The Great Qi Mystery: "Qi Excel"

Girl, Interrupted... Pretty hot movie, I must say... I think I'm chyna go "Downtown" maself; maybe not.

Got on my detective hat (yeah right... I got my fro back now playah!). I think I wanna break something down to elementary if ya don't mind; I haven't solved a decent puzzle in a long time. There's this thing I got a hankering to understand; some say it's mystical but I've got a hunch that there's nothing mystical about it. I think it's just a dimension of the human body that our smart behinds haven't grown to understand yet. Let's start with a flashback. Peep:

If you'll recall, I wrote a blog a while back called Eastern Customs, or something like that. Nah, it was Eastern Character, that's it. It was about my affinity for the culture of the Far East. Well, there's an Eastern stowaway running loose in my mind, and 'Bod is on the trail in hopes of locking it down in the archives.

It's a little thing that they call Qi in China, Ki in Japan, Chi in America. It's an energy, something that has no taste, no form, no odor, no image, and no sound. ("Principle"... the word "principle" comes to me. Hold on to that...) A search for something the 5 senses can't fathom. And what's so tricky about it: since the five senses can't detect it, how will I be able to tell it from nothingness itself? Now that's the kinda challenge I like.

But it gets better. Qi, Ki, Chi... all different cultures. And there's more names for this energy. Along with the names, there is an equal number of claims as to what it is, what its nature is, what its origin is, etc. This is intriguing because I don't know what I'm dealing with. Some cultures say it's a mystical/religious thing. Others say it's a natural part of the universe that we simply don't recognize. A friend of mine drew an interesting conclusion that made me raise an eyebrow: "Qi has no form, sound, odor, image, or taste. It's unobservable, just like God. So it must be spiritual."

Good point, but I'm not convinced Bro. I'm gonna keep digging.

Here is a glimpse into the way that I do things. Here is this Qi enigma before me, seemingly impossible to understand. Where do I start?... From scratch. When you're chasing an invisible, possibly non-existent force that permeates the universe, you leave no stone unturned. I started by collecting data from all the Qi theories I could find, bogus or not. (thumbing through 'papers') Here's one that jumped out at me...

To paraphrase: a person's Qi is highest when they're engaged in an activity at which they excel.

Hm... As I looked at it and stepped back, I said to myself, "That doesn't match up with the rest of the theories. Prolly bogus." But just because it's bogus doesn't mean it's worthless. I looked a little harder and realized something: In order to uncover what Qi is, I need to distinguish between these theories. Why? Because there's always the possibility that the distorted theories of Qi actually point to SEVERAL DIFFERENT TYPES of invisible energies. Don't ever get so fixated on the missing diamond that you overlook the gems along the way, gumshoes.

This isn't the Qi I'm looking for, but it's something. Fast forward...

I've been thinking about this "Qi Excel" for a few months now. This is my first time writing anything down about it. Here's what I came up with in my pondering:

This "Qi Excel" could simply be a form of potential energy that is actually more of a principle than an energy. It is the potential of each individual to perform a certain task. For example, a tall person has more "Qi Excel" to perform a dunk on a basketball court than a short person. A person with long legs and a small torso has more "Qi Excel" to jump hurdles than a person with a large torso and small legs. Basically, "Qi Excel" is the summation of what a person is naturally endowed with toward performing a specific task. The task in question is the determinant of how great a subject's "Qi Excel" is.

Jeet Kune Do, the martial art started by Bruce Lee, is an example of an art that hinges on the principles of "Qi Excel" I think. For each student of the art, Jeet Kune Do takes a different form suited uniquely to that person. Kareem Abdul Jabbar studied under Lee. The two have totally different body types; thus, when they fight they fight differently. However, by recognizing their unique biological makeups and taking advantage of their respective properties--- Jabbar's reach and power and Lee's small size and quickness, each is able to be an efficient fighter.

Interesting huh? I'm sorry if I made ya head hurt; it's gonna get worse though. If it makes u feel better, it's all theory really. I'm just giving a name to some of my thoughts so I can put them aside for later reference and get back to the real search. Once I do some more isolating of theories, I can get a better image of my invisible enigma.

...And I still don't think it's mystical.

B-J