Newsgroup: it.sport.arti-marziali
Titolo: interno/esterno secondo --- http://www.adamhsu.com/

The Real Difference between Internal and External Kung Fu
From the Sword Polisher's Record
by Adam Hsu
Now available in book form!
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Generally speaking, we can point to the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
and the beginning of the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911) as the time in China when
misconceptions regarding internal and external kung fu first arose. At that
time Huang Li-chou, a very famous Chinese writer, philosopher and
underground army leader, maintained strong opposition against the Manchus,
who were responsible for the overthrow of the Ming Dynasty and the
establishment of Ching in its place.
I highly respect Huang's ideas and unshakeable convictions concerning
loyalty and the preservation of Chinese traditions, as well as his
courageous resistance against the Manchus. But I cannot agree with one of
his essays in which he attempts to clarify the distinction between internal
and external kung fu, unduly assigning the internal more value and a greater
importance.
Fortunately, during the 300 years of the Ching Dynasty, Huang's
internal/external viewpoint did little to change the quality and conceptions
of Chinese kung fu. At that time kung fu was still a very practical and
extremely serious art, diligently and effectively practiced because of the
rule and occupation of China by the "non-Han" Manchus.
Toward the end of the Ching Dynasty, the appearance of the European nations,
equipped with ships, cannons and rifles, seriously undermined not only the
power and influence of the Ching government but the credibility in combat of
kung fu as well. The Chinese people realized the limits of kung fu's
effectiveness on the battlefield against modern arsenals. Regardless of
one's martial competence, firearms ultimately reigned supreme.
The period between the end of the Ching Dynasty and the beginning of the
Republic marked a turning point in the evolution of kung fu, which even
until today is largely responsible for how most people conceive of Chinese
martial arts. At this time, some well educated and less physically qualified
people submitted their philosophies to substitute for the lack of real
technique. Huang's internal/external article was popularized, and because of
his highly respected writings against the Ching Dynasty, it became readily
accepted.
Tai chi chuan, pa kua chang, and hsing-i chuan were all classified as the
popular internal styles. The credibility of this was (and still is) upheld
by conveniently pointing to ancient and highly esteemed religious and moral
philosophies which shared similar terms but were totally unrelated to
martial arts in any other way.
Scholars in China often use the writings and philosophies of famous people
to give credence to and help perpetuate their own ideas. And in this case,
after just a short time, it appeared as if the distinction between
internal/external kung fu had always existed. Many books which were written
to justify this "connection" have been translated into other languages and
have been responsible for the spreading of a great deal of misinformation.
Many of the authors of these books were never respected in real kung fu
circles at all, but only by those who lacked the skill and expertise to tell
the difference.
As kung fu was now no longer emphasized as a fighting art, these new
philosophies helped give many dishonest and unqualified people a great
opportunity to use kung fu as a way to take advantage of and cheat the
public. Capitalizing on this new trend, they assured people that their kung
fu was internal and that one never needed to exert oneself to become
powerful and skillful. Many people, unwilling to endure the pains and
rigorous demands of real training, naturally flocked to these fantasy-like
promises--and thus the myth extended even further.
These so-called internal styles often claim that they practice very softly
and comfortably. They don't work on free sparring or train for speed and
power in their techniques, insisting that it is not necessary for them to
because of the enormous amount of internal power they have accumulated.
Other more amazing internal claims include being able to defeat an enemy
without touching him, or even harming one's opponent by taking the force of
his technique and immediately sending it back against him. I know for a fact
that most of these demonstrations of internal power are made possible by
gimmicks.
Often these practitioners cannot prove their power against "non-believers"
or give substantiated proof about stories regarding their own connection
with adepts who lived around the time of the late Ching and early Republic
period. I have met with these genuine older practitioners, however, and only
very few claim to have extraordinary ability; most admit that the stories of
their spectacular feats are quite ridiculous and exaggerated. I do admit
there are a few people who can legitimately tap this unknown power, but as
remarkable as it may appear, it is not remarkable kung fu.
A wide variety of interesting and contradictory explanations were developed
concerning just what was internal and what external. A few are mentioned
here: 1. Shaolin is external (wai) because it was a Buddhist temple and
Buddhism came from outside (external) into China. Wu tang is internal (nei)
because it is Taoist and Taoism is a product of China. 2. Wu tang is
external because the highest Taoist training seeks immortality and
transcendence of human affairs. Shaolin is internal because of the monks'
use of the Internal Buddhist Bible, a religious book. 3. Any hard or fast
movements are external; soft and slower movements are internal. 4.
Overpowering and destruction of the enemy in application is external;
neutralizing and using the opponent's energy against him is internal. 5.
Kung fu with lots of movements is external; simpler, more comfortable
movements are internal. 6. Making a sound while practicing is external
because of the yelling; quiet kung fu is internal because all energy is
concentrated inside one's body. 7. Silent kung fu is external because
breathing was not practiced along with the movements; noisy kung fu is
internal because the sound and the breathing move in unison.
Sound confusing? It is!
The remainder of this article is not shown.
Š Copyright 1998 Adam Hsu. All Rights Reserved. This article has been
published in the book, Sword Polisher's Record, The Way of Kung Fu. It may
not be duplicated or used whole or in part without express written
permission from Tuttle Publishing.

Dello stesso autore, Adam Hsu,
un pò d'insalata a contorno dell'articolo principale ;-))
(chan szu chin)
Ciao.
...
"However, because our bodies are limited, it follows that our working distance is also limited. We can move our arm or leg only a
certain distance. Even the largest person has his limitations. Therefore, we try other ways to heighten our power. One, we try to
increase our strength. Two, we try to increase our speed, that is, move faster. Kung fu and all martial art systems recognize the
necessity of speed and strength in technique, and train to develop these qualities. Another part of kung fu training, though, is to
teach the student a different way of moving in order to increase his working distance.
This way of moving is called chan szu chin. It is of a spiralling rather than a straight nature, and has been understood in China
since ancient times. In the ancient farming culture the family roles were clearly defined. The men worked the fields, and the women
primarily stayed home; and among the women's chores was the reeling of silk. That is, they removed the silk from the silkworm's
cocoons. As they pulled the silk, the cocoon would spin. This act of reeling silk called chan-szu in Chinese, was a part of every
day life; all were familiar with it. The spiralling effect of reeling silk was very much like the kung fu way of using the body in
order to issue power. Hence, chan szu chin (reeling silk energy) was taken as the name of this kung fu technique.

 "However, because our bodies are limited, it follows that our working distance is also limited. We can move our arm or leg only a
Cut..
Adam Hsu non è male anche se ogni tanto scopiazza articoli qua e la e
poi li firma di suo pugno!
Non questo cmq!:-)
saluti!
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