Empty Force

Paul Dong, Empty Force: The Power of Chi for Self-Defense and Energy Healing, Berkeley, CA: Blue Snake Books, 2006.

Quotes

— The greatest challenge is to master one’s own mind and spirit; this is far more difficult to learn than mere physical techniques such as those of conventional martial arts. For the most fascinating element of this ‘power of nothing’ is that it becomes a physical force that can affect others — the most dramatic illustration of the philosophy of achieving harmony with nature through nonresistance.

— Western philosophy tends to divide the physical from the spiritual, while the Chinese approach considers that both are part of the same larger reality.

— The ancient Chinese had their own scientific methods and principles, and their claims about chi are backed by more than 2,000 years of their own medical investigation.

— Chi is central to the idea of the empty force, although you may well not have heard of anything in the world as strange as this concept.

— Chi Kung has 3,000 years of history in China.

— The practice of moving our hands in circles in front of our stomachs, we are moving the blood in the hands, the red blood cells in the blood, and the magnetic material in the red blood cells across the earth’s magnetic lines of force, thus creating a direct current and a magnetic field.

— If the energy flows through damaged, weak, sick, or old organs, they will be restored.

— The person who exercises the ribs, bones, skin, and muscles should exercise the chi at the same time. Exercising the chi is what the Taoists called the cultivation of jing (essence), chi, and shen (spirit), a kind of ‘internal exercise.’

— Jing is a very difficult concept to explain. It is the power of all the body’s energy concentrated in a single point and released over a very short span of time. It also includes elements of elasticity and impact. Elasticity gives the ability to make a person bounce back a yard of two. Impact means that if the force comes into contact with the target’s body or limbs, or with the stick or sword held by the target, he will be thrown to the ground as if feeling an electric shock.

— The more force an opponent uses to attack, the easier it is to knock him down or even make him falls down before he makes contact. Victims of this technique would be bounced off the walls like rubber balls or even hurled up to the ceiling, ending up on the floor.

— If you want to develop internal jing, you must practice standing-on-stake. Start by doing the standing exercise for five minutes at a time and gradually increase it to half an hour, starting the tai chi practice only after completing the standing exercise. Standing on stake should be practiced for at least fifteen minutes. In practicing yi quad or other forms of empty force, forty-five minutes of practice are a minimum.

— The most important condition is to maintain a peaceful and quiet state of mind. This is not possible for many people, especially those who live in the cities. For this reason, the empty force is usually learned by Taoist priests who live in the solitude of mountains, away from crowds.

— The Chinese believe ‘all things in the world counterbalance each other.’ According to this viewpoint, the universe is a huge system of checks and balances. Everything has its opposite side; every action has its reaction. Water can overcome fire; rust can corrode steel; the yin (negative) and yang (positive) principles are always keeping each other under control.

— Another ancient Chinese proverb says: ‘Nothing can oppose kindness.’ By being good to others, you will have no enemies. Thus, ‘kindness’ is the world’s largest defensive art. If you combine these two concepts — ‘Let others weaken themselves by fighting’ and ‘Nothing can oppose kindness’ — you will master the deepest mystery.

— Why is stillness stronger than motion? This seemingly contradictory idea was suggested by long observation of trees. A tree stands upright, never moving, but inside it is in constant motion. A great tree standing on the ground, towering over all things, is an image of strength. After mastering the empty force, you will be like a great tree looking down silently from a position of strength.