Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

In Taoism and Chinese culture, the term wuji (pronounced "woo-zhee") means a state of harm ony and balance -- emptiness, stillness and peace. It is limitless, infinite.

It is when everything begins moving and you lose balance that you also lose wuji.

In the Taoist view of the universe, if we were to look at it from a modern scientific view, the universe was in a state of wuji just before the Big Bang. There was a state of perfect peace and then all hell broke loose. Things separated into yin and yang. Dogs and cats living together -- MASS HYSTERIA! (Sorry, I watched Ghostbusters a lot when my daughters were little)

In Tai Chi, the goal is to maintain a sort of wuji -- balance and harmony; to remain centered. When someone attacks, and you must adapt and change to accept this person's force, your goal is to return to wuji -- the state of balance you were in before the attack. 

I enjoy working with people who have never studied the internal arts. Almost every time when a newbie is wo...

MMA is mesmerizing, especially for guys. It gets our testosterone pumping. There is a part of us that wants to be inside the ring, mano-a-mano, toughing it out with minimal protection, and may the best man win.

I've watched MMA matches on TV and they hook me with raw brutality. Maybe it's the fights I got into while I was growing up. I never wanted to fight, but I was often picked on by older, bigger guys, and was forced into fighting. Once the fight began I loved it. I considered it the ultimate competition, and you have no excuses if you lose.

I never lost a fight. A few were draws, but I was never beaten up. 

So MMA appeals to me on one level. On another level, I've reached the conclusion that this type of fighting is ugly, and the fighters and hard-core fans may have a problem.

Maybe I've gotten older and wiser.

There's a reality show that follows ultimate fighters around through their lives, training and travel. I watched one show and it was obvious that some of the guys on t...

A lot of misinformation has spread about Tai Chi. The art is a very effective way to ease stress, improve health, and develop self-defense skills. So why am I asked so often if Christians can study Tai Chi?

I need to let you know that I grew up in Southern, conservative, fundamentalist Christian churches. I was baptized.

I can also tell you very clearly that there is nothing religious about Tai Chi or any other martial art, including boxing, wrestling, fencing, karate, or taekwondo.

Americans are not always well-informed about other cultures, and sometimes they jump to conclusions about things they don't understand. My daughter had a yin-yang sticker on her notebook in junior high school, and a couple of girls accused her of being Satanic.

My daughter, a very sweet girl, learned a lot during that time about how ignorant and narrow-minded some people can be. Often, however, these people are reflecting what they've heard elsewhere.

Naturally, not all Christians are this way -- I've ...

Most religions and philosophies teach harmony -- or, at least they pretend to teach it.

Finding your "center" is an important part of the internal arts. Some of the finest masters of Tai Chi, Bagua, and Hsing-I such as Chen Fake, Sun Lu Tang, Liu Bin and others were known not only for their martial skill, but also for their fine character. It's a trait of people who reach the highest level of the internal arts.

When you look at the people around you day-to-day, you can see that most people desperately want it--need it--and try to find it--but life's challenges, along with the attitudes of other people get in the way. Instead of balancing you, the events and news during a day can unbalance you mentally.

Look at what's happening in Washington these days. There is a complete lack of cooperation and goodwill between the two parties as the American people, other nations, and the environment are facing the most major challenges in our lifetimes. It seems that our politicians, particularly...

In 1991, I entered the Toughman Contest when I was living in Sioux City. Back then, it was all boxing, and at age 38, I was nearing the end of eligibility, so it was now or never. I entered the contest.

I was matched up against a guy who was 15 years younger, 3 or 4 inches taller, and 35 pounds heavier. In the third round, he hit me on the side of the head just right. My brain began vibrating like a tuning fork and I was numb. I covered up with my gloves and he pummeled me for a few shots. I was thinking, "This is what it's like to get knocked out in the ring. Here it comes." The first photo at left shows the punch that rang my bell (my body is hidden by the corner post but his glove is colliding with the side of my head.

Suddenly, he got tired and backed away. My head cleared instantly. I uncovered, walked a few feet across the ring and snapped his head back with a punch (the photo below shows his head snapping back). I ended up winning by unanimous decision. Physically, I had n...

One of my favorite internal arts principles is "leading into emptiness." It's a good concept not only for physical self-defense but also for emotional and verbal self-defense.

In push hands practice, one of your primary goals is to soften, change, and counter when force is coming at you. By leading the force into emptiness, you set up your opponent for a counter.

So when force is coming straight in toward you, roll it to the side. If the attack is low, keep it moving lower. If it's a high attack, move it higher. If it is aimed at your chest, "pocket" it. Lead it into emptiness. Move it to where it won't find a target.

Sometimes, someone pushes on you. Using "empty force," or "Kong Jin" in Chinese terminology, you would give your opponent's push some resistance, but then you suddenly release your tension and "empty." It's like pulling the floor out from under your opponent. By leading them into emptiness, they go totally off-balance, giving you a chance to counter.

Sometimes, leadin...

The Noble Eightfold Path is a Buddhist concept that can be found in other religions as well, perhaps worded in different ways.

Isn't it a shame that so few of us practice these eight "golden rules?" When you think of the way martial artists treat each other, badmouth each other, when you see the way husbands and wives treat each other, when you look at the anger in drivers on the road, anger and lies on the campaign trail, attack ads on TV, it makes you wonder if anyone has ever heard of kindness, empathy or tolerance.

Try living all eight of these concepts for just one day and see what it does for you:

The Eightfold Path:

1.  Right View -- often called "right understanding." See life in its reality. Understand the nature of pain and sadness and their causes. Recognize how to prevent pain and sadness.

2. Right Intent -- Intend to do no harm to anyone, thus helping to prevent pain and sadness.

3. Right Speech -- Don't lie, don't be abusive, don't argue and don't chatter idly (sor...

I was practicing push hands in the park yesterday with my friend, Douglas Nakamoto. He has learned from some excellent Chen teachers and has excellent insights into body mechanics. We were testing each other and then working out the body mechanics of handling an opponent's push, and we began discussing the concept of "maintaining your integrity."

There is a balanced position that you want to attain in tai chi. When you are in that position, where you can deal with attacks from any direction, you are said to have "integrity." When you find yourself becoming unbalanced, you must move in a way that brings you back into a position of integrity.

Naturally, since I love to translate the physical action into philosophical principles, this one is very interesting and I've been thinking about it. Having mental balance is to have mental integrity.

It's amazing how often our daily lives put us off-balance, from driving on the street (the drivers here in Tampa are crazy) to the bizarre behavior...

This photo of me and Nancy isn't taken at the best angle. We're both having bad hair days. I was playing around with a camera and suddenly held it in front of us and snapped the picture. Although it isn't the most flattering shot, I love this picture because it captures an essence that is at the heart of our marriage.

After 4 1/2 years of marriage, we can't wait to see each other at the end of the day. We can't wait for the weekend so we can hang out. We laugh our heads off every day. We're both able to be ourselves. I can be silly and so can she. And both of us know for certain that I've got her back and she's got mine.

This is my third marriage. It took me nearly 50 years to find Nancy. I treat her the same way I've treated every woman I've every known (we don't really change our personalities, you know). The difference is that she's the first woman in my entire life that I've been able to depend on. And a year ago she turned to me and said, "There's one word that comes to my mind...

In class Wednesday night we did some "connecting" drills. 

Remaining centered and connected to the people and the world around you is a noble pursuit--one that we naturally fall short of at times because of human nature, but that's true with any philosophical or religious pursuit, isn't it? We can really try to live our philosophy, but there's always the occasional slip-up.

The practice of kung fu, at its core, is about mastering ourselves. Let's face it--I hope I'm never in another real fight. I haven't been in a real fight since high school. I've managed to calm down potentially violent situations several times as an adult, and I've always felt good about that. The reason we practice the martial art is to gain control over our minds and bodies.

But if we fail to control ourselves in daily life, our martial arts training isn't very effective.

I've told this story before, but the first time I realized I was incorporating the philosophy and the centering skills into my life was when...