My tai chi master used to say that chi is nothing special, it is everywhere. Chi is an energy found wherever there is life, with practice we can sense chi moving within our bodies and learn to use it to move our bodies in a very effective way. There are rumours of tai chi masters that can influence the chi of others without even touching them.

There is no one word in the English language that can convey the meaning of chi? I can be considered as many things including air and energy but that would reflect just single aspects of its meaning. Some have used it to mean breath, some describe it as energy flowing through our meridians. Physicians use chi energy to heal others, soft school martial artists use it to increase their abilities and deepen the strength of their practice.

Chi is all energy, it is movement, it is flow, it is the raw energy that forms the universe and brings life to everything. It is helpful to consider that energy and matter are not separate, but linked together and constantly moving between states.

Types of Chi

Chi is naturally found within the human body, Taoist's consider that there are three main types of chi:

Original chi or the chi you inherit from your parents
Grain chi which is extracted from food
Air chi which is contained within the breath

Original chi

Original or prenatal chi, is transmitted directly to you from your parents at conception. As we progress throughout our lives we draw upon this chi, initially to grow and develop, but eventually to survive. Since the amount of chi is finite, as we use and deplete it our bodies begin to age and deteriorate.

After birth, original chi must be nourished and added to by the food we eat and the liquids we drink, and the air we breath. The qualities of the these things we ingest will effect the quality of the chi available to us. You are what you eat, drink and breath.

Grain chi

Grain or nutritional chi comes from the substances that enter the body after birth. In Chinese medicine it is said that where the chi flows the blood will follow. It is said that nutritional chi is responsible for producing the blood itself and it is this link between chi and blood that is responsible for nourishing the well being of the body.

It important to consider that the chi in its raw form is stored in our food and drinks, so the quality of the food will directly impact on the quality of the chi.

Air chi

Air chi is absorbed through the process of breathing, it is this chi which gives us life energy. It provides energy which is moved throughout the body by the lungs and heart.

Spending time in open spaces, in rural settings away from large towns and city's is essential to breathing in good quality, healthy air.

It is said there are over thirty recognised types of chi found within the body, each responsible for providing energy to the cells and organs of our bodies.

Understanding chi

The quality of our chi comes from the way we take care of our bodies, the food and fluids we ingest and the type of exercise and rest we provide for our bodies. Chi can be encouraged to travel throughout our bodies efficiently by practising exercises that encourage the movement of chi, such as yoga, Chi Kung, or Tai Chi.

Tai Chi encourages the movement of chi throughout the body, the relaxed open mind moves the chi, the chi moves and massages the physical parts of the body. The slow graceful movements of the Tai Chi form enable and encourage our internal chi to move freely through the meridians in our body it is this movement of energy which is said to provide the practitioner with long life and good health.