Qi and Internal Power

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  • #128232

    Anonymous
    Guest

    I am quite confused on this subject.

    It seems to me that the openings and closings of the joints, cavities, fluids and blood, as well as the twisting actions of the fascia, ligaments and tendons, are the main drivers behind internal power. Correct me if I am wrong!

    I do not understand then the emphasis on qi, and opening the channels of qi in the body. Is not qi a subtle energy? I could understand if the importance of qi is to direct the actions of the real forces of demonstrable power of the body. But is this the extent of it? Can the qi of the body exert a real external  force of it’s own?

    G

     

     

    #130830

    Anonymous
    Guest

    If you already have the fuel and necessary chi or can create it by the actions you mention you are right.

    But chi is anyway a breathing process underlying also these actions. And meditation may be the better approach in the beginning than mere bodily actions easily distracting attention and energy to the outside whereas sitting and still more lying goes more to the inside also with the chi.

    But later bodily training is also a meditation and may be nearer to real energy.

    Axel

    #130831

    Anonymous
    Guest

    I hate to jump into this discussion because I’m just an amateur. And the issues here have not even been well defined.
    One issue might be: What is Qi?
    Is it real, a belief or an ambiguous concept?
    Or is it like the “Tao?” Once you try to name it eludes you.
    The Chinese characters for “Qi” mean something that is both steam and uncooked rice–at the same time.
    (both immaterial and material)

    Nevertheless, Giovanni Maciocia, an acupuncturist, prefers to leave the term “Qi” untranslated–as well as the terms “Yin” and “Yang.”

    But, assuming Qi is something, another issue might be:
    Does it move?

    The Tai Chi classics say that the mind moves the Qi, the Qi moves the blood.

    So, logically, if you know how blood moves, you should be able to figure out how Qi moves.

    Well, it just so happens that we do know how blood naturally moves.
    Blood is pumped out of the heart to the extremities via arteries and then it returns to the heart via veins.

    So maybe Qi, likewise, moves out from a center to the extremities and returns to that center (usually thought to be the dan tien) via acupuncture meridians and vessels.

    Unfortunately we have only minimal control over the flow of our blood and our breathing.

    But breathing gives a scintilla of control over the blood.
    So maybe we can use breathing and Qi, too.

    Imagine yourself on the top of a high mountain where the air is very thin.
    The “Qi” is very thin there–it is “Yang,” very thin and ethereal, immaterial.
    As you move down the mountain the
    “Qi” becomes denser and denser–until you reach sea level where the “Qi” becomes very thick and substantial, material–very “Yin.” Now “Qi” is just like blood, very thick (although blood is damp, but “Qi” is not).

    In natural breathing, you contract the diaphragm, it moves down, concave in shape, the lower abdomen is allowed to expand, and the volume/space in the lungs increases. According to Boyles Law of gas, when volume increases, pressure in the lungs decreases; now the pressure inside the lungs has become relatively lower than the atmospheric pressure outside the lungs so air moves into the lungs (effortlessly).
    The thinner “Yang Qi” from the mountain top becomes denser and denser as it moves down into the lungs as the “Qi” becomes more “Yin.” When the “Qi” reaches the feet (“sea level”) it becomes very earthy and rooted–greater “Yin.”
    The diaphragm muscle is the main muscle of respiration.
    When you exhale naturally, the diaphragm relaxes and becomes convex; it cones up like an umbrella. The lower abdominal muscles can voluntarily be made to contract a bit to assist. Lung volume decreases, air pressure increases and air (a lot of toxic CO2 included) moves out of the lungs to the now relatively lower pressure of the outside atmosphere (effortlessly).
    The denser “Yin Qi” rises like steam becoming thinner and thinner as it reaches the top of the mountain again and is relatively insubstantial “Yang Qi.”

    This is consistent with the way blood moves in our circulatory/respiratory system. Oxygen enters the lungs, enriches ascending blood, it is pumped to the extremities, becomes depleted and rises back to the heart.

    I distinguish between the flow of “Qi” and a “Yin” or “Yang” movement. “Yang-movements” are expansive/up/out/forward–like raising hands. “Yin-movements” are contractive/down/in/retreating–like lowering hands.

    In its ever paradoxical nature–as the “Qi” in the lungs is becoming more dense and “Yin,” the body/chest cavity/hands-rising are expanding. “Yin Qi” internally; but “Yang-movement” externally.

    (Actually, Taoist reverse-breathing is no different.
    You’re just reversing the actions of the lower abdomen–inhale by contracting the lower abdominals–keep diaphragm flat–exhale by relaxing the lower abdominals. Descending “Yin Qi” flow into the lungs above gets mixed with “Yang Qi” rising/rebounding/warming from below–from wuji, emptiness the taiji ball starts turning.)

    A Taoist book says, ‘Dao originated from Emptiness (wuji) and Emptiness produced the universe. The universe produced Qi …That which was clear and light drifted up to become heaven, and that which was heavy and turbid solidified to form earth.’

    I see “Yin Qi” as form and “Yang Qi” as emptiness.
    From Buddhism:
    Form is Emptiness and Emptiness is Form.
    In Zen, furthermore:
    Form is Form and Emptiness is Emptiness.

    So, as I practice the Yang Style 88 Long Form, I watch Qi descend and rise. I watch the opposing external expanding Yang-movement associated with denser Yin Qi and the external contracting Yin-movement associated with the thinning Yang Qi.

    So what?

    Surprisingly, suddenly, spontaneously I become aware of my “Spirit” at the Heart-Mind.

    I’ve practiced meditation daily since 1976 and yoga since 1977 without arousing any such awareness of “spirit.”

    There is, however, something about the actual doing/nondoing, dynamic body/mind/spirit moving in taiji that has aroused my awareness of my “spirit.”

    And when that happens there is great joy.

    Undoubtedly, you will have to blaze your own path and discover something which will be totally different from my individual experience–but it will be worth every moment, every day, every year of practice.

    May your spirit soar.

    Post Falls, Idaho, USA

    #130832

    Anonymous
    Guest

    Robert hit the nail on the head; there will come a point where the question of Chi existence shifts from evidence to acceptance. That’s when things will start to happen. Regretfully, it can’t be taught empirically or learnt (is that a real word? Ahh, regardless you get the idea) through the classical “Western” concept of learning. It is something discovered within one’s self.

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