“Qi”? “What Qi”?

Grandmasters Young, Wabu and Wu Chien Chuan

Master Eddie Wu at Discipleship Ceremony with Sifu Jim Roach

Qi and Internal Energy in Classical Tai Chi

(video on Qi)

Sifu Jim Roach said, Dear Master Hwa, here's my question: This is regarding approximately 7:30 of the video, "...Qi...internal energy..."! In the YouTube video, you state in so many words, "...the qi is something you cannot feel...but you do feel the energy..."! 

I recall both you and Eva stating that you both visited the Taoist Tai Chi studio in Buffalo at their “open house”. If memory serves, I once conversed with Moy Lin Shin in 1976. People may not know that he founded Taoist Tai Chi, a worldwide Association. He approached me at a practice to correct my Tai Chi. Instead of making a physical correction, he said something perplexing in Cantonese. The translator said, “Mr. Moy said you should let your Qi (Chee) come out. I said, “What is Qi”? I only was in Taoist Tai Chi for less than a year! The translator said, “Mr Moy says you will know it when you feel it”!

I left the Taoist group after a year and a half. On another occasion, I told that story to an engineering Professor at the University of Buffalo. His name was Dr. Ching Liu, and he taught Yang and Chen Style. He looked at me and said, “Your Qi? “What Qi? “ 

In sum, after 30 years now, in 2006, it might be more of a fine point, but is it correct to say one does not feel the qi; one feels the evidence of qi? I'm considering an analogy to electricity, such as "one does not see electricity, but one does see the evidence of electricity when a light bulb goes on." Or, one does not feel electricity, but one does feel the evidence of electricity when one gets an electrical shock.

Thank you for that video; I would say it is a down-to-earth explanation of Qi.

Jim

“Yes, Jim. You may feel your fingers tingling, but you will not feel the Qi flow because it is there instantly. Other people may feel your Qi when you touch them, and sometimes, others feeling your Qi works well.”

Master Hwa, I will relate a story where I  “…felt someones Qi when they “touched me”, ...and it worked well…”!  I read the Forum for June 2003, once again with more interest, especially the statements about the Wu family's healing ability and that intrinsic to Tai Chi once there is sufficient Qi development. In 1985, I injured myself severely. I sustained one bruise that was the length of my entire thigh. I was attending Wu's Tai Chi Academy. I went to practice, but Sifu Eddie Wu noticed my limp and asked what had happened. When I told him of the injury, he called me in the office about my leg. Wu rubbed his hands together for 5 minutes and then hovered the hands closely over the bruised area, moving slowly over the region, not touching it. During this time, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply and regularly from the Tan Tien. 

After about 15 minutes, the treatment was completed. However, I felt considerable heat during the treatment, and my leg felt good. My leg felt more aches after, and I thought, "Oh wow, this did not work." Incredibly, I noticed that my range of motion had increased by at least 50%, and the more I moved, the better the leg felt. 

On numerous occasions, Eddie Wu taught us, as disciples, the “small circulation” with reverse breathing. After a year or two of that training, Wu began gradually teaching us to do the "external qi gong healing," and we got to practice on each other. Some people reported feeling nothing. As for myself, I felt fortunate that my injury provided a point of reference that I used in my practice. By the way, Yoga Journal published a massive article about the Wu Family's healing ability around that time. 

The article included quite a bit about your teacher, Master Sonia Young's healing ability. Watching the Bill Moyers series Healing and the Mind in 1995, one can see examples of external Qi Gong in Traditional Chinese Medicine. A lot of people dismiss this out of hand because it looks like chicanery to us from the "other" culture. I can personally vouch for its efficacy. 

As for being able to "do" it, I can only say that one must keep up one's practice of "reverse breathing" as a prerequisite. The power of the mind is paramount in these practices, and using "Yi" not as martial intent but as "healing intent" must precede the practice. If one has no "Yi," then the practice is unlikely to work. Since my injury preceded my practice, it was not a great stretch of imagination on my part to begin to learn the healing techniques. I've never told anyone of these incidents, and I hope the story is worthwhile.