How important is Ch'i?

[stonecrusher69]

I read that children were chosen into the Shaolin by their spiritual potential. Do you believe that such a potential could be a determining factor in one's ability to fight?

Also, do any of you actually feel the Chi when you fight or train? I'm curious as to your points of view.

I think spirtual potential and fighting abilities are two different things.You can be a good fighter and a bad person,or a good good person who can't fight.I think traditionaly Shaolin only accepted those who they thought had a high moral values so they could trust the new monk with their secrets.You don't want to train someone who you know will use what you taught them to go out and hurt other people.

[stonecrusher69]

As far as Chi..Yes i can fel Chi flow when I do my qi gong or forms.That comes with time.When it comes you will know.

[raven91]

As far as Chi..Yes i can fel Chi flow when I do my qi gong or forms.That comes with time.When it comes you will know.

Wow! Thank you very much for sharing that! It inspires me to keep trying my best.

As for the monks of earlier times, I agree completely with you that they were chosen with the ability to stay honest as a determining factor. Do you consider, though, that being a bad person means you have a weaker Chi?

Can't you be bad and still have strong Chi? It might be a negative Chi though...

[stonecrusher69]

No..I don't think what type of person you are will effect your chi.you can be good or bad person.your chi could either be weak or strong.

[Kajukenbopr]

Actually, it is not difficult at all. You train your body right and keep relaxed and an alert mind and chi will flow in and from you.

Of course, dont expect it to be like electricity. When you have trained as you should and reached the level you need, you will feel it in every breath you take.

[Alucard]

Chi or "Qi" is the very essence of life. It is our "aura" if you will. Qi can be used as an application for martial arts, but is mostly for everyday life. Qi can be pushed through the ground to keep yourself balanced and upright, or it can be turned onto your opponent. However you chose is up to you. Qi is also used for its healing properties. It already flows through the channels in your body, all we have to do is cultivate it into a usable source. It can be used to feel things around you, a sense of "knowing" your environment. Qi is quite hard to explain as a whole. Its something that can not be told, but experienced.

[SatyagrahaKF]

I agree with Alucard. I have been doing very intense meditations as of lately and I believe that Chi is the awareness and energy that makes up life. It is your inner being. Meditation for me, helps bring out more control over my body and I can in a sense watch myself do forms, techniqes, etc. It is a great experience and will most likely help you find your Chi.

[White Warlock]

Well, that's just the point, isn't it? Because most everyone has forgotten what chi meant, it has become a catch-all... a filler for all our suspicions and dreams. We feel a breeze against our skin and it must be chi. We feel empowered and it must be chi. We sense someone nearby and it must be chi. We have an urge to go to the bathroom... and it must be chi.

It is not a catch-all, or at least it wasn't initially intended to be perceived as such.

Let's discuss things in a more informative approach. This whole 'feel' and 'sense' approach to discussions is not really giving insight, nor is it presenting anything tangible:

The Chinese character for chi, or qi, stands for air. This is not something to be taken lightly. It is, in fact, the basis for the belief associated with chi. It was initially believed that air, wind, the flow of air, was a force... a universal force. It was known that we inhaled and exhaled, and in the process we consumed and released this... chi. It was noted that when we exhale chi in just the right manner, we create sounds... some of which allow us to generate more power (kiai, etc).

The biomechanical understanding of this was missing, and thus it was attributed to the chi... this universal force that can somehow be channeled, or directed, to influence others and strengthen our own actions. The belief went so far as to present that the words we express are empowered by chi, and thus we can develop a stronger persona of ourselves, influence others, merely by gaining a better control of this chi... this air.

Physical manifestations were attributed to chi, in such things as 'hyperventilation' and 'hypoventilation' being examples of bad chi. Such physical manifestations encouraged a flue of 'presumptions' that chi somehow influenced the entire body. Diseases, often obtained via the air (chi), were attributed to bad chi... both within individuals and in regions or areas (aspects of feng shui). Essentially, lack of knowledge played a strong role in the development of later perceptions on chi and how it influences the individual and their environment.

A huge interference with the understanding of chi comes from our Western preconceptions birthed from medieval occultism. It has, essentially, tainted our understanding and thus presented this wholey false perception that chi can be 'summoned' or 'invoked,' or that objects can somehow attract/direct the flow of chi.

Because of its foreign roots, and the problems associated with attempting to describe intangible 'concepts' through the fallacies associated with language differentiations, chi is unfortunately relegated to an ubiquitious metaphor for magic. To further complicate this, in our more modern struggles to cope with the clash of science and 'belief,' our foreign perceptions of chi have gained the forms of energy or of a being, like electricity or a god.

Chi, or qi, was initially conceived as a descriptor for those intangible influences. It was air, wind, the noxious gases released by volcanoes, the bad breath of an unscrupulous businessman. In time it began to merge with the religions, imparting a 'basis' for all that is unknown, untouchable.

These are the roots. Where you take them from here... is up to you.

[giang_hu]

The etymology of "chi" is interesting to look at. When you write it, it looks like "steam" and "rice".

[Kajukenbopr]

yet, when practiced in Japan, they refered to controlled chi as "Hado" which are vibrations we produce

I'm not sure to what extent Hado really works, however, there are a number of books that explain certain experiments that verify that Hado exists, but not in a large scale as cartoons would like it to appear or legend makes it out to be

more research is needed