styles emphasize more kicking techniques for long-range fighting, while southern stylists specialize in more hand techniques and a limited number of low kicks. This is why it is commonly said in Chinese martial arts society: “southern fist and northern leg”.3 Southern stylists focus on training a firm root, while northern stylists like to move and jump around. Moreover, northern martial stylists have more expertise in horse riding and martial techniques from horseback, while southern martial styles specialize more in fighting on boats and on the ground.
4 Because southern styles generally emphasize more hand techniques, grabbing techniques such as qin na were developed.
Many styles were created near the Yellow River, which carried within them the characteristics of both northern and southern styles. For example, the Shaolin Temple is located in Henan Province, just to the south of the Yellow River. The Shaolin Temple has trained both northern and southern styles for most of its history. In fact, there were a few branches of the Shaolin Temple in existence at different locations throughout its history. These include the Quan Zhou Shaolin Temple in Fujian established during the Chinese year of Tang Qian Fu (A.D. 874-878), and five others established by the head monk Fuyu during the first year of the Chinese Huang Qing of Yuan dynasty, A.D. 1312. These five were located at Jixian of Hebei, He Lin of Wai Meng, Changan of Shanxi, Taiyuan of Shanxi, and Lo Yang of Henan. Among these branches, two were located in the south of China.2
Internal Styles and External Styles
Before we go into the differences between internal and external styles, you should first recognize one important point: all Chinese styles, both internal and external, come from the same root. If a style does not share this root, then it is not a Chinese martial style. This root is the Chinese culture. Throughout the world, various civilizations have created many different arts, each one of them based on that civilization’s cultural background. Therefore, it does not matter which style you are discussing; as long as it was created in China, it must contain the essence of Chinese art, the spirit of traditional Chinese virtues, and the knowledge of traditional fighting techniques that have been passed down for thousands of years.
Martial artists of old looked at their experiences and realized that in a fight there are three factors which generally decide victory: speed, power, and techniques. Among these, speed is the most important. This is because if you are fast, you can get to the opponent’s vital areas more easily and get out again before he can get to you. Even if your power is weak and you know only a limited number of techniques, you still have a good chance of inflicting a serious injury on the opponent. The reason for this is because there are many vital areas, such as the eyes, groin, and throat, where you do not need too much power to make an attack effective.
If you already have speed, then what you need is power. Even if you have good speed and techniques, if you don’t have power, your attacks and defense will not be as effective as possible. You may have met people with great muscular strength but no martial arts training; yet they were able to defeat skilled martial artists whose power was weak. Finally, once you have good speed and power, if you can develop good techniques and a sound strategy, then there will be no doubt that victory will be yours. Therefore, in Chinese martial arts, increasing speed, improving power, and studying the techniques are the most important subjects. In fact, speed and power training are considered the foundation of effectiveness in all Chinese martial arts styles.
It does not matter what techniques a style creates; they all must follow certain basic principles and rules. For example, all offensive and defensive techniques must effectively protect vital areas such as the eyes, throat, and groin. Whenever you attack, you must be able to access your opponent’s vital areas, without exposing your own.
The same applies to speed and power training. Although each style has tried to keep its methods secret, each follows the same general rules. For example, developing muscle power should not be detrimental to your speed, and developing speed should not decrease your muscular power. Both must be of equal concern. Finally, the training methods you use or develop should be appropriate to the techniques that characterize your style. For example, in eagle and crane styles, the speed and power of grabbing are extremely important and should be emphasized.
In Chinese martial arts society, it is also said: “First, bravery; second, power; and third, gongfu.”3 The word “gongfu” here means the martial skills that a person has achieved through long, arduous training. When the situation occurs, among the factors necessary for winning, the first and most crucial is how brave you are. If you are afraid and nervous, then even if you have fast speed, strong power, and good techniques, you will not be able to put all of these into action. From this proverb, you can see that compared to all other winning factors bravery is the most important.
It is generally understood in Chinese martial arts society that before the Liang dynasty (A.D. 502-557), martial artists did not study the use of qi to increase speed and power. As explained earlier, after the Liang dynasty, martial artists performing Muscle/Tendon Changing Qigong from Da Mo realized the value of qi training in developing speed and power. This type of training quickly became a major component of almost all styles. Because of this two-part historical development, the examination of this topic will cover two distinct eras. The dividing point will be the Liang dynasty, when Da Mo came to China (A.D. 527-536).
It is generally believed that before Da Mo, although qi theory and principles had been studied and widely applied in Chinese medicine, they were not used in the martial arts. Speed and power, on the other hand, were normally developed through continued training. Even though this training emphasized a concentrated mind, it did not provide the next step and link this to developing qi. Instead, these martial artists concentrated solely on muscular power. This is why styles originating from this period are classified as external styles.
Da Mo passed down two classics: the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic (Yi Jin Jing) and the Marrow/Brain Washing Classic (Xi Sui Jing). The Yi Jin Jing was not originally intended to be used for fighting. Nevertheless, the martial qigong based on it was able to significantly increase power, and it became a mandatory course of training in the Shaolin Temple. This had a revolutionary effect on Chinese martial arts, leading to the establishment of an internal foundation based on qi training.
As time passed, several martial styles were created which emphasized a soft body instead of the stiff muscular body developed by the Shaolin priests. These newer styles were based on the belief that since internal energy (qi) is the root and foundation of physical strength, a martial artist should first build up this internal root. This theory holds that when qi is abundant and full, it can energize the physical body to a higher level so that power can be manifested more effectively and efficiently. In order to build up qi and circulate it smoothly, the body must be relaxed and the mind must be concentrated. We can recognize at least two internal styles, post-heaven techniques (hou tian fa) and small nine heavens (xiao jiu tian), as having been created during this time (A.D. 550-600). Both later became popular during the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-907). According to some documents, these two styles were the original sources of Taijiquan, the creation of which is credited to Zhang, San-feng of the late Song dynasty ca. A.D. 1200.4
In summary: The various martial arts are divided into external and internal styles. While the external styles emphasize training techniques and building up the physical body through some martial qigong training, the internal styles emphasize the building up of qi in the body. In fact, all styles, both internal and external, have martial qigong training. The external styles train the physical body and hard qigong first and gradually become soft and train soft qigong, while the internal styles train soft qigong first and later apply the built-up qi to the physical techniques. It is said: “Externally, train tendons, bones, and skin; and internally, train one mouthful of qi.”5 This means that it does not matter whether you are studying an external or an internal style; if you want to manifest the maximum amount of power, you have to
