Don't think of Chi (Qi) as something that you are going to use as a fighting tool. Think of it as something that helps makes you better at things like striking, grappling, and sensing the slightest movement in your opponent even if they are connected to your body for short periods of time. Don't expect to give of electric charges or anything like that. What you can expect is that you'll be able to sense your opponents intention much better. For example, I threw the other instructor of in my school on the ground 2 twice within 10 seconds during free sparring. I didn't plan or set him up for a throw and the throw wasn't luck. My ability to sense balance through Tai Chi is what allowed me recognized when my opponent is off balance and which way I should move him to take advantage of that. If you ask me, how did I do it, I will be honest and say, "I don't know" I just did it because that's what if felt like should be done.
I know it wasn't a fluke because I did the same throw twice on a guy that was attacking me with punches. Both times the throw was easy and I came away wondering if he just took a dive. When you get it right your strikes and actions will have a similar effortless feel. You won't get the same feeling that you get when you wrestle someone or muscle someone to the ground.
From my experiences and just a guess, because I'm not an expert in this, the sign that you have used Qi correctly is when you have someone who is clearly using strength and muscle to attack you, but you someone end up using much less effort to deal with what they are throwing at you. One you experience that then I would say you have just experienced using Qi in a fight.
What you feel during practice isn't the same thing you'll feel during sparring or fighting. In practice what you are feeling is you learning how to control your energy flow. You have always had energy flow through your body, but you haven't paid attention to until recently. As you become more aware of how your energy flows through your body, you'll begin to tell how energy is flowing through your opponents body.
The best advice that I can give from a beginner stand point. Is to keep focusing on your energy and how it moves through your body. Don't become concern with trying to make it happen during sparring or when speeding things up. You'll just end up trying to force it when you should be just relaxing and letting it happen.
The times where I think I used Qi happened naturally and unplanned. My body just recognized it, I listened, and allowed my reaction to flow without thought.
I think one of the students was recording the free sparring match so if she caught it on tape then I'll show the video of it. I'm curious to see it myself because those 2 throws were easy and I literally didn't feel the weight of his body as I threw him.
Have patience with your training. Tai Chi is not a fast path to fighting. You'll spend years learning about yourself and your body before your actually get to the point where you can use the techniques you are learning at will.
The one thing that I do know for a fact is that the majority of your Tai Chi techniques are going to feel and be weak until you learn how to connect your energy and control the flow of it. It' most likely happen similar to how it happens to me. I'm not at the skill level where I can use it on demand. It just pops up every now an then, usually when the concepts of Tai Chi are far from my mind.
xo
