The Concept of "Chi"

[Sword-In-Hand]

I'm going to post this in the General Theology forum as well, but I wanted to see what my Baptist brethren thought of it first, so here goes.

I'm a practicing martial artist and I have been since I was 16, so eleven years, I'm a 2nd Degree Black Belt and all that blah blah, but here over the last few years I've been involved in a meditation class. We don't do the whole "ohm, ohm" repeated chant over and over again, that is more Tibetan style, but what we mainly do is breathe. We close our eyes take in a deep breath and count how many seconds we take it in, hold for half of that and then release for the same number count as we took in.

*Just a note, please no one try what I'm saying, because there are certain ways we have to set and such and if you do it wrong you can really mess up your posture.*

Anyway, this whole method is used in order to find our "chi" or the body's internal energy. I'm going to try and explain this as simple as I can so I don't get over anyone's head, especially mine. If you've ever played the old Street Fighter games and saw one of the characters project some kind of energy that is a demonstration of chi, but to an almost unrealistic extent. When you see people break blocks, bricks or wood that is a demonstration and there are many other ways to show chi usage.

So my question is, do you think its Godly to pursue some of the internal mysteries of the body like chi? I know it's an eastern concept where God isn't widely accepted, but on the other hand it involves no form of magic or chanting, just simple breathing to understand the body better. Also I'm not speaking on Feng Shui which really has nothing to do with the body's internal energy, so I hope no one gets confused.

I'm open to any questions or just opinions on what you guys think.

[Gold Dragon]

I am Chinese. Chi or Qi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi) is a concept of ancient Chinese spiritualism that has been adopted by most Eastern religions including Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism (which is arguably a religion). New Age philosophy borrows many of its ideas from the concept of Qi, including "The Force" in Star Wars.

I would consider the philosophy of Qi on par with the philophies of Yoga. While these teachings are false, I believe we as Christians can still benefit from the physical aspects of the exercises while focusing instead on the person of Christ who is our "life force". Other Christians who have more militant perspectives on non-Christian spirituality would probably say you should avoid these activities for fear of occult influences.

[Sword-In-Hand]

Oh, I probably should have mentioned this before, but we are taught to focus on something that makes us happy, so when I set down for meditation, I focus either on Christ or my wife.

Thanks for the insight GD, do you practice martial arts and/or meditation?

[Gold Dragon]

Thanks for the insight GD, do you practice martial arts and/or meditation?
I know zilch in martial arts but have many friends are involved with kung-fu so I've talked with them about the whole aspect of Qi. The only meditation I've done is meditating on Christ, the Bible and the Holy Spirit.

Sorry I can't help you much here.

[Sword-In-Hand]

The only meditation I've done is meditating on Christ, the Bible and the Holy Spirit.
That's the best form of meditation right there :)

[ZiSunka]

I am Chinese. Chi or Qi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi) is a concept of ancient Chinese spiritualism that has been adopted by most Eastern religions including Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism (which is arguably a religion). New Age philosophy borrows many of its ideas from the concept of Qi, including "The Force" in Star Wars.

I would consider the philosophy of Qi on par with the philophies of Yoga. While these teachings are false, I believe we as Christians can still benefit from the physical aspects of the exercises while focusing instead on the person of Christ who is our "life force". Other Christians who have more militant perspectives on non-Christian spirituality would probably say you should avoid these activities for fear of occult influences.
Great answer!:amen: