Bad answers to martial training queries are inconvenient, but ultimately innocuous. If every theory and technique is tested, as common sense requires, then false information will eventually be recognized and discarded.
Bad questions are more dangerous. A bad question is one with a useless answer: there is no benefit to answering it correctly. People who ask too many bad questions find themselves hamstrung, and unable to deepen their understanding. These questions are a defense mechanism of the ego, breeding complacency and conceit.
Are references to Chinese life science—qigong and TCM, specifically—a necessary component of Chinese martial arts instruction? This subject resurfaces every few months on Internet kung fu forums. Most recently, Joanna Zorya of the Martial Tai Chi Association argues against the practice. She invokes the names of famous instructors—Tim Cartmell, Chen Zhenglei, and Hong Junsheng, to name a few—in support of her claim that talk of qi is superfluous at best, and outright deceptive at worst.
Unfortunately, this is a textbook example of a bad question. The obvious answer is no, qigong and TCM are not required, but the implication of the question is false. By reframing this question, with the aim of self-improvement rather than self-satisfaction, we arrive at a more practical answer.
How could qigong and TCM awareness improve my practice of martial art? These disciplines all operate in the same domain—the human mind and body—and the knowledge and skills cultivated in one discipline are therefore highly relevant to the others. This is not an abstract theoretical point (cf. “the hidden correspondences between boxing, baseball and Christianity”); it can specifically observed in the practices of each discipline. For example:
| Medical application | Attribute | Martial application |
|---|---|---|
| Massage therapy (tui na) | Strength | Grappling, wrestling (shuai jiao) |
| Pulse reading | Sensitivity | Listening and sticking techniques |
| Chiropractic (die da) | Skeletal anatomy knowledge | Joint locks (chin na) |
| Acupuncture, acupressure | Circulatory anatomy knowledge | Point striking (dim mak) |
Throughout Chinese history, men such as Wong Fei Hung leveraged these correspondences to become both respected fighters and medical doctors.
Of course, America’s modern medical landscape is far different than that of 19th century China. For today’s average martial art instructor to open a self-certified medical clinic would be irresponsible, and probably also violate several laws. Fortunately, Chinese medicine is not just for fixing other people; it can also be used to protect and improve your own health.
In pursuit of peak performance, martial artists place a greater strain on their bodies than most people. A smart practitioner will do everything they can to avoid inflicting chronic damage on their own body. Dit da jow, a topical liniment for healing training injuries, is just one example of the benefits that medical knowledge offers to martial artists.
In contrast to the well-known link between pugilism and Parkinson’s disease, the dangers of intensive and incorrect internal martial arts training have scarcely been investigated in the West. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. An ounce of preventative insight provided by TCM may be worth a pound of medication and treatment.
Internal Strength and Other Dangerous Assumptions
Accepting the value of evidence-based TCM and qigong does not require the rejection of sports medicine or alternative approaches. Why would anyone argue against its utility?
There are many widespread misconceptions about chi in the martial arts community. Classical teachings on the correct use of chi are usually correlated with postural adjustments, and this has led some clever practitioners to conclude that chi is good posture. Such “practical explanations” are an appealing alternative to the traditional use of the term, which was anything but precise.
Accepting qigong, while simultaneously insisting that qi is merely a synonym for skeletal alignment, would result in an unpleasant cognitive dissonance. So purveyors of Internal Strength, Combat Taiji and other “demystifications” have little alternative but to reject Eastern medicine—a system in which qi plays a central role, and is decidedly not mere alignment or coordination. It is a futile attempt at saving face and avoiding the embarassment of an inevitable public rebuke.
Will medical knowledge make you a more complete martial artist? That is a bad question. Instead, ask yourself, how can it make you a better person?
Loading ...
25 responses so far ↓
1 Formosa Neijia // Jul 29, 2007
Excellent! Your linking of the medical application, attribute and martial application is right on.
Unfortunately, those with too practical an outlook will be missing this training and the results it can bring. Too bad.
2 Joanna // Jul 29, 2007
“It is a futile attempt at saving face and avoiding the embarassment of an inevitable public rebuke.”
It has nothing to do with saving face and everything to do with liberating people from pseudoscientific world views and potentially damaging (& distracting) practices. As has been pointed out to me, my rejection of qi puts me in a tiny minority within the world of Tai Chi.
Given that I have studied Chinese philosophical concepts such as taiji, wuxing and bagua in some detail and been trained fairly extensively in qigong / neigong and authorised to teach it, it would be far easier for me just teach it along with every other teacher, in spite of the fact that I don’t believe in qi. I would have far less hassles and criticisms from people if I did, and almost certainly a lot more students. I know for a fact that teachers who will teach qigong and Tai Chi purely as a form of “qigong” to martially-disinterested people make a lot more money and enjoy a lot more adulation than I do.
As I have explained before, I do teach practices similar to neigong, but these carry an entirely physical and martial rationale.
By rejecting the existence of qi, I’m sticking my neck out to try to challenge something I genuinely see as a spiritually dangerous paradigm and a potentially hazardous metaphysical mystification.
The fact that I have chosen to do this has frequently caused scorn and criticism, sometimes from people who had previously thought my material to be very good. Trust me - if I was just concerned with my reputation, I would never have started my “100% Qi-Free” campagn, I’d have kept my position on the Executive Committee of the Tai Chi Union for Great Britain, and reaped the benefits.
3 FitBuff - Total Mind and Body Fitness // Jul 30, 2007
Hey Chris!
Thanks for another great article. We’ve included it in our Eighth Edition of the Total Mind and Body Fitness Carnival.
If you have any questions at all, just let us know. And feel free to submit more great articles to our next carnival by using the submission link below:
http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_1766.html
4 Chris // Jul 30, 2007
I don’t think that rejecting the existence of an invisible force really qualifies as “sticking your neck out”. It is a savvy marketing strategy, no matter how pure your motivations.
In the broad cultural domain, qi is axiomatic, and to “reject” it is as every bit as disingenuous as the claim that “Evolution is a theory, not a fact”.
Fortunately, you are not obliged to reconcile your personal views on Tai Chi with TCM standards. Or with esoteric Tao school, or a dozen other methods. It is easier to ignore them all. Such is the pleasure of the frog in the well?
5 Joanna // Jul 30, 2007
Chris said:
“I don’t think that rejecting the existence of an invisible force really qualifies as “sticking your neck out”. It is a savvy marketing strategy, no matter how pure your motivations.”
But by rejecting qi, and by insisting that all my students practice Taiji as a hands-on martial art rather than for any other purpose, I have lost hundreds of potential customers and caused myself no end of grief and argument - on the internet, face to face and on the phone. Out in the real world of West Yorkshire, England, every single student has to be convinced that Tai Chi is a martial art rather than a form of energetic healing, spiritual relaxation and path to enlightenment. I have to recruit from policemen, security guards and other regular folk that are prepared to hit each other and throw each other around - it isn’t always easy convincing them that Taiji is for them - even when I’ve just shown them a few techniques. The moment they hear the words “Tai Chi” they lose interest.
Most Tai Chi teachers recruit students from people who are drawn to Tai Chi and they are last people we want to recruit from. Meanwhile the “qi-believer” teachers charge a whole lot more than I do for their pseudo-philosophical energetic twaddle.
I’ve been teaching for over 5 years now and it has taken this long to start doing better than just break even. I teach full time - the day to day students that I rely on don’t generally care one way or the other about qi, so if I didn’t reject the concept of qi, my classes would be much fuller. We’d also get a lot less hands-on martial practice done.
This isn’t just speculation on my part - I have lost hundreds of potential students that were looking for magical powers and a new religion. Even some who were looking for martial arts have left over my stance on qi. Here in England, most white people are secular rather than religious, so they have a religious vaccuum to fill. I’d say 95% + of British Tai Chi seekers are looking for a religion rather than a martial art. Qi sells big time.
6 Chris // Jul 31, 2007
Joanna,
Your niche may be small in West Yorkshire, but not on the Internet, where you could easily develop a profitable cult following (pun intended).
You write about two categories of instructor, the believers and the realists, but conveniently leave out the third. Just as you’ve declined to address the main point of this article.
7 Joanna // Aug 1, 2007
I can accept that there may also exist a number of semi-realistic semi-believers who are yet to commit themselves one way or the other.
Regarding your original question, “can TCM make you a better person?” I suppose so, if it works. But I wouldn’t be happy about healing people at the expense of animals - that is my personal perspective as strong believer in animals rights.
Can the concept of qi and its cultivation make you a better person? No - I would say the opposite.
8 Chris // Aug 1, 2007
The third category consists of masters who make extraordinary claims, then proceed to demonstrate them.
Thermal cameras and LEDs do not register fantastical concepts, they reflect reality.
9 Joanna // Aug 2, 2007
Oh - great TV. Have you ever seen Uri Geller? Or James Randi?
Your film clips just show absolute nonsense and trickery. People go to great lengths to make people believe they have amazing powers, but they never do have really under laboratory testing, otherwise the whole world would know about it.
I’ve managed to replicate some iron shirt style tricks and misleading fajin demos myself with a handful of students, solely in the interests of research (there was no deception at any stage I hasten to add - everyone knew they were involved in myth-debunking from the very start), but I don’t know how all these tricks are done - not even the magic circle knows every trick. Luckily Sima Nan does what he can to dispel such myths, as he was taught many of the tricks himself. His efforts have earned him a broken spine, courtesy of the charlatan heavy mob.
“In daring to speak the truth about qigong, Sima Nan has been kicked, beaten, detained, tortured, ridiculed and accused of betraying his culture. He has suffered two crushed vertebrae, a crushed trachea and other injuries at the hands of those who were unhappy with Sima Nan’s questioning the validity of qigong and the claims of various qigong masters.” http://www.csicop.org/sb/9903/sima-nan.html
With the animals lying down, maybe they detected an increase in humidity and felt that it was about to rain, so they lay down to keep a patch of ground dry to sleep on (as cows do). Careful timing (and access to a barometer) could have let the magicians stall the camera crew until the right moment. Maybe they used ultrasound, who knows? Someone will know how it is done.
But I think it would be completely unethical to use animals in this way, even if it were possible, which raises a secondary issue.
From “The Trouble with Qi” http://www.martialtaichi.co.uk/articles/trouble_with_qi.php
3) Is it morally or spiritually acceptable to use qi?
This is an issue where surely there is no room to sit on the fence. However, many people do just that, without really thinking through the issue of whether or not they have a consistent religious or spiritual justification for what they are doing. In 21st century culture, people’s souls are up for grabs, whether you are into Qigong, Reiki, Yoga, Crystal Healing, Tantra, Tenaga Dalam, Chanelling, Wicca or whatever. Some people will dabble freely in anything and everything, without any concern other than “Does this feel good to me?” “Does this feel right for me?” This is in spite of the fact that we are specifically warned against consorting with supernatural or occult forces in several major world faiths, including Sikhism, Christianity and Islam.
There is plenty of further reading at the foot of the article. You should be aware that even if qi powers were found to have any validity at all, it would not necessarily make it OK. Not all that is possible is desirable - just look at the wholesale and indiscriminate destruction caused by nuclear missiles.
In the UK next week, politicians are going to vote on whether or not it is acceptable to make “hybrid embryos” by injecting human DNA into animal embryos. These will be experimented on and then murdered rather than being allowed to go full term. This is an absolute abomination and a total disregard for the sanctitiy of life (both human and animal). In the Bible we are commanded “not to mix species.” Who could have forseen that the process of breeding mules (an unnatural pairing for human convenience) would eventually lead to hybrid embryos? Only God.
If qi powers such as those demonstrated were real, they would be tantamount to sorcery, and we have been warned very strongly against that too.
Returning to the animal demonstration - I am technically a Reiki master (I’ve stopped doing it though) and have done a little buqi, back in the days when I considered such things acceptable. I have experienced some supposedly energetic interractions with animals that seemed quite amazing.
But perhaps the results were more of a reflection of the animals’ greater sensitivity to pheremones and other postural and expression indicators. Maybe if you sit at a tank in a Marine Life Centre and exude nothing but love for a wounded turtle (rescued from a fishing net) it shouldn’t come as a surprise when the turtle swims up to you and sits with you for 20 minutes looking happy and sleepy. I’ve experienced similar things with dogs. I guess we all want to be loved.
But is it really magic or did it only feel magical? Since I quit doing Reiki and stuff like it, I’ve had just as many (actually way more) amazing prolonged encounters with animals. I’ve sat and watched woodmice, voles, weasels, fox-cubs, deer, young birds and all kinds of creatures that would have every reason to be frightened by my human presesnce. Seems like the Reiki was a non-essential part. The danger would have been if I had become convinced that it was all down to the Reiki. Then, had an animal run away or it hadn’t seemed to work, I would have agonised over what I had done differently and the trap of superstition would have started to take hold. Who knows - I might have got into trying to enhance my “Reiki powers” with energised crystals, until that stopped working and I moved on to the next thing. It is a slippery slope of self deception and superstition. We need to find rational explanations rather than indulging the hucksters and being drawn in.
10 Formosa Neijia // Aug 2, 2007
Oh brother. I’m actually with Joanna regarding your last comment, Chris.
11 Chris // Aug 2, 2007
The effects of qi emission have in fact been laboratory tested, and the results published. Did you even bother to look? Or are you waiting for the whole world to do your homework?
The animals know, but sadly, they won’t talk.
You are right. They warn against using those skills which, as you repeatedly insist, do not actually exist. And I wonder how these same faiths would address this?
Joanna: all your base are belong to us
12 Joanna // Aug 2, 2007
Chris said: “You are right. They warn against using those skills which, as you repeatedly insist, do not actually exist. And I wonder how these same faiths would address this?”
That’s an easy one. Such powers are delusional and belief in them infects people minds. You could see monotheism and its struggles as a forerunner of atheism - trying to stamp out superstition and charlatanism - things that hold peoples minds in a prison of ghosts and demons. The stance the monotheistic faiths takes is that it is wrong to even want to do tricks like that and wrong to try to develop superhuman, supernatural powers. It is wrong to convince people that you could curse them as the fear this may generate in them is the curse itself, unless they know that you cannot have any power over them. They need to have faith that only God has god-like powers.
13 Chris // Aug 3, 2007
For the sake of your innocent readers, I’ll answer the question myself. No major religion supports your stated goal to isolate spiritual teachings, from martial arts or anything else. To suggest that Jesus or Mohammed sanction the precepts of Martial Tai Chi would be blasphemous, hypocritical and absurd.
“Please, God, wait outside; we are fighting in here between 7:30 and 9pm.”
14 Joanna // Aug 3, 2007
You misread my post, or are pretending to have done so - qi believers often do this - their arguments are frequently slippery and erratic.
You need to study Judaic theology and history, which is the bedrock of Christianity and Islam. (Judaism for Dummies by Rabbit Ted Falcon; The Religion of Israel by Yehezkel Kaufmann; Jesus Before Christianity by Albert Nolan…) These faiths have also informed the Guru Nanak when he launched the Sikh religion. You should check a book called “Sikhism - A Comparitive Study if its Theology and Mysticism.” by Daljeet Singh.
All of these faiths set out to liberate peoples minds from superstition, sorcery, polytheism and their associated charaltan practices.
15 Chris // Aug 4, 2007
I ask whether thermal cameras can be trusted, and you segue into world religions and animal rights.
When I point out that Qigong has already been tested in the lab, you change the subject again to God.
And when I observe that your practice is in fact incompatible with Christianity and Islam, you introduce Judaism to the discussion–but yet again avoid responding specifically to my point.
Which of us is slippery and erratic? You are not giving your readers enough credit.
I’ll make my last point crystal clear, to prevent any further misunderstanding. Here is a quote from your website:
For a person of faith, there are no circumstances under which spirituality is a “false purpose”. No, it is to be observed 24 hours a day, and without exception for Tai Chi training.
This is the context in which your repeated invocations of monotheism are hypocritical. Only a fair-weather Jew, Muslim or Christian would accept them.
Doctors are ethically bound in a similar way, by the Hippocratic Oath. They are obliged to consider the impact of their actions and advice on a patient’s health. The fact that you are not a doctor, and your students technically not patients, would not excuse a reckless disregard for their physical and mental well-being–a disregard implied by your list of false purposes.
Change the subject again, if you must, but please bear this in mind:
16 geemann // Aug 4, 2007
I cant believe what I am reading! I have always believed that to learn Tai Chi correctly you had to learn it in the context it was intended to be. [A martial art] Different people have different interpretations of what that is exactly. If you learn it as a martial art, the health, meditation, and other benefits manifest within us through our practice. On the other hand, to deny chi, is to deny the classics. Call it whatever you want, but its not Tai Chi! When you understand that the mind leads and the body follows, you begin to understand how chi functions in your movements. I use Tai Chi in competition on a fencing strip by remembering the classics even though I am usually not performing the movements in the form. [there are striking similarities] but, being able to differentiate between yin and yang, and use, “mind intent” will give any martial artist an edge. This discussion of animal rights, religion, blah , blah, blah, is entertaining but where is the point? Tim Carmel is a great author, and a decent martial artist, but very few of us have all the answers!
17 Joanna // Aug 4, 2007
Well as it is getting so tedious, I’ll keep it quick
Judaism is very relevant to Christianity because Jesus was a Jew - the precedents for his teachings are within Judaism and must be understood in that cultural context, hence the inclusion of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) within the Christian Bible. Judaic and Christian history and belief are also relevant to Islam.
Tai Chi is not in and of itself a form of spirituality, hence the phrase “Never teach Tai Chi for any of the following (false) purposes - relaxation, therapy, healing, meditation or spirituality.” Tai Chi is a martial art. That is not to say that Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and Atheists alike cannot practice it. But the way we do Tai Chi, there are no practices that would be forbidden by observing members of those faiths, or that would be incompatible with atheism.
And religion remains relevant while people worship qi and attempt to deceive people with fake magical powers.
18 cjurakpt // Aug 7, 2007
it’s a nice fantasy; the problem is that there are many tremendous fighters who never studied healing, and many “healers” with the manual skills comparable to TCM who have never studied fighting (e.g. - osteopathy, especially how it is practiced outside of the US, relies on sensitivity skills similar to pulse reading, and employs techniques that are essentially the same as tuina and jing gwat; they may help each other in some individual cases, but frankly one is not needed at all to become high level in either - the “marriage” of fighting and TCM from the fighter side is probably due to 2 things: need for fighters to know dit da for practical purposes, and the desire to foster social acceptance: tradidionally the “fighter’ class in Chinese society was looked on as little better than common thugs, so also beng a doctor helped to raise one’s level of prestige
as for qi, it is essentially a metaphorical construct that was derived based on the observation of the net effect of functional interrelationships within the body and the environment around it; qi is not a discreet “thing” that can be measured such as light, heat, electricity, magnetism, radiation, gravity, etc., although all of the quantifiable forces are part of the function of the human organism within the universe, and therefore contribute to the overall state of one’s health in various way; TCM’s use of qi is useful because it has predictive value, in terms of diagnosis and prognosis, but itis a model that is limited to macro-observation; because it is a very well designed model, it still has relevance to working with non-life threatening, chronic systemic issues (e.g. - fibromyalgia, osteo-arthritis), or helpful improving the overall level of function for someone with more serious issues;
in terms of martial use, good qi means having strength, coordination, balance, endurance, sensitivity, timing, etc.; it’s not some mystical force that you push people around with 9tha’s called entrainment); if you have good connection to the ground via the connective tissue system, you enable a more efficient vertical movement of ground reaction force, which coupled with an efficient neuromuscular system (e.g. - agonist / antagonist balance) gives one the ability to effectively push / grapple / strike;
19 Joanna // Aug 16, 2007
I just wanted to alert you to the fact that Scott Phillips over on his “Weakness with a Twist” blog has edited one of my posts on the thread “A Parade in India 15 Miles Long” adding a paragraph of his own and thereby completely changing the spirit of what I was saying. He also edited out a comment by another person along with my reply to it. I thought you’d be interested in case he did it to anyone who reads this blog. Of all the sneaky, dishonourable tricks I’ve come across on forums and blogs, this was the lowest.
20 taiwandeutscher // Aug 17, 2007
Joanna,
even I can understand and accept your aversion on qi (I observe and feel it subjectivly, don’t talk so much about it, never concentrate on it), I really feel sorry for all your hardship teaching the way you do. Shouldn’t it be fun also to instruct such a nice art? Even I teach for more than 20 years, on and off, never professionally, it always has been a pleasure. Otherwise, I wouldn’t do it! Did you do something wrong to make you feel so miserable?
21 Joanna // Aug 17, 2007
Hi taiwandeutscher,
The only thing that makes me miserable is the behaviour and attitudes of many people who practice Tai Chi & qigong. In other arts I have practiced, there has always been a fun-loving sense of cameraderie and honour. Practicing Tai Chi as a purely martial discipline, the way we practice (100% Qi-free) we have a lot of fun - our classes are very warm, friendly and dynamic.
Total Mind and Body Fitness Carnival #8 | FitBuff.com's Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog // Jul 30, 2007
[…] presents What Every Martial ArtistShould Know About Chi and TCM posted at Martial […]
The Secret of Chi « 仁力的網頁 // Aug 2, 2007
[…] , which is a Weakness with a Twist comment on Joanna’s Martial Tai Chi site. Finally, Martial Developmen’t take on the issue is also interesting to me to complete the wide range of views we’re seeing here. […]
Carnival of Martial Arts #2 // Sep 4, 2007
[…] presents What Every Martial Artist Should Know About Chi and TCM posted at Martial […]
Qigong and Energy Arts Forum: Volume 1 // Dec 1, 2007
[…] What Every Martial Artist Should Know About Chi and TCM by Martial Development Are references to qi gong and Traditional Chinese Medicine a necessary component of martial arts instruction? […]
Leave a Comment