 Behavioural kinesiology is a favourite of some of the followers of ‘New Age’ methods. The magician and sceptic James Randi explains ‘This variety of New Age claptrap has been tested endlessly, and always found useless, as discussed in The Skeptical Inquirer. It consists of having the subject stand with a test substance in one hand, while the other arm is stretched straight out from the side. Part 4 by Harry Cook Behavioural kinesiology is a favourite of some of the followers of ‘New Age’ methods. The magician and sceptic James Randi explains ‘This variety of New Age claptrap has been tested endlessly, and always found useless, as discussed in The Skeptical Inquirer. It consists of having the subject stand with a test substance in one hand, while the other arm is stretched straight out from the side. The operator places a hand on the outstretched arm and presses down with a certain force, attempting to push the arm down and judging the degree of that force. This is compared with the amount of force needed to depress the arm when the test substance is not being held by the subject in the other hand, or when a ‘bad’ substance is held. It is claimed that when a harmful substance is being held, the arm depresses easily; when a ‘good’ substance is present, the force needed is much greater, since the crystal strengthens the bearer.
I may say that I first came upon AK when my foster son, Alexis, reported to me that his dentist had used it on him to show that sugar was a detrimental substance. The dentist had placed a sugar cube in Alexis’s hand and pressed down the other arm more easily than when no sugar cube was held. When we visited the dentist so that I might witness this wonder, he assured me that even the word ‘sugar’ written on a bit of paper would produce the same effect. Apparently I had taught Alexis well in the art of scepticism, for when the dentist exulted that the test had been positive, Alexis revealed that he’d switched the sugar cube for a similar cube of styrofoam! The dentist, not at all confounded, merely observed that this test obviously indicated that styrofoam was also bad for the teeth, and declined to proceed with the bit-of-paper test. We were dismissed from his office as people ‘with the wrong attitude’. I changed dentists. I somehow suspected that he had a fault with his own attitude. In the USA, incredibly, courses are offered to dentists in which AK is taught.’ [i] Qualified professionals in other fields also deny the existence of ki. A clinical psychologist Lynn D. Johnson Ph.D. wrote ‘I believe ki training can be explained solely as physics and hypnosis.’ [ii]
In the 1980s China experienced a tremendous growth of interest in ch’i kung activity. Numerous ch’i ‘masters’ appeared, claiming all kinds of super-human abilities, duplicating in many cases the kind of tricks performed by Uri Geller and others in the West. Lin Yu Zhong, a student from Guangzhou University gave an interesting demonstration of his talents on Guangzhou Television in 1989. He used his bare chest as a chopping board and allowed spectators to ‘slice and dice’ vegetables without any injury to himself. He was asked how he managed to avoid pain and injury and he said ‘I rely entirely on qigong.’ He was then asked if the knife used to cut the vegetables was sharp and he replied ‘No. You see, even my skin cannot withstand a very sharp knife. I once used a sharp knife in a qigong demonstration and was wounded. I bore the pain inside, but I did feel it acutely. Obviously qigong is not all powerful.’ [iii] So all we can say is that qigong will prevent cuts from a blunt knife! Not exactly powerful evidence for proving the case for ch’i.
A group of investigators from the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal [CSICOP] went to China to investigate these claims. They visited groups in Peking, Shansi, and Shanghai and tested a wide range of men, women, and children, all of whom were said to be able to manipulate ch’i in various ways. In the report published in the Skeptical Inquirer the group concluded that ‘Our preliminary testing of various children, psychics, and Qigong masters produced negative results.’ [iv] This is what happens whenever strictly controlled tests are applied; the ch’i manifestations do not take place. They depend on the observers co-operation and willingness to believe what he or she is told is happening, rather than using his or her critical abilities.
Actually if large numbers of people in China were able to produce superhuman performances through the manipulation of ch’i we would expect to see Chinese athletes winning medals in the Olympics and other prestigious events by using their ch’i enhanced abilities. During the late 1980s and early 1990s Chinese female swimmers began to dominate in world class competitions. According to experts they had poor swimming technique but were very powerful; they simply ploughed their way through the water. The same experts indicated that their superior physiques and performances were the result of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. Modern bio-chemistry, not Taoist alchemy gave the Chinese swimmers the power they wanted. [v]
Belief in ch’i can sometimes lead to tragedy. A report in the Guardian newspaper describes what can happen when superstition replaces rationality ‘A healer with claimed magical powers from northern China has been arrested in Shanghai, under suspicion of causing the deaths of nearly 150 patients. If found guilty he would be arguably the world’s biggest serial killer. Hu Wanlin claimed to possess the mysterious force of ‘qi’ or ‘vital energy’ with which he treated his patients. Although now described as a charlatan, he had been the subject of admiring media articles.
He is said to have set up hospitals in two Chinese provinces several years ago, drawing crowds of patients who believed he was their saviour. The Shanghai press quotes police in Shaanxi province as saying his treatment there led to 146 deaths. After his operation was closed, he obtained a licence to practise in Henan province. One of his victims included Liu Famin, the mayor of a small town in Henan. Mr Hu is said to have turned to qigong - the art of qi - after completing a prison term for manslaughter in the 1980s. But the delay in apprehending him suggests that he had friends in high places locally, who either believed in his mystic powers or gained financial advantage from his operations. The traditional practice of qigong requires the healer to emit qi from his or her body. It is widely believed to have curative powers, without physical contact being necessary between doctor and patient.
So-called qi masters have had large followings in China since the revival of traditional cults and beliefs after the death of Mao Zedong. The most famous patient in recent times is said to have been China’s late paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping. But it also provides ground for tricksters. One practitioner, Zhang Xiangyu, collected up to £8,000 a time at huge rallies in Beijing before being jailed for ‘occult activities’. The charge against Mr Hu of causing so many deaths may mean in many cases that his patients died despite his treatment. He has probably fallen foul of tougher measures against ‘feudal superstitions’. The spectrum of superstitious practices in China ranges from divination, palm reading, casting of lots, exorcisms, to much more dangerous cults.
In November the authorities in Guangxi province announced they had broken up a 10,000-member doomsday cult known as the God and Spirits Sect. Its leader claimed messianic powers and is accused of using his position to rape 27 women. In a famous case from Henan 10 years ago, a preacher who called herself the Servant of God led a group of peasant wives to a mountainside, having taken their money. Her plan to give them poisoned wine, telling them that they would ‘ascend to heaven in a group’, was foiled by the police. In a recent case in Hong Kong five women were poisoned by a qigong trickster who told them the potion would prolong their lives.’ [vi] I would like to return to Mr. Reeve’s article to further explore certain aspects of ki, to make a few comments, and to ask a few questions.
* ‘The stronger the flow of ki, the more difficult will it be to bend the arm [in some cases virtually impossible], even though the other person might be physically much stronger.’
Here we have the implication that ki is a form of power which can defeat mere muscular force; i.e. with the ki flowing the arm will not bend. Old time strong men used to perform a stunt known as ‘muscling out’ which entails holding a weight with the arms held straight out at shoulder level. For example Louis Cyr [5ft 8ins. 300 lbs.], the Canadian Samson, once held a 94 lb. dumbbell in his right hand and an 88 lb. dumbbell in his left [Chicago May 7th 1896]. Could any ki practitioner do this? Remember the definition provided by Mr. Reeve: internal energy is ‘distinct from physical size or muscular strength’, so in theory such a lift should be possible. In the televised editions of The World’s Strongest Man Contest they sometimes feature an event in which the contestants have to hold a car battery or a similar weight with extended arms. Few can get past the minute mark; as the muscles fatigue so the weight falls. If an aikido-ka or any ch’i practitioner could hold a car battery with extended arms for say fifteen minutes then he or she would have given indisputable proof for the existence of an energy distinct from, and superior to, muscular strength. Of course no tension should be observed - if Mr. Reeve is correct it should be easy enough for an advanced student with an almost limitless S.P.L. of ki.
There is also the interesting idea of removing an armlock or wristlock by flowing the ki down the arm, making it unbendable and so flinging off the attack, roughly analogous to trying to bend a high pressure water hose with the jet full on. Can any ki practitioner remove a lock in this way? Thomas Makiyama explains that the ‘unbendable arm’ is a matter of ‘elementary physics...there is no supernatural source of power or strength involved.’ [vii]
* ‘Another test that is sometimes cited as being fake is the one where someone sits cross-legged and allows someone else to push against their shoulders from the front.’
This ‘proof’ of ki implies that the energy roots a person to the ground so making it difficult or impossible to throw them. Actually it is achieved through force deflection. If you go behind the seated person and grab their ankles and lift they will go over, or grab the hair or jacket and pull backwards or to the side, and again they fall. The reason is that when force is applied from the rear it cannot be deflected so easily; try it and see! Aikido master Thomas Makiyama doesn’t think too much of these stunts. He says ‘whenever I watch demonstrations of the unliftable body, the unbendable arm, the body that can’t be pushed over - I think that if that’s the way they want to do it I guess that’s all right. But it certainly doesn’t prove you have to master some deep mysterious thing to do it. I can duplicate these stunts, but I have not been trained in these type of things...They say it’s ki; I say it’s just physics. My centre of gravity is steady, and my co-ordination is pat - that’s why I can do it.’ [viii]
Actually a number of Western althletes have demonstrated the ‘unliftable body’ trick. David Willoughby writes ‘In the 1920s a great deal of publicity was given to a small man who traveled all over Europe, defying anyone to lift him off the ground. The man was Johnny Coulon [109 lbs.], who during the years 1908-1914 had been world bantamweight boxing champion. Heavyweight boxers and wrestlers and champion strong-men all failed to lift Coulon, so long as he declined to be lifted. Some years afterwards, in the United States, another small man, Charlie Rose, duplicated Coulon’s ‘resistance’ act. At least two different explanations have been given of this feat. One is that the person being lifted brings about a temporary paralysis of certain nerves in the lifter, by pressing with one finger on the lifter’s carotid artery [on the side of the neck], and with another finger on the lifter’s pulse [on the wrist of the opposite side]. The second explanation is that while the person being lifted presses on the lifter’s neck, with the same hand he also presses under the chin of the lifter to an extent sufficient to throw the lifter off balance, thus making it impossible for him to exert his strength. Whatever the explanation, the fact remains that some of the world’s strongest men have failed to lift Coulon and Rose when these small men resisted them, and did so easily when the ‘resistance’ was removed.’ [ix]
* ‘If you are standing and someone attempts to hit you on the head with a baseball bat, you will, if your mind is calm, easily evade the strike.’
If this is so then an advanced practitioner of ki should be able to enter a kendo contest and never get hit, or enter a karate/boxing/kick-boxing competition and tire out an opponent by making him continuously miss. Surely this is easy to test. Will any ki or ch’i practitioners let me try to hit them on the head with a baseball bat? [Purely in the interests of science of course!]
* ‘A question sometimes raised when discussing the subject of ki is whether or not small people with powerful ki can compete against world class heavyweight weight lifters. Simply, they cannot, since they do not have the physical stature and practise required to lift and support the heaviest weights that are presently being lifted.’
[i] James Randi Psychic Investigator James Randi Boxtree Ltd., London 1991 pp 24-25
[ii] Black Belt magazine Vol 23 # 12 December 1985 p 118
[iii] Martial Arts of China magazine Vol. 1 # 7 1990 p 327
[iv] Skeptical Inquirer Vol. 12 # 4 Summer 1988 See also:-
* ‘Paranormal in China’ Wu Xianhong CSICOP March 1995
* ‘China, Chi, and Chicanery: Examining Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chi Theory’ Peter Huston Skeptical Inquirer Sept/Oct. 1995
* ‘Traditional Medicine and Pseudoscience in China’ Wallace Sampson and Barry L. Bayerstein Parts 1 and 2 Skeptical Inquirer July/August and Sept/Oct. 1995
[v] The performance of the Chinese female swimming team was discussed in the BBC 2 programme Panorama shown on July 16th, 1996 which dealt with the role of drugs in sport.
[vi] Guardian newspaper Sat. January 9th 1999 p 3
[vii] Black Belt magazine Vol. 21 # 3 March 1983 p 80
[viii] Black Belt magazine Vol. 19 # 4 April 1981 p 47
[ix] The Super Athletes David P. Willoughby A.S. Barnes and Co. Inc., New York 1970 p 332
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