“The knee bends but the chi remains straight”

Ok, here’s a little context. I am preparing to test for 1st degree black sash in August at my Shaolin-Do school. I’ve been studying Tai Chi Chuan for a little over two years. In a recent seminar, our Grand Master teaching on chi kung (qigong) made a similar remark to “the knee bends but the chi remains straight”. This remark in particular grabbed my attention but I will come back to that shortly.

What is Chi? The simple answer is energy. The more complex definitions I’ve heard over the years have been mental focus, life force, universal energy, etc.

Chi Kung means “energy work”. This particular practice has come to enrich my life in more ways than one. We study Chi Kung breathing forms as part of our Tai Chi curriculum in part to discover and move chi within ourselves. This “energy work” fosters growth and stability physically, mentally, and spiritually. In turn it is possible to increase vitality, creativity and love for ourselves as well as others.

Back to “the knee bends but the chi remains straight”. I often think in metaphors which is probably why I am drawn so much to this “chi stuff”. When he said this I immediately got an image of a tree whipping around in a tumultuous storm. The trunk swayed back and forth as the wind and rain continued to beat down ripping all the leaves and some of the branches off. But the tree remained, the roots deep underground held that tree in place.

We all go through storms, changes, uncomfortable, painful, and fearful moments. However you choose to think about “chi” remember friends we can be bent but not broken if we connect or ground ourselves to that which remains constant.