I met a beautiful Israeli woman that had been raped. She took up knife fighting and packing heat. She was quite a good shot. I would say that she was healing through martial arts and guns. At least that is what she told me and it made sense to me.
I saw an experiment on a TV program here from the BBC called Horizon. They were asking the very question who are we and what is the mind. What is it that gives us our sense of self? The experiments involved causing people to gradually pass out. And basically they showed that we really are nothing more than what can be touched, smelled and tasted. If the brain shuts down a person ceases to be. Another Horizon episode I saw recently was about a new medical technique that uses deep hypothermia to preserve the brain as surgeons shut down the whole human body to perform surgery that would otherwise be impossible. Essentially the patient is dead on the operating table while the surgery is carried out. These patients can be "dead" for well over an hour. And when the surgeon is finished he simply brings the patient back to life by restoring the blood flow, restarting the heart and warming the brain. It's like pushing the power button on a PC. All the evidence says we nothing more than what physically exists.
Right, and even back as early as 400 b.c., perhaps even earlier, concepts of ki also included that when an individual is dead, their is no more ki, and that ki does not exist in things that are dead.
Here is another way to think of ki, one that I realized and have been contemplating for about the last 6 months or so. If any of you have pets, or have been around pets / animals, then this might make a little bit of sense. It involves an exchange of ki, though not in a combat / martial arts purpose, can still be applied. The interactions between humans and pets vary according to the animal we are dealing with. For instance, a large dog requires a different kind of interaction than a small dog, and different from a cat or macaw (parrot), and that interaction is recipricol. There is feedback going both ways...action / reaction / interaction. A large dog for instance that remains close to us, often pushing up against us requires an interaction that will not allow us to fall down, and at the same time be involved with the animal on a friendly basis. The animal may run to chase a ball, or jump around in circles, but it will come back to us and push up against us. Similarly a smaller dog that likes to be close to us, or jump up on our shins requires our response and interaction to be different. We have to be careful in our movements to not accidentally step on the dogs legs as we move through our home or the yard while interacting with the animals. And then with horses, it is a completely different type of interaction. In some ways you can say that this type of ki is a communication, and is reciprocal. We take the feedback from the animal or pet, and the pet takes the feedback from us. There is a definite exchange taking place, and it is not just a one way implimentation of our interaction (although it can be an almost one way implementation, especially in situations of overwhelming anger towards the animal, or situations of necessity, such as we need to get an animal to the veterinarian, and the animal is not willing to accompany us freely). There is no real goal or objective in these situations (unless we are expressing our anger, or the necessity to transport the animal, etc.), and I think that holds true for martial situations and aikido as well, it is just if we train ourselves to recognize and interpret the interactions accordingly, our actions will lead us into a favourable position in which our ki exchanges and flows naturally and spontainiously.
What does any of that have to do with ki? You're talking about subconscious perceptions, innate clues, and the habit of domesticated animals to be capable (through experience and learning) of picking up the moods of humans. No ki involved.
It has been shown that domesticated animals have an ability to read human emotion in exactly the same way that humans do. This has been most closely observed in dogs. Importantly this ability is absent in non-domesticated versions of these animals. So in the case of dogs, wild wolves lack this ability. So yes there is communication going on. And it could be interpreted as Ki. The goal or objective for an animal like a dog leaning up against you is to win some affection or show some affection. What is important to understand with this take on Ki is there is nothing mystical happening. It is all observable and testable.
People can define ki as all sorts of things. Few of them have practical value in fighting. I'm a bit lost when I see people trying to relate the term to emotional interaction or whatever, because this tends to go in a more philosophical direction, and really doesn't help me understand better how to hit/throw/lock someone. Koyo's "fighting spirit" definition is always a favorite. Another thing that can be helpful to remember when thinking of "sensing energy," "projecting energy," and the like, it all comes down to angles. We work a drill in class where the partners sit in seiza, uke grabs nage's wrists, and nage has to throw uke. Is someone going to attack you by sitting down and grabbing both of your wrists? Probably not. But what this does is teach nage to develop a sensitivity of feeling what angles he can use. Where there is strength and resistance, where there is not enough support, etc. The principle is exactly the same when we work "in the bubble," as coach calls it; basically within hugging range, where most people will feel you're taking up their personal space. Coach was showing how to trap their hands when you get in close, by placing your hands over their fists, and controlling their movement. In the same way as with the previous throw drill I mentioned, one has to feel the movement of the hands to control them, and know how to move them aside to provide space to hit, redirect them if uke tries to hit, etc. Another nice example is Irimi Tsuki. If you don't take uke's body out of alignment properly, he can mess up the throw by twisting/turning. You could say he is redirecting your energy, or that the energy isn't going where its supposed to... but essentially, by changing the angle, he makes it so the force doesn't move him like its supposed to. When you take his spine/body out of alignment and don't allow him to move like this, all that force (energy/ki/whatever you want to call it ) moves his head back and down, which takes his body with it. That turned into a bit of rambling, but what I was trying to say, is that it comes down to sensing angles and knowing where to apply force.
I posted a few pages back about whether anyone had read the various threads on Aikiweb around Ki. The fight over does it exist or not was won by 1- Attempting to agree on a definition. That's the hardest part, to prevent getting sidetracked or talking at cross purposes. The phrase Internal Strength fitted the bill but in the end it has to be felt (IHTBF). I think of it as a solidity that can be felt regardless of posture. 2- Those who actually wanted to know more going out and meeting those who have developed an "aiki" connected body and training with them. Those originally in the Ki doesn't exist camp who went out and met Mike Sigman, Dan Harden, Akuzawa (Aunkai) although there may well be more, came back agreeing it definately does exist...but to agree to that you'd have to agree on point one above. As far as open posting showed, all came back with their eyes opened to a different way of moving the body that generates a lot of power. Easy to acheive? No. Mystical? No. Lots of hard work and solo practice? Yes For the record I went to one of Mike's seminars last year and can vouch there's no BS, just quality explanations and hands on basic "foot in the door" exercises not at all waza based. He can generate a lot of power without visible wind up which is what impressed me. He's in Edinburgh next year, for anyone interested. I should point out I don't train Ki Aikido, in fact as my instructor is from the Chiba UK days with Koyo, the general posts from Koyo on Aikido sound extremely familiar. But I sometimes think discussions on Ki in Aikido get shot down pretty quickly into a mess due to the history of BS associated with it. Why were Shioda, Saito, Tohei let alone Ueshiba (Sagawa for the DRAJJ aspect anyone) so solid, powerfull, balanced? Modern day Aikidoka should be just as capable (or at least there should still be a few who have the natural ability and 24/7 dedication) but we never really hear of anyone new of that level? Elis Amdur's HIPS goes a long way to explain this (as someone has already mentioned).
Well that could be called confidence. Determination? Tenacity? Fighting spirit? The emotional connection (at least for me anyway) is simply about emotional awareness. And emotional awareness is important in real situations. Particularly where a physical confrontation can be avoided or is simply undesirable. It might not be martial arts. But it's an important thing to understand. Even if you're not aware you understand it. If that makes sense.
No, I disagree, its a physical body skill, although one that uses intent, hence sayings around mind leads the ki. Fighting spirit is not what I consider ki (so that goes back to my first point), based on the way it was explained to me on that seminar. Don't get me wrong, fighting spirit, tenacity etc are all valuable (it could be argued the most valuable) attributes in any MA but are red herrings around the ki discussion IMHO.
It makes good sense, and I quite agree. I just think using "ki" to describe such is a bit... nonspecific? If I want to talk about emotional awareness, why not use the term "emotional awareness," instead of something that can be interpreted and misinterpreted in so many different ways? I dunno, I guess maybe I'm a bit biased... I don't really like the term at all, because it can mean so many different things, and its much easier and precise to use English (or whatever language you're teaching in) terminology for the concept you're trying to get across. EDIT: Even this thread is a perfect example. Trying to define what "ki" is, is a headache. ^^ I'd much rather spend my time trying to get better at the art, and using clear communication, than trying to figure out what is meant by a term that so many have mutated and put their own spin on (no offense to anyone here, I'm referring to the MA community as a whole).
It sounds like the real problem is the language barrier. You have to remember the context the word is used in. It's the context that gives the word it's meaning.
-- Humans are just as domesticated, and those subconscious perceptions, and innate clues, that all goes into what I was saying about training ourselves to recognize and interpret the interactions accordingly, but first we must develop a sensitivity to it, and be open to that sensitivity, and what we interpret from it. I think my pet description is quite an easy base line to understand, and one in which we as humans open ourselves to the interaction. Nothing mystical about it, and it is not based on an exertion of our will over another. In the martial sense I think that if we think of ki as a oneway implementation of our will over another through the use of angles, off balancing or domination, then it is not reciprocal, there is no feedback no action / reaction / interaction, no awareness or openness to the kind of exchange I describe on a basic level. I would equate that more along the lines of force, physics, and mechanics.
Then why try to label it ki when we have perfectly good, and much more precise, words to describe it already? Biomechanics - why use the word ki? It's completely unnecessary and misleading in this context.
Honestly, I think the main benefit is in the LACK of precision. Some people find the complexities of awareness, biomechanics, emotional intensity and their interactions hard to get their head around, and find it easier to have a simple concept to keep in their mind. That's not how I like to roll, but at least it is better than having no idea at all, right? (This is of course assuming that they are using ki as a metaphor, and not as mystical energy phooey.)
Nope. Better to have no idea at all, and be aware of it, than have the wrong idea. Having only a simple approximation where detailed knowledge is needed can cause serious problems. There's also the issue that if they have a simple concept which they keep in mind, they won't make an attempt to learn what's actually going on. Better, surely, to just use the right words.
-- Well, a couple of reasons, one is the subject of this thread is ki in aikido. Also, we study and practice aikido, not aibiomechanicsdo. Biomechanics are internal and external forces that can be measured (like blood preasure, respiration rates, galvanic skin response), and I tend to agree with phantompower above, that ki is something that can be felt (hence in what I believe a very simple and easy to understand occourance in my description of our interactions with pets). There is nothing mystical about it, except as Dizzyj mentions it is not the easiest thing to wrap our heads around.
So what would the right words in Japan be? http://www.ki-society.com/english/renew/book.html Edit: This is a better link. http://www.shinichitohei.com/english/2005/07/index.html
I think it comes down to the individual phasing used, and the application of it. I can imagine ways of phrasing that would be a useful approximation, and ones that as you say would be worse than none at all. This I think is a very good argument. Can't really argue with that!
