Ki and water?

Question

I've been practising aikido now for a total of 5 years (3.5 years traditional aikikai and 1 year ki aikido) and have been working on developing my ki.

I focussed on ki development one afternoon and I happened to put my hand in a bath full of water and it made my hands feel very peculiar.

Just out of curiosity has anyone experienced this and is ki more powerful in the water?

Answer 1

lol the water was probably to hot! lol

Seriously though my aikido instructor told me a good story about a shaolin monk.  When this monk joined he was very eager to learn the ways of the shaolin.  So his master asked him to take a big bucket down to the river and palm strike the water until it was empty.  He had to repeat this again and again every single day.  After a year he went home to visit his family, his family were also eager to see what their son had learned.  The young monk just shy-ed away from the question, until dinner time came and everyone sat around the families oak table.  Again the family asked what had he learned, the young monk shouted nothing.  He stood up and slammed his hand down onto the table, breaking the table in half.  The young monk and his family were stunned, he then understood why his master had him slapping water every day.  It had developed his inner ki and he learned to focus that energy into one palm hand strike!

Answer 2

I'm not a big believer in Ki/Chi/Prana, so I would say depending one the exercise you did the increased blood flow in your hands resulted in a ''funny'' feeling when you put your hand in the water. Alternatively I would say you subconsciously saw something supernatural in what is a normal occurance.

Answer 3

This is a great little topic!

I love the short story that wolverine told. Sounds like a lot of stuff I used to read in my old Qigong books.

Same with Sensei, cold drains you of Chi, literally. You should try an experiment when the fall comes around. Go outside one night just for a couple of minutes with just a T-shirt on your torso, (dressed everywhere else though), and barefoot. Record your feelings. The next day when the temp is that same or similar as this experiment... Go outside with a scarf or sweater wrapped around your KIDNEYS... not hips. Spend the same amount of time outside and record your feelings. You will be surprised, and this is a great example to show you how your Chi is drained by cold, how the Guardian Chi protects you, and how you can/should protect yourself in the winter.

There are also other exercises you can do like five points breathing to help you feel out a little more of this and energize your Guardian Chi... It protects you from getting sick, and minor injuries.

This is a really esoteric subject and not many people readily accept it. But look at all of those influential scientists who were ridiculed and even killed for their findings that later became known as fact.  Someday the world might mature enough to understand and even do something great with this abundant energy.

It will be great when your sensations move from heat to tingling to vibrations to nothing. Good Luck in your endeavor.

edit-

I would think that it would be possible to practice in water, but I wouldn't recommend it as if you're doing any kind of Chi training or meditation you would want the area you're training in to become full of residual Chi, water once it's gone it takes the Chi with it.

Answer 4

If you think about your Ki (Chi) as the electrical force powering your body, then you will understand a little more about why it behaves differently in water.

To Non-Chi believers:

In our body, we have nerves which are the electrical wiring of our body.  It is in these pathways (meridians) that our Chi actually flows.  At one end, we have the muscles, which use these small electrical charges to contract or relax the muscles.  On the other end, we have the Brain, the control center for the whole body.  Controlling your Chi is simply being able to take control of your own brain and focus more energy to different areas, temporarily overriding auto-pilot to manual control.   This energy CAN NOT pass outside the body, control another person, or any of that other junk that some people claim.

We have our natural waterproofing in our nervous system, so in normal instances, there is no real change from a wet body to a dry one.  When you are in control of your Chi, we tend to over run our natural defenses to water/Chi problems.  Water transfers electricity very well, and therefore when you placed your hand into water while it was full of Chi, then you temporarily lost some control on your Chi, causing that "odd feeling".   The more you do it, the better you will learn how to control it when wet.  As for the power, untill you can adapt it to water use, it will probably be less effective in water, and once you do have control, then it will be no more powerful, but shouldnt be weaker either.

Answer 5

You should not practice kiko in cold water.

Your body is generating heat and you could shock your system -

your kidneys play a big part in ki development and they should be kept warm, especially in the preliminary stages.

Anyone who does not believe in ki/qi, must be dead... ki/qi is the breath of life.

If it can keep you alive, what other things can it do for you?