The Yi Leads the Qi - Setting Up Internal Connections

The Yi Leads the Qi Experiment - Setting Up Internal Connections

Uncategorized Aug 24, 2025

by Ken Gullette

Here is an experiment to do with a partner or student. Have your partner stand in front of you and tell them to put their arms together as shown in Photo 1, as if warding off. Tell them you are going to push them on the arms with both hands.

Next, lift your arms and move toward them to push, as in Photo 2. When they see the push coming, you will notice a change in their bodies. They will shift to brace for the punch. It might be subtle, but you can almost always see it.

In Taijiquan, it is said that "there is an internal change before the external change." You can also say "there is an internal change before the main external action."

The mind perceives a threat, and it prepares to create the "jin" (refined force or "method") to deal with the force, and in doing so, the connections are set up in your body that will help you defend. Those connections will go from the ground, through the legs, through the dantien, and most often through the shoulders, arms and hands (although that can vary). The ground path and peng jin are always involved -- in every movement, and you never lose them.

Some people say this internal change shows that the "Yi leads the Qi." I sometimes use this as a way to demonstrate that concept in a straightforward and non-mystical way. I also tend to say the mind recognizes the force and the body responds with the connections necessary to create the jin needed at the time. That takes the "Qi" out of the description, since Qi tends to make people start thinking magical thoughts.

At the start of each movement in Taiji, after the previous movement is completed, your body must establish the connections to do the first part of the next move. In this way, the internal change leads to the external change.

If you don't already think about this, try it the next time you practice. One particular movement, which might have several parts to the movement (I always think of "Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds Mortar"), will require several changes in connections before the various external actions in the movement.

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The Yi Leads the Qi Experiment - Setting Up Internal Connections

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