i is the Chinese word for life energy, also spelled chi or ki. It is the essence used in acupuncture, qigong, taiji, and reiki, as well as many other traditional arts in China and Japan. Its western counterpart is the spirit.
     I have practiced the gentle and peaceful Japanese martial art aikido since I was a teenager. That is for more than 35 years, and it still inspires me greatly. Something within aikido vitalizes and delights me, just by practicing the movements.
     It is qi, the life energy. The swirls and spins of the aikido movements stimulate the flow of qi inside me as well as the other practitioners, and whirls through the space between us. Aikido might have the form of a martial art, but in essence it is a way of dancing to the flow of qi.
     The word aikido says it all. It translates to the way of joining qi (spelled ki when Romanized from Japanese). I let my qi emerge and join with that of my training partner.


Aikido class.

     In China and Japan, most of the arts – not just the martial ones – are expressions of the qi flow. It is also essential in such healing methods as acupuncture, qigong, and reiki.
     The idea of a life energy is present in many of the world’s cultures and ancient traditions. It is often linked to breath – as in the Chinese concept qi, the Indian prana, the Greek pneuma, the Hebrew ruach, and our word spirit, from the Latin spiritus – also used in the word inspiration. Maybe it could simply be explained as a symbolic way of celebrating the joy of being alive: the breath of life, without which we quickly perish.
     This breath of life can be stimulated to increase, and thereby rise to something far more than the mere consumption of oxygen, and extend way beyond the reach of our bodies. You will definitely feel the difference.
     You do not have to believe it to try it. Keep an open but also critical mind, and make your decision afterward. Life is a wondrous mystery. What brightens it up is precious, whether it can be seen in a microscope or not. And you know what Hamlet said to his doubting friend: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

I have written two books on the subject of life energy: Qi: Increase your Life energy and Life Energy Encyclopedia.

Stefan Stenudd