The system of the five elements is used to keep a person's energy in balance. Proper diet and breathing patterns are fundamental to good health. When a person becomes seriously out of balance, techniques like qigong projection were used to attempt to cure them. Most emitted qigong practices need considerable study and a properly trained teacher in order to be effective and safe. This energy is NOT a 'ray' which would be subject to the rules of electro-magnetic radiation.
Intent is what guides the system once it is connected to the source.
The attunements are just one means of connecting. Tatsumi had kept notes of the attunements and symbols. There was never any requirement to maintain an 'oral tradition' . Hayashi had large quantities of notes in both his own and in Usui's penmanship and some of these remain in Tatsumi's possession. The attunements for first level are intended to 'remind' the candidate that he is connected to a limitless energy system.