A Skeptical Look at “Chi”
I was raised in a fairly, conservative, Christian world. By “world” I do not mean the entire world but rather the circles of influences that surrounded me. I was also blessed with the gift of two parents who loved me enough that they encouraged me to never take the words of anyone as absolute fact without doing any research myself. This even applied if the person speaking was standing behind a pulpit and a Bible. Especially if they were standing behind a pulpit and a Bible.
I was also born in the 80s, raised through the 90s. This meant that every faith-based thought presented to me was tainted by the aftermath of the “Satanic Panic” and would be for years to come. I will not go into the “Satanic Panic” of the 80s, mainly because that is not what this book is about, but also because greater researchers than myself have put more work hours into that topic and have done a better job than I ever could (in particular you should look into a podcast The Devil and Deep Blue Sea put out by Christianity Today) [1]. If you have never heard of the “Satanic Panic”, bless your soul and count your blessings. The main thing to understand is that it led most followers of Jesus to expect the devil himself to jump out from every corner and steal away the hearts, minds, and being of their children. It was very much akin to the Salem witch trials that took place between February 1692 and May 1693, but in my opinion, left much more lasting damage.
All this preamble is important. I want you to understand that the things I am about to write about “chi”, or the concept of internal bodily energy, come from a place of wanting true understanding. Being told something about a belief, by people who do not ascribe to that belief, is the surest way to breed misunderstanding, prejudice, and hate. Wanting none of these things, when I found myself faced with the idea of “chi” as a grown man beginning to study Chinese kung fu, I decided it was high time to stop taking the word of others and do some digging myself.
“But, Victor,” you may be asking, “aren’t you afraid that you might accidently let something into your life, some darkness that you can’t control?”
The short answer is no. While that may seem arrogant, I assure you it is not. I believe that truth, in absolute form, exists. If you go into something with an open mind, earnestly seeking truth, you cannot accidentally stumble into heresy. That mindset has been the inspiration for this book for many years now, and as I journey down this path, I find myself only to be a heretic to institutions that seek to control people and the information they consume. In that matter, I gladly wear the badge of heretic, but for anyone worried about my “immortal soul” or anything of the like, I thank you for your concern. God and I are just fine. He walks with me and in front of me on every journey towards discovery I set out on. Even this one.
So, let’s talk about “chi”.
My father and mother taught me that words have power. That whole “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” is just bullshit made up by a generation that thought suppressing your emotions was a healthy way to cope with life. In the Genesis narrative, God speaks the world into existence. Jesus dispels demons from people with a word. There are traditions and stories of deities speaking or singing the world of creation into form. To say words are not powerful things is denying all human history as we know it. It was for this reason that words are where I chose to start my study.
The problem with “chi” is that it is an English word used to describe a very not English concept. It was, most likely, first explained to a white, Christian missionary, who did not speak the native language very well, by a native who did not speak English very well and who saw the missionary as an invading/occupying force in his country. Transliteration is the death of true understanding, but sometimes it is the best we can do. I’ll admit most of that is speculative, but read a history book, then read an account of the same events from the perspective of any side except the “winning” side. Every account comes with at least a hint of bias from the observing party.
氣 is the Chinese word that we in the English-speaking world spell “chi”. It is made up by combining two radicals: 气 meaning “air” or “vapor” and 米 which represents “rice”. Chinese Hanzi is a pictorial language. This means that sketches of things were combined to represent words, ideas, or even whole concepts. Those pictures became simplified over time so that it was easier and faster to write [2]. To say that a one-to-one translation between English and Chinese does not exists would be an understatement. I won’t detail here how the Hanzi evolved over time, but in even the earliest iterations it was a combination of “air/vapor” and “rice”.
Go cook some rice. Once the water is up to boil, with the rice simmering in a pot, squat down and place your eye level even with the top of the pot. What do you see? If your culinary skills are average, you will see rippling air, as heat and “energy” leave the pot during the cooking process. When I first made this discovery, how the actual character 氣 is constructed, every previous misconception I had shattered. It was almost audible. I suddenly got this image of a couple ancient campers sitting around the fire for their dinner, watching water boil and noticing the ripples in the air for the first time as they tried to put in words this seemingly invisible thing they were witnessing.
Rice, or 米, is also used in many Hanzi to represent the tangible necessity of life. It was a primary food source and in many regions having rice represented the bounty of life [2]. In combining “mi” 米 and “chi” 气 there is an amazing picture trying to describe the unseen energy that permeates all things.
Fast forward to 21st century. With modern science we now have the ability to look inside the human body, when it’s not dead or dying. We have electroencephalograms (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and galvanic skin responses (GSR). These are just some of the modern scientific ways that we measure the presence and conductive properties of electricity within the human body. What is electricity but a form of energy? Coupling those discoveries with Newton’s Laws of Thermodynamics we can, in fact, scientifically prove that energy in many forms exists within the human body.
We intake food in order to convert it into potential energy that is stored for later use throughout our day. Our muscles can be worked to more efficiently utilize that energy through exercise and the repetition of certain actions. Even that repetition, creates what we call “muscle memory”, which is just a more concise way of describing the process of your brain sending electrical signals (energy) to certain muscles over a long period of time until those muscles “remember” what they are supposed to do. They then can begin utilizing energy automatically without waiting for the brain’s approval.
This also doesn’t even account for all the automated electrical (energy) signals that are sent from our brain to tell our heart to beat, our lungs to continue to breathe even during sleep, and our sphincter to not relax until it is time to defecate. All of these words to describe the unseen forces pulsing within us and controlling our basic functions.
Early into my journey into the kung fu world (mind you, I have a previous 25 years’ experience in harder styles such as karate) I heard mention of a book called Becoming a Supple Leopard. My Sifu (teacher) kept going on and on about me needing to develop my “kung fu body” in order to better perform the moves. Becoming a Supple Leopard was recommended to me as a compendium of sorts for better understanding the human body.
When I picked the book up, the entire first sections were more about how and why we injure ourselves. We force our bodies through movements that are not natural, but when we are young our bodies compensate [3]. That compensation comes at the cost of healthy movement later on in life. This book was also the first to introduce me to the concept of fascia.
Fascia is the stuff that holds us together. It is the thin, webbed part of the chicken that holds the meat onto the bone. As I dug more into the research on fascia (again, see my citation list at the end of this to read the research of better folks than me), I started to discover that this is only the beginning. It is in fact an oversimplification. We are fascia. Fascia is a catch-all phrase for the woven threads that knit us together. Our bones, muscles (large and small), skin and other organs are all comprised of different types of fascial weave [4]. We are fascia, and most fascia has a unique property. It has a certain amount of elasticity, or flexibility, to it.
Elastic Energy (aka Elastic Potential Energy): “the mechanical energy stored in an object when it is deformed by stretching, compressing, or twisting. This stored energy is released when the object returns to its original shape, converting into other forms of energy, such as kinetic energy. The amount of elastic energy stored is determined by the material’s properties and the extent of the deformation. [5]
Our bodies are made up of a variety of flexible woven materials that all have the ability to store this “elastic potential energy”. Then, as we know from Newton’s First Law of Thermodynamics (“Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only converted from one form to another” [6]), we convert that energy into a different form as we walk, run, punch, kick, throw, etc.
When all these pieces came together in my research something in my brain clicked. 氣 or “chi” is just science. Maybe the first person who started using 氣 to represent this unseen force was just ahead of their time? Maybe they were just waiting for science to catch up and prove what their observations of the physical world were telling them? Maybe those who use the concept of 氣 to mean calling on some sort of spiritual or otherworldly power actually perverted the original understanding of 氣? Or maybe this all falls on the part of transliteration misinterpretations?
What then, is 氣 in the context of kung fu training. 氣功 or “chi gong” is (roughly) “energy work”[7]. Much of my experience in kung fu, training bagua zhang specifically, my practices have been split into two parts. Part of the time is spent learning physical moves, forms and techniques, patterns of footwork. The other time is devoted to breathing exercises. These exercises, 氣功, are focused on the internal workings of the human body. We stretch the diaphragm. We seek to loosen muscles and relaxed parts of us that have been tightened through years of forcing our bodies through wrong movements, the like they were not created for. Our brains operate in images rather than words, so we have to use visual cues in order to help the internal (unseen) parts of our anatomy to respond the ways we want it to. Ther “power of imagination” if you would.
Just as a body builder would begin doing curls to work on their biceps or remember the importance of “leg day”, 氣功 is the practice of looking deeper into your body. It helps you recognize that there are systems and functions going on within you. Once you acknowledge those things, the automated systems working within, you can begin practices to help develop them and increase their efficiency. This mindful awareness of the workings of 氣, or the natural energy that flows through our bodies helps us understand the functions they perform better. It helps us understand our beings better. There is nothing mystical about this, at least nothing more mystical than the very magic found in every single breath a human takes.
The practice of 氣功 takes a martial art beyond the outward. Added to any art, whether a traditional “internal art” like bagua zhang, or to harder karate styles, 氣功 transforms what you are practicing from merely combat to a holistic experience. If someone practicing martial arts claims that their body is “sacred” and is a fine-tuned machine, I would submit that cannot be the case if the inside of that machine goes wildly unchecked. Would you trust a mechanic who only walked around your car checking for dents but never looked at the inner workings? Maybe understanding 氣 better, in its original inception, allows us to look at the inner workings of the “human machine” without having to cut ourselves open. Cars run better if they are cared for inside and out, so too can your body. Or do we want to be the type of person who only thinks about what goes on inside us when our “check engine” light comes on?
Even as I write these words, I see the irony. I am a white man who is doing research on a topic written about in a language I do not speak or read. Chinese Hanzi is a pictorial language while English is phonetic. To say 氣功 means “energy work” is an oversimplification of the grossest kind. To truly understand its meaning, you must look at the culture, usage, key sources of the root, and the concept itself. Years worth of research is required.
But at least I’m attempting to do that research and that must count for something. I’m still learning, still searching. I even started trying to learn Chinese, which is not for the faint of heart, in an effort to better understand cultural contexts. I hope to read papers on this topic one day in the native language in which it comes from.
Until then, I have learned enough to say that “I don’t know what I don’t know,” and that causes me to not make assumption about things. Words have power, but that also means the misunderstanding and misuse of words can also be devastating. We speak when we should listen. “Even a fool appears wise when he is silent (Proverbs 17). [8]”
Why is any of this important? Well, in the grand scheme of things, if you are not interested in 氣 or the study of the human biomechanical process, I suppose it is not important. It does, however, point to a larger issue. If we become so sure of our “rightness” we will stop seeking the truth. The moment we stop seeking the truth is the same moment we stop moving forward, and like a human body that ceases motion, we eventually rot and die.
I was once challenged by someone who said, “Show me a person who has become a better martial artist through the study of ‘chi’. I’ve never met one.” Forgetting the bias of personal experience that exists within that confirmation fallacy, I would say that every fighter has benefited from 氣. In fact, every person who moves their body, for health and longevity has constantly benefited from 氣 working in our bodies constantly. We just did not understand it. We called it by a different name for our own comfort, not realizing that our discomfort was caused by our own misunderstanding of the original premise. Energy exists. It cannot be created or destroyed. It is merely transferred from one form to another, giving life to whatever contains it. Or instead of using the 3,000+ words I have just used here to say all of this, we could just say it’s 氣 and be done with it.
I’ll add a final note regarding “ki” which uses the modern kanji 気. As you can see, the radical is nearly identical. This is because much of the Japanese written language (kanji) has been coopted from the Chinese hanzi. So, all the of points I have made regarding “chi” can me applied to “ki”. It comes from the same etymological origins [9][10].
Citations
[1] Christianity Today. The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Hosted by Mike Cosper. Christianity Today, 2024–2025. Podcast. https://www.christianitytoday.com/podcasts/devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea/
[2] Xu Shen. Shuōwén Jiězì — entry 氣. (online facsimile). Retrieved from https://www.shuowen.org/view/224. shuowen.org
[3] Starrett, Kelly, and Glen Cordoza. Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance. 2nd ed., Victory Belt Publishing, 2015.
[4] Stecco, C., Macchi, V., Porzionato, A., Duparc, F., & De Caro, R. (2012). The fascia: the forgotten structure. Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology, 116(3), 127–138. Retrieved from https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/ijae/article/view/1101
[5] Eshley, J.D (November 1975). “The elastic energy-momentum tensor”. Journal of Elasticity. 5 (3-4): 321-335
[6] "First Law of Thermodynamics." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_law_of_thermodynamics.
[7] LC Chinese School. “Beyond Translation: The True Meaning of ‘Gong’ (功) in Your Practice.” LC Chinese School, 24 Jan. 2022, https://lcchineseschool.com/beyond-translation-the-true-meaning-of-gong-%e5%8a%9f-in-your-practice/
[8] The Holy Bible: New International Version. Bible Gateway, Zondervan, 2011, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+17%3A28&version=NIV.
[9] “Kanji.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji.
[10] “It’s Japan Time.” “The History of Kanji 漢字の歴史.” It’s Japan Time, 2021, https://itsjapantime.com/the-history-of-kanji-%e6%bc%a2%e5%ad%97%e3%81%ae%e6%ad%b4%e5%8f%b2/.
Further Research
· Hanziyuan (Chinese Etymology). “氣 / 气: character evolution and images.” Retrieved from https://hanziyuan.net/.
· ZDic. “氣 — dictionary entry.” Retrieved from https://www.zdic.net/hant/%E6%B0%A3.
· Wiktionary. “气 — etymology.” Retrieved from https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%B0%94.
· Chinese.StackExchange. “Why was the rice component added to 气 to form 氣?” (Q&A). Retrieved from https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/3827/why-was-the-rice-component-added-to-%E6%B0%94-to-form-%E6%B0%A3.
· Kingham, Neil. “Hard Work? The Meaning of ‘Gong.’” Neil Kingham, 11 Nov. 2009, https://www.neilkingham.com/2009/11/meaning-of-qigong/.
· Myers, Thomas W. Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists. 3rd ed., Elsevier, 2014.
