Ken Gullette's Internal Martial Arts

Tai Chi Helpful in Coping with Diabetes?

A new study from the University of Florida suggests that tai chi can be effective to help manage diabetes. Here's a video from Gator country:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0jNXFUZuMA

Can a Christian Study Tai Chi?

Over the years, I've been asked this question several times. It usually takes the form of something like this: "Ken, I'm a Christian and I want to study Tai Chi, but I'm worried that it isn't compatible with my Christian beliefs. Is it?"

I need to let you know that I grew up in Southern, conservative, fundamentalist Christian churches. I was baptized. I believed very strongly. 

And I want to slap the people who ask this question for being so narrow-minded and ignorant.

One of the biggest problems with Christianity is the tendency to force people into a very narrow way of looking at the world -- at other cultures. It also seems to encourage ignorance about other cultures. Is it a surprise that Americans are so uninformed about international affairs. You can't argue with me about this because I've lived it. I grew up with it and I know the players. If you're a devout fundamentalist Christian you don't want to believe this is true but it is (in your heart you know I'm right). When other cultures and beliefs are brought up, it's a negative environment that discourages exploration and analysis except in a derogatory way. Not all Christians are this way -- I've been a member of Methodist churches as an adult that were very tolerant of other views, including mine. Fundamentalist Christian is a different story, however.

When my daughter Harmony was in junior high, she put a yin/yang symbol on her notebook. Christian kids in her class accused her of being Satanic.

Ignorant, but probably reflecting what they were taught in church and by their parents.

There is nothing Satanic about the yin/yang symbol and absolutely nothing religious about Tai Chi. You can believe anything you want from a spiritual perspective and still enjoy Tai Chi.

Let's look at it from different perspectives. Tai Chi is a martial art. Is there something in Christianity that prevents its members from learning to defend themselves? I don't remember being taught anything like that in Sunday School. There was a lot of fighting in the Old Testament, as I recall. David was pretty good with weapons. He had to be, to slay Goliath.

Tai Chi is also used for relaxation and moving meditation. Is there something in Christianity that forbids its members from relaxing and calming themselves? Perhaps some of the zealous ones believe instead of calming the mind you should turn it all over to Jesus. Well, okay, if that works for you that's fine. But there is nothing religious about relaxing, calming, meditating.

Let's look at chi kung -- you don't stand there thinking of Satan or Jesus. You think of your breathing, energy visualization, and calming the mind and body. 

Anyway, is there something anti-Christian about trying to become "One" with the universe? If God created the universe, why would you NOT want to be One with it?

There is nothing religious about that but I suppose if you need to, you could assume that you are becoming One with God.

After the terrorist attacks of 9-11, I was at a very intelligent fundamentalist Christian's home (a relative of mine) watching the news. The anchor was interviewing a rabbi and a priest. The priest said something that indicated he and the rabbi would meet again in heaven. I turned to my Christian relative and said, "Jews don't really believe in heaven, do they?"

This very intelligent Christian replied, "I don't know what they believe and I don't want to know."

I was stunned at the willing ignorance -- the proud bigotry of this intelligent person. What's up with that? Why is hostility to other beliefs a hallmark of this faith? I lived it for a couple of decades and I know it's true -- not of everyone of course, but the more fundamentalist you are, the more likely that it's true. 

Why would anyone ever wonder if they can study Tai Chi?

This post was triggered by something I saw online recently -- Christian Tai Chi. It was designed by someone who believed that they needed to give up Tai Chi in order to follow Jesus. So instead of giving it up, he modified it to reflect Christianity. A week or so ago, I received yet another email from someone asking if Tai Chi was compatible with his Christian beliefs. I've received several of these over the years. Between these two things, I had to speak out as a person who was immersed in this faith for the first 20 years of his life.

Tai Chi was developed in a nation that is predominantly Taoist and Buddhist. Karate was developed in a non-Christian nation. Taekwondo was developed in a non-Christian nation. So was Krav Maga (Jewish). I've studied Taekwondo and never heard anything religious mentioned. I know a lot of Christians who are deep into karate and it doesn't seem to be an issue at all. They're fine folks and I consider them among my favorite people in the world.

The first step toward wisdom, according to Socrates, was to question your own beliefs. Wisdom is impossible without doubt. Why do you believe what you do? What caused these beliefs? If the beliefs are inaccurate, are you able to recognize it? 

No matter what religion you believe in, you don't have to check your brains at the door. So one more time, boys and girls. Put on your thinking caps and repeat after me: "there is nothing religious about Tai Chi."

Don't make me slap you. Sheesh.

What Are the Six Harmonies in Tai Chi, Hsing-I and Bagua?

A member of the online school asked a question on the discussion board and I thought it would also make for a good post here on the blog.

What are the Six Harmonies and what does it mean? Does it mean the hands move with the feet, the elbows move with the knees and the shoulders with the hips?

Some people say the Six Harmonies are:

1. Shoulders

2. Hips

3. Elbows

4. Knees

5. Hands

6. Feet

So the shoulders move with the hips, the elbows with the knees, the hands with the feet.

That isn't the complete story, however. These three groups of two (hips/shoulders, elbows/knees, hands/feet) make up the THREE EXTERNAL HARMONIES. The other three harmonies that make up the six harmonies would include Spirit (Shen), Yi (Mind/Intent) and Chi. These are known as the Three Internal Harmonies.

You must have a strong spirit in order to do the internal arts properly, and in a self-defense situation to do effective techniques. Your mind and intention must be clear and focused, and then your energy will be up to the task at hand. All three of these must act in harmony.

Let's go back to the original list of six above (the Three External Harmonies). For these parts to move in harmony, there must be a connection. So if you're doing any particular movement, your feet are connected through the hands, your hips through the shoulders, and your knees through the elbows.

This is another way of talking about whole-body movement and silk-reeling. Each part can move separately -- on it's own -- and yet the movement is not effective and not internal if the other parts are not moving in harmony. A strike with the hand must also use the feet (ground) and it spirals up through the knees, waist (dan t'ien), shoulders, and elbows.

Think about this the next time you're practicing a movement -- use Buddha's Warrior or Lazy about Tying the Coat. You notice that at the beginning of Lazy About Tying the Coat, you step out with your right leg but your right elbow isn't really over the knee and the right hand isn't over the foot, so the idea that the elbow must be over the knee or the hand over the foot isn't really accurate.

However, when you are doing the movement, you are connected. Even at the end of the movement when you are "relaxing," your elbow is spiraling as you sink and your knee should be spiraling, too. At this point also, your elbow is over the knee and the hand is over the foot.

I'm feeling a lot better so I'll do a video about this soon for the online school.

Some Tai Chi Folks with the Right Attitude - Martial Tai Chi

One of the members of the online school found a group in the United Kingdom that focuses like pit bulls on a subject near and dear to my heart -- putting the martial art back into Tai Chi.

Take a look at this site for more information.

Joanna Zorya is the organizer, and she seems to have a clear-headed, no BS view of Tai Chi.

With more people like this, maybe eventually we'll get the message across that Tai Chi is a powerful and effective martial art.

A Review of New Documentary DVD - Chen Village

The new documentary by Jon Braeley, Chen Village, is a beautiful and fascinating journey inside the birthplace of Tai Chi. I bought the DVD through amazon.com and eagerly watched it a few nights ago when it arrived. 

Shot in high definition, the documentary includes interviews with westerners who have traveled to Chen Village to study, and it shows a disciple ceremony in which Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang accepts new disciples.

Chen Village (Chenjiagou) is located in Henan Province. It's a very poor village with 3,000 residents. It's estimated that 2,500 of them practice tai chi, and 85% of them have the Chen surname. You see parts of the village here that you haven't seen before. When you think of the birthplace of Tai Chi, you might think of beautiful Chinese buildings, and there are a few that meet the description, but Chenjiagou is a dirt-poor farming community. It just happens that they are the best in the world at their art.

The documentary features Chen Xiaowang, his brother and principle of the Chenjiagou tai chi school Chen Xiaoxing, Chen Ziqiang (son of Xiaoxing) and Chen Bing (a nephew of Xiaowang and Xiaoxing). It's exciting to watch, considering I have met and trained with three of the four, and Chen Xiaoxing stayed in our home for a week. It's also fascinating to see the school since I received a certificate in 2005 as a recognized instructor connected to the school.

I didn't know until seeing this DVD that Chen Bing now runs his own school, and he has built it with foreign students in mind. Some students have been reluctant in the past to travel to Chen Village because living conditions are not very good compared with our standards. 

I was disappointed but not surprised to hear Chen Bing say that foreign students are usually trained differently than the Chinese -- not as tough because they can't take it, and most of them, he says, are interested in the health aspects more than the martial aspects. Are you listening, people? They don't consider us to be very serious because we focus on the wrong things.

Chen Ziqiang is interviewed, talking about how only one in a hundred students -- even those from the Chen Village -- are able to persist long enough to become really good at tai chi. I've been teaching now for a dozen years and that is something that becomes clear very quickly when you teach -- the fact that for every 100 people that come through the door, only one has the determination and passion to achieve their goals.

The interviews with the western students are very interesting. They find themselves in a very simple environment when they stay at the Chen Village -- a much slower and far less technological lifestyle. A few of the comments go a little over-the-top, as you can imagine from people who are dedicated enough to spend a year or two living there. One student actually breaks down and cries when he speaks about his devotion to Chen Xiaowang. I understand the devotion, but I tend to look at these masters as people who are the best at what they do -- like Tiger Woods, Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan, all worthy of tremendous respect. I don't look at them as gods. Nancy watched the documentary with me and strongly objected to the disciple ceremony where the disciples were kneeling and bowing in worship before Grandmaster Chen. I didn't react as strongly because I understand why they're doing it, but it was fascinating to see a ceremony like this after hearing about it. When you become a disciple it's a very serious relationship, supposedly like being admitted to the family, and yet there is a master/student relationship that is very strict, and let's face it, the culture is not what we are accustomed to. Americans by nature don't like to kneel and prostrate themselves before anyone (we reserve that behavior for our relationship with invisible beings), but in the context of the situation and the culture, it's something that you do.

Chen Bing is shown at his school demonstrating a form, and as usual, he's breathtakingly impressive. There is a little video of Chen Xiaoxing practicing with some students, and Chen Xiaowang does a short demo, too.

As I heal from the lung problem that has plagued me this year, I have one goal -- to travel to Chen Village and give it my best effort to train like the Chinese. I've taken a week off of practicing as I gear up for this medical procedure at the Cleveland Clinic next week, but watching this documentary made me want to bounce off the walls. I just can't wait to get over this thing and start building my strength and practice HARD again. It's nice that Jon Braeley has produced such an inspirational film.

I highly recommend this DVD to anyone with an interest in Tai Chi. 

Why Your Tai Chi Skills Are So Weak

There is an article on the Internet by a tai chi instructor based in Los Angeles. It outlines the 10 most important concepts you should remember when practicing Tai Chi. And it's the reason most Tai Chi being practiced in America is so weak.

This isn't a personal attack. I don't intend to insult this teacher or his group. I'm sure they're completely sincere, so I won't bring this guy's name into the discussion, but he's typical of so many Tai Chi folks I've met who focus on the wrong things, thinking they're doing Tai Chi. They do this because their teacher taught them a weak version of this art, and they believed he or she knew what they were talking about. It happens everywhere. The result -- you meet their students and see quickly that they have no concept of body mechanics.

Here--briefly--is his list of top ten important things to focus on:

Concept 1: Tai Chi is done with an emphasis on every movement. The fashion of every pattern must be connected with one another.

Concept 2: Maintain your shoulders dropped so that any tension will be eliminated.

Concept 3: Your wrists should be straight in order to maintain strength and a good flow of energy.

Concept 4: Learning to move ever more slowly is one path is increased cultivation.

Concept 5: Never let any hindrances stop you from being connected. In case you get disconnected, keep up with the motions.

Concept 6: In practicing Tai Chi, your knees must always be bent. Also you need to maintain your balance for your height not to bob up and down.

Concept 7: Power of Tai Chi will start from the feet going up to the legs, controlling the shoulders and will be expressed by the fingers and hands.

Concept 8: Your head must be maintained as if it was suspended on air.

Concept 9: Your chest must be depressed and your back should be raised but this must be done effortlessly.

Concept 10: Keep your breath to your body's center of gravity, the dan tien; again this must be done effortlessly.

My Response to these Concepts

Most of these concepts are things that you need to know and do -- but they are FAR from the top ten concepts you need. These are--in my opinion--add-ons; things to think of after you begin focusing on the top concepts that you need to know.

Concepts 1 and 10 I can buy into. You must be connected through the body. As you progress, you should focus on the breathing with the dan t'ien, but that is NOT done effortlessly at first. It takes practice and focus.

Concepts 2 and three are just silly. Yes, you should relax your shoulders and "drop" them, and usually you try to keep the wrists straight. But to list these specifically as the number two and three concepts is surprising. Rather than focus on the shoulders as this guy does, I encourage students to drop their weight -- "sink their chi" -- and relax everything, including the shoulders while you maintain ground and peng (see below for my list of concepts).

Concept 4 is just wrong. Learning to move ever more slowly is the key? Actually, you move slowly in the beginning to get the body mechanics, calming, sinking, relaxing, and learning to connect the whole-body movement in conjunction with the body mechanics that I will discuss below. After you learn to move properly in slow motion, you move faster and faster, learning fa-jing and how to apply the movements in self-defense. The more advanced you get, the more you enjoy--and are able to do the forms properly at both slow and combat speeds. Yes, I said combat. Tai Chi is a martial art, first and foremost.

Concept 5 is a distraction. Don't get distracted? Well of course. That also applies to reading a book.

Concept 6 tells you to keep your knees bent. This is another way to say relax and sink. It's difficult to move properly if your knees are locked. But one of the top ten concepts? It's part of a concept but not a stand-alone.

He almost nails Concept 7. Power does start in the ground, travels through the legs -- but he ignores the key concept that it is guided by the dan t'ien and then is expressed through the hands (or whatever part of the body is striking). Inserting the shoulders here is goofy. The power has to go through the shoulders but they are conduits for internal strength and should be kept out of play as much as possible except in certain circumstances involving kou energy.

Concepts 8 and 9 are pieces of advice told to all Tai Chi students. Yes, you keep your head up and balanced. The chest is slightly hollowed and the back slightly rounded but this is part of the whole body connection.

The Real Concepts You Must Focus on in Tai Chi

1. Establish and Maintain the Ground Path: All strength and power originates in the ground. You must maintain the ground connection throughout every movement, even the movements that some people call "transitions" (there are no transitions in Tai Chi, there are only fighting applications). You can learn ground path exercises through my online school and Internal Strength DVD.

2. The Most Important Energy is Peng Energy and it Must Be Maintained At All Times: Peng requires the ground connection. It's an expansive force, as if your body is inflated like a balloon. When you try to push a basketball or beach ball into a pool of water, peng is the feeling you get that -- even though the ball is going into the water, pressure is building for it to spring back. Peng and the ground path must be connected through all movement. If it isn't, you aren't doing Tai Chi. Peng is involved in every "energy" in Tai Chi. Yes, you must remain relaxed, but relaxation without peng and the ground is weak, collapsing when it meets opposing strength.

3. All Movement Must Be Connected Through the Body: Whole-body movement is crucial. Power should flow like a ribbon from the ground, connected. All I have to do is ask another Tai Chi person to grab me with both hands and pull me down. It becomes quickly obvious that they have no concept of whole-body movement. Chen Tai Chi players don't usually have this problem.

4. Silk-Reeling is a Key Component of Tai Chi: It's amazing how poorly this skill is taught, when it is one of the founding principles of Tai Chi. Yang LuChan would have learned it in the Chen Village before he created Yang style, but it has been lost. Some teachers actually say that silk-reeling happens when you "imagine" chi spiralling from the ground through the attacking hand. That's wrong, too. Silk-reeling is a way of spiraling and moving power in a connected way through the body. It relies on the first three concepts (ground, peng and whole-body movement) plus the next two. If you're not familiar with this concept, check out my Silk-Reeling DVD set.

5. Dan Tien Rotation: Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang says Tai Chi is "One Principle, Three Techniques." The main principle is "Dan Tien guides all movement and when one part moves, all parts move." The three techniques are "dan tien rotating side to side; dan t'ien rotating over and back; dan t'ien rotating in a combination of these directions. Dan t'ien rotation must be involved in every movement.

6. Opening and Closing the Kua: Some past Tai Chi masters have said that "to understand the kua is to understand Tai Chi." But I see Tai Chi players all the time who couldn't find their kua with both hands because they've never been taught this concept. Every movement in Tai Chi involves opening one kua and closing the other in some way. Dan t'ien rotation is key to this skill.

7. Maintain a Centered Stance: I saw a video recently of a guy teaching Yang tai chi and he began Grasp The Swallow's Tail. His right hip suddenly stuck out to the right and it appeared that the slightest push would send him off-balance. In Chen tai chi, standing stake is used to help you relax, sink, develop peng, build leg strength, tuck the hips slightly and remain centered -- but then almost every movement in the form is performed to maintain a centered stance. This is one reason early Chen students are made to hold stances while they are corrected until their legs give out and they fall on the floor. It takes a lot of strength to hold a centered stance. The better the stance, the harder it is to hold. And this is one reason you see such powerful legs on Chen masters. If you think pain is not involved in Tai Chi practice, you are not studying Tai Chi. 

Those are my top concepts of internal movement. You add to this little things like keeping the head up, hollow the chest, keep the knees slightly bent, and the small things that help refine your Tai Chi. 

Americans are prone to self-delusion. If a guy tells us he's a master, we believe it and everything he says is the truth and it can't be denied. And by golly if my master tells me I'm learning Tai Chi, then I'm learning Tai Chi.

Put these "masters" in front of the real deal and they crumble like a house of cards. In the meantime, they're teaching Americans the wrong things, having them "cultivate chi" instead of learn to move properly. They focus on the trees -- keeping the wrists straight and the shoulders sunk--and they ignore (or don't know) the forest, where the real skills are. Perhaps they think Americans are only capable of so much because we're busy and can't spend the time to get really good at this. Or maybe they're deluded about their own abilities and knowledge.

The best you can do for yourself is to NOT believe everything an authority figure tells you, but to investigate and research and read, watch videos and compare, and don't close your mind to the possibility that you just might be learning pretty poor quality Tai Chi.

Want to learn more about these key concepts? Sign up for a 10-part Free Video Course at my online school -- http://www.internalfightingarts.com. 

This Is Why I Do the Online Tai Chi - KungFu School

A wonderful message we got in our discussion board from a new member to the online school. This is why I do it. I have edited a bit to protect this guy's identity:

"My name is _____, it is a tremendous honor and privalege to join this group. I have heard of Sifu Ken once before from another discussion group, the moderator mentioned his online school and said that he believed Sifu Ken was the "real deal". Well I am currently in Afghanistan (that was my unit on CNN yesterday...unfortunately) and have no access to training other than what little we have from the internet. I googled online martial arts training and...lo and behold...Sifu Ken pops up and here I am. 

My background includes Kaidoku-ryu, recently Jing Wu taught by a friend of mine while in Iraq (very interesting), that friend also stressed the internal arts greatly and sparked my interest in them.

I hope to learn as much as I can from the school. I have been told that Hsing-I, Baqua and Tai Chi were among the best arts to learn and I am now begining to see why. Thanks."

Actually, I'm the one who is honored. And grateful to be able to help people who have no access to good instruction in the internal arts. I have members all over the world now, and I hope to meet as many as possible in the coming years. 

Benefits of Tai Chi from Time Magazine

It's always nice to see Tai Chi get publicity, although I have a problem with the way it's described. This is a martial art, people.

However, because it does combine slow movement with balance, stretching, and a building of leg strength and other movements that promote flexibility, Tai Chi has been noted as something different.

My claim is that any activity that offers adults and seniors similar type of movement and "calming" would have similar health benefits. There is nothing magic about Tai Chi.

Here's the article: http://wellness.blogs.time.com/2009/10/05/treating-vertigo-and-dizziness-with-tai-chi/

New DVD Documentary on the Chen Village featuring Chen Xiaowang and Chen Xiaoxing

I'm really glad to see this DVD--Chen Village--on the market by director Jon Braeley. It's a close-up look at the Chen Village, the birthplace of tai chi.

If you didn't know better, you might think the place where tai chi was created 350 years ago would be a very spiritual place, with elaborate buildings and your mind might take you to a Hollywood-type setting.

In fact, the Chen Village is very poor and rural, with virtually nothing to offer except the best tai chi in the world. The people work the land, and most of them practice tai chi. It's eye-opening and surprising to see how poor the area really is, and it gives you even more respect for the Chen family, who has worked at tai chi and refined it over centuries to the point where they are now teaching around the world.

In this documentary, you'll see the courtyard where they still practice -- the place where Yang Luchan, a servant of the Chen family in the 19th Century, watched in secret and then practiced on his own. Non-family members were not allowed to learn the art, but when they caught him practicing and noticed he had skill, he was taught. When he left Chen Village, he was told he could not teach Chen tai chi, so he developed his own style. He taught his Yang style to the Imperial Family but they were lazy so he watered it down, and that weaker version is what most Americans think is tai chi.

I have studied with both of the masters featured in this DVD. Chen Xiaowang and Chen Xiaoxing, both brothers and descendants of Chen Wangting, are shown in their home town performing tai chi. Chen Xiaowang is the standard-bearer for his generation. His younger brother Chen Xiaoxing is my age, and he is content to stay at home running the Chen Village tai chi school (I was certified as an instructor in 2005 through Chen Xiaoxing). 

This documentary will show you the real thing as it's still practiced. I ordered the Chen Village DVD today and can't wait to give it a more full review next week.

Chen Xiowang Performing Xinjia Erlu

The second form of Xinjia -- Xinjia Erlu -- is an amazing form that requires a lot of athleticism.

Chen Xiaowang shows just why he's one of the best martial artists in the world in this demonstration from 30 or so years ago.