kingoftheforest

Yeah I remember when I first started training and the older students told me I was as stiff as a board. After about 4 years I started to understand what they meant.

Now when I train with new people who come from arts like TKD or karate I can truly appreciate what they meant by that.

That stiffness is also what allows you to cause a person to overextend and unbalance them self making it easier to topple them. It's like a tree that doesn't bend in the wind, if a strong enough gust comes along something has got to give.

I have only been training for about 7 years as I said earlier and see myself no where near an expert in internal arts but having civil discussion with people on this board helps me learn and understand things I otherwise may not have gotten around to thinking about for a few more years. I am no authority on the subject by any means but the doctrine, tactics and basics core values of the art I feel I can explain with some confidence. I am not trying to change any minds (or lack thereof) here. I am just putting the art and the art that I love and the concepts that go with it out there for any who are interested.

Some one asked me if you can train in an internal and external art together and my answer was yes. Is this traditional? No not really. But it can be done.
All you have to do is attempt to apply the same rules that govern an internal art into the training of the external one.



In my opinionthis causes some problems because most art involve politics as well as fighting. The traditional family way of doing things is most arts from all cultures causes it to be hard if you have a traditional teacher when you try to apply certain concepts.

There is no one concept of the internal arts that is more important in my view than using the body as one unified unit to strike. Even when a kick is used to attack or a shoulder strike is used the whole body is behind it. Imagine when you "get a chill" how the movement runs up your spine and through your whole body. This is akin to concept. Now take that shiver and run it through your body and out through either your arm or leg. The power generated is enormous if the attack is then snapped at the end of the movement. This is where the fajin power comes from, that whole body shake and then the release.

That is an over simplified explanation but it was the first one I received that actual stuck and helped me understand.

Now someone asked in a PM to field how this differs from a boxing punch. At the expense of being attacked again I'll give this another shot since the person that asked seems genuinely interested in my opinion on this.

Let me first begin by saying I can see how the wording in some of my previous explanations could be taken the wrong way. I in no means have meant to slight boxing in anyway. In fact the first art I ever studied was western boxing. Boxing like most internal arts generates whats called sectional power. This means that the power moves through the body one section at a time. While a boxer may push with his foot he then turns with his waist using the power from the foot push off then using the power from the waist turning he pushes out his shoulder then using the power from the shoulder he pushes his arm forward and then using the foward momentum pushes his fist out to strike the opponent. Also a boxer turns his hand palm down when striking in what is known in CMA's as moon fist. This causes some of the power generated by the shoulder to dissipate due to the change in muscle alignment of the arm.

These movements differ from the power generated in whole unified body movement because each section of the body robs power from the last section to continue the movement. Can western boxers hit like a friggin' truck this way after training it long enough? Hell yes! And western boxers even have the snap at the end of the punch.
The difference is that in an internal style the practitioner uses the body like a whip so that it's more of a sinuous fluid motion where the whole body flicks at one time on one side without the sectional detours.

I hope this helps in clarifying what my intended prior commentary was. Once again I am by no means an expert just somebody trying to understand and help build a solid foundation on my understanding.

KOTF

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This punch is heavier than life.
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