Chi (pronounced "chee") is the Chinese word used to describe "the natural energy of the Universe." This energy, though called "natural," is actually spiritual or supernatural, and is part of a metapyshical, not an empirical, belief system. Nevertheless, believers in Chi make claims which can be empirically tested. Proponents claim to prove the existence and power of Chi by healing people and by doing magic tricks, like breaking a chopstick with the edge of a piece of paper, or by martial arts stunts like breaking a brick with a bare hand or foot.
Chi-Kung (Qi Gong) is claimed to be "the science and practice" of Chi, which might be thought of as an energy field moving within the body. Physical and mental health are allegedly improved by learning how to manipulate Chi through controlled breathing, movement, and acts of will. It is even said that one can strengthen the immune system by mastering one's Chi.
Most Westerners are familiar with Kung Fu, Tai Chi or Aikido and the demonstrations of practitioners who break bricks with their bare hands or sense the movements of an opponent in the darkness. These demonstrations and stories of even more powerful demonstrations are promoted as evidence of the power that comes to those who master Chi.
The attractiveness of such an idea is obvious: who wouldn't want to be able to unleash monstrous powers that sleep within? Plus, the training isn't all bad. Attention to diet and physical exercise, and cultivating physical strength and mental self-discipline are good things. The feeling of confidence that comes from such training, even from learning to do silly things like breaking boards or bricks with bare hands or feet, are good things.
If I had to speculate how Chi and the martial arts got linked my guess would be that some ancient Chinese military leader psyched up his troops by having them focus their energy, their Chi, when they went into combat. The fiercest warriors were held up as models of those who has mastered Chi. Soon they came from far and wide to learn the secrets of mastering Chi! A star was born!
The fruit of this star has emerged in the 20th century in the Western World in the form of thousands of martial arts schools. As noted above, there is certainly a good side to these training centers for children and adults. Many focus on self-defense, and they boost self-confidence and self-esteem, even if they don't really make one invincible. However, there is a dark side to these schools, as noted by a former Chi Kung student, Graham Broad, who writes:
For several years I practiced Asian martial arts for fun and fitness. Last year, however, I quit altogether when the claims made by certain practitioners about the extraordinary feats of Chi Kung (Qi-Gong) they had performed or witnessed became too much for me to remain silent about, and I was made unwelcome for not sharing the belief they had in them.In my city, London, Ontario, Canada, there are more than thirty-five martial arts schools, teaching over 3,000 students, many of them children. Not all of these schools cultivate a mystical approach to martial arts, but many of them do. One local teacher claimed that his own instructor could teach merely by touching - the transmitted Chi contained the day's lesson!
Martial arts literature is resplendent with claims about Chi K'ung. A full page advertisement in "Inside Kung-Fu" magazine boasts that the "Scientific Premium Company USA" can "instruct you how to develop Chi Power." For a mere $47.95 (plus shipping and handling) you receive a "Chi Power Poster, Chi Power Plus Booklet...plus instructions of how to create a Chi Power Voice." An additional $29.95 gets you a "Pressure Point Chart." Says the blurb, "Move objects with Chi Power without touching them. Move an object with your eyes only. Extinguish a candle flame with your eyes only. Lift a bowl of water with Yin Chi...repel birds, dogs, with your eyes only...erase pain completely with Pressure Points...for most, it works the first day! But if you need help phone us toll free!"
I have so far resisted the lure of learning these "dark secrets of the Orient," but it is heartening to know that there is a 1-800 customer service line available in the event I am unable to perform such feats of Chi K'ung as "repelling birds." (Which reminds me of comedian Steven Wright's line that he "can levitate birds - but nobody cares.")
What's distressing is that this advertisement ran monthly in this magazine and a few others for more than a year. For all I know, it still is running. So it seems likely that the Scientific Premium Company is getting at least enough responses to pay for their ad.
The March/April 1994 issue of "Karate International" contains an article in which the author, James Patrick Lacy, having courageously chosen to "let science decide" describes an experiment where a master of Chi-Kung brought a fly back from the dead using his Chi. Lacy describes,
"A fly is caught and put inside a small ginseng bottle...the bottle is filled with water...the fly becomes lifeless looking and the water is drained. The fly is put on a piece of paper while I watch (the Qi-Gong master) wave his healing Qi over the fly about seven times. We sit back and wait a few minutes...the experiment is concluded as I watch the fly start to walk around again."Lacy breathlessly concludes, "many speak about authentic Qi, but few attempt to prove it in such authentic classical experiments." One can scarcely imagine why.
The consequences of all this are not insignificant. While the belief in Chi is deeply rooted in Asian culture, in the west, many people are being persuaded to believe that Chi Gong can impart psychokinetic powers, invulnerability to physical injury, illness, even HIV, according to one recent article in "Inside Kung-Fu".
Students at one martial arts school I attended performed exercises to cultivate "inner power" and "body hardness," which included permitting others to strike their stomach, shins, thighs, and forearms, even solar plexus and rib cage with full power punches and kicks. Since I was not paying $75 a month to receive internal injuries, I stopped going.
Many of those being punched over and over in the stomach to develop their "Chi power" were minors, and nothing was ever said about what the long-term consequences of such beatings might be, not to mention the immediate risk of allowing oneself to be hit. Students who were injured were admonished that they must redouble their efforts to prevent further injury!
I even know a physics major who insisted that his teacher could use his Chi to send a student "flying across the room" with the merest touch. I admonished him that slugging a student and causing him to fall over is hardly evidence of psychokinetic abilities, but he was quite adamant that such a thing was possible. I put it down to communal reinforcement.
What empirical evidence is there for chi or its harnessing? About the same as there is for any other supernatural or psychic power: it works! Just ask those who believe. They can see and feel the results of their belief. The skeptic thinks they are deluding themselves. We don't doubt their feelings and accomplishments, only their explanations. The idea that there is a kind of fluid energy body moving within the physical body and it is the harnessing of this energy that explains how a physical blow can break a brick or slice a chopstick seems both unnecessary and farfetched. Such an idea is also used to explain how acupuncture works. The acupuncturist is channeling chi. This notion of a fluid energy in the body is also behind the practice of therapeutic touch and massage therapy. I would be the last person to complain about a massage, but the beneficial effects, I maintain, are purely physical and have nothing to do with metaphysical chimera such as chi.
reader comments
17 Jun 1996
I read what was written about "chi" in your dictionary. I think your skeptic attitude is justified. For every good thing, there is someone else who will attempt to control it or profit from it. There are many who prey on the gullibility of others. I have my own thoughts on what chi may indeed be, being a skeptic also. After training in Kenpo and kung-fu for over a decade, I believed I have experienced many times the wonderful feeling that chi can bring. It's not supernatural but it is powerful. Probably, every athelete has experienced chi power at one time. Basically, it's just runner's high. That super juiced up feeling that comes with hours of training and pushing the body and mind to its limits. The body merely releases an adrenaline dump through the system... increasing ones strength and endurance. However; andreline contains cortizone like properties which, in larger than normal amounts( like those from intense exercising), can cause psychotic like reactions and illogical thought processes. An adrenaline HIGH. Just like a weak hit of LSD that only lasts 10-20 minutes.
The same thing can happen during stressful events or in individuals that suffer from panic attacks. The feeling one gets during an adrenaline high while in a controlled state like a breathdown after an intense workout can be overpowering. One is truly at one with their body. The practioners of chi feel as though they are stronger (which they are for a little bit) and faster (which they temporarily are as well). The effect on their mind allows them to block out background stimuli and focus on their goal more effectively. All of this is what any athelete is aiming for, becase it allows them to perform better. A chi master would merely be an individual who can control when their adrenaline dumps. ie: like a boxer when the bell rings or a swimmer seconds before the starting signal. No big mystery... The shit about healing? Refer to acupuncture or else read about how aliens brought the ancients great healing powers from Atlantis and gave us magic beans! I never give much credit to the great healing powers of chi. Better immune system? That's probably bacause chi practioners are suppose to be really healthy athelete's. Know anyone who claims these powers who sits around all day snarfing back beer and cheetos?
Incidentally, this same response that describes chi as an adrenaline rush also describes the christian feeling of "the holy spirit". From all accounts that I have heard they merely describe their brush with god's power and do no more than to describe a body's defensive response to a nervous situation. Keep up the good work.
Trevor Whitman
further reading
Description of Shaolin Gung Fu
Tai Chi without much Chi
Huston, Peter. "China, Chi, and Chicanery - Examining Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chi Theory," Skeptical Inquirer, Sept/Oct 1995.
Su Tzu's Chinese Philosophy Page