Which internal art should I practice

[Ya Mu]

Sorry may be this is wrong topic, but I hears about BaDuanJin (Ba Duang Chin may be) - is it only for health or these exercises are also for growing fight ability, fight stength in your body?

 

Either, depending on the intensity of practice. Some Xing Yi schools use the BDJ exercises.

Master Y W Chang, with 90 something years of practice experience, taught these as a warm up exercise before doing Tai Jee or Hsing I.

In our workshops I also use Master Chang's version as a warm up before doing our qigong movements.

[Wayfarer]

For me it would have to be Zhan Zhuang standing pole exercises supported by Mark Cohen's great book "Inside Zhan Zhuang" - I have practised Wing Chun along with Aikido - If you are happy with your art Yi gong - working with intent and sensitivity, without the martial element of Yi Quan could help. But for me it would be ZZ everytime

[WingChunTaoBum]

That's Albert Chong. We've had him teach us a few times at weekend seminars. He's ridiculously good. One of the top guys in Australia. He wouldn't call himself a master but I think he's too modest. The most senior guys have all left Jim Fung's school but they are still around, and all would obliterate most people in a fight. You really have to feel the force. It's like muscular force you might not be able to stop but you can feel that if you were stronger you'd be able to. The force that these guys have feels like there is very little there, and as such you have no ability to fight against it because there is no platform to do so.

 

That would be how I would describe the internal and external thing. External is like pushing against a wall. Internal at the highest level is like pushing against air. I was doing chi sau with someone in Hong Kong and her arms felt like they weren't there, and her force was like these 2 spirals of emptiness coming out of her arms and rotating in alternate directions. As such the effect on my body was that the top of my body was buckling one way and the bottom was buckling another way, and there was nothing that I could do about it. She was hardly moving at all.

 

Bizarre stuff .

Wow, yeah I'd love to train with him

[Ten Thousand Methods]

I'm assuming that you are talking about Chinese martial arts. TTB is not really a great place to discuss traditional wushu much less internal styles. There are a few experienced people here but this just isn't a martial arts forum.

 

You need a teacher to learn any style. You can't learn on your own.

 

My advice is simple - if you go to a good place you will find good teachers. Are you living in a sophisticated and economically advanced place? If not then consider moving. The most options will always be in the following places:

• The Northeast Corridor (Boston + NYC + Providence + New Haven + NYC + Philadelphia + Baltimore + Washington DC)
• San Francisco Bay Area
• Sacramento
• Houston
• San Diego
• Florida (Miami + Orlando + Tampa)
• Seattle
• Vancouver
• Chicago
• Los Angeles
• Atlanta

I assume you are American so Vancouver may not be an option for you. Training in this stuff basically comes down to motivation, finding a good teacher, and money. There are good teachers in other places but you will have fewer options. My advice is simple - if you don't live in one of those places you should consider relocating.

 

I'm from the northeast and I love the East Coast. Right now I'm living in China but I miss Boston, Providence, and NYC every day.

Edited October 7, 2013 by Ten Thousand Methods

[Ten Thousand Methods]

Which internal style should you practice? I think you should talk to people on other forums (that are dedicated to CMA) about the different definitions of internal and what arts are commonly thought to be neijia arts.

 

I think you should consider relocating if you don't have good local teachers and you are serious about wanting to learn. The best places in America have the most CMA teachers. It's not rocket science.

 

I also think you should consider whether you want to learn one CMA style or multiple CMA styles. If you want to learn multiple CMA styles it could affect your choice. All of the neijia arts can help you but some could be better than others at helping you excel in other styles and seeing connections between different CMA styles.

 

I'll say something about Baguazhang. I didn't want to learn Baguazhang at first because I was studying other CMA styles and I thought Baguazhang would not help me with those arts. I didn't understand anything about it. It looked strange and it didn't seem like something that would help me learn other things. I was completely wrong. Baguazhang is unique but it really helped my footwork in a way that no other style could have. If I do circular stepping in another style I don't use the bagua frame (obviously) but my experiene in bagua makes it easy. It taught me a lot about body movement. The coiling and uncoiling motions also helped my kicks a lot. I never did any kicks in my Baguazhang class but my kicking in northern styles improved because of it. It sounds odd but it's true. I realized that it was something that could help me in other areas. It's also a very powerful style on it's own. I think it's a great choice but only if you have a really good teacher.

 

If you have more questions you should try using a CMA discussion forum. Good luck.

[WingChunTaoBum]

Which internal style should you practice? I think you should talk to people on other forums (that are dedicated to CMA) about the different definitions of internal and what arts are commonly thought to be neijia arts.

 

I think you should consider relocating if you don't have good local teachers and you are serious about wanting to learn. The best places in America have the most CMA teachers. It's not rocket science.

 

I also think you should consider whether you want to learn one CMA style or multiple CMA styles. If you want to learn multiple CMA styles it could affect your choice. All of the neijia arts can help you but some could be better than others at helping you excel in other styles and seeing connections between different CMA styles.

 

I'll say something about Baguazhang. I didn't want to learn Baguazhang at first because I was studying other CMA styles and I thought Baguazhang would not help me with those arts. I didn't understand anything about it. It looked strange and it didn't seem like something that would help me learn other things. I was completely wrong. Baguazhang is unique but it really helped my footwork in a way that no other style could have. If I do circular stepping in another style I don't use the bagua frame (obviously) but my experiene in bagua makes it easy. It taught me a lot about body movement. The coiling and uncoiling motions also helped my kicks a lot. I never did any kicks in my Baguazhang class but my kicking in northern styles improved because of it. It sounds odd but it's true. I realized that it was something that could help me in other areas. It's also a very powerful style on it's own. I think it's a great choice but only if you have a really good teacher.

 

If you have more questions you should try using a CMA discussion forum. Good luck.

Alright, thanks man!

[h.uriahr]

The best thing you could do is test drive a few until you find the right fit.

Different strokes for different folks.

[grady]

I have been studying various martial arts now, manly Wing Chun. And I am looking for an internal art to straighten my outer, if any one has an art that I should try I would appreciate your suggestion.

 

 

http://rumsoakedfist.com

Edited October 9, 2013 by leandro

[Narew]

I have been studying various martial arts now, manly Wing Chun. And I am looking for an internal art to straighten my outer, if any one has an art that I should try I would appreciate your suggestion.

 

1. It's more about the teacher than about the art. And I'm not speaking in terms of philosophy, I'm speaking in practical terms. Learning internal arts is basically impossible without a teacher. And another problem is, it's not about finding somebody who CLAIMS he knows the internal art. AFAIK there are many scamers, especially in ther internal arts - people who know the external forms, but don't truly know the whole system. One thing you should check for is not only from who did the teacher learn from, but also HOW LONG was he taught. That's absolutely CRUCIAL. Why? Because it's a common practice to come to China for 2-3 weeks or so, train under an actual master, make photos with him and later say "I trained under master X!". Which is then technically true, but is bullshit for practical purposes. In other words, beware the McDojos/Bullshido "teachers". The same can be true with Asians - being Asian doesn't make anybody competent, there are instances of Chinese people finishing goverment modernized (non-authentic) Wu Shu sport schools and then teaching gullible idiots from the West.

 

2. As far as the arts themselves are concerned, XingYiQuan and YiQuan are both the simplest and probably most similiar to WingChun, so they would seem to be the better choice.

 

3. If you can't find a good teacher, than simply train some Zhan Zhuang, it would be better than training under incompetent teacher.