Dragon Ball

Dear Readers,

I realize that there are several people who might have gotten their hopes up when they saw that I am writing a post about Dragon Ball. However, I have not watched much Dragon Ball. I have seen most of Dragon Ball Z though. Again, sadly, I am focusing on the route of the power gauge of the show, Ki.

So, what is Ki?

Ki, or sometimes called Chi, is translated as energy or life force. Now, according to Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, Ki is made of Genki (energy), Yuki (courage), and Shoki (mind).

What is the life force energy or Genki? I personally believe it is body heat. Heat is a form of energy, and body heat is produced by the chemical reaction in our living bodies. Thus it is life energy, or life force.

In correlation, my Step-Mother, who I am not sure would approve of this post, is a practitioner of reiki. Now, I did not gain my learning about this subject from her. I only mention her to point out that I do have someone in my life that whole heartedly believes and uses reiki as a means of healing. That being said, I met a woman on my mission for the LDS Church in Montana who was also a practitioner of reiki. As we met with her and shared our beliefs, she shared her beliefs with my companion and I. She defined reiki as "heavenly guided ki".

Now, she elaborated upon it as using reiki is a gift from God. However, after prayer and revelation I received from God during my personal attempt to practice reiki, as an attempt to prove her words as she would hopefully prove ours by reading and praying about the Book of Mormon, I learned that though reiki was new and fascinating to me, it pales in comparison to the healing power of priesthood blessings. I also learned that the subject is cluttered and presented in a way in which clarity and truth can be hard to distinguish.

Having this enlightenment to my mind on the subject, I realized that ki is indeed body heat, and is the heat that is felt when performing reiki. Reiki is essentially using one's body heat to help someone heal. In a very similar way as how an icy-hot pad works.  Only using ki to warm the body instead of artificial chemical reactions allows the natural flow of ki or body heat to flow smoother rather than disrupted and improperly distributed. Reiki is performed in such a way to only introduce ki to parts of a person's body that are in need of soothing and repair.

With my personal experience with reiki, as well as what I have been told, I am confident in my declaration that ki is body heat. However, the ki used in Dragon Ball has two other elements.

One that I mentioned but did not emphasize was the Shoki or mind part. Like in reiki, it takes control of mind and union with the body to control and properly harness ki. Thus, whether using it for healing or for offense, there is still an aspect of the mind and mental acuity.

I must admit, I am not positive how Yuki or courage plays a role. However, I do have some hypothesis. First and mostly vague and simply, it would take courage to perform an action not knowing for sure that it would work. Secondly, and more realistically, courage could be considered an emotion, and emotions generally improve, draw, and direct blood flow to different parts of the body. With blood flow, comes heat, body heat.

Lastly, I have always heard of courage being defined as willing to stand up for something despite fear. Thus, it could be the domination of the mind over the body, and more importantly, the strength of will and determination to make it work despite possible obstacles.

I, personally, lean towards that last one.

So, now that I have defined Dragon Ball Ki as body heat manipulated with conviction of mind, how does that work for the Kamehameha?

Firstly, the pose, specifically the two hand grip, are designed to gather Ki right between the two wrists. It is important to note that it is not actually being gathered in the hands.

Like in Reiki, the individual does not actually touch the other person. Instead, they emit their body heat down through the air. I believe this is because, when skin touches skin, the energies don't quite mix as well, rather they continue in their own flow. While with the air, that energy gets concentrated externally allowing for easier manipulation.

Why does it appear to be in the hands then? I have also taken some Tai Chi classes for fun, and the fluid circular motions help to bring forth and gather the chi, or ki. Thus, the arcing of the fingers and hands creates a sphere of ki gathering to that spot between the wrists. The immenseness and concentration of that ki is what is making that sphere visible.

Why between the wrists instead of in the palms of the hands? Again, going off of my concept of body heat as ki, there are arteries close to the surface in the wrists, allowing for more heat to flow from the surface. The same reason why cutting your wrists can kill you.

Now, would it be possible for ki to make a visual manifestation? I have never done it, though I admittingly have never put forth the real effort and practice that would be necessary. In theory, I would say yes.

Heat can influence the air, like the heat coming off of a road or sand in the desert, causing the water like mirage. Living in Arizona, I have also seen shadows caused by the heat coming off of a vehicle in the summer. Thus, the heat can indeed change properties of the environment. Like rubbing the joint of a spoon can make it bend easier, potentially, one could heat up metal enough that it glows. In a similar manner, the air could become luminescent as the heat causes chemical reaction in the air.

Have I done it? No. Have I seen it? No. Do I think it is possible? Maybe.

Now, the final step of the Kamehameha, the release of that gathered energy. Of course there is the directional beam as the energy is released out from the point, but what about the bulb at the hands? Releasing energy in this manner would be equivalent to a massive explosion, that is why it is so powerful. Much like a cero from Bleach, which you can learn more about in my Bleach 3 blog post, it is an explosion created from a center point.

Now with explosives, there is the phenomenon of the "shaped charge". Here is a quick video about those.

Thus, the hands, and the energy that is contained therein, react with the Kamehameha creating a shaped charge.

Alas, the aforementioned cero does not have a shaped charge, but is merely a direction charge. Because it is not a shaped charge, there is the possibility that quite a bit of energy is wasted. As this picture of Ulquiorra's cero shows, it too is not on the skin, but the energy is gathered into a spot just off of it.

Well.... I believe that I have explained both ki and the kamehameha to the best of my abilities. For you Dragon Ball fans, I hope that I have not offended any of you with my ignorance. I hope that all of you have enjoyed this post, and learned more about ki or chi, reiki, and the kamehameha.

I would love to read any comments or concerns you may have with this post.

Love,
Jacobugoth