Summarising Ki
I just want to finish of my current thread about the nature of Ki by thanking Tracy for her contribution to the discussion and to Bevan for his post on The great Qi debate.
Looking back over my shiatsu training I remember starting out trying to feel an energy, hoping to be zapped by this mystical current running through the meridian channels. I now know that I was missing out on so much feeling waiting for this to happen but coming to know Ki is a gradual and personal process. Every mistake and disappointment is a building block in one’s education.
What I feel now is that Ki is, as Bevan writes, a potential or ability of the organs and the whole to act and react to its environment. That environment too is a set of potentials that will in turn act and react to what we do so this idea neatly encompasses the principles of Ki exchange.
Ki is energy too of course and yes one can call it a life force too but to simply categorise it with those words is a mistake. When giving for shiatsu one has to respond to what is under the hands and how it is reacting to our work. By coming to that understanding one comes to appreciate the nature of Ki.
Tony Brown @ October 5, 2007