There’s a lot of confusion about what’s internal and what’s external in Taijiquan. Perhaps in Chinese martial arts in general, lots of talking about this but none of the sources seems to have grasped what’s actually the truth. As for the typical American term “work-out” there’s also “work-in” (in Chinese) and it’s called Nei-Gong. There’s actually also Work’Out which is called WaiGong. So there is both, work in and out in Chinese Martial Arts. Wai-Gong is associated with pretty much anything physiological, from the training of tendons and bones to the skin and posture. Sinking the hips or just the posture to have a better mechanical advantage is also Wai-Gong. Nei-Gong instead concerns all that is inside the body which is: breath (Qi), internal organs and brain (Yi, willpower). Through dealing with a mix of forced breathing techniques and specific mind work the inside of the body will strengthen from the inside out. A common mistake is to confuse the “Qi” of Chinese Traditional Medicine (energy as a form of electricity) with the “Qi” of Chinese Martial Arts (breath). Also, a mistake to minimize martial-Qi as “just breathing”, has been very far from just physiological breathing of the lungs. Qi is more like an “ingestion of air” that will travel from the nose into the area of the Dan Tian 丹田 to create a situation that will develop into something solid, like a small sphere. The sphere at first static will be forced to move and then travel through specific paths of the body (not the same as the meridians). Ming Men 命門 will work in harmony with his opposite and the new power will strengthen all internal organs of the body. After that, the following results will include more elastic muscle tissues and thicker skin layers. Without these results, the practice of Taijiquan will be empty of force, empty of proper body qualities and therefore a practice of little accomplishment. My understanding is from a lifetime of studies and 20 years passed permanently living and researching in Asia. I was part of inner-door groups where I was initiated to certain practices and after years of training, I was able to perform the desired effects.
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