I’ve trained with Western doctors who believed in Chi.
And I’ve read about a Tai Chi master who doesn’t believe in Chi.
Is Chi real?
Well, I can’t prove it exist. And it doesn’t matter if Chi exists, technically anyway.
To me the concept of Chi is more valuable rather than proving its existence.
And the way to understand the concept of Chi is to reflect on the philosophy of Tai Chi and practice the movements.
When this is done over a period of time you will then be able to ‘feel’ the Chi ‘regardless of whether it exists or not’.
The Taiji Classics talk about chi. I don’t know why a martial artist should want to call themselves a “Tai Chi master” on one hand, and repudiate the Taiji Classics on the other hand. Maybe it is false advertising, maybe it is confusion. It’s like calling yourself a fisherman, except that instead of catching fish with a line or net, you catch ducks with a rifle. Like who cares, it’s all just catching animals and the details aren’t what really matter, right? LOL.
It’s interesting to see the different perspectives on Chi. I suppose feeling is believing 🙂