Have you come across the writings of Yasuo Yuasa? There is a book in English entitled The Body, Self-Cultivation and Ki-Energy, published by SUNY Press in 1993.
It is a translation of a Japanese work and if you look at pp.xxxv-xxxvi, you will see the ideas behond the translation. I have the Japanese originals and actually disagree with these ideas. As for the scholarly nature of the work, you can judge for yourself from the footnotes and bibliography.
Best wishes,
Peter Goldsbury,
Forum Administrator,
Hiroshima, Japan