Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts Blog

Online Internal Arts Training Can Be Effective

online training studying internal arts training Aug 14, 2009

I received a video from a member of the online school last week. He's a capta in in the army and has spent some time in the Middle East. He joined the online school a few weeks ago and has been studying the Internal Strength section (I recommend everyone start there no matter how long they've studied in the past).

He sent me a video last week so that I could coach him. His wife was on the camcorder and his daughter stood on a chair and pushed him in different ways so he could demonstrate the ground path.

I was impressed. His ground path was solid. He had never seen this concept before, although he has studied other martial arts and has army training. It was clear that he had learned it well.

In his next coaching session, he'll send me a video of silk-reeling so I can coach him on his whole-body movement, dan t'ien rotation, use of the kua, and spiraling movement.

Some people believe you can't learn the internal arts online. I'll be the first to admit that hands-on correction is the...

Baby Steps are the Key to Progress in Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua

studying internal arts May 24, 2007

The past 10 years have brought changes that I didn't imagine when I began teaching in 1997. I worked for a long time in TV news and moved a lot. In the 90's I settled in the Quad Cities and in 1997 decided to start teaching. Little did I realize what would happen when I did. Basically, I realized that something was missing from my Hsing-I, Yang Tai Chi, and Bagua. I began reading a listserve--the Neijia List--on the Internet, and I read discussions by people like Mike Sigman, using terms I hadn't heard before such as peng jin and ground path. I asked if there was someone in my area that could show me what it meant. I was guided to Jim and Angela Criscimagna, in Rockford, Illinois.

After meeting Jim, I realized within an hour that I had to start over. Chen tai chi was so different, and the body mechanics were so much better than what I had been doing, my martial arts changed direction instantly. I explained to my students that our arts weren't complete, and they followed me as I grew,...

The Quest for Perfection

studying internal arts Dec 11, 2006

There's a quote that has been attributed to different people, but I believe it was first said by a Roman philosopher:

"The perfect is the enemy of the good."

When we study and practice martial arts, we work hard to be perfect. We want to have the perfect stance, throw the perfect punch, move with perfect body mechanics.

Sometimes we get so hung up on trying to be perfect that we forget to have fun, and we forget that being good just might be good enough.

I'm frequently stunned when I look at videos of some great Chen tai chi masters such as Chen Xiaowang, Chen Xiaoxing, and others. And when I see them in person, the difference in quality is surprising.

I've been told that some Tai Chi students who travel to the Chen Village in China come back to the U.S. and give up Tai Chi, because they realize they'll never be as good as the people they see there.

I like to compare my practice of the internal arts with playing other sports such as basketball. I can get together with a bunch of...

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Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

Online Internal Arts Training Can Be Effective

Baby Steps are the Key to Progress in Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua

The Quest for Perfection

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