Ki plays an important role in Dragonball , being the source
of their ability to sense power, and the power itself. It is
their means of flying and the substance of thier blasts. Ki is
perhaps the foundation of all of Dragonball in a sense. The
purpose of this article is to inform you on ki in real life, or
so believed. It is the result of searching the web and studying,
and of also of e-mail discussion. And so, I present you with....
The Philosophy of Ki
The first link I need to give is this.
It's meant to be said specifically to this sort of audience.
"Ki" is only it's japanese name. China
uses two other names for it, very similar to the japanese
version; chi and qi. The Jasukai
Dojo in Orem, Utah, offers a list of definitions for ki:
"Essential Essence, Vital Life Force, Spirit, Energy,
Elemental Life Force etc." From this you should be able to
draw a conclusion to the idea of ki. Many branches of martial
arts work with ki, however most will deny it's existance. A
popular use of ki seems to be to use it in healing, others will
use it as a sixth sense, some use it as attacks, and there are
even those who believe that it's flow in an environment (building,
garden, etc.) can effect those that are in that environment.
During this article, I will cover as many different areas as I
can. But first we must expand on the meaning of ki, to understand
it's use.
All implementations of ki that I have seen
involve the manipulation of it's flow. You do not seem to be able
to conserve ki, but rather work within an endless flow that
surrounds you and everything at all times. OHCO (Oriental Herb
Company) claims that you want your ki to be "strong,
free flowing". So for a Z warrior to create a blast strong
enough to destroy a planet, they have to create a flow of ki able
to do so, and possibly manipulating the flow of ki over the
entire planet. The Jasukai Dojo also tells us that everything is
made of ki, the entire universe. Also, that the key to
controlling it (or as they cleverly put it, "the 'key' to ki")
is in the mind. You need to believe in it and your ability to
learn how to control it, as well as bring your mind together with
your body.
For those in the West, you may find your best reference to ki
in New Age writings. The term "astral energy" is in
essence, ki. This would suggest that your aura is ki that flows
through and around you so much that it's in some way attatched to
you. If Bhudda's aura was 2 miles wide, it's a good thing he was
kind, he would probably be powerful enough to give a good DBZ
style blast. If you have ever felt an object belonging to someone
else and felt their presence on it, you're probably feeling their
ki; which also shows us that ki does flow and interact. When the
Dalai Llama is chosen, it's because he is believed to be the
reincarnation of Bhudda, and the tests involve the candidate
picking an object out of many to see if they pick the old Dalai
Llama's item. This is made possible because of how ki rubs off
and stays with an object.
To fully understand the nature of using your ki, you must also
understand the chakras, there are 7 in total. One good source for
this is here,
which will go into far more detail than I will. Basically the
chakras are spots along your aura where there is not only a
gateway, but also a concentration of ki. The listing of these
chakras is: the root chakra (by the genitals), the navel chakra,
the solar plexus chakra, the heart chakra, the throat chakra, the
third eye chakra, and the crown chakra. These are considered
important by Eastern thoughts for a long time, and certainly fit
into DBZ as well as we notice Gohan telling Videl to pull the ki
from her stomach. Most likely, this is the navel chakra, but the
point being that the ki is able to flow from this gateway.
Really, you should be able to pull ki from any chakra, however
certain people will have some stronger than others.
From here, I'd like to talk about some specific practices
involving ki.
Aikido
It is said that the translation is "the path of
harmonious energy." It's purpose is to redirect your
opponent's energy to use it against him* in conjunction with self
defense techniques. You do not need to be strong or big to
practice this, since the energy is found in your opponent. They
also teach how to read into their opponent to tell which moves to
use and when. The specific practice of Ki Aikido was developped
by Master Koichi Tohei which emphasizes using ki in these aikido
practices. It has been referred to as being very much like
dancing to some, and considered to have all the grace of the most
graceful dances. Essentially you have a four point system to
follow: 1)Keep one point; a point where the mind can focus,
sometimes placed a bit below the navel (navel chakra) 2) Relax
completely 3) Keep weight underside 4)Extend ki. The extend ki
part is what is most important to us here. You want to extend the
flow of ki from your one point outwards from whatever part of
your body you're using. By doing so you're able to overcome
simple brute mechanics of fighting.
For
more on Aikido
For
some "Cool Ki Tricks"
Kiatsu
Kiatsu is considered to be a part of Aikido, the part that
focuses on healing. It uses the act of applying pressure through
the thumb or your ring, middle and index fingers and sending
positive ki into the other person. You want to be relaxed and
gentle when you do it. You use the ki extension from Aikido,
having it relaxed but energetic all the way through your arm and
hand and your thumb or fingers. You want to use your tips of your
fingers, not the pads, to exert pressure onto the muscles,
softening them, without moving them. You do this in a line, 10-15
second presses, starting from below the wound, or above it, or
whatnot, past it. More information is here.
Reiki
Reiki is probably one of the most amazing of these arts,
because it's not really taught. It was originally developped in
the 1870's by a man known as Usui Sensei (I don't know why they
insist on adding sensei in like that as if it was an actual name,
rather than a title), develloped from some ancient Bhuddhist
texts. Some consider it a form of Qigong (aka. Chi Tung). The way
of learning Reiki is through attunement. At the first level, a
Reiki master will attune your crown chakra to those on your palms
(not part of the 7 chakra system, I will look into this further).
At this point the student will be able to administer healing by
using their presence to get ki to flow through a patient, somehow
being able to direct the energy without trying. They do not use
their own ki for this. The second attunement involves 3 symbols
being taught, which can be used: A Power symbol for increasing
the amount of ki, a Emotion symbol for emotional balancing, and a
Absent Healing symbol for when the healer can't be physically
present with the patient. The final attunement involves the
learning of the master symbol, which is drawn on your forhead and
hands and blown into the energy stream.
Preparing for attunements, there is a long list of things to
make sure of beforehand to maximize the effect of the attunement.
A cost was put in practice by a Mrs. Takata long ago because she
felt that people weren't appreciating the gift. $150 for a level
1 attunement, $500 for a level 2, and a whopping $10,000 for a
level 3. There was also a minimum time established between
attunements. This still carries on in the West today for the most
part. You should also be able to verify a real teacher, which the
links below have sections on.
Link 1
Link
2
Feng Shui
When you think of Feng Shui, think of interior or exterior
decorating. The point of Feng Shui is to alter the flow of ki
within a given area so as to create balance, and bring good
fortune. From this practice came Numerology, I Ching, and even
Astrology. Feng Shui practitioners are often used in the Pacific
Asian area to pick where buildings should be placed or how they
should be faced. When negative ki (though they prefer calling it
chi) is about, they try to fix it by altering the landscape. An
exorcism practice called Tung Fu is sometime used when people
occupy old buildings, where they remove old spirits and memories.
Some relate this to a "geobiological" lines that flow
around the Earth and decide where spiritual spots are located. It
can be hard to find free information on this because so many
secrets are guarded.
Link 1
Link
2
Tai Chi
In the west, Tai Chi is mainly expressed in it's yoga/meditation
version, however there lies much more behind it. The martial arts
form comes from the natural movements of different animals, and
the meditative form comes from the martial arts. The ki/chi/qi is
circulated by doing these moves slowly and gracefully, which is
supposed to help the health of the practitioner. As a combat art,
it was brought to Beijing by Yang Lu Chan for use in the Imperial
Court. No one could come close to beating him using his Tai Chi (Taijiquan)
style of fighting. This did begin as a combat art, not the pure
meditative form; however, that original form is close to being
lost.
One major part of Tai Chi's combat form is that it utilizes
soft blows, not the "hardened" attacks of other martial
arts. In fact, Yang Lu Chan, aforementioned, was once called
"cotton fist" to describe his attacks. Another goes by
nian jing, which means sticking. Only by doing that can you truly
feel and judge your opponent's energy and control it to your
advantage. Beyond that you don't resist an attack, that gives it
it's power. Instead you dodge it, then redirect it by blending
your energy with theirs to your advantage. A phrase which can
explain the proper stance goes by "Following His Posture,
Borrowing His Strength". Based on your opponent's posture,
you spontaneously develop one that makes his useless. Then of
course, you do the part above to redirect his energy to your
advantage.
In the meditative form and the combat form both, they use a
technique known as "push hands" which is often
choreographed by the meditative practitioners; a practice
strongly opposed by the combat practitioners. They say that this
exercise is supposed to teach you how to form the proper stance
for the situation, not teach specific movements which will
detract from the focus.
"Attract into Emptiness" involves creating a false
target for your enemy, then using it as a trap and overextending
his force. "Emitting Energy" is perhaps the key to this
fighting style as it refers to your actual attacks. Using the
energy sensing you used to dodge, use it to find the most
effective spot and attack it with the proper amount of energy to
counteract your opponent. They stress that you should not use
excessive energy as it is inherently unstable. "Long Energy"
is the practice of changing your opponent's center of gravity to
send them far away, while "Short Energy" is the
practice of attacking the center of mass directly, breaking bones
and rupturing organs; "Cold Energy" is a form of short
energy so fast that it causes the opponent to break into a cold
sweat out of fear. I won't go into any more detail, but it's
quite interesting.
For more in the meditative form, which will be short, it's
considered to also be a part of Chi Gong or Chi Kong which means
ki benefits. It is done solely for the use of the health
benefits, with no emphasis on the martial arts. It is quite
simply a watered down martial art.
Combat
Link
Meditative
Link 1
Meditative
Link 2
Feeling the Aura
In my personal experience, I found a description in a book on
how to feel the aura, which of course ends up being made up of ki.
So I'll go tell you of this practice and how to do this. First
you get comfortable, in some position you can handle and you
concentrate on the feeling in your hands. You slowly move your
hands together, preferably with your eyes closed, until you feel
a little bit of a repulsion or warmth. The description I got
stopped there, but if you pull back and try again, you'll feel it
a bit stronger, and if you keep doing it you'll feel it good.
From here you can feel around other parts of your aura or other
even aura on other objects. I've gotten to the point where I
don't need to start off with the hands together exercise, and
have felt chakras and even while trying this on my dog, about two
inches away, could feel his heartbeat strong for awhile. This
grows more important as we go on below.
Psi Balls
This is supposedly the result of starting with the exercise
above. You can start by feeling the energy around you then you
take energy that you either take in or already have and imagine
it forming into a ball. I've tried something like this by
imagining ki spreading into the middle of my hands, and they
started being pushed outwards. But by condensing the ki into that
ball and further and further condensing it you can create
something that you can see. Now, I have been told by a friend
that you can use these and throw them and they'll move things
like leaves, there are resources which say that they can also be
used for telekinesis, telepathy, changing temperature, and even
healing. So from this, I speculate that the very nature of DBZ
style ki stems from this sort of ki practice.
Condense the Psi ball enough and maybe you can get it to the
point that it can not only move leaves, but you can rip through
or harm matter, and you have yourself a basic kikou-ha. With
constant practicing, perhaps more than a human can live to
endure, you might be able to channel energy enough to form a real
ki blast such as the Kamehameha or Gyallic Gun. Use it for
healing and it might look similar to what dende does. Condense it
enough and you might make matterials appear out of thin air such
as what Piccolo and other god-like beings do.
Link
Telekinesis
This is based on what I had heard from another friend. Here,
instead of forming a psiball, you feel the aura/ki of another
object. From there you have to exchange some of your ki for some
of it's, and then from there you can lift the object and move it.
She didn't explain it very well to me, but draw your own
conclusions from this, even that since I haven't actually "physically"
seen this friend, it might be a hoax, but it does seem to make
sense. But anyways, it is noteworthy enough of being mentioned
here.
Here's some information on how to strengthen
your ki.
Here's
a quick list of some ki exercises
Ki Breathing
Ki breathing is said to be best done in the seiza (kneeling)
position, but can be done in any position. The goal is to do it
naturally for at least 20 minutes, but preferrably 30, though
others claim only 10-15 minutes are necessary. But do it only
while it's comfortable. Certainly it's a form of meditation, and
is supposed to be done best before bedtime or at moments of
stress. You should imagine your mind at your center, like in
Aikido, and that's your one point/navel chakra, just below your
navel. So, from there you relax and focus your ki away from your
body and center, why I suppose is to refresh your ki. Exhale for
30 seconds, with a natural flow, only slowed by throat muscles.
Imagine your ki moving with your breath. If you can't last that
long, then just slightly decrease it. Then lean slightly forwards
over your center to knock whatever is left out. After this, you
go back to the neutral position and pretend that you're still
exhaling, while focusing in on your center. Then inhale for the
same amount of time you exhaled for through your nose and when
you can inhale no more, bend slightly back to get a bit more then
move to the neutral position and do the same thing as before.
Repeat. I paraphrased this from this page
from the Ki Society.
Ki Meditation
Ki meditation is another way to go about trying to strengthen
your ki. The goal is the unification of the body and mind, which
is essential to using your ki. Supposedly, people use a small bit
of it every day, but by unifying body and mind you can use a
great deal more that is considered "natural". Closed
eyes are best, and it's advisable to use the Murdra in the
beginning, a certain hand position that helps focus the mind. I
don't have more information on this yet, but I assume it's the
basic prayer hand position. Tohei, the Ki Aikaido master, says
that it's important here to know that the one point isn't a place
but a feeling. Perhaps the importance of the navel chakra is
overdone. From what I gather, you contract your one point as
small as you can, slowly, until you can imagine no smaller, then
expand it as big as possible and repeat. I suppose it's aural
weightlifting in a sense. This works good in conjunction with ki
breathing, a suggested start being 10 minutes of ki meditation
followed by 10 minutes of ki breathing..... expanding as you go. A
great link here.
Final Notes
Well, closing this subject, I hope that this article might
have enlightened you in at least some way, or if not, made you
glad to hear that there's something that so many will read that
might enlighten them (talking to you ki masters out there).
Generally the nature of ki is widely debated, from being a myth,
to symbolic, to a simple force to utilize, to being spiritual, to
the full blown DBZ style attacks. Ki has found itself strongly
engrained into Asian culture and religion, though somewhat moved
out by the west. Anime is full of examples of ki, even outside of
Dragonball. And not only that, the west has shown the use of ki
through Star Wars. I had noticed this when I was watching episode
1, seeing the jedi push back their opponents as if using kiaiho.
However, I didn't write a whole big article
on it like the Ki Society did, who also were used extensively in
this research.
Just try to keep some of this in mind when you next watch DBZ
and see what more you might understand about it.
*I use 'him' instead of him/her only because it's the
technically correct way to say it. The language is sexist, not I.
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