Developing Internal Power – Why the Internal Arts Stand

[Anonymous]

The title says it all: internal arts use standing to find and develop internal power. Neigung, Tai Chi, Hsing-i, I Chuan, and Bagua have different approaches, but there is something common to all of them.

So, if you’ve read some of my recent posts, you know that I’ve proposed that the most basic mechanism is based on blood movement. The blood moves up the legs to the height of the lower tan tien, than you use the blood vessels like a back pressure valve and push off which circulates the blood up the body to the arms and head. It quickly gets more sophisticated than this, but all of the Chinese internal arts start here.

So, how do you find this mechanism?

The Taoist were very clever monkeys. When they want to learn or teach something, they strip everything else away. They want to eliminate all distractions and they want to make their point as clear as possible. So standing the way neigung does it does just that. You don’t want the blood to be moved by the natural pumping that occurs when we bend and stretch our limbs – so don’t move! I want the vascular system to get stronger – so don’t move and stand longer. Standing forces the body to move blood back to the heart without the aid of movement.

Everything else upgrades the process.

Put your hands up and the blood will drain from the upper body faster and force the body to use the vascular system sooner. That speeds the process. It is an upgrade. Generally, the higher the hands the more difficult the posture because the blood drains faster. There is more to the height of the hands than that but you get the idea. It really is that simple.

Relax and you benefit from relaxation, but you also make it easier for the blood to be moved by this mechanism. You make it easier for the blood to circulate to all of the places it needs to go to. And you make it easier and more likely that you will feel how the mechanism works. Alignments do the same thing. They help you relax and reduce unnecessary muscle contraction.

Scan the body from top to bottom and you start training the body to make connections through the nerves while improving relaxation and the blood flow down the body. You also learn to direct the mind. But these are all upgrades. You need to find the basic mechanism.

So that’s neigung’s approach. What does Hsing-I do that is unique?

Hsing-I is more difficult. San ti is basically upgraded standing. IMO it has the best approach. It is more difficult but faster. It speeds the process by standing on one foot. All of the weight is on one leg so that leg has to use this mechanism sooner. This is combined with a more difficult, uneven arm position. So it strains the system sooner and drains the blood from the upper body faster.

The legs will act symmetrically. Both legs will simultaneously squeeze the blood toward the heart. One will be weighted and practically numb, but the unweighted leg will be more relaxed and likely to feel the mechanism. When you switch legs you are training the blood circulation. It is intended to help you find the up the body and the squeeze flow I talked about. They are trying to get to usable power as quickly as possible. The hand positions, form of the body, etc. are all brilliant. There is a ton of subtlety to this that I won’t go into but it is all genius.

Tai Chi borrows from everything. In my ignorant opinion, It is the chop suey of Chinese internal arts. So they use standing to develop at some point but I’m not aware of anything particularly unique.

I’ve never studied I Chuan but I think you get the idea. I could make more comments based on the little I know, but I wouldn’t add much insight or value. I will say I like how they progress from standing to movement. It is really clever. But that’s another post.

Bagua is the most complicated of all the internal arts except if you approach it the way I described in the Brilliance of Circle Walking. They are using the hand-arm position of Hsing-i but adding a twist. So it is not only equally hard it adds another dynamic. Because it is moving, I think it is much harder to find the mechanism, but the natural twisting speeds the process of “opening” the body because it is doing a whole bunch of things you need all at once without the practitioner realizing it. Bagua circle walking is moving standing.

Neigung, Tai Chi, Hsing-i, I Chuan, Bagua have different methods. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. Hopefully this gives you some insight into why everyone has to stand at some point to learn these arts. This is just information. You have to practice to make it useful. Bruce used to stand for 6 to 8 hours at a stretch. That’s why he is a master. He did the work.

Look at Core I, Bruce’s first neigung set. It starts with standing and standing dissolving. That’s where a beginner should begin. Don’t believe me – Find it for yourself.

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