[BLACK PANTA]

Originally Posted by bamboo

This sounds like the hardest possible question for poor Panta or anyone else aside from 50 year practitioners to answer. And even the masters would be cloudy!


-bamboo

I agree with bamboo here. You could study Chi and still not really know the fullness of chi. But I will take a go at it. Chi in basic terms is energy. Chi is everywhere. It is not the mystical power that Hollywood makes it out to be. It is a practical part of every martial art and almost everything you do in life. You dont need to subscribe to a religeon to develope it, and you dont need to believe in different ideologies. But to re iterate, what bamboo said (he would know alot more about chi than i would seeing that he is my senior and an aKI(chi)doka) you could study chi all of your life, and you can have such a control that people think you know it all, but in reality, you dont know all there is to know about chi, you will not fully understand Chi.[/list]

[BLACK PANTA]

Originally Posted by monkeypalm

i have a question... how much do you emphasise on relaxation and how much is developing muscle for generating power?

Well relaxing is key in Kung Fu. Shoulders have to be relaxed, and you shouldn't tense up making youself stiff and rigid (something I still struggle with). Generating power in kung fu is not focused on muscle power really. The power comes from your centre. I comes from various methods and techniques. If you fight with brute strength against a trained individual, you will more than likely end up loosing the fight. I am at work I remind you all again so I hope this short answer, satisfies your question.

[The BadBoy]

Back to the Chi, how do you know the excercises develop Chi if you don't even know what it is? Not trying to flame or anything, just curious.

Who decided what chi was? what research was done to prove its existence?

[jeetkunedomaster]

from my training in JKD, i think of chi as the energy that all living things possess, but also as the combination of a fighters concentration, breathing and attacks. the chi from your body is supposed to travel through your weapon and explode onto the target as you simultaneously perform all these actions correctly. again thats what ive learned in my training so far, i could elaborate more on the concentration breathing and attacks part but ill try and keep it brief. i dont know how much that helps but i think panta and bamboo know what im talking about

[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

[jeetkunedomaster]

well said bamboo, i dont think chi can be defined but instead it's what you feel when you are totally focused on the opponent. (maybe chi is just an adrenaline rush ) like i said earlier, i can only elaborate on what ive learned from my training, but i basicly have the same idea of "total awareness" that you have. (a.k.a. concentrate breath attack)

i hope that made it a little clearer for the badboy

BTW, i think this might be in another thread but would you consider drunken boxing an effective means of self defense/fighting?

thanks for the reply and keep up the good work

[BLACK PANTA]

Originally Posted by The BadBoy

Back to the Chi, how do you know the excercises develop Chi if you don't even know what it is? Not trying to flame or anything, just curious.

Who decided what chi was? what research was done to prove its existence?

most excellt replies bamboo and Jeetkunedomaster. Badboy what makes you think we will think you are flaming you homoerotic numbskull (that was a jocular attempt, pretendin to flame badboy)

Chi, from my understanding, is the internal energy of the body. The energy that is around us. We as MAist try to harness and control our chi by certain methods and techniques. We do so by, focused breathing, meditation (not to be mixed with prayer), movements, concentration etc. Only a fool would say he fully understands Chi. Only a fool would say he has total control of chi. There is power in the human body that we have not yet tapped, yes we are fragile, but also powerful. The existance of Chi has been made clear, that is how we know of Chi. Look at exercises like Chi Gong, there has been men who do phenomenal feats that seem to be superhuman. They credit that to their Chi developement. This is a question that philosophers, scholars and masters ponder regularly. No one can tell you fully what Chi is, but some can show you the effects of Chi developement. Thanks to Bamboo and his Wife (sensei) I have seen first hand the effect of chi. It was a small exercise and a small effect but still impressive. His wife, a small woman showed strength that you wouldn't imagine a woman of her size should have. I hope this along with bamboo's and jKDmaster's post clears things up for you.

[Kyorgi]

I don't know how much this would help but I found a diagram of the way that chi flows

http://www.ascendpress.org/articles/...hi.Diagram.jpg

[The BadBoy]

Good explanations. Thanks. Personally I don't believe in the mystical energy side of things so I kind like Bamboo's response and it validity in training those aspects. Cheers guys keep up the good work.

[Mumblyj00]

What about other animal forms, like monkey or mantis?