Thursday 22 May 2014

The Mind Is In Charge Of The Body; Internal Martial Arts

By Marci Glover


Taoists believe that there is a way the body can be strengthened through yogic and psychological practices. This is what is referred to as internal martial arts. The nervous and the energy manufacturing systems are controlled from within the body resulting in a strong human being, both within and without the body. It is common to find people practicing these skills in California. They are trying very hard to preserve this culture.

The people who came up with this genre spent most of their time practicing stunts, mastering them and comprehensively describing skills to other people. They came up with basic ideologies for internal martial arts like power without effort, body balance and energy within. They also came up with major guiding principles for this genre; body and mind relationship and physical mechanisms. These are still the ones giving guidance to practitioners of this trade up to today.

Body mechanism is a principle that asserts that human beings are made of hard tissues which interlock to form a skeleton. These hard tissues are covered with the soft tissues mainly composed of ligaments, muscles and tendons. When the hard tissues interlock, they cut down the work that was meant for the soft tissues to very low levels.

The originators of these ideas went further to say that the interlocking of bones forms pivots that turn in the same manner as levers. The artist applies less effort to produce a greater force whose impact is felt on the opponent. For efficiency, one needs to position himself/herself in certain angles. This is because a greater output is only produced if the effort is in a certain position in relation to the load.

The empty full ideology entails minimizing wastage of body strength through possession of the ability to distinguish between what is empty and one that is full. This ability helps one move his/her steps more briskly and steadily. It also helps one remain balanced even when an opponent pulls him/her. In a fight, a fighter is supposed to identify the full and empty parts of the body of the opponent. He/she should then attack the full.

The men who founded this branch of art also insisted that the mind drives the human body. According to them, this discovery can help one not to feel pain. This is basically through directing the mind away from the pain. This realization, therefore, rubbishes physical abilities that do not engage the mind.

Internal martial arts is different from normal stretching and exercises in the sense that, it has a therapeutic impact on the body, and this is lacking in the later. The sung involved in Tai chi and yoga helps the body and mind relax and be free from interruptions from the surrounding. It gets rid of dysfunctions due to bad positioning, balances the muscles and opens meridian channels.

To master this practice, one needs to sharpen his/her skills in minimizing energy expenditure, but maintain high levels of power production. This is only possible if the mind is properly engaged. Most people around California have developed interest in this culture, and are practicing them routinely. This culture is so much loved that a course was introduced in Stanford University to help preserve these practices.




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