linuxfreak

would someone mind explaining chi to me?

SOCOMSASGsG9

heres my take on chi. i dont claim to understand chi, but if i had to guess, it would go somthing like this.

(this is gonna be long)

chi is energy. chi, or qi, is internal energy. its not some mystical 6th sense that helps you see the future. my teacher calls chi "bioelectricity". when you use chi, your more focused on what you want, on generating power, on holding your ground, that you are able to do it. when a person does tai chi, and chi kung, he is building his bodys chi.

no, chi isnt some kind of star wars "the force" or anything like that. if doesnt enable you to fly, but it does enable you to do things other people cant. when you lift weights, you build your muscles, when you do chi kung, you build your chi. most people dont do chi kung, which is why it seems to most people to be fake. bioelectricity is real, it is what gives us energy, and that is what chi is.

consider this story: hundreds of years ago during a revolt a monk (who was a kung fu/chi king master) got attacked by a soldier. according to the story, the monk killed the soldier without thouching him. do i believe that story? im not sure, i believe the power of chi, but i dont think it is that drastic.

here is a more realistic example: my tai chi instructor went to a seminar once, in which he saw a tai chi master put a phone book on a persons back, and then he hit the book. when he removed it there was the masters hand print on the guys back.

i think that is what chi does. that is what enables bruce lee to send a person back a couple feet with a puch delivered from 2 inches away. it is what enables the 65+ years old yang zhendou (grandmaster of yang style tai chi) to stand there grinning while my 30 year old instructor trys to push him over.

now, when it comes to sensing danger, our body is very mysterious. its not some kind of chi thing that helps us sense danger. you see, your walking down a city street in the ghetto by a bunch of back alleys. now, its noisy, cars, traffic, people talking and shouting, but as you pass an alley you turn to your right and see a large man holding a knife coming at you. is that chi? i do not believe so. i think it is more likely that your brain sensed somthing you didnt. your brain heard the opening of the knife, and by instinct you reacted to it, even though you wouldnt think about the sound, or even realize you heard it. now, when it comes to turning around and seeing somone looking at you, somtimes i experience that, and i have no explination for it. except that i am paranoid. but i think for the average human paranoia has nothing to do with it.

now, i was also disturbed by the statement that kung fu is a religion. now, im a christian, and i dont think God is gonna send me to hell because i take kung fu. if i started worshiping chi (as some people i have seen posting here seem to) then God would be mad. but kung fu is not a religion.

does what im saying make sense? i hope it does, but let me know if you have a question.

__________________
"there are 4 types of people in this world.....
those who know and know they know, they are wise, follow them.
those who know and know not they know, they are asleep, wake them.
those who know not and know they know not, they are simple, teach them.
those who know not and know not they know not, they are fools, shun them." -unknown

linuxfreak

first thing, i am glad to hear you are a christian. i am the same. alot of christians miss understand martial arts. i am not going to get into that.

anyway, i am curious about the Physics side of chi.

i am not sure if i believe that. alot of martial art teachers seem to make stuff up like this. i am not calling you a lair, it just seems fishy. where is the Physisit's (spelled wrong) proof about chi?

Strepto

Exactly!
Chi, qi, ki (whatever you wanna call it) is for the weak-minded people. Some have to believe in invisible forces, energies and gods to feel good and "improve" themselves. In aikido there is a trick called "Unbendable Arm" where you put your arm slightly bent and you "project" your ki as en extension of your arm. Then you have someone try to bend your arm... they won't be able to bend it. It's not the result of the ki energy, it's just a way to teach weak minded poeple too relax the proper muscles (biceps in this case) and only contract the good muscles (triceps). I had a link somewhere that explained the biomechanism behind this... i'll try to find it and i'll post it.

So... stop believing in invisible things... it's just a "placebo"!

***awaiting the and from some of you!***

__________________
When practicing Systema you start as a "stick", then move on to being a "chain", then you become a "rope" and once you have mastered Systema you move like "water"...

Strepto

here is the link I told you about

http://ofinterest.net/ua/arm2.html

__________________
When practicing Systema you start as a "stick", then move on to being a "chain", then you become a "rope" and once you have mastered Systema you move like "water"...

darrianation

It's that feeling you get right before you shoot your jing!

__________________
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw

NOBAMA!

Thai Bri

And after? Well, that's sleep!

SergeTk

Wow Handtohand you really should come up with more original skepticism. I know you trying 2b like ThaiBri, but his skepticism is entertaining most of the time while yours simply lame.



Here is my take on Chi.

Chi for me is Blood circulation and body oxygen level.
Chi kung exercises stimulate faster blood flow, while chi kung breathing simply allows inhale more O2 and exhale more CO2, which in turn allows better muscle efficiency and productivity, as well as better efficiency of entire body.

Chi Kung breathing teaches person 2 use full capacity of his lungs by breathing into a stomach area just like newborn babies do. Unlike most adults who breathe into chest area and only partially utilizing lungs capacity.
Continues breathing exercises will increase lung capacity, which in turn will increase oxygen level in the body.

Strepto

So you're saying that chi doesn't exist... it's just used to teach people how to breath properly.

__________________
When practicing Systema you start as a "stick", then move on to being a "chain", then you become a "rope" and once you have mastered Systema you move like "water"...

SergeTk

Chi is a heat produced by chemical reactions inside the human body, which is direct result of blood circulation and oxygen blood level.

Everyone produces heat, only difference is that chi-kung practitioners can speedup these chemical reactions to produce more heat then others.

Tom Yum

Please explain in terms of the laws of physics and anatomy.

You could start off with some chemistry based kinetics equations that show an increase in heat transfer from an exothermic reaction that gets transformed into mechanical energy, how the metabolism counters this heat transfer to regulate body temperature etc

__________________

Love it, leave it or fix it.

HuSanYan

it doesnt require a great deal of sophistication to understand chi, it is very real but unfortunately takes decades to really turn into a weapon as well as the right mentality (rarely found in the comparitively 'pampered and shallow, face value' type of western person).

those that can't understand it, or worse, ridicule this, are simply not bright folks who can only understand the clout of external force vs force.

I am a westerner (British & proud of it) but I have great respect for the many eastern races that know things we never did or have long forgotten.

SergeTk

Im not going into more details then I did, you want to know how it works look into catabalism, particulary oxidation phosphorylation

Tom Yum

I have seen chi demonstrations before, but my impression is that it is connected with proper breathing and breath control under the diaphragm.

__________________

Love it, leave it or fix it.

HuSanYan

Tom Yum, i think that many people try to understand chi in too physical a way.
Let me try to give a comparison (a rough one).
have you ever had a proper massage or proper Aromatherapy??, a serious Aromatherapist will know how to unblock some of the many channels or meridians within the body, one main one is the line about a quarter of an inch along and either side of the spine from base to skull. after such treatment there is a true feeling of well being in addition to a deeply relaxed state, more importantly there is a strong feeling of having the body 'corrected'. Another perhaps better example is that of Reflexology.
The above mentioned internal 'body energy/life force' is the same 'matter' (so to speak, again perhaps somewhat vaguely) as that which is referred to as Chi.
well thats all i can think of off the top of my head, but there are many ebs and flows within our bodies and only when you have had such treatments can you know what I mean. another very decent example is that of Accupressure.