I am curious about chi and its application in fighting.
Oh, crap -- you said the "c" word. Or the "q" word.
Kidding aside, that can take this discussion in a whole new direction.
So ... what the hell. It's in the forum title.
That's what I was talking about when I mentioned metaphors and understanding Chinese communication. To me, westerners see qi in two ways: as non-existent because we can't measure it directly, or magical because we can't measure it directly and because, well, it's oriental. (orientalism) I think that (many) Easterners don't care that we can't measure it directly. Some researchers like Dr. Shin Lin at UC Irvine are looking into it, but that's another topic. Check out his work.
To me, when someone says they're using qi in a martial context (and if they're not full of BS), they mean that they are using their body in such a unified manner that they can't point to any one component as the primary component of the action. That is, they can't say that they're using
only the fist, the arm, the waist, the legs or whatever.
Instead, they are using the
whatever that drives the body as a unit. This thing, which can be called qi, is the thing that lies between intention (yi) and muscles (li). It's a thing that is hard to describe, and that's okay, because we're not omniscient or of infinite perceptions: we can't describe
everything. (yet) I think that qi is extrapolated from a concept of a unified body-action; it's the
whatever that drives that action.
Can we measure it? Well, can we measure energy? Before you say "yes" in terms of joules (for example), recall that energy is calculated from measurements of phenomena such as changes in temperature. Energy is never measured directly, is it? Similarly, do we
feel qi directly? Personally, I believe that at the beginning at least, we experience it through a sensation of warmth or increased blood circulation (a light tingling). Is this qi? No, it's blood circulation. But qi drove the electrochemical reactions that caused that increased circulation. We begin to feel it when we are so relaxed, alert and open as to be allowing our bodies to function as they should without our applied tension:
we get out of the way.
Similarly, qi drives breathing, muscle movements, organ function ... all that stuff. Hey, something has to drive those reactions. Molecular reactions, atomic forces? What drives that? We could call it Fred or we could call it qi.
Back to martial: while qi (or Fred) drives everything that leads up to muscle contractions, I believe that the convention is to say "qi drives a martial act when the act cannot be traced back to a specific muscle group or groups."
Practically?
Relax. Be open, calm. Be sensitive to your opponent, to the context, to your relationship to the ground, to your own internal alignment and reactions. This will lead you to be sensitive to the grouping of your body components into larger and larger connected groups until when you act, you act as one ("As one!") unit against the ground. You may then experience the tingling because, basically, you will have gotten out of the way of your body's normal functioning. You will then have increased feelings of energy.
Thanks for reading. Take it as you will.