A question for the Chi / Ki practitioners

[TaeBo_Master]

Please cease using the word "whilst" all over the place. It does not make you appear smarter. That is all.

[Pete_E]

Damn - if I can't appear smarter when I type what chance have I got when I open my mouth?!?

[Dr. Fagbot Q. MacGillicuddy, PhD]

Please cease using the word "whilst" all over the place.* It does not make you appear smarter. That is all.

*unless you are thor.

[Trinity]

*STANDARD AUTOMATED PROCESS*

Chi is nothing more than a physical core movement. Like when you turn your hip in a side kick, or swivel your body in a reverse punch. Anyone who attempts to mystify it by calling it 'chi' ought to be pumped full of coagulants, shot up the arse with an Uzi then used as a punchbag while dying for being an utterly sad and pathetic human being.

[Feryk]

I'm not sure this is the right forum for this question - so moderators please feel free to move it to an appropriate area.

I'm interested to know what, if any, alternative explanations people have for the sensations that are often attributed to 'chi' - at least within tai chi practice.

On a personal level I have experienced an increase in warmth in my hands, and tingling / pins and needles type sensations, predominantly in the hands and arms but also travelling around the body, especially around the spine. Whilst I'm prepared to accept the traditional explanation that these sensations are a result of 'chi circulation' (I can hear the typing of insults already) I am curious as to what, if any, other theories can explain this effect.

I know what you are referring to. I did T'ai Chi for a few years, a long time ago. After awhile, this sensation becomes kind of a regular thing. I don't think it's mystical at all. I think you are increasing your circulation/bloodflow, but in a low impact, non aerobic kind of way. I used to find my hands and feet would get warm after doing a long form, but I wasn't breathing hard, so I didn't associate it with exercise.

It didn't occur to me that it was actually a workout. After I realized that it was a different kind of exercise than I was used to, the warmth, the tingling, etc. made a little more sense.

[grond]

*STANDARD AUTOMATED PROCESS*

Chi is nothing more than a physical core movement. Like when you turn your hip in a side kick, or swivel your body in a reverse punch. Anyone who attempts to mystify it by calling it 'chi' ought to be pumped full of coagulants, shot up the arse with an Uzi then used as a punchbag while dying for being an utterly sad and pathetic human being.

People who write nonsensical posts like this should be forced to wipe their butts with tree bark.

[Pete_E]

I know what you are referring to. I did T'ai Chi for a few years, a long time ago. After awhile, this sensation becomes kind of a regular thing. I don't think it's mystical at all. I think you are increasing your circulation/bloodflow, but in a low impact, non aerobic kind of way. I used to find my hands and feet would get warm after doing a long form, but I wasn't breathing hard, so I didn't associate it with exercise.

It didn't occur to me that it was actually a workout. After I realized that it was a different kind of exercise than I was used to, the warmth, the tingling, etc. made a little more sense.

I ask this in all seriousness Feryk - but how often do you get tingling sensations from other types of exercise?

[Jekyll]

*Insert sex joke here vigorously*

Anyway, pete did the tingling stop when you started moving your hands?

[Feryk]

Pete,

Not often. But, as I said before, it's a different kind of exercise. I would sometimes get a similar feeling after swimming, but only if it was a long endurance, low effort kind of swimming. If I was gasping for air when I was finished, it was a different feeling.

T'ai Chi is unique in my experience for how it works the body. It is an excellent form of rehabilitation, and if you can't handle stressing yourself too much, it's still good exercise. Others here have studied it more as an MA and can give you a better opinion on that.

But don't delude yourself. Qi or Chi or whatever, whether it exists or not, isn't the point of the exercise. If you are doing T'ai Chi for no other reason than 'to find your Qi', then move along. Focus on the techniques, the meditation, your posture, and the health benefits you gain from it. The Qi (if it exists) will take care of itself. If it is real, your belief or nonbelief won't matter.

G/luck with it.

PS. Jekyll, if he's having the same sensations I experienced, then moving your hands increases the feeling, not the other way around. I believe it comes from your circulatory system working better, rather than being inhibited. Just a thought.

[Pete_E]

*Insert sex joke here vigorously*

Well I never saw that one coming....

Anyway, pete did the tingling stop when you started moving your hands?

I don't know yet - it's not a sensation that I always get and it's certainly not something I go looking for during practice. I'm fairly sure that, from past experience it's not connected to lack of movement in my hands. Next time it happens, though, I will test the theory and let you know.

But don't delude yourself. Qi or Chi or whatever, whether it exists or not, isn't the point of the exercise. If you are doing T'ai Chi for no other reason than 'to find your Qi', then move along. Focus on the techniques, the meditation, your posture, and the health benefits you gain from it. The Qi (if it exists) will take care of itself. If it is real, your belief or nonbelief won't matter

I agree Feryk. I have always practiced Tai Chi with an open mind on the question of Qi. I am curious, however, and as the one tangible sensation that I have experienced, that I cannot explain, I am curious as to what explanations, other than Qi, people may have for these sensations - and this seems the ideal place to seek out alternative 'non-mystical' explanations...

I like the idea of tai chi helping the circulatory system. My teacher often compares the concept of qi to the blood circulation, and I think it is a much more tangible explanation than the often ambiguous talk about qi / 'life energy' etc.