“TAP INTO YOUR CHI”
BY
SEYMOUR RIFKIND
Little did I know that a simple homework assignment in 1963 would have such an impact on my life. My Junior High teacher had asked us to read through the newspaper for an article of interest to share with the class. That evening I scanned through the tribune and found a small article of a grandmother who was babysitting for her granddaughter. She lost site of her for what seemed to be just a minute and saw that the three-year-old had chased after a beach ball that had rolled under a car. The owner had just entered the vehicle and turned the vehicle on in preparation to leave. The 95 lb. grandmother ran over to the back of the car and lifted the back end of the vehicle and retrieved her little darling prior to the owner being able to leave the parking space. I was absolutely dumbfounded. I read the article again. I read it to my mother and then my father when he came home from work asking how this was possible. Was it a lie? A joke? They couldn’t explain it but they assured me that things like that do happen. When I brought the article to class the next day it created quite a stir. Many of my fellow students didn’t believe it was possible but our instructor told us that indeed it was possible and although she couldn’t explain it in biological terms she knew it had to do with the “fight or flight response.”
I couldn’t get that article out of my mind. How was it possible for a small elderly woman to lift a car? What magic did she have? Of course in subsequent years I learned all about the body’s primitive yet automatic, inborn response that prepares the body to fight or flee from a perceived attack or threat to our survival. I discovered that the hypothalamus initiates a sequence of nerve cell firings while chemicals like adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol are released into the blood system. Thus allowing our bodies to do seemingly impossible feats.
During my high school and college years, I became quite the gymnast. Winning the state high school championships in the all around while earning a full athletic scholarship. I became an elite gymnast winning numerous conference, all-American and eventually international gold medals. I emulated the Japanese for they were the World and Olympic Champions. It was the first time I can ever remember hearing the word chi, or “life energy”. During a workout, Nakayama the reigning Japanese World & Olympic Champion said he tapped into his chi for his strength and power. This seemed rather mystical to me but certainly piqued my curiosity.
Although I did not compete at the 1968 summer Olympic Games, I was glued to the television set eager to not only watch the gymnastics but all of the other sports as well. I watched in awe as Bob Beamon shattered the world record in the long jump. He not only won the gold medal but he jumped nearly two feet further than he or anyone else in the world had ever done before. It was absolutely magical. The tape was checked and rechecked. Had he fouled was there a sudden gust of wind? There seemed to be no logical explanation. Records are meant to be broken, but in the long jump they were broken by inches not nearly two feet. Bob Beamon’s record long jump of 29’ 2 1/2” remains one of the true mysteries of sport.
I began to try and determine if there was some correlation between the article I had read five years ago which was explained with the “fight or flight response” and Bob Beamon’s record long jump. There was no threat to Bob’s life no sudden stress to his system, which would cause the body’s release of chemicals and nerve firings. At least nothing that Bob hadn’t experienced before in his many national and international competitions. So what was it that caused the super human performance? I suddenly remembered Nakayama’s response for his strength and power “tapping into his chi.” Did Bob Beamon unknowingly tap into his chi?
The question of peak performance and the possibility of tapping into additional human potential became a driving force for me. Over the next 40 years, I read every book and research paper I could find. I was influenced by a number of physiologists, physicians and psychiatrists all who were doing studies on the mind, body, and spirit relationship. The writings of Romen, Maslow, Melnikov, Odessky, Selye, Schultz, Garfield, and the Greens had a great influence on me. My travels to China and Japan really opened my mind to the possibilities of human potential. I witnessed ordinary men doing extraordinary things. My life began to resemble a living laboratory. I tried and practiced every technique I was exposed to. Those that made sense to me I tried on the athletes I coached. Some of these techniques worked quite well and became part of the normal training regimen for the Olympic Champion Gymnasts I worked with.
Being from Chicago, I was/am a huge Chicago Bulls fan. I was fortunate enough to be at game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals. The “flu game” where Michael Jordan dropped 38 points against the Jazz despite suffering flu like symptoms. After the game, he spoke about being in the zone. How the basket seemed twice as large and the game just seemed to slow down. He just let the game come to him. Interestingly, these were some of the same sensations that I and the athletes I worked with experienced when we “tapped into our chi”. Was a professional athlete that suddenly entered the “zone” just “tapping into his chi” Was all of this just semantics? Every professional athlete lives for that game, or practice session, that magical moment when he seems to be “in the zone.” The problem or goal for any athlete is to discover how to get into the zone for it is in this unique state that the athlete experiences peak performance.
A runner speaks of “ the runners high” that magical moment that sometimes occurs when you seem to just be floating along effortlessly. Your feet are dancing across the ground seemingly barely touching the ground below. The miles click by faster and easier than ever before. Oh how I long for that sensation! But why doesn’t this sensation happen more frequently? Is there some way to control it? Could I consciously “tap into my chi?”
These were burning questions that I wanted to answer. I had read and experimented with so many techniques over the years. I had been meditating since 1967, practicing yoga since the early 70’s, doing tai chi since 1990 but it wasn’t until my TKD black belt test in the spring of 2005 that a light bulb went off. I had hurt my knee in a skiing accident six weeks before my black belt test and wasn’t sure if I should show up. The black belt test was an eight-hour exam consisting of running 3 miles, sit ups, push up and other conditioning exercises as well as specific kicks and hand strikes. A demonstration of all the TKD forms, a sequence of board breaking techniques and of course sparring up to three other black belts. While everyone else was working out daily with specific black belt classes I was in recuperation mode. I was in a brace and told to stay off my leg as much as possible. The black belt test is only given twice a year. My doctor told me I should be healed in time, but would I be ready to take the test. I decided to at least give it a try. During my time off I used visualization skills that I’ve outlined in my book 21st Century Samurai I decided to try and “tap into my chi” by going through the same sequence of events I used when I did my board breaking. This time instead of drifting in and out I was able to consciously “tap into my chi.” for the entire 8 hours of testing. Not only did I pass my black belt test but I broke every board on my first attempt, a feat that is rarely done in black belt testing.
In the fall of 2006, I decided I was going to try and keep a promise I made to myself after seeing the 1982 TV Special on the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. I like many others who witnessed that event was inspired by Julie Moss and her heroic efforts as she collapsed mere feet from the finish line. Totally exhausted and losing all bodily functions she crawled to the finish. I promised myself one day if healthy and with the time to train I would do an Ironman. So at the tender age of 55, I entered the pool for the first time in 40 years, I bought a bike and began to gradually add distance to my normal running routine. My goal was to finish the ironman on my terms, which meant running the entire marathon distance. I didn’t want to break down and have to walk at any time because I hadn’t trained or prepared myself accordingly. This also provided an opportunity to again test whether or not I could “tap into my chi” while doing an entirely different type of activity.
Since triathlon was totally new to me, I read a number of books and magazines on suggested training techniques. I also got tested to make sure I was physically in good enough shape to take on such a huge challenge, I heard from a number of different coaches on what they would do. Most thought it was crazy to even consider doing a full ironman triathlon with no prior experience. I listened patiently and attentively to all of the suggestions and then ignored the vast majority. I put my own training plan together incorporating all the lessons I’ve learned in the many sports I participated in. My first triathlon was a sprint in May 2007. I did two other triathlons in June one at the Olympic Distance and one at the Half Ironman distance. In September, I completed the Full Ironman triathlon winning my age group and taking 22nd overall. “Tapping into my chi” not only helped me reach my goal faster but also enabled me to perform at a level that I wouldn’t have thought possible. In a four-month period of time I went from a sprint triathlon to the Full Ironman distance. In one year, not only did I complete the Full Ironman on my terms but I won my age group in 3 out of the 4 races I entered. The only race I didn’t win was the Half Ironman where I posted a time of 5-hr 30-min. which I still consider my best effort.
These results would not have been possible without “tapping into my chi”. The truth is I’m still learning and experimenting. “Tapping into my chi” is not something I can do at will. It is however something that I’ve found I can do with greater regularity by following a systematic series of techniques and living my life in balance something I call entrainment, the fusion of mind, body and spirit.
So, it is with a lifetime of study, experimentation and finally actualization that I am taking on possibly my greatest challenge, the Badwater Solo. Again, I’ve heard from many that it takes years to build up the strength and endurance to withstand a run of 135 miles. Ya, I hear you that’s over five marathons all in a row. I did my first ultra a 50k run in October of 2007. With less than a year of training, I’m hoping to celebrate my 57th birthday at the portals of Mt. Whitney or the finish line of the Badwater Solo. If I’m successful it will be a result of living my life in a state of entrainment and “tapping into my chi”