From the author of "Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body" comes a book that introduces martial arts practitioners to three "internal" arts and their subtle powers. Inner martial arts rely on internal energy for power rather than on muscles or tension. 15 photos.

A no-nonsense and entertaining guide to harnessing the power of jin in your t'ai chi or internal martial arts training Developing Jin provides a complete and progressive training regimen for increasing and refining chansi-jin, also known as silk-reeling power or coiling power—the true power of the internal martial arts. With step-by-step instructions and photographs, experienced teacher Philip Starr walks readers through a variety of techniques designed to help practitioners feel and use jin in their martial arts training. While much of the existing writing on jin relies on cryptic and mystical descriptions of internal power, Starr takes a direct, no-nonsense approach that addresses commonly held myths and identifies the real body mechanics behind this unusual power. Useful for novices and advanced practitioners alike, Developing Jin is a crucial addition to any serious martial artist's library. Table of Contents 1. Got Jin? 2. How To Use This Book 3. Basic Conditioning Exercises 4. In The Beginning 5. Structure and Alignment 6. Training the Breath 7. The Nature Of Qi 8. Let's Get Engaged! 9. Beginning With Stillness 10. The Breath Coiling Form 11. The Secret Of Tendon Power 12. Internal Coiling 13. Applying The Coiling Power 14. Putting It All Together 15. Training Routines For Coiling Power 16. Three Become One 17. Combative Applications Conclusion

This is the book Ken Gullette wishes he had been able to read when he first began studying Tai Chi, Bagua and Xingyi in 1987. It gets to the point, stripping the mystical mumbo jumbo away, leaving detailed, real-world explanations of the six fundamental body mechanics that everyone should know when they study Tai Chi (Taiji), Bagua and Xingyi. For the first time, these body mechanics are organized and discussed clearly, with more than 250 images and highly-detailed but simple language. If you are a student or even a teacher of these arts, you should be able to learn something here that will deepen your own insight into the arts. Ken has studied with some top internal arts masters, and during the first ten years he was teaching, he boiled down the body mechanics he learned into six key concepts. In this book, he explains them in the same step-by-step detail that he uses in teaching his students, building on each of the concepts until you have a clear roadmap of what you need to practice for high-quality internal structure and movement. As Ken explains it, "The true intent of the internal arts is self-defense. The body mechanics in this book are the starting point you need to develop the structure and internal strength that is required for the relaxed power, the iron wrapped in cotton, that the internal arts are known for. This is the starting point upon which all other skill is built." Ken has studied these arts since 1987, is a tournament champion, winning in empty-hand and weapons forms, no-contact, light-contact and full-contact matches, and he has students worldwide who have studied his DVDs and his website, www.internalfightingarts.com. Concepts covered in these pages include: the ground path, peng jin, whole-body movement, silk-reeling energy, Dantien rotation, and opening/closing the kua. From the explosiveness of Xingyi to the relaxed power of Tai Chi and Bagua, the road to internal skill is long and difficult, but very satisfying. There is nothing "soft" about these arts. They are powerful arts of self-defense. And it all starts here.

In many old martial arts films you often see a master capable of extraordinary supernormal feats such as being able to move with the speed of wind, throw incredibly heavy objects, destroy them with a strike, stride over water, or even fly through the air. Are such things possible? The Chinese Taoists say "yes" if the master practiced special exercises to cultivate their inner energy, or yang chi (qi). These practices to cultivate inner power are called nei-gong, or the internal martial arts, and are related to the mastery of the kundalini energies cited in Indian yogic and Buddhist literature, which also explains the various superpowers that become possible with its cultivation. Many people today want to be able to attain such supernormal skills, or they simply want to understand why and how these skills were cultivated so they might be duplicated as best possible. Some practitioners of Tai Chi Chuan, Hsing-Yi, Ba Gua Zhang, Five Animals, Aikido, Karate, Judo, Northern Shaolin, and other Kung Fu Wushu traditions have alternatively damaged their bodies from their practice, or have reached a training plateau, and want some sure methods to break their current limits and bring their martial arts skills to the next level. This book explains the major practices on how to properly cultivate nei-gong safely to achieve all these objectives. The information provided, because of its advance nature, was usually considered the high "secrets" of martial arts lineages made available only to the top students who also practiced breathing methods and meditation. It explains how to cultivate the mythical martial arts through the initial practice of qi-gong, and then inner nei-gong exercises involving anapana, pranayama, one-pointed visualization, kasina meditations, and sexual cultivation. It provides training information applicable to Iron Palm, Iron Shirt or Dim Mak techniques, which though incredible in themselves still fall far short of the special supernormal achievements possible after a martial arts student successfully opens up their chakras and chi channels, in particular their sushumna central channel and the macrocosmic chi circulation within the body. This is the only book in English offering detailed instructions on how to cultivate the Taoist concept of shen, which is the stage of awareness attained after cultivating your chi to a high level. For purposes of attaining inner gong-fu (kung fu), it also teaches how to cultivate the Six Yogas of Naropa and the Tibetan tantric mantras for opening up the body's central chi channel. In terms of specific long term nei-gong methods, it stresses visualization and anapana practices which are explained in conjunction with more advanced techniques for dissolving inner energy blockages. Rather than just focusing on internal martial arts kung fu, the authors go even a step further also bring forth many rarely discussed modern training principles for peak athletic performance that can be applied to martial arts, and provide practical information on various vitamin-mineral supplements, detoxification routines, and bodywork therapies that can help heal martial arts injuries and lead to improved skills even if the nei-gong route of internal martial arts energies and gong-fu is not mastered. This is a truly unique book, quite different than what's normally available for the martial arts tradition, because it provides full materials on topics raely covered elsewehre, and reveals not one, two or three but a plethora of inner training practices, even for qi-gong, along with what are normally considered their secret training details.

"Explains how awareness and development of chi gives internal martial arts their power and strength, contains full instructions on the Taoist system Nei Gung, describes how specific martial arts use chi, includes stories about masters. The new edition adds a new foreword, new introduction by author, practical explanations on spiritual traditions of the internal martial arts, index"--Provided by publisher.

If personal achievement is what you are looking for, Xing Yi (Hsing I) Kung Fu for Success is what you need. Drawing upon lessons taught in Xingyiquan (Hsing I Ch'uan), one of the three major forms of internal martial arts from China, this book will reveal a new psychology of success that has hitherto been unknown to the world. Other than introducing to you what this ancient art is all about, Xing Yi (Hsing I) Kung Fu for Success will also show you the way to self-esteem, confidence, and a mental tenacity that only the very best will possess. You are more than what you think, and you are stronger than what you can ever imagine. Are you anywhere close to what you can potentially be? If you are not, it is time to get this book.

Title: This work is the result of thirty years of observations about the function and behavior of Ki (vital energy) in traditional martial arts. Master teacher, Hayashi Tomio, author and Buddhist monk, with over a half century of teaching experience, leads readers into the extraordinary realm of internal martial practice with a revolutionary perspective that the effortless power derived from proper Ki technique may be the result of human's ability to control their bioelectric field as a signaling mechanism to charge their musculature for impressive gains. Hayashi lays out the amazing Ki principles and techniques embedded in most traditional forms. Electrifying your practice takes on literal meaning. Through the Kiko lens Hayashi answers many longstanding questions about the traditional martial arts such as the hidden reason why martial artists are told to keep their knees precisely bent, to crescent their step, to bend their wrist during certain parries, to make certain tonal sounds, to breathe deep into the belly, to stomp their foot, lift their heel, or turn the feet inward or outward in various postures, or to pause at certain points in a kata. Learn about the startling distinctions between open and closed hand moves, why katas should start in a specific cardinal direction, why the arms should or should not cross with certain limb configurations, why turns in a kata are often 45 or 90 degree angles, why duration; the amount of time expended during strength moves, exerts an unusual influence on body-generated power, why certain tonal kiai's are made in kata, why moves done in sets of two or three should not be identical. Learn how to increase both your speed and punching power. Learn about the hidden effects of using certain weapons. For instance, a long or short bo (staff) has a Yin and Yang end. A steel blade can cut meridians without contact. Sai act like lightning rods drawing Ki into a user's body, how simple visualizations can double your strength or make a lock placed upon you difficult to achieve, how redirecting your Ki can seal against pressure point strikes, how everyone possess a unique energy signature—and more.

The practical strength training guide for Wing Tsun Kung Fu (Wing Chun, Ving Tsun) practitioners and fitness enthusiasts. Step-by-step explanations of exercises. Striking power for self-defense and martial arts. Now with bonus chapter about fundamental kettlebell training!

"Seventeen teachers of tai ji quan, xing yi quan, and ba gua zhang present perspectives on the philosophy, history, and training methods of the internal martial arts. The revised edition contains four new teacher profiles and artwork"--Provided by publisher.