How come Videl didn't know what Qi was?

[ScottyFamalam]

isn't she a martial artist

 

[Dagon]

Considering the Japanese language, she would intrinsically know the concept of "ki" as it is inseparable from the language. She just wouldn't know how to use it for superpowers. She must have thought ki was just vitalism and the feeling of wellbeing.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

Gohan explained it as the energy hidden in her body and she still didn't understand.

 

[Yoshi]

This reminds me of how people forgot about the powerful martial artists in the Cell and Boo Sagas.

 

[Warmmedown]

Pr interesting topic.

I'd say DB isn't set in our world and while it's a Japanese series and they speak Japanese, not every character is familiar with Japanese culture and the Japanese language does not exist in the show - they only speak Japanese because it's a Japanese series. In-universe they aren't supposed to be speaking Japanese, but just whatever the universal language is (yes, I get that it's impossible to 100% separate language from culture because our thought itself is shaped by the constraints of our language, so being written by a Japanese-speaker it's impossible for them to be fully separated from the Japanese language).

So I think Videl could easily not know about qi. Her dad's name is Mark and he's hardly the embodiment of East Asian martial arts culture.

 

[Dagon]

@Warmmedown In DBZ movie 8 Roshi said Krillin's singing is best in all Japan, and in the anime Gohan attends English class in high school where they literally speak the English language.

@ScottyFamalam Ki as it is understood in Japan and Qi in China is a kind of energy vitalism that is a carryover from ages past where people thought the air itself was energy, hence why Qi means breath equally with energy. Videl should understand the basic principles of energy vitalism but not know past the common usage in language.

 

[Hector]

isn't she a martial artist

A better question: How come everybody on Earth didn't know anything about the Z-fighters despite the 23rd Budokai events?

 

[Yoshi]

I think they chose to forget.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

@ScottyFamalam Ki as it is understood in Japan and Qi in China is a kind of energy vitalism that is a carryover from ages past where people thought the air itself was energy, hence why Qi means breath equally with energy. Videl should understand the basic principles of energy vitalism but not know past the common usage in language.

When Dende said 気 (literally "air" or "breath", contextually "energy") Mr. Satan thought he just meant 木 (tree) because they're both pronounced "Ki".

 

[Dagon]

When Dende said 気 (literally "air" or "breath", contextually "energy") Mr. Satan thought he just meant 木 (tree) because they're both pronounced "Ki".

What I mean is that a basic concept of energy vitalism is baked into the language due to deep ties to Far Eastern philosophy involving chi. I'm not saying everyone in the culture knows every aspect of qigong simply by knowing the language. It's just that a sense of energy vitalism is inseparable from the language.

For example, "genki" conveys a feeling of health and vitality, and in Dragon Ball, it also refers to the spiritual life force. Even those who do not know how to use "ki" or "genki" in a special way will still say "o-genki-desu-ka" and "genki-desu" in everyday conversation. This doesn't mean they understand special abilities involving "ki" or "genki"; it simply reflects a vague sense of energy vitalism embedded in the language.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

What I mean is that a basic concept of energy vitalism is baked into the language due to deep ties to Far Eastern philosophy involving chi. I'm not saying everyone in the culture knows every aspect of qigong simply by knowing the language. It's just that a sense of energy vitalism is inseparable from the language.

For example, "genki" conveys a feeling of health and vitality, and in Dragon Ball, it also refers to the spiritual life force. Even those who do not know how to use "ki" or "genki" in a special way will still say "o-genki-desu-ka" and "genki-desu" in everyday conversation. This doesn't mean they understand special abilities involving "ki" or "genki"; it simply reflects a vague sense of energy vitalism embedded in the language.

Genki is Japanese for Yuanqi (元氣), which literally means "primal air" in Chinese. It's the Qi one has before birth.

Anyway, I don't see why you're going off on this tangent. Even when Gohan explained Qi as the energy hidden in her body and suggested she had a different name for it, Videl still didn't understand what he was talking about. That implies Videl doesn't understand what energy is in general, which is silly as she and her father are supposed to be martial artists. What martial artist hasn't at least heard of the spiritual aspects of Qi, anyway? It's just bad writing.

 

[Dagon]

@ScottyFamalam Again it doesn't mean they know about ki in the sense of superpowers, there's just a connotation of energy vitalism in the language.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

@ScottyFamalam Again it doesn't mean they know about ki in the sense of superpowers, there's just a connotation of energy vitalism in the language.

Gohan was talking about energy vitalism lol. That's why he explains it as the energy in their bodies.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

So I think Videl could easily not know about qi. Her dad's name is Mark and he's hardly the embodiment of East Asian martial arts culture.

Qi exists in other cultures, just under different names. In Indian culture, it's called prana. In Greek culture, it's called pneuma. Both of these are lifeforce terms that literally translate to "air" and "breath" like Qi does. Like Qi, they're carryovers from ages past when people thought the air was energy as Dagon says.

The English word "spirit" also comes the Latin word "spīritus", which means "air" and "breath". The English word "aura" also comes from the Latin word "aura", which means "air" or "breeze" and comes from the Ancient Greek word αὔρα (aúra), which means "breeze" or "soft wind" and comes from the Ancient Greek word ἀήρ (aḗr), which means "air". You can see how Qi is often translated as "aura" and "spirit".

 

[ahill1]

She wasn't a martial artist in the non-human territory. Sounds like chi is treated in DB to be known by special masters. She likely sees martial arts as current irl fighters. Maybe there's a phylosophy of the whole mystic of martial arts but she seems to be on a brand that treats those more as unrealistic, basically the common sense approach irl but DB subverts that since it treats what normal ppl would label as magic in a spiritual sense that's very real.

Piccolo also noticed how the new Tenkaichi Budokai seems more like a festival and has a smaller soul than the ones before. It may mark a decay between those considered "true martial artist" ---- the fantastic world where dreams are true and the one that's very realistic in real life fighting scenario but lacks the magic, spiritual feeling of the earlier fighters... maybe the lack of knowledge reflects the new era where putting on a show to the audience and being famous distance themselves from the mystic figure of a martial artist, in a more eastern way, who seeks constant improvement.

 

[Dagon]

Gohan was talking about energy vitalism lol. That's why he explains it as the energy in their bodies.

She wouldn't know the intimate details but the language has an implicit sense of energy vitalism. You literally can't separate the concept from the language. If you tried you'd sound like an autistic robot.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

You don't need to know about superpowers to know about energy vitalism lol

Even in science class you would hear about the energy in our bodies. What, she never heard of mitochondria? I thought Erasa was the dumb one