Friday, July 27, 2012

chi (and fish)

i don't think i'm looking for chi anymore.
anyway, i'm not looking to define it; i'm not looking to be a superman, if you will.
i've been on a quest, it seems, to understand it. but, as we know, to seek something is often to lose it. i'm happier now that i accept chi as maybe real--maybe self-hypnosis--maybe science and mechanics. journeyman does a good post on these points here. i wonder if he was on a quest, too. he seems to be at peace with it, anyway.
i train with a sensei who really believes it is a factor in the martial arts. i don't disagree, but then there are guys like Bruce Lee and Professor Wally Jay who i admire and don't neccesarily worry about it too much. (at least outwardly).
maybe jedi knights ruined chi for everyone by making kids want to become supernatural , imbued with chi/Force. That said, i've seen some pretty crazy shit that i cannot explain. maybe it's chi.
but i don't see a lot of crazy stuff. maybe i need a temple to hang out at in a remote jungle somewhere. maybe chi is there.
or maybe it's everywhere, and we, like fish, cannot discern the water all around us. (does a fish use chi to swim? is the water its chi? does a fish prefer spelling it chi or qi?)
just because i'm not searching doesn't mean i'm against it.....
or against fish, for that matter.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the mention.

    I suspect you're on to something. To actively search for chi or try to force it into existence may be to miss the point. It's like trying to focus on that little squiggly thing in your eye. When you try to focus on it, it slips away, but when you just allow your eyes to be, there it is...

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  2. Could it be that the definition of chi is as nebulous as the substance itself?

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  3. It is real and when you experience it first hand it is unmistakable. I really don't know how to get it. I've felt it from Kenji Ushiro, the shindo-ryu kyoshi. You know when you've felt it because it doesn't feel like anything else. But I try not to worry about it because most of it comes simply from practice. A lot of practice. People really underestimate how much practice it takes to be that good at anything. I imagine Ushiro Sensei has practiced Kata and Kumite 100 hours for every one hour I have. So yeah, ki or chi isn't the most important thing to worry about. Just make sure you're getting better from day to day.

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