Qigong

Floating Egg

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One of the common experiences among practitioners of Qigong is the sensation of heat imparted by someone from a distance of several inches. Some forum members have explained this phenomena as a "vascular response caused by repeated visualization." Is there any new information regarding this?

There have also been a number of posts related to Iron Shirt/Golden Bell, with one explanation being the thickening of the fascia. Does anyone have an explanation for repeated and hard groin strikes without pain or injury?
 
Floating Egg said:
There have also been a number of posts related to Iron Shirt/Golden Bell, with one explanation being the thickening of the fascia. Does anyone have an explanation for repeated and hard groin strikes without pain or injury?
I don't know, but it would be fun to test their claims. :p
 
Floating Egg, welcome to the forum.

Generally speaking, we deal here with claims and the evidence to support those claims. This is especially true of the topic (General Skepticism and the Paranormal) you have chosen for your first post (wander into the Political topic at your own risk :) ).

Your post asks for updates on two general areas. This is not likely to yield any information that you could not glean by your own web search.

Please state your reason for asking. Or a claim that you have. Or a claim that someone else has made that you wish to evaluate. Or an event that you experienced and want to understand. Or...whatever.

We can probably respond more effectively if you give us some specific issue to deal with.
 
Floating Egg,

I have learned never to underestimate the mind, so naturally, taking hits against groin without pain or injury is something I would first simply ascribe to the power of thought.

Though I am sure there is some pain as it is simply a heightened sensation of touch, as you bend your thoughts you can actually experience hits etc without any real pain, depending on the hits and where they are placed of course, still to a great extent I have learned that we can adapt the experience from a "hit" to a lesser painful experience when focused and ready for it.

As for injury, if we are ready to get hit, our muscle tone start to flex and prepare itself for impact, unlike if it comes right out of the blue.
Though if you for example kick someone with a hard and accurate delivery on the knees, I am afraid meditation and thought doesn't do very much to stop that knee from receiving an injury.
 
bones and muscle

I was always taught that qi can not leave the body until you die, and that the concept of qi is commonly misconceived as energy that actually leaves the body. You can feel the effect -- heat by enhanced vascular responses. That is a very good explanation (would love to see a study!) for an effect of qi that's outside the body. But it's not qi leaving the body. Sorry, I don't have a reference for that, only a different point of view, and a different experience.

Whitelion made an interesting point -- though much emphasis is placed on qi protecting the body from pain and injury(?), in demonstrations that I've seen, body parts containing a lot of muscle or flesh have been targeted. I've never seen someone withstanding a good solid blow to the knees, elbows, wrists, or ankles without a negative effect (injury). The bony parts are not demonstrated? Perhaps because there is no superhuman aspect of qi -- practicing and visualizing heat, strength, tension is enough to keep a person from feeling significant pain and possibly preventing some injury, but there is nothing mystical about it. The "magical" aspect is the dedication and practice and individual has put into their martial arts or qigong practice to arrive at that level.

I'd really love to see someone demonstrate their qi powers by having someone hammer their knees, elbows and hands!

Not for nothing, I've had surprise hits to the groin area and my reaction was nothing more than "I can't believe they did that!" ;)
 
SezMe,

Thank you for your welcome. My own web search did not glean any results, which is why I posted here as a last resort. You'll notice the date that I registered. I have been lurking since I registered and this is the first time that I felt the need to post about something.

As for my motivation for posting, during a meditation practice, an individual that practices Qigong came up behind me without my knowledge. During my meditation I experienced a strong sensation of heat on both sides of my head. Very quickly, in a matter of seconds, the heat became uncomfortable. I also felt like I was being invaded (I can't think of a better word) and I initiated a very strange flight response where I shot my arms up into the air and surprisingly found myself holding a pair of hands. The Qigong practitioner told me that he was trying to send some heat into my jaw, which he knew had been injured. I looked at him incredulously and went home that night exceedingly puzzled.

Regarding the groin shots, I was engaged in a martial art demonstration to strike someone in the groin as hard as I could. I gave a few weaker strikes, not wishing to harm the individual, but I was encouraged to perform the kick hard. I aimed my shots squarely at the penis and testicles (rather than the anus or the area between groin and anus, as most people end up doing). I succeeded in knocking the individual back and off his feet, but he showed no signs of pain or discomfort. He asked me if I would like to attempt the kick again, and I did with perhaps too much enjoyment on my part. The same results followed, and he continued teaching for the remainder of the class. It seems to me that the amount of force I was directing at his groin would not just hurt him, but severely bruise his testicle or possibly cause a more serious injury.
 
Floating Egg said:
Regarding the groin shots, I was engaged in a martial art demonstration to strike someone in the groin as hard as I could. I gave a few weaker strikes, not wishing to harm the individual, but I was encouraged to perform the kick hard. I aimed my shots squarely at the penis and testicles (rather than the anus or the area between groin and anus, as most people end up doing). I succeeded in knocking the individual back and off his feet, but he showed no signs of pain or discomfort. He asked me if I would like to attempt the kick again, and I did with perhaps too much enjoyment on my part. The same results followed, and he continued teaching for the remainder of the class. It seems to me that the amount of force I was directing at his groin would not just hurt him, but severely bruise his testicle or possibly cause a more serious injury.

Were you able to inspect the damage? Probably not, but you know what I mean. Many people, with or without qi training can withstand bruises and bumps with no reaction whatsoever. However, their body will be injured nonetheless. If the person that you kicked did not show you their groin area after the demonstration (sometimes bruises take time to appear), you'll never be sure that you did NOT in fact injure him. Also, repeated trauma to the testicles can result in sperm production dysfunction. You'd need a urologist or qualified doctor to determine the internal damage.

PS: when I go for a "groin" shot, I will aim straight forward onto the front the penis. I always intend to break the cartilage and internal structures of the penis. If the opponent shows no pain, good for them, but they won't be spreading their genes anytime soon. ;)
 
cancerwoman,

Thank you for your reply. I may be underestimating the amount of pain and injury the human body can withstand.
 
It's not quite as simple as projecting qi into a thermometer - I wish it were, because I spent the weekend looking for a suitable instrument to test the vascular response theory.

A few things need to be done:

1) You need an instrument that's reasonably fast to respond and will show fairly minute changes, not something that's going to take a few minutes to show a degree (if it's even accurate).

2) You also need to record what the effective "normal" changes in temperature at the instrument are from a palm. You have to do this without visualization, and then chart how quickly the temperature changes from a specific distance. Then you can test for abnormally fast warming from the same distance during visualization.

3) And you have to ensure that all the conditions remain consistent between the tests... including adding a surgical mask to prevent breathing from affecting the instrument.

So far I've searched the local stores - Radio Shack, etc. - and only come up with stuff like indoor/outdoor thermometers. These things simply aren't responsive enough to use.
:(
 

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