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Writer's pictureRonin Combatives (Brad)

What is all this CHI nonsense? A non-bias viewpoint.

There has been a lot of discussion on Qi (pronounced CHEE). Mostly negative. Mostly about the people who think their Qi can save them from a physical assault. Some of these “no touch” martial art practitioners believe that they can project a force field around them to repel an attacker. Some show feats of near telekinetic ability, waving their hand and dropping an opponent from across the room. Is any of that “real”? I’ll tell you what I don’t believe. I don’t believe that an middle aged, over-weight, American who has an issue with impulse control would have the mental strength to fully control their own physical body, let alone someone else’s, and from a distance no less. Please note, other than the videos from China where you see people jumping around from a slight touch, the middle aged, over-weight, American seems to be the demographic of these claims.



Why is that? Maybe it is a cry to show they still have “power”. A need to show that they still have something relevant to teach, since they cannot effectively teach the physical side anymore. Please note, I am, at the time of writing this article, 47 years old. There are certain things that I cannot do well. My knees are a little rough from years of training. I can jump just fine, but landing is sometimes an issue. My students will tell you that I do talk about it. I will flat out tell them, and now everyone who reads this, that I have weaknesses. To not acknowledge your weaknesses gives them power over you. As long as you know you have a shortcoming, and you can understand it, you can find a work around. Everyone has something that they can’t do well. That doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to defend yourself. Maybe these “no touch masters” just aren’t in touch with themselves like this. Maybe this is a form of the 50-year-old man still reliving the winning touchdown pass from the high school game, having not accomplished anything since.


But why does it seem to work? Is it acting? Some is, but there is another explanation. In Japanese martial arts there is a concept of the relationship between the Tori (the person doing the technique) and the Uke (Ooo-Kay; the person receiving the technique). When you are training martial arts, you can’t cause damage for real. You want to be able to practice a technique over and over. If you completed a technique to its full extent every time, you would need a new partner, a new Uke, every time you did it. There is an understanding that the Uke will, to an extent, go with the technique to allow for the Tori to learn the movement. Sometimes this can go to far and the Uke will start moving with the technique even before the Tori has committed to it. If a practitioner has this happen a few times, they may start to think that they are doing this with their mind. You can see this in the videos of the no touch practitioners and the difference it makes when they are working within their own school and when they try to do it with someone from outside their school. You can see in their eyes when they get hit that they are truly dumbfounded when it doesn’t work. They actually believed that they were able to drop an attacker without touching them.


Leaving out the possibility of a form of hypnosis, there is another explanation, a form of desired inclusion. Teachers will often start out by explaining that some people may not be able to feel Qi, and therefore, the pull or push from across the room may not affect them. The student tries and isn’t moved. “Their Qi just isn’t strong enough for the master to link with”. The student then sees other, more advanced students being pulled and pushed and sometimes, knocked out by the instructor’s energy. The student wants to fit in and show that they are learning. So, it starts as an act. They throw themselves to the ground when the instructor does it to them, but after a while it becomes involuntary. The technique really works, on the students who have indoctrinated themselves into the school.


Does this mean that none of it is real?

Let me tell you a story first and then I’ll leave that up to you.

I had been training for about 7 years when I met my best friend. To illustrate my level of training at this time I’ll explain how we met. It was grade 10. We were in track and field, both training for long jump. I was stretching on the ground and another student, who was just being a dick, was doing hurdler walking stretches towards me. Not thinking that he would actually do anything I didn’t move. He of course was wearing running spikes. When he got to me his foot met with, and raked down my shin, causing multiple gashes from the spikes. Apparently, I didn’t wince in pain, I just got upset. I barked some obscenities at him, he flipped me off and walked away. I kept on stretching and this tall Chinese guy comes up to me and asks if I was OK. I said yeah, and in an annoyed tone and mentioned what a dick that guy was. My future brother agreed and immediately asked, “What do you train?”. We have been brothers ever since, even to this day (31 years later at the time this was written).


A few years after that event, years spent sparring and training together, he invited me to meet his master. Now I should point out that my friend trained Tai Ji, and despite that, he was the best fighter I had ever met. I still had my preconceived notions about Tai Ji, you know, the old people in the park kind of idea. I just thought that he was a naturally good fighter and that was unrelated to the fact that he trained Tai Ji. One Saturday morning we went to his master’s clinic. His master was also a traditional Chinese medical doctor (TCMD) and herbalist. I watched the end of class and thought it was cool but I didn’t see how it could beat hard style, which I trained, and trained to the point of being able to have staves broken across my back. I was young and a little dumb. Class ended and my friend introduced me to his master and asked if he would show me something? He agreed. He was a small framed Asian man who at the time was in his 40’s or 50’s. He looked frail to my way of thinking. He asked me to punch him in the stomach as hard as I could. I looked to my friend and he just nodded. I got into a stance and got ready to punch. Agreeing to the terms I fired a hard punch. I felt his hand touch the top of my fist as it was reaching the end of my striking distance. Then, what I’m sure was only two fingers touch the front of my fist, I was launched backwards. I had strong stances as I had been training for years, but I couldn’t get my feet back under me fast enough to stop my backwards fall, but I didn’t fall fast enough to make me hit the ground either. Unbeknownst to me, my friend knew what was going to happen and had backed up to catch me.


The second demonstration was that of speed. Again, I thought, “It’s Tai Ji, how fast could he be?”. We crossed wrists like you see in kung fu movies. He told me that he was going to tap me with his fingertip and all I had to do was block him. I agreed. He asked if I was ready, I said yes and instantly there was a blur of hands. I felt light taps on my neck, by my eyes, and at points on my shoulders. My hands flailed trying to block even one. At one point I made contact with his forearm, but in all honesty, I think he allowed me to do that so I wouldn’t feel completely devastated because as soon as I felt his forearm in my hand it was gone and I was getting tapped again. I was 19 or 20 at the time. I had been training for years, sparring and fighting as well. This experience has stayed with me ever since. I started learning Tai Ji from that moment on, as an addition to my other training.


Did I get thrown by Qi? Was it physics? The right amount of force at exactly the right time? Maybe. Even I am not really sure. But I’ll tell you this. It was bloody magical to me!



Qi is defined as the life force that runs around and through all things, living or inanimate, but even that is too simple a definition. Qi can be translated to many different ways to truly understand. The word is considered a polysemous word, this means that it has multiple meanings.


“n. ① air; gas ② smell ③ spirit; vigor; morale ④ vital/material energy (in Chinese metaphysics) ⑤ tone; atmosphere; attitude ⑥ anger ⑦ breath; respiration” (taken from Wikipedia)


For the purpose of this article we will stick with the common concept that it is an energy that runs through our bodies. The ancient Chinese believed it permeated everything and linked their surroundings together. Qi was also linked to the flow of energy around and through the body, forming a cohesive functioning unit. By understanding the rhythm and flow of Qi, they believed they could guide exercises and treatments to provide stability and longevity (again from Wikipedia).

Chinese medicine, Reiki, Yoga, Tai Ji (not Qi) and any meditation are all based on the movement of Qi and trying to find balance within the physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual aspects of our lives. Obviously not every culture calls this energy Qi. In other languages it is Ki, Gi, or Prana are all different names for the same thing. In the west, we have just recently, and by recently, I mean in the last 40 years, started to gain our own understanding of Qi, but we have started calling it Bio-electric energy.

So, if we were to explain Qi in a western way, we could say this…


Bio-electricity refers to electrical potentials and currents occurring within or produced by living organisms. It results from the conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy. Bio-electric potentials are generated by a number of different biological processes, and are used by cells to govern metabolism, to conduct impulses along nerve fibers, and to regulate muscular contraction. In most organisms’ bio-electric potentials vary in strength from one to several hundred millivolts. The most important difference between bio-electric currents in living organisms and the type of electric current used to produce light, heat, or power is that a bio-electrical current is a flow of ions (atoms or molecules carrying an electric charge), while standard electricity is a movement of electrons (from Encyclopedia.com).


My master taught me that Qi is useless if your mind is not strong enough. He constantly said this phrase, “Yi Dao, Qi Dao”. That means “Where the mind goes, the Qi follows”. Now I have trained Qi Gong, Tai Ji, meditation, and martial arts for a good part of my life. I have never been able to knock someone down with my mind; however, I have gained some other neat tricks. My understanding of this training has given me a greater understanding of my own body and where my mind sits within it. I’m sure that sounds a little weird for some people. Your mind is in your head, right? Not really. Your brain is in your head. Your mind is a little more abstract than that. If you have trained any martial art, they tell you to sink, be low, stable. Does that mean just to bend your knees and lower your center of gravity? Sink what? Have you ever tried to pick someone up who didn’t want to be picked up versus someone who was allowing you to pick them up? It’s a very different experience. Again, what changes? The mind and where it is. Being heavy or light is a choice, to an extent. I’m not saying you can fly if you choose to. This is taking the concept to far, just like the no touch people, but you can use the feeling of Qi to know where you are, and this can help you during a fight. This can give you a stronger awareness of not only where you are but where your opponent is as well. This doesn’t mean you will be like Daredevil and have a sixth sense but if you can remain calm during a fight, at least calmer than your opponent, then you may be able to see things that your opponent is missing; tells, telegraphs, openings, etc.


This is more of a state of mind than a “Qi ability” but it comes from training Qi. My overall awareness has increased many times since starting this training and the additional awareness has helped me in every aspect of my life. From my martial arts training, to my work life, to my friendships and generally dealing with others. I am more aware of other people and our interactions. That can be a conversation, or it can be a physical fight, or anything in between. This training allows you to integrate your mind with your body. Only then, when the two are acting truly as one, can you really find your spirit, your flow.



Don't let the people who use this training as a magic trick deter you from the benefits of this truly holistic training. Don’t think that everyone who trains in this way thinks that they can do magic. The benefits of learning to be more attuned to your body are endless. Don’t ignore an aspect of training because some people take it way to far. In my opinion, they, the no-touch practitioners, have missed the point. They are missing the true benefits of this training. They have become lost on a tangent, distracted by the shiny object. At the end of the day, the strength of your mind, your “Yi”, is more important than all the Qi in the world. Train your mind to be strong and you’ll be amazed at what you can do.


Brad Dotten

Ronin Combatives

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