Neigong: The skill of exercising the internal organs of the body. Internal strength is formed through the practice of Qi. Practicing Qi pays attention to breathing and exhalation. Abdominal breathing method is often used. The mind is concentrated and step by step, so as to achieve the purpose of exercising the internal organs of the body. Martial arts can improve endurance, combat effectiveness and strong self-protection.
Speaking of internal strength, you may think of those mysterious things in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and "Dragon". There are also many people who say that internal strength is nonsense. So is there such a thing as internal strength? The answer is of course yes. This short article is called an introduction to internal strength. If you don’t have internal strength, how about an introduction~~ So let me explain it. Let’s first clarify the fact that Qing Qigong and Hard Qigong are not internal skills. Although these two kinds of skills use Qi, they are not used systematically. Compared with internal strength, I prefer external strength. Hard skills focus on the skin and flesh, while light skills focus on the waist and legs. Their Qi is naturally formed through long-term exercise, rather than being specially trained. Let me explain one by one:
1. Qinggong. There are many ways to practice Qing Gong, most of which are practiced gradually. For example, use a large bamboo basket (about 2 meters in diameter) filled with sand. Walk beside the bamboo basket, and run away when you get used to it. The requirement is that the basket cannot be stepped over. Of course, in the beginning, this requirement is easily achieved. Then use a bowl to take out a bowl of sand from the basket, and then run. After you become proficient, take out a bowl of sand... practice this way, and when all the sand in the basket is empty, you will be as light as a swallow. In this process, you will also naturally form a Qi. As the saying goes, "raising one's Qi and lightening one's body". But don’t try it, because no matter how hard you practice, you are unlikely to reach the standard, because there is a secret to using Qi that cannot be explained. If anyone knows these tips on how to use Qi, if you use these tips and practice hard, you can reach a state of being as light as a swallow in up to one year.
Two, hard work. Hard Kung Fu mostly involves hitting various parts of the body with wooden sticks and other objects. This stimulation is used to reduce the pain when the body is hit, which is the so-called anti-beating practice. The external skin and flesh have been trained to a certain level, plus the knack of using Qi for hard work. The body will also generate a natural internal force.
Maybe you already think these things are magical, but they cannot be regarded as internal strength. Because their Qi is natural and not something they control. So, is internal strength still magical? From the looks of it, yes. Scientifically speaking, no. As Luanying said, no one can break the shackles of the laws of natural science. There may be some things that natural science cannot explain, but no matter what, rice and flour cannot be turned into nuclear weapons. Internal strength also has its limits. Through practice, a person can reach all kinds of almost "unbelievable" levels, but the human body will never be able to defeat an airplane or a cannon.
Before talking about internal strength, let’s talk about some things that cannot be explained by natural science:
First, the acupuncture points and meridians of the human body. Most Westerners don’t believe this, but Chinese people basically believe this. It cannot be explained anatomically, but the existence of acupuncture points and meridians is certain. There is also a theory similar to acupuncture points in Indian yoga. Yoga believes that there are 14 life energy points on the human spine. Yoga practice is to stimulate these 14 energy points to achieve the effect of strengthening the body. The Chinese theory of acupuncture points is more detailed, and acupuncture points are not only found in the spine, but also in other parts of the body. The meridians play a role similar to a program. The eight extraordinary meridians connect the acupuncture points of the human body.
Second, anger. Even many Chinese people don’t believe in such a thing as anger, mainly because they have never seen it before. Of course, qi is something invisible, and I haven’t seen it, but I have experienced it myself. Its existence is also certain. Even Chinese medicine has many theories about qi and blood.
Let’s talk about the theory of internal strength. Each school's internal strength theory is different, which means that each school's inner strength mental method is different. There are many martial arts schools in China. The inner family includes Tai Chi, Baji, Xingyi, Bagua and so on. No matter which discipline, there is a so-called "Qi Fist". Each move must be still for a long time. This is the practice of internal strength. In jargon, it’s called “pile work.” The primary level of Zhuang Gong is just to experience Qi. For example, in a certain posture, you have to feel the hot Qi spreading upward from your feet to your waist. If you have this feeling, it means you have practiced correctly; if you don't, it means you have practiced incorrectly. When you are familiar with the movement of internal force, you can practice more advanced pile skills. At this time, the mental methods of various schools will be involved. How to guide and control your inner strength and make it run in the body.
The highest state of internal strength is called "body knowledge", which means "the body itself knows the movement of qi". To put it a little more "wuxia", it is called "opening up the two channels of Ren and Du". This statement is not unreasonable. Anyone who studies traditional Chinese medicine has learned about acupuncture points, and there is also a mantra that talks about the order and time of the movement of qi and blood in the human body. Which internal organs circulate at midnight, which internal organs circulate at noon... There are exactly 12 hours in a day when the whole body circulates. This is a Zhoutian (Xiantian Great Zhoutian). This week is one that humans are born to keep running. If a person who practices internal strength controls his internal strength to move quickly in his body, and takes an hour to complete the operation that should be completed in a day, can he still be the same as a normal person? And this Zhoutian (the Zhoutian the day after tomorrow) is divided into two types, one is the Great Zhoutian and the other is the Small Zhoutian.
Xiao Zhoutian means to control the Qi and blood to only go around the two Ren and Du meridians (the top is the Baihui point on the head, and the bottom is the Huiyin point on the crotch. The central line in front of the body is the Ren meridian, and the central line in the back of the body is the Du meridian), and the speed is fast. But the growth of gong is slow. Da Zhoutian refers to controlling the flow of Qi and blood around all the meridians of the body, which increases the power quickly but slowly. This level of inner strength cultivation can only be achieved by people with "body knowledge".
People who have achieved "body awareness" really give people an unfathomable feeling. There was a Tai Chi master (deceased) who was more than 1.6 meters tall. During his lifetime (he was over 80 years old at the time), he was sitting on a wicker chair. A strong man 1.9 meters tall pressed his arms with both hands and exerted all his strength. Hold him down. The old man just shouted loudly and used his internal force to push the strong man out more than 2 meters away. This is the power of "body awareness".
In addition, there is a kind of internal strength that is not meant to hit people. There is a kind of Kung Fu among the Wudang sect called "Hanshu Iron Clothes", which was created by Zhang Sanfeng. Practicing this Kung Fu can make people not afraid of cold and heat, and can travel around the world wearing only single clothes at all times. This kind of internal strength not only involves the theories mentioned above, but also refers to Taoism's unique cosmology and health theory. I won’t go into details here. But again, there are limits to internal strength.