Daizenshuu EX

Hello, I am new at this forum and I just got activated today. I searched this forum for this subject and their was no threads explaining what ki exactly is. I wanted to know if Ki is the "spirit" of an individual? This was stated in Goku's traning with Mr. Popo....

Input would be nice.

I meant what ki really is in DBZ? So I guess when the Z Senshi senses an individual I guess they are sensing their SPIRIT?

Or their energy/fighting spirit. I also thought of it as an aura/charisma, when Goku was able to sense Radditz I think it was also because he was so evil that it gave off a tainted energy.

Energy. Kind of like electricity in a wire or water in a pipe. It has potential to do harm and to do crazy feats, but doesn't harm the user. It has it's origins in Chinese applications of Qi which in Japanese (which uses creolized Chinese words in it) it went from a "chi" pronunciation to a harder one (ki). The Viz Manga uses the term Chi to describe this mysterious force.

I wouldn't go as far to say it's electricity, more what every living being has inside them, the living force. If you continue to train it, then it grows larger and larger. Etc, etc.

He wasn't saying it like that, MysticJack. But yeah, BtM's example is kinda how I see it too.
-Rick

Well...When Mr. Popo was training Goku in Dragonball he simply was training Goku to sense the spirit (ki). So yeah I guess ki is spirit.

If you look at the depiction and you will notice the way the "aura" of the character is. That clearly shows that it is energy and not the "spirit" of a person. That is called tamashii and is the person's essense. I hoope that by now having read this, you will see what we have been saying to you. It would do good to accept the explanation offered.

Your "Tamashii" is more like your "spirit" (soul) not your "spirit" (lifeforce.) It's what goes to the afterlife after you die. Everyone gives off "Ki" but no one can give off "Tamashii" (unless you're in contact with a certain man in red tights.)

The Wikipedia link explains most of the real life properties of Ki, but Ki in Dragonball uses the same prospect. However, in Dragonball, one can use their Ki to do impossible superhuman feats.

Heh. ^^;

It is the power/life/energy force within an individual in the fictional Dragonball universe, derived from various things that are already stated in other posts. It is the sole thing that determines "power level" or "fighting power" as sensed by the fighters and scouters. It ties into pretty much all the superhuman abilities of the warriors. Accessing too much at once (the "Kikoho") can be hazardous and kill the user from the sudden lack of said Ki, and if too much is being summoned up for Physical strength increase you get the effect seen with the Super Saiyan types 2 and 3, though it as a side effect can slow down the user blah blah blah technical talk blah blah blah

気？

I can't believe I missed this thread! I love talking about Ki and stuff like that!

Most people here have already either pointed you to Qi or have talked about it in a Dragonball context. Mind you, though, Dragonball is Japanese and is inspired by a lot of CHinese influnces. So you have to play close attention to the Chinese and Japanese interpretations of Qi/Ki to understand it's meaning fully in Dragonball.

On a more realistic note, though, I tend to go with the Japanese defintion more often than not. For mroe info on the Japanese interpretation of Ki head over to http://www.aikiweb.com/language/ki_phrases.html.