Written by Guss Wilkinson 2001
Chi (or Ki), also known as the universal life force, is an external energy existing everywhere simultaneously (Very similar to the force in Star Wars.). Chi is said to enter the body through a spot in the forehead and collects at a point 1cm below the navel called "Tanden".
Masters in Chi can direct this force by will to certain spots in the body to produce phenomenal strength and make the body impervious to pain and damage.
Chi runs through the acupuncture points in the body and all illnesses and diseases are caused by blockages in the free flow of Chi. Practitioners who develop their Chi flow control can remain free from disease and illnesses.
There are a lot of healers using acupuncture and acupressure etc who can help people free up their Chi and heal their aliments.
Masters in Chi control can disrupt other people's Chi by manipulation of their pressure points causing pain, illness and sometimes death. Dim Mak is the art of accomplishing this without physical contact.
I would now like to stop wasting your time by telling you that this is all a load of rubbish!!
In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing called Chi other than in the over-active imagination of certain people.
Tai Chi is believed by many to be an ancient form that promotes health by developing Chi.
Tai Chi was developed as a very clever and effective martial art and absolutely nothing else and like any exercise, Tai Chi promotes health, balance and self-regard.
But Tai Chi is really just one long kata and like any kata, training Tai Chi without knowing and practicing the defense applications is absolutely meaningless. There is nothing intrinsically magical about the moves themselves.
I am a skeptic and a rationalist and I believe that there is nothing about Chi that cannot be explained through simple mechanics, physiology, suggestion, illusion and fraud.
I would put Chi in the same category that I put magic, paranormal, UFO's, ghosts, religion, supernatural, clairvoyance, dowsing, healing etc etc etc. None of these things exist until proven beyond any doubt under the strictest of conditions.
The Late Carl Sagan once said that extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. No shred of proof as to the existence of the above has ever been unearthed (see http://www.randi.org and http://www.skepticplanet.com/indexedsites.html), yet it never ceases to astound me how many people are prepared to whole-heartedly believe in these things, based on such poor evidence.
There is a lot of money to be made from gullible people and there is no shortage of people that will go to enormous lengths to convince you that I am wrong.
There is also a lot of mysticism and mystique entwined in martial arts and I would like to save you all an awful lot of time and money (and meditation).
CHI DOES NOT EXIST!!
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