The Kung Fu Academy of San Diego

Brute Force vs. Effortless Power

"In order to function beyond the use of ordinary strength, you must study what seems to be useless and then work to make it efficient."
Sixteenth Century Kung Fu Master

The practice of kung fu is a science that is learned step by step to reach the level of moving with what the Chinese call "Chi". Most people involved in the martial arts make the assumption that Chi is a term for some mysterious force which cannot be clearly defined or isolated. Lacking a clear understanding of chi, it is usually cloaked in magic, mysticism and imagination. Too often the mantra of the uninformed instructor is, "let the chi flow." This leads to a classroom full of starry eyed students trying to imagine a mighty river flowing through their body. Those that are honest with themselves know that such a directive has absolutely no meaning in the real world. Should such a student find him or herself in a real self defense situation, they will realize that a punch coming at their face is very grounded in physical reality and that all their practice at imagination is of little or no value.

Chi, as understood by the founders of kung fu, is actually nothing more than a generic term for energy or power. It is really easy to see why it is so central to kung fu given that a punch, kick, push, etc. requires energy. In short, it takes energy to move and kung fu just wouldn't work without movement! The question becomes, how does one develop the required energy to move?

What is "Strength"?

As it turns out, there are basically two ways the human body can generate the energy for martial arts. One way of generating power is to tense isolated muscle groups. For example, a punch is accomplished by suddenly tensing the muscles of the arms and upper torso. This is the more familiar type of power to most people. You can easily see the tension and effort exerted by someone as they throw such a punch. The basic idea behind training with this type of power is to become bigger and stronger that your opponent. For someone who is big and strong this type of power, though inferior, may be satisfactory. It is known within the martial art arena, rightly or wrongly, as "external energy".

The other type of energy is not at all like that. It is said that in kung fu the power is in the bones and joints. This type of energy does not require big hard muscles. In genuine kung fu the only real muscle group used to generate power are the abdominals. They are used in such a way as to cause all your bones to move rapidly through space starting with your lower spine. As the force moves travel through your bones away from your lower spine, each successive joint causes a whip like effect to further accelerate the next bone in line, all the way to your hands and feet. Basic physics tell us that force is equal to mass times acceleration, so the faster a given mass is moved the more force it generates. Your hand weighs a fixed amount, so, short of carrying a roll of quarters in your palm, you can't increase force by adding weight to your hand. But you certainly can increase the speed with which your hand moves through space. For any given individual, this way of moving is far superior to rough, brutish mucsle power. This type of power is known as "internal energy".

Internal Energy Can Be Learned By Anybody

Too often it is wrongly assumed that learning internal energy requires 20 or more years. That is simply not true. The fact is that internal energy martial arts can be learned in roughly the same amount of time as it takes to learn any other martial art. Internal energy can be taught to anyone. It does however require the willingness to abandon virtually all of the ideas most people have on how the human body works as a mechanical device. The type of movement required by internal kung fu is not simply a variation or modification of they way most people presently move. Instead it requires a radically new and unfamiliar way of moving.

Training Methods

Since The Kung Fu Academy is endeavoring to introduce each student to something completely foreign to them, it follows that the training methods will be rather different, and to be sure, they are. Lifting weights, push ups, sit ups, jogging, hitting heavy bags and other familiar methods are abandoned for methods that were used hundreds and even thousands of years ago by kung fu masters whose life depended on their ability to survive the battlefield. One thing is certain, with the right training and a proper attitude, anyone, regardless of size, weight or strength, can experience the power and beauty of internal kung fu.

Ancient Ideas

"Without obvious postures or techniques, you will be effective with one move; if you make the mistake of posturing and posing, you will be ineffective with ten moves."
Ch'i Chi-kuang, Ming General, 1528 - 1587

"In practice the postures are indeed fixed so as to have a common ground from which to study principles of Kung Fu movement. However fighting necessitates the abandonment of fixed forms and postures. The postures are subordinate to the principles. When the principles are understood, the postures loose significance."
Lien-ping Shih-chi, 1240 - 1299

"The reason for postures in the martial arts is to facilitate learning. Forms contain fixed postures but in actual practice there are no fixed postures. When applied they become fluid, while still maintaining their structural characteristics."
Tang Shun-chih, 1507 - 1560

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