wushuguan.se

Q: When practicing neijia, what are the basic requirements?
A: I think the most important part is to focus on your basic practice, such as your hands, palms, eyes, body and steps. Second most important is the neigong (internal practice) of neijiaquan, such as xin (heart,mind), yi (intention), qi, jing (“essence”), shen (essence), and internal jin (power) and external li (strength). You are also supposed to have a more customized practice based on the different requirements of the different style of martial art.

Q: There are many other exercises other than form in complete systems of neijia. Please tell us something about these.
A: Chinese martial arts are very profound. There are so many different styles and they all have their own theories and practice requirements. From my point of view, no matter internal or external, the very basic fundamental is required such as flexibility, leg-kicking, gong bu (bow stance), ma bu (horse stance), and correct movements of your hands, steps, body and your eyes as well.

Secondary, you will focus on some specific requirements from the form you are practicing. For instance, when we practice internal style, except the basics I mentioned before, we should also practice breathing, stances, experience different implicit jin and quick explosive force, coordinate internally the xin, yi and qi, and externally the shoulders, elbows and kua (the joint and surrounding area of the hip).

Also, you must set up your mind about the purpose of practice — is it for performance, self-defence or health? It’s very important for you to focus on your basic practice.

Q: Is it important to understand the self-defence applications when practicing?
A: We are living in a much more civilized society in which people are pursuing a well-off and healthy life. Martial arts become more health-oriented instead of focused on self-defence or application techniques. Neijia style and the Wudang practice method are almost perfect for practitioners who are very keen on to achieve this purpose. You will not only get the physical benefit from practicing Taiji, but also get mental well-being from its profound Chinese philosophy. It won’t be constrained by practicing facilities, practitioners’ age and the number of practitioners. It has a long life span and you don’t need worry if your age is suitable for that or not.
Although self-defence function in internal style is less important than before, it’s still an essential part in the movements. An internal style martial artist usually identifies with daoist moral rules and philosophy, so he wouldn’t attack others unless the offence becomes dangerous and then the self-defence function would be very useful.

Q: But, is it important to know the applications to practice neijia well and to receive all the benefits?
A: It’s very important, of course, and I think it’s the very core and basic part of martial arts. It will help you to understand the movements much better. Without knowing that, you are just practising some kind of dance or whatever you can call it.

Q: Are there any basic conditions for practicing martial arts?
A: I think there are four important conditions for martial arts practitioners — good method from a good teacher, sound financing to support your life, practice partner who share the same value and martial arts interests, and a good training place. So, you will get tremendous improvement if you have a good practice partner with whom you can talk and practice the application.

Q: Do you think it’s necessary to practice external martial arts before practicing internal?
A: No matter external or internal practice, you have to know your purpose of practice and which level of skill you pursuing. There are three phases of training, jing, qi and shen. It is best to practice jing when you are young, qi in your mid-age, and shen when you are old. So if you want to reach a high level of practice I think the study and practice of waijiquan in your youth is very necessary. Waijiaquan has some very good features which can help you develop basic skills such as waist, legs, jumping, speed and body feeling.

Q: What’s the purpose of weapon practice?
A: Weapons was a very important tool in wars. It’s very important to choose the right weapon that suits yourself to use. You’d better know all the basic functions & characteristics of a weapon before you practice with it. Nowadays, weapon practice is mainly to help you get fit and become more agile, and also enrich the contents of the form.