Such an energy as Ki was considered so powerful, so ambiguous in nature, the difference between sickness and health, weakness and strength, that if one could efficiently control it, he would accomplish almost anything. The absolute control of Ki brought the individual to superhuman levels of attainment. No longer bound to the mundane task of eating, he could live off strength drawn from the earth and the air he breathed. Subsisting on dew and moonbeams, he would no longer be sick, his energy left no room for disease. He was no longer subject to death's clutches, for in him Ki was full. There was no room for fear, death or the enemy's spears or arrows. In short, he was immortal.
CONCENTRATION
Concentration is a very important element of the Martial Arts and has a two-fold meaning, both applicable. One is mental, the direction of attention on a single idea (Ki), while the other is physical, the concentration of all one's force or energy in one place. In its mental aspect, concentration is a disciplining of the mind. In negative form, this means ridding the mind of all distractions to the degree that the mind wanders to thoughts extraneous to the matter at hand. In this, the action will be ineffectual. In its positive application, concentration vitalizes the image in the performer's mind so that the consequent physical force is intensified in two, five or even ten times its ordinary power.
On the physical level, when power is concentrated on a single target, maximum force is the result. The smaller the target area, the greater the force. This principle is observable in comparing the pressure of water which is increased as the orifice of its flow is decreased with the pressure of a man's full weight in snow when he is wearing snow shoes. Newton's third law of motion again finds direct application here. We saw above that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. While a bullet strikes its target with the same force that the gunstock pushes against the marksman's shoulder, because the bullets force is concentrated on a small area, and the gunstock is a relatively larger area, the effect of equal forces is vastly different. These principles are constantly and consistently applied. For example, if greater impact force is desired, the force of the first may be exchanged for that of the pair of knuckles or the edge of the hand. The knife-hand cut is much more devastating than a straight-on blow of the fist. Even the head may deliver fatal blow if maximum power is concentrated in the forehead as the performer is balancing his bodyweight and transmitting full energy from the feet, through the torso and neck to the middle of the forehead. The objective is always minimum output of energy for maximum input of power. This is technically known as maximum efficiency.
An essential factor to perfect performance is that all muscles and tendons, when not in use, be kept loose and relaxed so that there may be instant response to the demand of any new set of stimuli. If the muscles are already tense before action, power concentrated at the moment of focus must be instantly released.
Thus, one can say that concentration is achieved in two ways. One is to coordinate every muscle of the body to one point, especially true for the larger muscles around the hips and abdomen, which are theoretically slower in response than smaller muscles, but the most effective as tools of strength. The second is to transfer the result of such mobilization into the smaller possible areas of an opponent's vital spot. Such control of the muscles requires years of constant, concentrated, expertly-guided practice. There is no other way.
THE "KIAI"
"Kiai" is a practice that has come down with the rest of the secrets of Jiu-jitsu, but it is of such metaphysical and abstract quality that only a handful of individuals living today are in full command of its powers. Therefore, we can only tell about these strange practices, hoping that in time to come, there inner meanings will be fully revealed to you as you progress toward perfection. Many of these secrets may seem more or less fantastic and impossible. However, they are far from that as their verity has been proven many times in centuries past.
The acquisition of most of this information depends on your willingness to take for granted that which may not seem to have en the slightest bit of logic or soundness to its external appearance. A negative attitude will result in a complete loss of comprehending this vital knowledge. When you go to see a magician perform feats of magic in a theater, you are impressed with his skill just as much as if you don't know how he creates a certain illusion, as when you do. Knowledge -- complete, deep-sighted knowledge -- never lessens any illusion. But as in the magician's case, he doesn't in his performance, let you in on the secret of a trick. The same is true with the practice of Kiai. Your advancement in Jiu-jitsu makes you realize the plausibility of its workings and it gives you ground upon which you can base your belief in it. Kiai is never fully explained. When you have progressed far enough into the many aspects of Jiu-jitsu, Kiai may suddenly be revealed to you, just as truth and intricate philosophical solutions are made clear to the advanced thinker when he has pondered long enough on the subject before him.We ask you to try and assume the Oriental point of view, to see the reality of these things we are going to tell you. We know they exist and will continue to exist and we want you to agree with us. These things have been done, can be done and will continue to be done. And when you find these basic secrets suddenly revealed to your mind, then you too can do these things. Assume the Oriental frame of mind, accepting even that which you do not understand as truth and reality. Because the Oriental and Occidental points of view are so different, some students may never be able to comprehend Kiai in its completeness. It is naturally impossible for some Occidental minds to revolutionize their outlook in order to deliver a principle. However, try your best in attempting to reject your present Occidental point of view, replacing it with the comprehension of these basic secrets. Remember again that adage - "Condemnation before investigation is man's most effective weapon against knowledge."
Kiai is really the foundation upon which advanced Jiu-jitsu is laid. A great critic once said that "literature leaves off where music begins." The same is true of Jiu-jitsu combat. It leaves off where Kiai begins.
A Japanese considers the person who loses his temper at the last provocation mentally deficient. He has nothing but contempt for such an individual.
The fundamental requirement for the student of Kiai is an attainment of the same calmness and serenity of mind which the Japanese possesses. It is this quiet receptivity which makes for the eventual understanding and revelation of this science to the student. A profound student of Oriental philosophy can become so adept in the practice of Kiai that it is possible for him to discontinue the functions of an opponent's mind without coming any nearer to him than six feet. He has so freed his own mind of all disturbing influences and elements that it is easy for him to absorb and revoke objectionable thoughts directed against him. Now this practice is very similar to hypnotism in its results, but it is basically different and is not hypnotism as we know it. However, for the sake of explanation, we are forced to identify hypnotism with Kiai.
A simple example of the practice of Kiai is contained in the incident of stopping a horse or directing him to turn a corner by shouting. In much the same way, a child can be made to cease crying or doing something it shouldn't by giving it a certain look. In these instances, the expression of the eyes or the voice are employed. These practices are known to everyone and they may be termed the elementary practices of Kiai. Advanced Kiai is really the transference of mental telepathy of your thoughts to the Medulla Oblong (nerve center) that controls that part of the brain which in turn controls muscular activity. It has been the fortunate experience of the author to see a Japanese Jiu-jitsu expert, thoroughly masterful in the art of Kiai, cause a small bird to fall from a tree, seemingly stone dead. This was done by uttering a few guttural intonations. The vibrations of these sounds completely arrested the functioning of the bird's mind and body. This expert then picked up the limp bird, manipulated certain muscles and nerves, and a few minutes later the bird flew away, apparently no worse for his few moments of death. This may sound quite fantastic to one who is inclined to be skeptical, but it certainly is not. The incident actually happened and it reveals the tremendous possibilities of a knowledge of Kiai.
These individuals who can successfully practice this amazing art, are usually endowed with a particular trend of mind. Years of experience will enable these people to reach the point where it is possible for them to control another mind to such an extent that it reaches a state of unconsciousness with a minimum effort, should they have definite desire to accomplish this phenomenon. But this requires years of study and intensive concentration. WHAT IS "KIAI"? You are doubtlessly asking this question now. Kiai is a combination of hypnotism, mesmerism, applied psychology, power of suggestion, and many other methods of mental control over individuals. It has been explained in preceding paragraphs that a calm and collected frame of mind and a positive attitude when entering combat is of the utmost importance. Add to that a complete mental receptivity. The mind of one versed in this science absolutely expels all outside influences. He is in such a state of mental receptivity that any vibration sent out from the mind of his opponent (and there will be many especially as the adversary is thinking about the other fellow) will be caught and analyzed by his own consciousness.
As mentioned in a previous book, Professor Kano, a seventy year old Japanese, is the world's most proficient exponent of Kiai. Kano has so mastered this difficult art that he can absolutely keep an adversary from approaching him by simply throwing out an Aura of mental suggestion, which amounts to the same thing as if there were a brick wall between the two men. No one has ever been able to "climb over" that wall into his consciousness and overpower the forces he gives out. A vivid example of this same sort of suggestion was exhibited daily at the San Francisco Exposition of 1915. A Japanese girl, considered a prodigy and an enigma, and an expert in Kiai, stood daily in one of the exhibition rooms and defied anyone to approach within ten feet of her. Men and women tried to get within the limit of feet and some even aimed guns at her, in an attempt to break the mysterious wall between this girl and her opponents. But no one succeeded in breaking through the Aura of thought or suggestion. All during the months of the Fair, psychiatrists and other people, thoroughly skills in the field of mind study, tried to break down her power. All efforts were of no avail. Kiai enables you to so control the mind of your adversary as to make him turn his body just the way you want him to. You can then exercise your holds and win your combat. Kiai gives you the power to make an automaton out of the other man and completely enslave him to your will.
Often your audience is entirely unaware that you are controlling your opponent's mind, as is the opponent himself He merely experiences a sudden weakening of his muscular system and a draining of his power to move. Radio, television and mental telepathy which have been more than mere theories in the past few years, all tend to prove the findings of the Japanese Samurai, regarding mind control of yourself and your opponent. These discoveries have been organized and developed by Occidentals in a material way, just as the science of Kiai has been developed in a metaphysical manner from the same basic principle by the Japanese. Nearly everyone is more or less familiar with the radio. It has become such an integral part of the American household that it is well on the way toward being taken very much for granted. But have you ever given thought to the fact that the radio is a form of sound transference, much the same as Kiai? In radio, your set at home picks up the other vibrations sent out by a sending station and centers them into human voices, orchestras and various other sounds. Now compare your opponent's mind with the receiving set, your own with the sending station. You send out thought waves and thought desires, and they are picked up and used by the other mind. Kiai is both thought transference and sound transference.
Kiai is really a spiritual development as well as mental one. Many of Japan's recognized masters do not have a thorough working knowledge of Kiai. They only feel instinctively that it is the complete thought transference of your ideas to another mind. They are totally incapable of going further with their explanation and telling you exactly how Kiai is performed.
In comparison with the physical control of your opponent which Jiu-jitsu has taught you, Kiai is another phase of Jiu-jitsu which gives you an equal control of that same opponent's mind. Kiai is really "subconscious impression." Along with silent thought transference, to the subconscious, Kiai includes sound transference, such as the name of the individual when used in the same manner and intonation. Elementary Kiai, in brief, is sound transference - setting up vibrations in the mind of other individuals by the utterance of words and phrases. When you have so learned to control the physical of Kiai, then you are ready for the advanced Kiai. The advanced form is the more specialized rendering of the subject's mind to your influence by radio magnetism and thought transference.
