Over the years I have shared my first martial arts experience with family and close friends. It happened in a little Kung Fu school here in Cincinnati about 40 years ago. I will spare you the details, but I signed up for lessons because my first teacher (Sifu) who was all of five feet tall and weighed a buck and some change pushed me back several feet with a simple technique. By the way, never allow your size or physical stature determine your destiny. Anyway, I would later learn she used something from a tai chi form which I still practice. I asked how she was able to knock me off my feet and she simply replied, “chi.”
I think it’s a safe bet most of us have heard of chi; the Japanese phrase is ki. Here’s my attempt to give a brief explanation without butchering the subject. Essentially, chi is energy, an unseen force that is prevalent in all living things including plants and animals. Many people have claimed over the years that they can manipulate chi, even project it. I’m pretty sure the concept of the mystical power of “the force” in Star Wars was inspired by chi.
Unfortunately movies have blown this idea way out of the water and made into something it is not; a powerful weapon to use against enemies. I’m afraid it’s far more mundane than that. Before I get into particulars, let me ask you a question: Have you ever attempted to pick up an unruly child who did not want to be picked up? Ever wonder how that 45 pound munchkin could increase his gravitational pull in the grocery store cereal isle, and yet be light as a feather when he jumped into your arms? Some of my friends would suggest a child’s ability to use chi. We just tend to forget about it once we grow up.
Ok, strap in and allow me to give this a shot. Most of us are familiar with acupuncture. This 2000 year old practice is based on the theory of meridians; a superhighway within the body through which all of our organs are connected. That is how acupuncture points are labeled, e.g. Bladder 7. And along this highway is the constant movement of energy. The reason these vessels are never found during an autopsy is because once a person dies, their “life force,” aka chi, leaves the body and like a hose without water, the vessels flatten. My apologies to two of my acupuncturist friends, for that pitiful analogy.
Whether you realize it or not, you have experienced chi in different forms. Air pressure changes, that feeling you get when you go down a steep hill in car, the pull of the ocean, the exquisite silence on your back patio on an early summer’s eve. There are also fantastic and unexplained examples of chi, such as people who have lifted cars off of someone after an accident. Magical, mystical stuff, right? Eh…
It’s really just energy. Does it have to be something supernatural? Some people would like to think so. It’s one of the reasons a lot of us enjoy any story that provides for an uncommon edge. Who wouldn’t want to be Superman? Able to completely manipulate your environment, nobody riding your tail in traffic. What’s up with that these days? Anyway, most of us wish we had something outerwordly, some magic power or mind-blowing gift. Magic powers that give us incredible strength because with strength comes courage, with courage, confidence. We all want that. Sure would be nice if we had it. Well, we do.
A master of tai chi has trained her body to flow with the energy around her and through her. She does not necessarily project energy, rather she has learned trough many years of practice to move with it. A karate master does not project his ki through a stack of bricks. Rather, he has learned through countless repetitions, centering, and conditioning to physically manipulate matter; action and reaction. A master of aikido does not project his ki into an on-coming foe. Instead, he has learned though years of practice, repetition and good training partners to blend and redirect aggressive energy. Not project it, just move with it. No hocus pocus, no tricks and no power from Krypton. Just physics.
The ability to understand and utilize chi is not limited to martial arts. I would say the primary difference is that most traditional forms have, over centuries, concentrated on the power and understanding of chi. In essence, learning to recognize the energy around you and to move with it. Modern day fighters tend to laugh at this idea. They scoff at the notion of stances such as those utilized in many kung fu schools. Years of concentration on deep stances allows for a lower center of gravity, much like the child in a grocery store. A lower center of gravity allows a martial artist to punch with the focused power of the majority of muscles in their body. It allows for the judoka to throw a much larger person over her hip. It allowed for my sifu, a small woman, to knock me off my feet. No magical spell from Harry Potter; just years of disciplined practice.
Perhaps you’re reading this now and you feel like something like that is out of your reach. Maybe you’re too old, too weak, or too small. Nonsense. As long as you are on this side of the dirt and are not in a comma, you have the same potential. Do not allow your size, your fear or your past failures to dictate your future. Understanding the fact that you have unlimited potential is the first step in learning how to use chi. It does not happen over night and it requires a lot of work and patience. You will fall down a lot, get bruised a lot. You will fail a lot.
But…
The super human you want to become stares back at you from the mirror every morning, waiting for you to step forward. Everything you need in order to be everything you want is right there. That, is the power of chi.
Dave Magliano
Tatsu Dojo
Jissenkan Budo
Dojo Cho
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