Power of Chi

- I've always wanted to be able to irrefutably show

that there exists a force here on earth

that is of a far higher level and far more powerful

than what most people believe is attainable.

When George Lucas filmed "Star Wars"

and wrote about "May the Force be with you",

he most likely had this in mind.

Muscle strength is generated by the contraction of muscles.

Internal force is created in precisely the opposite way.

It's created from the release of tension,

a bit like a bow and arrow.

The energy is first stored in the body

and then released into the opponent.

The power is generated from the release, not contraction.

The energy stored in the body is a universal energy,

as in created by harmony in the universe.

From there the mind comes into play, the intent.

We'll be visiting China, Canada,

and the US in order to watch the interplay

between several Yang

male and female, young and old,

with some world champion athletes,

including four times Strongest Man in the World,

World Heavyweight UFC Champion,

Light Heavyweight UFC Champion,

NFL linebackers, NBA players,

and even a US Olympic Silver Medalist fencer.

In addition to seeing how that plays out,

shall we call professional to professional

or champion to champion.

I'm interested to see how I get on

with these champion athletes.

Just like many people describe themselves

as weekend warriors, as in going to the gym a couple

of times a week or some weekends when they have time,

I would describe my practice in developing internal power

along the same lines, the desire's there,

but somehow finding the time, well, it's just difficult.

But if this internal force known as chi in China

and ki in Japan truly exists

and is truly at a much higher level

and is so much more powerful than perhaps even I,

just a weekend warrior,

and in athletic terms over 30 years past my prime,

not that anyone would've described my athletic prime

as ever being easy to discern.

But even I was just having a basic level of internal force.

I may be able to challenge

or somewhat hold my own with these champions,

even though I'm a lot older.

After all, if this internal force is real and omnipotent

and is generated through relaxation,

then age or gender should be irrelevant.

And with the mind being the final arbiter,

that should make this an intriguing and fascinating

journey. Because consciousness is not matter.

It is formless and can expand infinitely into space.

- May the Force be with you

is probably the most well known line

from "Star Wars."

This universal force is best shown in star formation,

and stars are the building bricks of the universe

and the energy supply for life.

The physics behind the formation of stars is crucial

for identifying the evolution of the galaxies

and is also essential for understanding the origins

of planetary systems, the nurseries of life.

It takes both magnetic fields

and turbulence to explain all

of the phenomena we observe in the process

of star formation.

Magnetic fields are the main forces regulating

the self-gravity that pulls the gas together

in a molecular cloud

to form stars.

On earth, some 3,000 years ago,

the Chinese, by observing the universe,

discovered how to unleash the force here on earth.

The first known written reference to Tai Chi appeared

in the "Book of Changes."

Legend has it that here in the Wudang Mountains

in the 13th century, Tai Chi Chuan

was created by Zhang Sanfeng.

The art of Tai Chi is to retreat

and follow, to absorb energy from our opponent,

follow, bend, and then extend.

When the opponent is hard, I retreat.

When the opponent reaches the maximum range

of their power, I follow.

Now we see the correlation with Tai Chi

and the star formation

and Tai Chi in the unleashing of the force here on earth.

When the opponent turbulence is hard, I, gravity, retreat.

Do not accrete the gas.

When the opponent turbulence reaches the maximum range

of its power after compressing gas, I, gravity,

follow takeover, and start gravitational contraction,

and then part of the potential energy turns

into turbulent energy.

- Wow, this is quite the sight to see.

Stepping out of our hut in the morning.

The pride of World's Strong Men arrayed before us.

Powerful, ferocious, hungry.

9 of these 10 men just can't wait to be king.

But what about the other one, the man who holds the title,

is he gonna take that lion down?

No, not gonna happen.

- It's the grand final of the World's Strongest Man.

- You're looking at the greatest Strong Man

we've ever seen above his weight, his colossal strength.

Let's go, champ.

- Brian Shaw is six feet, eight inches tall,

and weighs 440 pounds.

He won the World's Strongest Man four times.

He's the first man to have won the Arnold Strong Man Classic

and the World's Strongest Man in the same year,

a feat he subsequently repeated.

Brian was one of four strong men

to be featured in the History Channel series,

"The Strongest Man in History," which premiered in 2019.

In the first episode,

he pulled a 12,000 pound Viking ship

on a 60-foot incline force in 44.5 seconds.

- Can he do it? - Oh, goodness.

He's done it. Really impressive. He dug that out somewhere.

- Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger would like

to personally shake your hand.

Okay, so just like this.

- That's fine. - Okay.

- Oop. - Can you just, yeah.

Try to keep your arms tucked. Yeah.

- Let's see if this man mountain

is indeed immovable.

- Wow. - It's even more extraordinary

when you see that Adam is not even taking a stance.

He's not even transferring his weight from his back leg

to his front leg.

His feet are side by side, yet he's moving Brian with ease.

The mountain may not be toppling,

but it's definitely rocking.

- (chuckling) It's funny, you wait, like,

it's like you wait for me to move,

and I come to you a little bit and then

it's like you can use me moving.

That's crazy. Yeah.

That's crazy, man.

How did that feel?

- It's really different, really different.

- It's different. Yeah. - You would assume

that I could just hold

and not move, but it's like he'll...

It's like you take me one direction

and then you channel that somehow

and then we go back the other way.

But instead of being able to stop the movement

the other way, we go harder the other way.

It's kinda nuts. Yeah.

- Yeah. - It's crazy.

- Obviously I have leverage here, right?

- Yeah, of course. - Yeah, so really

stable and strong. - Okay.

We talk about the quality we call joining.

To join means to become one, to harmonize.

In these arts, we look for harmony.

We say harmony defeats intensity.

It's not about being more, more powerful, stronger, faster,

but to harmonize with the outer force that's upon you,

whether that's another person

or whatever it is, to become one with it.

Then, yes, because we're one, I can change the relationship

that we have with each other

and that can affect the other person at my will.

- Do you wanna try if I put the mouthpiece in,

I'm just curious? - Yeah, yeah, sure.

Yeah, this is more

just for me for selfish reasons now.

That's right. - Brian seems to be

in a state of shock.

He's gone for the mouthpiece

- Now it's even more core strength.

I technically should be. Yeah.

Maybe a little bit better.

Not super solid. Maybe a little bit.

It's how you feel, I guess,

it's hard for me to perceive that, the difference there.

- Yeah. Yeah, it's a little, I mean, it's still the same.

Like I just can't completely stop it.

- Right. - You're very good

at what you're doing obviously.

So it's not easy, you know,

for me to just stay in one place, yeah.

It's crazy. Yeah, it's awesome.

- Cool. Cheers. - Yeah.

Good stuff. - I lived.

I was expecting maybe all my lumber would explode