Secrets of Building Internal Force: 10 Questions to the Grandmaster

[barrys]

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[Andy]

Thank you, Sifu! I hope many people will be able to go on and get the benefits of the internal arts as you have transmitted them.

Thank you Sihing Barry for mediating this series.

Best,

[barrys]

Question and Answer - 7 - Part 1

Question and Answer - 7 - Part 1

Question 7

There is a lot of misinformation in the world about internal force. For example, both the Sanchin of Karate and the San Zhan of Wuzuquan from which it was derived have both been described as "dynamic tension" exercises by sources claiming to be authoritative.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_tension

Iron Wire has been described as "qigong" meaning "meditative breathing" combined with isometric exercise/dynamic tension:
“The Iron Wire form is essentially a combination of Hei Gung (Chinese: 气功; pinyin: qigong) or meditative breathing with isometric exercise, particularly dynamic tension, although weights were also used in traditional practice in the form of iron rings worn on the wrists. If properly practiced, it can increase strength considerably and promote a stable root. However as with both most forms of qigong and most forms of isometric exercise, it must be practiced regularly or the benefits are quickly lost. “
Please can you define the difference between dynamic tension and internal force?
Please can you describe the difference in benefits a practitioner will gain from attending this course, “Secrets of Building Internal Froce”. vs. a course on dynamic tension?

Sifu Andy Cusick


Answer

It is indeed sad, and shocking, that much misinformation about internal force and other aspects of internal arts is regarded by the ignorant public as authoritative given by people wrongly regarded as “masters”.

Sometimes the misinformation is ridiculous, and even hilarious. In my early years of teaching chi kung in Germany, a student told me that a famous chi kung “master” told him that he should not look at things, including pretty girls, for doing so would cause energy escaping from his eyes! “If you can’t even look at pretty girls, why do you practice chi kung then?” I asked him.

When I was in Canada, some students told me that their teacher, who was a world known chi kung “master”, forbid them to take sugar. This teacher would be shocked to know that I put three sachets of sugar into my coffee.

Indeed, when I first taught in Spain, many students were shocked to see the quantity of sugar I put into my drinks. Later when they found that I was still alive and kicking despite the sugar, they fed me with delicious ham.

Performing Sanchin of Karate or San Zhan of Wuzuquan as dynamic tension exercise is not only shocking, though it is often done, but is also dangerous. A student, who practiced Karate before, told me that his former Karate teacher advised him not to practice Sanchin often as it shortened his life. I wonder why the Karate teacher taught Sanchin in the first place.

Describing qigong as meditative breathing is incorrect. While meditative breathing may be used in some forms of chi kung, there are many forms of chi kung where practitioners are not concerned about their breathing, meditative or otherwise. Practicing Iron Wire with isometric exercise or dynamic tension is dangerous, especially when the harm is insidious. But many “masters” actually do that, developing big muscles instead of internal force.

It is true that if it is properly practiced, whether as genuine internal art or as isometric exercise, it can increase strength considerably and promote a stable root, the strength and root will be greater when practiced as an internal art besides more important benefits like good health, vitality and longevity. But it is not true when Iron Wire is correctly practiced as an internal art that its benefits are quickly lost. This is only true when it is wrongly practiced as isometric exercise.

In dynamic tension, muscles are tensed to produce strength. If the muscles are not tensed, strength is not produced. The amount of strength produced is related to the size of the muscles as well as the speed of muscular movement. The bigger the muscles, and the faster the speed, the more strength is produced.

Dynamic tension restricts energy flow, causing blockage which is detrimental to health. Dynamic tension is also stressful to the mind, or spirit. It “locks” the spirit, making the practitioner constraint, irritable or angry.

In internal force training, it is very important to be relaxed. Muscular tension blocks energy flow, which will stop the flow of internal force. The more relaxed a practitioner is, the great will the internal force generated. This is quite incomprehensive to many people, as they are used to the concept of muscular strength which requires tensing muscles, and ignorant of the concept of internal force. When a person is relaxed, together with internal force, he will produce better result no matter what he does.

Thank you Sifu. We're so very lucky to learn all these wonderful arts from you.

[barrys]

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[barrys]

Question and Answer - 6

Question and Answer - 6

Question 6

My experience with building internal force has clearly demonstrated the fact that internal force has benefitted my physical/external body - health, endurance, strength. I have also noticed that when I maintain a moderate level of external stimulus (physical labor/construction job, cycling, rock climbing, heavy yard work - moving rocks, etc), there seems to be a cross over benefit to my internal training (i.e. stance training is more relaxed and at a deeper level, condensing force feels more powerful, etc). I have experienced the opposite to also be true, and if my lifestyle is too sedentary, it seems to have a negative impact on my internal training.

Is there a link between external stimulus and building internal force? Typically, Water Buffalo methods are used to build external strength, but can they also be used as an adjunct to internal force training, for even more benefit?

Sifu Matt Fenton


Answer

Internal force certainly benefits the physical or external body. If all other things were equal, internal force contributes more to health, endurance and strength than external strength. Indeed, some forms of external training, like lifting weights and jabbing palms into iron filing, can be detrimental to health, although they may contribute to strength and endurance.

On the other hand, a moderate level of external stimulus, like physical labor and moving rocks, can enhance internal training, provided that the external stimulus is not overdone. This benefit leads to the recommendation known in Chinese (Cantonese) as “noi ngoi seong sau”, or “internal-external double cultivation”.

Great kungfu masters in the past were known for their internal-external double cultivation, never just cultivated internally. However, their external cultivation did not refer to such external methods like lifting weights, jabbing palms into iron filing, hitting sand-bags and striking wooden-man, which were regarded as third-class methods, but referred to methods like performing kungfu sequences or sets, Children’s Art, Thousand Steps and Art of Flexibility.

If a master, for example, performed only Abdominal Breathing, which was considered internal cultivation, but neglected the practice of his kungfu sets, which was considered external cultivation, he would not be very advanced. He might have a lot of internal force from his Abdominal Breathing, but lacked agility which could be derived from set-practice.

If a person’s lifestyle is too sedentary, he would not be healthy. The great Chinese physician, Hua Tuo, described this condition as “a door not in use would soon rot”.

Yes, there is a link between external stimulus and building internal force. They contribute to yin-yang harmony.

Water buffalo methods, when used judiciously, can be used as an adjunct to internal force training. For example, after practicing Golden Bridge for some time, which develops internal force, a practitioner may place a staff over his extended arms, hanging some light weights at both ends of the staff. The added weight will enhance his training, enabling him to achieve more internal force in a shorter time.

Strictly speaking, this is not water buffalo training; it is smart training. If the practitioner started with the staff and weights at the beginning, and tensed the muscles of his arms to support the weights, he could develop external strength and endurance, but it would be water buffalo training. He would develop more internal force, compared to his external strength, and in a shorter time, had he not used the weights at all.

Similarly, those who have developed internal force using the Iron Wire Set, may wear copper rings in their forearms to enhance their training. But had they used copper rings at the start and performed Iron Wire with muscular strength, it would become water buffalo training. They would have big muscles and be powerful with external strength, but it was not internal force.

I myself underwent water buffalo training, like practicing Iron Palm, hitting wooden-man and jabbing my hands into beans. But I found internal cultivation far superior. It produced a lot more internal force. Not only my internal force enabled me to break bricks (instead of opponents’ bones) and take punches and kicks without sustaining injury, but more significantly it contributed to my health, vitality and longevity, and daily peak performance.

[barrys]

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Double Worshipping of the Buddha

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Gentle Breeze through Sleeves

[barrys]

Question and Answer - 5 - Part 2

Question and Answer - 5 - Part 2

Question 5 (Original question)

You mentioned on your website that you believed past masters like the Venerable Ng Mui and Zhang San Feng were all rounders. And how their general level in terms of arm sensitivity or Iron Arm was of a higher level than masters who were particularly known for those arts (like Yim Wing Choon).

My question's are:

How did the Venerable Ng Mui and Zhang San Feng achieve this?

Was it from practicing many force training methods as opposed to only one or two methods?

Is it unfavorable to practice only one or two methods as opposed to many over one's Kungfu career?

Sham.


Answer (Contd)

... It is inspiring to note that such a situation also occurs in our school, not even amongst our masters but just amongst our students. I do not mean to be presumptuous, but I honestly believe that those students who attended our Baguazhang course as a supplementary art for just a few days are better at Baguazhang than students elsewhere who specially practice Baguazhang for many years. The same situation applies for other supplementary arts like Tantui, Eagle Claw, Praying Mantis, Iron Wire, Wuzuquan, Xingyiquan, Wing Choon and Choy-Li-Fatt.

We have more than enough material to justify our claim. How many students elsewhere who have practiced the relevant arts for many years have the type of internal force related to their arts, and can apply their arts for combat? How many students elsewhere have the skills specially associated with their arts, like getting to the back of opponents in Baguazhang, or being able to respond correctly even when blink-folded in Wing Choon Kungfu? How many students elsewhere have a sound philosophical understanding of their art? Most, if not all, our students who attended these supplementary courses have these abilities.

How were Ng Mui and Zhang San Feng better than the other masters in their latter’s specialties? How are our students better than students elsewhere in their arts? The answer is spread and depth. Ng Mui and Zhang San Feng had spread and depth. Our students have spread and depth, whereas students elsewhere spend their time on only the external form of their art.

Yes, one of the reason why Ng Mui and Zhang San Feng achieved this superiority in spread and depth was practicing may force-training methods as opposed to only one or two methods. I believe that Ng Mui and Zhang San Feng, being kungfu geniuses, would have practiced all the force-training methods in Shaolin and even elsewhere, such as triple-stretch, the force-approach, the flow-approach, One-Finger Shooting Zen, Eighteen-Lohan Art and Sinew Metamorphosis.

More significantly, being a Buddhist nun and a Taoist priest respectively, Ng Mui and Zhang San Feng would have practiced mediation deeply. I recall the advice of my sifu, Sifu Ho Fatt Nam, that if one wishes to soar the heights and depths of kungfu, he should practice chi kung; if he wishes to soar the heights and depths of chi kung, he should practice meditaion.

For most other people it is unfavorable to practice many methods at the same time because the different methods will cancel the effect of one another. But for us in Shaolin Wahnam and for kungfu geniuses, it is favorable to practice many methods at the same time because these different methods will enhance the effect of one another. This is because of the magic of chi flow.

[barrys]

Question and Answer - 5 - Part 1

Question and Answer - 5 - Part 1

Question 5

You mentioned on your website that you believed past masters like the Venerable Ng Mui and Zhang San Feng were all rounders. And how their general level in terms of arm sensitivity or Iron Arm was of a higher level than masters who were particularly known for those arts (like Yim Wing Choon).

My question's are:

How did the Venerable Ng Mui and Zhang San Feng achieve this?

Was it from practicing many force training methods as opposed to only one or two methods?

Is it unfavorable to practice only one or two methods as opposed to many over one's Kungfu career?

Sham.


Answer

Hoong Hei Khoon was famous for his powerful punch. He developed his tremendous power using the triple-stretch method. Yim Wing Choon was noted for her internal force. She developed her internal force by practicing Siu Lin Tou. Thiet Kiew Sam was well known for his powerful arms. He developed his powerful arms by practicing the Iron Wire Set.

These masters famous for their particular arts were associated with their particular ways of training with their specialized sets – Hoong Hei Khoon with the Triple-Stretch Set, Yim Wing Choon with Siu Lin Tou, and Thiet Kiew Sam with Iron Wire Set.

On the other hand, kungfu geniuses like the Venerable Ng Mui and Zhang San Feng were not specially associated with any particular arts. They were all rounders. In other words, when we think of Hoong Hei Khoon, we think of his powerful punch. When we think of Yim Wing Choon, we think of Siu Lin Tou. When we think of Thiet Kiew Sam, we think of his powerful arms.

But when we think of the Venerable Ng Mui or Zhang San Feng, we do not think of any particular art to be associated with them, though Ng Mui’s specialty was the Flower Set, and Zhang San Feng’s specialty was Wudang Shaolin Kungfu, which is now better known as Wudang Taijiquan. This is because they were good at everything that no single art stood out for them.

Even in the arts the other masters were famous for, Ng Mui and Zhang San Feng were still better than them. Ng Mui’s and Zhang San Feng’s punch, for example, was more powerful than Hoong Hei Khoon’s punch, and Ng Mui’s and Zhang San Feng’s arms were more powerful than Thiet Kiew Sam’s arms. Ng Mui and Zhang San Feng did not practice Siu Lin Tou, which was invented later by Yim Wing Choon. Yet I believe that having seen Siu Lin Tou once, Ng Mui’s performance and Zhang San Feng’s performance of Siu Lin Tou would be better than Yim Wing Choon’s performance.

[barrys]

Hi Mark,

yes if people train correctly - just going with the chi flow they experience, without getting frightened of it or making more of things than they need to it is very safe.

One of the things that is said less now than it used to be is, whatever the experience in chi flow, "Very good ... carry on" . This was incredibly helpful to me for times when lots of things seemed to be happening and those when nothing seemed to be happening.

Sifu white crane spreads wings.jpg

With metta,

Barry

[Mark A]

Exellent Answers

Hey Barry,
I really like Sifu's most current answer and it seems to confirm what we taught on our most recent course around people falling into sensations that they may experience

Peace

Mark

[barrys]

Question and Answer - 4 - Part 2

Question and Answer - 4 - Part 2

Question 4 (Original question)

Sifu, I have been very lucky to attend to many of your courses. Because of that, I had the opportunity to learn many ways for building Internal force. In the past St. Valentines Taijiquan Course (108 Yang Pattern Set) I could experience many different ways of building internal force. I name below a list of the ones that I usually practice:

- Performing Taijiquan Set/Patterns with Yang Spirit.
- Performing Taijiquan Set/Patterns with Chen Spirit.
- Performing Taijiquan Set/Patterns really slow.
- Performing Taijiquan Set/Patterns at the mind level.
- Performing Tajiquan Set/Patterns exploding force.
- Stances (I usually practice 5-10 minutes maximum).
- Performing Cloud Hands walking through stances.
- Performing Cloud Hands in goat/horse stance.
- Performing Lifting Water in goat/horse stance.

My questions are as follows:

Sifu, may you give me advice for the best routine in my daily practice for building internal force? Which is the safest and the most effective way to do it with all the methods that I usually practice? Should I add/learn any other methods in my repertoire?

Santiago

Answer (Contd.)

... Any one of the methods you mentioned above is an excellent method. Because of your skills and philosophical understanding, even if you had chosen the worse of the above methods (even this worst method is still a very good method) and your practice is only mediocre, your results will still be better than the results of most practitioners, including some masters.

Other people reading my comment may think we are boastful, and may become angry, but the comment is true. How many people practicing Taijiquan today have internal force? Even those few masters who have internal force will take a year to acquire what you can acquire in a month. Let’s say they acquire 12,000 units of internal force in one year, which you can acquire in a month. Even if your result is mediocre and you attain only 40% of your potential, you still acquire 4,800 units of internal force, whereas the masters working at their best acquire only 1.000 units a month.

In our school all the methods are safe. This is because of our chi flow. But this is not so for most practitioners in other schools. Many practitioners, especially advanced ones, are constantly concerned that they do not train wrongly. It may be a surprise to many people in the West, but in fact a main reason why many Chinese are afraid to train any internal art is a fear of deviation, known by a frightening term in Chinese as “escaping of fire and entering of devil”.

In our school, “escaping of fire and entering of devil”, or its less frightening modern term of “deviation”, is effectively prevented, or erased had it happened, by our chi flow, unless a practitioner over-trains or excessively intellectualizes.

Of the methods mentioned by you, if all other things were equal, the one that is most easily practiced wrongly is performing Taijiquan at the mind level. The second most easily practiced wrongly is performing Taijiquan very, very slowly. But if practiced correctly, they are the ones that are most effective in producing tremendous internal force respectively.

The safest method is performing Taijiquan in Yang spirit. If all other things were equal, it is also the method that, relatively, produces the least internal force. But other things are not equal. Even when you use this method, you will produce more internal force than practitioners in other schools performing at the mind level or performing very, very slowly, in which case they have high risks of harmful side-effects.

Though it is not necessary, if you have the opportunities and within your means, it is, of course, beneficial to add or learn new methods to your repertoire. Not only you have new methods, they will also give you breadth and depth.

[Jacek Kaleta]

Dear Sigung

Thank you very much for answering my question. I'm very grateful for this wealth of information.

I already know this Q&A series on Building Internal Force is going to be my regular source of reference for many years to come. I'm going to put this knowledge and understanding to the best possible use in my practice.

Dear Sifu Barry

Thank you for opening this thread and for giving us opportunity to ask Sigung a question. What a privilege...

With Shaolin Salute
Jacek

[barrys]

Question and Answer - 4 - Part 1

Question and Answer - 4 - Part 1

Question 4

Sifu, I have been very lucky to attend to many of your courses. Because of that, I had the opportunity to learn many ways for building Internal force. In the past St. Valentines Taijiquan Course (108 Yang Pattern Set) I could experience many different ways of building internal force. I name below a list of the ones that I usually practice:

- Performing Taijiquan Set/Patterns with Yang Spirit.
- Performing Taijiquan Set/Patterns with Chen Spirit.
- Performing Taijiquan Set/Patterns really slow.
- Performing Taijiquan Set/Patterns at the mind level.
- Performing Tajiquan Set/Patterns exploding force.
- Stances (I usually practice 5-10 minutes maximum).
- Performing Cloud Hands walking through stances.
- Performing Cloud Hands in goat/horse stance.
- Performing Lifting Water in goat/horse stance.

My questions are as follows:

Sifu, may you give me advice for the best routine in my daily practice for building internal force? Which is the safest and the most effective way to do it with all the methods that I usually practice? Should I add/learn any other methods in my repertoire?

Santiago


Answer

Congratulations for being able to develop internal force in so many different ways. It is mind-blowing that you learned all these methods in just a few days of the Taijiquan course in Ireland. Even masters in the past had only one method, and they took many years to develop internal force using that one method. Most students would have no chance to develop internal force.

More significantly, we know the three main functions of internal force, namely, maintaining life, enhancing life and enabling us to have better results in whatever se do – in that order of importance. In other words, for us, firstly internal force makes us healthy, then it enhances our vitality and longevity, and finally it contributes to our peak performance in our work and play.

Even masters in the past did not know this philosophy. Hence, they wasted most of, if not all, their internal force on combat. They were great fighters, but they might not necessarily be healthy, and they might not excel in their work and play. Yang Deng Fu and Guo Yun Sheng, the great masters of Taijiquan and Xingyiquan, for example, were great fighters, but they were known to be easily irritated, and did not lead a happy life despite their tremendous internal force.

One main reason why students at the Taijiquan course in Ireland could learn so many methods of internal force training was because it came close after the Special Wudang Taijiquan Course in Penang, where the highest Taijiquan, in fact the highest kungfu, was taught, including many methods of internal force training. As many Shaolin Wahnam students know, my teaching methodology is progressive, which means that the benefits of the teaching methodology at the Wudang Taijiquan Course was carried over to 108-Pattern Taijiquan Course in Ireland.

My best advice, though it may sound odd to many students, including you, is not to over-practice. Actually what you are practicing now is more than enough. You should practice less, and spend more time with your girlfriend or girlfriends. In your case, the phrase “less is more” is very appropriate. By training less, you will actually get more benefits, both in kungfu and in your daily life.

As you know many different force training methods, you can take turn to train one method a day. You can find out from direct experience which method will give you more benefit or more joy, bearing in mind that the result may change through time or circumstances.

[barrys]

Question and Answer - 3

Question and Answer - 3

Question 3

For combat, are there more advantages in training consolidated force than flowing force? This question presumes that the practitioner is already healthy and skillful in changing between consolidated and flowing force.

Stephen


Answer

If we consider striking or causing damage to an opponent, training consolidated force is more advantageous than training flowing force.

But if we consider other aspect of combat, like throwing an opponent or being agile, training flowing force is more advantageous.

When we consider combat as a whole, I still think flowing force is more advantageous than consolidated force. This may come as a surprise to many people because they often think of combat as causing damage to their opponent, forgetting there are other and more important factors, like being relaxed, having mental clarity, spontaneous movement, being flexible, being fast and having stamina and balance.

I can think of two areas where consolidated force is more advantageous than flowing force, and they are striking an opponent and being struck. However, even if you don’t have much consolidated force, if you strike your opponents on his eyes, throat or groin, you can cause much damage. Or if you are being struck on these areas, even without his consolidated force, the damage can be serious.

Relatively speaking, flowing force will make you more relaxed, contribute to your mental clarity, enable you to move more spontaneously, making you more flexible and faster, and adding to your stamina and balance.

Consolidated force, by itself, is detrimental in all the above areas. It is far worse if the consolidated force, which is still flowing, is locked as muscles, where the energy becomes stagnant.

For us in Shaolin Wahnam, we do not face this difficulty because we can readily change consolidated force into flowing force, and vice versa. Although this skill is common in our school, it is infrequent in most other schools.

Knowing the answer to your questions is very useful to our students. They can convert their force accordingly. In practical terms, they can generally let their force flow, but consolidate it when they strike.

Flowing force is also more advantageous than consolidated force for health, vitality and longevity.