A Simple Guide In Plain English
Introduction
- Chi (qi) is an ancient Chinese term, which can be translated as energy. Like energy, the word chi is used in both abstract and concrete terms, and applied to both general concepts and specific phenomena. In other words, chi is ambiguous. (People who use the term often have a specific meaning in mind.)
- In the broadest sense of the word, chi is generally understood to be pervasive, present in everyone and everything, but it is not uniformly distributed.
- Chi moves freely around the universe, assuming various forms along the way. Disciplines such as Chi Kung (Qigong) and Feng Shui purport to observe and manipulate chi, for the specific benefit of human life.
- According to this model, chi is present in the air. Therefore, it is sometimes understood to be synonymous with air. Chi circulates around the body, as do oxygen and blood; some people therefore assert that chi is breath or blood. Within the realm of martial arts, physical postures are known to affect circulation, and subsequently chi has been equated to good posture itself. All these conceptions must be seen as incomplete, if not plain wrong.
- By definition, chi is not a specific form of matter (e.g. element or molecule), nor is it a specific expression of energy (e.g. kinetic or thermal). On the contrary, these are all specific expressions of chi.
- This definition would seem to imply that matter and energy are somehow equivalent. While such a statement may offend the “common sense” of the average person, actual scientists have accepted its truth for a century. (Einstein famously expressed it as E = MC2.)
- If chi does not take one specific form, is it therefore a non-falsifiable and unscientific theory? Not exactly. As in the case of dark matter, we can look for indirect evidence of its existence. Regardless, chi-based models are useful where they provide explanations for past observations, and correct predictions for future events, e.g. medical diagnosis and treatment.
- What then is chi kung? Simply put, it is a set of exercises with reproducible results, which are most easily understood within a chi-based model, and more difficult (or sometimes impossible) to explain with other models. Chi kung is a practice, not a theory or a belief. Chi kung is not occult magic, and it is not a religion or cult affiliation.
- When performed properly, many chi kung exercises can improve the practitioner’s health. Some have no such effect, and others can result in injury. Here are instructions for a very simple and safe introductory exercise.
Steps
- Relax your body and mind. If this is your first time performing this exercise, find (or create) a distraction-free environment.
- Stand in a martial arts horse stance. Any stance will do. Remain in the stance for one minute or longer; doing so may enhance your results in the next steps. If you are extremely weak, then you may skip this step.
- Exit the horse stance, and stand up straight. Again, relax your body and mind. Physical, intellectual or emotional tension will degrade your sensitivity and impair your results in the next step. Rub your hands together for a few seconds. Close your eyes.
- Move your palms toward and away from each other, as if gently squeezing a small beach ball. Visualize the chi gathering between your hands. Move at a speed of 1-3 squeezes per second, within a distance of 6 to 24 inches. Continue this kneading for 2-4 minutes, or longer as necessary, until you notice an unexpected sensation in your hands. You may feel heat, tingling, vibrating, or strong magnetic repulsion. Many people will experience these feelings on their first attempt; others will need to repeat the exercise daily until a result is obtained.
Wong Kiew Kit demonstrates a horse stance
Warnings
- These sensations constitute the observation of a “chi-effect”, and not necessarily a direct experience of chi itself. Other exercises will produce different sensations and effects, in different parts of the body, or outside it.
- The exercise outlined above is a trivial chi kung practice; do not mistake it for anything more. Chi kung is an extremely broad and deep subject, and the ability to feel sensations via the steps above does not demonstrate mastery, or even basic competence. These results are only a hint at what can be accomplished with time, discipline and good instruction.
- Do not assume that Chinese chi, Japanese ki, Greek pneuma and Indian prana are all the same thing.
- Contrary to popular belief, martial artists are not the best source of information on chi, or chi kung, and their unsubstantiated opinions should not be taken too seriously.
More Information
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31 responses so far ↓
1
Vale Taiji
// Jun 18, 2009
Thanks for that – it’s really useful to have Chi discussed in plain English. I’ll be pointing people to this post!
2
Josh Young
// Jun 18, 2009
The idea that somatic sensations correlate to qi suffers from subjectivity, suggestiveness and a lack of a positive correlation between perceived sensation and mastery of qi.
Several of the qi concepts presented above are irreconcilable with somatic sensations.
To say that no division exists between the physical and thus the energetic is vacuous, If this is accurate that all that can be experienced ever is qi. If this is true then the distinction between qi as a biophysical phenomenal and as term pertaining to energy become ill defined in the article and thus presents irreconcilable contradictions in terms of the total coherence of the qi concepts with the somatic sensations.
I implore the author to write a commentary on the classics and explain clearly what qi means in them without being vacuous or providing an interpretation that cannot be drawn from direct translations.
3
Rick Matz
// Jun 18, 2009
My chi is so powerful that if I so much as warm up, all of my internal organs will explode.
4
Sensei Strange
// Jun 19, 2009
I think my blog might add to the confusion
http://tomikiaikido.blogspot.com/2009/03/ki_12.html
5
Chris
// Jun 20, 2009
Energy is energy and matter is matter; that is the division. One can be expressed in the terms or the form of the other; that is indisputable under basic conventional physics or the classical qi paradigm.
If the perspective expressed above is apparently unique and troublesome, it is only because I did NOT take the luxury of redefining qi so as to be conveniently reconciled with other models–as most others do.
Yes, it is a big country. Pretending otherwise would be…vacuous.
Ergo it is unacceptable, and what is unacceptable is untrue?
Please identify a few of your irreconcilable contradictions.
6
Chris
// Jun 20, 2009
On the contrary, I think it adds to the clarity.
Yiquan master Wang Xiangzhai liked to ridicule people who studied a Taiji form with 50, 100, 150 different movements, and never learned the constant underlying them all. Against a man like Wang, these people had no gong.
Now, some martial artists today are eager to tell you what qi really is. It is basically a particular movement or posture, or a side-effect of the same. How simple! How appealing!
7
Thomas
// Jun 20, 2009
Well-written and informative! Like Josh, I do have some reservations about the nature of qi, but I do respect that you’re not trying to fit qi into someone else’s model.
With that said, I would like to see you flesh out the qi model that you do have, so that I may better understand this concept.
8
sam
// Jun 21, 2009
is there a possibilty that chi energy is a type of placebo effect where the brains pain reseptors are shut off making it impossible to feel pain as many people say you have to beleieve in it to feel its full affects and in the case of putting your body wheight on a spear takes years of toughening the body?
9
josh young
// Jun 21, 2009
I find inherent contradictions in the conflation of inclusive definitions of qi with specific definitions, several of which are mutually exclusive. Identical problems can be found when we substitute a direct translation of qi, this word is energy.
Energy is a very inclusive word, we we talk about energy in martial arts we are talking about a specific thing, not the all inclusive vague sense of energy, but rather a context.
The nature of qi in taiji is not vacuous but specific, clearly the definitions being employed in archaic works are not inclusive but pertain to a context.
This means that although the word qi is ambiguous like the word energy, the use of the term in context is not nor can it be ambiguous without losing the meaningful content.
Take the three treasures of Jing, Sheng and qi, in this context qi means a specific thing, however what it means there is not the same as what it means in relation to using the qi of your duifang.
If we try to say that qi is ambiguous then we imply that use must be specific or the context is vacuous and thus the import of the term is as well.
To say that all we experience ever is qi; makes to address qi in martial arts utterly meaningless because there is no context specific nature. Moreover if this is the case then to say one sensation is qi is again without significance when we have implied that all sensation ever is qi.
I think the classics speak for themselves and make perfect sense.
The qi of them is specific, not ambiguous. In martial arts there are at least 2 context specific types of energy or qi, one is the qi of circulation practice and the other is the qi addressed in the classics. The differences between theses types qi is profound and using the term in an inclusive way strikes me as misleading.
However this is my opinion. I am not a martial artist though, I am a student.
10
Scott
// Jun 21, 2009
I hate to break it to you but here in Taiwan as in Mainland China, the majority of Chi Kung is indeed something we could comfortably label cult magic. That is not to challenge the veracity of claims made about its potent health benefits, it is just utterly obvious that it is part of a religious tradition.
You don’t answer the question, why would someone invent the category “Chi” (or Qi in pinyin)?
The answer is that Qi is a description of the power of the gods. It is an attempt to make the naming of individual gods unnecessary since one can refer to all the gods associated with lakes by saying “lake Qi.” In the Daoist tradition whole categories (known as legions) of gods are visualized and made real in the body of the Daoshi (priest) in direct contrast to the trance possession of various types of trans-mediums in which specific gods possess the medium’s whole being.
Them is the facts. And yes martial artists, and painters and doctors use the term too, in a derivative way: Thus each medical herb has its unique qualities and actions, but all herbs can be grouped into qualities of “Qi.”
11
josh young
// Jun 21, 2009
Which daoist tradition is this that has the visualization and possession?
Where was the term qi termed and in what context?
What is the oldest work it has been found in?
Where can I find the explanation that it is a description of power of the gods? What work is this written in?
What proof is there that the concept is Chinese and not a translation of another older term? After all much of Chinese religion is not of Chinese origin, rather just of Chinese development.
12
Scott
// Jun 21, 2009
Josh, those are great questions. I deal with these topic a lot on my blog, but you are going to have to dig pretty deep if you want solid answers to those questions.
The way you phrased the first question is loaded and needs a lot of deconstruction, but the popular religion of China almost universally uses trans-mediums. When I say Daoism I mean the tradition of Zhang Dao Ling (beginning i the first century), but what I said could apply to an earlier form of Daoism too.
I believe the first uses of the term Qi were found in the Mawangdui tombs, but what matters is how it evolved into a concept. For that you want to look at Han Dynasty sources.
What do you mean Chinese? That’s a modern identity anyway, probably the written language and use of the term qi are the best definition of Chinese, and that’s not a very good one.
There is no good starter book, but the works of Kristopher Schipper, Isabel Robinet, and perhaps Jordan Paper would interest you.
13
Josh Young
// Jun 21, 2009
Great reply. I’ll check into the leads you have given me.
Thanks!
14
Josh Young
// Jun 21, 2009
I’ve been reading your Blog, Scott,
and commented on your challenge post.
I am most curious in your answer.
I hope to find the information I seek there.
15
Chris
// Jun 21, 2009
My objective here is to provide a simple but reasonably comprehensive overview of qi, decidedly NOT limited to the context of taiji, or martial arts in general.
Josh states that, outside of a specific context, the term qi is vacuous. I disagree–even when described in intentionally broad strokes, the model has some interesting implications. Anyway, as I said before, I do not wish to redefine the term for our personal convenience, without regard for its broad history or current applications.
Yes, the Taiji classics mention qi–as do the Confucian classics, and Taoist classics, and many others. Some have never been translated into English, and much that IS has never been written down at all. While it is true that these mentions are contextualized, it is also true that they are (described as) forms of qi!
Scott says that we could comfortably label qigong as cult magic. I reply that he is perhaps too comfortable with cult magic. At various points in history, people have regarded airplanes, rifles, and television as “powers of the gods”; no longer. Today scientism is the dominant religion, so Scott may take pleasure in the fact that I am now labeling qigong as a science.
16
Josh Young
// Jun 21, 2009
Science is certainly a faith based cult phenomena. I agree there.
I can’t help but feel as if chi is redefined in the article a couple of times for convenience. The chi of Confucious may not be the chi of Laotzu, I think now; that the true definitions are specific and that to use the term in an inclusive manner is to re-define it.
After all what classic works use the term in the inclusive sense? Do they not portray it in a specific context each time?
I like how stimulating this topic is.
I seek to undue some of the damage done to taiji, at least locally, by hocus pocus beliefs in chi, however I believe in several types of qi and think that some have very clearly been defined and demonstrated to exist in a measurable way.
The concept that energy and matter are the same, this is a very old concept that can be found in the Vedas. It is also found in Daoism. Western culture may be new to the idea, but it has been around long before Einstein.
17
Josh Young
// Jun 21, 2009
disregard my variable spelling of qi/chi, to me the spelling is trivial and without significance so I do not mean to imply that qi and chi are different.
What are the distinctions between prana and chi? I can find none that aren’t regional.
18
Scott
// Jun 21, 2009
Scientism is strong but there will always be contenders for the throne.
Dig, the pagan gods are constantly re-asserting themselves. Call him Davey Crockett, Hans Solo, or Vin Diesel. Our bodies are made by our commitments, and are commitments are fickle.
Here in a land of Qigong’s birth, Taiwan, Chemists and Physicists love to practice Qigong…and worship at the local temples too.
You are right about Scientism’s influence on the creation of what we often call Qigong, but fear and fascination with cult magic is still strong.
The ghost may no longer be in the machine, but it’s still a ghost and it’s still there!
19
Chris
// Jun 22, 2009
Josh, “chi” can be defined in at least four different ways:
1. As a philosophical proposition grounded in ancient literature;
2. The force behind the observations we make ourselves during the course of chi gong practice (or the common element of discrete forces, if you prefer);
3. The union of all such observations, by chi gong practitioners, martial artists and others;
4. The subset of those observations currently accepted as “chi” by scientists after a formal experiment.
Hopefully we can agree, at the least, not to confuse one definition with another. The broadest definition is the most useful when communicating with outsiders, hence the title “Chi Gong 101″.
What classics use the term in an inclusive sense? I am not the most qualified to answer that, as I rely on translations. I do seem to remember one instance that I wrote about previously here: Mencius attributed his success to cultivating a “vast chi”.
20
Scott
// Jun 23, 2009
Chris,
Mencius like Confucius agreed that there were four things they would not discuss. (With the reasons after)
1. Domestic Violence (too common)
2. Prodigies (too rare)
3. Natural Disasters (nothing that can be done)
4. Gods, Ghosts, and Demons (too much has already been said)
1500 years later during the Sung Dynasty, Zhuxi went on to explain what the relationship between Qi and Gods is. China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam all use Zhuxi’s interpretation of Mencius as a base for understanding the original text.
The philosophical position is a possible interpretation, but less common.
Zhuxi on Gods and Qi is translated in:
Religions of China in Practice
Edited by Donald S. Lopez Jr.
21
Helene
// Jun 28, 2009
Thanks for your contribution to Take Charge of Your Health Care Carnival. The martial arts can definitely help improve fitness and vitality.
22
Chris
// Jul 1, 2009
Thanks for the tip Scott. I read Zhuxi’s interpretation, carefully, and I saw nothing there to substantiate a claim that chi is best understood as the collective power of the gods.
Actually, his explanations are in accordance with mine above–lucky for him.
23
Joanna
// Jul 15, 2009
psst… it’s all in your imaginations….
24
Chris
// Jul 15, 2009
Disappointing.
25
Joanna
// Jul 15, 2009
Not really – I’ve come to expect it.
26
Joe
// Aug 28, 2009
What is the best source of information on chi and chi kung?
27
Nutterbutter
// Aug 28, 2009
Waysun Liao has some great videos and books on the subject of feeling and developing chi
28
Helene
// Sep 13, 2009
The martial arts can certainly help with focus and energy. Thanks for your submission to Take Charge of Your Health Care Carnival.
29
Ryan
// Nov 22, 2009
Hi, im a teenager from the UK, and i’ve came across the subject of Chi within the past year or so. To me this topic is like no other, as there are many different ways of explaining it-
Being in England the background knowledge of Chi is very dull, and i am really interested in the subject. I’ve started going to classes, trying to learn and understand Chi, as i think it is an amazing, but my knowledge is still short, ide like to know if anyone could help me gain a better understanding of Chi itsself.
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