give your definition of a chi or a ki?

Question

i belive that there is something energy there which can be controlled, e.g whn a negative person walks in the room you can feel the energy. do you think that there is something

Answer 1

I'll tell you what my definition is not. It is not some magical energy that can be projected in "chi balls" or used to magically make force fields or generate power to hit someone without touching them (like that dillman fraud or the yellow bamboo clowns). Or even some "mystical energy" to make you stronger because you did some "ancient" movement that was sold to you as a quick fix as an alternative to hard work and training or proper structure and technique.

The problem with "chi" is that there is no uniform definition or meaning.

Chi can legitimately be described as: Adrenalin, power (stregth + technique), stregth, better structure and technique, better conditioning, will power (normal levels of drive to push yourself) or any other quantative force/explanation that can be rationally scientifically proven.

Anything else is just bullshido and you are a fool to believe it.

Ask yourself, why is it that the vast majority of tai chi guys have been training for 20+ years are weak as hell and have no power?

chi has a bad rap rather than a legit scientific explanation (like adrenalin, stregth, skill, etc.) because so many people use it as a con or a sham. The martial arts verion of "get rich quick" sold to the lazy american consumer.

Edit:
Actually (to the post below me) Tai-chi does have combat applications here is a link to some good resistance tai chi. However most teachers show it as a "health helper" nonsense. I myself study CIMA and that is probably why I come down so hard on crappy teachers and fictional notions of chi, it gives us all a bad name. There is health benefits in practicing any martial art (except one that doesn't work, bad training etc.). I have also played with a VERY small number of tai chi people who do have power and can use it to fight, however this is VERY few and very far between. The vast majority say you can do "magical bs" with your chi, and teachers give nonsense excuses like "keep doing the excercises, and you will stregthen your chi" but they don't get stronger because the teachers themselves are just covering up thier own ignorance as they themselves don't understand how to generate power.

http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=46654

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=3308028374750317361&q=tai+chi+tricks

(there is not resistance in all the drills but you can see the resistance ones and skip the ones without.)
The video is 30 minuites long so give yourself some time to watch.

Answer 2

Chi to me is simply energy, but energy is a slippery shapechanging eel. Just ask Einstein. It has many mysteries and many uses for martial arts practitioners and physicists alike.

This is 'magical' to some people and explainable to others. A train hovering on an electromagnetic field would be 'magic' to an ancient person but explainable by a modern physicist.

Is it hard to imagine that we have an electromagnetic field around the body that we cannot see? Sensitive people can feel this directly and now recently physicists with proper equipment can verify it.

How to use this energy and the effects that it can cause are open to debate. There are of course a lot of scam artists out there misrepresenting it on purpose for the sake of money.

Bluto makes some good points but misses the point of Tai Chi. Tai Chi is not a body building program but a means of harnessing one's own body/mind/spirit energy, however strong or feeble it is. It should be compared to meditation as much as to other martial arts.

Tai Chi does have some practical fighting applications but that is not its primary purpose and it has evolved into a health practice and art form as much as a fighting style.

I'm not betting on the Tai Chi guy to win the next UFC fight but I would bet on him if you could set a rematch for when they are 90 years old, if the other guy even makes it that far.

Answer 3

rather than telling you what it is to me.... I will leave you with this...

Here is an interesting test for anyone who wants to feel "chi".

Sit in a chair with you back up-right and in good posture. Now with arms bent like you would see someone pray, keep your hands apart from each other about a foot. Now close your eyes and breathe regularly. Slowly move your hands together till they almost touch... here you can move them ever so slightly away and toward each other. You will feel the same effect that two magnets with opposite polars feels like... almost a pushing away feeling. That is energy. Why its there? I have NO clue. But I was really against this stuff until my master showed me. I felt so stupid for doubting him that I actually apologized on the spot. Its a bazaar feeling that I can't describe but its there!

Answer 4

My definition is not that it's a mystical energy or some "power" that certain individuals have.

My definition is mostly determined by the level of focus and control of the individuals ability in their technique and training.

the better focus and technique the more power and force they can apply to do some extraordinary things, whether it's breaking 8 concrete camfer slabs, or causing someone twice their size to submit from a minimal amount of force.

Answer 5

Energy is everywhere around us, in all kinds of forms; mechanical, chemical, etc.. And in us human beings. That what makes us alive is in scientific terms called biochemical energy. Research in this field is still quite unexplored, but simply said you get energy from eating and breathing. You refer to feeling someone's "energy". This is a different matter; it's in neurological terms referred to as receptiveness. Simply put you get a visual stimulus about someone's bodylanguage and you may perceive someone's energetic vibrations though this view is still a topic of debate in science. The Chinese character for the word Chi originally referred to vapor like when you breath out when its cold and also refers to breathing. To complicate matters the word Chi meaning energy has many subleties in the Chinese language. Gasoline or electricity for example consists of characters that are partially the word for Chi. The word is also used in several ways in Chinese medical terms. Using the term Chi in MA means in my humble opinion that through the coordination of breathing and physical movement, and with the training of one's central and perifical nervesystem through meditation and physical training you improve your awareness and the overall coordination of one's different bodyparts in motion and in relation to your surroundings. This makes it possible to move one's body in an integrated unit and through this synergy one is able to generate coordinated power in an offensive or defensive manoeuvre. Combined with a daily training regime, a proper diet and a tranquil mind one can still be martially active into old age. In my humble opinion any magical or superhuman feat regaring Chi/ki belongs to the realm of folklore and entertainment.

Answer 6

Uh, yeah. That's what Ki or Chi is.

Answer 7

It's a fairy tale old master make up to try recurit more native students.

Answer 8

It's the same sh!t star wars geeks believe, "The Force." It's all bullsh!t.