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

By Marci Glover


Chinese Taoists came up with a discovery that all actions of our bodies entirely depend on the mind. They used this discovery in coming up with a genre of martial arts known as internal martial arts. In this particular genre, psychological meditations are used in dictating the state of the human body. In California, this art highly practiced.

The founders of this field of art practiced, mastered the skills and later described the underlying principles; balancing the body, effortless power and internal energy. These same people codified the main principles that still guide the field even today. The main principles as described by the founders are; physical mechanism, linking the body and mind, and striving to attain advanced skills.

The soft/hard support and the full empty are the main contents of the body mechanism ideology. Accordingly, the hard tissues, which are mainly bones, give the most support to the body. Their locking and twisting reduces the workload for soft tissues like muscles, ligaments and tendons. The hard and soft tissues, however work together in a complementary manner to facilitate provision of strength for the body.

The same principle argues that the body has fulcrums, through whose turning the body avoids a lot of effort. Therefore, an artist must find a suitable position during his/her performance to help push power into the soft tissues. Hence, the body works like a lever system; where less energy is used to produce more energy on the output end.

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.

Creators of this genre of also insisted on linking the body and the mind. They always believed that our bodies are controlled by the mind. Therefore, one can avoid pain and gain more strength by engaging the mind. According to this principle, therefore, physical strength is useless if the mind is not involved.

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.

Therefore, this genre is all about minimizing the energy spent in a fight. It uses principles that ensure use of minimal energy in achieving greater ends. This is achieved through engaging the mind more that physical strength. The City of California has greatly borrowed this Chinese culture. The Three Treasures Internal Arts has even started classes to teach the people of California about this culture.




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