KI Growth

Hi. I've been practicing aikido about six years and was just wondering if anybody could give me tips on how to develop ki.

Thomas Froman wrote: Hi. I've been practicing aikido about six years and was just wondering if anybody could give me tips on how to develop ki.

Hey Thomas

Richard Elliott here.

I don't know. I'm just a joe nobody, man. I am not being glib here, but I think the first big secret is you have to want to (i am guessing, of course).

I'm still wanting to believe that key is some real "stuff." But maybe all it is, as it has been described here somewhere, is a "heuristic" (noble fiction) device for tricking ourselves into doing our techniques in a "unified way."

Maybe KI is just a reference for Unity?

Having done a little QiGong and some other stuff, my sense is that KI is indeed some-thing that can be sensed, directed, applied, received or what-have-you. I don't have any scientific evidence, I guess, unless you consider Kirilian photography a step in this direction. Anyway, it does seem something worth investigating. I do know KI doesn't help one with smelling, I mean spelling!

Afterthought: Breathing is probably a component in developing KI, UNITY, ...

When I took gross anatomy in a medical school, we used to say that seeing a lot of the smaller blood vessels and nerves was first of all a matter of believing that they were there. Developing ki can be sort of like this, I've found. If you sort of 'assume' or 'believe' that you have it and you know how to use it, you'll find it easier to notice what's there. If you spend your time wondering if it's there or not, it has a tendency to dissolve before your eyes.

I am currently reading "A road that anyone can walk: Ki" by William Reed (sp?), and it is excellent--lot's of exercises, detailed descriptions of ki breathing and meditation, etc. It's probably a good place to start.

Good luck finding what you seek.

Sarah

If you sort of 'assume' or 'believe' that you have it and you know how to use it, you'll find it easier to notice what's there.

This has been my experiece also. When I was doing tai chi I was interested in, yet skeptical of the chi exercises we did. I spent a lot of energy and time trying to figure out the how and why of it all. When I finally got to the point where I just accepted that it worked it freed me up and made learning go a lot faster.

YMMV

I've been practicing aikido about six years and was just wondering if anybody could give me tips on how to develop ki.

This reminds me of one of those martial arts parables. A young man enters the buddhist monestary. After his daily chores and lessons comes the time of day set aside for martial arts training. His task for the first year is to fill a giant bowl with water and smack the surface of the water until the bowl is empty. After a year he gets to go home and visit his family. During dinner his family asks him to demonstrate his new martial skills. He tells them that he hasn't learned anything. That the monks only have him hitting water all day and that he's received no martial training. The family doesn't believe him and keeps pestering him. The young man finally gets upset and in his anger yells "I have't learned anything!" As he yells this he smacks his hands down on the table and breaks it into several pieces.

That's a long way to go to get to my point. You've more than likely developed it already...you just don't know it

Bronson

A young man enters the buddhist monestary.

This, in fact, is the most important part of the story.

Enjoy your training and dont be in a hurry to find it. Alot of people get lost in the search. Ki is usually found in the experience of training, no matter how you choose to define it.

To me, from what I have learned, what I have derived, Ki needs not to be developed, but needs to be realized.

If we're talking about Ki, it is natural to every people, it is not something extra. One must learn to feel and accept one's Ki and the Ki of the universal.

The one that needs to be develop is Aiki, becoming one or combining with Ki. Wether it is one's own Ki, or harmonizing with the Ki of others, or even with the universe's Ki.

Your question is too open to answer properly.

I would need more detail on how you think you are using ki, what you think ki is, what you think you need to do to increase this strength.

It is so broad a question, it is like saying, "What do I need to know to be a doctor?"

It is so broad a question, it is like saying, "What do I need to know to be a doctor?"

That's not a very broad question, is it? I mean, I can look up any medical school curriculum and get a pretty good sense of it ...

But can you describe all the different courses needed top be a specialist, the differences in those specialtys, and do it within a thousand words?

Perhaps a better question would be,"Can you describe what you have learned about ki to date and how you use it?"

Do you know what resonance is? Well, fixing motors for many years has taught me to pick out particular sounds of problems being transmitted through the motor due to resonance vibrations. This sometimes makes a problem in the gearcase sound like it is in the flywheel.

The human body has simular transmissions of pain, and sometimes in understanding how we think we are doing something brings to light a problem that may exist elsewhere. Like bad shoes causing a back problem, or in my case, fatty liver syndrome causeing a restriction in the flow of blood leading to dizzyness and other malaise symtoms felt in the head.

It only took three years to find that problem by specialist who insisted it was all in my head, when in fact the MRI's showed there was nothing in my head?

Oops? Fault pas? Or oxymoron?

Read "The Way of Energy" (look on Amazon). An excellent book on Chi Gung that is simple enough for the beginner to use and will last you for years. I do the holding balloon standing excercise (stationary) for around 10 mins a day. I've never found a better all round excercise for aikido, health and chi development.

Ian

P.S. I know this will annoy many of you out there, but what I've seen from ki excercises in ki aikido dojos I've been to are really 'ki' testing and not really ki building exercises. I've found many of the kung fu style exercises much more useful for aikido. (though I don't hit myself with a wire whip)

Ian

Thomas Froman wrote: Hi. I've been practicing aikido about six years and was just wondering if anybody could give me tips on how to develop ki.

Most of the things I've read points to one thing: breathing exercise. It appears to be any type, as long as it involves abdominal breathing.