you're on the right track
Your personal well-being is the best litmus test for how things are going
and there is nothing magical about Chi. You can figure a lot of stuff out using common sense.
If you want to understand martial art, then you should understand where martial art came from.
From the Zen tradition, the monks realized that too much meditation would make the body lethargic. So a simple form of exercise was developed to complement the daily meditation routine. The bone marrow washing exercises incorporated simple movements with breathing techniques. From this simple beginning
Martial art was developed.
You don't have to worry about getting hurt doing these type of exercises.