Fireball @ MindSay

Two thoughts for this morning.

Over breakfast, my dad and I were discussing global warming. Latest theory (that actually makes sense) that we've discussed is the Tunguska fireball. Quite believably, this little freak event messed up a bit of the balance of water in the atmosphere. Apparently, after that time, temperatures went for a gradual plunge over a few decades, and at some point between then and now, the balance returned, and they're returning back to the norm.

I was asking if he thought they'd stabilize once they reached that norm, but apparently, among the dozens of other factors that come into play, the sun is starting some version of stellar puberty - being very moody, with lots of breakouts - that's supposed to last about eleven years. It's believed that this may have some effect on our planet. Go figure.

In fairly unrelated news, I'd like to introduce you to Scott. Not tambourine-Scott, this'd be a Scott of a different color. Literally - tambourine-Scott's of Asian descent. This Scott has been entertaining us over here (particularly me) for about two years now. I happen to think he's awesome, and I want one. More as a pet than anything else, but knowing a guy like this would be incredibly cool. He's a geek with a beautifully overdeveloped sense of the random and wacky. And wild hair. What's not to love? I could take him for walks and feed him and everything!

Unfortunately, I haven't yet found one wandering the streets. I have the sneaking suspicion I'm in the wrong state - that, and he doesn't go outside. More's the pity. Why must all geeks confine themselves to the indoors? I realize that they're allergic to sunlight, but they could come out on cloudy days!

That's about as productive as my morning has gotten.

I don't hide the fact that my gaming life and my real life are pretty much one and the same.  There are many who don't understand why I happily equip my geek badge.  Geek is a bad term to them... it is a term so equated with pocket protectors and taped glasses that I can understand (and am grateful) for their unwillingness to believe that I am a geek.

Readers of this blog though, probably have no trouble at all and if a reader happened to be on the fence, I'm sure this post will push them over.

"Just give me sword!  Look, If I'm stuck in a fight with a big dragon and I run out of mana or spells... I'm dead!  I don't have to memorize scrolls to use my sword.  I don't have rest for 6 hours in order to slash with my blade.  Things should be simple and a kobold massacre doesn't get any more simple then a warrior with his sword."

This has been my thought about any fantasy character I have ever made in a game.  Give me the warrior.  I can take the hits and I'm pretty good at hitting back.  It wasn't until Final Fantasy XI that I truly saw the importance of this class of characters.  Tank.  Shoot me, flame me, bash me... I'll stay standing while the rest of my group is whittling away the enemies health.  Look at me, focus on me... Your battle is with me.

Honestly, I enjoy the role and I do a damn good job of it as well.  I have never looked much at other "jobs".  Sure I have dabbled in thief skills or some white magics, but it was always a way to pass the time.  To steal from many adventures I have been on, it seemed the warrior life was my destiny.

Then Selpha came along.  Selpha is a human mage who I created as an alternative character while I wasn't playing my main Night Elf warrior, Vorash.  I never expected to truly enjoy using magic.  I thought I would find it frustrating to have to stop after every battle and rest to "recharge" my magic.  Honestly, it is frustrating, but a frustration that is easily overlooked by the destruction that Selpha can rain down on her foes.  It is one thing to impale with a great sword.  It is something else to freeze someone and then burn them over and over until they fall dead before they ever reach you.  The mage battle strategy seemed to be releasing a bit of controlled chaos.

The other game that I have gotten hooked to is Neverwinter Nights.  Another RPG, but not online.  I really enjoy the game (as stated in my previous post), but after getting a taste of magic I decided to give it another shot here.  I have to sit a rest... a lot, but shooting a couple of fireballs makes up for it.  Again, I love the magic.

I'm ready to hand in my sword for a wand.  From this point forward it is a mage's life for me in any game that gives me a choice.  I realize that we are weak, I know that our armor blows and we carry sticks as weapons.  But watching the fire, ice or even webbing that is created by my virtual hands makes the many deaths I'm to have worth each and every one.

Vorash is going to suffer from this.  He is a great (but badly dressed) warrior and he will do his duty.  He isn't going anyway.  He fights with this team. I just know that when I'm is fighting a fierce monster horde as the Night Elf... I'll keep thinking... if only I could use my fireball.

There are thousands of books on this concept, usually referred to as "chi" (used by the Chinese and most "diverse" martial artists, or martial artists who do not limit themselves to one art, style, or type of style, also known as Mixed Martial Artists, or MMAs). I'm not going to bother discussing the details of chi as you can just go look it up yourself. I will say that chi exists, and you cannot disbelieve it. Otherwise, you deny the existence of the plasma in your blood, the soul of your spirituality, or anything else. Chi is simply a different word. Instead, I'm going to talk about my dislike for this subject in one area: little Goku-wannabes who think they can shoot fireballs and fly and manipulate fire, ice, wind, water, earth, etc. First of all, let's very briefly explain what chi energy is. In one word, you can call it "energy" or "lifeforce." Your call, there. Now, we can manipulate energy in non-biological, physical objects. Take a simple battery. You can put it in one machine to use X Energy, or you can put it in a different machine to use Y Energy. Different flows of energy depending on what machine you use. Now, take yourself. You can go out running and use X Energy, or you can lie around the house and use Y Energy. Different flows, again. But how can we manipulate it in the martial sense? Well--again, this is more book reading--the very basis is that we have to relax, meditate, and focus our energy, demanding it travel from one part of the body (usually the origin, usually about two inches below the navel) to another (like our fists or arms). However, there poses a problem, here. You can't just demand things from the insides of your body. I cannot tell my stomach to pause digestion or tell my blood cells to slow down/speed up just on command. Likewise, I cannot just tell my internal energy to pop up and go to my arms so that I can lift heavier objects or smash walls. It cannot be done. I have to first develop a harmony in my body. By that, I mean I have to get some sort of "calmness" inside of me. When you think of things that make you angry, does your blood pressure not increase? Well, blood pressure, which also affects the flow of energy, can be influenced by thoughts, or lack thereof. What that means is, for me to get that "harmony" in my body, I have to clear my mind of all thoughts. That's hard to do. Chances are, when you first start meditating, and you REALLY get into it, it's hard because at some point some thought is going to creep up on you, and when you start thinking, you tend to continue thinking. But even the first thought is enough to destroy the entire "harmony" you were developing. This is why most people usually do relaxation techniques before meditation. To meditate correctly, your mind must be clear. The time it takes to gain full control over your thoughts is indefinite--could be days, could be years. It all depends on how you go about dwelling on thoughts and how often you do it. So, let's skip ahead a bit. Our minds are clear. Our bodies have achieved "harmony." We can even slow the pulses of our hearts (in the same manner it takes to speed it up, such as thinking of angry thoughts--this action CAN indeed be practiced). We have total control of the energy within us. Now, we have to actually manipulate that energy. To do so takes an enormous amount of time. Move your body without thinking of moving it. Without wanting to move it. Just do it--no "hidden, unconscious reflex, subconscious thought" behind it. Just DO it. It can't be done. Well, it can't be done in just a few days. Sure, someone could pinch you, and you could move in reflex, but that's not control, is it? That's a reflex. We want control. How do we get that control? Well, the internal martial arts (or arts that dwell into internal energy) teach you how to do that. It takes many years to perfect. So, now we get into the problem. There are "people," (mostly teenagers) who claim they can fire things called ki balls (ki is the "loose" Japanese "equivalent" of chi) or chi balls. They take their hands, aim it at something, and some hidden amount of force escapes their body and strikes whatever they were aiming at. Very similar to an invisible "fireball." So, wait. Not only did these people very quickly manipulate their energy (something great masters of internal martial arts cannot do--I mean, we're talking a few "months" of "hardcore training" these "people" did), but they were also able to eject it from their bodies and STILL manipulate it. What happens when you blow up a bomb? It explodes, right? Obviously. But, is the end of the explosion of equal power than the beginning of it (bombs, on a ground, generally make a dome-shaped explosion that expands outward in all directions. The beginning = the center and the end = outer edges of expansion)? Not at ALL. It's considerably weaker. So, let's go back to these "Ki Manipulators" (there's a reason these people tend to use the Japanese term more than the Chinese. There's a show called Dragon Ball Z, and on that show, "ki" is the same term used to describe the show's giant fireballs of doom. Ki is actually a "somewhat different" concept in chi, when concerning martial arts. The word these "Ki Manipulators" are looking for is actually Chi, then Jing, but don't tell them that). These "Ki Warriors" shoot their little invisible fireballs (the invisibility factor is actually pretty good. It's doubtful that, if we could emit our energy, we'd actually SEE it in some color. It'd look like a ripple in the air, most likely). These little invisible fireballs sail along and strike something rather than "phase out," or dissipate, as it should. So, what happens, here? The Ki Warrior manipulates his energy and fires it. He ejects it from his body. Can you eject things from your body. Yes you can. Cut yourself. You eject blood. When you eject a lot of it, don't you feel a bit tired or dizzy or something generally not good (unless you have some weird blood-losing fetish, then don't you feel turned on, but still a bit fatigued?)? You do. When you go running, don't you feel tired? You can't run forever. So, let's combine the two. As you go through life, you use energy. You can't not use it. You can use a little or a lot, depending on how you live. But that energy is gone. To get it back, you eat or consume something. Food is energy. You don't get it back by sleeping. Go a week without eating and see how much energy you get back by sleeping. None. Sleeping simply "heals" your fatigue. Energy is still lost. So, essentially, you can see that there's a pattern. 7,6,5,6,7,6,5,6,7.. Looks just like that. You start with some amount of energy, lose it, then bring yourself back on track by eating. If you use a lot of energy, you eat a lot, and your pattern might look something like this: 7,5,3,4,5,6,7,5,3,4,5,6,7... Unless you eat an ABNORMAL amount of food at once, you generally lose more energy than you get it back, but you still get back to normal. But, when you "fire ki balls," you're not only using up the energy you use in a NORMAL daily basis, but then you LOSE an extra amount of energy. So, your pattern looks something like this: 7,6,5,6,7,6,2,3,4,3,2,3,4,3,2... It never gets back up. This is because, when you "shoot the fireballs," it doesn't affect your hunger. Just fatigue. You feel "drained." You get back on your pattern, but because you literally lost the normal energy you lose daily AND an enormous amount all at once, you CAN'T get back on the pattern. That's why the entire system is wrong. You can't shoot fireballs of invisible energy. When martial artists use internal energy to make them more powerful, they still CONTAIN it, so the energy is not LOST. These Ki Warriors are ejecting the energy, thus losing it. See, there's the possibility of people training in such a way that they CAN shoot fireballs (I still don't believe this, but I will not deny the possibility of it. Trying to stay objective, here) and still get the energy lost back. But it can never happen in just "a few months of hardcore training." When you exercise, do you think exercising 3x the amount will cut the time in 1/3? No, it won't. It just makes you more fatigued. The whole concept of internal arts takes many years to develop and harness and ultimately "master." It requires a lot of dedication and commitment. No matter what's true or what's false, no kind of "super energy manipulation" can be achieved in a few months what great masters take years to develop. Otherwise, there's some "unofficial" undermining of the system of internal energy training that is allowed to be made known to a select bunch and anyone who views their websites while the masters of internal martial arts, I guess, are just lying to their students and holding back on them (unless master sifus, or instructors, don't know what a bunch of teenagers know about internal arts). In closing, there are too many errors in logic, biology, and physics for the shooting of fireballs to be possible on a "universal" level (in that anyone can just easily open a website, follow the instructions, and shoot fireballs in a few months). It just doesn't work, and it degrades the very concept of internal martial arts. --- Oh, if you want to know more about the power of chi and internal martial arts (Bagua, Taichi, and Hsing-I), I'd STRONGLY reccommend this book: The Power of Internal Martial Arts: Combat Secrets of Ba Gua, Tai Chi, and Hsing-I by B.K. Frantzis. Anything by Frantzis I'd strongly reccommend--he's not only credible, but an extremely excellent resource in the knowledge of all this.