• AS A DEFINITION
• AS FOR THE NAME: TAI-CHI CHUAN OR TAIJIQUAN
• INTRODUCTION
• THE FORM
• THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TAI CHI CHUAN
• THE TAI CHI CHUAN STYLES
• PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS WHICH SUSTAIN THE TAI-CHI CHUAN THEORY
• TAOÍSM AND THE ORIGIN OF TAI CHI CHUAN
• THE CHI (QI)
• THE TAN-TIEN (or dan tian)
• INTERNAL MARTIAL ARTS
• NEI-GONG
• QIN-NA
• TUI-SHOU

  
  

INTERNAL MARTIAL ARTS

Movement of tui-shou, ´´da-lü´´ (please see below for the corresponding section)

The martial arts are fighting and defence tactics. In Chinese, they are called ´´wu-shu´´. We can divide them into the external and internal types, characterized by the last type is the emphasis placed on the internal and subtle work of the body via adjustment of the respiration, the emotions and the flow of the ´´qi´´ and the training of the mind which is expressed from within to without, contrary to that in the external schools in which the external force is principally exercised, at least, in the beginning stages. In the pure internal schools, it is considered relatively less important compared to the ´´qin-na´´ which upon development from ´´nei-gong´´ is tended towards the ´´fa´´, that is, the blows towards the opponent, which in itself, does not cause harm, but rather to dislocate something in him.

In terms of the internal martial arts, there are 3 principal types: The ´´taijiquan´´ (tai-chi chuan), the ´´xingyi quan´´ and the ´´ba gua zhang´´. Apart from fighting with the fists, it can also be practiced using diverse weapons.

THE QIN-NA (qinna)

These are techniques proper to ´´wu-shu´´ or martial arts whose objective is to grasp, block and control the articulations to overcome the adversary.