Magical Kung-Fu Super Powers?

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Kung Fu Forum
21

Greetings..

There are two sides to this story, for me.. Hard science on one side and myth on the other.. Science (physics) indicates no restriction on the “possibility” of such magical feats as described in previous accounts, i simply have very little evidence of such.. Myth, on the other hand, like someone else said, appears to be greatly embellished accounts of someone’s well-disciplined feats..

From my own experience, Qi is a multi-faced phenomenon.. it is easy enough to accept the notion that there is a unifying and all-pervasive force that permeates all things, that is the basic building block of existence as we know it.. science calls it “energy”.. that everything is energy, energy that vibrates at frequencies manifesting everything form light to solid rock.. energy vibrates at frequencies that produces matter and then animates it (life).. it maintains patterns (identities) and can be controlled by consciousness.. So, ultimately, we have the ability to control energy.. but, very little evidence that anyone can consistently achieve such control as necessary to effect such feats as described here..

I have, in the past, recounted several experiences that assure me that there is the potential for a human to discipline themselves to acheive amazing feats.. i will share one more.. My mentor will take a standard 16 oz. styrofoam 7-11 coffee cup and turn it upside down, place it on the ground and, stand on it with one foot.. and, not crush it (he weighs +/- 125-130 lbs.).. personally, i have destroyed hundreds of these cups trying to do the same (yes, i drink my share of 7-11 coffee..).. when i ask him how he does this he says, “i just make myself light”… subsequent discussions with other well-disciplined QiGong people, have indicated that he was able to tune his “frequency” with the cup’s.. which is why i once heard him say, “i can’t crush myself”.. anyway, take it for what it’s worth..

I think that the ancestors recognized the amazing feats of well-disciplined people and not being able to understand how they were done they assigned a label and description that satisfied their limited intellect relative to empirical science..

Qi, from my own perspective, is the combined effect of many systems and aspects of our physical and energetic being.. it is the “effect” that appears mystical, not the mechanics or discipline.. the mystic quality is only assigned by those that lack the discipline or conceptual ability to acheive that level of accomplishment.. something is “mystical” only by comparison to someone’s range of experiences.. while some people have great depth of experiences in this type of experience, others don’t and, so.. they find themselves at odds..

Lack of evidence is not evidence of non-existence.. it is a limitation on our current ability to measure or quantify a particular theory.. it simply means the theory stands as theory until conclusive evidence can prove or disprove it.. Cutting-edge particle physics leads me to keep open the possibility that we have the potential to manage energy in a manner consistent with some “mystical” claims.. i’m just not certain how many generations it will take to master such elusive disciplines.. But, we will create our own realities through our individual belief systems.. our individual realities will interact with those of others and a “quasi” reality will be agreed upon by the majority opinion.. Here is the fun, negotiating agreed upon realities that preserve our individual identities while maintaining a peaceful and prosperous society.. good luck!!

Be well..

22

I think this is an interesting point of view. This is actually close to the way I thought of/think of these types of abilities. Is it possible that the same way styles became extinct (through the “protection” of the “secrets” from the unworthy) certain skills, such as 25 foot jumps and 5-point exploding heart techniques (what was that one in Fist of the White Lotus—the 100 pace palm or something) became extinct as well?

Professional athletes, IMO, have a sort of natural ability. Then, once they begin specialized training regiments, they become great. Michael Jordan was a natural Basketballer, but through training and practice he became unbelievable.

Perhaps, due to the various skills available to a martial artist, people with natural abilities lose their way. As an example, say I am a natural jumper, and with just some training I can get a 25 foot vertical. But say I prefer to train Iron Palm. My iron palm skills will remain mediocre, when compared to people with natural abilities in this area, and my vertical jump will remain average, because I am not developing it.

So perhaps in today’s hectic world these skills are lost.

Comments?

23

Yes, we all know everything on the internet is true??? If you believe in chi believe the fact that the human body is a phenomenal machine and through years of conditioning and repetitious hard work amazing things can occur. Jumping high can be attributed to a combination of increased total body physical strentgh and athletisism, but unlikey to chi, or as kwaichang believes, the jedi mind trick. I’m just busting your chops KC, but as someone said earlier, no one is going to take you serious on a serious discussion when you start quoting Yoda!

24

a more succint version of my post:

On jumping - show me don’t tell me

On Chi - It’s self evident, if it wasn’t none of us would be reading this because our very existence is tied to it. without chi, there is no life.

25

World Record high jump is a shade over 8 feet. This is by an athlete in his prime, who is a naturally high jumper, and who has trained his jumping ability for much of his life.

It sounds like plenty of people here are full of it.

26

There seems to be some disagreement on the high jump world record…acording to wikipedia its:

and according to Yahoo!:

Women’s high jump record is 2.09 m (6.85696 Feet)

Anyone have other sources telling of a higher jumping record?

And would 8 feet be high enough to jump onto the 2nd floor of a Chinese building (since their ceilings are lower than in the US.)?

27

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/search.asp Also has high jump record at 2.45m

28

That is 8 feet by a highly trained, naturally gifted jumping athlete using a technique that would not be condusive to jumping onto a roof 8’ up. Let’s not mention that this is the WORLD RECORD. Last Olympics, the gold medalist jumped a mere 7’ 8.9".

And there is no disagreement. Go to athens2004.com (official olympic site), the iaaf’s website, etc and they all have it listed as 2.45m. There was a very, very long time when people wondered if an 8’ high jump would ever be accomplished. It’s stretching current human abilities quite a bit.

29

But there WAS disagreement:

So there was disagreement. And your response was the same as theirs was, you stated a “fact” with no verification. I went and nabbed 2 sources agreeing with you, and then you provided a source for your information. You can see how people would be disinclined to agree with you because you say so. The fact that you are right, does not mean there was not, and still may be, a disagreement.

So now comes the possibility that there are MA guys who can jump higher than the Olympic competitors. Is it possible they can, and it is just not recorded by the IOCC? I would say possible, but highly IMPROBABLE. Can there be people who can jump, but don’t compete in track and field? I would say yes, the same way there are MAist who can fight, but don’t compete. Is it possible that these people can jump higher than an Olympian? Again: I would say possible, but highly IMPROBABLE.

30

Listen, according to quantum mechanics it is possible that if I walk into a wall enough times that eventually I’ll pass right through it once. I’d say that the odds of some random kung fu master jumping higher than a naturally gifted jumper, at the peak of his training, in the prime of his athletic life is probably even LESS likely.

As for an inuit high kick, I checked. The record in 8’8". For a 6’ tall person with good flexability to do this, he’d have to jump about 32" or so, which is a very respectable vertical leap, but nothing compared to most professional athletes. It would be completely blown away by the worst olympic high jumpers as well. You should see the inuit games. I think there was a documentary on the National Geographic channel about it not very long ago.

When I talk of world records, I speak from verifiable accounts. All else is pointless as anybody can say anything.

31

FP,

Funny you talk about walking through a wall…I just did it…Actually my firend and I were just talking about that..but my point is it would be possible for a KF master (at the height of his training) to get some major air.

I am not disputing the IOCC records, in fact I agree with you and needing to see it, which is why I started this thread to begin with. I was just pointing out that beofre you posted the Athens website, all you did was what everyone was doing, stating a height and claiming it was the highest, without some sort of verification.

32

Sure. Get some major air… Yes. I’ll buy that. Jump higher than an olympic high jumper. No. These guys push the limits of human ability, which is why it was wondered if 8’ would ever be broken. These guys are genetically gifted jumpers who could jump higher than all of us without a single day of training. They then trained jumping technique for years and years to eek out as much height as possible out of any leap. They’ve undergone extensive physical training aimed specifically towards increasing their leaping ability. Still, he is the only guy to jump 8 feet…

I didn’t post a source because everybody with knowledge about track and field knows 8’ is a sacred high jump mark. It’s also easily verifiable. I can say the world is round or Saudi Arabia is prodiminatly muslim without needing to post sources. I figured this was on the same page.

33

yes, I believe I meant 6 feet-which is the height of my ceiling(not sure how 11 popped nto my brain-must’ve been that Pink Floyd concert in the 70’s) but it was not so much a jump as it was the Fosbury Flop variety, which isn’t the same as jumping onto a roof.
On the other hand, i can jump over eight feet…down.

34

No numbers here, but impressive takeoffs and landings nonetheless, with some cool transitions.

http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/sports/Martial_Arts_Hops_2/

CSP

35

Hey now, What the hell is a green firie resurection birdie:eek:

36

Fluffygreenpillowinthesky

If you studied Iron finger for 30 years every day for 8 hours, I have no doubt you could stick your finger straight through my chest and kill me. I wish we could all go back in time and observe what kung fu skills were like.

37

EP, no offense meant

38

But this is a KF forum, not everyone has T&F knowledge. Also if you are debating points with someone, very few will do legwork to prove themselves wrong…ya know…

39

None taken, that cracked me up:D

40

An hour a day for 30 days can drop your finger through a heavy bag…please reference the extremely long CTS thread for that info.