what is internal to you

[wenwu]

right then

 

the phrase internal martial arts is relatively new. coined by Sun Lu Tang a couple of hundred years ago.

 

what does it mean to you guys,

 

it is just a different power generation method?

 

does it need a health aspect?

 

or what other criteria would you give an internal art

[Afromojo]

Internal as many take it out to mean means energy, or energetic cultivation within the internal martial arts.

 

Some learn Tai Chi or some of Lu Tangs stuff, but do not practice San-Ti. The internal practice is a part of it but gets forgotten.

 

What Lu Tang meant by internal, is that instead of learning it through the art itself, focus on the meditiation. This brings feelings you can put in your practice.

 

Lu Tang was a great guy wasnt he? Very kind, in fact people that attacked him claimed they did not even feel anything hit them.

[Sloppy Zhang]

Well, a large part depends on whether you believe in qi or not. Some people will tell you that the "internal martial arts" focus on qi cultivation early on in the beginning so that you learn to deliver your moves with the proper alignment so that the qi can flow in a certain way to give you natural strength and everything. In external arts you certainly do have stuff that works with qi, but that's mostly after years of doing intense physical workouts and stuff.

 

For the people who don't believe in qi, they just analyze the internal martial arts from a bio mechanical sort of way. The internal martial arts rely on relaxed, but structured, unified body movement. You aren't tense in the way that you think of tensing a muscle, but you aren't limp. It's sort of counter intuitive, but the relaxed feeling and allowing the body to generate strength based on its body structure can be quite powerful. Of course, it takes a lot longer to get to that point as opposed to just brawling your way through.

 

However, the interesting thing is that commonly thought of "external arts" use the same principles that the internal arts use. Any good boxer will tell you not to tense up but stay loose, stay fluid, so you can relax so you don't waste energy. People have analyzed some of the strongest boxing and MMA punches, and they say that power is generated from the ground with the whole body, keeping a relaxed body until the point of impact.... which is something you hear in IMA a lot.

 

So, just stuff to think about. Is there really a distinction at all? Or do all roads lead to Rome?

Edited May 3, 2009 by Sloppy Zhang

[Tao99]

I don't know.

Edited May 5, 2009 by Tao99

[Gerard]

Internal means: mind, body, spirit. The movement is done by withdrawing the mind and being one with the Universe. There is no you anymore. This is very true with Bagua, but also with Tai Chi and Hsing I.

 

External arts lack of this.

[Afromojo]

Very True! I think it was Mike Sigman (spelling?) was trying to do the "everything physical thing".

But the intent is all the same you cant divorce the energy and intent from the body.

[Pranaman]

Developing and refining coordination and balance requires an internal focus on the body. This is what is internal to me.

 

I believe in qi but my experience with sitting energy work(mantak chia, chunyi lin, and chakra work) and zhan zhuang(a la Gregory Fong and I think Yao Cheng-Rong, which is more focused on the matter of focus, intention and body), my experience with these two methods have drawn me to zhan zhuang.

 

The physical labor that requires relaxing into the pain, while growing stronger, being okay with pain, the discipline to continue, and the mental work of visualizing a 1000 new ways to work your muscles while aware of the senses, doing all of this simultaneously has led me to grow.

 

Since Yiquan/Kung-fu/Tai Chi (focus being on intent and body) has given me an avenue to grow, I consider it to be internal.

Edited May 3, 2009 by Pranaman