Electric Brae is a road in Scotland that is famous for seeming to defy the laws of physics. When a car is stopped at a certain point it appears to roll uphill as if drawn by a mysterious magnetic force. A Scottish friend of mine has been there and swears that something strange is going on. We argued for quite some time until I Googled the damn thing and gleefully informed him that Wikipedia stated that it was an optical illusion created by the converging hills and hedges. My friend replied exasperatedly that, “It’s not a f*%#&in optical illusion – I’ve seen it with my own eyes!” You will have to imagine a Scottish accent to fully appreciate the comedy.
A similar problem arises when the subject of Chi comes up. I absolutely believe that the laws of physics remain constant, at least within our observable world. Let’s leave aside quantum mechanics and other awkward anomalies and stick to the Electric Brae example. To me it is obvious that this little stretch of road in Scotland must be bound by the same science that rules all other bits of road, however my Scottish friend, (let’s just call him Des), was fooled by appearances. It seemed as if an inexplicable force was pulling the car uphill.
When a skilled practitioner performs an action that involves Chi it appears that some invisible magic force has bounced the attacker off them. The cynical observer will naturally assume that, as there is no such thing as magic, this is a set-up. Understandably they may assume that the martial artist is claiming magical powers and therefore is a charlatan. Often this may be so, but there is also another explanation.
Correct practice in standing meditation can produce a physiological reaction. The body will feel transformed as if ‘something’ is filling up and expanding the space between the joints. This can be used to make the body perform like a super spring. An heightened body awareness allows skilled practitioners to access their centre of mass simply by feeling, rather than physically aligning their limbs. When they exert force a person on the receiving end may resist, which means that he or she is pushing on a super springy structure that is anchored and powered by the Chi exponent’s entire body weight and assisted by the person unconsciously pushing themselves away.
The effect appears to go beyond physics. Of course this is an illusion. I know that, but some armchair martial artists on the internet may think I am hoaxing them. If they thought further they would realise that to act out this bouncing away would actually require much more skill. However people often do not think things through. Consequently I tend to avoid using the word Chi.
Chu Shong Tin in his usual common-sense way cut through this awkwardness while describing the process of raising the spine;
‘Once you can do this very well there will be a force expanding the gaps between each vertebrae, it will keep raising through the neck and all the way to the top of the head. If you can do this well, you can feel that there is something, maybe it’s called Chi or whatever, I don’t quite know how to describe it. So let’s say we call this Chi.’
Damn right! Let’s just call it Chi.
~ Mark Spence