Ki

Ki, also called inner power or inner energy, was a mystical energy of the body that could be used to fuel various powers by its practitioners. It was commonly used in Kara-Tur. Many monastic traditions knew it as ki, but other names were possible.

Nature of Ki
Ki was an internal energy of one's body, described as either spiritual energy or life energy. It was a subtle energy, but it could be used to perform incredible feats by pushing the body to and beyond its physical limits. Mastery of ki gave one power over one's own body and over the bodies of others and even to steal ki from others.

Ki was variously considered to be similar to but distinct from the mental energy utilized in psionics, to be a form of psionic energy itself or a magical energy that worked with psionics, and finally as a wholly magical energy or one whose application created magical effects. It was also theorized that the martial adepts of the Sublime Way drew on the power of ki and their own souls, but this was unproven. Of the magic that suffused the multiverse, ki was the element that flowed through living bodies. and was closely linked with elemental air, as it depended strongly on the breath that linked the soul to the body. Thus, ki existed in all things that lived.

Training
The use of ki was aided significantly by intense training of the mind and self-contemplation, through meditation, medicine, spiritual discipline, controlled breathing, and developed vitality. This was based on a belief that living beings were composed of two "lives", the physical and the spiritual, that must be in harmony. With this, a practitioner could focus their ki by concentrating on their breathing and directing their bodily energy to produce a specific ki power. A state of total calm and utter serenity enabled amazing feats of ki.

The Do Jang of Won Kwang, a military academy in Koryo, taught its students techniques for enhancing and focusing ki. Students regularly spent hours each day working on this. Elsewhere, kensei honed their ki through mastering a particular weapon.

Practitioners also studied detailed diagrams of the body that indicated the flow of ki through the body and its individual parts. These were associated with the body's pressure points that a martial artist might target. Monks could practice their strikes against wooden dummies inscribed with grooves indicating the flow of ki through the body.

Ki Powers
At its most basic, a bushi or samurai could give a fierce "kiai", a ki shout that boosted their fighting ability or strength, while a kensei could make a devastating attack against one or many foes. A sohei could focus ki to fight in a fanatic frenzy, even using their ki to sustain their lives as they fought to or even past the point of death. Even the low yakuza could use ki to sense and anticipate a foe's action and narrowly evade it.

Focused ki enabled a practitioner to achieve great acts of endurance. It was said they could ignore the touch of hot coals or the bite of chill wind, live without food and drink for three times longer than normal, live in a harsh desert, and survive any catastrophe. Some martial artists could channel inner power to make their bodies as light as a feather and so leap to great heights and distances, and even change direction midair. Others could channel inner energy into their hands and fingers, so that even a gentle push could have a great impact, even without touching at all. Similarly, monks could empower their unarmed strikes with ki, to strike with the force of magical, lawful, or even adamantine weapons, or use ki to achieve amazing speed and strength. In an iaijutsu duel, samurai faced off, collected their ki, and unleashed it to draw their weapon and attack with shocking speed and force all in one graceful action.

In more advanced applications of ki, a monk or shukenja could resist the impact or harm of magic or other form of attack or heal an injury. A ninja could hold their breath for long periods, walk on water, disappear from view, and even pass through walls by slipping into the Ethereal Plane. A wu jen could focus ki to improve reactions and even summon considerable magical energy with which to cast a spell.

However, ki was a finite resource: a practitioner might have limited uses of a power a day or not be able to use their greatest ki powers if they had already used their lesser ki powers that day. The greatest ki powers exhausted one's inner strength. A nin-chu-ju-gaki, a starving spirit, drained the key attribute of its victims, which blocked their use of ki until they recovered. Some special strikes could disrupt the flow of ki in a foe.

The Ren Brothers developed new theories on ki and its cultivation and mastery, and even ways to use it to attain immortality.

Practitioners
Harnessing the power of ki energy was vital for many kinds of adventurers. The following paths were known for their use of ki powers, to a greater or lesser extent:
 * Bushi
 * Kensei
 * Monk
 * Ninja
 * Samurai
 * Shukenja
 * Sohei
 * Wu jen
 * Yakuza

Soft martial arts styles used inner power to provide energy and overcome an opponent and were usually defensively minded. Some martial arts made particular use of ki:
 * The Northern Fist School "read" an opponent's ki in order to make stunning or killing attacks at weak body parts and acupressure points.
 * The Southern Star School believed ki to be as dangerous as a physical attack and thus concentrated ki beyond the point of impact, permitting them to strike a target without touching it.
 * Tae kwon do taught at the Do Jang of Won Kwang employed focused ki for great endurance.
 * The Way of the Open Hand was based around ki and its use in healing and defense.

Spells
The aiming at the target spell for wu jen combined ki power, magic, and meditation. With precise breathing exercises and clearing and calming the mind, the spell was cast. It permitted the wu jen to perform other actions, even cast aiming at the target, without breaking concentration on an existing spell.

Items
Channeling ki could be aided by a "ki focus", typically an item studied or used during meditation or training. This could be as a simple as a practice weapon, prayer beads, a training manual, or scroll of secret knowledge that the individual practitioner was attuned to. Some could themselves be enchanted items.

Of the magical cards of the Edu'sascar, "Ki", the symbol of the Power Within, could be used by a monk or shukenja to boost the ki powers of a congregation for a brief time.

An opal warfu stone could double one's ki power.

Notable Ki Users
Some individuals were known to be especially strong in ki:
 * Master Liu (Willow) of the Southern Star School
 * Shi Lo, a student of the Southern Star School
 * Chen Ching Ch'ien, a student of the Wang Ho School