Chi Energy

[Jacynth]

Does anybody else except me beleive in this mysterious enery that gives us the ability to perform amazing Teniques?

[moetl]

*unqualified post warning*

i'm just a beginner, so i cannot say anything qualified about ki, but i have read somewhere on this forum that there is a adrenalin gland in our stomach (supposedly where the "hara" is situated) and that this gland is stimulated through kiai.

personally this gave me quite a shock, since i would gladly believe that there are some mysterious energies around... i feel that the world is too vain without theses mysteries (for me) - but i won't reject reality for the sake of wallowing in these mysteries

[not-I]

I don't think there's anything particularly mysterious about Chi. Just because it is not (yet) scientifically quantifiable doesn't mean it's general levels and blockages can't be registered rather precisely. Chinese medicine made it the object of study for centuries. In the West, Chinese practices based on Chi theory like acupuncture were first dismissed as quackery, now they are often prescribed as supplementary therapies by Western physicians.

Sure, Chi can be developed and increased, especially through cultivating the hara, which can facilitate amazing techniques, but it's main function is simply to keep us alive.
The belly, tan-tien or hara was considered the center of life energy or Chi in many ancient cultures. When we suddenly rediscover it through yoga, breathing excercises, tai-chi, meditation, or kendo, we seem quite surprised, yet it's been there all along.

[AlexM]

Does anybody else except me beleive in this mysterious enery that gives us the ability to perform amazing Teniques?

Yes, you are the only one to believe in this stuff (or rather one of the few... I hope).

"Amazing techniques" are performed after years of practice, not after having mastered mythical "energy".

Forget chi, work on men-uchi. :)

[LNGUYEN]

One time the Discovery channel did a documentary about chi in Eastern philosophy and compare it to Western philosophy. They investigated some Monk in Himalaya who can survive in the extreme cold of Himalaya with very litle clothes. they monitored the entire group of them sleeping outside at night and found out that within a second, their bodies temperature increase while they are in total meditation. After that, they studied a professional marksman while he was targeting. The laser beam from his rifle move widly at the bulleye but suddenly, the beam stops right at the bulleye and the beam stop moving wildy and only move within small distance at the bulleye. At that time, the marksman is ready to shoot and the monitor show that his brain wave is very small, almost like he is not thinking at all or it can be translate that he is in total concentration. It is not only his brain but his body as well, almost no activity at all. They conclude that chi in Eastern philosophy can be interpret as total concentration within your body and total close out to the surround environment.

[JHusch]

Corny movie reference here, but the Kevin Consner movie where he was a baseball pitcher (Not Field of Dreams, but the other one), he would take the mound and tell himself to "Close the mechanisim" and what you would see is the outside world (stadium, crowd noise) would go away and the only thing he could see would be the batter, the catcher, the distance between the mound and home plate and the umpire.

Again, corney reference but I think that relates to the last post referencing the discovery channel show.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Chi is a useful model to talk about a complex set of physical and mental processes. IOW I don't believe it exists but it is sometimes useful to behave as if it does.

[mystic_kendoka]

i was always told that kiai helps you breath, it makes SURE you breath, in and out, which helps during a fight...