Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

In my live online Taiji classes this week, I focused on the first two or three movements of the Laojia Yilu form and focused on what it takes to avoid "leaking energy."

You can leak energy throughout the form. When you step, or when you shift your weight, it's very common to see even people who call themselves "master" leaking energy and going "outside the frame."

When you leak energy during your movement, you have a break in your structure, and you put yourself in a vulnerable position, making it easier for an opponent to control your center.

Let's look at the very first movement in a form -- the Opening movement when you start with feet together, then you relax, sink, and step your left foot to the right. Then you shift your weight to the center before your hands rise.

Here is a Taiji instructor who will remain unidentified (this is about principle, not shaming). There are many instructors I could have chosen. In Image 1, he is preparing to step out. Notice the angle of his right...

Dan Djurdjevic, a martial artist and author in Australia, wrote this review of my new book, "A Handful of Nothing." Here is Dan's review:

I have just read an electronic preview copy of Ken Gullette's absolutely brilliant book “A Handful of Nothing”.

This collection of 88 vignettes/stories explores the fundamental tenets of Zen (Chan) Buddhist philosophy, with particular emphasis on the concept of “nothingness” or “emptiness”. Karate practitioners will be familiar with this from the expression “mushin” (“empty mind”) or just the character for “kara” - “空” (“empty [as the sky]”).

This collection is easily the most accessible and insightful treatment of its subject matter I have ever encountered - by far.

The engaging, simple-yet-profound, soothing-yet-powerful stories flick past with the pages - just like ephemeral moments of life. However, each of these “moments” floods you with insight and inspiration.

This is a book you might pick up off a coffee table or bookshelf out of idle curiosity....

I began reading, studying, and contemplating Zen Buddhism and philosophical Taoism in the 1970s. It wasn't easy to figure out how to use Zen in my daily life, even with wonderful books such as "Zen Buddhism," by Christmas Humphreys. But I worked on it.

I could find no good Zen books that made it as easy to understand Zen Buddhism as the old Kung Fu TV series did back in the 70s. The writers of that show had the actors portray living versions of Zen koans, stories of a young monk being guided by old masters who imparted their wisdom. I started watching the show for the fight scenes (hey, I was only 19), but became fascinated by the philosophy. After growing up in the racist South in a conservative Christian church that told us we were sinners from the day we were born, the TV series introduced me to an entirely new and peaceful way to look at the world. I wanted to find a book that told me how to use Zen in daily life.

Most of the books I read on Zen Buddhism were abstract, focusing o...

In 1969, Bruce Lee wrote a letter to himself, promising to be world-famous by 1970 and by 1980, he would have $10 million. He wrote that he would do this by giving "electrifying" performances. He set a goal to become the highest-paid "Oriental" actor in Hollywood. 

We all know what happened. He did not live to see his greatest fame, but more than 50 years after he died, we're still talking about him and wearing his t-shirts. Okay, maybe you aren't, but all the cool kids are wearing them. :)

The great comic actor Jim Carrey must have heard this about Bruce Lee, because in 1985, Jim wrote himself a check dated 10 years in the future -- 1995 -- and he wrote the check for $10 million.

Both of these guys could SEE themselves successful. They believed it. And they took steps to achieve it.

I don't have $10 million, but I know the power of setting a goal, writing down the steps to achieve that goal, and then taking those steps, one by one, until the goal is reached.

In 2008, a week after...

The day after the young monk visited the village during the Spring Festival, he was sweeping the hallway near the monastery’s kitchen, trying to remain mindful of his chore, but his mind kept turning to the new year approaching. He knew that people looked ahead to the new year and set goals for personal achievements, but this was not something he had ever done.

The old master emerged from the kitchen with a cup of tea.

“Master,” the monk said, leaning his broom against the wall, “is it wrong to set goals for a new year?”

“What goals would you like to set?”

After thinking a moment, the young monk said, “Success. Enlightenment. Those would be my goals for the new year.”

The master took a sip of tea. “As long as the goals are set mindfully, I would encourage you to align them with your values. The goals should not be pursued with attachment or ego-driven desires.”

“Is a goal of success ego-driven?”

“I would answer your question with a question. What are your daily activities now?”

In a serene Zen Buddhist monastery nestled among mist-covered mountains, a young monk approached the master, his heart heavy with defeat.

He explained to the master that he had striven for years to understand the nature of the mind, yet enlightenment eluded him, and recent personal tragedies had further clouded his path. 

The elderly master led the young monk to a garden where a single tree stood. This tree, once vibrant and full of life, had been struck by lightning, leaving it scarred and half-destroyed.

The master pointed to the tree and asked, "What do you see?"

"A broken tree, master, damaged by misfortune," the young monk said.

"Look closer," said the master.

The monk stepped closer to the tree and examined the trunk. He noticed new shoots emerging from the scars, reaching delicately toward the sky.

"This tree, struck by lightning, faced its own form of tragedy," said the master. "Yet, it persists, finding a way to grow anew amidst its scars. Its branches may be fewer, but...

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.

I was listening to a podcast last week when I heard a well-known Tai Chi teacher say there are chi masters in Asia who we have seen ignite paper with their Qi. Some other fantastic claims were made on the interview. 

Here is the truth: noboby can ignite paper with their Qi. 

Some charlatans pretend they can ignite paper with their Qi.

But it's a trick.

When an adult goes to a magic show, and a magician saws a women in half, and you see the woman's body being separated, and then in a moment the body is reconnected and the woman is walking off the stage, no rational adult walks away telling everyone, "Did you know you can be sawed in half and then you can be reconnected? I saw it happen!" 

If you tell them, "Hey, man, that's just a trick," the believer will say, "You just don't understand. You have to open your mind!"

Nobody with an ounce of intelligence says that after seeing a magic show. What they actually say is, "I'd like to know that trick."

However, demonstrate a magic tr...

I love it when martial artists of different styles come to my practices. I like to compare notes, concepts and body mechanics with other martial artists. It's also fun to see how Taiji, for example, handles someone from other arts.

Yesterday, my friend and former student Chris Lorenzen came to practice with me, Justin and Colin. Chris is a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has been training the art with intensity for the past three years, including some success at BJJ tournaments. He was 16 when he was my student (around 2001 and 2022). He was a natural, and won first-place trophies in almost every competition he entered at regional tournaments. And he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.

Before he arrived, we were working on escapes from joint locks. In a self-defense situation, you don't go in with a plan to use chin-na against an opponent, but you should be ready to apply a joint lock when the opportunity arises. 

Equally important is to become "sensitive" enough to...

The image above is from my journal on September 4, 1973, the day I took my first martial arts class -- 50 years ago this week. It was the start of the Bruce Lee Kung-Fu Boom. "Enter the Dragon" hit movie theaters a couple of weeks earlier and that was the spark I needed to enroll in a school.

I was a 20-year-old student at Eastern Kentucky University, but I drove to my hometown for the class (about a 40-minute drive) because Sin The (pronounced Sin Tay) was a legend in Lexington. At that time he held classes in a converted garage at Eastland Shopping Center. There were so many people at the first introductory class, we spilled out into the driveway and they had to open the garage door.

It was an exciting time. Kung-Fu was so mysterious and amazing! I was always a good fighter, but the "Kung Fu" TV show and Bruce Lee convinced me to study something that would boost my fighting skills. Nothing was cooler than martial arts.

We were all very naive. The internet didn't exist so we coul...