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Yamantaka
22nd December 2000, 17:06
Hi!
I was told that a "silent kiai" is called KENSEI. I taught that was used to name a respected sword master. The same person told me that, in China, every kiai is silent, which doesn't seem right to me also.
Can anybody help me?
Best regards
Yamantaka

Cady Goldfield
22nd December 2000, 17:43
Ubaldo,

While I do not know about what a "silent" kiai is called, or whether "kensei" is a term for it, I do know that there are plenty of martial artists in China who add a shout to their kiai. I've seen and heard plenty of old taiji guys who give a gutteral shout from deep in the diaphragm to punctuate a specific movement.

My understanding of kiai, from experience in my own training and from years of hearing it from Korean, Japanese and Chinese instructors, is that kiai itself begins "silent." Adding sound to it is something one does at will and to achieve a certain purpose, such as to startle an opponent. Kiai itself, though is the subtle combination of diaphragmatic tension and release, coupled with timing. Used properly, it adds power and momentum to one's technique (although many debate the extent of this power).

We all know that breathing and its timing is crucial to the proper execution of many techniques, whether with sword or with empty hand. I have felt the impact myself, of how technique is affected by using kiai and by not using it.

IMO, the sound is optional and not necessary -- it's just the directing of the air in your lungs to pass over your vocal cords. The explosiveness of kiai lends sharpness to the shout, which one can use to stun or startle (if one's opponent is not used to it, or the timing of the shout is just right). But, it's the internal mechanisms of kiai that are "the whole game."

FWIW

Happy Holdays!

cg

Nathan Scott
22nd December 2000, 18:07
Hello,

The usage of the term "Kensei" is more than likely that of "sword saint", a term made popular in the states in recent years with Steven's publishing of "The Sword of no Sword" (Tesshu Yamaoka). Off the top of my head I don't see how the variations of kensei could be associated directly with kiai.

But, kiai is an interesting subject, and many accept the idea of "silent kiai". The late Mr. Draeger indicated in one of his monographs that one usage of kiai was something similiar to the "bio-electrical" intensity (my para-phrase) produced when facing an opponent seriously. I suspect that many people confuse and/or mix the ideas of zanshin and this definition of kiai alot.

I'm (supposed to be) working on a small essay regarding kiai that I will submit for feedback when I get a finished draft. :D

Happy Holidays,

Earl Hartman
22nd December 2000, 18:52
Most people think the term "kiai" means a shout of some kind, but the term is written with the two ideograms meaning spirit/energy (ki) and meeting/harmony (ai). With the ideograms reversed, you have "aiki". Thus, the term refers to the condition of having a harmonized spirit and energy, that is, a condition of mental/psychological/spiritual focus where everything is in perfect coordination. That this condition is especially important at the instant of executing a technique should be obvious. However, in general, a person needs to be in a condition of "kiai" at all times.

Regarding the term "kensei", there are many words in Japanese written with different combinations of characters that can be pronounced the same way but mean something completely different. I would have to see the characters used to know what the word actually is in this case.

Cady Goldfield
22nd December 2000, 18:59
I recall someone's description of kiai as "lightning," and an audible shout as being "the thunder that is caused as a result of the lighting." Kiai was interpreted as being the contraction and relaxation of the diaphragm, which forcibly ejects air out of one's lungs. If you choose to pass that air over the vocal cords, you get a yell. If not, your kiai is silent.

But as Earl says, kiai is not the shout itself. The shout is a byproduct of kiai.

cg

Gil Gillespie
23rd December 2000, 05:26
It's interesting how topics resurface. The question of silent kiai is enjoying another encore. (We had kiai, bride of kiai; this must be son of kiai.) Only ;o). . .

All I know about kiai I learned from bears. (Y'all please forgive who've heard this). During those halcyon days when I trained, traveled, and presented bears in the circus (back when I had dark hair & a waistline), my family & I survived many "close encounters." When a bear comes, there is no inkling. Your first clue is his kiai, a deep guttural explosive exhalation that remains one of the scariest sounds I've ever heard. I've always wished I could live my life as if I had a bear on a leash. The zanshin would be great but the pressure would probably kill me.

Cady Goldfield
23rd December 2000, 18:09
Gil,
Just think of the fabulous training opportunity you could have had with those bears!

Imagine learning how to exploit the bear's "attack kiai" so that you knew exactly when he was going to exhale, and exactly when he was going to inhale in order to make that great exhalation.

Then, you would know exactly when to kick or strike when he was at his most vulnerable.

Of course, there wouldn't have been much margin for error. You might not have gotten to experiment with it more than once... :laugh:

cg

Hank Irwin
23rd December 2000, 18:51
From what I understand(and it ain't much)Ki;prefix denoting air, vapor...ai;prefix denoting mutually, with each other. I know "in" kiai, there is a "mutual" connection between the "way" you breathe and the focus at Tanden. To produce the desired/correct effect, a gutteral sound is unavoidable. This is quite evident in ALL forms of Goju-ryu. In Shuri-Sanchin the sounds are still made, but not ebuki like. Many Chinese kiai make sounds like HO!, Sut!(Okinawan also)So!, Ha!, Dit! Silent kiai I can relate to, like a snake sound to start, then Cat-like ending in Shorinji-ryu Kiai. I think all technique could have Kiai at execution. When 2 tigers start squaring off to fight listen, then listen as they fight. I also think that the use of the term "Kiai" came from Japanese thinking. Kiai was not actually used like we think it was, at least not in Okinawa. In fact you did not see it all that much, from what I understand, and like I said, my understanding ain't that much.