New Internal Fighting Arts Podcast - Interview with Michael Chritton
I have launched a podcast on the Internal Fighting Arts. It is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and other podcast distributors.
Each episode will feature a talented English-speaking instructor of the internal arts -- Taiji, Xingyi, Bagua, Qigong, and we will also deal with the philosophy that guides these arts.
I am looking to interview top instructors who have ties to great masters. I want listeners to come away with something useful to help them in their internal arts journey.Â
I am fascinated by the people who have gone to great expense, great pains, and have travelled to seek out masters if Taiji, Xingyi, Bagua, and Qigong. I am also interested in the philosophical side of the internal arts, especially philosophical Taoism and Zen Buddhism.
My goal is to promote good teachers and help spread the internal arts of Chinese gongfu. As the name implies, my angle is the "Internal Fighting Arts." You might occasionally hear someone who takes a really "soft" approach ...
Taiji Grappling and Taking Advantage of Your Opponent's Energy
Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that it is a mistake to interpret the term "energy" in some mystical way. Energy can simply mean "force" when discussing the energy an opponent is directing at you.
Energy can also mean "method" to describe a way of dealing with the force your opponent is directing your way. In other words, Cai Jin (Pluck Energy) describes a method of plucking or jerking to put your opponent off-balance. There is no actual "energy" called Cai in your body.
Many Westerners are inclined to believe things literally -- Adam and Eve, ghosts and psychics, etc. -- and so mythology has developed around the energy of the internal arts. You don't gain skill by increasing chi, your "chi" increases as you work like hell, gain experience, insight, and develop skill as you do in any sport, any physical endeavor, any trade or profession.
I love the grappling skills associated with the body mechanics of Taiji -- how to feel my partner's energy and take advantage of it to...
My Teacher Wanted Me to Lie about Chi - And I Did
My teacher stood in the middle of the kung-fu school, explaining how you can disrupt your opponent's chi during an attack by drawing a circle in the air as you drop to the ground.
Here is how he explained it to us. Your opponent is rushing at you to tackle you, and if you drop to the ground you can guide his chi over you with this half-circle you draw in the air as you drop. His chi will be disrupted and he will fall over you, unable to touch you.
My teacher said we would all try it, and he picked another student, a very nice and very loyal student, to go first.
The student ran across the floor, and just as he was about to reach him, my teacher dropped to the floor and drew and half circle with his hands in the air.
The student fell over him and did a breakfall on the other side.Â
It worked! My teacher was untouched.
Except that I was standing there watching, my critical thinking skills firing on all cylinders, knowing that you can't control someone that way. It can't be done. An...
Punching Through Paper - A Test of Fajin and Hand Speed
Can you punch through a sheet of newspaper?
Sounds easy, doesn't it?
Okay, smarty pants, have a partner hold a sheet of newspaper very lightly on the top corners. You stand in front of it and punch through it.
It's an eye-opening experience but it is a good test of your internal body mechanics. Are you able to maintain the mechanics as you "put on the gas?"
This is one of the videos on my membership website. It was shot around 2005 - maybe earlier. I was practicing with a student last night and he mentioned the video, so we got a sheet of newspaper out and tried this. He was not successful in breaking it, but I (fortunately) was able to do it with my first punch.
The secret is in applying all the internal mechanics -- ground path, peng jin, whole-body movement, silk-reeling, Dan T'ien rotation, and opening/closing the kua -- in a connected, relaxed way while speeding it up -- fajing.
Try it yourself. Let me know how it goes. And thanks to Nancy for being my partner, as usual. She...
How Zhan Zhuang - Standing Stake - Can Improve Your Tai Chi
Zhan Zhuang is also called "Standing Stake" or "Standing Like A Pole." It is the most important exercise in Tai Chi. It can be used for meditation and qigong, but it also will help improve your Tai Chi.
Here are the basics of getting into a Zhan Zhuang stance:
1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Raise your arms as if hugging a tree with the palms facing you.
3. Relax the knees and let them flex a bit.
4. Relax every muscle in your body - neck, shoulders, chest, abdomen, hips and legs.
5. Keep the head up and the chin slightly tucked.
6. "Sink" your weight -- your "energy" -- and feel as if your weight is sinking into the ground or floor.
7. Calm the mind along with the body.
Here are important things you need to incorporate into your Zhan Zhuang practice:
8. Relax the lower back. We usually keep it tense when we are standing. When you relax the muscles in the lower back, you will feel your buttocks sink and "tuck" slightly. That is a good thing.
9. You should ...
A 4-Step Plan for Defending Yourself with Taijiquan
The Coiling Leverage of Silk-Reeling Energy
Taiji and Bagua are especially dependent upon Silk-Reeling Energy (San ssu jin) but it is also present in Xingyi.
Silk-Reeling Energy provides “coiling leverage” to movement. Silk-Reeling is not a scientifically valid “energy” in our bodies and it is not related to an invisible energy called “chi.” It is just like every other “energy” in the internal arts – it is a method of moving in response to force. The body mechanics of Taiji, Bagua and Xingyi are physical skills that require a lot of mental focus so you can be prepared to respond like an echo to an opponent’s force.
Silk-Reeling energy gives more power to concepts such as “four ounces repels a thousand pounds,” or “four ounces deflects a thousand pounds” depending on who tells it.
One of many ways this can be demonstrated is with a wrist grab.Â
Your opponent grabs and you try using normal muscular actions to pull away as he tries to hold on. It will be difficult to escape. You may be able to escape, but it will take a lot ...
Six Reasons Why You Should Train with Traditional Martial Arts Weapons
I saw a cool video today that I'm not putting up because of the profanity involved. Two men on a commuter train begin punching and kicking another man repeatedly as other people in the train car look on, afraid to help. Except for one bystander who happened to be carrying a samurai sword. This young guy pulled out his sword and held it above his head in a good Samurai pose, ready to strike. He moved toward the attackers. They ran away and got off the train.
Apparently a sword can be an intimidating weapon in modern times.
I have some instructional weapons videos on YouTube, including one video on the fighting applications of the straight sword. Occasionally, an anonymous idiot will flame the video with a comment such as "That sword would be useless against a 9mm."Â
To an outside observer who has never studied traditional martial arts, ...
Be Water, My Friend - Bruce Lee, Push Hands and Close-Up Self-Defense
One of my favorite quotes from Bruce Lee was not completely original. The concept was already part of Taoism and Zen long before he said it, but Westerners had not heard it in the early Seventies.
"You must empty your mind," he said. "Be formless, shapeless, like water. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. Put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."
I think of this often when I work with my students on push hands and other close-up self-defense skills. I try to be water, and flow around resistance to find my way to my target.
What happens when you punch water? Bruce Lee talked about an inspiration he had when he was frustrated and punched water one day on a lake. Whether this story is true or not doesn't matter. Bruce said that when he punched into a lake, he was inspired because the water gave in to his punch and yet flowed around his fist.
Taoism says "the softes...
A Hypothetical Conversation with a Martial Arts Student
“How long does it take to get a black belt?” asked the prospective student.
“Five seconds,” said the teacher.
“Really?”
“Yes. All I have to do is hand it to you. But it takes much longer to earn one.”
"Maybe I can earn it faster than most people."
"Well, we don't do black belts. We do sashes, and a black sash doesn't mean very much, really. We only have those because in America, people seem to need it. A black sash doesn't really mean anything."
"It means you are deadly," the student said.
The teacher laughed. "No. It means you have just begun to learn. There are a lot of black belts who know very little and can do even less."
“Oh. Well, I want to be able to use Taiji to fight.”
“Why?”
The student asked, “If I am in a bar and get attacked, will I be able to use Taiji to fight?”
“You can use Taiji to stay away from a bar where fighting may occur,” said the teacher.
“Have you ever had to use Taiji in a fight?”
“No.”
“How about Bagua or Xingyi?”
“No. I have not been in a re...
Author - Instructor
Ken Gullette
I have practiced martial arts since 1973 and began studying the internal arts in 1987. My goal is to cut years off your development time by coaching you in the real skills for high-quality Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua. To see more about my bio, click the "About Ken" link on the menu at the top of this page.
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