Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

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 (al...

You read and hear about different types of "energies" or "jin" in the internal arts. For example, people talk about the "Eight Energies" or the "Thirteen Energies."

Four primary energies (jin) of Taijiquan are:

1. Peng (Ward Off)

2. Liu (Roll Back)

3. Ji (Press)

4. An (Push)

Rounding Out the Rest of the 13 Energies are:

5. Cai (Pluck-Pull Down)

6. Lie (Split - often pronounced like the name Leah)

7. Zhou - (Elbow)

8. Kao - (Shoulder - often called Bump)

9. Teng (striking at an upward angle from the bottom to the top)

10. Zhe (winding, spinning to the ground)

11. Kong (Empty)

12. Huo (lively and active while maintaining internal principles) 

13. Five Moving Directions: Front (Forward), Back (Backward), Left, Right, and Middle (maintaining your balance - your Center)

 It's important to remember -- despite what some teachers will tell you -- the Taiji "energies" do not involve some invisible energy in your body called Peng, or Liu, or whatever.

It's a lot more accurate ...

Chen Xiaowang put a student into a good posture, one of the positions in "Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds Mortar." When he put the student into the proper stance, Master Chen stepped back and said, "Now, he can defend from all directions." 

At the time, I wasn't sure what he meant. Now, I think I have a clearer idea.

360-Degree Dynamic Awareness. One of the things we cultivate in this martial art is a state of awareness. When Chen Xiaowang puts you into a standing posture, you aren't just doing qigong. He tells you to "listen behind you." This means to be aware of everything around you at all times. In daily life, this means taking your eyes off your cell phone and being present at all times -- walking across a parking lot at the store, driving in the car, or when you are in a potentially dangerous self-defense situation. And when you come in contact with an opponent, you are aware of his energy and where it is being directed.

Sensitivity and Responsiveness. Awareness then applies...

Two weeks ago, I did something bold, brave, and totally against the martial artist’s natural instinct.

I rested.

It wasn’t easy. I didn’t want to do it. But my body made the decision for me.

I had tweaked my left glute. I'm not sure how I didn't, I just know I didn't do it the fun way. But it quickly became one of those annoying injuries that doesn’t seem major at first, so you try to push through it. “It’s just a little pull,” I told myself. “I’ll work around it.”

Sound familiar?

But martial arts doesn’t always give you the luxury of working around a pain that affects your core stability. Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua — all require strong, coordinated lower-body mechanics. Even walking the dog became a lesson in humility.

Pivoting on my left leg, pushing back into a couch or recliner, bending over to tie my shoes or pet the dog -- everything sent me into a spasm of agony, like a knife was stabbing me in the butt! 

And sneezing! Don't even get me started. We are so connected inside our...

She just gets in there and tries to win. Shifu Lindsay Lambert is the owner and head instructor at Wu Dao Kung Fu & Tai Chi in Watertown, Massachusetts, in the greater Boston area. She teaches Chinese martial arts, including Shuai Jiao (Chinese wrestling) and she has won championships in that art. In this edition of the Internal Fighting Arts podcast, I talk with Lindsay about her martial arts journey, training in the arts and I ask about the obstacles faced by a female martial artist and teacher. You can listen here or download the podcast. 

In my opinion, a highly-skilled martial artist should be able to apply the right amount of force when needed, but in some situations, you should be able to apply no force at all. Being able to do both requires skill.

There is currently a "tough guy" attitude in martial arts, especially online. Here is one argument they make: If you spend a lot of time point-sparring, you won't be able to apply force when you need it in a self-defense situation. Instead, you will pull your punches.

I call malarkey, and I know it's malarkey because of my personal experience. 

Skill Development and Control

Pulling punches and using light contact in sparring teaches fine motor control and precision. This enables you to "choose" between delivering light or heavy contact, depending on the situation, which is crucial in real-life self-defense to avoid unnecessary harm or legal consequences. It is also important to be able to spar without hurting your training partners.

In 51 years of sparring, I have nev...

I was very honored to see that according to Feedspot, my podcast is at the top of the Top 15 Tai Chi Podcasts to Listen to in 2025. What an honor.

The podcast is 10 years old, and I plan to continue it for the next ten years.

I talk with English-speaking internal arts instructors (Taiji, Xingyi, Bagua, and Qigong) who have ties to well-known masters, and I talk philosophy with Taoist priests and Zen Buddhists. 

If you haven't heard it (or haven't heard it lately) I hope you'll check it out at the link below and browse through the 77 editions I have done so far. I am always inspired by my guests, and I believe you will be inspired, too.

https://internalfightingarts.libsyn.com/

I see it all the time. Some Tai Chi person, often someone who is called a "master," begins their form and loses their balance at the very beginning of the form.

As you know, Tai Chi is all about maintaining your mental and physical balance at all times.

We practice the movements and the intricate body mechanics to learn how to maintain our balance and our "center."

Watch this video and, if you do Tai Chi, check yourself in a mirror or on  video to see if you have kinky hips at the beginning of the form.

This is the kind of lesson you learn on this website when you become a member. These seemingly small details help you create the ability to have a stronger root and to develop the relaxed power that makes Tai Chi Chuan a strong martial art.

--by Ken Gullette

In November, 2003 -- 21 years ago this month -- Inside Kung-Fu promoted my $5,000 Chi Challenge on the cover of the magazine.

Inside the magazine, they printed my letter. I was fed up with the "chi masters" they put in their pages -- guys like Richard Mooney, who was shown knocking down students without touching them. He was not the only one. Different people showed up in different magazines, eager to show things that can't be done and hopefully get more students to hand over their hard-earned money to "learn the secret of empty force."

It was sheer fantasy they were selling, and it was making Tai Chi look bad. So I wrote this letter, which is on page 10. Here it is, under the headline "He'll Pay $5,000 For Proof!":

     "The cover of your August 2003 issue asked the question, "No-Touch Chi Force! Is It For Real?" The article answered that question with an unqualified "yes." In fact the writer, Peter Uhlmann, not only claimed that his "master," Henry Wang, can knock people down with...

Some people really believe chi masters can project their chi (also spelled Qi) so powerfully that they can set something on fire -- like paper.

In this video, Ken Gullette demonstrates this ability and then shows you step-by-step how to do it. Remember, never check your brains at the door of a martial arts school. If you would like to study Taiji, Xingyi, Bagua and Qigong without the mystical mumbo-jumbo and fantasy, you are on the right website. Try two weeks free and study REAL internal arts.