KI, CHI, PRANA, LIFE FORCE, INTERNAL ENERGY, LIFE ENERGY:

words that have been associated with Martial Arts; but what does this mean? That we get some kind of special powers when we train in Karate, or Kung fu? Maybe a word that was made up to explain simple physics to the uneducated. The literal translation of Chi is “breath”, “air”, or “gas”. The Chinese used the word for all types of things; they called lightning “sky chi”, when you were sick you had “weak” chi. KI can be thought of as positive thinking or a belief in yourself. So why has this been always used with the Martial Arts? This question is difficult to explain.

The early Martial Arts masters were great men who trained very hard and kept trying, even when things went against them. They built strong will power and positive thinking; so, their students often thought they had special powers that were more magical then normal. They also studied the vital points of the human body.  With this knowledge combined with a very trained body they could knock you out, or control you, with techniques that seemed magical. By being in total control of themselves, these men were able to call on their body’s own natural resource, “adrenaline”. These were men to look up to, and were very extraordinary; so, to the eyes of the people, they did possess special powers.

 

We have all heard stories about normal people doing amazing things, like a woman who lifted the car off of her child after a car wreck. The reason that she could do this was that she reacted without thinking, just doing. If she would have taken the time to think about it, she could never have done it. But by being “one-minded” (knowing she must save her child) and just doing, it was possible. Using your total body and mind’s strength on one simple technique. True Karate.

 

So how do you get this power? By training and pushing ourselves, making ourselves try and keep trying, and by not giving up. When your body is feeling good and it is running at full strength, that is “Ki”. By training hard and doing Karate over and over, that is the start of true power. Power that starts inside and moves outward. Ki is not something that you get, it is something that you have and you project.

 

Total control of your body, being able to use your adrenaline at a moment’s notice, by believing in yourself and your training, this is my understanding of KI.

 

So don’t worry about not having Ki. If you are walking around, talking, eating, and reading this you have Ki. The main thing is to keep working out and to keep trying. If Ki is life force, then just live and let the brainiacs try to figure out what the mysterious force is.

See you in the dojo