Chi and Feeling Awareness Images

chi refers to many things, as it simply means 'energy'.

in martial arts, it is vaguely fobbed off as 'your energy', and there are some pretty weird ideas about exactly what is being pointed to.

lets split it into two basic kinds of 'energy' (which can be split again, but lets not go crazy to start)

basically there is 'body chi', and there is 'mind chi'. (yi-chi-li)

we will body chi mechanical energy for now...that's close enough

mind chi is fundamentally how you think, and how you feel....i.e. thoughts and emotions

man, you can drive a truck through the holes in this, but its no matter, well just unpack it as we go

mind drives body

vast majority of function is autonomic. and I mean just about everything.

so then the cortex is not the target in training.

what you 'think' makes little difference in skill training beyond orientation phases

the reptilian complex and other 'subconcious' portions of the brain (uncognized mind) are responsible for movement.

even the calculations you 'think' you need to make to 'figure out' technique are actually handled by the underbrain, mostly through the sense of touch. pressure mainlines into the brainstem. putting a halt on things so the cortex can doodle around with it is why people continue to suffer in their training for decades.

this is 'bad chi'

instead what you should do is use 'feeling awareness images'. these are simple visualizations, or simulated body-feeling models that are THE number one way to connect with your body's intelligence....that 'uncognized mind' thingee I mentioned earlier.

see, it don't speak English. it only understands feelings. that includes emotions, and sensations. words kind of fall on deaf ears.

your mind will do something when you train. of that there is no doubt. the question is, what is it doing? most times you have little or no clue. 'trying to do the technique' is the usual answer. how enlightening.

what is generally happening is that you are trying to follow a model in your head. what you should notice is that this model is a picture. and sometimes you add stuff to that. like different feelings. check it out, and see if I'm right, or full of it.

this picture then, you try to figure out, and tweak with feeling, and maybe some physics talk. so like your trying to replicate this picture you have in your head, and its not working so well. as you move along, and if your paying attention, you start to feel a little better with it. maybe you got that 'breakline' angle just right that time. sure looked like it.

you see the problem here?

what makes you better is the feel of things. when you do it well, you say, 'that felt better'. it's the feeling of discomfort that allows you to hone in on flaws.

and yet, the improving is still approached from the intellectual plane. as if you could 'think' your way through all the information that you receive fundamentally from pressure.

look, get it. its mostly all about balance. that is what all the feeling is about. if you feel uncomfortable or weak that is because your not balanced.

and your body is constantly monitoring your body and giving you feedback in the form of sensation. beyond that, IT keeps your balance. you actually don't do squat except mess it up. no kidding. your brain is smarter than you are. I'm pretty sure everybody here has had an 'unconcious' (lol) reflex save your ass a time or two. what's that all about?

most people are training their ego, not their bodies.

training has to move into the right domain to be truly effective. and that means speaking to the uncognized mind. and that means feeling awareness images.

they are designed to focus the mind on a feeling that facilitates the skill being trained. and they work like a charm. your mileage may vary but that is COMPLETELY dependent on your participation and development of the images.

make no mistake, they are the currency of the realm. you will likely not make progress without them, at least nothing appreciable. and that is the genius of this approach. it yields relatively fast results compared to most other approaches.

you simply have to change your mind and you can produce a new skill. it may suck, and need some serious work, but now your in the house and given time, youll improve it. maybe dramatically, depending on how you 'think' about it.

these images, when properly engaged, actually help you to change the way your body normally approaches physical movements.

to illustrate.

the instruction to 'feel his feet' is given when you touch somebody. I could also say to you 'put your mind in his feet', or 'outreach him'. this amounts to an increase in sensory awareness and connectivity with your partners whole mass and center of gravity. this allows your brain to more accurately calculate the angles, timing, and pressure needed for successful technique. if you pay attention, you will also notice that it makes you extend your hand and body a bit more into the partner, more than you might otherwise if you were merely told to 'touch your partners shoulder'. your body needs to calculate his particulars and to do so it needs some feedback. so 'feeling his feet' make you increase your pressure on him a bit, and it is vectored through his center of gravity. this threatens his balance ever so slightly, and his body responds by counterbalancing. what you get on your end is a sense of his root and breakline. youll also pick up instantly on any movements he makes. biologically, its the mechanoreceptors in your skin, and there connection to your gyroscopes that is making the 'read'. remember, its all about pressure and balance.

this is way fucking better than 'watching him'.