In a revamped health care system envisioned by senators, people would be required to carry health insurance just like motorists must get auto coverage now. The government would provide subsidies for the poor and many middle-class families, but those who still refuse to sign up would face fines of more than $1,000.

The details were unveiled Thursday July 2, in a health care overhaul bill supported by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

Called “shared responsibility payments,” the fines would offset at least half the cost of basic medical coverage, according to the legislation. The goal is to nudge people to sign up for coverage when they are healthy, not wait until they get sick.
[continued at The Seattle Times]

If you were given a choice, would you vote for or against this proposal? Why?

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LA JOLLA—Veteran actor Michael Dudikoff was discovered alive in his hotel room this morning, under mysterious circumstances. He was 54 years old.

Dudikoff was best known for his amazing work in 1980s action films such as Enter The Ninja, The Black Marble, and American Ninja 4: The Annihilation. Police are not investigating his disappearance from box office charts in recent years.

Speculation abounds on which shadowy organization declined to kill Michael Dudikoff. Some fans propose that the Triads, known to operate within in the Asian entertainment industry, were involved. Others believe that Steven Seagal was hired by the CIA to liquidate Dudikoff—their undercover ninja agent—but that Seagal had a last-minute change of heart, and killed someone else instead.

Michael Dudikoff’s survivors include his wife Belle, his golden retriever Shooter, and himself.

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Scientific research in the last ten years has captured many external qi phenomena and qualitatively recognized certain characteristics of external qi. On the whole, research on external qi is still at a qualitative stage. It is not easy to establish quantitative laws and phenomenological theories thereby moving to a quantitative stage.

The difficulty is mainly due to insufficient investigation of external qi and the resulting lack of scientific means to express the level of external qi. With more than a thousand qigong schools and numerous different qigong methods, it is difficult to establish common standards.

In addition, a qigong master’s qi-emission power is closely related to his own physical, mental, emotional state at the time of qi emission. As a result, each external qi emission is at best only roughly the same, and it is not as precisely reproducible as an instrument. Experiments seeking basic laws of external qi are not easy to accomplish because they require tens or even hundreds of strictly repeated experiments.

[As demonstrated by our previous experimental results,] qigong is more advanced than contemporary science, thus it is difficult to fit into the framework of contemporary science. However, like all fields of scholarship, if qigong research does not pass strict scientific examination, it will not survive in contemporary society, let alone be accepted in international academic circles. This is a fundamental contradiction.

This contradiction is first revealed in methodology. Modern science subscribes to the notion that an experimenter should remain completely independent of the test object, thereby assuring results unaffected by the experimenter’s thoughts; otherwise, the results are considered unreliable. In other words, the subject and the object must be separate and independent. However, traditional qigong pays close attention to consciousness and to the effect of the consciousness of an object–the observer and the observed are connected.

The conflict of these two methodologies stems from two different epistemologies: the dualism of separated spirituality and materiality, and the monism of a combined spirituality and materiality (qi theory).

Effects of Yan Xin’s external qi on
gamma ray count from ²⁴¹Am decay.
(Published in Ziran Zazhi, Vol. 11, 1988)

Sample size and reliability

One major criticism of our external qi experiments was that the number of samples used in the experiments was too small to draw significant conclusions. It is true that in medical and most biological experiments, a large number of samples are required to make clear conclusions. In physics, chemistry, and certain molecular biology experiments, however, small sample sizes do not necessarily produce unreliable results.

The study of a new phenomenon involves two different stages: discovery of the phenomenon, and exploration of the laws governing the phenomenon. The analysis in the first stage is a question of the statistical significance of the experimental result, to judge whether the observation represents a new phenomenon, or just a false signal caused by background statistical fluctuation.

For a significance test, it is important to have a precise understanding of the background noise. A large sample size is required for background measurement but not for the new phenomenon; a few events [of sufficient magnitude] are enough to indicate its existence.

Can qi influence atomic nuclei?

One pleasantly cool evening in September 1987, Dr. Yan Xin came to my home. My wife (Zhu Runsheng) and I chatted while sitting around a table and drinking tea. Yan Xin said, “Can we do some further experiments to explore deeper levels of matter? I want to conduct some more difficult and extraordinary experiments.” We went into deep thought for awhile, and suddenly Zhu Runsheng said, “Can you affect the decay of an atomic nucleus?”

“Each radioactive element has its own specific half-life—the time needed for its radioactive strength to be reduced by half. For example, the half-life of ⁶⁰Co used for radioactive therapy in hospitals is 5.2 years.”

“Half-life is an intrinsic property of various radioactive nuclei. It will not be affected by any ordinary physical or chemical environments. High temperature, high pressure, electrical fields, magnetic fields, acid or alkali, none of them can change the half-life. This is a basic fact of nuclear physics. Can external qi change it?”

Yan Xin was obviously attracted by this suggestion. His eyes shone and his mind was fully focused. He thought for a moment and then said excitedly, “No problem. Let’s try it.”

The following day, we found Associate Professor Zhang Tianbao at the Positron Physics Laboratory of the Institute of High Energy Physics. He had a high performance gamma ray spectrometer and a quality high-purity germanium detector. We selected a relatively stable radioactive source ²⁴¹Am, with a half-life of 458 years…

The results of this experiment and many others, originally published in Chinese, are detailed in the book.

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Introduction

• Chi (qi) is an ancient Chinese term, which can be translated as energy. Like energy, the word chi is used in both abstract and concrete terms, and applied to both general concepts and specific phenomena. In other words, chi is ambiguous. (People who use the term often have a specific meaning in mind.)
• In the broadest sense of the word, chi is generally understood to be pervasive, present in everyone and everything, but it is not uniformly distributed.
• Chi moves freely around the universe, assuming various forms along the way. Disciplines such as Chi Kung (Qigong) and Feng Shui purport to observe and manipulate chi, for the specific benefit of human life.

• According to this model, chi is present in the air. Therefore, it is sometimes understood to be synonymous with air. Chi circulates around the body, as do oxygen and blood; some people therefore assert that chi is breath or blood. Within the realm of martial arts, physical postures are known to affect circulation, and subsequently chi has been equated to good posture itself. All these conceptions must be seen as incomplete, if not plain wrong.
• By definition, chi is not a specific form of matter (e.g. element or molecule), nor is it a specific expression of energy (e.g. kinetic or thermal). On the contrary, these are all specific expressions of chi.
• This definition would seem to imply that matter and energy are somehow equivalent. While such a statement may offend the “common sense” of the average person, actual scientists have accepted its truth for a century. (Einstein famously expressed it as E = MC².)
• If chi does not take one specific form, is it therefore a non-falsifiable and unscientific theory? Not exactly. As in the case of dark matter, we can look for indirect evidence of its existence. Regardless, chi-based models are useful where they provide explanations for past observations, and correct predictions for future events, e.g. medical diagnosis and treatment.
• What then is chi kung? Simply put, it is a set of exercises with reproducible results, which are most easily understood within a chi-based model, and more difficult (or sometimes impossible) to explain with other models. Chi kung is a practice, not a theory or a belief. Chi kung is not occult magic, and it is not a religion or cult affiliation.
• When performed properly, many chi kung exercises can improve the practitioner’s health. Some have no such effect, and others can result in injury. Here are instructions for a very simple and safe introductory exercise.

Steps

1. Relax your body and mind. If this is your first time performing this exercise, find (or create) a distraction-free environment.


Wong Kiew Kit demonstrates a horse stance

2. Stand in a martial arts horse stance. Any stance will do. Remain in the stance for one minute or longer; doing so may enhance your results in the next steps. If you are extremely weak, then you may skip this step.
3. Exit the horse stance, and stand up straight. Again, relax your body and mind. Physical, intellectual or emotional tension will degrade your sensitivity and impair your results in the next step. Rub your hands together for a few seconds. Close your eyes.
4. Move your palms toward and away from each other, as if gently squeezing a small beach ball. Visualize the chi gathering between your hands. Move at a speed of 1-3 squeezes per second, within a distance of 6 to 24 inches. Continue this kneading for 2-4 minutes, or longer as necessary, until you notice an unexpected sensation in your hands. You may feel heat, tingling, vibrating, or strong magnetic repulsion. Many people will experience these feelings on their first attempt; others will need to repeat the exercise daily until a result is obtained.

Warnings

• These sensations constitute the observation of a “chi-effect”, and not necessarily a direct experience of chi itself. Other exercises will produce different sensations and effects, in different parts of the body, or outside it.
• The exercise outlined above is a trivial chi kung practice; do not mistake it for anything more. Chi kung is an extremely broad and deep subject, and the ability to feel sensations via the steps above does not demonstrate mastery, or even basic competence. These results are only a hint at what can be accomplished with time, discipline and good instruction.
• Do not assume that Chinese chi, Japanese ki, Greek pneuma and Indian prana are all the same thing.
• Contrary to popular belief, martial artists are not the best source of information on chi, or chi kung, and their unsubstantiated opinions should not be taken too seriously.

More Information

Chi kung (qi gong) books and DVDs
Renli’s Chi FAQ
What Every Martial Artist Should Know About Chi and TCM

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“Summer Movie Season” is the theme for hip-hop artist Spec Boogie’s ambitious new mixtape project. Every few weeks, he will release a new track, and video, based upon a classic hit movie.

This week’s feature is: Enter The Dragon.

Hip-hop meets kung fu, again

If you like rap, don’t miss his other smoothly edited music videos, for Superfly, Warriors, Edward Scissorhands, Requiem for a Dream, and more.

Old-school bonus track…

“Let It Out” by Tha Alkaholiks

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After Karate expert Lyoto Machida’s recent win in UFC 98, fans immediately started talking about a comeback for traditional martial arts. Prior to Machida’s victory, the couch potato consensus had written off traditional training methods as superstitious and ineffective. How quickly perceptions change.

Two short weeks later, Brazilian featherweight Jose Aldo won a truly stunning victory against Cub Swanson in WEC 41. Total match time: 5 seconds. Winning technique: crane kick.

Yes, the same technique that “Karate Kid” Daniel LaRusso used to win the fictional All-Valley Karate Tournament. (Jose Aldo connected with his knee rather than his foot, but a careful watching reveals that he did extend his leg to perform the kick.)

Maybe Mister Miyagi was right: against a well-timed crane kick, no can defense? Personally though, I’d rather put my money on Robbie Lawler’s wing chun boxing.

Jose Aldo vs. Cub Swanson, WEC 41

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We have to admit that the popular image of the black belt is inextricably woven into the general perception of these arts we follow. While we may have a more comprehensive view of the belt, we need to see that in the population outside the dojo, in the world at large, it usually means something else. When a black belt is conferred upon a karateka, that has implications in the popular imagination. And we should consider some ramifications that perception and those implications have upon what people think about karate-do.

Most readers will know that the belt system (dan-i) was created entirely by judo’s founder, Jigoro Kano. If has no ancient, feudal, or samurai connections. Belts in black or any other color were not a part of martial arts practice before the twilight of the feudal period in Japan, which ended in 1867. Kano awarded the fight black belts around the turn of the last century. Karate-do and other Japanese arts adopted the system, and later on so did most Korean combat arts.

Nearly all classical martial arts of the feudal period used some variation of the menkyo ranking system, and those extant today continue to use it. A series of licenses and sometimes accompanying scrolls were given to the student at various periods in their education, and their message was usually clear: the recipient is officially recognized in some capacity by the headmaster of that school. It is relatively easy to determine what this capacity is in the wording of the document. What exactly the black belt signifies in the modern dojo is another question entirely.

The public sees a child with a black belt and they assume that training is literally kid’s stuff.

In Japan, it is not uncommon to see sixteen- or seventeen-year-old children with black belts. No one in Japan would regard them as anything like a “master,” of course, just because they were wearing a black belt. It would be nice if we had a similar understanding of what a black belt means here, but we do not.

I can remember in the 1960s when some people seriously believed that in order to get a black belt, you had to kill a person. Or that you had to open-handedly chop through a requisite number of boards successfully. The general public has become a little more sophisticated now, but that’s not to say they don’t still have some odd ideas.

This morning’s paper contains a story about a “black belt” in a local karate school. He has been training for about two years and has completed successfully in several tournaments. He was recently promoted to a black belt rank. He is nine years old.

From a Western perspective, there is nothing good that comes from awarding a black belt to a child. For better of worse, the perception of the black belt is different here than in Japan. The public sees a child with a black belt and they assume that, in this dojo at least, training is literally kid’s stuff. They expect some level of competence and skill in a black belt that they know no child that age has or could have. Since Karate is inextricably linked with personal defense, they wonder too how the kid would do against a serious threat by an adult attacker.

While you could try to explain that this is a special junior rank…it all sounds like rationalization to the public. You are giving the kid a black belt because you want to encourage more children to enroll and thus pay the bills, or because it has to do with some other profit-motivated scheme, or because you just do not take your art seriously. That is going to be the assumption.

Come on. If a child can get a black belt in your art, how much is a black belt worth? Or for that matter, how much can your art itself be worth?

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What is the single most important lesson you have learned in martial arts?

On June 30, I will randomly select one respondent to receive a prize, courtesy of contest sponsor Shambhala Publications.

If your complete answer exceeds forty words, you are welcome to publish it on your own blog or forum; just give us the summary, and drop a link to your full post below.

Your Answers

John W. Zimmer:

“Initially I would have stated self-defense or fighting was the most important lesson. On reflection, I would have to say that learning how to unify my mind and body, or ki, is the most important lesson I have learned while studying the martial arts…”

(and more to come…)

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Chen Style Taiji: 38-posture form

Chen Bing explains push hands
“What if your opponent will not use force? Use it yourself.”

Chen Bing demonstrates Taiji throwing methods at a Miami seminar

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I first met Mike Martello in 2007, when he gave a local seminar hosted by Jake Burroughs. Although we only spent a few hours together, he impressed me as few other Kungfu instructors have.

Mike’s skills in Tanglang, Shuai Jiao and other Chinese martial arts styles were formidable–he earned more than 100 medals, trophies and certificates to prove it. While such recognition might amplify the egomaniacal tendencies of some masters, they seemed to have the opposite effect on Mike.

With his unpretentious style of teaching, he betrayed no interest in recruiting a cadre of followers, or threatening any potential rivals. Instead, he radiated a genuine and pervasive interest in sharing a beautiful, powerful art with good friends.

I was looking forward to visiting Mike again this year. It will not happen.

Mike Martello died yesterday, at the age of 42 years, while teaching a private lesson. His presence, however tragically brief, was a benefit to all who knew him.

At this time, a large collection of his videos are still available for viewing on YouTube. A recent interview was published at Mokuren Dojo.

Mike Martello in Seattle, 2008 (part 1 of 4)

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