Chi

Chi, Qi, Ki, Internal Strength, Inner Energy.So many names, all essentially the same thing. In the decades past since the western world discovered such a concept, there have been so many descriptions of Chi. From some sort of mystical energy that allows each being to live to the very force the Jedi used to fight evil in star wars. There have been so many different interpretations to outright bastardizations of the meaning of CHI.Here’s my take on this mystical “Chi”.What it isn’t:It’s not a Jedi power that allows one to control the minds of others, Push objects telekinetically or choke people without touching them.(In a recent National geographic documentary “Is it Real?” A skeptic stood up to a so-called master of “chi”. Try as the master may, he couldn’t push down the skeptic no matter how many positions he tried. He later gave excuses such as the, skeptic kept moving his toes which made it difficult to aim his “chi”.)It’s not some magical energy that so-called “masters” have been able to tap which gives them skills like Cancerous palm or Killer dragon fireball big toe attack.It’s not some energy that shaolin monks redirect so that a hit to anywhere but the head does no damage or hurt to the monk.(Shaolin monks do, do conditioning exercises similar to shin rubbing of muay thai and also do body conditioning.)What it is:Chi would be better described as the mechanics and workings of the body as a whole. If you punch with only the force of your arm, it’s not going to be a very good punch (as most boxers will tell you), a jab at best, not matter how much you train that arm it will only be a jab. It is not until you add the legs, torso and shoulder does the punch become a hook, uppercut or corkscrew. Finally, its not until you add you brains into the equation that the punch will connect, possibly leading to a knockout.The one-inch punch is most often used to show one’s mastery of chi. The one-inch punch isn’t a parlor trick. It isn’t the result of a little force on a brittle piece of wood. It’s a demonstration of how the body working as a whole can make the best of that 1 inch to generate enough force to break a block of wood.When you see shaolin monks pressed against spears, it isn’t the chi forming a “shield” around them. It’s the years upon years of hard work that they’ve put in to ensure that the steel will not pierce their flesh. It’s also got to do with the fact that their spears are made with highly flexible wood that helps dissipate the energy. Why do you think they tense up just before they get struck? It is their intricate know how of which muscle and ligament points will not allow the spear through and training those points to toughen them.It seems to me that chi was a master’s way of describing the body working as a whole, to the average layman of a by-gone era. Why bother spending hour after hour describing to each idiot who passed by, how the he was able to break bricks with his bare hands, when he would rather be training. Because when mastery is a never ending journey to perfection, you got a long way to go...