Internal martial arts, also called 'soft' martial arts, or Nei Kung in Chinese are those that target cultivating and using the ability of the inner energy called 'chi' instead of the standard muscular power of so known as external or onerous styles.
The foremost widely known Nei Kung system within the west is Tai Chi, however other examples include Bagua Zhang, Xing Yi Quan, Dacheng Quan and Liuhe Bafa Quan. Additionally to the present most styles of Chinese kung fu have some kind of internal element, while they are primarily external. An example of a kung fu vogue with a particularly robust internal aspect is Shaolin White Crane style kung fu.
Some individuals would tell you that every one Chinese combat designs and colleges are each internal and external. According to the present read internal designs like Tai Chi begin with learning and cultivating chi and then move on to manifesting this as external muscular strength at the advanced levels, whereas external kung fu systems like Wing Chun kung fu begin by learning the external physical forms and using them with external muscular power, and then move on to learning about chi at the advanced level. In the top they would each therefore attain a balance of internal and external.
The entire concept of chi can be difficult to understand, however when you apply internal martial arts you gain an awareness of chi through experiencing it, instead of through an intellectual understanding. Basically chi is described as the vital life force, somewhat like the Prana of Indian yoga. Some modern practitioners describe chi as being a magnetic phenomenon, almost like the descriptions of the 'astral lightweight' of the soul given by western esoteric philosophers like Mesmer and Levi.
Internal martial arts are built upon the foundation of chi kung (or qi gong), which will trace its origins back to the first history of the Shaolin temple and the teachings of the Boddhidharma. Chi Kung is composed of a set of exercises designed to teach you to cultivate and direct chi energy, and to use it to strengthen the body, improve health and increase vitality, heal illnesses, and ultimately to achieve enlightenment. Chi kung is used to completely rebuild the body, and the most well-known traditional text is the Sinew Metamorphosis and Bone Marrow Laundry Classic.
Internal martial arts mix chi kung with martial arts forms. As a result of of this internal martial arts will be used for both self-defence and for improving health and vitality, healing diseases, and so on. Each chi kung and internal martial arts are approached as a dynamic, moving kind of meditation.
The main difference that a practitioner would notice between the forms and practices in an internal martial arts class and people of an external system of fighting would be that internal martial arts emphasise the necessity to keep the body relaxed and 'soft' and to form the movements flowing and harmonious. A relaxed body permits the chi to flow through the limbs. Nei Kung faculties additionally emphasise the management of the respiratory, and also the coordination of breath and movement thus that the whole of thebody and its functions are operating in harmony and you are therefore ready to draw on a greater amount of effortless power for your techniques.
Nei Kung arts also incorporate aspects of ancient Chinese drugs and other Chinese philosophies like Taoism. Xing Yi Quan, for example, makes nice use of the 5 components theory, whereas Bagua Zhang emphasises the eight trigrams of the I Ching philosophy. To truly master an internal martial art you need to be a philosopher and a fighter, and should cultivate you mind and your ethical strength along with your physical strength and skill.
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