| Kiai | |||||||
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| Kiai can be used to aid a martial arts technique such as the throw above. | |||||||
| Japanese name | |||||||
| Kanji: | 気合 | ||||||
| Hiragana: | きあい | ||||||
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| Korean name | |||||||
| Hangul: | 기합 | ||||||
| Hanja: | 氣合 | ||||||
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Kiai (気合) (English pronunciation: /ˈkiː.aɪ/) is a Japanese term used in martial arts. There are numerous examples of the battle cry in other cultures: kiai is perhaps primarily a development of this. In the representation of Asian martial arts in cinema and in animated cartoons, Modern Kiai are often written by westerners in Romaji as Hi-yah!, Aiyah!, Eeee-yah!, or Hyah!. Traditional Japanese Dojo generally use single syllables beginning with a vowel. In the board game Go the term describes fighting spirit — see go terms for this use.
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In martial arts, the term commonly refers to a short exhalation (not as yell) before or during a strike or technique. In bujutsu (Japanese arts of war), it is usually linked to an inner gathering of energy released in a single explosive focus of will. Students of Japanese martial arts such as aikido, karate, Kobudo, kendo or judo (or related arts such as taiko drumming) do not 'use', but rather allow, ones Ki to emanate from their Tanden (Hara) while executing a technique. It also erroneously refers to the shout that accompanies some techniques when performing kata. Kiaijutsu is at times thought to be the Japanese art of using kiai when performing martial arts. More accurately Kiai and Aiki co-exist in all Japanese Martial Arts.
The proper use of kiaijutsu involves concentrating on the use of one's ki more than it does shouting. A sound is just an audible indication of good kiai (aligned body structure, focused intent, and good breathing). Kiai can be a silent;[1] coordination of breath with activity. A relaxed and powerful exhalation can add power to movement. This may be more accurately referred to as kokyu power. Kokyu and kiai are sometimes used interchangeably. The term kokyu, most often translated as breath power in English, is essentially the same as Chinese neijin. It is the ability to coordinate breathing with the execution of a jin movement which is important.
The noise from a kiai is said to arise from the hara or dantien-Chinese: it involves the abdominal muscles and diaphragm and should not be sounded merely from the throat.[2]
As well as the above, the kiai can be used to:
Kiai appears to be a compound of ki (気) meaning mind, breath or spirit and ai(合, 合い), a stem of the verb awasu (合わす), "to unite"; therefore literally "concentrated or united spirit". However, Frederick John Lovret notes, "One should note that ai, the conjunctive stem of the verb au, does not mean "to join" in this case: when used in the second position of a compound word, ai becomes an emphatic marker. Kiai, therefore, should be translated as "spirit!", not "spirit-joined".[3]
The sound is called K'ihap in many Korean martial arts, such as Taekwondo. This is derived from the old Korean reading of the same arrangement of Chinese characters as had been used to write Kiai in Japanese. In the phonetic alphabet of modern Korean it is written as 기합.
The two terms Kiai and aiki use the same kanji (transposed) and can be thought of as the inner and the outer aspect of the same principle.[4] Some martial arts schools use the term interchangeably. Otherwise Kiai relates to the manifestation, emission or projection of ones own energy (internal strength), while Aiki relates to the coordination of one's energy with the energy of an external source. Thus kiai is the expression or projection of our own, internal energy while aiki is coordination with an attacker's energy.
This usage of kiai as internal strength, or using one's ki[5] is often found in aiki arts such as aikijujutsu and aikido.[6] In some schools such as the Ki Society, 'keeping one point' (awareness or centredness in the dantian) is described as kiai.[7]