I've always been an advocate of an important concept in the internal Chinese martial arts. That concept is simple:

Keep it real.

The first thing you might think of are the fraudulent claims about "qi powers" that some teachers claim to possess. That actually is a bunch of malarkey, but I'm talking about a different issue this time.

I've read it in books. I've heard it said in podcasts. I heard someone say it again just today when I listened to a podcast. You've probably read it or heard it, too. It goes something like this:

"This master (insert the name here) did push hands with a student (or hit the student) and sent him flying back THROUGH THE AIR TEN FEET!"

I have a simple answer for this claim: "No, he didn't."

We need to stop saying it. Why should we stop? Because it isn't true.

We tend to exaggerate. But our martial arts are pretty good. We don't need to exaggerate to make our art, our teacher, or ourselves look good.

Ten feet doesn't sound like much. Hell, I'm six feet tall myself. Ten feet is as tall as a basketball hoop. Measure it out on the floor, then try to generate the force to push a 175-pound person through the air that far.

After 51 years in martial arts (as of next month) I have never seen anyone knocked ten feet through the air. Nobody has ever done it to me, even members of the Chen family. Not even members of the Iowa State Boxing Team.

I have never seen it done, either. Do you have video of someone being knocked back ten feet through the air? I'll save you some time searching through your DVDs and VHS tapes. No, you don't.

Is there a video on YouTube of someone being knocked in the air ten feet back? No, because even the frauds who make their students hop with just a touch don't have the magical power to send their students hopping ten feet back through the air.

Do you see the photo here above? We actually measured out ten feet on the training floor. From the edge of that red section back to the blue mat is ten feet.

The world record for the standing long jump -- jumping for distance from a standing position -- is 12 feet two inches. It takes a lot of exploding energy from a person's legs and body to jump 10 feet from a standing position, or even if they take a running start. When they jump from a standing position, they have to crouch down and explode with every bit of force they can use.

So that brings up a great question about a man who, in push hands or in hitting someone, knocks the person ten feet through the air. Here's the question:

Exactly where is the force being generated, and how is it being used, for someone doing push hands or hitting someone to send an adult man flying through the air ten feet?

What is the technique being used and how much force is being used?

Look at that distance. You think someone could knock a 175-pound man through the air ten feet? You can't even lift an adult with both arms and throw him that far. You can't pick up a 150-pound barbell and throw it that far. How do you expect to hit or push a man and cause him to fly back that far?

You say YOU have done it to someone? You say someone did it to you? You are either deceiving yourself or you are not telling the truth. Okay, I'll be generous. You're simply exaggerating. One of those three things is true. If you say you can do it, show us the video. We will make you famous.

In the meantime, let's stop exaggerating, okay? Nobody you know has knocked an adult human being through the air 10 feet and you haven't, either. Maybe you're using a "guy's measurement," but if you are, I have another news flash for you. What you have down there isn't really six inches, either. Your wife told me.

Don't check your brains at the door of a martial arts school. Don't believe what an instructor tells you on blind faith. And in the way you talk about and practice the internal arts -- keep it real, y'all.

--by Ken Gullette

Dan Miller

From 1990 to early 1997, Dan Miller published the Pa Kua Chang Journal. In my opinion, it provided the best information on Ba Gua Zhang of any martial arts publication. In the 76th edition of the Internal Fighting Arts Podcast, I interview Dan about publishing the Journal. We also talk about other issues related to Bagua, including the moving root, why Bagua practitioners walk the circle, the training concept of practicing techniques, why he likes Sun style Bagua and Taiji, created by Sun LuTang. I enjoy the story Dan tells about one of his favorite memories, meeting one of the old traditional Bagua teachers by knocking on the master's door, carrying a letter from a childhood friend.

Dan attended the United States Naval Academy and served 10 years as an officer in the Marine Corps. Besides teaching martial arts, Dan is a musician. He lives in the Columbia, Missouri area and holds workshops hosting various martial artists including Tom Bisio, Tim Cartmell and others.

The podcast runs one hour and 12 minutes. You can listen here or download the file.

Tim Cartmell

I've known of Tim Cartmell since the 1990s, when he wrote some articles for the Pa Kua Chang Journal. I've never talked with him until now.

Tim moved to Taiwan at the age of 22 to search for internal arts masters. He found some. He didn't just train in Xingyi and Bagua, he fought in a full-contact tournament (his Xingyi teacher signed him up for it). Later, he got into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and now, he teaches BJJ and is a coach to MMA fighters.

This is the 75th edition of my Internal Fighting Arts podcast. One of the things we talk about in this interview is the subject of Qi, and how much his teachers in Taiwan and China talked about "cultivating Qi" or using it to give you special abilities. Tim says "people who talk about it in a mysterious way -- the less martial ability they have, the more they talk like that. The guys who could actually fight, hardly ever mentioned anything like that."

Tim teaches at Ace Jiu Jitsu in Fountain Valley, California. His martial arts website is www.shenwu.com. 

Listen to the interview here, or you can download the file.