g’Tum-mo meditation? This is a yoga practice, not a chi thing. (please correct me if I am wrong, I am under the assumption that these are two different philosophies)
Watch a documentary on how mountain climbers stay warm by sleeping naked.
Austrailian Aborigines also have a trick similar to this even though they never heard of yoga. (or chi)
I can make my nipples hard by just thinking about them, does this make me a chi master? How is, with meditation, being able to raise body temperature by 3-8 degrees celcius magical, and not doable by a skeptic?
BTW, I practice Tai-Chi Chu’an. (a beginner) While I envision the energy flows and use the concept in practice, I in no way believe that there is a magical energy force. It is something I just envision as a focal point of concentration. Which is probably what it was created for.
Obvious Guy, those would be Tibetan monks and not Chinese, and it isn’t Qi that they are talking about. In Tibet these are Long Gom practicioners. apologies if this sounds snide, but it’s kinda like comparing French fencing and Danish broadsword fighting.
The practice is mentioned in Exile from the Land of the Snows by John Avadon. I haven’t seen the actual data, but supposedly such practice has been documented fairly rigorously. Long Gom was also mention by Alexandra David Neel in her books on travels in Tibet from the 1930’s. Lama Govinda in The Way of the White Clouds mentions that again. Then again, Shirley Maclaine claimes to be an adept after just a few days. I have personally seen the very common site of Tibetans walking around barechested with snow on the ground, and nomad kids a couple years old smeared with yak butter and playing naked in the snow.
For the record my mind wasnt on Chi or Long Gom or even Yoga. I was just giving the Op my example of what I saw the Monks do.
Epimetheus, I never said it was anything magical. My point was that these monks are prime examples and proof of what internal power can do. I dont think the average person could raise there whole body temp. If you practice Tai Chi then you have to believe in internal energy, so what’s your beef?
China Guy, I didn’t mean to confuse the Tibet monks to Chinese, in fact I didnt even relize the Op was talking about Shoalin monks. Sorry for the mistake. and uhhhh… smeared in yak butter?
Obvious Guy, practicing T’ai Chi does not automatically mean you believe in internal energy as defined by the concept of chi. T’ai Chi is good exercise, and engaging in it doesn’t mean you you believe in the doctrines. It just means you prefer it over aerobics. Yeesh. I practice T’ai Chi too, and I think chi is just short hand for concentrating on what you’re doing while you exercise. Sometimes I pretend to shoot people with my index finger- it doesn’t mean I think they’re really getting shot.
But the Shaolin Monks are very cool. I admire their dedication and expertise. But are they magic? No. They’re just really good at what they do, which is basically perform neat tricks. I have the same respect for them that I have for people who are very skilled at close-up sleight-of-hand magic. It takes a long time and a considerable amount of skill to make it look good. But don’t think for a second I actually believe that coin vanished into thin air. I used to know a kid who could swallow a quarter with his meal and then bring up the quarter by itself several hours later. He wasn’t a wizard, he just had amazing control over his diaphragm.