aaronearl

Hello, all! My name is Aaron and, as the title of my post suggests, I am looking for something. One of the things that I seek is an explanation of the "Internal Power" of the Taoist martial arts. I need this explanation to be in English and stripped of all that truly fantastic confusion that surrounds and pervades most discussions about this topic. I know nothing about this power, but I do know there are no such things as "Qi fireballs," nor is there a power, like The Force, "flowing through all living things", etc., that has been manifested in these arts. I know that "Internal Power" refers to a subtle kind of body mechanics and I seek a really clear explanation of its principles. I hope that someone in this forum can help me. One of the things that I seek is a way to cultivate this power within myself, i.e., an effective training system. I just wasted a couple hours of my time observing one so-called Taoist "class" in the Chicago-land area. I paid very, very close attention to everything but, quite frankly, I saw nothing to suggest to me that the "Internal Power" was, necessarily, operating in those various forms and exercises. Nor did it appear that anyone there commanded any formidable martial power of any kind, unfortunately. So, I hope that someone in this forum can direct me to a real, accessible resource(s). One of the things that I seek is to be entertained. I hope that someone in this forum can help make my quest an enjoyable one! Thank you.

Yes, my post might seem contradictory. I shall clarify... I know nothing about the power, really, just a few things I have tried to read. I just really know what "Internal Power" is not. The only thing that I have been able to discern from the literature that I have found, is that is has to do with "not-usual" body mechanics. But, I have found no clear explanations, i.e., ones that don't talk about "life force," or "energy flowing through the body along meridians" "pushing willpower through the Dan Tian," etc. I need to hear a good, old-fashioned bio-physical explanation of what it is and what I must do to express it. Something like, "flex your this to make that happen." I find it difficult to imagine that, over the thousands of years that "internal power" has, apparently, been used in martial arts, no one has just spoken about it simply, like the phrase, "lift your hand to here." And, no, I don't accept that "Internal Power" is an esoteric subject. After all, we're really only talking about body motion and I don't think that that Taichiquan, Baguazhan or Hsing-I stylists possess body parts that I don't. Therefore, I should be able to, at the very least, conceive of how their techniques are performed.