For Dim Mak and Qi: Martial Arts Enigmas Part 1, click here.
I believe that Dim Mak was likely devised as a narrow band, specialty-use adjunct to the conventional striking of Kung Fu and Taijiquan after it emerged as an offshoot of acupuncture. It may have had some utility as an assassination tool or as a niche weapon of rare opportunity that, consequently, wasn’t often utilized. As aforementioned, I don’t believe that Dim Mak would be a viable hand-to-hand methodology simply because of the difficulty in accurately striking acupuncture points in a fight. I’m not saying hitting certain points in combination won’t cause harm. I am saying that any technique reliant on pinpoint accuracy loses much of its utility in self-defense scenarios. That utility would be further degraded if the deleterious effects of the strikes required time to manifest rather than presenting immediately.
During my tenure in the Washington, D.C. area as a national intelligence officer, I had occasion to briefly train at the Henan Shaolin Temple’s satellite temple in Herndon, Virginia which is staffed by a rotation of martial monks from the main temple in China. I never saw anything there that I could directly attribute to Qi, and I never encountered any reference whatsoever to anything remotely related to Dim Mak. But, in all fairness to both sides of the argument, I never asked any of the resident monks about them either. I wish that I had. I was in a perfect place to explore Qi and didn’t do it. Hindsight, right?
I did observe awesome physical feats performed by the martial monks that I attributed to their Chan meditative training. Again, that is my personal opinion. I personally believe that the Chan mental and spiritual training at Shaolin was responsible for the monks’ seemingly enhanced physical abilities along with, of course, the draconian physical training methodologies found at Shaolin. It may well be that it was, in fact, a manifestation of Qi that I saw in the monks’ physical abilities—the Chan meditative training allowing the monks to cultivate human bio-energy and, along with their harsh external martial training, contributing to their prowess. On the other hand, maybe it’s just that the monks are awesome athletes. Again, in retrospect, I wish I had asked the Shaolin Temple martial monks about both Qi and Dim Mak.
My decades of what my wife refers to as martial tourism afforded exposure to a wide array of martial arts systems that included, among others, Yang and Wu Taijiquan, Xingyi, Baguazhang, Shaolin, Mantis, Southern Fist Wushu, Goju-Ryu, Shotokan, Shorin-Ryu, Taekwondo, Hapkido, Aikido, Kendo, American Sport Karate, Kempo and Krav Maga. Add to that list police defensive tactics and the hand-to-hand combatives I received training in while a federal intelligence officer. I fancy myself a fairly well trained and relatively knowledgeable martial artist with experience in actual street fights. Qi cultivation was part of only a handful of the training curriculums in the US-based training halls where I was exposed to them. Dim Mak striking wasn’t part of any curriculum I was involved in. It may have come up in conversation once or twice, but only in passing.
During my martial arts career, I often heard mention of Qi but never saw any visual demonstration that I could reliably attribute to its exercise, except for two possible exceptions. One exception would be the fantastic abilities of the Shaolin martial monks that I witnessed. The other exception was a demonstration given to me by an Aikidoka of an “unbending arm.” This demonstration occurred in the Ki-Aikido dojo in Merrifield, Virginia in the early 2000s.The Aikido practitioner attributed his “unbendable arm” to his ability to channel Qi. It may have been just that or simply a demonstration of efficient biomechanics—I don’t know.
At a Wing Chun Kung Fu kwoon I attended in Fairfax, Virginia in the 2000s, some of the senior students (one in particular who was from Hong Kong) would occasionally reference Qi-magnified punches that, in their words, would penetrate deep into the body of the recipient causing grave damage. I never observed any demonstration of physical capability or punching power at that kwoon that would substantiate those claims. I can’t disprove them either. Of course, doing grave harm in demonstrations is not a good way to keep students. Please understand that I am not disputing the existence of Qi. Purely for purposes of transparency as a martial arts writer, I am stating that I have had no personal observations that I can potentially attribute to Qi outside of the aikido incident previously mentioned and the abnormal capabilities of the Shaolin monks.
Along similar lines, I never saw anyone project energy or execute any sort of “no touch” technique. I must admit that I am fascinated by both Qi and Dim-Mak, although I have real trouble believing in “no touch” martial techniques. Just because I haven’t experienced something doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. I have never seen air and it certainly exists. I believe most martial artists, whether they scoff at it or not, are intrigued by the concept of Qi and the idea of Dim Mak. That is why KungFuMagazine.com’s publisher, Gene Ching, is letting me rattle on about them in this article.
At the end of the day, I believe that there is a definite case to be made for the existence of manipulatable, human intrinsic bioenergy. I also believe that evidence may exist that focused strikes on certain acupuncture points can have deleterious effects on the human system. I don’t blindly believe. However, I do believe these things can easily fall within the grand configuration of reality. As for projecting that energy and, in effect, executing “no touch” strikes, I am highly skeptical but not dismissive of the possibility, however unlikely. That’s something I would have to see accomplished under controlled scientific monitoring. I will say that, when one reflects on how absurdly bizarre quantum physics are, things like Dim Mak and Qi seem much less fantastic.
While putting this article together, I decided to query the thoughts of those I trust most to comment about martial arts—other martial artists.
Loren Christensen is a 10th Degree Black Belt and author of nearly 60 books. Mr. Christensen is a Vietnam veteran and a retired Portland, Oregon police officer. Loren is a serious, realty-based martial artist not given to flights of fantasy. I asked Loren to comment on the subjects of Qi and Dim Mak and to offer any personal experiences he may have had with either. He indicated in his response that he had never seen a Dim Mak demonstration but related a personal experience possibly related to Qi. Here’s what Loren had to say:
“The closest I’ve come to experiencing it—and I don’t know if it was, indeed, Qi—was with an Arnis and Tai Chi teacher I trained with for a year. He was a big guy, lean and fit, but I don’t believe what I felt was a product of applied muscle. Arnis does a lot of checking in which the empty hand touches, pushes or smacks the opponent’s arm or leg to keep them from countering. My teacher’s checks were devastating, though they appeared to be nothing more than a mild touch. He wasn’t striking or slapping; he was simply touching my arm or leg to keep me from using them. But it hurt! Sometimes my checked arm would drop to my side, nearly useless for a while. On a few occasions, when my teacher was striking at my legs with his stick, he would touch my closest thigh with his palm to check it. A couple of those times, my leg buckled. I’ve trained with bodybuilders and weightlifters who couldn’t punch as hard as my teacher effortlessly checked. And, to be mystical, the impact felt ‘different’ than those thousands of times I’ve been clobbered with muscle-driven punches and kicks. What do I mean by different? I don’t know other than it wasn’t the same. How’s that for being vague? I’ve often wondered if my teacher’s checks were applied Qi. If not, what was it?”
Qi is hard to quantify. It is exceedingly hard to describe its qualities, even if personally experienced. Its ephemeral nature notwithstanding, Qi is both an integral element of TCM methodologies such as acupuncture and a component of classical martial arts traditions dating back centuries.
I also reached out to Anita Fyfe, an experienced Yang lineage taijiquan instructor in Greenfield, Wisconsin for her comments on Qi. Sifu Fyfe provided the following:
“I have had a personal experience when I was learning Push Hands a few years ago. In my CMC Traditional form class, we were practicing a technique in which you visualize the Qi moving through the person to push them over without touching them. And it works! It was an amazing experience which proved to me the power of Qi. Sorry, I'm not able to remember the name it was given or what the exercise was called. I do recall standing next to the person facing the side of their body in a Tai Chi Stance (hands in a push position) and being as relaxed as possible to visualize the Qi moving out my hands through their body to the other side of the room. They lost their balance and stumbled over. I was able to reproduce this same response with two different individuals. This was amazing to me. Harnessing the Qi is powerful!”
During my research I found mention that, in China, scientific research into Qi has conceptualized that Qi is a type of radiation and electromagnetic energy. Sound far out? Consider this: Contemporary scientists engaged in the study of quantum physics have posited that consciousness is a manifestation of quantum processes in the brain. Some have said that those quantum processes continue on after biological death. In other words, they aren’t bound by the body. Scientific study has shown that meditating Buddhist monks can, in fact, raise their temperature or slow their metabolism, thus indicating that human consciousness has far-reaching capabilities. Thought has demonstrable power. When considered in this context, the experiences of taijiquan Sifu Fyfe and Karate master Christensen take on a new dimension.
What we are seeing in 21st century science is that metaphysics and mainstream science are getting closer by way of quantum physics, which is providing a sort of common ground. That ‘quantum process’ of consciousness appears to have extraordinary applications for those adept at harnessing its power. Something animates the human body and powers the human mind. Tales of supernatural pugilistic feats which have persisted in martial arts traditions throughout the ages disguised as mysticism may well be manifestations of intrinsic human energetics that have a scientific explanation. How cool would that be?
Quantum computers work due to the quantum concepts of superposition and parallelism. A quantum computer performs calculations in our universe while simultaneously performing them in other universes. You can look it up. Quantum physics requires a multi-world interpretation.
When viewed in the broad context of all the fantastically surreal things that modern science has revealed such as superposition and parallelism, the existence of human intrinsic energy isn’t such a mind-bending idea. Likewise, the concept that nodes of that bioenergy field could be attacked with precision strikes in order to negatively impact the body aren’t that far out, either. The belief that humans can manipulate the bioenergy field that animates them and possibly project it also doesn’t seem that farfetched.
“What science finds to be nonexistent we should all accept as nonexistent, but what science merely does not find is a completely different matter.” - Dalai Lama
