Kotsu Kotsu

The concept of Ki , or lifeforce, exists in many cultures. In Chinese it's Chi or Qi , in Sanskrit,  Prana . In western culture, while we may say someone has a soul that is distinct from their physical body, the soul is connected to the individual.  Ki, as it is understood in Japanese culture, is a universal force that permeates everything. Individuals may manifest more or less ki, but it is a connecting force between everyone and everything. In Japan, ki is an everyday concept that's found in many common phrases . For example the phrase "O  ki o tsuke te," which means "take care," literally means, "apply ki ."   "O genki desu?" the most common way to say "How are you?" means, literally, "Do you have ki ?"   "Ii k imochi," a phrase heard often, particularly in popular songs, means "(What a) good feeling." "Ii" means "good" and "kimochi" literally means having, o...

My instructor, Dan McDougall, often suggests that beginning students try picking one of the Four Basic Principles to focus on during ki development exercises. Here are a few specific ideas that may help during ki development exercises: Keep One Point :  Find your  one point . Try imagining that this point is very heavy and is grounding you, making you balanced and strong. As more movement is introduced into the ki exercises, see if you can keep your sense of  one point  just as strong.  Unlike gravity,  one point  is an idea, and maintaining it is totally under your control, so if you want to feel heavy, you can, but you can also feel light if you choose.  You may want to try imagining your  one point  to be very small, or imagine it to be infinitely large. Or you may feel its enough to simply feel it is there. Entire treatises have been written on one point. It's best not to get too carried away, just keep it simple...

In a previous post I wrote about why, and how, we practice ki development exercises in Kokikai Aikido . What is Ki, Anyway??? So, we're supposed to be developing our " ki " during "ki development exercises," but what is ki ? Ki  is an concept that is shared among many Asian traditions. While Google translates it unhelpfully as "ki", the word is used in  many ways  in Japanese to signify everything from  spirit  or  life energy  to  air  and  atmosphere . There are many common Japanese expressions that use  ki  such as "O-gen ki desu ka?" ("How are you/Are you well?") " Ki " is part of the word "Aikido" and "Ko ki kai" as well as some other health-related practices you may have heard of such as "Rei ki. " In Chinese it's " qi " (pronounced " chi ") and is part of Qi -Gong and Tai Chi Chuan. In Sanskrit the word  prana  means much the same. One of my favorit...

In an earlier post , I wondered, "Is ki real?" Is ki an actual thing, or is it just a concept? I teach aikido to college students. So I hesitate to write about science as if I know anything, because I know I will be challenged! But I offer this: Only a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum is visible to the human eye. We are all familiar with ultraviolet and infrared rays or waves and the ways in which they can be used: gamma rays, X-rays, infrared heat lamps, microwaves, and radio. Infrared light was only discovered by humans in 1800 and ultraviolet in  1901 . But animals such as bees  and snakes  have sensed these parts of the spectrum for eons. How might a snake's ability to find prey or a bee's ability to find nectar have been described or understood before we had instruments to perceive these wavelengths? Dark matter  is a discovery that has only recently become known to non-scientists. Only 50 years ago, in popular culture at least, ...