Ki Attacks



"You can only beat it by channeling your own spiritual energy into it! Because it's the﻿ ki boss"

- Troper Fawriel, on this infamous Raocow video

A staple of the martial arts genre. Ki (also chi or qi) is the life force energy of the martial artist and/or the world around him; true masters can tap into that energy and use it for what amounts to superhero-style attacks. Compare Chi with Mana. Learning how to do Ki Attacks usually results in your rival learning his own, leading to an endless cycle of My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours.

If Functional Magic also exists in the universe, there's usually a distinction made between the two, comparable to the distinction between Psychic Powers and Functional Magic in Western Speculative Fiction. If no distinction is made, it's Supernatural Martial Arts. If a character can use both individually, then they're a Kung Fu Wizard. At times may overlap with The Force, which isn't surprising as the Star Wars ability was based on the concept. Sometimes the Ki Attacks are a part of some Martial Arts and Crafts, making it either Rule of Funny or Rule of Cool.

If the attack is not based on Ki or Mana, then the trope is Hand Blasts.

Using Ki will usually produce a Battle Aura.

Not to be confused with an attack that uses the Keyblade, or an attack that uses that D'ni wristwatch from Uru Live as a weapon.

Types of Ki Attacks include:


 * Pure Energy: The basic ki attack, just channeling energy.
 * Energy Ball: A spherical form of said energy.
 * Cold Flames: Using that same ki to create artificial, ghostly flames.
 * Elemental Powers: Turning your own spirit energy into one of the elements for some Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors effect!
 * Elemental Punch: Using your fist covered in elemental power.
 * Kamehame Hadoken: The biggest, baddest attack used in one giant beam.
 * Combined Energy Attack: Not only using your own, but anyone else's spirit energy.
 * Sensing: Can sense the spirit energy of others, can tell where they may be and how powerful they are.
 * Self-Enhancement: Use chi to boost own physical body, becoming stronger, faster and tougher. At times, even able to fly.
 * Shapeshifting: Uses spirit energy to gain a new form. Can vary from a different hair cut and, all the way to looking like a different species.
 * The Empath: Sensing the feelings of others by their aura.

May be represented with Blasting Time.

Anime & Manga

 * The advanced techniques of Ranma, Ryoga and Herb in Ranma 1/2.
 * Note that Saffron does not actually use Ki Attacks; rather, he shoots out raw flame.
 * Hinako Ninomiya literally has only two attacks and both of them are Ki Attacks. With the first, she drains the Battle Aura from a victim, usually rendering them too weak to fight. If facing more then one opponent, or they don't fall to her technique, she can unleash a Kamehame Hadoken that uses up all of the stolen ki energy. Both attacks trigger her Dual Age Mode, the draining aging her up and the other aging her down.
 * Dragonball Z. Damn near everything the main characters do in a fight is based on ki, from simply enhancing their speed and strength to flying and throwing around energy blasts.
 * The exception being a group of Artificial Humans, who due to their cybernetic nature have no ki (despite 3 out of the 5 being enhanced humans rather than completely artificial constructs). This presents its own problems for the heroes, whose ability to sense ki is obviously useless against enemies who don't have any.
 * Tower of God utilizes the Pure Energy, Self Enhancement and Elemental Powers variants.
 * Used sparingly in Fist of the North Star, at least at first.
 * Raoh can use his aura to attack others, making his ki attacks essentially a punch in the face. Some of his attacks border on Kamehamehadouken, though. Given that with Hokuto Shinken a punch in the face can make a guy explode and destroy objects like battle tanks, this is still quite useful.
 * Kenshiro uses one in the battle against Souther, although it's treated as a dramatic finishing move.
 * Later in the series, Gento fighters use ki almost exclusively, and take advantage of its burning and freezing properties.
 * Likewise, Hokuto Ryuuken practitioners use ki attacks that resemble magical spells.
 * Ki blasts in HnK are frequently seen by Kenshiro as "wasteful", since he does equal or more damage by simply striking his foes with less expenditure of energy on his part. Raoh seems simply badass enough to personally subvert this rule.
 * The various Jutsus (save Taijutsu) utilized by the Ninjas on Naruto are executed through the manipulation of "chakra" commonly by the use of hand seals. The jutsus themselves vary from things like the Shadow Clone Jutsu, to medical jutsus, to the Multi-Size Technique.
 * It should be noted that Taijutsu also uses chakra. Rock Lee´s special technique, the opening of the gates, allows his chakra to move freely, thus giving him his super strength and speed. The chakra use in Taijutsu may not be as flashy or esoteric as in Genjutsu or Ninjutsu, but it´s still there, nevertheless.
 * In part 2 we learn of a second type of energy that shinobi with large amounts of chakra can use - the natural energy of the world around them. However, so far we've only seen . The downside to this is absorbing too much natural energy makes the user gain animal characteristics and sometimes can't be changed back.
 * In Bleach Hollows use concentrated bursts of spiritual energy in the form of Ceros. The size and shape depend largely on the user's rank with the Espada possessing the most powerful versions.
 * Likewise, some Shinigami Kido resemble this trope.
 * As does Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho.
 * Any elemental Zanpakuto would qualify seeing how it's all connected to Spiritual pressure, Bleach's word for Ki/Chi/Chakra/etc.... Chad's abilities and most Quincy powers qualify as well.
 * Not just Zanpakuto, but everything depends on spirit energy. Simply put, if you don't have spirit energy, you can be killed just by being in the general vicinity of a person with a lot of spirit energy, as displayed by
 * Motoko in Love Hina.
 * Mahou Sensei Negima, though essentially set in the same universe as Love Hina, has both Eastern and Hermetic Magic in addition to traditional "ki"-based fighting. It compares and differentiates the two Magic styles in detail (eg. Eastern styles favor lone-wolf operatives, Western styles put emphasis on teamwork), as well as the differences between using Magic and Ki in combat.
 * The Kanka technique, which both magic and Ki at the same time grants what is possibly the biggest power-up possible in the series. Apart from this, though, Evangeline established early on (about after she took Negi as her apprentice) that they conflict and interfere with each other without training.
 * Yu Yu Hakusho is an example of characters not having just "ki" attacks, but specifically reiki (spirit energy, used by humans) or youki (which is the energy of the youkai).
 * Sensui also used some sort of holy energy.
 * Yusuke is still the king of this. The fact that he's part-demon results in the unique condition that he can use both types of ki. During the fight for controlling the demon realm, when his enemy protected himself with a shield impeneterable to Yusuke's stronger youki, he responded by using both youki and reiki AT THE SAME TIME. Cue to reiki leaking through the shield and injuring his gloating opponent. He wasn't able to keep it up for long, though; apparently, reiki subverts youki when both are present, resulting in Yusuke transforming back from his Mazoku form into human form.
 * Having different kinds of energy for humans and youkai is seen in Inuyasha. Youki is found in all demons, while spiritual energy can only be used by humans that train to use it (miko, monks, etc.), and divine power only comes from special items (the sword Tenseiga which has the power to resurrect a dead person once by destroying the spirits that take their soul away and attack other underworld beings).
 * Yaiba has these. Usually later in the series. Also in the form of Razor Wind and Razor Lightning and Razor Dark-and-Forbidden Energy. The Moon Princess Kaguya takes the cake.
 * Claymore also has youki, the energy of the evil youma. Difference is, only those who were infused with youma blood (namely, the titular warriors) can use it, and using too much youki will turn you into a Big Bad.
 * One Piece has slowly but surely inched its way towards this with "Haki" (also known as "Ambition"). While hints of its use abounded from the Skypeia arc onward, the Amazon Lily arc gave the clearest and most specific examples of it before it was fully explained. When we finally got in-depth information on Haki, it was revealed that it came in three general forms: It allows those possessing its power to (depending on the user) deflect near any attack and even cause pain in the attacker despite defenses such as a body made of rubber or intangibility, and predict the conscious actions of whoever they're fighting, and knock out Mook-level characters by just being there (and some higher level guys still end up quivering about to collapse in some demonstrations).
 * It was actually first used all the way at the start of the manga when Shanks uses it to scare a Sea King away to save Luffy. It looks exactly like it does in the recent chapters, except the sound effect isn't used. Whether the author had it planned all along is unknown, but it was probably fleshed out and developed later because there needed to be a better way to counter certain Logia powers aside from natural elemental weakness.)
 * In the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, Ranfan and Ling occasionally reference 'Ki' as the flow of life. While they don't exactly use it for attacks, their ability to sense it has come in handy on several occasions.
 * Present in Samurai Champloo, though they don't manifest as the light shows seen in other anime series. Further, you have to be ridiculously bad ass to pull them off in the Champloo universe: Mugen was only able to fire one off, by chance, after a week of intense training and focus, while Jin can only beat another ki user by using a Dangerous Forbidden Technique/.
 * In Saint Seiya/Knights of the Zodiac, the saints/knights fight using Cosmos. Which is the same as ki, but with another name.
 * Nakago from Fushigi Yuugi throws ki blasts out on a regular basis. After a hefty power upgrade and provocation from Nakago, Tamahome fires one himself, managing to slap a third-degree burn onto Nakago's shoulder. Badass indeed.
 * Xing (Yue) Bairong from Witch Hunter uses Ki/Chi tp perform the ability Speed Fist (or Shinsok/Shinchuk.)
 * In all but name, this is the basis for the soul-related abilities in Soul Eater. Some need the Weapons' amplification ability to work, while others do not. It would also give a possible explanation for the "spiritual connection" Mifune is said to have with his (normal, relatively) swords in the manga.
 * Stein and Black Star are the two characters who attack directly with their soul wavelength, the ability having to do with the strength/size of that wavelength. The others mostly manipulate it through Weapons or individual abilities.
 * Shamo had one arc where these appeared, but which has since become Canon Dis Continuity.
 * Hakkai from Saiyuki uses chi to produce energy blasts and shields and for healing
 * Shaman King uses Furyoku ("Oracle Energy"), which Shamans use to not only go Over Soul (merging their ghost companions with their weapons), but also to execute special attacks and such.
 * Hunter X Hunter introduces 'nen' after a while, which is an energy that comes from within each individual, and is basiclly chi. It is used to perform devastating attacks but also has many other, less combative, functions.
 * Interestingly, this is one of Hayato Furinji's ultimate techniques in Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple, a work that otherwise does its best to lie in the realms of non-supernatural fighting (Charles Atlas Superpower notwithstanding). A variation, however, in that it's not so much an energy blast as it is a whole lot of wind. Not to mention it's ineffective against anyone with a decent understanding of ki, and thus mostly useless except against ordinary people.
 * Interestingly, this is one of Hayato Furinji's ultimate techniques in Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple, a work that otherwise does its best to lie in the realms of non-supernatural fighting (Charles Atlas Superpower notwithstanding). A variation, however, in that it's not so much an energy blast as it is a whole lot of wind. Not to mention it's ineffective against anyone with a decent understanding of ki, and thus mostly useless except against ordinary people.

Comics

 * In The Immortal Iron Fist, the titular character and his fellow Immortal Weapons all use chi as the foundation for their superpowers. These range from merely increased strength, speed and durability in the case of Fat Cobra, to the Prince of Orphans' slightly less-realistic ability to turn into green mist and possess people.
 * Actually John Aman's ability to turn into green mist is completely seperate from his ki attacks. That's just good old fashioned golden age super science.
 * Fat Cobra feels that with the power of chi, anything is possible. An ant can wrestle with elephants.
 * The Mandarin is a nasty example of a chi user. People tend to forget that he can give himself enough superhuman strength via chi to go hand to hand with Iron Man.
 * To say nothing of his son Temugin, who is an even more powerful chi manipulator and martial artist.
 * Then there's the new Power Man, Vic Alvarez, who possesses the ability to absorb chi and channel it into devastating strikes.
 * Stick, Daredevil's teacher, belongs to a group of chi-adept martial artists called The Chaste.
 * Recent Wolverine villain Soulstriker had the ability to phisically hit his opponent's life force, thus weakening and torturing them.
 * Gold Digger has chi as a variant of magic used by some war mages and martial artists, especially ninja. The most major chi user in the series is Ryan Tabbot, who likes to throw in pop-culture references to other chi-users with his attacks (Hadoken!).

Literature

 * The Kundalini Equation by Stephen Barnes features an instruction manual that teaches the reader Ki Attacks and Battle Aura.
 * Kylie Chan's Dark Heavens books have chi-fuelled martial arts and wuxia.
 * Keeper of Light and Dust by Natasha Mostert has a chi-stealing martial artist as the antagonist.

Live Action TV

 * In Power Rangers Jungle Fury, the Rangers (and other members of their order) can generate Ki Attacks in the form of the animal they're linked to... including giant versions that solidify into, essentially, Humongous Mecha. And this is one of the more basic techniques...
 * The same thing happens, naturally, in Juken Sentai Gekiranger, but with different names for both formations and attacks.
 * In a way, all attacks are Ki Attacks in the Power Rangers version, with the various weapons actually channeling one's animal spirit. The shiny suits themselves come from another source, but the morphers can only be activated by animal spirit power. Which means if yours is out of balanced due to angst, or stolen by an enemy, you're screwed. It may be true to an extent in Gekiranger (Red's How Do I Shot Web? moment was the same, and White's finger missiles are actually his ki blade channeled differently and fired off by his gauntlet thing, something not made explicit in PRJF though the visuals remained.) but in Jungle Fury, animal spirit being the power behind everything and the different ways it can be used is a much bigger plot point.
 * Ki powers were one of the main shticks of Gosei Sentai Dairanger. Each Ranger had a different specialty. For instance, Ryou was skilled at Playing with Fire, and Shouji was a Gravity Master.

Tabletop Games

 * In the 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons, monks are masters of unarmed and unarmored combat. They can rapidly heal themselves, shrug off magical attacks, run like the wind, dodge attacks they aren't consciously aware of, kill with a touch, and are immune to poison and disease. Beyond that, their unarmed strikes eventually become more deadly than a sword it takes two hands to wield, and they count as being magical, lawful-aligned, and adamantine for overcoming damage reduction. Using prestige classes and feats they can do even crazier shit.
 * Still can't beat out Clerics or Druids in melee, though. Sad, hmm?
 * Let's be fair. Fighters are beaten by Clerics and Druids in melee ("CoDzilla"). The Monk just has some bad mechanics.
 * To be fair, the abilities a high level Monk has are pretty awesome by any standards. The problem is that a high level spellcaster (Cleric, Druid, Wizard, Sorcerer) is godly.
 * Pathfinder takes this even further: Monks now have a Ki Pool, constituted of Ki Points, which can be used to give the character an ungodly burst of speed, up their melee attack damage, or initiate a "Stunning Fist" attack. Coupled with an official Feat from 3.5 called Ki Blast, many Game Masters are now playing around with home-brewed rules for progressive ranged-combat Ki attack Feats for Monks for Pathfinder.
 * Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition itself plans to release 'Ki' as a power source, which will include the new version of the Monk. Since a preview of the Monk is in the works, it's heavily speculated that Ki will be introduced in the Player's Handbook III.
 * The Ki power source has now been merged with Psionic. Say hi to Internet Backdraft.
 * Although listed as "psionic," they use it more in the form of "mind over matter" (in fact that's the name of a feat for a certain build.) This trope still applies, because instead of using a weapon or staff or magic wand, the implement of choice is a "ki focus": heavy on the fluff and often with different effects than normal enchantments (such as "increase number of squares you can shift" or "use such-and-such power twice per round instead of once" rather than "do X amount additional fire damage") it basically amounts to something the monk prays/meditates/trains with to turn his entire body into Invulnerable Knuckles.
 * Exalted has chi in the form of "Essence", an universal energy that permeates all creation and which can be channeled to great effect by any Exalted. These effects range from powerful attacks to resiliency in combat to sorcery to healing to parliamentary debate.
 * The Charms have cool names, too, like "Venomous Whispers Technique" and "Excellent Emissary's Tongue."
 * Feng Shui's Fu Powers tend toward this, though this being a Hong Kong action movie game, many of them are fairly low-key, with only paths like Shadow's Companion, Brilliant Flame, high-end Healthy Tiger, Leaping Storm and Storm Turtle approaching the kind of supernatural powers often associated with martial artists in the setting.
 * Weapons Of The Gods, being a kung-fu RPG, is ALL about the Chi. (Its core mechanic is that characters have 5 colors of chi, each of which is spent for different chi powers, and which refill independently. Chi management is the central battle strategy.)
 * The Akashic Brotherhood in Mage: The Ascension.
 * Anima: Beyond Fantasy has LOTS of this, being the kind of game it's. It even has a manual entirely devoted to the Ki that allows the player to imitate the examples given on this page.

Video Games

 * Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, The King of Fighters, Samurai Shodown and Last Blade from SNK.
 * Street Fighter and Darkstalkers from Capcom. "Hadoken!"
 * As an easter egg, Mega Man X has been known to perform ki attacks from Street Fighter. This seems to imply that X has ki, and therefore a soul. Of course, easter eggs are rarely ever canon.
 * Not so non-canon, now; Mega Man X Command Mission has a series of Reploids called the Ninetails clan, who have mastered a form of robotic chi manipulation, allowing them to power their attacks without the use of an external power source (like every other Reploid's weapons do). Because of this, they're considered extremely dangerous and are locked up in a high-security facility, as a result.
 * Or, if we wanna be a little more reasonable, they can just fire the same sort of run-of-the-mill blaster shots anyone else can (albeit stronger), but they just go through the Hadoken motions.
 * In the GBA Golden Sun series, the heroes are masters of "Psynergy", a type of magic/psychic power. They encounter a martial arts school, and the head of the dojo comments on how their powers differ from Ki Attacks. "Psynergy comes from the mind, while Chi comes from the body." It's commented that Psynergy is genetic, while "anyone" can eventually learn to use Chi, though nobody in the party learns. However there are Ki techniques (not Chi) from a different temple/dojo that Psynergy resembles/substitutes that the heroes can learn. It's not entirely clear whether Ki and Psynergy are the same or simply in the same "sphere."
 * The second game states that everyone has the potential to become adepts, but it takes years of exposure to a source of alchemy, such as mount Aleph, the elemental rocks, being bludgeoned with a Psynergy stone, or . Also it's implied that Ki is just another name for one specific type of Psynergy (Force).
 * Final Fantasy VI has the martial arts user Sabin, whose special ability is Ki Attacks in combat. The player activates them via Street Fighter style button commands. These do not take up Magic Points and can be done indefinitely.
 * Most notable is the Aura Beam/Cannon move, which blasts enemies with pure soul power (and does extra damage to undead enemies to boot) and Fire Dance, which summons fire spirits to burn every enemy on the battle field.
 * Chi in Jade Empire is mana. Period.
 * In the Guilty Gear universe, Elemental Magic is hard science, with ki representing the final frontier of the unknown.
 * In Lost Souls MUD, sufficiently enlightened Aisenshi gain access to the chi punch and chi kick maneuvers, unarmed attacks that do a combination of physical and energy-based damage, not to mention leaving a sparkly trail behind in the air.
 * The Pokémon Lucario basically uses this, it's called "Aura" in Pokemon 'verses. This may also be used to explain the Fighting-type Special move Focus Blast.
 * Other Pokemon can use Aura Sphere, mostly legendaries but also Togekiss and Mienshao.
 * Some classes in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and its sequel have Ki-style moves, especially the White Monk and the Master Monk (in the sequel). Air Render and Aura Blast are especially notable as they are ranged attacks for a melee class. And no, these don't cost mana.
 * The Genesis action RPG Spellcaster stars a monk who has various ki moves, ranging from plain old attacks to and lightning strikes.
 * Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO), an online multiplayer version of the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop game, depicts the Monk class as using ki, which can be used for spell-like abilities, mostly to aid a party or destroy/affect enemies. Unlike the Wizard and other spellcaster classes that use "spell points" (mana), the Monk's ki can be regenerated almost endlessly as they attack and strike an enemy. The downside of generating ki for the Monk class is that the generated ki dissipates quickly and cannot be conserved as easily from fight to fight, requiring the player to be an opportunist while having available ki points.
 * These are the only ranged attacks available to Hong Meiling in Touhou Hisoutensoku.
 * Asura from Asura's Wrath uses these. They can be fired out rapidly and resembleshis fists. He's essentially making Ki Attacks by PUNCHING! The energy itself is called Mantra.
 * Played around with later, in that there is an entity that is the personification of Mantra known as
 * A lot of the artes in the Tales (series) are of this nature, either as Pure Energy or Elemental Powers that are used to form projectiles and/or to augment direct strikes.

Web Original

 * Yin and Yang, the protectors of Hong Kong in the Global Guardians PBEM Universe, utilize Ki Attacks as part of their mystical martial arts training, as does the Lucky Bandit, heroic protector of Shanghai.
 * Tatterdemalion, an Israeli superhero sponsored by their government, does something similar, though its not a Ki Attack in the "oriental martial arts" sense of the word.
 * In the Whateley Universe, martial-artists develop and use chi in various ways:
 * Toni "Chaka" Chandler, one of the original main characters, has the mutant ability to use ki, plus the ability to see how ki flows in other people (which lets her do - among other things - the paralyzing nerve punch), and also the ability to heterodyne her ki with ki energy flowing through the earth so she can pull as much ki as she needs from the ground. She's regarded as one bad mamma-jamma by her superpowered classmates at the Super-Hero School Whateley Academy, but suffers from a bad case of New Powers as the Plot Demands, having added a ki blast attack to her existing super-strength, super-agility, super-speed etc.
 * Badass Normal Chou "Bladedancer" Lee develops her chi more conventionally, through meditation, tai-chi exercises, and regular training, to empower her martial-arts, heighten her senses, heal herself and others, and so on.
 * Allen Covenant of the Omega Universe runs across a clan of ninja with chi-powers in Covenant Annual #1. Oddly enough and unknown to most characters in-universe, superpowers all come from the same place.
 * These types of attacks became one of the main staples of modern stick-figure fight animations when extreme martial art violence and extreme acrobatics would no longer cut it. Although never explain as such, these are most likely Ki Attacks due to the heavy Oriental influence that pervades the genre as a result of Xiao Xiao 's influence.
 * This is one way that Aura can be employed in RWBY.

Western Animation

 * First implied in its QuickStrike trading card game, it is later revealed that the energy behind the bending disciplines on Avatar: The Last Airbender is indeed chi. Benders require chi to flow from the breath as form of energy derived from breathing and oxygenation, and then extend it past their limbs to manipulate or manifest their element. Furthermore, one character has even displayed the ability to inhibit bending by striking pressure points on the body, or as she calls it, "chi-blocking" (Kyusho Jitsu). In the show, the source of chi is located in the stomach and flows throughout the entire body, which itself is drawn directly from the Taoist practices of Chi Kung and Tai Chi, on which "Waterbending" is based.
 * It's possible that each of the four styles of bending uses chi differently. Zuko is shown to use firebreath in the Season 1 finale while immobilized, and Aang does some weird things when he sneezes, but breathing is never mentioned for water and earth.
 * In Yin Yang Yo, Woo Foo a special type of martial arts that involves might and magic, with just a smidge of Green Rocks.
 * Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures is a big fan of chi. His battles against Dalong Wong (anti-Uncle) probably constitutes as a battle between good and bad chi, as these two were chi wizards.
 * Then in one episode they found a Chinese Vampire, which drains victims of chi. Once a person is sucked of chi they need a chi transplant to survive. The person takes on the personality of the chi donor. For example, when Jade got drained, Uncle donated some chi, and she began sprouting Uncle's catch phrases and had a hankering for mung beans. She did not, however, gain any of Uncle's knowledge of chi but still volunteered researching ways to kill the vampire. Everything went back the way it was when the vampire was killed.
 * Then in one episode they found a Chinese Vampire, which drains victims of chi. Once a person is sucked of chi they need a chi transplant to survive. The person takes on the personality of the chi donor. For example, when Jade got drained, Uncle donated some chi, and she began sprouting Uncle's catch phrases and had a hankering for mung beans. She did not, however, gain any of Uncle's knowledge of chi but still volunteered researching ways to kill the vampire. Everything went back the way it was when the vampire was killed.

Film

 * In the climactic battle between Shifu and Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda, Master Shifu manages to split apart a gigantic boulder the snow leopard kicks at him with a dazzling display of blue light (in Bullet Time no less!). Later in the fight, although it originally comes from a brazier he knocks over, Tai Lung is able to wield fire in his paws, apparently without even being singed by it.
 * Shifu also demonstrates being able to use something akin to wind powers with his chi, and several characters are shown using nerve attacks. The titular Panda defeats Tai Lung with a huge blast, which Shifu threatened to use earlier in the film.
 * NOOOOO! Not the Wu Xi Finger Hold! Pleeeease! ANYTHING but that!
 * In Kung Fu Panda 2, Tigress connects her chi energy with Po's in order to blast him forward in the fight with the Wolf Boss. It even leaves a trail of flames.....so badass.

Professional Wrestling

 * Kenny Omega's pet attack is the Hadoken, which generally takes a few seconds to charge. His opponent has to be taken out of action previously or they can break his concentration or dodge.
 * Player Uno of CHIKARA fame has his own Hadoken, which is much quicker to charge and is usually aimed at a charging opponent's gut.

Real Life

 * Some people actually believe they can do this.
 * Actual real world evidence of Ki Attacks is, of course, slim and misleading, but proper training, coupled with concentration and sufficient strength, can enable someone to perform seemingly superhuman acts, such as the famous brick smash. Not exactly a Ki Attack, but it is functionally the real life equivalent to many people.
 * Here is an example of someone who believes that they can use ki attacks. See the second part of the video to see whether or not he actually does.
 * Related: martial arts like Tai Chi Chuan and Aikijutsu are heavily based on the concept of ki/chi/qi, but in those instances, it's more like a case of creation and conservation of momentum and leveraging physics (something like 90% of what you do in aikido is based in forcing your opponent to continue their motion, throwing them off balance, and then reversing their direction just as they start to regain their balance, throwing them to the ground).
 * Various Ki based feats all have perfectly mundane explanations, much like a wizard's trick. Calling a feat Ki based is the same as choosing to believe the rabbit materialized out of thin air rather then check the hat for a secret compartment.
 * See also Derren Brown.
 * Wikipedia on Kizeme goes on about Ki projection and such. While video shows a fairly primitive, yet well-executed feint, which requires no supernatural abilities to preform and is known, in one form or another, in most martial arts, with weapons or without them.

Webcomics

 * MAG ISA -- Used by Claudita in this comic.
 * In El Goonish Shive, Sensei Greg's Anime-Style Martial Arts dojo is the only known place for one to learn to tap into their ki.
 * Lampshaded (sort of) in that it is revealed that Elliot, Nanase, and to a lesser extent, Justin are the only students in the class that have shown any progress in performing actual anime-style techniques.