Do You Believe in Chi?

Wow, that was a pretty remarkable video. Probably the best, creepiest chi demo I’ve seen.

Like you I’m a bit of a skeptic, but I try to be open minded to these possibilities. Martial artists - the real ones - can perform amazing feats at times. Who wouldn’t want to possess these quasi-magical powers?

Chi/ki, prana, etc., if it really exists, will remain relegated to fiction with all the snake-oil salesman out there. Jack Hogan, another ryukyu kempoist like George Dillman, does this trick where he KOs his students by just looking at them. Yeah, okay.

Thanks for answering my question. Ya, I don’t believe that old dude in the last part of your post. It does seem that his powers are electrical though. I believe in chi and meridians. I know that through certain therapies, one can be healed through chi.

Very good post, echoing many thoughts I have had.

Not trying to plug my own pitiful blogging, but in section three of this post, I provide quite a bit of relevant thinking and quotes on the subject. It’s one of the most heavily-hit posts I’ve written (as I predict this one will be for you), and some of your readers might find it interesting.

[...] Continue here: Do You Believe in Chi? [...]

I found that video about Jack Hogan doing the ‘look knockout’ here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HgzfikdJL0. Thanks for the heads up John!

Our species is always very quick to discard anything that isn’t either a general human ability, or has been “scientifically disproved”. I think the fact that we use all 10% of our brains should have use looking deeper for answers, not discrediting people who seem to poses the ability to do so. Some interesting links from some credited sources to think about:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3236118.stm
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/04.18/09-tummo.html

Nice article Matt San!

So as not to be confused with a crazy man, I’m not saying that we could unlock the secrets of flying, or moving object, or even projecting “chi”. But more so, after reading this article, wanted to say that some things, are unexplainable, and will remain so. I am not..THAT..crazy.

Great articles Brandensan! I enjoyed reading them. It is remarkable what some people are capable of, especially when it isn’t embellished with all kinds of nonsense.

I guess I won’t report you to the mental health authorities…just yet.

I read a WHOLE BOOK on Chi as applied to running, talk your ear off about it, and I get no credit for getting those wheels turning? Man, I feel ripped off! haha

Seriously, though, I truly believe in chi/a life energy/the Force, whatever you want to call it. It’s a weird paradox of release and strength that leads to some pretty unbelievable feats. The only thing standing in the way of a fully unleashed chi is our egos, telling ourselves, “oh no, you can’t do that,” or “my body just isn’t as strong as theirs.” So, when we are sleeping and we act out (i hear this happens to some people sometimes…), we are incredibly strong, much more so than we are in our waking lives. Just another example of the subconscious acting out…

Just my input….you’re going to ban me from leaving comments, aren’t you? haha

Actually I’ve been running into Chi all over the place lately. Your chi running was one of those. Lizzie’s direct question is what prompted me to write an entry because when I went to respond in the comments I found I couldn’t write anything less than a few paragraphs.

You aren’t banned - it would take a lot more than that. Although I can’t stop people from looking at you funny if they want to

On the subject of no-touch knockouts, this video may interest you:

http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/can-qigong-soothe-these-savage-beasts/

Thanks Chris! I love weird Japanese shows. The qigong aside, it’s just fun to watch the craziness.

As for the qigong itself, I’m not one to completely discount or support it - I find this video interesting and worthy of consideration. However, I will say - I don’t see anything here that would prove no touch knockout techniques.

Is the master soothing these animals with his calm mind and spirit? Potentially. He’s not knocking anything out though.

Furthermore, we don’t really know the time of day or condition of these animals. We must consider the possibility that the demo was arranged at a very well established sleep time in the zoo (especially for the deer).

Ultimately, if it doesn’t work on a resistant opponent, be it Bob Sapp or Glass Joe from Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, it’s not viable in combat sense.

I think there has been alot of interesting stuff suppressed heavily in North American science. It has been hammered into our minds that all we have is our 5 senses. I agree with Branden: the fact that we use merely 10% of our brain should keep us looking a little harder for answers.

My traditional martial arts background is Korean so I will call it Ki here.

I had the absolute honour of training with the founder of Hapkido, Ji, Han Jae a few years ago. He said Ki was basically adrenaline. However, the trick is to generate it purely by using the mind. Anyone can get an adrenaline dump by jumping out of a plane but to mentally generate adrenaline and control its flow is what true harnessing and control of Ki is.

Think of a mother lifting a fallen car off her baby. Think of the pain suppression under the influence of adrenaline, the super athletic performance, increased perception, any flu or illness being felt by someone hit by a sudden surge of adrenaline for whatever emergency situation they are placed in is gone momentarily…

He said Ki is Adrenaline. Its just that we have to learn to control it by the mind. That is it.

Just some thoughts i thought i would share. Interesting post and comments.

Yes I believe Chi Power, take a look http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/five-questions-with-mo-pai-nei-kung-expert/#comment-8753

I do and teach Tai Chi and the biggest rip off and degeneration of my art leans on liars. Chi-liars…they pretend to push people 30-feet with their chi! Bah. That stunt relies on ridiculous mind-training of fragile-believe-anything students. Worse though: like the second video, those teacher train people to die (or at least get their butts kicked).

The burning paper trick is a well-known chemical thing too!

I don’t believe in chi, because I can experience it! But experiencing the subtle whir and extraordinary perceptions doesn’t turn reality into fantasy. It does not burst things into flame.

So I don’t talk about it in my school (much). I prefer, instead, to test reality and apply relaxation to real applications. We can discover chi (really, effects of chi) without believing in it.

I hear ya Steve.

Could you talk a little bit more about the burning paper trick? I don’t know anything about it and was at a loss to explain it.

I read extensive talk about it on someone’s blog (maybe Chris’ at Martial Development?) but I don’t remember whose. Perhaps well-known is exaggerating, but it seemed well-known in whatever discussion I read.

I don’t keep good track of it, because, well, it’s all quite ridiculous. Like great magicians, they capture attention and awe, and we end up going WOW! That part’s okay. But David Blaine does not sell self-defense during or after his shows.

That’s where I think Qi-fakers amp up my ire: selling their lies as miraculous self-defense. And somewhere, there’s always a senior student lurking in the shadows helping the show go on.

I could go on…but I leave with this: some students and their teachers (take Chen Man Ching for example) get so taken by their beliefs surrounding special abilities that they are willing to take a pounding (like the video you posted). And that is a shameful sham.

I’ve actually forgotten about chi for a while now. Just let things flow and the supposed chi should come. I’ve come to understand not to focus on this mysterious chi, and go with the flow. My current teacher summarizes: “if you don’t have chi, you’d be dead”.

You might find this useful.

http://renli.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/chi-faq-14/