mindfulness

Below is the commonly held idea is that the 'Internal' is a modern construct: 

"if you look at some of the old writings, internal and external as "schools" of martial arts didn't exist before Sun, Lu Tang and his contemporaries... It's a modern concept."

MP responds.

"First the concept of "Internal" and "External" arts is definitely NOT "modern" - The first distinction between external and internal martial arts comes from Huang Zongxi's 1669 Epitaph for Wang Zhengnan, and the principles that distinguish internal styles from the external were described at least as early as the 18th century by Chang Nai-chou.

Second, many people make much of the fact that Sun Lu-tang seems to be one of the first persons to have classified TCC, Hsing-I, and Ba-gua as the neijia, or "Internal Family" arts - as if the commonalities between these arts did not exist until he noted them in print; it's almost as if they are suggesting it was some sort of "intellectual construct" - an almost "artificial" classification.

My own feeling is that having learned his Hsing-I from Guo Yun-sheng, (better known as "Divine Crushing-Fist Guo), his Ba-gua from Cheng Ting-hua, Bagua-founder Dong Hai-chuan's #2 disciple, and his TCC from Wu/Hao-style founder Hao Wei-zhen, Sun Lu-tang was uniquely qualified to make this judgement about the deeper similarities between these three "Internal" arts. 

You don't get to train under masters like these without having reached a very high standard before they even accept you as a student - for example, Sun trained in Hsing-I with the accomplished master Li Kui-yuan before being accepted for further training by Guo Yun-sheng.

Having trained hard under such exacting task-masters such as Guo, Cheng, and Hao, Sun's understanding of these three arts came from a deep and VISCERAL physical comprehension of their inner workings; his classification of these three arts as "neijia" is definitely NOT just some mere intellectual construct.

Sun was also a very good fighter, not just a theorist - for example, when all of Chen Ting-hua's 12 top disciples had been defeated by a very big and tall Shaolin monk, and Chen was going to have to face the fierce monk himself, it was the much smaller Sun Lu-tang who stepped in and handily defeated the monk with one strike.

If people don't want to believe in the Internal-External divide, that's fine with me, I couldn't care less - but I do resent the implication that master Sun was just some effete intellectual who just conjured up the whole thing out of thin air.

In fact, he was very tough both physically and mentally - he went thru a type of severe physical training that would simply drop most modern "martial arts" practitioners in their tracks, and he did it to the exacting standards of some of the Best martial arts masters of his time."

Please note the 'How to do it' in the last paragraph. Enjoy! -kg

***begin post***
Last week in the Pleasant Valley class, Sifu [Sam F.S. Chin] expounded on the importance of maintaining awareness of the interdependence of Yi (mindfulness), Chi (internal energy) and Li (physical force expression). Sifu asked that this edition of 'Sifu Says' deal specifically with the interconnection among these three aspects of iliqchuan.

It is important to be aware of how Yi (awareness), Chi (internal energy) and Li (physical force expression) coordinate in the practice of iliqchuan. Iliqchuan, is not separate from the wholeness of being. Iliqchuan is an art of awareness. Awareness reveals the interdependence between the nature of mind, internal energy and physical result. These three aspects must coordinate without a gap in order for ones expression of iliqchuan to reach the higher levels. Naturally, when students can coordinate these three aspects of being without fault, the mind stays calm and the ability to remain dynamically balanced is enhanced, without effort or egotistical attachment.

On this point Sifu said, 'It is important to emphasize how to use awareness, in order to make sure the chi is correct. Having chi coordinated with awareness, you can be sure physical force is there. This is the meaning of Yi Tao, Chi Tao, Li Tao.'

Literally translated, 'Yi Tao, Chi Tao, Li Tao' means 'mind way, energy way and physical force way'. Mind-way, coordinated with Energy-way, coordinating with Physical force expression results in what may be observed as technique.

In the same class Sifu added more wisdom to his explanation of 'Yi Tao, Chi Tao, Li Tao'. Specifically, Sifu said, 'you must know how to recognize the mind. Recognizing the nature of mind is to recognize cause and consequence. Cause and consequence are sequential, and impact everything. Because iliqchuan understands the interplay of mindfulness with expression, only students of iliqchuan can understand iliqchuan'.

For example, when people try to put iliqchuan into the conceptual 'package' of another art, conceptual limitations come into play, creating a conflict of comprehension. The conflict of comprehension is based on past habits and judgment. Habit and judgment prevent mindfulness. Consequently, since iliqchuan deals with the nature of mindfulness fundamentally, the presence of conceptual conflict blocks the mind from resting on mind and thus hinders full potential and natural response without effort.

Sometimes it may seem difficult to recognize and realize the nature of mind directly. Fortunately, owing to the interdependence of things, it is possible to use the body to support mindfulness. Specifically related to the effective coordination of Yi Tao, Chi Tao and Li Tao, Sifu recommended the following postural considerations.

'Simultaneously balance the dan-tien and ming-men. Work on these two things, work on them together, then the body will be available to recognizing and realizing the coordination of Yi, Chi and Li.'
After such a wonderful teaching, Im sure I speak for all students in saying, 'Thank You Sifu'.
***end post***