Internal Arts and Forms and Application Training

[Steel Tiger]

First this from Lu Shengli

In most martial arts groups, the main application training is chai shou or "take partial skills from forms," which means to take each skill from a form separately to practice and understand its application in detail. this training provides knowledge in how to fight using skills developed through form practice. In chai shou, each skill is discussed in detail. Masters analyze the direction, angle, timing, force, and methods for changing and connecting all skills. Then according to this analysis, students practice single skills first in solo practice and then in two-person practice with a helper. A wide variety of methods and training steps is used across the many different martial arts groups and styles.

Unlike the training methods in other martial arts styles, the skills of form training in the internal martial arts are different from the skills of application training, and the purpose of basic gongfu or form training is different from that of application training. The movements practiced in form training are different from the analogous movements praticed for fighting. in form practice, for example, movements should always be large in order to train the internal capabilities. In application training, however, the movements should be small to have maximum effect.

Accuracy of movement is emphasized in form practice because correct movement increases awareness and flow of the internal components. The emphasis in application training, on the other hand, is on the ability to change and vary movements and skills smoothly and quickly. The ability to change movements focuses on how to change from one skill to another; while variation concerns how to apply a given skill in different ways from one situation to the next. Each skill has many variations, and all possible variations should be mastered in training if fighting ability is to improve. Usually these variations are not discussed directly in form training, and students who devote many hours to form practice are often dismayed to discover that their skills cannot immediately be applied to fighting situations.

p358 Combat Techniques of Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua - Lu Shengli

Balance is an important concept in internal arts and I found this a very straightforward statement about balance in training methods. Too much form training might develop good internal strength but limits your ability to apply that strength, while too much application training develops good skills but limits you internal strength.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[Formosa Neijia]

It's a good quote. But sometimes the moves in application are also big, not always small.

People who overstress application and fighting are rarely utilizing anything remotely internal in their training. But this is an unpopular idea in today's UFC-obsessed world.

So yes, forms, qigong, and even meditation provides lots of things that are necessary to practice IMA even if they don't seem immediately applicable in a martial context.

 

[Xue Sheng]

It's a good quote. But sometimes the moves in application are also big, not always small.

People who overstress application and fighting are rarely utilizing anything remotely internal in their training. But this is an unpopular idea in today's UFC-obsessed world.

So yes, forms, qigong, and even meditation provides lots of things that are necessary to practice IMA even if they don't seem immediately applicable in a martial context.

Agreed.

The first thing I thought of while reading the quote was that in application the movements can be both big and small.

I also feel that when you are training internal styles, IMO, the key is patience. It is necessary to have some in order to take the time needed to train forms, Qigong and the other necessary parts of any internal style.

Without the forms with out the qigong and even without the meditation you end up, IMO, with an external style.

And depending on the internal style and the lineage of that style standing practice is necessary to understand it; this is particularly true of Xingyiquan