Reiryoku vrs. Reiatsu

Here I will address some things that people tend to be confused with when rping as any race. These two terms have been manipulated, changed, called other thing,etc. and it will finally come to an end. Lets start with the most important.

Reiryoku

This term is one that I haven't seen on my bleach sites, namingly because we tend to confuse it with another name that we will cover next in this topic.You guessed it, Reiatsu. Reiryoku and Reiatsu are two completely different things my friends. Here is the actual definition of Reiryoku:

Reiryoku:(霊力, Spiritual Power) is a power aligned with the spiritual sensitivity and willpower of the user.

This roughly translates to the users TOTAL amount of power. A good example is weightlifters maximum amount of weight he/she can lift. NOT how much force they are exerting at the time.Now lets explain Reiatsu so we can tie the two together.

Reiatsu

This is what everyone claims they have an infinite amount of. Yes its everywhere: Joe's reiatsu skyrocketed, Dane filled the air with his reiatsu to surpass Joe, Joe raised his reaitsu even higher as he swung his zanpaktou, etc. This useless cycle of constant building up of reiatsu is nothing like the creators of bleach intended it to be and the term reiryoku feel into ancient history books no one seems to read anymore. Here is the true definition of reiatsu:

Reiatsu (霊圧, Spiritual Pressure) is the physical force/pressure that a person’s Reiryoku creates when released.

Lets use the weightlifter example to explain this meaning. Say a man has a maximum weight limit of 300 pounds. In a work out he lifts 130 for a warm up. The man lifting is using 130 pounds of physical force (or in the bleach world, reiatsu) to lift the weight. With this being said reaitsu can be roughly translated to the amount of force one is exerting. Now what does this all mean? well lets pull the two together shall we?

Reiryoku vrs. Reiatsu

The difference between spiritual pressure and spiritual energy is simple: Reiryoku is the amount of energy a being has stored within their body or soul, whereas Reiatsu is the pressure that a person’s Reiryoku exerts. The difference is much like energy and power. Power being the amount of energy exerted per unit of time. Reiryoku is potential while Reiatsu is energy in use. In general, those with high levels of Reiryoku will often have the highest levels of Reiatsu also. A skilled warrior can overcome a person possessing greater Reiryoku by being able to manipulate their reiatsu to as close as there reiryoku as they can get.