There's a legend in the USMC about two "black-belt" USMC-MMA instructors getting their asses handed in a bar fight by barstool wielding gray-bearded bikers. It's canon in my head.
I really enjoyed this article! It's easy to be dismissive about sports, but I see it as a rich ground for cultural study. I started watching professional wrestling when I was 10 in the mid 80's. My parents were newly divorced, and I think now I was unconsciously trying to get some kind of handle on adult behavior. (This was in the era of NWA and the territories that were a lot less cartoonish than the WWF.) I think professional wrestling is the ultimate example of hyperchi because people can be successful based on it with none of the pesky "competition" getting in the way. Look at someone like "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, who was overweight, funny-looking, and had a distinct lisp. Despite all this, he was one of the most popular wrestlers of the era precisely because of his chi.
Interestingly, the Khabib v McGregor fight is the most viewed and watched of all time. Lots of Chi. Lots of Alpha ritual leading up to the fight. Some of the lead up even seemed "fake".
When I glanced at this article's headline, for a second, I genuinely thought you were talking about https://www.chidrinks.com/. Maybe these MMA dudes should try some. It'd calm them wonderfully.
One of my most strongly held opinions, which I've had since I was a kid, is that watching sports on TV is an absolutely empty endeavor. There is no upside, there is only downside when your favorite team of 23-year-olds loses. And then you get pissed and treat your wife worse for the rest of the night. I have always seen it as completely and utterly pointless.
But a friend of mine has tried to explain to me why it's important and why it's a natural expression of healthy tribalism, etc. And what you wrote here adds another clarifying layer of sense-making to it, for me. Maybe it's a cultural ritual, a cultural transmission mechanism that shows grace and rules and norms, not just an isolated event that has worth in and of itself for entertainment.
This could actually only be true in America and Western Europe maybe. And perhaps most Asian countries want to cross from MMA to Pro Wrestling. But in places like Russia, Israel, and most of Africa, it's MMA.
This article is a little too enigmatic, for me at least. Although I understand its broad outlines: MMA bad, professional wrestling good with a double dose of irony.
But did chi get casually dismissed in a logical positivist sideswipe, or redefined into oblivion as metaphor for charisma? Or perhaps charisma as a metaphor for chi?
You’re the metaphor maestro, but I can assure you chi is real.
You know more about it than I do, Chris. I’d say: pretend you helped me write this article and my examples for how Chi is real extend into your domain as well. Yes, it’s real.
Just read your article Chris. Perhaps James Taylor could write an article about energy as an animating force: chi, shakti, qi, spirit, flow, etc. v the Holy Spirit as a triune Godhead, whattya thnk James?
There's a legend in the USMC about two "black-belt" USMC-MMA instructors getting their asses handed in a bar fight by barstool wielding gray-bearded bikers. It's canon in my head.
A first principle to follow when encountering a Hyper Chi individual is acting like you've been there before.
Wow I love this
I worked at a theatre at the end of the Santa Monica pier. A lot of celebrities came through.
On my first weekend employed, somebody got fired for how they behaved in the face of hyper-chi.
Great essay!
I really enjoyed this article! It's easy to be dismissive about sports, but I see it as a rich ground for cultural study. I started watching professional wrestling when I was 10 in the mid 80's. My parents were newly divorced, and I think now I was unconsciously trying to get some kind of handle on adult behavior. (This was in the era of NWA and the territories that were a lot less cartoonish than the WWF.) I think professional wrestling is the ultimate example of hyperchi because people can be successful based on it with none of the pesky "competition" getting in the way. Look at someone like "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, who was overweight, funny-looking, and had a distinct lisp. Despite all this, he was one of the most popular wrestlers of the era precisely because of his chi.
Interestingly, the Khabib v McGregor fight is the most viewed and watched of all time. Lots of Chi. Lots of Alpha ritual leading up to the fight. Some of the lead up even seemed "fake".
When I glanced at this article's headline, for a second, I genuinely thought you were talking about https://www.chidrinks.com/. Maybe these MMA dudes should try some. It'd calm them wonderfully.
One of my most strongly held opinions, which I've had since I was a kid, is that watching sports on TV is an absolutely empty endeavor. There is no upside, there is only downside when your favorite team of 23-year-olds loses. And then you get pissed and treat your wife worse for the rest of the night. I have always seen it as completely and utterly pointless.
But a friend of mine has tried to explain to me why it's important and why it's a natural expression of healthy tribalism, etc. And what you wrote here adds another clarifying layer of sense-making to it, for me. Maybe it's a cultural ritual, a cultural transmission mechanism that shows grace and rules and norms, not just an isolated event that has worth in and of itself for entertainment.
Interesting.
This could actually only be true in America and Western Europe maybe. And perhaps most Asian countries want to cross from MMA to Pro Wrestling. But in places like Russia, Israel, and most of Africa, it's MMA.
This article is a little too enigmatic, for me at least. Although I understand its broad outlines: MMA bad, professional wrestling good with a double dose of irony.
But did chi get casually dismissed in a logical positivist sideswipe, or redefined into oblivion as metaphor for charisma? Or perhaps charisma as a metaphor for chi?
You’re the metaphor maestro, but I can assure you chi is real.
https://open.substack.com/pub/chriscoffman/p/the-spiritual-is-physical?
You know more about it than I do, Chris. I’d say: pretend you helped me write this article and my examples for how Chi is real extend into your domain as well. Yes, it’s real.
Just read your article Chris. Perhaps James Taylor could write an article about energy as an animating force: chi, shakti, qi, spirit, flow, etc. v the Holy Spirit as a triune Godhead, whattya thnk James?
Thanks, Aaron. Also, huge fan of Nick Cave.