Martial Arts

[Andrew]

Andrew,

I was wondering if there would be a way to involve the internal martial arts in a sub. I know wing chun is more internal, but also styles like aikido,bagua zhang, xing yi, and tai chi off the top of my head. Also what is your understanding of the softer arts from a physiological perspective. I have never actually studied any of the above arts, in a martial way, but I did learn a qi gong form that has tai chi movements in it, and there is alot more than meets the eye, I am sure the same of wing chun.
Also wondering if you have heard of or read any of peter ralston's books. And it was said that nobody ever beat chen man ching in a fight, even though he didn't like to fight and only studied tai chi for the health benefits.

Hi SantaRich,

Unfortunately I do not know the answer to that. I am no longer involved in "internal" martial arts, although I think even making a distinction between internal and external is inappropriate. As far as a "martial" art, I have not yet seen sufficient evidence of things such as Tai Chi working as real life self defense. I do respect these arts as a method of self improvement and enhancing health. However, in this day and age with the advent of video and skepticism, extraordinary claims require hard proof. Many martial arts were watered down into sports, and lost their reputation as a useful form of self defense. All martial arts now in a way must re-prove themselves or adapt if they want to stand the test of time. So while I see it entirely possibly chen man ching was undefeated, evidence of the past is not so valid to todays society-including myself. It's also likely the case his tai-chi, is different than most tai-chi, and the artist himself could have been incredible regardless of art practiced on paper.

I do know that, during my early training thinking of concepts such as Qi helped during training. Later I found that these visualizations made no difference once I learned fine motor control, strike speed, and reading an opponents intentions, force or next move. Am I using Qi? I suppose if I am or am not, I wouldn't know. I am able to strike at a speed that only one instructor from any martial art I've studied under was ever able to block (of course this was after I got fine control over muscle bursts. In a physiology sense, I wonder if it is just raising the action potential higher and higher-almost twitching before contracting, causes a huge burst. You can feel the energy just waiting to explode once you learn to control it. I suppose some call this Qi.). Wing Chun when examined closely, is an extremely scientific art with mathematical reasoning and in depth study of mechanical advantage behind every programmed response. There are Wing Chun practitioners I've found extremely talented who say they use or believe in Qi. I've also found those that are extremely talented that do not. To me internal and external is only a differentiation applied in the mind, there is only one martial art and thats of the human body-with unique variances among body types. External cannot exist without internal, and vice versa. Focusing on just one, is limiting ones self, as I would say a sport karate limits themselves, as well as a strict aikido practitioner limits themselves as badly as the karateka. I have slapped aikido teachers around, because they could not deal with a balanced and rooted attack, nor were they ever conditioned to take a hit. I fear for their students if they actually have to use their knowledge to defend themselves, both the typical karateka and aikido are incomplete in their training. This is why MMA started, however it is not the "solution". MMA in general, has become focused on sport, and is brutish and arrogant as its founders. "MMA" is like a new martial art, and over time it will mature into different branches and go through the same process all martial arts have. Yes, there are complete classic martial arts by the way. Judo used to be complete including strikes, tons of groundwork, etc. Some forms of Karate are complete. Hapkido seems fairly complete. Ninpo is complete but it is very cult like. Sport, modern law and the advent of the gun is what caused every martial art to deteriorate, and since open bloody violent challenges and tournaments are no longer legal as they were in ancient china...I'm afraid the only true way to know is through science, video documentation, law enforcement studies (German S.E.K. use Wing Chun, don't know if its the standard but there's plenty of videos of them practicing it...), etc.

Either that, or believe. That used to be enough for me. As much as I want to simply believe in ancient masters, superhuman powers and extraordinary feats, I fail to see how they are not just as exaggerated as the myths of greece. If not, proof...hard proof.

To sum everything up, I don't know how a subliminal could help on an internal art but I've explained my thoughts on it. Maybe Shannon and Benjamin would have some insights.