Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

There are many "energies" (Jin) in Taijiquan. The term "energy" has been misinterpreted by some people who take the translation too literally. The word "energy" when applied to Taiji simply means a physical method of sensing and dealing with your opponent's force in a way that follows core internal strength principles.

The most important energy in Taiji is Peng Jin. That is the expansive feeling that fills the body and pushes outward. When you touch an opponent, Peng Jin is necessary to test your opponent, "feel" and respond to your opponent's force and the direction that force is going. But the ability to be sensitive to your opponent's force and direction is Listening Energy, or "Ting Jin."

I once belonged to a school where we were taught that if we stood in front of our opponent, if we just worked hard and gained a high level of skill, we could actually "read" his chi -- we could read his mind and know that he was going to attack us even before he made a physical move.

Well, bull...

There are many different "energies" in Tai Chi and the internal arts. Cai energy is also called "Pluck." It is a sudden pulling action that can take your opponent off-balance.

Pluck can be done in a subtle way in push hands but in real self-defense, when your life can be in danger, it is not subtle and not especially pretty -- but it is definitely effective and it can be used against all kinds of attacks. 

Ken Gullette covers protectively against a sudden attack by Colin Frye.

Here is how to begin practicing this particular method of Tai Chi Pluck energy. Have a partner attack you without warning. Your first goal is to cover and block the attack. Instinctively, you should drop your weight and avoid the lifting of the body. This takes a lot of practice and presence of mind. In fact, it is a very good idea simply to react to an initial attack by practicing -- over and over -- the dropping and covering technique to protect yourself in the event of a surprise attack. 

Despite what ...

Last night, my practice consisted of a few Silk-Reeling exercises. I selected four or five that I don't practice as often as I should (including shoulder reeling, ankle and leg reeling and a couple more) and I worked them over and over, trying to feel the connection from the ground through the body. Relax, sink, feel it from the ground, spiraling through, connected and strong.

If you get one Silk-Reeling exercise right, you are doing good Taiji, and good Bagua. The exercises I do were made popular by Chen Xiaowang during the past 20 years or so. The exercises are among the first lessons that my students practice, laying the foundation for all of the body mechanics

 that are crucial for the internal arts -- Taiji, Bagua, and Xingyi.

Silk-Reeling "Energy" is not really a real type of "energy" in our body. The word "Energy" is often misinterpreted when translated from kung-fu texts. It should be thought of as a "method," a way of moving the body as you deal with an opponent's forc...

I tell my stories and explain my experiences so that other people might gain insight that helps them in their martial art journey. This is the kind of story you don't read very often. It is about one of my teachers, and it is not pleasant. But I think you know by now that I try to keep it real. So here goes. 

Mark Wasson (left) in 2005 when he certified me with Chen Xiaoxing's

Chen Village Taijiquan School.

I first heard of Mark Wasson when he wrote an article for Tai Chi Magazine on his experiences training in the Chen Village. He was about my age (I am now 60 and he may have been 61). In one ten-year span, he made 15 trips to the birthplace of Taijiquan to get down and dirty, sweat, work, train, have bones broken, and to get deep insights into the real art of Taiji. I met him after I had been training for a few years with my first Chen Taiji teachers, Jim and Angela Criscimagna. 

Mark Wasson was a deeply troubled man, but a pioneer and trailblazer who introduced a lot of peo...

How many times have you looked at a martial arts book that teaches a form (kata) and find that you are confused about how to get from one movement to the next -- little "transions" are left out of the photos?

And how many times have you been disappointed that the instructions for the movements lack depth? Step out with your left foot is not always helpful when more is supposed to be happening inside your body.

This is why I am putting the forms I teach into ebooks. The new ebook is called Chen Taijiquan 19 Form - Detailed Step-by-Step Reference for the Short Beginner's Form of Chen Tai Chi. It includes more than 200 photos -- almost a frame-by-frame breakdown of the form. In fact, I was flipping through the pages fast on my iPad and it almost looked like a movie.

I also discuss the body mechanics and direction the Dan T'ien is rotating, where the ground path should be felt, and other details that are almost impossible to find.

The Chen 19 Form was created by Grandmaster Chen Xiao...

 I began studying Tai Chi in 1987. I loved my instructor and considered him a master. I became pretty good at the Yang 24 Simplified Form and even won a Gold Medal performing it at the 1990 AAU Kung-Fu National Championships.

Every day, I practiced chi kung. I studied acupuncture and worked hard to cultivate my chi. Eight Pieces of Brocade, Microcosmic Orbit, even Iron Palm.

Flash forward to 1997, when I began teaching a small group of students near the Quad Cities, where I relocated in 1993. I had a black sash and was teaching the system I had learned beginning in 1987.

The Internet was beginning to really take off, and I found a listserve about Neijia -- the internal arts. I started reading posts, arguments and discussions led primarily by Mike Sigman and some others. I read terms such as ground path and peng jin in ways I had never heard them discussed. I read about the "Teacher Test" and how a good tai chi teacher can perform it.

I had no idea what they were talking about, and ...

Last Saturday in Moline, Illinois, I conducted a four-hour workshop on the Chen Tai Chi Straight Sword Form. The form has 49 movements, so it was a challenge to teach each movement and include quality information about body mechanics and the applications for the movements. But with a hard-working group, we did it.

The sword form is a great Taiji form -- smooth and powerful, it can be done slowly or fast with fa-jing. Always, the internal body mechanics should be present:

• Establishing and maintaining the ground path
• Maintaining peng at all times
• Using whole-body movement
• Silk-Reeling energy
• Opening/closing the kua properly
• Dan T'ien rotation

I've heard instructors in the past talk about "extending your chi to the end of the sword." And for those who have their heads in fantasy, that confuses things.

The "intent" of each movement in a Tai Chi form is its fighting application and how you are using the body mechanics against an opponent. By utilizing the body mechanics l...

The Chinese language is complex to Westerners, and some of the terms of the internal arts such as Tai Chi, Hsing-I and Bagua are misinterpreted because of the way the words are translated. As a result, the internal arts are often described as "mysterious" or "mystical." That makes them seem out of reach. It harms our practice and our understanding, and these injuries are self-inflicted.

In Taiji, there is a concept known as the "energies," that include peng (ward off), lu (roll back), ji (press), an (push), etc.

The most important of all these is peng jin -- peng energy. It is one of the key elements of every movement, even when you step. You should never lose peng, and that is something that I see missing when I meet Tai Chi students, particularly those who have not studied Chen style. If you have studied Taiji and your teacher hasn't stressed and shown you how to maintain peng in all movement, you should be asking some serious questions about the quality of what you're learning.

S...

There is an article in the latest issue of Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine featuring me and my interpretation of the concept of "borrowing energy" in Tai Chi fighting. The Nov/Dec issue hits the stands today. The cover is pictured here at the left -- the headline for the article is the third one down on the left.

The article is written by my friend and fellow martial artist, Hector Lareau. He got the idea for the story when reading this blog, and wanted to explore the concept of borrowing energy a little deeper.

He came to our home, interviewed me, then my wife Nancy took photos as he threw different attacks on me and I used the borrowing energy concept to neutralize or bounce the attack away.

I was featured in an article in Tae Kwon Do Times back in 2006, but this is my first appearance as an instructor in a national kung-fu publication.

Borrowing energy is a simple concept and it's interpreted different ways by different teachers. Some use "roll back" as a means of borrowing energy....

 Each time I train with a member of the Chen family, it's like trying to go one-on-one with Michael Jordan. You experience people who are at the top of their profession.

Chen Ziqiang is around 30 years old and is a tough tai chi fighter. He's the son of Grandmaster Chen Xiaoxing and the nephew of Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang. His cousin is Chen Bing.

I got up at 2 a.m. and got to Master Han's school in Skokie, Illinois, a little after 5:00 a.m. Master Han arrived with Chen Ziqiang around 5:45 and at 6, he did a 2-hour workshop on the Chen fan form. This isn't the same form that Zhu Tiancai does on his DVD. This is the original Chen Village form. I've never studied the fan before, so it was an opportunity to add a new weapon to my list. I've always considered the fan to be more of a woman's weapon, but the form is more challenging than I expected, and I rubbed a hole in my right index finger opening and closing my steel-pronged fan.

The photo here is cropped -- in the back row from left...