Another great article by Jane Hallander:


Kong Jing has no shape or color. As with radiation, it is a force that can easily penetrate another person's body. For instance, if your chi isn't developed enough to withstand an alien chi, you can suffer ill effects. If the average person walked into SiMo's class and demanded a sample of empty force, she would be refused - not because empty force is a secret, but because without training and chi development that person could be seriously injured. If SiMO only used enough of her own chi for him to feel the effects, he might have a headache, become dizzy, turn pale, or lose consciousness. Any less and her chi would merely pass through his body unfelt. Yet in a fight, the result could be tremendous. For these reasons, only students who have developed their own chi strength can experience the empty force.

Intention plays an important role in empty force, too. If the person using empty force does not pinpoint the target, the chi will simply pass through these people or objects. But if the intention is to bounce it off a wall and into a target, the wall becomes a resistance that sends the chi back from its intended target. To further illustrate, if Min focused her empty force chi on one student, and another person walked between them, that person would feel nothing, since Min's mind and intention were focused on her original student.

Empty force is most often used well before actual contact is made. The student rushes forward and is stopped in his tracks, as if a wall had dropped between the student and Min. From there, she controls the student's every move. Because the student's own chi developed, he handles her force by bouncing (jumping) like an inflated ball or by smoothly rolling back into a balanced position. By using his back, the student maintains his body as a single coordinated unit that returns to its original position, ready to receive more chi. From a fighting perspective, the student whose chi is open has an advantage. He uses his training and chi development to resist pushes and blows by bouncing back into a fighting position, unlike the average person who loses his balance, falls, and may be injured by the fall alone. If the student resists empty force - for example, by trying to jump from it - he can become sick or internally injured.

Due to the student's own chi development, his chi radiates from his body as if it were a ball surrounding him. As Min exudes her strong chi as empty force, it contacts the student's chi. It bounces him back, but doesn't penetrate his body. The person who has not controlled and developed his chi has internal development too weak to resist her concentrated chi and will either not react to a small amount of empty force, or can be injured by a larger amount.

Most people who have seen martial arts movies picture empty force as the ability to break or move inanimate objects simply by looking at them. But this isn't so. True empty force is the ability to use chi to affect another person's chi, and therefore his physical well-being, without touching him. Three elements are important in developing empty force: the mind (sum), intention (i), and internal energy (chi). Sum and i go hand-in-hand. However, each need special conditioning before they can successfully operate together. To improve concentration, the mind must be clear and calm when practicing, and meditation is one way to develop a calm, clear mind.

Intention is the will to accomplish a goal, whether it's self-defense, healing or any other objective. Special internal exercises develop intention by using the eyes as a vehicle to focus on a target. As Min explains, "If you have to injure someone for self-defense, you must look at them with mean eyes." Internal energy - chi - is literally defined in Chinese as air. Yu further qualified it as the amount of oxygen available to body cells, carried throughout the body by blood in the circulatory system. Although some people think chi is increased by certain forced breathing patterns, Yu's followers don't believe this. Forced or concentrated breathing stops the downward progress of chi. It doesn't advance it. On the other hand, calm meditation with natural, quiet breathing relaxes the mind and body enough to allow the chi, over time, to flow smoothly and evenly as it progresses down to a location three fingers below the tan tien (navel).


Opening the chi Channels

When most people begin their internal energy development, their chi (breathing vibration point) is located high in their chests. But as they practice xing-i meditation for about one hour daily, their chi often moves down below the solar plexus. After two years, if their meditation is calm and if they exercise proper posture, it may move into the navel itself. When the chi finally reaches the navel, the body's chi channels are ready to open completely. At that point, with the help of an expert, the channels can be pushed open.

Before their chi is completely open, some people think they can lower their chi into the tan tien by pushing with their own concentration and intention. However, this is momentary and does not mean their chi is really into the navel area or that their chi will stay down permanently. It can easily move back up. When the chi has actually been pushed through beyond the tan tien, it will never go back up. The chi channels are opened forever.