BangkokBaguaZhang

Thailand's Internal Martial Arts Resource Site

Internal vs External: What Sets

Them Apart?
Posted on April 21, 2011
by Arglit

Story by: Tim Cartmell in Kung-fu Magazine, 1992

There has been a great deal of discussion over whether a martial art is
internal or external, and the differences between the two. Most people
familiar with Chinese martial art probably associate the internal with
exercises for health, softness and chi, and associate the external with
strength, hardness and fighting.
We should start by defining the criteria which qualify an art as
internal or external. It is very popular today to talk about internal
martial arts as being methods of cultivating the chi (intrinsic energy),
whereas external martial arts favor building physical strength. The
first question is, What exactly is chi? And once we have come to
what we believe is an adequate definition, the next question should
deal with the relationship chi has to martial ability.
Finally, we come back to the question of why internal martial arts
would cultivate chi in some way that external martial arts do not. The
point is, both internal and external martial arts talk about chi
development; saying a martial art is internal because it has chi is not
valid. The difficulty in defining chi has led some martial artists to
conclude that chi doesnt exist at all, therefore there is no difference
between internal and external martial arts. But there definitely is a
difference, and it does not depend on whether or not one believes in
chi.
Lets put aside the whole question of chi and talk about similarities
and differences among the three orthodox internal styles (as
representatives of internal styles in general) and external martial arts
from a more tangible point of view. Lets compare and contrast the
martial arts from the standpoint of body mechanics, mindset, and

application. The real difference between the internal and external

martial arts is not chi, softness/hardness, or which is better for health;
rather, it boils down to how specific movements are done in a
particular mindset, and how these apply to real fights.
The Internal Myth
The orthodox internal martial arts, namely Xing Yi Quan, Tai Ji Quan
and Ba Gua Zhang , have all incorporated Taoist techniques of
breathing, meditation and medical theory into their methods of power,
development (nei kung) and fighting movements. Although the
resultant arts are superior as systems of health cultivation and
physical development, health was not the primary concern of the
developers of these styles. The primary focus of any martial art is, by
definition, martial. The wedding of Taoist practices and martial
technique came about because the masters felt movement in
accordance with natural principles performed in a meditative state of
mind was the quickest way of realizing the goal of absolute potential as
a martial artist (fighter).
For centuries, China has had a great variety of therapeutic chi kung
and related health systems that are equally as effective as the internal
martial arts for restoring, maintaining and improving ones health,
and are far simpler to learn and practice than the internal styles. There
was no need to invent complex and often extremely physically
demanding martial arts to fulfill the same purpose. Although the
internal martial arts may be practiced solely as exercises for physical
fitness, they were not created with this goal in mind. The internal
martial arts were developed for fighting, with their health benefits
more or less side effects of training for martial ability.
Body Mechanics: An Overview:
The most basic and important difference between internal and
external martial arts is the method of generating power or jing
(manifest energy).
At the root fundamental level, the most important factor which
qualifies an art as internal is the use of what the Chinese call
complete, unified or whole body power (jengjing).
This means the entire body is used as a singular unit with the muscles

of the body in proper tone according to their function (relaxed,

meaning neither too tense nor too slack). Power is generated with the
body as a singular unit, and the various types of energies (jing) used
are all generated from this unified power source. The external martial
arts, although engaging the body as a whole in generating power
sequentially, do not use the body in a complete unit as do the internal
martial arts.
The external styles primarily use sectional power (ju bu li), which is
a primary reason they are classified apart from the internal arts. A
variation of this sectional power in the external arts is the special
development of one part of the body as a weapon (iron palm, iron
broom, etc.). The internal tends to forego these methods in favor of
even development of the whole body, which m turn is used as a
coherent unit.
Xing Yi Quan, Tai Ji Quan and Ba Gua Zhang all have unified body
motion as their root; hence, they are internal styles. However, since
each of these styles emphasizes different expressions of this unified
power, they are not the same style.
Xing Yi Chuan:
Xing Yi Chuan provides perhaps the easiest example of the principle of
unified movement in action, as motion is stripped to its bare efficient
essentials.
Traditional five-element based Xing Yi Quan was created on static
posture training (Zhan Zhuang). The primary purpose of these
postures is to train the feeling of connectedness into the brain and
nervous system, as it is easier to cultivate this feeling standing still
than moving. One stands until whole body unity becomes the natural
state. Only after this has been achieved does the student slowly begin
to move while paying attention to maintaining this unity in motion.
Typically, a single move such as splitting (Pi Quan) will be practiced
exclusively and repeatedly for several months until the student
understands bow to move the body without losing its dynamic unity.
Once the student gets the feeling with a single form, other forms can
more quickly be mastered.
Because the ancient Xing Yi Quan masters knew that using the body in
a unified manner produced the greatest amount of power, they

developed five basic movements (the five elements) which allow one to
issue power (fa jing) in a unified manner. These movements are
splitting (issuing power downward), crushing (issuing power straight
forward), drilling (issuing power upward), pounding (issuing power
outward) and crossing (issuing power inward).
The developers of Xing Yi Quan saw these five basic variations of
unified power as covering the range of motions useful to fighting. Hie
12 animal forms of the style are further elaborations and variations of
the five original themes. The simple beauty and profundity of the art
of Xing Yi Quan as an internal boxing style is in its logical
development from a single principle, using the body in a unit, to the
basic energies that can be generated from this unit, the five elements,
to the further elaboration of these five basic energies into the 12
animal forms.
Tai Ji Quan:
In the first passage of the Tai Ji Classics, Jang San Peng (the legendary
founder of Tai Ji Quan) states that the body must be light and agile,
and that it must be connected throughout (gwan chwan). This is the
basis of Tai Ji Quan as a martial art. The most basic energy of this art
is the ward off energy (peng jing). Ills energy is the same as using the
body as a unit. As the masters say, No peng jing, no martial art. The
reference here is not to the actual technique of ward off from the
forms, but rather to the ward off energy that must permeate the whole
body connecting it with unified power, from which all subsequent
variations in power are based.
The basic postural requirements for Tai Ji Quan practice (head
floating up, shoulders sunk, chest lifted) are the physical prerequisites
of unified body power. As in the other internal styles, the student
begins by standing in static postures for a considerable length of time
to cultivate the bodys peng jing body before singular postures are
practiced and mastered one at a time. Single technique practice (dan
ba lian) and issuing power (fa Jing) are practiced until all the various
postures of Tai Ji Quan can be executed with whole body power.
Finally, the student is taught to link the postures into a continuous
sequence that trains sensitivity to postural changes (listening energy
or tingjing) and the ability to flow from one technique to the next

without disconnecting the body. One of the fundamental reasons most

Tai Ji Quan forms are practiced slowly is so the student can
constantly adjust and monitor the body to make sure it is always
moving in a unit. This is much easier to feel moving slowly than
quickly. Eventually, the student develops the body into a strong,
supple unit which allows the frame to act as a spring against the
ground (jyc di jr Ii), enabling the boxer to absorb incoming energy and
rebound it into the opponent This type of power is impossible unless
the body is always maintained in a unit, just as a spring is one
continuous thread of steel
Ba Gua Zhang:
Although there are much older versions of Ba Gua Zhang, most of the
variations of the art found today can be traced back to Dong Hai
Chuan, who taught during the last years of the Ching dynasty. Dong
Hai Chuan already was an accomplished martial artist before he
learned the Ba Gua circling method of the Taoist school. As with the
other internal styles, Ba Gua Zhang training begins with singular
movements which develop unified power. Next, the student progresses
to holding various postures while walking in a circle, Here again, the
primary purpose of these exercises is to train the body to maintain a
balanced unity in motion. Once the basic movements have been
mastered and the student can walk the circle to complete the eight
basic palm changes with unified body power, the necessary
groundwork has been laid for martial application.
Just as the Xing Yi Quan masters developed the five elements to
represent the basic ways power may be produced and applied from the
foundation of unified motion, the Ba Gua Zhang masters created the
single palm change. The single palm change includes all the basic
energies and footwork used in Ba Gua Zhang as a martial art. The
single palm change, double palm change and eight mother palm
changes are not fighting techniques in themselves, but rather methods
of developing whole body power to be used in separate fighting
techniques created around these basic types of power.
Although the three orthodox internal styles have very different
movements, they all developed from the same fundamental principle
of using the body in a unit. This is why, from a body mechanics point

of view, these arts are classified as internal.

External Martial Arts:
Although body mechanics and movements of external martial arts
may vary greatly from style to style, the major difference between
these and the internal styles is that external styles, while generating
power through the coordination of the body as a whole, lack unity of
motion in the internal arts sense. For example, many external martial
arts strike using the power of the waist and upper body from the base
of a stable stance, the blow would be relaxed during delivery, then
tightened for an instant at impact This type of strike is capable of
generating a great amount of power, with the force being produced
mainly by the waist and striking limb. This whipping of a limb and
tensing at impact is referred to as sectional power ju bu li) and
differs from the whole body power of internal martial arts.
The sequence of training in external martial arts also differs in
purpose. In the early stages of training, external martial arts place
greater emphasis on increasing strength and endurance as the raw
material to be refined later into precise technique. Whereas the goal
of internal style stance training is to train the nervous system into the
feeling of a unified body, the external martial artist stands to increase
the strength, endurance and flexibility. As a consequence, external
stance training is usually lower and wider than that of the internal.
Although an oversimplification, it may be said that the internal
martial artist stands to cultivate feeling, while the external martial
artist stands to develop strength.
External martial artists often spend considerable time conditioning
specific areas of the body, either to withstand impact or to increase
sectional power. An external martial artist may especially condition
the head, fists, elbows, shoulders, fingers, or emphasize a specific
movement, resulting in the development of a specialized weapon. This
is another example of the development of sectional power in the
external martial arts. Once the martial artist has a strong foundation,
form and technique training begins. Once again, the forms and
techniques emphasized in external styles are designed around the
sectional power developed through basic training.

Mindset Of The Martial Arts:

Another major difference between internal and external martial arts is
in the approach they take to training the mind. The internal places
great emphasis on mind/body unity. The Taoists realized that a
relaxed body controlled by a quiet mind produced a holistic entity,
capable of fulfilling its potential. At the outset of training, the internal
arts place the greatest emphasis on refining and training the nervous
system to control the body. In contrast, most external styles
emphasize increasing strength and endurance (external power) as the
base upon which martial technique will be built. Students of the
internal, through mind/body unity, seek to balance the nervous and
hormonal systems, thereby producing a power from within the body
(nei jing or internal power). The unified power is completely
dependent upon fine neuromuscular control, which is completely
mentally directed. The internal martial arts also talk at great length
about practicing with a quiet mind. It is often quoted that, There
should be stillness in movement, and internal martial artists seek to
remain calm in spirit as they move. One of the primary reasons
internal martial arts are good for health is that one may
simultaneously exercise the body and rest the mind.
Turning to external martial arts, much less emphasis is placed on a
quiet mindset. In many external styles, cultivation of a state the
Chinese call the killing air (sha qi) is preferred. The spirit is raised
and directed outwardly toward the opponent, rather than inwardly,
much like athletes psyching up before an event. An externally
observable manifestation of the different mindsets is apparent in the
facial expressions of the individual practitioner: the external martial
artist often shouts and grimaces fiercely, while the internal boxer
looks calm and may even be faintly smiling during a fight.
In Application:
The third major difference between the internal and external martial
arts is in how they are applied to a live opponent, as well as the various
methods of training martial application. The students of both schools
first develop their power, balance, feeling and body mechanics from
solo training. The next step is to bridge the gap between form and
function.

This type of training will be determined mainly by a particular schools

theories of combat. The internal schools stress sticking to, following
and going with the opponents power, borrowing energy, the
avoidance of force against force directly, and the issuing of power only
after one has the right opportunity and advantageous position.
External styles vary greatly in theory (some following principles
almost identical to the internal), but in general, whereas an external
stylist may punch through his opponents defenses, the internal stylist
never fully issues his power until he has the opponent in an
unbalanced position either physically or spatially. Most internal styles
also have some variation of push hands practice. The primary
purpose of pushing bands is to develop listening energy (ting jing) or
become sensitive to outside pressure from the opponent in relation to
ones own balance.
Finally, both internal and external martial artists practice footwork
drills, repeated single-technique practice, issuing power on a live
opponent, and eventually free sparring to develop practical fighting
skill.
Conclusion:
This article has shown the similarities and differences among the three
orthodox internal styles of Chinese martial art and external styles in
general. Its clear that external and internal styles are indeed different,
in theory, practice and application, and the factors that classify an art
as either internal of external are clear-cut and concrete.
This classification of an art as either internal or external is based
solely on adherence in practice and use to a specific set of principles,
and not on particular forms or posturing. It is important to remember
that all arts, both internal and external, were originally intended for
fighting. Finally, no judgment as to the superiority of one art over
another is intended. After all, any martial art is only theory until a
human being moves, and the value of any art lies ultimately in the skill
and understanding of the individual artist.