White Birch Kung Fu, Tai Chi, and Kettlebell Gym

What is Chi?

By Joelle Presson, Ph.D.

If you are looking for a martial arts training experience a quick look in the phone book or on-line will reveal many options. Karate and Tae Kwon Do schools abound, and on-line videos promise to make you an effective street fighter with their "superior technique". A person contemplating martial arts training can understandably be confused by all these venues. How to choose? What is a "good" martial arts system? One of the great martial artists of the last century, Bruce Lee, came to understand that the "system" of martial arts training is not the most important factor in determining your success. What is important is the philosophy, attitude, and deep personal growth that can develop as a result of training. Traditional Chinese martial arts are much more than fighting techniques. From a traditional Chinese perspective the true aspects of martial arts training go beyond diligently attending classes or work out sessions. During the thousands of years of Chinese history a philosophical framework for martial arts practice has emerged. This framework is as important - or even more important for some--than the physical practice. In this paper we will explore one of the central ideas from this philosophical framework, an idea that separates traditional martial arts practice from most of the training programs offered to you (Kit, 2002)-- the concept of Chi. The simplest notion of Chi is one of energy. Chi, or ki or Qi, is the energy referred to when you "ki-ai" during a kick or punch. It is the energy at the heart of more meditative martial arts practices such as tai chi, or Qigong. These simple notions of energy belie the complexity of this idea, though. The concept of Chi is part of a fuller, more comprehensive Chinese philosophy, a system of belief that covers the physical, intellectual, spiritual, ethical, and social aspects of a person's life. The commitment to embrace this fuller understanding of Chi is what sets a martial artist apart from one who simply trains in a fighting style. There are many texts and essays available on the topic of chi (Cohen, 1997; Ying, 1997; Yahoo Health, 2003) For many western readers, though, the ideas surrounding Chi may seem foreign, and difficult to comprehend. The comprehensive idea of Chi may not fit into your, western philosophical framework, especially if you have any training or experience in western science. This essay will provide a summary of the full breadth of the meaning and implications of chi, but will also discus the usefulness of Chi in a modern scientific context. We hope this approach will help you to better comprehend and appreciate your readings about and experiences with Chi. This may help you embrace the notion of chi -- and use chi to bring to a deeper fulfillment and experience to your martial arts practice. Click here to learn more about developing Qi.

The origins of the idea of Chi

Like people in other emerging civilizations, the early Chinese developed ideas about how a person's spirit, intellect, and body are integrated. The broad framework that emerged gave people a philosophical way to understand themselves and their place in the larger universe, as well as practical notions of how to keep themselves in harmony with their bodies, their neighbors, and their society. It claimed to help keep them free of disease and healthy through a long life. Given the various cultural threads in early Chinese society it is not surprising that their philosophical and metaphysical systems reflected religious inputs from Indian Buddhism, native Chinese thinking about societal structure, and the practical requirements of day to day survival in a society that was at times unsafe and unstable. What emerged from these influences was a belief system that postulated three important influences on a person's physical, moral, and spiritual development. In Chinese these three influences are Jing, Shen, and Chi. The combination of these influences explained for the early Chinese how each individual comes to have their own unique personal characteristics. More than just explanatory, though, this philosophical system included recommendations for how to nurture these influences and so to maximize personal development. To understand Chi you must appreciate how it fits with the other influences to contribute to the development of the whole person. Before moving on with a description of these influences it is important to point out that for the early Chinese personal development was not the same kind of notion that many modern Americans would assume. In modern American society personal development is about finding out who you are and allowing the free expression of your unique traits, with little constraint from societal boundaries. For the early Chinese the stability and harmony of the society was as important, or even more important, than the expression of the individual. The individual was exhorted to develop in ways that kept the society stable, tranquil, and prosperous. Good health, long life, and personal success were considered important, in part, because if people had these traits the overall society would be stable and prosperous. As a result of this perspective the ideas of Shen, Jing, and Chi were developed in a direction that encouraged calm, tranquil, and respectful behavior. These notions lead to personal control as a way to personal expression.

Shen Most early cultures developed a belief in a spiritual aspect of human life, the aspect of a person that is not limited by the physical body. For the early Chinese the comparable concept is the Shen. There are clear Buddhist influences on the idea of Shen. As in traditional Buddhism, the Chinese notion of Shen includes the idea that if your Shen is sufficiently developed you will escape the cycle of physical re-incarnations and have an eternal spiritual existence. The cultivation of Shen requires a great deal of commitment and is maximized only if a person removes distracting social influences. For this reason the most Shen devotees removed themselves to monasteries, just as monks and nuns do in Christian spiritual realm. Jing is an ephemeral idea that describes a person's "essence". The term has slightly different meanings, depending on the context, but it reflects the core of your being that provides the energy and direction for your early growth and development. Jing is the "pure" nature of a thing or person, the basic source from which a person or thing is made. Jing is the early Chinese understanding of what makes each thing unique. One important source of your Jing is from your parents. Sperm themselves are often referred to as Jing, and the Jing of your parent's combines and flows to you during conception. The Chinese writers speak of Jing not only as an essence, but also as a resource that will be used during your growth and development. It is one source of the energy that flows through you and supports your growth. In a modern sense Jing sounds like what you inherit from your parents. This may seem to trivialize the idea of Jing, but genetic inheritance is based on complex mechanisms that produce variation and uniqueness in the offspring of two parents. Based on your genetics you can either be much like your parents or another of your relatives or totally unique. Your genetic makeup sets you on your path for life, but does not rigidly determine your traits. While it may not be a precise and accurate translation, it may help you to think of Jing as your genetic endowment.

Chi Now we come to the more central notion of living energy. Many early human cultures had a notion of vital energy, an energy source that animates living things. In Chinese philosophy this vital energy is called Chi. Chi is an animating energy, but the early concept of what is alive was different from our concept today. Non-living things -- as we identify them today-- can also have Chi in this belief system. The air and water move and so they have Chi. Chi is necessary for life. Where does Chi come from? In part it comes from your original Jing, which is one reason your original essence is critical to your personal development. It can also come from the air you breath, and the food you eat. This is because they have their own Chi, which is imparted to you when you inhale or eat. According to Chinese belief Chi flows through your body, supporting and providing energy for the living process in all of its parts. Without sufficient Chi a part of your body will be come ill, which could lead to your death. It's most important function, apart from nurturing your body, is to nurture your Shen. Chi is central to the Chinese approach to good health, long life, and even eternal life, so you can see why it is so important. Chi connects Jing and Shen, and taking careful care of your Chi should be, according to Chinese philosophy, a major focus of your daily activities. To get a better idea of Chi, let's consider the body's Chi systems a bit more. There are many good sources that deal with this topic in detail, so here we will just review. Chi is thought to flow in channels in the body, in other words it does not go in random directions all over, but has paths through which it flows. Twelve main channels are identified, which provide Chi to all organs in the body. There are apparently finer channels that take Chi to the minutes parts of the body. The channels are supported by a system of reservoirs that store and release Chi as needed. The reservoirs are themselves more like pathways than large pools, as we normally think of reservoirs. From this superficial description this makes the Chi system sound like the system of blood vessels. But, while there is some overlap between the idea of Chi channels and blood flow, it is not clear that the Chi channels are the same as major blood vessels. We will return to this question later in this essay. One important but, puzzling , aspect of Chi is that it is said to be related to every aspect of your being. It is quite a comprehensive concept. As we have said, Chi is necessary for your physical health. Also, Chi is important for your proper intellectual, spiritual and emotional state. All these aspects are controlled by the amount of Chi flowing from the reservoirs through the channels. One way that Chi has so many effects is that it can have different qualities, and thereby determine the qualities that you express at any particular time. For example, Chi can be either Fire or Water in character. Water Chi is more closely derived from your original Jing and is calmer and more meditative. Fire Chi is derived from food and air and so takes on the qualities of the particular food and air. Fire Chi can be overly exciting and too much can be a bad thing, not a good thing. Thus it is not only important to balance the amount of Chi flowing but also its quality. Applications of Chi All of this philosophical discussion may seem quite abstract to your everyday life and your aims and goals. One distinctive aspect of Chinese philosophy, though, is that it derives many concrete activities that are intended to have a direct impact on how you live. Thus, Chinese Chi philosophy is direct and practical in many ways. All of these applications have as an aim to balance and maximize Chi flow. They are different avenues to the same goal, with differing end points along that goal. In the extreme the embodiment of Chi philosophy moves you toward the highest spiritual attainment. The most committed Chi practitioners are monks or hermits who devote all of their lives to the regulation and nurture of Chi. Other embodiments of Chi philosophy deal with health and long life, or with treating disease, dysfunction, and illness. The perfection of martial arts training is just one of these applications of Chi philosophy. Again, all of these approaches aim to improve Chi flow and reap the benefits of doing so.

To begin making all of this more concrete, consider a common theme that runs through all of these Chi applications. The common theme says that in order to control Chi you must control your body, mind, and emotion. Think carefully on these words. Control is the critical active element. The heart of practical Chi philosophy is that the individual can gain control of his or her essential energy. Chi philosophy does NOT embrace a laise faire or "going with the flow" approach. Chi practice involves control through devoted practice and work. If you return to the beginning of this essay you will see the phrase "kung fu practice" more than "kung fu training". Training is largely repetition of activities. "Practice" is a devotion and discipline in such a way that practiced actions become reflexive and deeply seated in your being. The Chi concept of control is an interesting one, and somewhat at odds with the typical Western notion. In western thought control means rigidity and giving yourself up to outside direction. In Chi practice control is setting your own goal, practicing toward that goal without fail, until that goal becomes second nature to you. In this sense you have controlled yourself toward your own ends. Essentially you work and practice to the point where your desired behavior or nature becomes automatic. What you are controlling is as revealing as the notion of control itself. In Chi practice you are controlling your body, mind, and emotion. Control of your body is something you think you understand, because you are an aspiring martial artist. Why though, does Chi practice require the control of mind and emotion? The essential idea here is that in order to allow the free flow of Chi both your mind and emotions must be calm and free of distractions. This means you must control the normal tendency for excitable thoughts and feelings. In Chi practice the mind and the emotions must be free of turmoil, indeed they must be free of everything. This is not to say unconscious or comatose. The mind and emotions must be free yet alert. This, as you might imagine, is not an easy state to achieve. According to Chi philosophy, though, the benefits of nurturing Chi cannot be attained without this state. If you achieve this state, in whatever goal or program you have -- be it spiritual enlightenment or martial arts achievement-- it will only come through incorporating dedicated Chi practice into your regime.

Chi Practice Ok, now to the heart of the matter. How do you go about controlling your mind, body, and emotions? This is where Chi practice becomes practical, and over thousands of years practitioners and philosophers have developed a variety of avenues for nurturing Chi. Exercises that develop your body stance, your balance, your breathing, your reaction to external stimuli-- all can be avenues to control your body, mind, and emotions. Meditation is a form of Chi practice. There are many mediation approaches, all of which help you to clear your mind, settle your emotions, and control your body by learning to sit comfortably still for long periods. Your practice of Kung Fu or Tai Chi forms can now be seen in this light of Chi practice. What you are really doing when you practice form is clearing your mind of everything but the focus on your practice, settling your emotions so your mind can concentrate, and learning to control your body through the movements. For many people, the forms of Kung Fu and Tai Chi develop into a sort of moving meditation. Just doing forms in the middle of a stressful day can bring one the calmness and control that are the aims of Chi practice. One of the most important themes in Chi practice, though, is to develop ways of breathing. Breathing practice is the foundation for, and a part of, most Chi practices. There are many books and articles that describe the breathing techniques for you. Here it is important just to understand that deep, controlled, concentrated breathing that follows certain patterns is one way to control your body, mind, and emotions, and to facilitate Chi flow in your body. Chi breathing practice can become an avenue to access and control many body process, such as local body temperature, pain, and strength. The deepest practitioners claim to allow their spirits to leave their bodies. In Chi philosophy the simple breathing exercises are the door to profound control of body, mind, and emotion. One important point to make regarding Chi practice, though, is that it is not simple or easy. Any benefits from Chi practice come only from daily, dedicated exercises and routines. One cannot "read about" Chi and expect to gain the benefits. Now you can begin to understand why so many references to Chi refer to the process as "practice". This means that you go through the exercises every day, diligently and patiently, without fail. Only with years of committed practice will the benefits of Chi control become apparent.

The Effects of Chi Practice What, specifically, are some of the claims for the benefits of Chi practice? The list is long and comprehensive, but generally Chi advocates claim stress reduction and health. Beyond these general assertions, many sources claim that Chi practice can cure disease states or alleviate pain. The whole field of acupuncture, a topic to itself, is based on Chi. Acupuncture needles placed in the correct positions are supposed to improve Chi flow and thereby correct the problem. Acupuncture points are based on the presumed relationship between n Chi channels and various organ systems (Ding, 1991). The claims for "healing at a distance" or healing by "laying on of hands" are also attributed to the control of Chi flow. Chi adherents believe that the flow of Chi is not limited to inside the body, but can be sensed and controlled outside the body. You can readily find simple exercises in Chi manuals and books that are supposed to allow you to feel this external Chi. For example, if you form your hands around an imaginary ball and gently push your hands together in your mind, many people report feeling a resistance to the push, as if there were a magnetic field between your hands. This is supposed to be Chi. The proponents of Chi practice make other claims as well. Focussed Chi exercises are supposed to promote health and mental well being, to maximize life span, and to improve physical strength, balance, and flexibility. In the extreme, the control of Chi can allow your spirit to leave your body. This level of control is said to require years of Chi practice in a remote setting, away from daily distractions. To return to martial arts, you can see that the element of Chi makes traditional martial arts practice quite different from just practicing moves and exercising. The embrace of Chi philosophy and practice into your training is what allows a true martial artist to move beyond his or her basic abilities and into the realm of extraordinary accomplishments. More importantly, from this perspective martial arts training becomes a means to harness, nurture, grow, and control Chi, along with all of the mental and spiritual development that Chi practice entails. Martial arts training becomes Chi practice, rather than and end in itself. Chi and Western Science Many people from a western background embrace the idea of Chi readily-- even if few actually achieve a level of practice needed to see the more dramatic effects. Some find, though, that the notions of Chi are hard to accept from a western scientific point of view. Writings by Chinese scholars seem to attribute nearly everything in the universe to Chi, and claim near miraculous effects of Chi practice. The panacea of Chi can be seen in the following quote from a website (http://www.education.mcgill.ca/431-506b/hu/lotus11.html, ) extolling the virtues of Chi practice.

Phases of Qigong Understanding

Phase 1: Qigong's Effects (at the personal level)

Phase 2: Qigong's Phenomena (much broader personal, medical and social effects)

Such an all-pervasive concept may seem to lack explanatory power in specific and explicit situations. This all-encompassing aspect of Chi philosophy is quite different from the more specific and detailed explanations of nature put forth by western scientists. In western science the heart of explanation lies in a detailed description. For example, if you have pain in your knees a Chi practitioner will refer to books and charts that describe how Chi flow influences the knee. A western doctor will rely on detailed studies and descriptions that provide an explanation of how the knee works -- its chemistry, physiology, structure, and function. A scientist will do explicit studies of the knee and a wester doctor will use the results of these studies to develop and use will objective tests to determine precisely what is wrong with your knee. For many people the concrete and demonstrable aspects of western science and medicine have a more believable ring than the more abstract Chi philosophy. Given this contrast, is there any way to approach the ideas of Chi from a western perspective? Well, yes. To do so, it is first important to understand what western science is. You probably think of science as books full of facts, like your high school or college textbooks. This is NOT what science is, though. Science is an approach to understanding the world. It is an approach that insists on looking objectively at the world to discover what the world is like (Moore, 1999). This is not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes it is easy to be fooled by our own experiences. Just because you have an interesting experience does not mean that your conclusions about that experience reflect what the world is really like. An example might help make this clear. Imagine that you wake up in the middle of the night after an intense dream about your Aunt Betty. You cannot shake the feeling that something is wrong. Then, the phone rings and you learn Aunt Betty has died in a car crash. What would you make of the situation? Some people would assume that Aunt Betty had communicated her crash experience via telepathy or some other extraordinary means. Does the fact that you believe this to be true mean that it IS true? No. This is the heart of science. A scientific approach forces you to go out and look for evidence to support or negate your beliefs. If you find that the evidence does not support your beliefs, you must abandon them, no matter how strong your personal experience. In this example a scientist might investigate the close relatives of all the traumatic deaths in he can find and ask them if they had any disturbing dreams around the time of the relative's death. The search for the truth would not stop there, however. He would also look at the rate of disturbing dreams in a similar group who had no death in the immediate family. This would be a strong test of whether traumatic death could be communicated to loved ones via dreams. The "facts" that you read in textbooks were arrived at by many, many careful studies of this kind, to determine what the world is like. The scientific headlines you read in the newspaper or the Internet are the result of new studies that have yet to be verified by further work. One very important thing to understand is that there are many topics for which there is NO scientific evidence, because the topic has not been fully investigated. That does not mean in cannot be investigated in the future, but it means that for many areas one has to withhold scientific judgement, or make the best conclusion possible given the available evidence. The state of scientific evidence regarding Chi is in this category. First let us consider the nature of Chi itself from a western scientific perspective. Chinese philosophy assumes that Chi is a form of vital energy that flows throughout the body. Notions of "vital energy" were common in early human civilizations (Moore, 1999). "Vital energy" is a postulated form of energy that is unique to living things. It is supposed to give living things their unique character, compared with non-living things. This idea is, unfortunately, quite at odds with modern scientific views of energy and life. One of the most important lessons from modern biology is that living things are NOT fundamentally different from other things in the universe. Living things use the same types of matter and energy, and follow the physical and chemical rules, as any other object. Living things are essentially electro-chemical entities. Basic chemical processes interact in living organisms to produce all that we know of as life-- from basic metabolism to complex thought. Living processes involve primarily two forms of energy: chemical energy --found in the bonds, between atoms, that hold the matter in the universe together-- and electrical energy-- used primarily by the nervous and muscular systems to process information and produce movement. The chemical and electrical energy inside an organism can be measured in a variety of ways. For example, the electrical energy signals used by the brain to carry out its functions can be measured with electrodes attached to the skull. The signals cannot readily be measured if the electrodes are even a small distance away from the skull. These measurements not only document and describe brain energy, they demonstrate that the energy of the brain is not powerful enough to extend much beyond the body surface. While there are occasional reports of other kinds of energy, such as the energy of Kurlian photography, systematic studies have failed to reveal any other kinds of energy operating in a living organism. So, the idea that there is a special "vital energy" such as Chi in living things does not seem consistent with scientific findings. While it might be discovered in the future, at this time there is no evidence for a vital energy that is unique to living things.

Many modern Chi writers accept this conclusion, and identify Chi with the electrical energy used in the nervous system (Ying, ) and to a lesser extent by all cells in a living organism, and there may be some reality to this claim. While the Chi channels and reservoirs do not seem to correspond directly to nerve fiber pathways, the whole field of acupuncture lends some support to this interpretation of Chi as related to neural activity (Shen, 2001; Beilla, et al., 2001). Remember that acupuncture involves inserting fine needles into specified points in the body to treat any number of medical conditions. The acupuncture points-- elaborated and discovered over the history of Chinese medicine- are supposed to be related to the flow of Chi in the body's meridians or channels. Scientific studies suggest that acupuncture can work for a variety of health conditions (NIH Concensus Paper, 1997). For example, acupuncture can help alleviate certain kinds of pain that are difficult to treat with traditional western drug treatments. Furthermore, there is reasonable evidence that acupuncture works by stimulating nerve pathways. And western scientists, somewhat independent of any knowledge of acupuncture, have developed a theory of pain and treatment methods that involve electrical stimulation of nerve pathways. All this evidence suggests that Chi practice-- especially as it relates to acupuncture points-- may be acting via nerve pathways in the body. Effects of Chi practice other than those related to acupuncture have been the focus of few concrete studies in the western scientific literature. There have been some studies of various forms of meditation, and a few studies involving tai chi, but the literature on chi in general is scant. There are studies in Asian sources, such as the Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and some of these sources are available online, but they are difficult to interpret in a western scientific context. Even those studies that can be found cited in western medical data bases are in alternative medical journals, not mainstream sources. But we can make a start toward approaching the claims for chi pratice from a scientific perspective. First, regardless of the reality of Chi theory you can ask, scientifically, whether the proclaimed effects of Chi practice are real. Chi proponents claim improved health, flexibility, increased energy, and psychological well being. Is there any evidence that these claims are true? So far the answer is: maybe. There is evidence from these few studies that Qigong and other Chi practices can affect body systems and promote psychological health (Sancier, 1999; Wu et al., 1999, Mayer, 1999). These studies report effects of Chi practice on pain perception, hypertension, and longevity. One particular researcher and his colleagues, C.X. Wang, has published extensively on Chi practice in the Asian literature. He provides numerous reports on the benefits of Chi practice, even to the biochemical effects of practice (Kuang, et al., 1987; Wang and Xu, 1993). While his work is cited in western data bases, such as Medline, neither his original reports or summaries are readily available. . On the other hand there are reports of disappointments from Chi practice. Not everyone benefits in the expected way. Even more interesting, a few reports indicate mental illness or other "mental deviations" resulting from Chi practice. It may be that differences in the way that Chi practice is carried out can account for these ambiguous outcomes. Clearly much more research will be needed to objectively evaluate Chi practice. There is enough positive evidence, however, for you to incorporate Chi practice into your martial arts training and personal development, and determine for yourself if it is beneficial for you.

Assuming that there are positive effects of Chi practice, there are scientific ways of thinking about the effects of Chi practice that make sense. We will explore some of these here by discussing three specific avenues that are likely to mediate the benefits of regular Chi practice: stress reduction via muscle relaxation, increased blood flow, and increased mental clarity and focus achieved through effects on the nervous system. One significant effect of Chi practice is undoubtedly muscle relaxation, which in turn reduces stress. This may sound like a trivial mode of action, but stress reduction can have a profound impact on overall health. While difficult to define in common language, stressful situations produce a distinct constellation of muscle tension, physiological activation, and hormonal responses that can be identified by objective measurements. For example, a person in stress has elevated blood pressure, respiration, & heart rate, increased overall muscle tension, changes in electrical skin resistance, and increased levels of adrenal hormones. Stress can also be measure by certain reliable questionnaires that have been developed and documented for specifically for this purpose. Stress reactions are useful in the short term to help an organism deal with an immediate stress, but if they are maintained for days or months these same adaptive responses to stress can cause tissue damage and disease. For example, research suggests that short-term stress can actually enhance the immune response to a potential disease agent, while long-term stress can reduce the immune response and thus increase the chances of disease. Long term stress is associated with other aspects of ill health, such as high blood pressure and psychological depression.

Any one of a variety of relaxation techniques can reduce the symptoms and measurements of stress. The practice of regular relaxation techniques can lower a person's general stress level and lower the stress reaction to any particular situation. Outside of a laboratory setting relaxation generally is recognized by the absence of extreme muscle tension. Because muscle tension is controlled by neural activity, neural relaxation is necessary for muscle relaxation. So, any effective technique will relax both the mind and the muscles. There are many approaches to relaxation. Relaxation methods and techniques have been a part of modern psychological and medical practice for only a few decades, but it is reasonable to assert that Chi exercises -- developed over thousands of years-- achieve relaxation to a greater extent than other methods because the Chi exercises are more comprehensive. For example, some research suggests that muscle relaxation alone produces a somewhat different state of relaxation than breathing alone. A complete Chi system such as QiGong or Tai Chi, when practiced fully, employs a variety of mechanisms to achieve relaxation and thus is likely to more effective than any one approach alone. Thus it is highly likely that regular Chi practitioners have reduced overall stress levels and thus increased overall health. Another avenue for Chi effects, which is related to relaxation, is increased blood flow. While the Chi channels are not directly identified with blood vessels various forms of Chi practice probably increase blood flow to specific regions of the body. Both western and traditional Chinese medicine see blood flow as important for health maintenance and treatment of disease. From a western perspective, increased blood flow has a variety of important effects. Blood flow increases the temperature to affected organs or tissues, which can speed up the chemical healing processes that result from exercise or injury. Blood flow brings oxygen and nutrients to tissues, and carries away waste products. In western medical practice many treatments have the effect of increasing blood flow. Ice, heat, and massage treatments of sports injuries increase blood flow to the injured area. Acupuncture is known to increase blood flow in the needle point areas. Body movements and relaxation, both of which are key components of Chi practice, will increase blood flow throughout the body, probably by reducing blood vessel constriction. Thus, increased blood flow is probably one of the important short-term effects of Chi practice. For example, it is likely that relaxation and blood flow can account for the reported beneficial effects of Chi on the muscle soreness that can result from an intense bout of physical exercise.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspects of Chi practice, when it is done with diligence an concentration, are mental effects. In modern terminology "mental" translates into "neural". We noted above that in order to relax the muscles it is necessary to relax the nerves that control the muscles. This, in turn, must be the result of relaxation of the thoughts in your mind. A calm, relaxed, relatively empty mind will cause the nerves and muscles in your body to relax. Western techniques for relaxation include such things as mental imagery of a relaxing scene. Chi meditation usually involves control of breathing using repetitive thoughts such as counting, which also will lead to a calm and relatively empty mind. The mental aspects of Chi practice go beyond relaxation, however, The ultimate goal of Chi practice is an empty mind that is alert and can be brought to bear, with clarity and focus, on any physical or mental aspect. Highly practiced Chi proponents may claim they can control the temperature in body parts, or reduce pain levels. This is not completely without foundation, as it is clear that the brain has connections to, and controls, all aspects body function. Even though you are not consciously aware of it, your brain controls your breathing, heart rate, pain reactions, body temperature, digestion, immune response, stress response, and all else. Most people cannot "will" these body aspects to change, but it is without a doubt possible to do so with practice. The field of biofeedback for example, uses explicit feedback from body measurements to help people control body systems. It is not unreasonable that Chi practice does the same thing. Chi meditation, whether it be sitting or standing, or in the course of exercises, clears the mind so it can focus on body systems that it is not usually attuned to. The first step is control of breathing. More sophisticated exercises can, with a great deal of practice, extend control to other body systems. Even the adept Chi practitioners, however, do not take such exercises lightly. Some claim that the highest levels of Chi practice can only be achieved by removing yourself from regular society, living as a hermit or monk and devoting all of your mental energy to the pursuit of Chi practice. Clearly this is not a path that most of us will follow, but some benefit on mental focus probably comes at any level of Chi practice. Even beginning levels of Chi practice can bring a mental focus and discipline to the things you want to master, such as your martial arts training. Chi practice encourages you to clear your mind of all distractions-- including the distraction of your long-term goals-- and to focus on your immediate training. Again, such an approach does not come readily, but it can make the difference between simply practicing martial arts and progressing towards mastery of yourself and your art.

Click here to learn more about developing Qi.