FWIW, I don't know of any qigong schools that have formal "degrees" like 1st, 2d, 3d, etc., but then some people are making stuff up all the time. Anyway, traditional qigong schools, similar to traditional Chinese martial art schools, don't have rank/belt systems. They might, though, have designations of master (the head of a school), lineage disciple (chosen to learn and eventually propagate all of the master's knowledge), and indoor student (chosen to learn at least a substantial part of the master's knowledge).
Bruce
