I have been practicing Kung fu on and off for a number of years. In that time I have had the honour of taking classes from some pretty good martial artists and I am increasingly persuaded that the paradigm “internal” martial arts is a fiction.
After all these years observing martial arts I find it difficult to explain how Hung Gar is “external” and Xingyi is “internal”, for example. As far as I can see barring some differences in method of power development and some in some methods of power exertion there isn’t a paper width of difference between “internal” and “external” in practice. Someone hitting you with Taiji short power, to me, seems very similar to someone hitting you with Southern Mantis short power.
Yet I have witnessed heated arguments between “internal” and “external” stylists about the wrong power/energy/body method being used in techniques so I am curious to know what is it I am missing if anything?
the real internal boxing was a southern kung fu style. the founder learned shaolin kung fu, then converted to taoism and there was a lot of politics
inner boxing had two forms: six road boxing which had only six techniques, and ten pieces which had 10 techniques.
The replies thus far seem to indicate that my senses do not deceive me. That being the case why hasn’t the Chinese martial arts community attempted a wholesale rebrand and ditched this internal/external thing?
at ming neijia quan was a real style from the south. “noi ga” like “hung ga” and “fut ga”.
inner boxing had two forms: six road boxing which had only six techniques, and ten pieces which had 10 techniques.
at the end of the ming dynasty 400 years ago cold weapons became increasingly obsolete. the ming army began to modernize and transition to firearms. in order to survive martial arts began to msytify and romantisize itself.
[QUOTE=Crosshandz;1099464]The replies thus far seem to indicate that my senses do not deceive me. That being the case why hasn’t the Chinese martial arts community attempted a wholesale rebrand and ditched this internal/external thing?[/QUOTE]
Because they would lose a whole market segment. There will always be a part of the population who wants the “special secret” or something they think will give them the edge compared to how other people develop their abilities.
[QUOTE=faxiapreta;1099469]There will always be a part of the population who wants the “special secret” or something they think will give them the edge compared to how other people develop their abilities.[/QUOTE]
There are only 2 kind of people who live on this planet, those who train “internal”, and those who wish they train “internal”. (I steal this line from the movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”).
If you always use terms such as, “internal power”, “internal structure”, “internal alignment”, “core engine”, …, it will make you to feel “superior” than others. If people don’t believe in your “internal” theory, you can always tell that person that he is just not lucky enough to meet someone who can show him the “real deal”.
[QUOTE=YouKnowWho;1099471]There are only 2 kind of people who live on this planet, those who train “internal”, and thos who wish they train “internal”.
If you always use terms such as, “internal power”, “internal structure”, “internal alignment”, “core engine”, …, it will make you to feel “superior” than others. If people don’t believe in your "internal opinion, you can always tell that person that he is just not luck enough to meet someone who can show him the “real deal”.[/QUOTE]
People who go out and test against others in real-time competitive environments quickly learn there is no differentiation between internal and external.
about 400 years ago
-someone called wang zhennan. he trained shaolin boxing. then he converted to taoism. he called his new style inner boxing. style went extinct after only the second generation
-chen family practicing cannon boxing and long fist .
about 300 years ago
many bans and unbans on martial arts
chen family boxing degrades
150 -100 years ago
-yang luchan learned chen family boxing.
-yang luchan failed the imperial military examination. he used friends and connections to join house of manchu prince.
tai chi is born, becomes fad of elite rich
bagua and xingyi follow the trend, sun lutang quotes 400 year old dead kung fu style, uses term “internal”, creates a brand
50 years ago
-internal arts approved by communists, deemed harmless, survive cultural revolution purge, some fa got called bruce lee, white people.
if you still have some questions no clear just ask me.
The reason there is so much confusion about internal and external is because most everyone takes that literally. It does not exist if you think it is supposed to be some sort of force field that you control at the wave of a hand. That version gets sold to a lot of ignorant people.
Now, in order for any of us to move a muscle we have to expend some energy. It is internal if you will, because your energy is carried within and along the blood vessels. You eat, drink, and breath, taking in the agents that go into your body generating this energy. This energy is your chi. It is internal. It is trapped and can not leave the body as such, and can not be used exernally as a force. It powers your physical movements. You might not be able to directly develop this chi, but you can indeed learn to focus it into your physical movements to the point that they are far more powerful than normal movement. If you cannot focus this chi, you will burn it throughout the body at a rapid rate rather than focusing it into a single action. Learning internal gung fu is really learning to use your chi efficiently. The little yell just at impact of a punch is just one little method of focusing chi. It is there, it’s real, and you have it just like everyone else has it. You just have to realize it and work with it. Once you finally feel it and understand it, it will serve you to some extent.
