Talk:Kiai

For some reason I can't get the kanji (characters) for "kiai" to appear properly. Maybe it's just me.

Text from "Votes for deletion"

Begin moved text

• KiAi - this is a dictionary definition. Kingturtle 04:29, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)
  • - Move to Wiktionary - Marshman 04:43, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)
  • mv to appropriate martial arts article; Copy to Wiktionary; then delete JDR
  • With some fleshing out, this could make a good article. Do most martial artists in fact say kiai? Why that particular yell? How does yelling help them "focus?" Some references to kiai in motion pictures, cartoons? (Why the odd capitalization in the title? Is this an old CamelCase article?) -- Smerdis of Tlön 19:47, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)
  • If the content is moved to another article, keep as redirect to that article to preserve the history. -- Oliver P. 00:39, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)
  • My instructor always used "Kai" in writing... is there one correct transliteration? -- Pakaran 01:38, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

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I didn't delete the article because one person suggested merging (which doesn't require deletion), and another suggested that it could become an article. This can be resolved in the usual wiki way... -- Oliver P. 08:19, 21 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Kiai sounds

This probably should go into the article text in some manner, but chuffed if I know how. Someone in the comments for deletion asked if the word used was the actual sound. The short answer is "sometimes." The way I was trained, a kiai could be any sound which helped magnify your power. ^_^ Not sure how to describe the sounds, but it was everywhere from a gutteral grunt to a stylized "ee-sah" by one of my instructors, to the cat-yowlish sound that Bruce Lee used to make. The primary points of a good kiai is that it expells air rapidly (helps prevent getting winded when struck), startles the enemy, and focusses your efforts. Ideally, it also should not strain your voice in any manner and it should be comfortable to utter. Note that some schools require a particular sound. Also note that it's also possible to acquire all of the effects except startling the enemy by simply expelling the air, resulting in the "silent kiai," much more handy when playing golf with friends. Distinct sounds I've run into (probably badly described):

• Kee-ya
• Hi-yah (just like the sterotypical movie chop sound)
• Ee-sah
• Yah
• Hee
• Die (I used this one for a while. ^_^ It worked in all the technical manners and boy did it startle people...)
• Yosh (I actually think this comes from a Japanese utterance when one is excited)

Fuzzy

• grumble* Ok, I tried to add this and a bunch of other stuff, but after writing 4 solid paragraphs, FireFox crashed and, silly me, I wasn't editting the text in another window. To be updated later when I'm less grumbly. Fuzzy 07:39, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

"Deadly Kiai"

Is there any basis for this outside of legend and fiction? I've heard people say it's possible (usually stating it as being able to "stun" small animals. I feel like we ought to mention it as a legendary aspect, a goal, unless there's proof somewhere that someone has actually done it. *wry grin* Maybe it's time to write back in those four paragraphs I lost over a year ago... -Fuzzy 03:06, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

Killing with sound..

I have removed the following paragraph because it seems not based on any scientific facts, and sounds very implausible. A loud cry directly to the ear might permanently damage hearing, but "seriously damage one's organs"? Considering that even the whole hydrophonic shock stuff by supersonic ammo was found to be exaggerated, I simply can't leave this unchanged. tiktak 2005-11-03

"There are also martial artists who can use kiai as a weapon.
The sound waves of your voice go straight through someone's body.
Since the human body is almost completely made out of water and since sound waves easily go through 
water(like electricity goes through water)you can seriously damage one's organs with this technique."