Flow emerges when channels are clear. This is true in martial arts, in open source, and in human systems.
In martial arts, Ki is the flow of relational energy—the way intention, timing, and presence move through a system. Ki isn’t something one person “has.” It appears when a channel is clear enough for energy to move through people in a coherent way.
The more I work with human systems, identity, and complexity, the more I see the same principle showing up in open-source development: Open Source is Ki.
- Git reveals Ki in its pure form: a simple, distributed channel where contributions move without central control.
- GitHub expresses Ki socially: collaboration, pull requests, conversations, and the way a community finds coherence through relationship.
- GitLab expresses Ki operationally: structured flow, identity, security, and the governance that keeps complex systems aligned under load.
Each environment shows a different expression of the same underlying truth:
Flow emerges when channels are clear, aligned, and connected.
When channels are unclear, we see drift, tension, misalignment, bottlenecks, and breakdown—the same patterns that show up in people, families, teams, and organizations.
This is why Mindset Dojo feels as close to martial arts practice as it does to engineering culture.
Mindset Dojo explores the flow of Ki in human systems the same way open source explores it in code: through clear channels and real practice.
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