CHI IS REAL

Participants at an Intensive Chi Kung Course practicing "Carrying the Moon"

The following discussion is reproduced from the thread Dispelling Ignorance and Untruths: A Case Study of Baguamonk's Posts started in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum on 25th September 2006.

If you understand chi philosophically, you would not have said it was an outdated term. The fact that the term is still being widely used today shows that it is still currently useful. Indeed, it would be difficult to explain many things in internal arts, traditional Chinese medicine and feng shui if one does not use the term "chi".

Sifu Jordan Francis

Jordan Francis

Sifu Jordan Francis
Instructor, Shaolin Wahnam England
16th October 2006


Chi is Real


Baguamonk1,


Quote:

Originally Posted by Baguamonk1
How many times do I have to clarify that I never said that I don't believe in Chi or internal force....That is just ridiculous. I tried to explain some things in different ways, and when clarification was needed, I for the most part did (although I lost track of some topics). Just because I think "internal force" is a lame excuse to not hurt the poor, "brutes" of MMA competitions, does not mean I do not believe in it.

We never said you said you did not believe in chi or internal force. But your posts suggested that you only paid lip service to chi and internal force, that your understanding of chi and internal force was incorrect or incomplete, or that you had no direct experience of chi or internal force.

For example:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baguamonk1
I said Chi was an outdated term and it was used to generalize various processes in the body, because there was alot more than simply one.

This statement indicates your lack of both philosophical knowledge as well as direct experience of chi. If you understand chi philosophically, you would not have said it was an outdated term. The fact that the term is still being widely used today shows that it is still currently useful. Indeed, it would be difficult to explain many things in internal arts, traditional Chinese medicine and feng shui if one does not use the term “chi”.

Saying that chi was used to generalize various processes in the body is a clear indication that you do not have direct experience of chi. Because you did not know how it felt to experience chi directly, you used some overall description which you hoped could fit what a chi experience would be like. Your description that it was used to generalise various processes in the body could be applied to many things, like blood flow, metabolic processes, psychological functions, mental impulses, etc. which can suggest a vastly different impression about what chi is.

Nevertheless, we are glad to notice your change of attitude and viewpoints in your recent posts. In one post in another thread, you actually said that chi existed.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Baguamonk1
My post about the Chinese Men and Women who do not believe in "Chi" was there to show just how the condition exists in some places, including China itself. The cultural revolution, and alot of changes in China has alot of people practicing Taiji, and other methods of internal arts for health. Clearly there are MANY exceptions, I was just trying to illustrate the condition of some of the modern chinese, and practicioners.

It is true that many people today, Chinese as well as non-Chinese, do not believe in chi. If you had also mentioned that despite all this, chi was real, then the impression you conveyed would be different.

But when you made the statement in the context where you disparaged Chinese martial arts in favour of Jeet Kune Do and Mixed Martial Arts, which were known for their disbelief in chi, the impression I got from your statement was that chi was unreal, and countless Chinese men and women confirmed that.

I am glad that you have clarified this point now. Thank you.

__________________
Jordan Francis
Shaolin Wahnam England
www.CosmosArts.com

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Dispelling Ignorance and Untruths: A Case Study of Baguamonk1's Posts

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