That suggests an experiment. Anyone see any flaws in the following?
Write up instructions for two techniques—one which would work and one which not work, according to your theory—in sufficient detail for someone physically adept but not instructed in Chinese internal martial arts (e.g. a dancer) to learn. Label each with a random letter (e.g. I for the correct one and K for the incorrect one).
Have one group learn each technique—have them videotape their actions and send them corrections by text, so that they don’t get cues about whether you expect the methods to work.
Have another party ignorant of the technique perform tests to see how well each group does.
I like the idea of scientifically testing internal arts; and your idea is certainly more rigorous than TV series attempting to approach martial arts “scientifically” like Mind, Body, and Kickass Moves. Unfortunately, the only one of those I can think of which is both (1) explainable in words and pictures to a precise enough degree that “chi”-type theories could constrain expectations, and (2) has an unambiguous result when done correctly which varies qualitatively from an incorrect attempt is the knockout series of hits, which raises both ethical and practical concerns.
I would classify the other two as tacit knowledge—they require a little bit of instruction on the counterintuitive parts; then a lot of practice which I can’t think of a good way to fake.
Note that I would be completely astonished if there weren’t a perfectly normal explanation for any of these feats; but deriving methods for them from first principles of biomechanics and cognitive science would take a lot longer than studying with a good teacher who works with the “chi” model.
The problem is that a positive result would only show that a specific sequence of attacks worked well. It wouldn’t show that “chi” or other unusual models were required to explain it; there could be perfectly normal explanations for why a series of attacks was effective.
That’s why I suggested writing down both techniques which should work according to the model and techniques which should not work according to the model.
That suggests an experiment. Anyone see any flaws in the following?
Write up instructions for two techniques—one which would work and one which not work, according to your theory—in sufficient detail for someone physically adept but not instructed in Chinese internal martial arts (e.g. a dancer) to learn. Label each with a random letter (e.g. I for the correct one and K for the incorrect one).
Have one group learn each technique—have them videotape their actions and send them corrections by text, so that they don’t get cues about whether you expect the methods to work.
Have another party ignorant of the technique perform tests to see how well each group does.
I like the idea of scientifically testing internal arts; and your idea is certainly more rigorous than TV series attempting to approach martial arts “scientifically” like Mind, Body, and Kickass Moves. Unfortunately, the only one of those I can think of which is both (1) explainable in words and pictures to a precise enough degree that “chi”-type theories could constrain expectations, and (2) has an unambiguous result when done correctly which varies qualitatively from an incorrect attempt is the knockout series of hits, which raises both ethical and practical concerns.
I would classify the other two as tacit knowledge—they require a little bit of instruction on the counterintuitive parts; then a lot of practice which I can’t think of a good way to fake.
Note that I would be completely astonished if there weren’t a perfectly normal explanation for any of these feats; but deriving methods for them from first principles of biomechanics and cognitive science would take a lot longer than studying with a good teacher who works with the “chi” model.
The problem is that a positive result would only show that a specific sequence of attacks worked well. It wouldn’t show that “chi” or other unusual models were required to explain it; there could be perfectly normal explanations for why a series of attacks was effective.
That’s why I suggested writing down both techniques which should work according to the model and techniques which should not work according to the model.
It’s conceivable that imagining chi is the best (or at least a very good) way of being able to do subtle attacks.