Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hey Star Wars Fans, This is Urban Acolyte TV, and my name is Prince.
This is going to be another episode in the Real Life Jedi Series.
On today’s video I am going to try to explain Chi and the Force.
This is kind of a follow-up to a comment that I received on the video that I posted called
“Feeling the Force using Tai Chi.” There was a comment on Facebook where someone said
that they “really feel my understanding of chi/ki/the force is quite…annoying.”
I looked at the video again, and I don’t see anything that anyone ought to find annoying
at all.
I will say that the comment touches on something we covered in a workshop last weekend with
my Sigung, Sam Chin, who is basically like my Yoda. Sigung talked a lot about how we
know things based on our point of reference.
So the person who left that comment said that they have practiced TaijiQuan and several
other martial arts (traditional and mixed)— I don’t know if this was supposed to impress
me or give them any type of credibility, but it told me “this person has a different
point of reference.”
So I can be right and someone else who sees things differently can also be right. It’s
all based on your training and your past experiences.
The truth is that at some point, you have to throw all of that out because you're not
being present when you're basing things on past judgment, past habits, and past accumulations.
Let’s take a step back and look at the idea of having different points of reference in
the Star Wars universe— We’ll look at this view of the force taught by the Jedi.
So there is the cosmic force but there's different philosophical schools or ways of looking at
the force. there is the Unifying Force theory and there is the living force theory. Master
Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn was on the outs with the Jedi Council because he supported the
living force point of view.
The other Jedi Masters followed the unifying force point of view where they believed that
when a person dies there is nothing else; they return to the force. Qui-Gon Jinn did
not hold this belief and because of his adherence to the living force theory, he discovered
the training which would allow him to retain his consciousness after death.
So bringing this back around to Chi and the Force
I talk about Chi and I say for the purposes of this training I have decided to use the
word Force. Now I could break this down and get really
deep by talking about concepts and ideas from Taoist Neigong training.
I can talk about the conversion of jing to chi to shen, and I could say that it at the
shen level is when someone experiences the Force or the Cosmic Force but that's getting
way too advanced for what I want to do here. I don't want to fill people with all kinds
of nonsensical ideas that are not beneficial for someone's training who is just beginning.
For people who have that as their point of reference, sure you can go there with YOUR
training and with your philosophical babble, but how many people understand chi on that
level?
Not very many, so if you know about that kind of stuff give yourself a pat on the back.
I'm guessing the majority of the people watching these videos have no idea what that stuff
even means.
So for now let's just keep things simple and say Chi is the Force
So what is Chi? What does this word mean, Chi?
Is it universal energy? Is it life force? Is there some all powerful force holding the
galaxy together and creating life?
Chi can mean a number of things. it can mean air. It can mean breath. It can mean energy.
In “The Power of Internal Martial Arts and Chi,” Bruce Kumar Frantzis defines Chi as
“energy, subtle life force, internal energy, internal power. Manifested energy that empowers
something to work and function.”
Maybe you’re familiar with the word Chi being defined that way, but the truth is that
those definitions don’t really matter.
I called Chi a special condition based on someone’s awareness. It is a type of stretch
that someone is able to do by aligning their body and having a special type of awareness
where they create that Chi condition.
So you stretch out with your body and your mind in a certain kind of way. This is a physical
and a mental thing. Only then do you have the condition present to be able to do things
with Chi or to manipulate The Force, if you want to use that kind of language.
I would consider it more as being in harmony with The Force so that you're able to express
Fajin which means to release power in Chinese kung fu. If you're not familiar with this
concept just think of when a kung fu master barely taps someone and they go flying.
So this stuff I'm talking about is not mystical. There isn't any magic to it. It's just having
a proper mindset and the proper training.
If you don't like how I define Chi or talk about the Force based on my point of reference
that's okay, but no one should be annoyed by anything because this training is to create
ease.
So with that being said I would like to hear from all of you.
What do you all think about what I've said here? What are some ways that Chi was explained
to you, and does my explanation make you think any differently?
Let me know your thoughts down in the comment section.
If you have not subscribed already please feel free to click that subscribe button.
We talk about the real-life Jedi series every Monday there's the Holonet Underground where
we talk about the latest news in the Star Wars universe. There are Star Wars rebels
reviews every Thursday. There are fans speculation videos like the one I recently did on Kylo
Ren.
Speaking of that video, if you haven’t seen it, you can check out that speculation where
I describe how Kylo Ren could usher in a new line of Sith Lords. You can also check out
the video I did on Ray being a reincarnation of the chosen one from the prophecy of Mortis.
Anyway that's all I've got for now thanks for watching.
Y'all keep on breathing in May the force be with you.
Bye.