While I'm waiting for the clip to download...
In the Palladium Books game
Ninjas and Superspies, and to a greater extent,
Mystic China, the concept of
chi is pretty deeply explored - from a game perspective, of course. If your
chi is disrupted, you cannot heal from even a paper cut. If you focus it properly, you can move as if you were weightless, make yourself hard as stone, kill a man with a touch, etc. etc. etc. Combined with a very loose interpretation of
feng shui, it becomes the chief magic system of that game... and it is very entertaining.
However, my only 'experiences' regarding
chi come from what little I studied of
feng shui - mainly, from
Feng Shui for Dummies (Suitable, yes?
). As near as I can tell, the practice of geomancy is little more than common sense combined with a lot of mystic mumbo-jumbo.
Now that I've watched the clip - I notice a couple of things that seem odd: first, he uses a toothbrush to scrub his fingers - the
underside of his fingers. Granted, that's the same area involved in the process, but doesn't one generally wash one's hands front and back? And why a toothbrush, when you could just as easily wash your hands with, say, your other hand? Anyway, it leaves the possibility that this isn't Ajax powder, that something is on the toothbrush that is not easily rinsed away, etc.
Second, notice how his hand gets so close to the camera, that you really can't see what's going on behind the hand, under the hand, etc? For all we know, he's got a cigarette butt somewhere close by, and is teasing up a bit of smoke through his fingers. Though, with the small amounts involved, I don't think that's the issue.
Third, the 'glitch' in the film. After failing to produce 'chi' there's an obvious break in the film, and he returns rubbing out more smoke (with an unwashed hand!). This after discussing how you quickly 'run out' of chi? (And his pronunciation is unusual - most so-called masters pronounce it 'ki')
Anyway, my guess is his hand is pre-treated with a clear substance that smokes at low temperatures or under friction, which is not easily cleaned off OR the 'Ajax' powder is nothing but, say, baby formula, powdered sugar, etc. Or that the 'scrubbing' isn't nearly as intensive as made out to be. I've witnessed one other person claiming to 'materialize q'i' and there was no rubbing involved. They just opened their palms and a mist formed above each palm after a few seconds. I'm not sure what the trick was there, but at least there was no complicated process involved to add possible distractions to the scene.
Anyway - that's my take on it. Usually, the more someone goes to great lengths to prove that 'there's nothing on my hands', the more likely it is that some sort of fraud is at work.
