Energy Combat, and why it's hard

[kakkarot]

actually, fat_turkey, i can use my energy in combat training fairly effectively. it doesn't take any more time to use than a thought takes to form and the will behind the thought takes to make it happen.

but i have used energy for years, and most newbies aren't that far into it yet (hence, them being newbies []).

but from my experience, the ability to manipulate energy is more easily attained if you spend time manipulating energy, the same as any other skill. it's just that it is normally harder for newbies to feel because they aren't used to feeling anything other than their physical body, and it takes a bit of getting used to (like a few months to a few years).

but once you really get used to it, like you get used to walking, it takes very little effort to move and use the energy, even in combat (if you train for it).

yep it's hard at first but time and training are needed, just like with any other skill. eventually, if you keep it up, it gets easier.

~kakkarot

[Tom]

In a fight there is often an emotional component. Recently someone was looking at me wrong. Probably not someone trained in energy work, but he was staring at me and I felt the energy situation becoming uncomfortable. My guess is that most people just back down for this guy in some way. At first I tried to avoid being a target, but something in me snapped (I might have lost my temper a bit) and I smacked him around a couple of times with the energy involved. Following up on this, I began to raise some energy to continue with more effectiveness. This guy left after only a couple of smacks, and I was just getting warmed up. To any objective observer we just glared at each other.

[Anonymous]

Fat Turkey- I agree with you to some degree- "Where the mind goes, the chi follows," so says my kung fu teacher. And from my own experiences, I would say that is true. Now, when you say energy combat training, do you mean like qigong mind-boxing or like putting the energy into your strikes when you spar someone? I would say that it's more difficult to do mind-boxing because of two reasons: 1) look at how few practitioners there are, and 2) it takes years to build up enough energy and expand your dan tien point to hold that much energy. It may not be hard to learn how to shoot your energy at someone, but it might be hard to develop that much energy. It really depends on what kind of person you are and how your mind works. We are like water baloons: the more we expand our energy storage centers, the more energy we can hold. Training the mind can be difficult, especially for someone like me who is slightly autistic and also obsessive-compulsive. I am easily distracted by even the least of things, so this training is good for me. I can put my mind into my legs when I hold stances in martial arts, and I can put my mind into different parts of my body simultaneously if I need to, say, throw a good side kick and maintain grip on the ground by sinking my qi into my foot on the ground. It is possible for a person to put all their energy into their pinky if they have that high a level of concentration/focus. This does not mean though, that it is hard to combat using energy. At least when it comes to punching/kicking, etc. But if you mean actually shooting large amounts of your energy at someone, well, that's just a wee bit harder. After all, there aren't many (if any) out there who have mastered such techniques.

[Anonymous]

One other point I want to make- When you think something is difficult, you make it difficult for yourself. When you think something is easy, you make it easy for yourself. The main thing is confidence. Yesterday I did flips when I was practicing, solely for this purpose. I was even able to tap into a source of energy I wasn't able to tap into before. I don't know where it came from, but a unique energy which wasn't qi flowed through me and enabled me to do a lot of things much easier. After getting the flip down, I went from doing flips to doing flips and then going into a roll when I landed. Later, I will try doing rapid-consecutive flips. I believe I can learn to do this very soon.

Anyway, it's about confidence. And don't get this mixed up with your ego because if your ego is shattered, so too will your confidence be shattered. And it's better not to have an ego because it can really get in the way of your training. I had what I consider to be a big ego once. I was so caught up in materialistic desires. We all are in some way, and in high school, for me it was wanting to be popular. I wanted everyone to respect me because I thought of myself as original, creative, artistic, kind, and caring. I felt that because they didn't respect me, everyone else was not worth getting to know. But that's high school for you. It's a bunch of crap, no matter who you are or how popular you are or how smart you are. I still have some ego in me, but I am getting rid of it because I saw how it made me want to practice only what I was already good at, because I wanted to show off. Obviously, it is important to practice what you are good at, but not as much as the stuff that needs work. The greatest of people are those who do not try to hide their weaknesses, but instead acknowledge them in public, and take criticism, wanted or not, harsh or not, constructive or not, and just smile back and keep trying to improve the areas that need work.

[Fat_Turkey]

Hi.

I have noted that to achieve better energy manipulation work one must enter a kind of trance state. Full meditation is not necessary, just a kind of trance. Once a person clears his surface thoughts away and his more of his mind to focus, he/she can use energy better. This is simply illustrated by the fact that wherever attention goes, energy flows - or at least, that's the theory. Therefore, 100% concentration = maximum energy work. And that is why I will now illustrate the fact that, unless a person undergoes intense martial arts training, energy combat is far out of reach.

Relaxing the mind to the mental state in which energy can be used good enough for what it is almost famous for, can take some time for the average practitioner. Eventually, reaching this state will take less and less time, but the state usually has the effect of slow movements, thus making energy work during combat never 100% effective. I know there are people like Bruce Lee who have trained and used energy in combat situations, but this takes intense training. Unless a person is trained in a martial arts and used to quick energy movements with the flow of correct bodily movements, energy combat is near useless.

That is why I stress to all beginners that they don't pay attention to ANY sites that give out information on energy combat, as most of it is highly DBZ inspired and most likely out of reach for the average practitioner. You are much better off focusing on another part of energy first, such as OBE, psionics, magick, etc. Although there are some people who have 'reverse engineered' the process, so to speak (Martial artists), where they have achieved strong energy combat and then dropped backwards down the tree to do 'easier'(and I use the term loosely) things like psionics. The reverse engineering effect is the result of traditional paths of energy that recquire, as I said, intense training and they take many months to even start taking some effect. Bare in mind though that the traditional uses of energy are incredibly strong, albeit their slow development time.

All energy sites that have good information on them but seem perplexing is simply because when a person teaches THEMSELVES the traditional ways of energy, it is near impossible to teach another. You're far better off going off to a martial arts that teaches energy, with a proper sensei.

Later
-FT