QI

What is qi? Qi (pronounced "chee" in English) means different things to different people. Some say that it is a force created by practicing breathing exercises. Some say that it is highly developed concentration. Still others say that it is an electrical force that circulates within the bodies of all living creatures. Some even claim that qi is a person's soul. Where does the idea of qi come from? Most information about gi comes from ancient Asian civilizations. For thousands of years, the people of India have believed in this type of energy, which they call prana. According to Indian mystics, or holy men, highly developed prana can allow a man to equal the physical strength of several men, letting him bend thick metal bars and lift heavy objects. The Chinese call this force qi, the Koreans gi, and the Japanese ki.

Regardless of its name, the traditional thinking in Asia is that this energy can be used for health, relaxation, and self-defense. Special qi doctors in China, Korea, and Japan believe that this force travels through our bodies like cars on a highway. They believe that some types of pain are caused by qi being unable to flow smoothly, similar to a traffic jam on a road. They use a special system of needle therapy¹ called acupuncture or reiki, a type of healing massage, to help unblock those areas where qi cannot flow freely.

Sometimes these doctors are able to direct the gi from their own bodies into the bodies of their patients. Qi meditation², or qigong, popular in China, teaches its followers to send their gi to the muscles of the heart, stomach, face, and neck. These are the places where stress builds up the most. These people believe that learning how to direct their gi to these areas will help them relax and live longer, healthier lives.

Probably the best-known examples of qi development can be found in the area of martial arts³. Practices like hapkido, karate, and kung fu teach people to develop their gi for self-defense. The Shaolin monks⁴ of Central China are masters of one of the oldest styles of kung fu, Shaolin Wushu. They are known for their ability to control their qi and do things with their bodies that seem to defy⁵ the laws of physics, such as breaking bricks with their bare hands, balancing their bodies on the edges of swords, and enduring⁶ freezing cold temperatures with no discomfort.

Can science prove the existence of qi? With modern computer technology and sensitive recording equipment, maybe it can. Researchers from the University of Southern California have been performing experiments to see if there are any actual physical changes in the bodies of people who undertake⁷ qi meditation, and they have found interesting results. By attaching special computers that measure brain waves to the heads of qi meditation students, scientists have been able to detect unusually high levels of gamma waves in their brains. These are the fastest electromagnetic waves in the brain and are linked to elevated consciousness and intense concentration. Qigong practitioners are also able to induce changes in the temperature of certain areas of their bodies. This energy can be observed on special machines used to monitor body heat.

Is qi meditation helpful? Is gi real? Whether science says it is or not, many people throughout the world have no doubt about its existence or its benefits for the body and mind. Maybe the only way to know for sure is to try for yourself!

• change the temperature
• circulates around
• with their bodies
• relieves stress
• gamma waves
• in therapies

• sword
• induce
• consciousness
• physics
• elevated
• civilization

Qi as a Weapon?

Though most people study qi for health reasons, the Soviet Union may have used it for a much darker purpose. Some researchers believe that the Soviet Union attempted to make a machine that used qi energy as a weapon to hurt, and sometimes kill, other people. This machine, invented in secret during the 1960s, was discovered by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the early 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union. "We started getting all of these files that were once secret," said one retired Air Force Colonel who helped translate Russian military documents into English. "We thought that this was a joke. I mean, who would have taken this stuff seriously, the idea that mind waves could kill a person? But the [Soviet government] did a lot of research into the stuff," he said.

The machine looked like a fighter pilot's helmet but with a lot of wires and computer attachments on its outside. According to some Russian scientists who worked on this top-secret project, test subjects would put the helmet on their head, look at their target, and concentrate. After a few seconds, the targets would begin to react strangely. "We were able to achieve success (death) with small animals up to the size of a dog. Larger animals and humans would just get hot and sweaty," said a Russian military officer who worked on the program. Luckily for the dogs and cats of the world, this program was stopped in the mid-1960s, when Russia decided to focus more on its space race to the moon with the US.