The secret of the ‘internal’ Martial Arts lies in your ability to connect to and use the body’s core.  This is the first thing you are taught in our Tai Chi classes and how we begin every lesson – it is the secret to the famous internal power of Tai Chi!

In order to make the skills of the internal arts universally accessible to all Martial Artists we need concrete and methodical practices that systematically take the practitioner through a layered process to build core skills and sensitivity using simple language and terminology.

In the Shi Kon system we begin this process with Nei Gong.  Nei Gong translates to “inner work” and begins with a series of standing meditations that take the mind systematically through the true core of the body and teach how to use the breath to release excessive tension that can cause stiffness and obstruction.

In our seated Tai Chi programme we teach a lovely seated Nei Gong exercise.  It is an exercise that reinforces correct posture and breathing and also serves a method for calming the body and mind.  It can also be incorporated into a pre-sleep ritual for those who suffer from insomnia – it help’s prepare the body for a peaceful night’s sleep.  It can also be used at your desk and in your car.

Simple Seated Nei Gong

1 – Firstly you will need to be seated – either sitting on a chair or on the edge of the bed.  Ideally you should sit at a height were your thighs are horizontal with your feet sitting flat on the floor shoulder width apart.

2 – Now you need to hold your head “as if suspended from above”.  Imagine that you have a book balanced on your head and then gently float the crown of the upward – ensuring that crown stays level and your book doesn’t fall off!  This should cause you to sit up straight and feel the spine open.

I was looking forward to Steve’s course on the 30 October 2011 which he’d given the tagline of “A million and one applications to form and kata”.  In this course he would be teaching how to breakdown and study form/kata as a practical method for studying the martial arts, using the Shi Kon 13 Hands form to explore the concepts and ideas locked away in side them.

We began with exercises from the Yang Family Qigong set that activated the deepest muscles of the core and taught us how to use and connect the spine in all planes of movement.  To help take our minds to the muscles around the spine Steve showed some resistance exercises that engaged these deep muscles in exactly the manner they are used in the Martial Arts.  Steve raised the interesting point that these deep muscles of the core are naturally incredible strong and that most core exercises are unnecessary and actually stiffen them.

After looking at the how the movements of form and Kata are connected and powered by to the deep muscles of the core we then discussed the Japanese concept of Bunkai.  Steve explained how the term Bunkai (literally meaning ‘analysis‘ or ‘disassembly‘) is often mistakenly translated as application.  To study the Bunkai of a form or Kata is the process of extracting the skills and concepts contained in the form that can power an infinite number of applications (Ohyo in Japanese).

“According to research, every inch the head moves forward of the shoulders, weight is amplified by 10 pounds.” Erik Dalton Ph.D.

This is a quote that I throw around regularly but it wasn’t until a recent seminar with Steve I understood the implications of what those extra 10 pounds of weight has on the body.

Steve was teaching at my kwoon and was talking us through some standing nei gong postures explaining the importance of having the head aligned properly on top of the torso. He used the above quote and then looked over at my medicine balls on the shelves and said, “This medicine ball weighs 10 pounds meaning that every inch your head is out of alignment you’re adding another medicine ball!” and then passed the medicine ball around the group. It was the first time I’d really considered how much 10 pounds of extra strain actually weighed and it was shocking.