I received an interesting email from a website member in the United Kingdom. It started as a discussion about Hsing-I and the relationship of the Five Fist Postures to the 12 Animals. It went on from there to discuss the evolution of fighting movements into art.

In our 21st Century, MMA-obsessed culture, traditional arts are often criticized or brushed off as ineffective. That's pure B.S. of course, another one of those "my style is better than your style" type of arguments.

These are called martial "arts" for a reason. The styles that I study are internal martial "arts." The movements in Hsing-I, Tai Chi and Bagua can be used for fighting, but the word "art" is part of the name. Over the past 40 years of practicing, the reason has become more clear to me.

Let's look at a movement in the Bagua Swimming Body form called "Black Dragon Slashes Its Tail." It's part of the 3rd section of the form. I just put a long video lesson up on the website last week with detailed instruction. This movement involves a sideways step and a coiling of the right arm, then a cross-step and a coiling of the left, then a coiling of the right arm and a strike with the left in a cross-step.

You don't have to perform the movement artfully in order to pull off some fighting moves. The self-defense applications can be practiced without looking real good. In fact, applications are never as "pretty" as a form.

But to do the movement well in a form requires a flowing, connected energy from the ground, spiraling through the body, turned by the Dan T'ien and flowing through the legs, body, shoulders, elbows and hands. How well am I using silk-reeling through the body? How well am I connecting the ground with whole-body movement? Am I spiraling from the leg through the body, shoulders, elbows and hands in a flowing, connected way? Learning and practicing the body mechanics to do the movement in a beautiful, connected way is the art. It also makes your application more powerful. Building skill takes hard work and time (the very definition of "Kung-Fu"). It also takes time to learn the self-defense applications well, but you don't have to look good to do that. You just have to be effective.

I was watching a video online of the founder of Aikido. It reminded me how unrealistic a lot of fighting applications are when they are dependent on students who are playing along. Demonstrating these movements helps explain concepts, but where we go astray is when we think that even what O'Sensei (or any teacher) uses in a demonstration is effective against a motivated adult who is attacking you to do violence. A lot of fights can be ended with one good punch. The simplest techniques are often the best. But concepts such as  the sphere of power or the capturing of an opponent's center are important and must be shown.

In my own videos, I try to make the applications realistic. I'll admit when an application would be difficult to use in a real fight, but I will teach it if the concept is solid. Sometimes, an application is more "art" than fighting. It's okay as long as you understand that. There are some Bagua videos that I see where a student punches and the teacher deflects the punch, snakes his arm around the student's neck, and then gets him into a choke or a throwing position with very little reality-based response from the student. Naturally, they're not going to make it difficult for the teacher as a real opponent will. But the video is useful in showing you concepts of the art.

For those of us who have been in real fights, we know that some of these moves are extremely difficult against a motivated adult. At the very least, you would have to soften them up with other techniques (punches, knees, elbows, kicks) to employ the element of surprise in pulling off the more complex movements. So you have to keep this in mind when watching movements and demonstrations of fighting applications. In fact, at your next practice you should put on some pads and tell your partner not to play along. Then try to do some of the more complex moves of your art. I guarantee a big difference if your partner is not cooperating.

I never expect to be in another real fight. I am prepared if that happens, but over time, your focus shifts. When I began studying in 1973, I wanted to learn self-defense and philosophy. As I learned self-defense, my confidence grew. Now, I love to improve my internal mechanics to smooth out my movements so they flow with relaxed power. It involves self-discipline and self-mastery, the same benefits you receive when you excel at anything, from gymnastics to basketball, from golf to being really good at your job. Those who do anything well are artists. They have "kung-fu."

The usefulness of a painting is the message it conveys and how it blends with its surroundings. The usefulness of a martial arts move is in the self-defense application.

A painting that is low quality to the eye of an art critic can go very well with a room's decor, and if you don't know what good art is, it might seem great to you. Remember the black velvet Elvis and the dogs playing poker?

An internal technique done poorly can still be effective in self-defense. But the skill of the painter in the brush strokes, the application of color and capturing the message he intends to convey -- that is the art, just as the connected, coordinated, flowing strength, and fajing of Bagua, Tai Chi and Hsing-I movements represent a more complete expression of skill.

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The internal arts are known for being a bit more "grounded" that some martial arts. I think first of Taekwondo, where folks leave themselves vulnerable when they do high kicks.

The kicks in Xingyi, Taiji and Bagua are not as high generally as some other arts, but they are there in every movement that involves a raised heel, a false stance ("cat stance"), and a lifted knee. Sometimes the kick is obviously a kick, sometimes it is not.

I just finished a DVD on one of my favorite forms -- Shi Er Xing ("12 Shapes") -- the advanced 12-animal form that I practice and have used in competition (and plan to do so again). In this form, several kicks are used, but in the final section of the form, involving Monkey, there is a jump -- inside that jump, two fast kicks are hiding.

In Photo 1, my opponent has come forward and I launch the first kick, leaping from the left leg and kicking with the right.

In Photos 2, 3 and 4, I am switching feet in mid-air, and in Photo 5 the 2nd kick hits as the right foot is about to land.

127 fighting applications from the form are demonstrated and discussed on the Shi Er Xing DVD, all with an emphasis on body mechanics.

In a real fighting situation, if I kick, there is one particular kick that I enjoy - it is about solar plexus level and involves scooting but it is very powerful, a real fight-ender. And I also would prefer to remain grounded.

But I remember back to 1973 -- forty years ago -- when I learned my first 10 sparring techniques from my first teacher, Sin The, in Lexington, Kentucky. Sparring technique number 10 involved a surprise move as the opponent attacked, and even though I stopped doing it later, I never saw it fail to work. 

When the opponent attacks, you leap into the air and scream. One hand is held at rib-level for protection and the other hand is straight up in the air. As your opponent cringes, you drop and bring the uplifted hand down on his big ol' head. It is an effective technique.

The double kick described and shown in this post is common in several martial arts. In one style I studied, it was called a Butterfly kick. It involves straight kicks, not crescent kicks or side kicks.

Whenever you do Tai Chi, Hsing-I or Bagua, look at the position of your legs. Very often, even during stepping, there are kicks and sweeps hidden in the movements. I try to uncover these in my various videos on my membership site and in my DVDs, but they are also fun to discover on your own.

Monkey Kung-Fu is its own style. It never appealed to me, but I enjoy the way Xingyi takes the 12 animals and incorporates their essence into fighting moves. This is one example.

There are 12 individual animal forms in our style of Hsing-I Chuan (Xingyiquan). We practice the individual forms and then combine the animals into an advanced form called "Shi Er Xing." Translated, that means "12 Shapes."

Shi Er Xing is a great form for practice, for developing your art, and for tournament competition. I've used it to win some big tournaments in black belt competition. It also contains outstanding self-defense applications.

The advanced form is now on DVD -- two hours of step-by-step instruction in the movements of the form and a clear demonstration and coaching for 127 self-defense applications from the form. The self-defense techniques include hand strikes, punches, knee strikes and kicks, elbow strikes, joint locks, sweeps and takedowns.

The 12 Animals include:

1. Dragon
2. Tiger
3. Monkey
4. Horse
5. Chicken
6. Water Lizard
7. Harrier (Hawk or Sparrowhawk)
8. Swallow
9. Snake
10. Chinese Ostrich
11. Eagle
12. Bear

With this video, my entire Xingyi curriculum is now on DVD. All the DVDs are available on this blog (see the column for DVDs on the right side of the page), on my two other sites, and on Amazon. I offer free shipping anywhere in the world on this blog and my other websites. Below is a short clip from the Shi Er Xing DVD.

Yesterday, when my new Silk-Reeling Energy ebook was released through Amazon's Kindle, a couple of friends gave me grief for believing -- they thought -- in an invisible mystical energy that can't be measured by scientific methods.

My partner attempts to do an armbar.

When the Chinese talk about a certain energy, such as the 8 Energies of Taiji, it is a bad translation when we think of it as a scientifically valid energy. Actually, it is a method or particular skill that helps you strategically handle external force that is applied to you -- a punch, for example.

I begin spiraling the elbow away from his force.

So "energies" in Tai Chi, including peng, liu, ji, an, cai, tsai, kao, shou, and others -- are different strategic methods and skills used to handle external force directed at you. Some require you to deflect the force, some attack it, some grab and pluck it, some require shoulder or elbow deflections or strikes. All of the energies include peng.

Spiraling over the opponent's arm as my hand locks his hand.

As my partner executes the technique, I spiral away from the direction of the force with the elbow, spiral down over the crook of his elbow, and then change directions to put him into an elbow lock. This type of movement, combined with fajing, can break an attacker very quickly. It's a close-up style of fighting that embodies the best of Taiji and Bagua -- taking his force, relaxing and deflecting it, and then countering using proper internal body mechanics and spiraling.

The spiraling locks my opponent's elbow

Silk-reeling energy, like all of the skills of the internal arts, are not intended to make you one with the Universe. The basic intention is a skillful physical strategy for overcoming an attack. Every movement in Taiji and Bagua is a silk-reeling exercise. As you practice your art, look for the spiraling in each movement, how it comes from the ground, and how each part of the body is involved in the spiraling. 

I love these arts. My own understanding of silk-reeling and its relationship to the other "energies" has grown in the past 15 years or so, and I pass along what I learn through my website, DVDs, ebooks, and this blog. Thanks for reading it.

The Silk-Reeling ebook is available through Amazon Kindle.

The Silk-Reeling DVD is available through Amazon or through my website (there is no shipping charge if you buy through my website).

My new ebook on Silk-Reeling Energy for Tai Chi, Bagua and Hsing-I has 173 photos and detailed instruction on 18 exercises that will help you develop this important physical skill and take your internal arts to a higher level.

In the Chen family Tai Chi classical texts, they write that if you do not understand silk-reeling, you do not understand Tai Chi.

When I first learned about silk-reeling, my teacher, who claimed to be an internal arts "master," told us to screw the foot into the floor and "imagine" our chi traveling in swirling circles from the foot to the hand. And by the way, don't forget to cultivate chi and detach your mind.

I have met many Tai Chi students -- and even some teachers -- who believe similar things because they were also trained by people who didn't know what they were doing. They studied at the local YMCA or at a fitness center and believed their teacher was a "master." I know this because some people have come to my classes and have called me a master. They are always puzzled when I laugh, and then I explain that there are very few masters in America. 

All the students who have been given the wrong information have good intentions, as I did when I was misinformed. I thought I was learning the real thing. 

Then I investigated Chen Tai Chi and discovered internal body mechanics that have been lost by most Americans who practice Tai Chi. Among those body mechanics are the ones I have identified as the key six:

• Establishing and maintaining the ground path.
• Establishing and maintaining peng jin.
• Using whole-body movement (not as easy as it sounds).
• Using silk-reeling energy.
• Rotating the Dan T'ien.
• Opening and closing the kua.

All six of these skills are important in the 18 silk-reeling exercises described in the ebook.

Since each of the silk-reeling exercises is important to performing Tai Chi and Bagua (we also make it a key part of our Hsing-I), the exercises also have self-defense applications.

In these three photos, I show one application of silk-reeling as a means of deflecting a punch.

When the force is coming, you establish contact. Next, you spiral and guide it away. This does not
take very much strength, especially if you remain balanced, centered, and use the body mechanics of the internal arts.

As you can see, as the deflecting arm spirals (watch the movements of the hand), the punch is no longer a threat because it is no longer aimed at me.

When you have neutralized the force, your opponent should be off-balance enough for you to counter.

 This type of deflection is done in a relaxed but structured way -- and by structure, I mean utilizing the ground path, peng jin, whole body movement (whole-body connection), rotating the Dan T'ien and opening/closing the kua. Beyond that, there are other skills including sensitivity and more. The new ebook is a companion to the Silk-Reeling DVD. It is the result of years of practice and learning from students and disciples of Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang and Chen Xiaoxing, and I have also learned directly from Chen Xiaowang and Chen Xiaoxing. This is among the first material I teach my students because a foundation in these six basic skills is crucial to performing quality internal arts. Even then, it takes many years, but that is part of the fun of these arts.

I celebrate my 40th anniversary this year as a martial artist. Since 2006, I have been writing posts on this blog outlining that journey. The main goals have been to provide useful information and also to make readers think.

Now, 50 selected blog posts -- short essays -- have been collected in a new Kindle ebook titled "Signposts on a Martial Arts Journey: Tai Chi, Hsing-I, Bagua, and The Art of Life."

The short essays cover martial techniques, experiences with instructors and students, and the philosophy I have used to sail through the ups and downs of life without being capsized.

It is only $3.99 -- less than the cost of a martial arts magazine -- and I selected articles that would provide more information and inspiration than what you typically get in a magazine.

Each article is short enough to read just about anytime. I carry my iPad with me and sometimes read when I'm waiting somewhere (for Nancy to come out of a store, for example).

Check it out by following this link to amazon.com. 

One of my favorite scenes in a Bruce Lee movie is when he lectures a young student about what he perceives as a lack of "emotional content" in the young man's movements.

When I was a younger student, practicing techniques with fellow students, one of my teachers would occasionally warn us to maintain our "spirit." When we received a certificate of rank, the certificate mentioned the "spiritual discipline" involved in achieving the rank.

In Tai Chi, the Chinese term "shen" means spirit. It is not a supernatural spirit -- it is an awareness of your action and a physical fullness that means you are giving it 100%. You are in the moment. 

Shen is also translated to mean "heart," but it is the same thing. You are emotionally connected (the heart is often associated with emotion) to the intent of the movement or activity.

It applies to any martial art and it also applies to other aspects of your life, from relationships to work and other activities and endeavors.

How many times have you seen a student in any martial art perform weakly -- no real spark of energy or excitement? Sometimes, you'll see a student stepping through the motions of a form without peng, with no connection in their movements. A fighting application will be performed half-heartedly, with "chi in the chest" and a lack of proper body mechanics or stance work.

How many times have you seen someone come to work listless and uninterested? Or perhaps you've been in a relationship where the person you cared about was emotionally unavailable -- not in sync with you.

Sometimes we say, "His heart wasn't in it." 

We need emotional content.

We all have days when we don't feel 100% -- we're tired, we have deadlines for school or work, we're having problems with a relationship or the family -- there are always excuses to slack off.

That's when the spiritual discipline sets in, and you focus your mind on your practice. What is the true intent of this movement? How can I perform it the best of my ability?

In each movement of the internal arts, whether it's Taiji, Xingyi or Bagua, you should have a whole-body connection through each movement. This also includes a connection of Mind and Heart (Yi and Shen), which leads the Chi and the Li (strength).

If you do not have spirit for your martial art, your relationship, your work -- what are you doing here?

When you perform your movement with shen, then I would ask "How did it feel to you?" Your answer might get you a slap on the head. Without spirit, you may be missing out on all that heavenly glory. :)

Oooh, it's so mysterious!!!

A photo on the ad showed a guy being lifted up into the air by the "mysterious" power of Xingyi.

I guess that's marketing, right?

A well-known tai chi teacher has a photo on the cover of one of his books where he is apparently launching some poor sap into the air with his internal energy. But a video exists of the photo shoot, and the guy being launched into the air obviously pushes off and straightens his arms to get himself into the air. It's embarrassing. 

We see it all the time, don't we? It's pretty common for Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua teachers to pretend this is all mystical and mysterious, that if you just cultivate enough chi you can tap into some universal energy that will allow you to defy the laws of physics and medical science. They are pretty good at sounding like college professors or Taoist priests when they talk about chi. Heck, you'll not only be able to heal someone with your chi (or aura), you can even knock them down without touching them, according to some particularly unethical martial con artists. You can control people with your chi, don't ya know?

My friends, I'm going to reveal the secret to the mysterious power behind the internal arts. Are you ready?

It's body mechanics and hard work.

Yeah, that doesn't sound very mysterious, does it? Isn't it more fun to watch a movie where the master can catch a fly with his chopsticks and fly through the air? We all want those powers, don't we?

The body mechanics you need are:

• establishing and maintaining the ground path at all times
• maintaining peng along with the ground at all times
• using whole-body movement
• using silk-reeling (spiraling) movement through the body
• opening and closing the kua
• rotating the dan t'ien.


These are principles that I embed into all of my instruction. They are most clearly explained in my Internal Strength and Silk-Reeling DVDs (the principles are also part of every one of the 600 video lessons on my online internal arts resource). It isn't magic but it is very hard work and takes years to develop. That's why it's easier to make people believe it's mysterious. If you told them how difficult it was, they might run away screaming screams.

That's what you call honest marketing. I don't want you to buy my stuff if you don't understand that it takes a lot of sweat, muscle cramps and fatigue to even scratch the surface of these arts.

Good internal arts require all these body mechanics plus other concepts, including relaxed power, which can only be developed when you develop the body mechanics listed above. You can't develop skill in the internal arts until someone clearly demonstrates these body mechanics. I wasted over a decade in the internal arts before I was shown this, and you probably have, too, if you've studied over a decade without knowing these skills.

I wish I could tell you Xingyi, Tai Chi and Bagua were dependent upon a Universal bolt of Taoist energy, or some invisible pathways of chi flowing through your body, but they aren't. And no human being can exert any force upon you that can't be explained by body mechanics and physics.

So there you have it. I've just saved you over $40.   

A higher level of internal arts is achieved when you think beyond self-defense.

Insert deep sigh here.

When I was young, I thought you studied martial arts to learn how to kick major bootay. I wanted to feel safe everywhere.

It was shallow thinking. There is a lot more to martial arts than fighting. But you can't expect young people to think at a higher level. That takes time, experience, and study.

I am not a religious man and I do not believe in invisible beings. I don't believe invisible beings are watching us, guiding us, controlling what happens (saving us from accidents, etc.) or planning to judge us when we die.

But I am a spiritual person. I believe in being kind to people, helping those less fortunate, and treating everyone I meet with friendship, humor, and cooperation. I believe in treating my wife with love and respect and making children laugh. I have worked a lot of my life to be a better person and a centered person. Like every human being, I occasionally fall short, but we continue trying, don't we?

This takes time, experience, study, and reflection. A higher level requires some sort of inward gazing -- in my case, chi kung (qigong) and a great deal of time studying and pondering philosophical questions.

My favorite part of the internal arts continues to be decoding the self-defense applications within a movement. But we also practice being "connected" to our opponent. My opponent moves and I move with him. When he arrives, I am already there. We have drills that are used to help students understand the concept of connecting, and the goal is to carry the physical sense of connecting to a higher level, where you then connect with the people you meet and work with each day, you connect with the environment, and you connect with the universe. It's a higher level of martial arts.

I never expect to be in a fight again. I don't intend to use my arts for fighting. Don't get me wrong -- I would be ready to defend myself or a loved one if needed. If I saw someone being attacked while at the mall or on the street, I would likely intervene. But that's not why I study anymore. I haven't been in a real fight, other than tournaments, since I was 18. Now that I'm turning 60 later this month, it would be pretty silly to think that I'm going to be fighting anyone.

An important part of martial arts training is the spiritual. It has been lost by a lot of martial artists and a lot of schools. There is a tradition that you are helping to carry forward, and there is a deep satisfaction when the mind and body come together to do a perfect technique. Perfection doesn't happen often, but when it does, something wonderful happens in your mind. When I connect with a partner so that I already know when they are going to attack -- it's an amazing feeling. 

The martial arts -- the internal arts -- are a means to achieving physical and mental perfection.

But there is another key point that you must realize to get to that higher level.

The best fighter wins without a fight. You do that by remaining centered -- avoiding going to places where you might be attacked -- talking down someone who is ready to attack you -- or leading their comments into emptiness.

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu wrote that the best generals win battles without fighting.

So why do we study a martial art? It's about self-discipline, self-control, and self-confidence. By making yourself stronger and able to defend yourself well, you have less of a need to prove your point. You have less desire to fight. You have little interest in inflicting pain. You find the connection between you and other people -- in fact, with all things in nature. 

Someone who is truly connected carries themselves with dignity, with calmness, with caring and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, as I learned in Sunday School when I was a kid.

That has nothing to do with fighting.

Another point that the trolls bring up -- why do I incorporate straight swords, broadswords and elk horn knives into my practice? On a practical level, you aren't going to pick up a sword on the street if a group of guys attacks you. But once again, the personal growth that I feel from developing skills has nothing to do really with fighting. After all, the phrase "martial art" includes the word "art." I am expressing myself through my art, learning a physical skill and techniques with a traditional weapon, and engaging in an exercise that feeds the mind and the body.

On the other hand, if you can pick up a stick in a self-defense situation, sword techniques will be very handy. But this possibility is also why I train with single and double sticks.

Another point on the practical side -- when we see the damage that can be done to a human being by violence -- the fact that you can kill someone with one good punch should make you want to avoid the possibility of the legal problems (not to mention possibly losing your job) that an adult would likely suffer if a fight broke out.

Fighting is a young man's game. One of the reasons I'm about to turn 60 is because I never went looking for fights and actually tried to avoid them as an adult. I've had my chances, but managed to diffuse the situations that could have resulted in violence. That's harder to do when you're young and not thinking in a centered way.

In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tsu wrote, "Powerful men are well advised not to use violence, for violence has a habit of returning."

Words to live by. And so we study, practice, look deeper, and seek to achieve a higher level, which some call The Way.

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Visit Ken's membership site containing 600 video lessons, ebooks and more!

Today is my Fourth Anniversary.

Four years ago today, I launched my membership site to teach Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua. For years, I had received emails from people asking how they could learn when there were no teachers in the area. 

On July 4, 2008, after working furiously for two months, I launched this site to help those people.

At first, I thought people could earn certification through the site by studying the video lessons and then get feedback via video, and then take their test via video.

But after a few people tried, it became obvious that these arts are simply too difficult, and require more detailed body mechanics than a person can learn just through video. It's the same as any sport or activity that requires specific skills. I compare it to playing basketball. When we play, in our minds we look like Michael Jordan. To an observer or a coach, we look more like Charlie Chaplin.

So I decided to de-emphasize the certification aspect of the site. When people email me now and ask if they can be certified through the site, I tell them it's very difficult and probably isn't the best way to use it. All I can do is be honest.

Some members study and then, when they are near the Quad Cities, they stop in for a lesson. All members are free to drop in on any of our practices at no charge.

Rather than call it an "online school" I refer to it more often now as an online "resource." Some of the members are teachers, and many of them are studying with teachers and use the website to supplement what they are already learning. Or not learning, as is frequently the case. Often, their teachers are not teaching them the skills they find on the site. Their tai chi is empty, and they suspect this, but they aren't sure why until they join the site.

There are now more than 560 video lessons on the site covering Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua, Qigong, and more. I started with basic instruction and have covered more advanced material over time. Eventually, there will be at least 1,000 videos, e-books, audios, and other material.

It's a website where -- 24 hours a day 7 days a week -- you can get input, information, and instruction on these arts. Some of the ways it can help:

• If you are working on a particular art, the website contains video and written instruction that will give you the proper basics, including the ground path, peng jin, whole body movement, silk-reeling, using the kua and Dan T'ien rotation.
• If you're working on a particular form, each movement is broken down into detailed instruction with an emphasis on body mechanics.
• Even if you're studying a different style than I teach -- if you're studying Yang Tai Chi or different styles of Hsing-I and Bagua (I teach Shanxi and Cheng), you will still find instruction on movement and body mechanics that your teacher isn't teaching -- in fact, if you study Yang style, most of this information has not been given to you.
• These are self-defense arts -- fighting arts. The fighting applications of each movement is shown clearly. Sometimes, there are fighting applications even for exercises, such as Bagua tea-serving exercises. For Laojia Yilu, more than 400 self-defense applications are shown for that one form.
• If you're teaching one of these arts, you'll learn new techniques, body mechanics or other exercises for yourself and to teach your classes.
• If you are a student, you will find information that your teacher might not even know, giving you an edge over other students in class.
• Our private Discussion Board gives members a place to ask questions and receive helpful, instructive, non-judgmental replies. It's a different experience than most online Discussion Boards, that can be full of insults, ignorant flaming and profanity.

If any of these sound interesting or helpful, you should try two weeks free on the website. Compared to what you pay for in-person classes, it's an amazing bargain for just $19.99 per month.

I'm very proud of this site. I have enjoyed the messages from members over the years, the friendships I've developed and the things I've learned. Some members have been with it from the beginning, and some come for a few months and then leave.

New video lessons are being added regularly. I plan to continue growing the site for many years. It's a labor of love -- the love of the internal arts.