Fundamental
Techniques of Internal Kung Fu
by Michael
Alan Brown
I have recently had numerous requests from martial artists for clarification and instruction on the internal components of practicing Qigong (Ch’i Kung), Taijiquan (T’ai Chi Ch’uan), Xingyiquan (Hsing Yi Ch’uan) and Baguazhang (Pa Kua Tsang). While most people who have undertaken personal instruction from an experienced instructor of these arts are already familiar with the concepts, today many are trying to learn the Internal Arts from books and videos when a qualified instructor is not available in their area. For those people, or others simply wanting to reinforce their previous instruction, I offer the following to ensure they are able to gain the maximum benefits from the practice of Internal Kung Fu.
First, note that an explanation of what comprises “Internal” and “External” Kung Fu is already available on the Ching Yi Kung Fu Association website, so I won’t reiterate it here. Just click on the “About Kung Fu” link to read that description. Next, it is important to understand the correlation between Qigong and the Internal Martial Arts such as Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua. Simply put, those arts ARE forms of Qigong. Therefore, any of the following principles apply equally to standing, seated, static Qigong or repetitive, moving Qigong health exercises, and to the practice of Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua.
POSITION OF THE TONGUE: During all practice, the tip of the tongue should be touching the roof of the mouth on the ridge of the palate just above the teeth. Specifically, the tongue should slightly curl up so the BOTTOM of the tip of the tongue touches that ridge. You should NOT forcefully push the tongue against the roof of the mouth, it should touch just firmly enough to stay in place throughout your practice. In fact, when all other aspects of Internal Kung Fu are correct and the Qi (or Ch’i – the internal energy of the body) circulates along the two major meridians of Qi flow running vertically up/down the front and back of the human torso, the tongue will curve up to this position automatically. However, when you first start to practice, you will need to consciously put it there. While many explanations have been put forth as to why this is done, the principal reason is that it completes a “circuit” of sorts in the flow of Qi between those two major meridians. I won’t go into any lengthy discourse on the more esoteric aspects of the Qi, meridians, etc. because (a) huge volumes of medical and martial arts literature have dealt with only that for 5,000 years and are readily available, and (b) it really doesn’t matter if you understand WHY or not. Just realize that it’s a required part of correct practice; the results will be the same whether or not you are fully versed in the underlying theory. One side note is that having the tongue in this position tends to cause saliva to build up in your mouth. This was called the “Juice of Jade” by the ancient Taoists, and is very good for your health. Be sure to swallow it as it forms.
DAN TIAN (TAN T’IEN): The “Dan Tian” of the human body is usually defined in most Internal Martial Arts texts as a point in the lower abdomen, three finger widths below the navel, and a couple of inches back inside the body. Actually, there are three Dan Tian areas – Upper Dan Tian, Middle Dan Tian, and Lower Dan Tian – and the location described in the lower abdomen refers to the Lower Dan Tian. Since this article pertains to the fundamentals of internal practice, all subsequent references to “Dan Tian” pertain only to the Lower Dan Tian. It is important to note that the Lower Dan Tian is more than just a single point. It is that whole area, back and front, like a round chamber radiating out a few inches from the Dan Tian “centerpoint” described above.
DAN TIAN BREATHING: This is a critical component of all Internal Kung Fu. Without coordinated, proper breathing when practicing the forms, you will only be walking around waving your arms in the air. To get it right takes a while, so it’s usually a good idea to first practice it in a relaxed standing posture until you have it down before employing it during martial arts forms training. You must RELAX the breath down to the Dan Tian, never force it down. If you try to force it, trust me, you’ll know right away. You will get pleurisy-like pains under your ribs around the diaphragm. It ain’t pleasant, feels kind of like a knife between your ribs might, and often persists for several days. Been there, done that, learned my lesson. The pain won’t do any real harm to your health, but it’s a good indication that you are not relaxing your breath. By relaxing the chest and shoulders, the breath must fall naturally to the Dan Tian. Imagine you have no lungs or other internal organs in the way; just a tube running directly from your nose to the Dan Tian. All inhalation and exhalation is through the nose, with the tongue in place as described above. The chest, ribs and diaphragm should move little or not at all, and the Dan Tian should expand and contract like "normal" people do with their chest. After you get more proficient at Dan Tian breathing, you can have someone grasp the sides of your diaphragm area and detect little or no movement there. When you inhale, the Dan Tian region (back and front) expands as if filling a balloon with air, then collapses back to its original shape upon exhalation. All of this must be done SOFTLY and slowly, taking care to make the time it takes to inhale and exhale the same length. End goal would be to be able to practice this in a quiet room and not hear the sound of your breath coming in and out your nose. Of course, much less so when you practice martial arts forms. In Taijiquan, you can still keep the breath sound very quiet, but in arts that are practiced faster like Xingyiquan and Baguazhang, the sound will become stronger and more audible.
HEAD TOP: The head should be held up straight, with the chin neither pulled in nor pushed out. Imagine that you are a puppet with a string coming out of the crown (about 5 or 6 inches back of your front hairline) of your head, or that someone really big and strong has grasped you by the hair over that point and is holding you up off the ground. Then you completely relax and the vertebrae of the spine just fall into a straight line below that point at the top of the head, and your feet and legs just dangle in the air. Of course, that’s just how you THINK of it; there’s no benefit (and lots of dangers) to having someone actually do that to you... Anyway, this erect “lifted” position of the head is required whether doing static standing or seated Qigong, or practicing martial arts forms like Taijiquan or Xingyiquan.
MENTAL CONCENTRATION: For the purpose of this writing, I will deal with only one thing you want your mind to do during practice – concentrate on the in-and-out movement of the breath to Dan Tian. At the more advanced level there are visualizations you can practice to achieve specific results, but I will leave that to our Founder and Teacher Dr. Wong to describe in some other forum, as he has done extensive research and practice in that area over the years. Bottom line, whether doing stationary Qigong or Internal Martial Arts forms, try to focus your thoughts only on the in-and-out movement of the Dan Tian.
EYES: When
doing standing or seated Qigong, you can either close your eyes lightly or keep
them naturally and relaxedly open, staring at a fixed point in the distance
directly in front of your eyes, and at the same level as your eyes, looking
neither up, down, nor side to side.
YIN AND YANG MOVEMENTS: When practicing Internal Martial Arts forms, it gets a little more complex. First, understand that in each martial arts technique, there is a “Yang,” or “active” portion of the body, and a “Yin,” or passive portion. For example, when punching, the fist striking out is Yang and the other hand drawing back is Yin. In kicking, the foot going out to kick is Yang, the supporting leg or the leg pulling back (like in a jumping kick) is Yin.
BREATH – EYE COORDINATION: In general, during forms practice, you inhale on Yin movements (withdrawing, deflecting, defending) and exhale on Yang movements (striking out, pushing, punching, kicking). At the same time, the eyes should look CLEARLY, not like a hypnotic gaze, at the Yang part of the body doing the martial arts technique. Then you change to look at one, then the other, as the actions transition from Yang to Yin and back again. I reiterate – you should see the Yang hand, foot, elbow, knee, whatever, very clearly, and everything else around you fades into the background. Sounds somewhat complicated, but it quickly becomes second nature. By the way, this is equally applicable to traditional Chinese weapons practice; you exhale and clearly see the tip of the weapon as it makes a Yang action (sword cut, staff sweep, spear thrust, and the like).
SUMMARY: So, that’s it – head up straight, tongue slightly curved up, bottom tip of the tongue touching the ridge on the roof of the mouth, breath and mental concentration in the Dan Tian, and the eyes either staring at a fixed point (static Qigong) or at the Yang portion of the body (martial arts). SIMPLE!
Postscript
The techniques above are fundamental to the practice of Internal Kung Fu, and are “non-negotiable.” That is, to be practicing genuine Qigong or Internal Martial Arts, all of these aspects are required. However, there are a couple of other internal techniques that are often employed after the basics have been mastered. Some schools teach them relatively early, almost from the beginning of training, others reserve them for only the most advanced practitioners, while others do not teach them at all. Below, I give a brief description of those techniques, along with my recommendation on when and how they should be employed, based on my own experience and what has been relayed to me by others over the years.
ANAL CONTRACTION: This technique consists of contracting the anal sphincter at all times during the practice of Internal Kung Fu. It is not unique to Kung Fu; practitioners of Kundalini Yoga, for example, call it an “Anal Lock” or “Root Lock” and it is an integral part of their art. The concept is simple, contract the anal sphincter as if “lifting” the rectum from the inside, and hold the contraction while exercising. The actual practice is more difficult, in that it requires the practitioner to completely relax the entire body, maintain relaxed breathing, avoid contracting the buttocks and avoid tensing the Dan Tian, only contracting the anal sphincter in isolation. Therefore, I recommend that it should only be done after the “mandatory” fundamental techniques described above have been practiced long enough to become completely natural. In our Ching Yi Kung Fu Association regimen, anal contraction is used almost exclusively in Baguazhang, although I have had several Chinese masters tell me that it really should be a part of all advanced Internal Kung Fu practice.
REVERSE BREATHING: The fundamental Dan Tian breathing described above is known as “natural breathing.” Another technique called “reverse breathing” operates on the same principle, only the Dan Tian draws in while inhaling and relaxes back to its original shape on exhalation – the opposite of natural breathing. This is not easy by any means, especially when you must be careful to keep your breathing completely relaxed. Reverse breathing can produce exceptional results in strengthening the Qi of the body, and many Taoists and Internal Kung Fu masters swear by it. It is particularly useful in specialized training involving visualization and consciously directing the Qi. In my experience, physical strength and health can be gained using either technique. However, I recommend that one master natural breathing first, then try reverse breathing and judge the results for oneself.