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Brute Force vs. Effortless Power

Learning kung fu is a step by step process which must be followed in order to achieve the desired results. There are many mistakes that a student can make that will cause them to leave the correct path. While the mistakes are numerous, they all have one thing in common; the use of uncontrolled brute force instead of a relaxed, effortless power. Brute force is fine for those naturally endowed with size and strength. But what about someone who is small and not very strong? Is the smaller and weaker doomed to defeat at the hands of someone who is bigger and stronger? No! Kung fu was developed for the express purpose of allowing the smaller and weaker to prevail in any confrontation, regardless of the size and strength of the opponent.

What is "Strength"?

The Chinese made a distinction between two different ways a human being is able to generate force. One type of force is called "li". A punch using li is accomplished by suddenly tensing the muscles of the arms and upper torso. This is the more familiar type of power to most people in the modern West. You can easily see the tension and effort, as evidenced by the stiff, bulging muscles of the person throwing such a punch. It tends to be dull, unfocused and relatively slow. The idea behind training with this type of power is to become bigger and stronger than your opponent. For someone who is naturally big and strong, this type of power, though inferior, may be satisfactory. However, should that same person engage with someone who is even bigger and stronger, their chances of prevailing will be greatly diminished. And keep in mind, there will always be someone bigger and stronger.

The other type of force is called "jing". Jing is a very powerful force that is generated by a coordinated use of the entire body instead of a few isolated muscle groups. Softness and relaxation replace hardness and tension. Instead of meeting force with force, jing causes the body to naturally compress and then sharply rebound in the same way a spring naturally and effortlessly rebounds after it is compressed. The rebound occurs after the incoming force has spent all its energy, at the extreme reach of a punch or kick for example. That is when your opponent is most vulnerable to the rebounding energy of Jing. Unlike Li, Jing is a pulse of energy that is sharp, quick and has the ability to penetrate very deep. What really makes Jing superior to Li is the fact that it does not depend on size or muscle strength. Anyone, with proper training, is able to generate tremendous power with Jing. The Kung Fu Academy favors Jing over Li.

Training Methods

Pushups, sit ups, weight lifting and other more familiar Western-style strength building exercises are of limited value when it comes to developing jing. These exercises help to build strong muscles, but, as we have just seen, big strong muscles are not the goal in Kung Fu Boxing. Instead the founders of Kung Fu Boxing developed entirely different methods to build the jing type of strength. While they may seem strange to many people, they nonetheless are very effective in acquiring the skill of "moving a thousand pounds with four ounces." In fact, they are the only way to learn jing. There is no need for improvement, additions or variations. The system is complete in itself and works. The study at The Kung Fu Academy is devoted to learning and practicing these old methods.

Ancient Ideas

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