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Some masters, such as Rod Sacharnoski, claim to be able to move people using ki, without ever touching them. However, when these claims are tested using scientific methods using subjects who are not students of the masters, the claims are proved false. The students who claim to feel the effects of the master's ki are necessarily lying, they are just being manipulated by their belief in the master' powers and the ideomotor effect.

The ideomotor effect refers to the influence of suggestion on involuntary and unconscious motor behavior. The term "ideomotor action" was first used by William B. Carpenter in 1852 in his explanation for the movements of dowser rods, movements of the pointer on Ouija boards, and the movements of Charcot's pendulum (where a small weight hanging from a string held by a person seems to answer personal questions). Carpenter argued that muscular movement may be initiated by the mind independently of volition or emotions. Suggestions may be made to the mind by others or by observations without your conscious awareness of it happening. These suggestions may influence the mind and affect motor behavior. These involuntary ideomotor movements have been used by charlatans for centuries. They have been used more recently by people such as chiropractors with their "Toftness Radiation Detector," by naturopaths using their "black boxes" in radiesthesia and radionics to harness "energy" for use in diagnosis and healing, by practitioners of Qi Gong in their "pulse diagnosis," by Deepak Chopra in his Ayurvedic medicine, and of course by advocates of ki.

Scientific tests by American psychologist William James, French chemist Michel Chevreul, English scientist Michael Faraday, and American psychologist Ray Hyman have demonstrated that many phenomena attributed to spiritual or paranormal forces, or to mysterious "energies," are actually due to ideomotor action. The tests show that honest, intelligent people may unconsciously engage in muscular activity that is consistent with their expectations and that suggestions that may guide their behavior may be given by subtle clues.

Ki is very commonly used in the Orient. They use it in all kinds of expressions and contexts, such as "genki" good health, without necessarily adopting any particular philosophical position on the existence of a specific energy.

Ki is not a native part of Western culture and so we tend to view it from a different perspective. We only use the word when referring to the internal energy of ki. Some reject the concept altogether while others accept it as a magical spiritual force. Pragmatists prefer just to use it for what usefulness they may attain from it.

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