6 Mai Shen Jian Article

[danshu_]

I just wrote this for the Survivor Extravaganza thread, if anyone's interested to take a look:


OK everyone, in response to TommyH's excellent question on 6 Mai Shen Jian, I have written a short article explaining, to the best of my knowledge, how this incredibly powerful skill works. I hope it helps to clear up some confusion.

There are 12 main channels (meridians) in the human body. Scientific research has concluded that these channels are electrically active and conducive to increased propagation and conductivity. Channels here refer to energy meridians which extend out of the human body through the limbs; therefore these channels are what 6 Mai Shen Jian makes use of.

Out of the 12 channels, 6 are Yin channels, and 6 are Yang. 6 extend through the fingers, and 6 through the toes. The 6 channels that extend out of the fingers are the ones made use of in 6 Mai Shen Jian, and they are:

1) The Lung Channel (taiyin fei jing) (extends out of the thumb)
2) The Large Intestine Channel (yangming wei jing) (extends out of the index finger)
3) The Heart Channel (shaoyin xin jing) (extends out of the pinky)
4) The Small Intestine Channel (taiyang xiaochang jing) (also extends out of the pinky – it connects with the Heart Channel)
5) The Pericardium Channel (jueyin xinbao jing) (extends out of the middle finger)
6) The Triple Burner Channel (shaoyang sanjiao jing) (extends out of the ring finger)

The 6 meridians mentioned above are also the exact same 6 meridians mentioned by Jin Yong in DEMI GODS AND SEMI DEVILS during his explanation of 6 Mai Shen Jian. Therefore we can be clear that these are the meridians and fingers that 6 Mai practitioners make use of to extend their sword qi. As you can see, 3 of these meridians are “yin” (1, 3, and 5), and the other 3 are “yang” (2, 4, and 6). Therefore 6 Mai Shen Jian maintains a balance between yin and yang energies. Furthermore, the 12 main energy meridians are “paired”, meaning each one is mirrored on the other side of the body in a symmetric balance. What does this mean for 6 Mai Shen Jian? Effectively, it means that all 10 fingers of the practitioner are used, giving him/her the ability to wield 12 swords simultaneously.

Many thanks to PJ for providing me with the relevant passages from DEMI GODS AND SEMI DEVILS.

[TommyH]

By the sound of 6MSJ, it makes JY Wuxia sound a lot like Star Wars...

[PJ]

Great article danshu_! This is what I admire about Jin Yong's literature: all the wildly fantastical descriptions in his wuxia are modeled after REAL life facts. The writer's knowledge is amazing.

all 10 fingers of the practitioner are used, giving him/her the ability to wield 12 swords simultaneously.

Does that mean a practioner who utilizes 10 fingers could possibly be 10 times more powerful than Duan Yu?

[danshu_]

Great article danshu_! This is what I admire about Jin Yong's literature: all the fantastical descriptions in his wuxia are modeled after REAL life facts. The writer's knowledge is amazing.


Does that mean a practioner who utilizes 10 fingers could possibly be 10 times more powerful than Duan Yu?

well, if DY uses only 1 meridian, he should be in control of 2 streams of sword qi coming out of the relevant finger on his left and right hand. So someone making use of all 10 fingers would be in control of 10 more streams then DY (5 times more powerful?).

To me what this article shows is that 6 Mai Shen Jian only makes use of 6 out of the 12 main meridians; the 6 that extend out of the fingers. If someone could invent a style using the 6 that leave the toes (6 Mai Tui Fa?), then 12 beams extending off his toes would make his kicking skills invinsible! Combining the 2 would result in absolute madness; 24 beams of energy extending out the hands and feet! I'd be afraid of cutting my own limbs off.

[TommyH]

well, if DY uses only 1 meridian, he should be in control of 2 streams of sword qi coming out of the relevant finger on his left and right hand. So someone making use of all 10 fingers would be in control of 10 more streams then DY (5 times more powerful?).

To me what this article shows is that 6 Mai Shen Jian only makes use of 6 out of the 12 main meridians; the 6 that extend out of the fingers. If someone could invent a style using the 6 that leave the toes (6 Mai Tui Fa?), then 12 beams extending off his toes would make his kicking skills invinsible! Combining the 2 would result in absolute madness; 24 beams of energy extending out the hands and feet! I'd be afraid of cutting my own limbs off.

I'm afraid, by then, the whole JiangHu would have been vandalized by the person who masters both 6MSJ and the 6Meridian Toe Technique. I could imagine all of the elite martial artists trying to fight against this Master.

Martial Artists are about to strike but before they could they's already dead. DGKB might be an exception...he might live for 2 seconds more.

[Han Solo]

I just wrote this for the Survivor Extravaganza thread, if anyone's interested to take a look:


OK everyone, in response to TommyH's excellent question on 6 Mai Shen Jian, I have written a short article explaining, to the best of my knowledge, how this incredibly powerful skill works. I hope it helps to clear up some confusion.

There are 12 main channels (meridians) in the human body. Scientific research has concluded that these channels are electrically active and conducive to increased propagation and conductivity. Channels here refer to energy meridians which extend out of the human body through the limbs; therefore these channels are what 6 Mai Shen Jian makes use of.

Out of the 12 channels, 6 are Yin channels, and 6 are Yang. 6 extend through the fingers, and 6 through the toes. The 6 channels that extend out of the fingers are the ones made use of in 6 Mai Shen Jian, and they are:

1) The Lung Channel (taiyin fei jing) (extends out of the thumb)
2) The Large Intestine Channel (yangming wei jing) (extends out of the index finger)
3) The Heart Channel (shaoyin xin jing) (extends out of the pinky)
4) The Small Intestine Channel (taiyang xiaochang jing) (also extends out of the pinky – it connects with the Heart Channel)
5) The Pericardium Channel (jueyin xinbao jing) (extends out of the middle finger)
6) The Triple Burner Channel (shaoyang sanjiao jing) (extends out of the ring finger)

The 6 meridians mentioned above are also the exact same 6 meridians mentioned by Jin Yong in DEMI GODS AND SEMI DEVILS during his explanation of 6 Mai Shen Jian. Therefore we can be clear that these are the meridians and fingers that 6 Mai practitioners make use of to extend their sword qi. As you can see, 3 of these meridians are “yin” (1, 3, and 5), and the other 3 are “yang” (2, 4, and 6). Therefore 6 Mai Shen Jian maintains a balance between yin and yang energies. Furthermore, the 12 main energy meridians are “paired”, meaning each one is mirrored on the other side of the body in a symmetric balance. What does this mean for 6 Mai Shen Jian? Effectively, it means that all 10 fingers of the practitioner are used, giving him/her the ability to wield 12 swords simultaneously.

Many thanks to PJ for providing me with the relevant passages from DEMI GODS AND SEMI DEVILS.

Questions:
1) Where is the scientific evidence for meridian pls?

2) I thought that the maximum number of swords that can be used is only 6?

Han Solo

[danshu_]

Questions:
1) Where is the scientific evidence for meridian pls?

2) I thought that the maximum number of swords that can be used is only 6?

Han Solo

Han Solo, the meridian theory I am talking about is a part of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medecine). In this light, I do not understand why you are asking me for scientific evidence. Whether and How TCM works is obviously a topic of great controversy. It is up to you to believe it or not. Anyway, its off-topic, because Jin Yong used real TCM theory to design 6MSJ, and all my article does is enlighten us as to which TCM theories he used. The point, as PJ mentioned, is that JY is exceptional when discussing martial arts, because he bases it all on real traditional chinese conceptions of the body.

For your second question, the name 6 Mai Shen Jian refers only to the fact that the skill makes use of 6 of the 12 main meridians in the body, the 6 that extend from the fingers. I explained this at great length in the article; to briefly re-iterate, all of the 12 main meridians are "mirrored" meaning they each exist on both the left and right sides of the body. Therefore when the 6 Mai practitioner makes use of all 6 meridians, sword qi extends out of all 10 of his/her fingers.

[K2Grey]

There are 12 main channels (meridians) in the human body. Scientific research has concluded that these channels are electrically active and conducive to increased propagation and conductivity. Channels here refer to energy meridians which extend out of the human body through the limbs; therefore these channels are what 6 Mai Shen Jian makes use of.

He is asking to know what "scientific research" has been employed.

[danshu_]

He is asking to know what "scientific research" has been employed.

I know, I don't see the point though... i guess i shouldnt have included that one sentence , cause its WAAAYYY besides the point. Anyway, the Japanese in particular do lots of research on acupuncture... actually all countries do tons of research on that stuff now. I guess what they are saying is that those general areas of the body seem more receptive or conducive during various tests... anybody who's interested can go read the research literature themselves, personnally I don't care about it.

Back to the topic please...

[Extremer88]

Great article, Danshu! Very informative.

[IcyFox]

Continuing on danshu_'s article, I'll try to explain how the 6MSJ works in combat.
And how to counter one of the best skills in the JY canon.



Part 1

To project a 'qi' sword externally outside the exponent's body require very high levels of internal energy and inner power mastery to support such skill. There are two main ways of using this sword skill, which are to generate and sustain 'qi' sword(s) using the fingers (i.e. lightsaber style) or to shoot out streams of energy in pulses or bursts (i.e. laser beams). (Such swords are more likely to bore a hole through an opponent's sword rather than break it.)

Sustaining 'qi' swords externally (in a 1-way current mode) requires extraordinarily enormous amounts of internal energy and concentration which an exponent may not be able to support throughout the duration of the combat even if his inner power level has hit the limit (Level 10).

A way to conserve energy and use the 6MSJ for as long as possible would be to circulate the energy externally (in a 2-way current mode) so that the exponent loses little energy to the surroundings. But in this case there are 2 disadvantages. One is that the range is drastically reduced. In the 1-way current mode, the range is much further as the exponent can just project his 'qi' to his maximum possible range and of course the intensity of the energy stream would decrease with the distance away from the exponent. But for the 2-way current mode, the intensity of the streams would be uniform throughout so that the energy can be circulated properly, so in this case the range of the sword(s) is limited by the maximum range for the exponent to bring his 'qi' back. The other disadvantage is that such a method is very risky. If an opponent is strong enough to interrupt the current flow, the exponent might suffer from a 'fire deviation' which may endanger the life of the exponent.

Another danger of projecting the 6MSJ as external sword(s) is the risk of crossfires, which is less likely if the exponent is extremely skillful and careful with his fingers. In the event that the fingers are not aligned correctly, the streams of energy may criss-cross and cause some undesirable results. If the streams are Yin and Yang they would probably just cancel out if they intersect. But if they are Yang-Yang then an explosion may occur and injure the exponent as well as anyone else in range. For the Yin-Yin case the exponent might suffer a negative feedback and get a fire deviation which may damage his internal organs.

The safest way to execute the 6MSJ and also to conserve as much energy as possible would be to project out the 'swords' intermittently, like aiming properly before you shoot because you don't have many bullets. Using the 6MSJ this way is effectively shooting out streams of energy in bursts, which resemble those laser blaster guns in Star Wars.


Part 2

If the exponent using the 6MSJ is not very skilled, it's not very difficult to defeat him. If the exponent tries to sustain the 'sword(s)' throughout the combat, the opponent has to do would be to stand outside the maximum range and wait for the exponent's energy is fully expended and he would then be able to defeat him effortlessly.

Or if the opponent can try to distract the exponent to make him lose his concentration, causing the 'power supply' to be interrupted or causing the exponent to crossfire. If the opponent's internal energy is comparable or superior to the exponent's, he can try to use his own internal energy to disrupt the flow of the stream(s) of energy in a 2-way mode or simply generate a 'qi' shield to neutralize the exponent's energy stream(s), which is more appropriate for the 1-way mode.

If the exponent is more highly skilled, it would obviously be harder to defeat him, but it's by no means impossible. Though the streams are invisible, an experienced opponent can 'feel' the streams because they cause slight alterations to the environmental conditions like a slight change in temperature and pressure. Experienced opponents would also be able to sense when an exponent is about to unleash the 'qi swords' through his finger movements, breathing, posture, etc. and engage in combat as though they are armed with infra-red goggles. Armed with all this data, the opponent would then be able to execute a Mace Windu-style neutralization of this extremely powerful sword skill.

Nothing is invincible. Nothing is impossible.

[Extremer88]

I've always wondered whether DGQB had heard of 6MSJ in his lifetime. He would have been clearly impressed if he saw someone using 6MSJ.

[ech33]

kinda glad to know something new. have anyone tried out yet of how to do 6MSJ based on the given fact... just a "q".

indeed DGQB b impressed, prompt him to add another style of his.

[siegefried]

IcyFox, there are other considerations that your post has not taken into account. Such as whether the person is able to control his internal energy so well that he can recover any energy not used. A person with enough internal energy to wield 6MSJ would also probably outpace someone who cant, yes? I think the main point is in internal power and skills. Someone who can reach the level of 6MSJ probably has tons of power and skills to back it up. Take the monks from the Celestial Dragon Temple... they could only execute a single sword, but their skill level can be considered high... especially with their yiyang finger, which is no pushover technique. Those who reach 6MSJ by practicing will definitely have combat strategies etc, while those lucky people like DY who reached 6MSJ would probably have skills like LBWB which would allow them to cover distances fast, and BMSG would allow the exponent to have loads of energy to fire off 6MSJ. as well as allowing them to "recharge:.

I doubt that they can easily cause anyone who has reached 6MSJ to be distracted, short of natual disasters like earthquakes, floods and volcano eruptions... or even if they were, I doubt serious repurcussions... DY is one such case, when facing the Liao soldiers. He tried to execute 6MSJ against a soldier, but he couldn't concentrate enough which lead to a slight nudge only, but nothing serious happened to him. And if someone could generate a qi shield to block 6MSJ, they probably are 6MSJ level too...

Speed and intention is one final consideration. How fast is the target and 6MSJ.. if the target was DFBB, maybe DFBB can get out of the way, but even XF said he would be hardpressed to stop DY's 6MSJ, and XF ain't really slow, yeah? ALso, the intention behind the 6MSJ... if the exponent merely wanted the target out of the way, in contrast to using a series of "swords" to kill the target, how they move and aim would be totally different. Finally, maybe 6MSJ has a part that teaches u how and where to aim that guarantees a kill?

[ech33]

i dont think there is, how to or where to aim as normally the direction will be based on the direction of the finger itself, like yiyang finger for example...

and to note that 6MSJ requires powerful internal energy? no idea on that. the problem with DY is mostly becoz of his lack of knowledge. so that`s why, the flow is on and off.

that's my opinion.

[siegefried]

Uhuh.... but in a martial arts manual there is usually parts that teaches u how to string moves together to bring about a certain effect, i.e. to seal the target's accupoint, to kill the target, etc... so what I'm talking about is a series of moves where u force the opponent to avoid the initial strikes in a certain way to kill them etc.

Of course 6MSJ would require powerful internal energy... that is common sense. Any sword "qi" skill would require immense internal energy....

[ech33]

yes indeed, but theoretically for what i know is that 6MSJ that learnt by DY only shows how to activate the sword chi in his body, to direct its flow, and to release it but no revelations of where to aim to kill/paralyse the target.

for what i learnt, if a practitioner learnt sowrd qi and to attack/direct it to a person for example is u direct the qi to area of TAN-ZHONG (between the solar plexus/chest area) indirectly, the qi will still affected the acupoint area.

for example planting a powerful qi to detonate from inside, though the concentration is only at one point but the strength is powerful enough to cause massive damages to all part of the targeted area .

and of course any qi method require powerful internal energy, my mistake on that part

[siegefried]

Maybe those moves come from the Duan family swordsplay? Just that DY didn't learn it at first... but who knows, at the end of the novel, he might have learnt it. Same way YiYang Finger leads to 6MSJ, maybe the Duan family swordsplay teaches you how to fire off your qi attacks for 6MSJ...

Yup, I get the latter part of what you mean. But I dun think there is enough record of how 6MSJ works to really see how concentrated or explosive it is.. though I guess u're right.

[ech33]

i remembered that in the tvb 1996 series that DY said that he learnt how to maniulate/train the 6MSJ from the head priest at DALI before the plot of rescuing QF,.

in terms of record of 6MSJ, yes not enough record of it but for the practitioner of real-life "sword chi" it's indeed real....

[kidd]

Can u guys give your insight on Bei Ming Shen Gong and Ling Bo Wei Bu as well. The theory behind it and how it works.