Author: Vernon Loo

Clay,

Thanks for taking the time to talk the other day. I will try to outline everything I remember and practiced, and what’s happening now.

As I remember the main parts of your teachings from the early 80’s.

The four principals of Ki:

Two physical: relax, & weight underside.

Two metaphysical: one point, & extend Ki.

If you do one you do all.

Relaxing never quite worked for me. But the weight underside or one point allowed me to extend Ki almost immediately – which I could absolutely feel the flow of. Extend Ki was the easiest and quickest for me to do.

Weight underside: I used this to relax, and get Ki flowing. An example I remember most was putting on a demonstration at my gym in Guam in the later 80’s, of holding back 5 guys (pushing on each other’s backs – like you had demonstrated years earlier) that were trying to push me backwards. When my weight underside was at its strongest, I felt as though my feet were buried deep into the ground – but I could still move them at will. I also extended stronger Ki and held them back with just the little finger of my right hand (on his forearm). Then I went more weight underside and stood on only one foot. At the very end I extended stronger Ki and started to push them backwards, but I felt too much pressure on my little finger and decided not to try any more. I though later it would have worked if I had just used my whole hand on the lead guy’s forearm.

I also used weight underside with my golf swing, and got my USGA handicap down to a 9, and my club handicap down to a 6. I was playing quite often at that time. This was just before I moved back to Guam the second time in 1982. It was working well and my handicap was dropping fast, but when I moved back to Guam I wasn’t able to play golf very much, and I never recovered my game (mostly because of lower back problems).

Extending Ki: You first asked me to imagine water flowing through my arms and out my fingertips like water through a fire hose. Later I used this imaging to flow Ki to all my extremities including out the top of my head. And later, I was able to extend Ki to areas of my body that needed healing – mostly my lower back. When I extended Ki out of the top of my head (mostly while meditating) it apparently could be seen as an aura by other meditators. I would see them looking at it long after meditation was over. (Ki, or Chi, or Prana – as it is called by practitioners of Yoga.) I originally started directing Ki out of the top of my head, after spending time on activating the other six chakras.

The most vivid example of extending Ki was in the middle 80’s when a group of us climbed the tallest mountain in Micronesia – kind of on a dare. Which is on Pohnpei and gets rainfall 300 days a year. Needless to say it is slippery. That 4 hour climb up and 4 hours back ended up being the cause of me starting to start working-out again. Anyhow I have photo of me with everybody at the top and I was as white as a sheet – I was so out of shape, and later realized I was also very allergic to mold. On the way down I was really running out of energy fast and would have had trouble finishing the hike on my own had I not been able to extend Ki. I remember being dead tired and having to sit down every 20 minutes or so to recover. By extending Ki once I sat down and relaxed, I would recover completely in about one or two minutes. My personal guide and I had dropped behind the others: I told them to go on so I wouldn’t hold them up. I remember my guide saying he had never seen anybody recover as fast as I did. Anyhow once the really steep part of the descent was over we caught up to everyone, and once out of the rain forest I slowly got my overall energy back (no more mold I guess). So, I have been very much able to gage the flow of Ki through my body by feeling it and directing it.

Another example of extending Ki, but much later – maybe in the middle 90’s, I had been doing mantra and Ki meditation together, or starting with one and finishing with the other. So both were very strong. I felt I had a very strong connection with the Universal Life Force (whom I choose to call God). This is quite an accomplishment for someone that was previously an agnostic with atheistic tendencies.

I have a herniated disk in my back at L4-L5, that have caused me back pain and occasional spasms since the middle 60’s. In the middle 80’s on Guam, I had sciatica for about 6 months – and gave up golf. One day I meditated off and on almost all day and was directing Ki up my backbone. Later in the evening while directing Ki very intensely to the L4-L5 area, I felt like the disks were inflating. When I finally finished meditating, I got up without any pain or indication of any problem. The sciatica was gone and that pain free period lasted well over a year.

One more, but a rather unusual example for extending Ki, was also in the middle 90’s. I was then doing Ki meditation while out and about on business or chores. Mainly because it felt so good, mostly a deep feeling of serenity. At one point, while extending Ki out everywhere from my body, I remember meeting some friends for lunch, and feeling like I was a foot taller and wider. Two of my lunch-mates remarked about me seeming to be much larger than they remembered. As soon as I actively stopped extending Ki outward I felt I came back to normal size.

One point: When I first started Aikido with Ki your training seemed to be more oriented to one point more than the other three principals. So, that was how I started, and shortly thereafter felt that I was able to either think one point or extend Ki at will, and definitely feel the Ki flowing when I did.

While mediating using one point, I could increase the flow of Ki and direct Ki to any area of my body. It was very effective meditation, and for healing!

Once I started extending Ki I really didn’t have to pay any attention to it, it would just keep flowing for long periods of time, and then gradually subside.

I used to be able to extend Ki when dropping off to sleep and then would be extending Ki when I woke up the next morning. The feeling was gloriously serene when I woke up.

Now: It seems to take quite a while before I can get Ki flowing – sometimes 10-15 minutes, and if there is any interruption of any kind – say my mind wanders or I cough, then it stops flowing immediately and I have to start all over again. Most times I can’t get Ki flowing using one point, only by extending Ki. Unless I am very tired, I have to use weight underside for a while to be able to then use one point or (mostly) extend Ki to get Ki flowing. When I walk in the morning for 30-40 minutes, I have been trying to get Ki flowing but to no avail. When I do get a mild Ki flowing up through my backbone out the top of my head, it seems like it is blocked at L4-L5 (where I have had a herniated disk for many years) so this is where I am focusing the Ki – trying to heal it again.

Anyhow, I can now sometimes feel a mild Ki flowing through my body when I relax or do weight underside. (Thanks for telling me that Ki is flowing all the time.) But I am having a real problem starting and keeping a large directed flow of Ki moving consistently and or constantly, as I used to be able to.

As an aside: I am also having trouble doing mantra meditation, as I just can’t seem to slow down my thoughts. My mind is racing all the time.

Unfortunately for me, I substituted a relationship for meditation and prayer about 9 years ago, and now that the relationship is over, and I am left with no real solid spiritual program. It is a crappy place to be in.

So any insight you can offer would be most appreciated.

Mahalo,

John