The Internal Power Training Blog

Check out the latest info and research from Coach Chris' explorations in the Subject of Internal
Power.

On integration
on November 25, 2015 in Alignment, Body Training, Connection, General by Chris

So far we have talked about various parts of the body and the associated tissue chains in
isolation. But it is important to remember that these lines, chains, alignments and tissues all
constitute a single interconnected and inseparable unit.
The quote from the Tai chi classics i recently posted really speaks to the idea of integration.
“stand like a perfectly balanced scale” this is to say that you have equal and balanced body,
front to back, left to right, up to down.

“move like a turning wheel” a wheel moves as one, there is no part left behind and no part
disassociated from the rest.
A couple of brilliantly simple lines that say so much!

In the weeks to come I will be exploring some of the anatomy of internal power along with
other key concepts like Yin/yang pairing, breath and intent. Through all of these discussions it is
important to keep in mind that all these things are simply spokes of one, interconnected, wheel!

It is said in some Internal Methods that one of the goals of training is to ‘Make the Skin, flesh
and Bones into one’. This saying is an interesting one and really starts to direct the mind
towards some of the training ideals in Internal Arts.

Firstly it highlights that in a loose or disconnected body the flesh will seem slack and somehow
separated or loose around the skeleton. We can fix this with ‘winding’ practice (as discussed in
previous posts) where we take this slack out of the system and start to make the flesh soft but
taut.
It is a difficult thing for some Internal practitioners to imagine, especially in arts where ‘sung’ or
soft relaxation is a focus. But winding actually stretches the tissues as well and wrapping them,
meaning that when in a normal every day state, the body is like elastic slightly stretched around
a frame (the skeleton) The body of an Internal Arts Adept isn’t ‘tight, hard and tense’ as we
would see in a hard muscular body, but soft with a taut springy feel. This soft springy body is full
of potential, both for sensitivity (like touching a spiders web) and for transmitting, transferring
or emitting power.