[bamboo]

I'll be totally honest, I don't kow what chi/ki/pranja is. I think there is something that permeates not only living things but all things and keeps us connected, maybe that is chi?

When I practice martial arts I do so mindfully as to totally aware of all my actions from my breathing to my ukes', from my surroundings, from my center to the pressure on the balls of my feet. This to me is no more than meditation, awareness of all things at once. When we do ki exercises in aikido, they are very similar to chi kung, but what i get is the same sense of total awareness that I get when I practice zazen.

Aiki arts all involve a certain connection between one body, the next body and the surroundings, when I take someones "center" I can feel it, is this a connection of chi? I don't know, but I can only do it when I am totally aware.

I don't know what chi is, maybe is nothing more than the awareness that all things are connected, maybe its all bull.

-bamboo