Summoning Chi; Find Your Center

Be Like Water: Practical Wisdom from the Martial Arts
by Joseph Cardillo

Whether you'd like to conquer fear and anxiety, develop a more compassionate mode of communication with others, or simply learn to be utterly happy wherever you may be, this little book packs a big message. What exactly is it we're all driven to achieve, possess, and know? How can we be happy and nurturing individuals? BE LIKE WATER uses the philosophy of martial arts to examine these questions, and offers spiritual exercises and written "resolutions" to serve as mantras in order to help readers improve their lives.

Author Joseph Cardillo-a black belt in Kenpo karate-draws on 16 core principles that all martial artists rely on to be strong yet supple, agile yet fluid, sensitive yet powerful. Capturing the essence of these qualities in clear, simple prose, Cardillo illustrates how even the most mundane tasks at home and at work become Zen-like exercises. Here you'll learn that summoning chi is about finding one's center, seeing with your skin means developing sensitivity and intuition, and wrestling an empty jacket teaches us how to overcome force with softness. Be Like Water speaks volumes to all of us negotiating the hectic pace and seemingly empty drive for a "better life."

Chapter 1

The entire universe is condensed in the body.

- Sri Ramana Maharshi

The Chinese word chi (or ki in Japanese) refers to our internal life-force energy, as well as to the energy of the Universe, the Infinite, which is present in all things. Everyone is born with a certain amount of chi, and we all have the ability to gather even more. Chi is the core of all existence. It plays into all martial arts concepts and exercises, and forms the ideological foundation of all the ideas in this book.

In everyday life, chi supplies us with the power to break through areas of our lives where we feel stuck, trapped, or limited-either mentally, physically, or spiritually.

Chi is the force behind good health, confidence, happiness, strength, power, self-esteem, focus, virility, increased mental effectiveness, and success. It is that thing inside us that cannot be seen; the energy behind all change and self-improvement. It is the power that gives us a sense of safety and fluidity and healing. Ultimately, chi is beyond description, but not beyond feeling or applying.

The major location of chi in the body is within the Lower Dan Tien, a space located just a few inches below the navel, and, interestingly, your body's center point of gravity. Thus, within each of us is a profoundly nutritious energy, which is the energy of the Universe, the Infinite, and our connection to all things, for everything contains chi.

In martial arts, most of us practitioners will eventually shift our attention from external self-defense movements to softer internal practices of cultivating more chi when we begin to understand that our ability to get things done on the mats and in our lives is directly proportionate to our ability to invoke internal strength.

The more we train, the more we heighten our awareness of chi, the more we begin to glimpse its thrilling potential. The power of chi is unlimited. And so, like millions of others, I am enraptured by this phenomenon and have placed it at the center of my training, for martial arts is a way of unlocking the door to chi.

First, you have to find your center. When I began my studies in martial arts, my Karate and Kung Fu teacher introduced our class to the notion of chi early on. I remember he told us to position our hands in front of us as though we were holding a basketball, our right hand on top, left on the bottom, fingers pointed sideways.

"Now," he said, "relax and concentrate on your Lower Dan Tien."

He was teaching us how to center. Centering is believed to harmonize the body, mind, and spirit, as well as help in the development of chi.

"Relax completely," he emphasized. "But hold your concentration."

He told us to close our eyes. "Let your weight follow its course downward. Feel the gravity without giving in to it. Relax each joint and muscle. Feel the ground below you. Feel your feet becoming one with it. This is called rooting."

Some people like to visualize a cord attached to their spine and rooted into the earth, drawing energy up into their body.

"Let the earth's energy enter you. Breathe deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth," he explained. "Let the air travel through your entire body-throat, abdomen, limbs."

He asked us to keep our eyes closed and to visualize our breath as pure white, nurturing and healing everything it touched. We began to regulate (measure) our breathing.

"When I clap my hands, inhale," he said. "Slowly."

And with that, he gave us a brisk ten-count. "Now hold your breath." He counted another ten. "Okay, now exhale, slowly." He again gave us a count of ten.

He told us to follow our breath downward and to continue focusing on our Lower Dan Tien. This is the body's hub of energy.

Dating back to the Shaolin monks in a.d. 525, regulated breathing has been taught as a way of increasing concentration during prayer and strength in the fight.

"Our bodies are vessels," my instructor said. "And they can hold only a limited amount of energy, good and bad."

He asked us to continue focusing on our Lower Dan Tien and to visualize our chi as a white light, pulsing vibrantly with each breath.

"Try to extend your chi outward," he said. "Feel it enter your hands. Feel it with your hands."

Regulated breathing, coordinated with the summoning and releasing of chi, helps cleanse the body of bad energy and replenish it with good.

My notion of martial arts up to that point had been focused on external movements and exercises that could be used for building confidence and self-defense and, perhaps, de-stressing. But here was my instructor wanting me to breathe differently, telling me that "internal" concentration would increase not only my overall power of focus, but also my external strength. I was fascinated.

He asked us all to open our eyes. He looked at me. "What did you feel?" he asked.

"I'm not sure." I added, "I felt a slight sense of heat . . . like a warm current."

"That's it," he said.

Many of the other students experienced something similar.

"I want you to remember that feeling. We are going to do a lot with it," he said. "But for now, there is more to learn."

What he was referring to was the assimilation of several other techniques we had yet to be taught that would increase our ability to feel chi and to know when and how to best channel it into our movements.

"For now," he concluded, "just feel it and remember this: Where the mind goes, your chi will go."

Some time after that, I had to stack several cords of firewood in preparation for winter. It was early evening. The golden autumn light had just started to drain from the sky. The air was crisp and cidery and sweetened with the scent of bonfires.

I had set a goal for myself of one cord. It had been a long day, and I would have much rather put the job aside, but there was rain in the forecast. I knew it would be best to stack the wood before the weather made mud of everything.

I remember that with nearly half a cord to go, I decided to humor myself and put one of my martial arts lessons to the test. I relaxed myself, as my instructor had told us. I regulated my breathing. I centered, concentrating on my Lower Dan Tien and envisioning it blazing with energy. I imaged my breath downward, white and healing, flowing through my body.

My labor transformed into a meditation of sorts-not that I thought of it that way. It just happened that way. I soon forgot about being tired and worked spiritedly, continuing the martial arts exercise as I went along. Rather than begrudging my work, I felt comforted by it. When I finished stacking, I felt restored. Instead of feeling beat, I was animated. Not only had I completed the job with much less effort than usual, but what's more, I felt generally happy.

I had learned that positive energy helps us through tasks and creates joy. Better yet, I had experienced it. I was excited. I started thinking of where else I might apply these same skills. I was confident that I would make use of them in many circumstances yet to come.

Since then, whether I am attempting to strengthen my movements on the mats, conduct martial arts or creative writing classes at the college where I teach, or just increase my energy output for walking, jogging, housework, or gardening, I have used this method of cultivating healthy, positive energy on a daily basis.

Our bodies are vessels. They can hold only a limited amount of energy, either good or bad. Find your center. Cleanse your body of bad energy and replenish it with good. Feel restored. Feel animated. Let your daily work energize you rather than deplete your energy. Create joy.

Copyright © 2003 by Joseph Cardillo

About the Author

Joseph Cardillo was born in Norwich, New York, a small town between Binghamton and Syracuse. "People always ask when I started to write. I have always enjoyed writing and the excitement of sharing the journey. When I was a pre-teen, I used to look forward to spending nights at my Italian grandmother's house for two prime reasons: her great Italian cooking, and I got to have my own bedroom where I would write stories and then make them into little books I'd keep in a dresser drawer there."