Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts Blog

The Death of a Child and a Spouse Offer Tests of Internal Strength

internal strength philosophy Sep 16, 2019

A few days ago, my daughter Shara would have celebrated her 39th birthday. She was born on September 12, 1980.

Six weeks later, on a chilly October morning, the morning after she broke into a big, toothless grin for the first time, causing me, her 3-year old sister Harmony and her mom to burst out laughing, we found her dead in her bed from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Crib death came in the night and took our little red-haired baby girl.

We were devastated, shrouded for a couple of years in grief that felt like a weight vest. Over the years, the grief diminished to a manageable state; life went on, and after being knocked into an emotional hole in the ground, I managed to lift myself up and re-balance.

The philosophical Taoism and Zen thinking that I tried to adopt in the years before Shara's death had put down roots.

This philosophy is not about not feeling. It is not about being passive. It is about feeling fully, but not letting destructive emotions take control.

It is ab...

Learn the Chen Taiji Straight Sword with Chen Huixian in Madison Nov 1-3

chen huixian chen huixian madison wi 2019 chen taiji madison wi tai chi in madison wi tai chi workshops Sep 07, 2019

Chen Huixian will teach the Chen Taiji Straight Sword form at a workshop in Madison, Wisconsin on November 1-3, 2019. She will also review and do corrections for Zhan Zhuang, Silk-Reeling, and Laojia Erlu (Cannon Fist).

I will be there and I hope you'll join me to learn from a highly-skilled member of the Chen family.

Chen Huixian is a great teacher, an "in chamber" disciple of her uncle, Chen Zhenglei. Her other uncles include Chen Xiaowang and Chen Xiaoxing.

Her workshops are an outstanding experience. She gives a lot of personal attention to students, is actually interested in the people who attend, she answers questions, and she offers corrections and coaching that will move your skills forward. She speaks English, which means there is no need for an interpreter between what she says and what you hear.

Her workshops are traditional and serious. You will eat bitter. But she has a sense of humor that adds an element of fun that is lacking in some workshops. Laughter is not uncom...

Brian Li Interviews Ken Gullette About the Internal Fighting Arts Online Course

internal fighting arts ken gullette learn tai chi online Aug 29, 2019

Do you want to know more background on this website? Listen as Ken talks with Brian Li, creator of the "Online Course Legacy" podcast.

Brian's podcast is aimed at people who are running or launching their own online courses (on any subject) but if you want more information on when, why, and how Ken started this online course, you might want to give the interview a listen.

https://online-course-empire.simplecast.com/episodes/ken-gullette-taking-martial-arts-online-HfjnsZYd

Song in Taijiquan - A Relaxed State of Readiness

body mechanics taiji Aug 26, 2019

The picture here shows me and Colin starting the movement "Six Sealings and Four Closings" from the Laojia Yilu form.

One of the problems I see in a lot of beginners, and even people who have been in the arts for a while, is a lack of peng throughout the body during movements or postures.

It is not just a problem in Taiji, but I also see it in students doing Xingyi and Bagua.

It is common to see someone in a yang movement with the "attacking" hand, and the rear hand has lost its peng. It is limp. There is no "song."

The word "song" to me means "a relaxed state of readiness."

I recently saw a Yang-style practitioner doing the Yang 24 form. He did "Brush Knee Twist Step" and his lower hand was held with fingers pointing downward. There was no peng in his hand and it was hanging limply with the fingers hanging toward the ground.

I pointed out that if his hand was this way when someone kicked him, he would have some broken fingers.

He had never considered that t...

No Partner? No Problem! The Benefits of Mental Martial Arts Practice

Uncategorized Jul 29, 2019

In the summer of 1997, I found myself suddenly unemployed. I had some time on my hands as I sent out resumes and waited for interviews.

I was one test away from earning my black sash in Yi Li Chuan kung-fu. Since reaching that point, I had moved and my teacher, Phillip Starr, had sold his school to a student and went into seclusion.

I called the student who was now teaching at the school and asked if he would test me for black sash. He agreed.

So I had about a month to brush off all the material up to black sash. But there was one big problem.

I didn't have a training partner for the one-steps, the joint locks, the countless self-defense techniques that I needed to demonstrate.

Sure, I had practiced them hundreds of times before with fellow students, but this was for black sash!

To prepare for the test, I trained for a month in my condo with an "imaginary partner."

I did not need an imaginary partner to work on forms, naturally. But with self-defense techn...

Finding Your Root is Important but Can You Carry It With You?

Uncategorized Jul 15, 2019

When you train with an "old school" traditional teacher, you learn to "eat bitter."

In China, stories are told about teachers who had prospective students spend a year sweeping and cleaning before learning any of his art.

Xingyi masters were said to have new students stand in San Ti for the first year or more of practices.

Even today, when you train with a member of the Chen family, it is common to collapse from leg fatigue more than once, even during a 12-hour weekend workshop. You will hold stances until your legs burn and shake like you're twerking. And trust me, you don't want to see a 66-year old man twerking.

Good teachers spend a lot of time correcting basics - structure and body mechanics.

Working on the basics of body mechanics and structure give you a solid "root."

Much of your "root" depends on the ground path and peng jin. You must sink your energy and apply the correct mechanics.

Where Good Structure Fails

When I began training with my secon...

Say No to Noodle Legs -- Do Not Collapse Your Legs in Tai Chi

chen family taijiquan chen tai chi chen tai chi training internal body mechanics peng jin studying internal arts studying internal gongfu Jul 15, 2019

See the two images above?

The left image shows a mistake that I see a lot. In fact, there is a good chance you are making this mistake in your forms, especially Bagua and Taiji.

I spent several years making this mistake and I was never called on it.

Then, I was training with Chen Huixian and her husband, Michael, and they pointed it out. I was doing "Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds Mortar" and it was pointed out that my rear leg was collapsed.

In the left photo, my right leg is collapsing. I have lost my peng.

In the right image, I am maintaining peng through the legs.

As you can see in the image on the left, my stability and strength is far less with a collapsed leg. I cannot "defend from all directions."

It is a lot more difficult to maintain peng in the legs. It helps to relax and sit deeper into the kua, and it requires a lot of mental focus until you break the habit of collapsing.

That one bit of advice changed a lot of my stances. And now, I see...

Can You Lift Weights and Do Tai Chi, Xingyi or Bagua?

chen tai chi training chen taiji training internal arts training tai chi and weights weight training Jul 01, 2019

The photo shows a practice tip that is on my Bagua Basic Skills DVD and in the Bagua section of my website. It shows me walking the circle with dumbbells in my hands.

One of the traditional training methods for old school Bagua students was to do this with a brick or a stone in each hand. Now, we have dumbbells, so we can use those.

This not only helps develop circle-walking, but it is a weight-training exercise to help build your arm and shoulder strength, not to mention leg strength from circle-walking with the extra weight.

A Huge Fallacy in the Internal Arts

I have heard many people in the internal arts say that weight-training is a violation of internal principles. Even doing push-ups is a violation. They believe you should only do Taijiquan, for instance, and nothing more.

If you practice an internal art like Taiji, the argument goes, it is all the fitness training that you need.

One guy who claims to be a "master" instructor of Tai Chi told me that he wen...

A Focused Mind - Not an Empty Mind - Helps Your Tai Chi Practice

a calm mind remain centered studying internal gongfu studying tai chi studying taiji Jun 19, 2019

My favorite Zen joke is this one:

How many Zen masters does it take to screw in a light bulb?

The answer: A green tree in a quiet forest.

I love telling that joke to people who don't know Eastern philosophy, just to see the puzzled looks on their faces.

A Quiet, Focused Mind is a Difficult Goal

The chaos that our minds endure each day is no joke.

We are all on the move every day. We are bombarded with messages, texts, emails, photos and social media posts, advertising and calls. If you watch the news or see online news headlines, the negativity can really disrupt your mental tranquility, if you have any to begin with.

When we take time to practice our martial arts -- which is too little time for most people -- our minds are still jumbled with activities at work, deadlines, what to pick up at the store, what our spouses and partners need, or what our children are up to.

Or, we just dive into our practice and start working on a form or techniques.

But if ...

The Ground Path is Step One in Building a Strong Internal Structure

ground path internal body mechanics studying internal gongfu studying tai chi studying taiji Jun 04, 2019

The first concept I introduce new students to is the ground path.

We do exercises with a partner to learn how to establish and maintain the ground path and combine it with peng jin.

But some people who see a photo like the one here make the mistake of thinking, "That's useless. You can't use that in a fight."

In this photo, my training partner Tom is pushing into my right elbow and I am grounding the push into the ground through my left foot.

Tom is not supposed to push with too much force, although as you can see in the picture, this particular drill is used to show that you can, in fact, set up a pretty strong structure using the ground.

The ground path is generally practiced without too much force because the idea is not to make you Superman, to meet force with force. Tai Chi doesn't fight force against force.

The idea is to provide internal strength to your body structure, but as you hold that strength in, for example, a self-defense situation, your goal will not be to meet f...

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Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

The Death of a Child and a Spouse Offer Tests of Internal Strength

Learn the Chen Taiji Straight Sword with Chen Huixian in Madison Nov 1-3

Brian Li Interviews Ken Gullette About the Internal Fighting Arts Online Course

Song in Taijiquan - A Relaxed State of Readiness

No Partner? No Problem! The Benefits of Mental Martial Arts Practice

Finding Your Root is Important but Can You Carry It With You?

Say No to Noodle Legs -- Do Not Collapse Your Legs in Tai Chi

Can You Lift Weights and Do Tai Chi, Xingyi or Bagua?

A Focused Mind - Not an Empty Mind - Helps Your Tai Chi Practice

The Ground Path is Step One in Building a Strong Internal Structure

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