Taoist Ideologies As Bases For Internal Martial Arts

By Marci Glover


It is hard to believe that what the body feels is totally an issue of the sublime. The Chinese who founded internal martial arts held that it is practicable to dictate the nervous system together with the respiratory system using internal mechanisms to create a human being who is strong; both inside and outside. The originators of this genre wanted it to spread to all parts in the world. Currently, it is practiced in California just like it was in China. They codified their ideologies and passed them on for future generations.

The people who created this field of art spent most of their time rehearsing, mastering and explaining their skills to the people around them. They illustrated the principles of power with little effort, internal energy and body balance. The principles that stood out were; the mechanisms of the body, link between the mind and the body and attainment of advanced abilities.

The principle of body mechanism majorly entails the hard vs. Soft tissue support and empty full ideologies. Founders of this principles argued that the body is supported by hard tissues; bones and soft tissues; muscles, ligaments and tendons. This principle states that the bones in a human body interlock in a way that lessens the work done by muscles, tendons and ligaments.

According to the founders of these principles, the human body works like lever machines. It has fulcrums; turning points that turn, and in the process, reduce the workload. So, just like the fulcrum in a lever system, an artist must find a suitable posture to multiply the effort applied in order to destroy his/her target.

The other argument in the proposed principles is the empty and full ideology. It was proposed that to win a fight, one needs to identify the weak and strong points on his/her body and that of the opponent. Once, one is aware of these points, he/she will be able to act faster, and will also manage to maintain body balance after a tussle with the opponent. A good fighter should then take advantage of this knowledge to attack those weak areas his opponent.

The men who founded this branch of art also insisted that the mind drives the human body. According to them, this discovery can help one not to feel pain. This is basically through directing the mind away from the pain. This realization, therefore, rubbishes physical abilities that do not engage the mind.

On top of being a good way of exercising, this type of practice serves as therapy for both the physical body and the mind. Usually, a person performing it stops thinking about things around him/her and puts his/her mind in a state of relaxation. This is called sung in Chinese. Sometimes, poor posture can lead to dysfunction; sung gets rid of this dysfunction. It is one of the most mandatory skills in this practice.

To master this practice, one needs to sharpen his/her skills in minimizing energy expenditure, but maintain high levels of power production. This is only possible if the mind is properly engaged. Most people around California have developed interest in this culture, and are practicing them routinely. This culture is so much loved that a course was introduced in Stanford University to help preserve these practices.




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