Some people like to discuss internal/psychic/chi/mystical energy and its application to fighting.
My question: Why reference mystical concepts that cannot be materially observed when the end results/net effects that we are trying to achieve are explainable by material, physical phenomena? Occam's Razor dictates that the simplest of two or more competing theories is preferable and that an explanation for unknown phenomena should first be attempted in terms of what is already known.
Guided Chaos masters can do all the funky "Tai Chi" stuff like effortless power, cold power, internal strikes, etc. better that most actual Tai Chi masters can, yet they can explain them in purely physical, non-mystical terms, as well as prescribe ways of training to achieve such feats (and their application in real combat) that do not involve anything mystical (and usually work better and faster than the Tai Chi training methods). Everything Guided Chaos masters work with and explain about (e.g. nerves, muscles, tendons, the skeleton, etc.) can be easily observed by dissecting a human body. Where are the Chi and the meridians when a human body is dissected?
My personal opinion: As far as combat goes, Chi is but a metaphor used to describe the various internal feelings (proprioception) an internal martial arts practitioner should feel. That's it. For example, "sending Chi into the ground": Well, when I'm properly balanced and my body is properly loose, my feet feel very heavy and I have the sensation that my body mass is "dripping" down into the ground through my legs. It feels like there's an almost magnetic connection between my feet and the ground. Personally, I believe that this is simply the proprioceptive feedback of having my body balanced and without excess muscular tension. There doesn't have to be any actual mystical force or flowing energy present to explain this.
A major step towards my achieving this feeling came when Guided Chaos Master Tim Carron told me to "let all your energy sink into your feet." Now, this is the same Tim who told me that he finds some mystical Tai Chi books annoying because the phenomena they're trying to explain can be easily explained in purely physical terms! Tim suggested that maybe it's just a matter of labels: Who declared that "red" means RED? Who's to say that "Chi" can't simply mean "nervous system"? You get the idea.
The ancient Chinese (and other cultures that came up with equivalent energy system theories) had far less scientific, observational knowledge of the human body than we have today. HOWEVER, they had very great intuitive knowledge of it. They knew what they felt (proprioception). Therefore, they came up with explanations of what they felt, that are actually very useful in terms of transmitting those feelings to others via word of mouth (or writings). In order to express to me what I should be feeling, it was more effective for Tim to say, "sink your energy into your feet," rather than "align your bones and adjust the state of your musculature via your nervous system such that your body is in good balance and you have maximum freedom of motion in all your joints as a result of minimal excess muscular tension, yielding the proprioceptive feedback that gives the subjective sensation of dripping into the ground or sending mystical energy into the ground."
One of the main ideas of Guided Chaos is that people can learn about body movement and combat INTUITIVELY far better than they could "scientifically" or "by the numbers". It's a gestalt, holistic approach rather than a piece-by-piece, logical approach. Analogies and metaphors are useful in Guided Chaos. However, we do not claim the metaphors to be actual scientific facts!
As for "psi energy," wouldn't it be simpler (remember Occam's Razor) to suggest that "feelings" about others are merely physical manifestations (triggered by the limbic system in the brain-- especially the amygdala, responsible for subconscious threat assessment and emotional attribution) resulting from subconscious/subliminal observations?
Obviously, there is a lot we DON'T know about the human body and the universe. However, given what we DO know through scientific observation (which, of course, can change over time as better means of observation become available), and given that it CAN EXPLAIN all the phenomena (as far as combat goes--health may be a different matter that I'm personally not well versed in) that various mystical energies were previously dreamed up to explain . . . why continue to believe in the mystical energies, except as metaphors and analogies ("feel AS IF your energy is shooting into the ground") that facilitate intuitive learning???
A great thing about Guided Chaos is its grounding in reality--the reality of lethal violence, and the reality of the human organism. I personally don't believe we should cloud issues by straying far afield into "alternative realities." If you disagree (and I'll be able to tell even if you don't write anything because I'll feel your psi energy), I'll project my Chi to kill all of your immediate descendants within 150 years . . . ;)
My question: Why reference mystical concepts that cannot be materially observed when the end results/net effects that we are trying to achieve are explainable by material, physical phenomena? Occam's Razor dictates that the simplest of two or more competing theories is preferable and that an explanation for unknown phenomena should first be attempted in terms of what is already known.
Guided Chaos masters can do all the funky "Tai Chi" stuff like effortless power, cold power, internal strikes, etc. better that most actual Tai Chi masters can, yet they can explain them in purely physical, non-mystical terms, as well as prescribe ways of training to achieve such feats (and their application in real combat) that do not involve anything mystical (and usually work better and faster than the Tai Chi training methods). Everything Guided Chaos masters work with and explain about (e.g. nerves, muscles, tendons, the skeleton, etc.) can be easily observed by dissecting a human body. Where are the Chi and the meridians when a human body is dissected?
My personal opinion: As far as combat goes, Chi is but a metaphor used to describe the various internal feelings (proprioception) an internal martial arts practitioner should feel. That's it. For example, "sending Chi into the ground": Well, when I'm properly balanced and my body is properly loose, my feet feel very heavy and I have the sensation that my body mass is "dripping" down into the ground through my legs. It feels like there's an almost magnetic connection between my feet and the ground. Personally, I believe that this is simply the proprioceptive feedback of having my body balanced and without excess muscular tension. There doesn't have to be any actual mystical force or flowing energy present to explain this.
A major step towards my achieving this feeling came when Guided Chaos Master Tim Carron told me to "let all your energy sink into your feet." Now, this is the same Tim who told me that he finds some mystical Tai Chi books annoying because the phenomena they're trying to explain can be easily explained in purely physical terms! Tim suggested that maybe it's just a matter of labels: Who declared that "red" means RED? Who's to say that "Chi" can't simply mean "nervous system"? You get the idea.
The ancient Chinese (and other cultures that came up with equivalent energy system theories) had far less scientific, observational knowledge of the human body than we have today. HOWEVER, they had very great intuitive knowledge of it. They knew what they felt (proprioception). Therefore, they came up with explanations of what they felt, that are actually very useful in terms of transmitting those feelings to others via word of mouth (or writings). In order to express to me what I should be feeling, it was more effective for Tim to say, "sink your energy into your feet," rather than "align your bones and adjust the state of your musculature via your nervous system such that your body is in good balance and you have maximum freedom of motion in all your joints as a result of minimal excess muscular tension, yielding the proprioceptive feedback that gives the subjective sensation of dripping into the ground or sending mystical energy into the ground."
One of the main ideas of Guided Chaos is that people can learn about body movement and combat INTUITIVELY far better than they could "scientifically" or "by the numbers". It's a gestalt, holistic approach rather than a piece-by-piece, logical approach. Analogies and metaphors are useful in Guided Chaos. However, we do not claim the metaphors to be actual scientific facts!
As for "psi energy," wouldn't it be simpler (remember Occam's Razor) to suggest that "feelings" about others are merely physical manifestations (triggered by the limbic system in the brain-- especially the amygdala, responsible for subconscious threat assessment and emotional attribution) resulting from subconscious/subliminal observations?
Obviously, there is a lot we DON'T know about the human body and the universe. However, given what we DO know through scientific observation (which, of course, can change over time as better means of observation become available), and given that it CAN EXPLAIN all the phenomena (as far as combat goes--health may be a different matter that I'm personally not well versed in) that various mystical energies were previously dreamed up to explain . . . why continue to believe in the mystical energies, except as metaphors and analogies ("feel AS IF your energy is shooting into the ground") that facilitate intuitive learning???
A great thing about Guided Chaos is its grounding in reality--the reality of lethal violence, and the reality of the human organism. I personally don't believe we should cloud issues by straying far afield into "alternative realities." If you disagree (and I'll be able to tell even if you don't write anything because I'll feel your psi energy), I'll project my Chi to kill all of your immediate descendants within 150 years . . . ;)
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