Practitioners classify Chinese martial arts, or kung fu, as external or internal. External martial arts focus on strength and power, relying on their physical strikes and strong bodies to attack and defend. Internal martial arts also use physical strikes with the hands, fists, palms, elbows and knees, but training also includes the development of chi, or internal power. The internal arts include tai chi, pa kua and hsing I, each of which includes an element of chi kung training. Chi kung is in itself an art too.
Tai Chi
Tai chi is perhaps the best known of the Chinese kung fu arts, but what many people use for relaxation and to improve balance and circulation is not the complete system. Tai chi forms do employ slow movements and deep breathing to teach relaxation and stillness, but tai chi also has weapons and two-person combat exercises, such as push hands. In tai chi, push hands teaches students to yield to an attack and take the opponent off balance using as little force as possible. Tai chi both increases a person's level of chi, or life force, and develops skills for martial combat.
Pa Kua Chang
Pa kua chang, or bagua, is an internal martial arts style known for circle walking, changing palms, footwork and fast combinations. The origins of pa kua chang are unknown, but the name translates as "eight trigrams palm." Open hand techniques using palm strikes is characteristic of this art as well as use of fingers and elbows, though closed fist strikes are also used. Quick, evasive stepping is another unique aspect of pa kua chang. Relaxation and lightness, two principles of internal arts, make fast movements possible.
Hsing I Chuan
Hsing I chuan is an internal system of kung fu that dates back at least to A.D. 1130. One of the main components of Hsing I is the five elements of cosmology. The five elements include metal, fire, wood, water and earth. Each of the elements follows principles and techniques that correspond to the elements. For example, the earth element, or heng chuan, uses a technique called crossing whereby you step across the midline of your opponent's body to expose an opening, giving you the chance to attack.
Chi Kung
Chi kung is the art of developing chi through breathwork, stances, meditation and movements that increase strength, flexibility and joint mobility. Chi kung training is beneficial both for health and martial arts. Each of the three arts, including tai chi, pa kua and hsing I, have their own chi kung exercises, but chi kung training includes numerous additional practices outside of these kung fu styles, making it an art in its own right. Some exercises are as simple as standing up and performing different breathing patterns to increase chi circulation throughout the body or to bring chi to an area of the body using your thought and intention.
References
- Chi Flow; Perspective: Internal Kung Fu; Gerald A. Sharp
- Chi Flow; Overview of Chi Kung (Qi Gong); Gerald A. Sharp
- Pakuachang.homestead.com; Chinese Boxing Academy; Greg Hatza
- "Internal Arts Magazine"; A Means to an End; Shr Fu Mike Patterson
- "The Power of Internal Martial Arts: Combat Secrets of Ba Gua, Tai Chi and Hsing-I"; Bruce Kumar Frantzis; 1998
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