The Kiai: What is the purpose?

We have to look at the term "Kiai" itself.

It is two ideas that we are all pretty much familiar with... Ki = Breath(same as Qi) and Ai = Harmony(as in Aikido)

Ah, now it's painting a picture!

The KIAI is nothing less than the practice of Harmonizing the Breath with the Technique.

Weight lifters do this, although I notice it is in reverse. They don't vocalize it, unless they are really straining, but they are trying to avoid making a sound so as not to seem like they are struggling. This never made sense to me.

Vocalizing the Kiai with the right sound allows you to release more of the energy. Whenever I did weight training with a friend, I did my Sanchin Breathing, since it comes so natural to me. He would tell me I'm breathing backwards. I would tell him - You're breathing backwards!

Normal Breathing is taking in Oxygen and releasing Carbon Dioxide. This is the Symbiotic Relationship we have with Flora(capitalized).

In Ki/Qi training, you're taking in oxygen from the air, but you are directing the Breath using Intention to where you are exerting force. If you are pressing outward in the manner of Sanchin, you are exerting the Force PLUS the Breath forward to the arms and downward through the legs for rooting.

So really when you are practicing any form of Qigong/Kiko, you are Harmonizing the Breath with the Technique.

More Oxygen means more energy to release - more martial power.

Edit:

Thank you Gentlemen, for the kind words.

Kiai is a very useful tool. It works on a couple levels. First it is pure physiology. It is a controlled way to release the pressure in your lungs allowing you in a controlled manner to move the diaphragm upward. This reduces restriction to movement of the mid section of the body. This also in the event of a strike to your midsection allows room for the internal organs below the diaphragm to move up absorbing some of the shock. Think of the larynx as a valve like the one on a shock absorber. On a psychological level give a release. Shouting in a way gives the mind a way of letting go a sort of permission to act. This is particularly useful if you practice giving yourself a "go" word. Yes I have read other studies also on the release of endorphins as well. So by all means Kiai out loud. Sure you can control the physiological part by controlled exhale and this makes sense for most of the time. However get in the habit of using a great Kiai at times it makes sense. For instance when using a finishing strike, or an initial block

Of course there is a good reason to shout in the face of an attacker. It is distracting as heck to the untrained.

Oh boy... Well, I guess no one will be able to convince you that it is a very important part of martial arts. Maybe the fact that everyone does it naturally when they are anticipating a sudden impact or a crash or maybe even a fall, doesn't give you an indication of its value. After all... you're only training to do something that already comes natural in many other situations. Maybe the fact that the term "kiai" means breath-harmony... The fact that it implies that the breathing is coordinated with the physical body to provide a release of power during an impact to enhance technique or disperse the effect of blunt trauma. Well... some people never learn. I guess I'll leave you to your own private blissful state of ignorance.

Very nice find. An excellent explanation by Scandal.

I must admit that when I reviewed your link I thought the claim was rather dubious. The website you link doesn't provide the abstract so I performed a further search and found a peer reviewed medical journal that published the study:

http://www.anesthesia-analgesia.org/content/98/2/3...

Reducing Venipuncture Pain by a Cough Trick: A Randomized Crossover Volunteer Study

Taras I. Usichenko, MD, Dragan Pavlovic, MD, Sebastian Foellner, and Michael Wendt, MD, PhD Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany

This is an excellent find. The mechanism is unknown though and I am uncertain of the relation to the martial arts kiai since the mechanism isn't the same.

These are all great answers above but to sum it all up in a nutshell kiai is a forceful projection of one's energy and spirit. It is used to focus breathing, technique, intent as well as distract or scare the living daylights out of an opponent. Truth be told, if you've ever screamed at someone when they're least expecting it, it will momentarily shock them into a near heart attack. Attend a Kendo event, you'll see what I mean. Interestingly enough, the characters of kiai is aiki switched around. In that respect, kiai deals with the emission of such energy while aiki deals with the harmonization of that energy.

Some interesting answers! I find it even more interesting that many users defer to the eloquence of the famous Top Contributors. They certainly have enormous experience, and more importantly, unique understanding into some of the truths of martial arts. However I would caution other users of Yahoo! to respect their own opinions as well.

Let me ask you this: have you heard of kiaijutsu? There are many legends surrounding it, but rumor has it that there are a select few individuals throughout the world who have reached a level of mastery where their kiai alone can have a measurable impact in the physical world. Unreliable as it is to utter the phrase a friend of a friend of mine, one of my respected Ging Mo peers had heard of a master who could cause a bowl to resonate from a distance after a kiai. That master would, once a year, direct his kiai at a bird to see whether he still retained his talent: every year that unfortunate bird would die. Another story I read (of which is not infallibly credible, but worth consideration) involved being subject to a kiaijutsu master- the subject expected to be yelled at until it hurt, but instead woke up on the floor a few seconds later without any recollection of how he got there. A witness nearby explained the master had screamed and screamed until his victim passed out.

Yelling at a cup of cold coffee for something like seven hours will produce enough sound energy to heat it. Kiai is more than just simple sound energy- otherwise you'd have to sustain a kiai for several hours for it to even come close to having an impact on a physiological level. What then causes this unexplainable impact?

To me, kiai is more than just a way of exhaling. It is more than a battle cry or a way to shock your opponent into creating an opening (though that's one of its more practical uses). It is the culmination of intent. Another level of attack, through the breath and vocal chords. To look into someone's eyes and kiai with all your heart- to blast them with your intent- can be overwhelming, even if they are expecting it. It can be crushing in ways I cannot explain in words.

I'm afraid that's the best answer I can give you until you experience it yourself. Find someone with an insurmountable amount of ki, someone of great strength and focussed intent, and ask them to teach you what kiai is.

Kiai has many purposes. It does not lessen pain, but it can distract the mind from it. That's because the injury (eg, the needle) is still there touching all of the nerves it would be touching with or without a kiai. It's only the brain that reacts to the sensation of pain, and it will react to the most important stimula. While silly, there is an important and true effect: your child comes to you complaining that their finger hurts. You say, "give me your other hand and I'll make that hurt more, so your finger doesn't hurt." If you actually follow through, it will actually work. (of course, you must keep following through to the obvious conclusion that there will be no more body parts to hurt more than the previous, and then you have to deal with Child Services...)

Kiai also helps the mind focus on a particular thought: a punch, for instance, to direct as much energy as possible into the punch. Some call this "chi", but I do not subscribe to the concept at all. Rather, I view it as allowing the brain to focus its attention on the punch by masking all other distractions. People who say that this is the essence of chi, I say it is a mind acting without distraction. A brain that focuses on fewer distractions is more likely to execute it's intended outcome. One acting with more distractions is more likely to act with hesitation or with less intended effect.

Kiai also helps release energy, so as to absorb an outside stimulus - like a punch or throw. Again, others relate to chi, while I view it like a ball being bounced. If there is a hole in the ball, the energy for the bounce is sapped because the air (which provides the elasticity of the ball's wall) escapes through the hole. So it is with the human body: a punch, or a throw, to a body with pent-up air will react more to the strike than it will when that air is released. It need not be in the form of a shouting kiai, but why not: if you're going to expel air, why not make it useful, like trying to scare your opponent?

Along a similar line, the kiai also makes a sound that can be used to distract - even momentarily - an opponent's attack. This "atemi" can be used to redirect an attack, or to confuse the attacker, which will hopefully reduce the impact of their strike.

And along another similar vein, the kiai can be used as a war cry - very common in tribal cultures. this battle cry can be used in much the same effect as a flag or bugler has in European (or, maybe more civilized?) cultures.

As experienced martial artists know, mindset can often make the difference between a successful encounter, or a disasterous one. Kiai helps set one's own mind to the proper mindset, while at the same time offsetting the opponent's. Being in a proper mindset necessarily requires to ignore all unnecessary stimuli.

I seriously doubt coughing while getting stuck with a needle is going to help - it will more than likely cause you to move or tense up and cause the person doing the sticking to move.

For people who don't like the pain of getting shots, I always use the same technique - tell them 'okay - now on the count of 3', and then stick them when I count 1. They aren't tensed up like they would be on 3, and its over before they even know it.

I'm all about ancient training and techniques - but I can guarantee that the people from back then would have told you to quit complaining and take the shot.

It makes you release your breath so if you get hit with a counter it wont knock the wind out of you. So they teach you it because it is easy to remember if you make it sound "kiai" but it has no other meaning, people may try to give it science or mythical legend but that is the simple truth.

Actually, i believe it serves a similar purpose to breathing out in boxing. However, as supposed to letting out shorter breathes, the kiai simply is the release of all the breathe at once.