Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts Blog

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...

Translations of Ancient Tai Chi Classics Can Point You the Wrong Way

body mechanics tai chi May 15, 2019

I was reading a book by well-known martial artist and teacher, and he wrote something that could send people down the wrong path.

I like Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming. He has done some good things for the arts. He has tried to save some of the older texts and Chinese "songs" and "poems" related to martial arts.

He is a dedicated martial artist and scholar, and apparently a very nice guy. This is not about his skill.

But in his book, "Advanced Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan," he should have gone one step further when he translated and interpreted some old Tai Chi classics.

The first of the classics he presents in the book is supposed to be by Chang San Feng (also spelled Zhang San Feng), but we all know that there is absolutely no evidence that Chang San Feng was a real person. He is a "legend," which means he probably didn't exist. A lot of people who refuse to say the Chen family created the art insist that Chang created it centuries earlier.

Dr. Yang should have mentioned this in the book, but ...

Why You Need to Study Self-Defense Aspects of Tai Chi, Xingyi and Bagua Even if You Do The Arts for Health

Uncategorized May 08, 2019

I asked a question of my website members two nights ago on our private discussion page for members only. There was a great response.

I asked if they joined to learn the arts (and Qigong) for health, fitness and meditation, or did they join for the self-defense instruction?

The answers were a mixture. Some do it primarily for health and fitness, especially if they are older.

Some people say they do not have training partners, so they are hampered in learning self-defense.

But some members are already studying in other schools with other teachers and are looking for more authentic internal principles, or their instructors do not teach self-defense at all.

I believe if you are studying with a teacher who does not teach fighting applications of every movement, you should run away and look for a new teacher. But if you are in that situation, you can learn the information you need on my site and you will probably then be able to teach your instructor. He or she should be paying YOU.

I...

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Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

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

Translations of Ancient Tai Chi Classics Can Point You the Wrong Way

Why You Need to Study Self-Defense Aspects of Tai Chi, Xingyi and Bagua Even if You Do The Arts for Health

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