in the Room

When men join my classes, I often notice a familiar pattern. There can be some hesitation at first, usually not because of the practice itself, but because of what they expected it to be. But that tends to shift quickly. Many are surprised by how physically demanding it is, not in a forceful way, but in coordination, control, balance, and internal awareness. Over time, what starts as curiosity often becomes consistency. And something else happens, too. The focus shifts away from how it looks and toward how it feels in the body and how it works.

The Role of the Instructor and the Space

I have trained and certified many teachers, including quite a few men, to teach Tai Chi and Qigong professionally. It’s given me a broader perspective on how people enter these practices and what helps them stay. One question that often comes up is whether the instructor's gender makes a difference. Sometimes, a male instructor at the front of the room can help certain men feel an immediate sense of familiarity or reassurance. That presence can quietly signal “you belong here.” But in reality, I’ve found it isn’t the deciding factor. What really matters is how the practice is taught. A teacher, regardless of gender, who explains the structure, mechanics, and purpose of movement tends to engage people far more effectively. When teaching is grounded and precise, barriers tend to drop away.

Moving Forward

Tai Chi and Qigong are complete systems of structure, awareness, and internal development. At some point, the martial aspect has become less visible in how they are often presented. And I do wonder whether that has unintentionally shaped who feels drawn to them.

If we present these arts only as gentle well-being practices, we may narrow their reach. But if we also speak openly about their strength, structure, and intelligence, we may open the door much more widely.

Tai Chi and Qigong are not about choosing between softness and strength. They embody both. They are not the absence of effort but a different quality of it, one that requires awareness, control, and internal power. And perhaps the real question is not only “where have all the men gone?” but also how we can better articulate what these practices truly are.

I would love to hear from other instructors to see if you noticed a similar gender balance in your classes.

Resources & Training

I have written two books exploring Qigong and Tai Chi practices:

Fragrant Qigong: Unlock the Power to Heal Your Body  https://amzn.eu/d/0a4vUGpk

Shibashi Set 2 Workbook and Journal, https://amzn.eu/d/010SJlh6

Shibashi Set 1 Workbook and Journal will be available shortly.

Alongside my writing, I offer a number of accredited training programs through the Complimentary Medical Association, including:

Fragrant Qigong Instructor Training https://www.taichiandlemons.com/about-4-3

Shibashi Set 1 Instructor Training https://www.taichiandlemons.com/about-4-1

Shibashi Set 2 Instructor Training. https://www.taichiandlemons.com/about-4-2