I'm going to be serious for a moment. This is a series of posts from someone who goes by C.A. on Animesuki. This is the best explanation I've encountered of the Asian view of the concept of haki. This compilation appeared on MH, but it's relevant and very good so I'm reposting it here before it gets lost forever. This is a great read for people who actually care about this topic. There is some speculation mixed in, but over all I find it to be very informative.
[hide]To the western world Haki is something that's not properly understood, even in this thread. Simply because there's no single word that describes Haki well enough. But to us East Asians, Japanese and Chinese, the words Haki is an instantly understood term. It is a term that is Asian in origin and loosely phrased and understood in the Western world.
What Haki really is and means:
The words Ha and Ki, meaning 'dominate' and 'air'. Together you can make out something like 'air of dominance/atmosphere of fear' or better phrased, 'Aura of dominance/supremacy' or 'Aura of fear/terror'.
You can't really train yourself to just have Haki, it does not happen by itself or just suddenly. When you train yourself to become stronger or over time have attained some form of aggression, Haki will come along. It is something that builds up over experience and time and can be activated at will. But it can also be something that happens involutarily, examples of Haki in various forms:
A large wrestler say, 'The Rock'. If you, as a normal person stands in the ring and he is about to charge towards you, or just staring hard at you, you will be pretty much in fear. But once he puts on some clothes and goes off stage and becomes friendly, even the kids can approach him easily for an autograph.
Your pet dog is a cute and lovable family member, but if anyone trys to snatch its food bowl it will bark ferociously baring its teeth. Even you yourself would be quite fearful.
Those are examples of actively expressing Haki physically through appearance and facial expression.
Examples of involutary Haki:
An infamous gangster that has been jailed for years but still remembered by people for his doings. He was known to have beaten several people to a bloody pulp before getting into jail, but since then he has already turned over a new leaf. He walks on the street trying to be friendly but people just turns silent wherever he goes, simply because they know he was a violent criminal.
No matter how tame a lion or a bear is, it is a wild animal and for that we are wary even if they are circus animals dressed in frilly costumes. You would have fear to approach them to take pictures even if they are chained and in cages.
–------------In One Piece Haki is basically much the same, the amplification of fear. Though we've seen its effects with much more extreme results. Like Shanks making people fear him so much that they foam from their own fear. And Rayleigh demonstrating how you can spread fear to others but at the same time not to people who you are not hostile towards.
So Haki cutting the sky into two? No, its not their Haki, its just the pure power, the power of them clashing.
Haki flinching Logias? Plausible, if someone could perform an action or expression that can instill enough fear, Logias could literally solidfy in their tracks.
About Zoro: I agree on parts where it is a manifestation of his Haki or rather Sakki(killing intent). Sakki is another form of Haki that is also very common in Eastern manga, Akuma and Evil Ryu is famous for their Sakki. Shun Goku Satsu is an attack that uses their Sakki to strike terror into the opponent, render them helpless and allows Akuma to unleash a killing combo. Sakki is a much darker form of Haki, it does not spread just fear of the individual, but fear that they may be killed.
Zoro's Asura strikes fear into the opponent messing up their minds and together with his incredibly fast movements, creates an illusion where he suddenly gains extra heads and limbs like the demon Asura himself.
Zoro's Asura turning Rankyaku into mist may also be the effect of him grasping the 'breath' of the air blades and he slices through them.
The concept of breath, '呼吸' ( こきゅう) (kokyuu), which literally does mean breath or breathing, is closely related to ki '気' (き). Ki means mood, spirit and can also be air.
The involuntary action of breathing is a frequency that happens within you, you can say its the frequency of your life, your spirit. In eastern belief, Ki exists in all things, but it doesn't mean that everything breathes in air. But rather everything has a frequency in them, a frequency of their spirit. In One Piece they call this frequency the breath of all things.
You can transfer Ki from one body to another, from one object to another. In this form, Ki becomes energy, it is also the energy that exists in all things. The spirit of all things is their inherent energy. When you fan the air, you transfer energy from your hand to the fan and into the wind, making a breeze. When you fan really hard, you'll need to breathe harder.
If you can control your breath, you can control your energy and release them as powers under your control. In One Piece its just that these characters as so powerful, they can do amazing stuff with their Ki, the energy they have in them. Like kicking air into a Rankyaku.
As all things have a frequency in them, it means they have a resonant frequency. If you can adjust your frequency to their frequencies, you become a counter to them and you can cause it to act in your will. All things have different frequencies, so you can't use the frequency of slicing a piece of leaf to slice rock, the same other way round. Something that Zoro was supposed to understand and demonstrate.
And also like I mentioned above, Ki is also mood. When you're angry you breathe harder, when you're happy you breathe faster, when you're sad you have weak breaths. So a powerful fighter must be able to control his mood, his ki, so that he can control his power. Can you imagine for yourself what kind of ki, breathing you have when you're expressing Haki and Sakki?
Haki is not something that is 'learnt', you don't actively learn it. Haki is something that will come naturally to you as you build up life experience.
Luffy over the course of his journey has learnt about the harshness of piracy, the dangers, the fearsome foes. But the most important things he learnt is the value of his nakama, their dreams and lives. He has learnt to understand importance, although he doesn't put on a serious look most of the times.
And when he does get serious, that's when he releases his Haki. When he gets serious, he wants the opponents to know and that's when he spreads an aura of intimidation, telling the opponent that he wants to kick their ass really bad. Its a natural effect, its just a switch of emotions. And the reason his Haki is so strong is because he cares strongly for the things that are worth protecting, the lives and dreams of others.
When Luffy sees that Magaret's life is in danger, he gets really angered and he released in the form of the shout, which is essentially stating that he wants them to stop. Stating his 'dominance' over others, which is Haki
AND as for the new chapter's discovery of how luffy has a kings haki.....
Being a Haou, which literally means a supreme ruler, one who's will dominates over all others, means that Luffy has the highest form of Haki. Haoushoku Haki just means Supreme ruler class/level/type Haki.This instantly ties to Luffy's dream of being the Pirate King. Everytime he announces that he is the man that will become the Pirate King, people will get shocked, impressed and other stunned expressions. That is where his Haki comes from, his dream.
The other meaning for Haki is ambition. And Luffy who dares take up such a grand ambition, the Pirate King, can only prove that he is one with a Haou class Haki. One that has the will and determination to rise above all.
And remember the number of people who thought that Luffy gives a feeling of Gol D Roger. That is because both Luffy and Roger carried the same 'ki', the same aura, the aura of a Haou, one who dreams to become a ruler.
You can say the moment Luffy acquired this Haki is the first time when he thought of being the Pirate King, his Haki came immediately when he had such a dream. A dream where alot of people want to achieve, but not many have the will and determination to carry on. Luffy is one man who has the will and determination, that makes his Haki, Haou class.
And its exactly because of his grand ambition and charisma, his Haou class Haki influenced the people to go on a journey with him, those people are now the Nakama of the Strawhat Pirates. Luffy's Haki convinced his Nakama that he will help them achieve their dreams, that is the strength of Luffy's will and determination. His Nakama believes in him because he has this grand atmosphere and charisma around him
You can say Hancock, definitely has Haou class Haki, she just rules effortlessly over all her subjects and drops others to their knees.
And you can even say that Luffy's not just immune to her Mero Mero abilties, but also because their Haki cancels each other out. Meaning, if Luffy fights Hancock, they can only win each other by physical powers, they are each as much an influence as the other. They are both people who are full of themselves and are have extremely strong will that can even bend others' wills.
Unless, Luffy can prove himself to be the ultimate ruler of rulers and even over dominate Hancock
Hancock's Haki comes from her overwhelming beauty and her indulgence in it. She literally thinks she is the Queen of the world because of her beauty and powers. She thinks because she is such a beautiful entity, the whole world must bow towards her. That is her source of Haki.
Hancock is extremely confident of her beauty and from there brings out a great will. She is that beautiful and people are in awe by it, then on top of that, she is extremely proud of her beauty, further exerting her dominance over people who gaze upon her.
Since I'm on the topic of Haki, I'll go over to 'Sakki', which I shall now place both Zoro and Rayleigh under it.
Sakki means 'killing intent', a will to kill and drives fear into others. It is a extreme form of Haki that only makes people fear them. Unlike Haki which rules over people by both getting allies closer to them and enemies further away.
Zoro in the thick of battle invokes his inner Sakki, a will to kill the opponent. And he has Sakki because he wants to protect his Nakama, he kills because that's his job as the First Mate. But of course we know nobody dies in One Piece, but he still drives fear into people that they can get killed.
Rayleigh is the same, as Roger's First Mate. Furthermore his title 'Meiou', normally translated as 'Dark King' actually means/refers to as the 'King of Hell'. Meiou in fact is the Japanese name for 'Hades'.
Rayleigh at his prime must be someone who has killed many, to attain such a title. Or he could be one with such strong Sakki, people just have the fear of death seeing him. He could be the deadliest man in the world, to have such a title
Sanji indeed has shown that he has Haki in lesser amounts, one particular event is when he was trashing Absolom. His will to let Absolom feel his wrath because of what he was going to do to Nami, is indeed something very likely to a burst of his Haki. His Haki should then come from his gentlemanly instincts, his will to protect the ladies that he absolutely adore and of course his Nakama. As stated, Diable Jambe may injure Sanji, but he recovers from those shocks because his 'heart burns even hotter'. This could be his will over his physical pain and injury, he puts his Nakama over himself, willing to go beyond limits, that may be his Haki at work
For Zoro's Sakki again. I'd like to reference Ryu from Street Fighter. Ryu is a very powerful martial artist whose strength comes from his heart(again you can back reference to Sanji) and because of that he has extremely powerful Haki. But Ryu has something that's bugging him, a pent up rage, a rage to avenge his Master, who was killed by Gouki(Akuma). Akuma saw that Ryu's power of his heart has extremely high potential, but Ryu cannot put that potential to full use because he doesn't fight with an instinct to kill. Ryu will never put enough force to kill one, meaning he will never use his full potential.
Gouki the power hungry demon, who wants to see power and wants ever stronger opponents, see that Ryu could be that opponent that he longed for. He intended to use Ryu's hatred for him to convert his entire Haki into Sakki, to fully release his potential. He was able to do that because the only one true person that Ryu wants to kill is Gouki himself. Yes he did manage to do that and the result is Evil Ryu. But the story doesn't end here, Evil Ryu manages to return back to the good Ryu. This is again because of his heart, he overcomes his own killing instinct by ridding the impure pent-up rage in him. His own Haki overpowering his Sakki, making Gouki even more impressed with Ryu. Ryu managed to show Gouki a power stronger than even pure Sakki.
This is an example of how Haki and Sakki is interchangeable and is related[/hide]
I'm gonna need a second opinion.
"OH I'm Azn and made a long post!" isn't gonna cut it for me. S/He could just be bullshitting.
Very powerful. Almost entirely lost in translation, and it had to be if you wanted a smooth translation.
