What is Mind Intent?

The role of mind intent in in Chi Kung /Qi Gong is most important. Without mind intent very little would actually happen. One of the ideas/theories of higher level practice is that everything is mind intent and that everything else is just a construct vehicle or mechanism to carry out what the mind is actually doing.

So, what is mind intent?

Mind Intent is the intention of the mind. What you are visualizing, thinking about or trying to do including your inner voice command or desire.

When you move or desire to move your mind first issues a mental command to your body and then your body receives the signal and acts as the mind directs. This includes the mental command to not act on wants, desires and needs including such simple things as being presented with food and not eating when you are hungry because you are going to a lunch appointment in an hour and want to eat then instead of now. You have a physical desire to eat but your mind makes the decision and your body follows the order. Also, if you choose to eat something now then your mind has decided to eat now and then the body follows suit. Of course someone who is weak minded may eat now and have a very low ability to exercise their mental power over their own body.

To use mind intent for healing purposes you must first have self control for if you cannot control yourself then how could you possibly control others.

There are different kinds of mind intent. I will list two of the basic and most common kinds here and then describe them a bit.

Yi or I is the intellectual mind intent.

Shen is emotional mind intent.

Intellectual mind intent refers to the idea that if I need to open a door to get from one place to another and there is no emotion attached to the idea and I simply reach out and turn the door knob and then open the door and walk through it then I have used Yi / I intellectual mind intent to do it. There was no emotion behind it I simply mechanically did it.

If I am scared or angry and I perform the same action and practically tear the door off of its hinges without trying to do that then the Shen has manifested into my physical action and the emotional mind intent is causing my physical energy to work in specific and powerful kinds of ways.

In healing if I use Yi / I then I am mechanically using my mind to work and feel inside of the person I am working on. I make adjustments as I feel misalignments and blockages and I simply focus where and how I need to. Most acupuncture is performed using Yi. The acupuncturist feels where and how the person’s energy state is through the meridian system of the body and the acupuncturist is very calm so as to get an accurate assessment. Then, the acupuncturist addresses those systems that are out of balance. With internal Chi Kung work it is the same except the work is done with the manipulation of the energy instead of using needles.

To heal with Shen means that you feel compassion for the person and your heart reaches out to them and they receive healing because this is happening. Empathy is a form of shen. I have found that the most profound healing uses both shen and Yi / I. Your mind must be focused and having love and or compassion helps you to do this on the person as an entire being. Yi or I helps you to get laser focus directly to the affected area in need of treatment.

What is Internal Tai Chi as opposed to regular Tai Chi? First of all, the goal of all Tai Chi is to be internal. Following are 5 principles of Internal Tai Chi.

1. Sustained Relaxation

To gain some understanding of this first try to relax your body as much as you can so that your entire body wants to relax into the floor then move your body such as in taking a step. When you begin to take the step feel inside of your body and relax every unnecessary body part that tensed just as you thought about taking the step. Then, begin to step again and repeat. Perform the entire Tai Chi set this way and be honest with yourself. Most people will have to stop and re-relax many times.

2. Deep Inner Calm & Focus

Real internal practice is quite calm while staying focused on the here and now. Practice staying extremely calm and placid while keeping your focus on the here and now without letting your mind wander. Most people have difficulty because either tension will creep in, they will pick up the pace of their movement or their mind will start to wander.

3. Whole Body Breathing

Breathe with your entire body so that you can feel all of the cells getting oxygen. There should not be any strain or tension. Simply breathe with every part of your body and feel the cells softly respond to the air exchange.

4. Body Connection

The entire body moves as one with itself and ideally with its surroundings. When you are moving up everything is still connected to the ground but everything moves up. When you are sinking the air holds you up like strings holding up a puppet and yet everything is sinking down to and into the ground.

5. Energy Movement and Connection

The practitioner needs to be sensitive and have the ability to control and move with the energy so that with any movement the mind moves first, the energy follows the mind and then the body naturally follows the energy. If the energy movement is proper and the connection between the energy and the body is true and correct then the practitioner’s movement will seem to flow on its own and can be felt and seen by anyone else who has any ability to sense energy.

Q: Hi Richard,

How specifically do you separate and practice your external qi gong and kung fu from your Tai Chi internal qi gong and internal tai chi?

Can you give me a run down on what kind of schedule you use to practice both of these systems. I have not been practicing external Kung Fu much lately. Yet I have been practicing Tai Chi, Wu Chi, Carry the Caldron, Grand Tai Chi every day. I want to practice both with a flow that allows it to blend and not cause problems with one another.

Thanks for your time.
Best Regards,
__________________________________
A: Hi Dan,
There are a number of things to consider in order to get a real and responsible answer to this question.

The first thing is that in the traditional schools I studied from they were adamantly of the opinion that after 40 years of age that the practitioner should primarily only be practicing Internal and maintain but not build new external training practices.

Secondly, what is the external training that you are referring to specifically? I ask this because there are many kinds and types of training and there are internal ways to work on most skills. Even though the internal methods are different and can take a bit longer to develop they are often superior in the long run.

Best Regards.
Sifu

Q: On the Carry the Cauldron and Grand Tai Chi do you teach any higher qigong breathing exercises to go along with that like “packing the Chi”? Or is the breathing and exhaling all you need to do for those specific exercises.

A: I do not teach packing the Chi at first because it can seriously damage a beginner. It is taught later when the student is ready which is probably after completion of the Intermediate material and yes the exercises will do some packing of Chi naturally which many teachers consider the best way.

Thank you to Michael Smith for the historical facts regarding the history of Tai Chi and the proximity of the Chen Village to the Shaolin temple.

I studied Kung Fu and Chi Kung for several years before I began my studies in Tai Chi. My primary Kung Fu instructors were also my first Tai Chi teachers. When I first began practicing Tai Chi I noticed that a lot of the moves shared characteristics with the Kung Fu I was studying. Obviously the primary difference between Kung Fu and Tai Chi was that in the beginning of training the Tai Chi was trained much softer and slower than the external Kung Fu.

I did some reading on Tai Chi history and became aware of Chan San Feng and the story that Tai Chi was first developed by a monk who saw a snake and a crane fighting. At times as I learned and worked on the Tai Chi I considered how the moves worked in that context. I found that much of the Shaolin snake and crane style movement and nuances were present in the Tai Chi. This includes cranes tendency to stand on one leg and move around the center point as well as snakes tendency to move subtly with an adjusting focus from the center that is not seen until the last instant due to the hidden nature of the movement.

I also found that some of the Tai Chi moves had Tiger in the name i.e. “Tiger Returns to Mountain” and that many of these moves (under different names) can be found in Tiger style Kung Fu. I was surprised at first as Tiger is the first and generally most external animal in Shaolin. However, there are some soft moves in Tiger style that are meant to defeat moves from another Tiger stylist and generally these are the ones that are most often found in Tai Chi.

However, there are some fairly aggressive moves from the animal styles that can be found in Tai Chi as well. For instance “Brush Knee” can be found in Snake and Tiger style Kung Fu.

In Snake style the brush knee hand is withdrawing and drawing in the attacker and the pushing hand is thrust forward slightly to the other side of the pivot point / center of gravity to a point of weakness so that the attacker goes flying with very little effort from the Snake practitioner. Also, the Snake strike can be to a pressure point which is activated by the other hand withdrawing and stretching the meridian from the point of contact. Picture grabbing and pulling someone right arm so that they are being stretched and turned and then touching them on a pressure point on the left side of their chest with your finger tip(s) with your whole body weight driving the strike.

As for Tiger picture the brush knee as a Tiger hand clearing the opponents arms out of the way and then the other hand does a Tiger hand palm strike into them. Once again the Tiger arm clearing technique is turning them to the side and then the striking / pushing hand is striking them in the center while they are in the process of turning. Once their balance is compromised the opponent essentially trips over their own legs and goes flying back because of their own body weight falling and trying to regain balance.

It is my personal belief that Tai Chi was originally developed by the old monks who were refined masters of external Kung Fu, Dim Mak pressure points both for healing and for fighting and Chi Kung energy work. They understood true refined economy of motion, the human body, momentum, energy etc. and realized that it was foolish for an older man to use external Kung Fu to compete / fight a 25 year old in the peak of health who had been studying the same external Kung Fu arts for 20+ years in the temple. So one or more of the old monks utilized the knowledge they had learned and personally gained through practice and experience of both the healing and martial arts and applied that science to create a training and fighting method that would be great for health and for fighting into advanced years. I also believe that this is why they named the art Tai Chi Chuan translated as Supreme Ultimate Boxing.

Much of the origins of Tai Chi is considered to be unknown and a mystery. I welcome comments and questions on this post and I hope to spark a stimulating conversation whereby we can all benefit from a greater understanding of the real Tai Chi history.

[This is an abbreviated transcript of the video on the right. The first part in a video series on the skills you will learn, and some things you should know about in our new Combat Tai Chi program]

Part 1: The 2 Secrets of Combat Tai Chi

Most people in America have experienced Tai Chi as the really slow motion, soft, easy going, no effort, no strain kind of a workout you get at the YMCA. Most Americans have not seen real combat Tai Chi.

Combat Tai Chi when you first see it, is very very impressive.

When you haven’t seen or experienced it before it tends to look amazing. People tend to look at it also and go “that’s not Tai Chi” when it is, if it is, and they also tend to see it and think there’s some trick to it. It really is difficult to believe until you get to feel and experience it for your self.

The thing I’ll tell you about this is that the ability to do this kind of thing is real, and there is no trick to it.

Except for this:
You will have to work your ass off.

In order to develop any real skill with combat Tai Chi there are 2 secrets you have to know

1. You have to find someone who really knows it, and is willing to teach it.
2. To acquire, learn and be able to do the internal skills requires a lot of hard work. First the hard work to learn it and understand it. And then the hard work to be able to build those skills into decent ability and to actually be able to apply the combat Tai Chi

It’s more work than most people would ever imagine.

to be continued…

Tai Chi history and the origins of Tai Chi are an often debated topic. Today we have an excellent article on the subject from one of our long distance students Michael Smith. We’ll follow this up in the coming week with Sigung Clear’s thoughts and research on creation of Tai Chi.

Tai Chi History

by Michael Smith

The origin of tai chi chuan is somewhat disputed as there are many vested interests from the different family styles to have the “oldest” or most “authentic” version. However, it is relatively undisputed matter that all of the forms of the 5 major orthodox styles that we have today come from the Laojia Yilu or “the old frame routine one” I will briefly describe the origins of this routine.

Mark Chen writes that Chen Bu, a native of Shanxi, settled in a small village in Wen County during the time of the Ming dynasty when the imperial government instituted a program of migrations to repopulate areas of the country that had been decimated by War. Chen Bu’s family grew and he taught martial arts (of a style no longer known) in his new home which is what we now have come to know as the Chen village.

Eight generations later Chen Wang Ting would be credited with creating what is know considered tai chi chuan. There is some debate of where this material came from but several sources believe it was heavily influenced by the shaolin temple as it was just a 2 day walk. (I myself took a day trip from the shaolin temple to the Chen village when visiting china to train) Some sources think Chen Wang Ting borrowed from General Qi Ji Guang’s “boxing classic” and/or shaolin taizu long boxing, Shaolin Major Hong Boxing and Shaolin Cannon Fist with Taoist principles added to create the original Chen style tai chi chuan. Therefore Chen style has a much stronger resemblance to what most people think of as “kung fu” than the other tai chi styles.

Chen Wang Ting is attributed with creating seven empty hand sets (“five sets of shadow boxing” “one set of long boxing” containing 108 forms and the “One Set of Cannon-Bashing Combat Boxing”). Five generations later, Chen Chang Xing (14th generation Chen family) is said to have unified these into a single long routine (first form) and a single set of cannon bashing (2nd form). However, there is some speculation that Laojia Yilu (old frame routine one) came from the long boxing of Chen Wang Ting, the second routine (also sometimes referred to as “cannon fist”) came from the cannon bashing routine and the other 5 routines were lost within the 5 generations between Chen Wang Ting and Chen Chang Xing. Regardless, the routine as organized by Chen Chang Xing (laojia yilu) is the ancestor of all current tai chi chuan forms in existence.

Chen Chang Xing is also noted for teaching the first non Chen family member (Yang Luchan) who created the popular Yang style which was finalized by his grandson Yang Chen fu. The form had been modified to be more even paced with less instances of fajin (explosive issuing of power) and less vigorous jumping and stamping so as to be more suitable for older individuals. It was still most definitely a martial art but this change has likely resulted in the current misconception that tai chi is only for maintaining health and is not a martial art. It also explains why the Chen style looks so much more like what people commonly think of as “kung fu” than the other styles.

The big Wu style came from Yang style. The small Wu style (also known as Li or Hao style) came from a small frame style of Chen. From the small Wu/Li/ Hao style came the Sun style of tai chi chuan. These are the 5 major orthodox branches of tai chi chuan in existence today.

All styles of tai chi chuan are wonderful and have their individual benefits and merits. There may be different approaches and theories to martial applications due to the differences among the various masters associated with each family style. Some have come up with more elaborate and romantic origin stories for tai chi chuan perhaps because of not wanting to have such an exquisite art attributed as coming from the very small and rural Chen village. However, most serious tai chi historians seem to be in agreement that this is indeed the case.

Regardless of the style you practice or it’s origins practice, explore, enjoy and treasure the wonderful art that is tai chi chuan.

I often get asked if there is really such a thing as Tai Chi for self defense? How can Tai Chi be for self defense? After all the moves are performed slowly and smoothly and big.

First of all consider what are the biggest killers of people in the modern day. Heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease, strokes etc are the leading causes of death for most people. What is the root cause of most of these problems? Of course the answer is stress. Diet is also a large factor in the fight for good health. Before, I lose you as a reader I am also going to talk about Tai Chi for physical self defense so please bear with me.

Granted it takes awhile for the average person to really learn how to defend themselves with Tai Chi. Although, it is relatively easy to take individual Tai Chi moves and use them in a way that lends itself to self defense. However, it does require a knowledgeable instructor.

Most of the physical self defense in Tai Chi is not designed to be learned today and used today. However, consider the idea that Tai Chi is designed to be used by an older person who has outlived any ability to fight in a UFC type of event and who is to old to ever want to or need to basically box with someone because it would typically put their physical health at risk.

Now, lets say that the this older person I have been writing about is attacked in the street. How do they defend themselves? It is a harsh reality when you are old enough that physically defending yourself even successfully could possibly end your life due to the stress and strain on your system.

Tai Chi has an answer to this dilemma. First of all the art is designed to teach you how to move efficiently and softly in a way so that force can not find a place in you to hurt. Proper Tai Chi practice teaches how to deflect force by the way you move and how sensitive you become to contact and your surroundings. You literally learn to relax enough so that force passes through you and exits as opposed to finding a place inside of you to take hold.

Holding your breath can also cause you to freeze when you really need to move and can also cause undue tension that will cause and help external force and trauma to harm you. Tai Chi helps you learn to breathe.

Tai Chi emphasizes continuous internal and external movement and relaxing and breathing even while under stress. Of course push hands practice really helps with this and the push hands can be practiced at your level of ability with no impact and without undue force as you learn to dispel greater and greater force. Using the analogy (and reality) that the drunk is the one who survives the car wreck, Tai Chi is like drunken style for old people.

When you properly learn Tai Chi you are taught how to find the weakest point on and in an opponent and you are taught how to touch with your entire body weight. So, imagine if you can sense on your attacker a misaligned vertebrae on the spine that is not meant to take more than 25 pounds of force on a good day and you touch them sending all of your 150 pounds of body weight into it while you flow in a way that makes it so that they can not impact you in any harmful way. This is the skill that serious Tai Chi practitioners seek to cultivate.

Can Tai Chi be used for self defense? YES! And the really neat thing is that it can be learned reasonably quickly within a few short years and does not require the 20 – 30 years that most people think it takes. In the meanwhile you are learning an effective art that will help stave off the real lethal killers we all face in the way of deadly stress and disease.

What are Internal Tai Chi Skills? Internal Tai Chi Skills are what is going on inside the practitioner of Tai Chi and are the real essence of the art.

As stated in a previous post a practitioner will need to learn and practice a form / set. However, the form / set is not the essence of Tai Chi but is instead the shell that is used to practice real Tai Chi.

I like to think of it as the body of a racing car. A racing car needs a body and ideally the car body will be aerodynamic and streamlined. But, if I have a terrific sports racing car body and the cheapest push lawnmower engine and internal parts I can find then I am still driving a glorified lawnmower and not a real sports car.

Many folks learn a Tai Chi form or set and often eventually teach that form or set thinking that they now have and teach Tai Chi. If the set was everything they would be correct. However, the form / set is only the common first beginning step in Tai Chi and not enough for anyone to be considered a Tai Chi instructor.

There are many other essential components to Tai Chi. This includes but is not limited to applications, push hands, sparring, cultivation of chi, chi kung / qi gong, energetics for health and self defense, mind intention development and internal Tai Chi skills. Without these other skills the Tai Chi may look good but there is no or very little real Tai Chi happening.

So, what are internal Tai Chi skills?

First, is the proper development of Sung relaxation (much more about the relaxation inside than out) and posture which includes connection. Relaxation and connection can easily be tested. Simple pushing against the arms of the practitioner are one of the easiest and best tests for this. If the practitioner is tense they will not be able to withstand a proper push without getting moved. Also, if there is no internal alignment or there are postural or large internal gaps and holes then the structure will easily fail and the practitioner will once again easily be moved.

Second, is the breath deep, full and complete? If it is not, then tension will enter due to lack of breath and again the structure will fail or / and the practitioner will easily be moved. Also, the energy pathways should be through the entire body ideally through the feet and down into the ground. This is considered by many to be advanced material but I have found that it is only considered advanced because so few people actually know it. It is my goal to help to change this so that many more people can begin to get the real benefits that are available from the study of Tai Chi.

The items I have mentioned so far are basic and should be taught within the first few months of any authentic Tai Chi program. The next items that I am writing about here are also internal Tai Chi skills that can normally be taught quite early in the study of Tai Chi and will really help beginners to see the internal aspects of Tai Chi.

First of all sensitivity. Learning to feel both inside and out is a hallmark of real Tai Chi study. You must be able to feel inside your body to really deeply relax and breathe into any specific area. How can you relax and breathe fully into an area that you can not feel? The answer of course is that you cannot. Sensitivity is one of the most important skills that you can develop as it makes it possible for you to really and deeply develop the other skills. Listening or Sensitivity skill in Tai Chi is referred to as Ting Jing.

Tai Chi Internal Skills includes Jing training. Jing refers to the manipulation of Chi as directed by the mind intent. Basic Jings are Peng, Lu, Ji and Ahn. These 4 basic jings are postural jings that can be used in combination with energetics in more advanced practice but in their basic form Peng / Ward Off, Lu / Roll Back, Ji / Press and Ahn / Push are structural alignments and movements that teach aspects of the application of physical structure along with being a gateway into internal practice. Some basic jings that are more energetic in nature include rooting (chen jing) which involves dropping your body weight down into the ground and jan nien jing which is sticking and adhering energy.

We will be writing more about Tai Chi internal skills and jings in future posts and as always welcome any questions and comments.

Regards.
Richard

Nei Jia (Internal arts) are generally considered to be different than external arts. In this post I would like to suggest some of the reasons for how and why.

When Tai Chi masters are grading a Tai Chi practitioner’s set the first thing they look at is what can be physically seen. This includes such things as is the form / set correct and how is the posture and flow between postures and how / what is the expression of the individuals Tai Chi.

When this is correct and it is obvious that the practitioner is not a beginner then the very next thing that is evaluated and looked at are the internal aspects usually stated as “are they internal”. To someone who has not heard this before it obviously begs the question, “what is internal?”.

I have heard many different explanations of what makes an internal art. These range from as simple as external arts (wai jia) referring to arts that came from the outside of China and nei jia originating inside of China to how the external arts are about physical force and the internal arts are secret mystical mumbo jumbo.

After many years of study, practice and research as well as hundreds of conversations with senior masters about this topic I have come to my own conclusions regarding the topic.

Internal refers to what is going on inside the person.

Following is a partial list of the criteria that is used to determine and evaluate internal.

1. What is the mind state of the practitioner?
2. How is the practitioner breathing?
3. How relaxed is the practitioner?
4. Is the root sunk and the head floating?
5. What is the movement inside of the practitioner?
6. What is the sensitivity of the practitioner to the inside of their body?
7. How are the internal connections of the practitioner? This includes such things as:
   • Internal Connection pathways through the body. Ideally this is an unbroken flow of the line of force from the foot through the expression point which changes constantly but is intelligent and directed.
   • Is the body movement and action one piece or a collection of parts?
   • Is the upper and lower body connected and coordinated?

Hopefully this list will help to stimulate conversation and questions and be a good beginning point for anyone seeking to understand the internal. This list is not comprehensive and I will be adding more posts regarding the internal in the near future.

One more item for thought. An external art may have some internal aspects to it but will tend to focus on fighting and strategy and external drills etc with very little or no focus on the internal.

Internal arts tend to do only the amount of external movement necessary to have a vehicle to practice the internal and are looking to really enhance and improve the internal aspects of practice which will then improve and enhance the rest of the art including the external trappings of the art(s).