When I was growing up, in the fifties, there was this strange beast called the martial arts. People could defend themselves with little effort, merely through the use of this strange energy called ki. Heck, women could beat up attackers, and even children could defend themselves using this thing called Karate.
I explored Kenpo, and Goju, and judo, and all manner of the combative arts, and I found little trace of this mysterious energy. Mostly, you just kicked and hit the air, and I began to believe that ki might be more of a looney tunes than a reality. Still, I heard the rumors of little men in pajamas able to do the most incredible thing which, even though they seemed a bit muscular, touted this strange energy called Ki.
As years passed, and as I practiced my martial arts techniques thousands and thousands and thousands of times, something strange happened. I began to sense a world beyond myself. I began to understand the world without de[ending on eyes and ears, and with a sense of myself that went beyond body. Slowly, I began to understand there might be truth to this ki thing, and to understand that circus tricks were the icing, and enjoyable, but that real intrinsic energy was something else.
I studied Aikido, and Tai Chi Chuan and other internal arts. I began to feel a strange energy seep through me, and I began to enjoy a profound health which made me feel more spry than even when I had been young. And I began to realize certain things about this thing called Ki which should be understood, should people wish to really delve into the truth of the subject.
When you do your forms you must lower your frame, for this will create a better energy connection to the planet. A better energy connection means more real energy will pass through the legs and into the tan tien. And the tan tien is nothing but a simple generator of energy on the body level.
If you can excite the tan tien through the use of forms, then you can cause an energy to filter upward through the body. This energy will excite a middle tan tien in the upper body, and then cause a person, through the excitation of the upper tan tien, in the head, to view his body from outside his body. Thus, the body is filled, point by point, and becomes a battery charged with supernormal energy.
The energy of the body can be used in a variety of methods, and this provides a whole new education for a student of the martial arts. To explore this education one should attempt to not use muscles, for energy locked into muscles stops the body, and stops the intention which drives the energy, and stops the emission of Ki. Instead, when striking, one should be like a noodle, eventually not even tightening the fist, merely driving it through the attacker, and occupying the space of his body, and to loosen the motion and sensitivity of the body so it is empty, and able to evaporate under attack to the imbalance of the attacker, and the guidance of his energy in a profound and magnitudious manner.
Ki, whether it is called chi or prana or intrinsic energy or pneuma or whatever, is not mysterious. It is simple to develop and use, if one only pays attention to the simple things I have written in this article, and are willing to throw yourself into the discipline. Whether you study uechi or shotokan or goju, whether you practice tai chi or yoga, this thing called ki, or chi, is available to you, and it is The Truth of The Path of The True Art. - 30300
I explored Kenpo, and Goju, and judo, and all manner of the combative arts, and I found little trace of this mysterious energy. Mostly, you just kicked and hit the air, and I began to believe that ki might be more of a looney tunes than a reality. Still, I heard the rumors of little men in pajamas able to do the most incredible thing which, even though they seemed a bit muscular, touted this strange energy called Ki.
As years passed, and as I practiced my martial arts techniques thousands and thousands and thousands of times, something strange happened. I began to sense a world beyond myself. I began to understand the world without de[ending on eyes and ears, and with a sense of myself that went beyond body. Slowly, I began to understand there might be truth to this ki thing, and to understand that circus tricks were the icing, and enjoyable, but that real intrinsic energy was something else.
I studied Aikido, and Tai Chi Chuan and other internal arts. I began to feel a strange energy seep through me, and I began to enjoy a profound health which made me feel more spry than even when I had been young. And I began to realize certain things about this thing called Ki which should be understood, should people wish to really delve into the truth of the subject.
When you do your forms you must lower your frame, for this will create a better energy connection to the planet. A better energy connection means more real energy will pass through the legs and into the tan tien. And the tan tien is nothing but a simple generator of energy on the body level.
If you can excite the tan tien through the use of forms, then you can cause an energy to filter upward through the body. This energy will excite a middle tan tien in the upper body, and then cause a person, through the excitation of the upper tan tien, in the head, to view his body from outside his body. Thus, the body is filled, point by point, and becomes a battery charged with supernormal energy.
The energy of the body can be used in a variety of methods, and this provides a whole new education for a student of the martial arts. To explore this education one should attempt to not use muscles, for energy locked into muscles stops the body, and stops the intention which drives the energy, and stops the emission of Ki. Instead, when striking, one should be like a noodle, eventually not even tightening the fist, merely driving it through the attacker, and occupying the space of his body, and to loosen the motion and sensitivity of the body so it is empty, and able to evaporate under attack to the imbalance of the attacker, and the guidance of his energy in a profound and magnitudious manner.
Ki, whether it is called chi or prana or intrinsic energy or pneuma or whatever, is not mysterious. It is simple to develop and use, if one only pays attention to the simple things I have written in this article, and are willing to throw yourself into the discipline. Whether you study uechi or shotokan or goju, whether you practice tai chi or yoga, this thing called ki, or chi, is available to you, and it is The Truth of The Path of The True Art. - 30300
About the Author:
Al Case has researched the martial arts for forty years. He has written dozens of articles for the magazines and had his own column. You can find out if his Ki is worth a darn by getting his free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.
