The importance of Kua in generating internal power

To be honest, all martial arts try to bring the power of your legs into your punches, and Kua is a important bridge that links the lower and upper body. According to my studies, in some external kungfu, e.g. Shaolin, Hung-Gar, Wing-Chun, Karate, they tend to lock the lower body to the ground so when your feet steps on the ground, the rebounding force will pass through the Kua (or hip), and gets strengthened by the Kua, Waist, Shoulder, and finally to the tip of the finger.

In Wudang Clan (normally Tai-Chi, Bagua, and Xing-Yi), power still come from the feet, pass through the Kua, and issued to the tip of the finger. But instead of using the power of the muscles, we use the power of the soft tissues and joints (don't know whether it's the exact word), so first we stay loose and get rid of all the muscle power. That's why you see slow movements in Tai-Chi. When we stay loose for a few years, our body began to unite. What appears to be soft at the beginning becomes hard and powerful. At that time, when we issue power, it's just as powerful as any hard martial arts. It sounds easy to explain but difficult to do.

Hello David Lee:

Welcome to FA!

Let's try and define some of these ideas/terms so that we all start from the same place.

Kua, what muscles/muscle groups would those be? If not able to use their latin names for the specific muscles, how about describing the precise area(s) which define the entire Kua?

Are we talking the hip pointer? The buttocks? The pelvic carraige? The coccyx? There are a huge number of fairly precise possibilites that might (or might not) be "Kua" structures/pieces.

Is there a correct sequence for engaging, using those particular muscles or structures (bone positioning/alignment) re: proper Kua?

<<get rid of all the muscle power.

Kinda makes it hard to stand without any "muscle power", no

I think what you mean is EFFICENT use, or minimal usage, not none. Muscles are contracted or not engaged all over the body while awake. No contraction and we are asleep, too tightly contracted we have hyper tension, heart attacks, and so forth.

The art of "efficency" is difficult to learn but likely why we ever move slowly/slower. Done rapidly too many details are easy to literally miss. Too fast and nobody can figure out what was used or not. However done slowly, eventually you can isolate the pieces and unravel those which are necessary from those which are not helpful to the task/technique at hand...

Lets take a shot at these types/kinds of explainations... for some/many they are harder than they seem but very useful.

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Thanks. Yeah, it's a good idea. Forgive me as my English is poor. But let's do this, hold your hands around your hip, and try to twist/turn the hip (Kua) clockwise, the parts that turn are defined as Kua.

You are right in terms of minimal use of muscle power. That's what I actually meant. In Chinese, muscle power is called "Li", while the power of the soft tissues (I am not sure if it is the right word) is called "Jin". We try to avoid using "Li" and endeavor to develop "Jin".

Speaking of efficiency, it seems to be more related to the transmission of power in the human body. In Tai-Chi, power comes from the ground, issued by the legs, passed through the waist, and finally reaches the fingers. So if some of your body parts are not relaxed enough, the power might get stuck there. Watch a ring fighter before a fight, he tries to relax his muscle, and that's just the way Tai-Chi trains us to do.

But if you practise Tai-Chi quickly at the beginning, you're going to miss many things as you mentioned, but there are some pretty fast forms in Tai-Chi, as Tai-Chi is not meant to be a slow Kungfu. When the opponent attacks you fast, you should respond in an even faster movement; when he is slow, you only have to respond slightly faster.

Hello David:

Thank you for helping explain more! (Your English is very good)

<<hold your hands around your hip, and try to twist/turn the hip (Kua) clockwise, the parts that turn are defined as Kua.

Bones only is the "kua" or the muscles which turn those bones too?


Does "Li" (muscle power) have no value in "internal" arts ever ?

Concerning Jin/Jing what are the parts of it? Un-inhibited weight? Body parts in the right places/positions.... (eg elbows pointing UP, probably not in the right position for anything) ? Are there other parts to internal power to your understanding?

Tai Chi Ch'uan is the "Grand Ultimate Fist", slow moving is for careful basic study and ~general health~. I understand that being able to move faster is helpful if protecting ourselves.

Look forward to hearing from you,
Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Thanks. Normally Chinese people tend to think differently from westerners, e.g. we like to see things as a greater whole rather than go into the details. So regarding the definition of Kua, I haven't really thought that deep about it before, but thanks for bringing out this issue. In my opinion, the reason we bring the concept of Kua into training is to help bridge through the upper and lower part of the body. Kua should include bones and flesh, but more importantly, soft tissues.

Muscle power (Li) does have value in martial arts but muscles are not as powerful as the tissues. The arnold schwarzenger type of musclar men is not necessarily a top fighter. Look at the best fighter in MMA, fedor, his muscles are pretty relaxed when he fights.

My teacher can tell you what grand ultimate is. He can issue power from most parts of his body. So he doesn't have to hit you with his fists, and all parts of his body can become fists.

Li = strength, but theres 2 different kinds of Li in CMA (internal & external). If a Taichi guy was able to successfully defend himself you can say (in chinese) "oh that guys is really strong" which means that he has a lot of strength. What kind? well probably internal. However, this can just be a difference in terminology since David is using Mandarin terms and I'm thinking Cantonese.

Jing pertains to your internal energy. Nei Jing is the ability to not only 'unlock' your chi flow but also direct and use that energy.


edit:
so i looked up the translations from cantonese to mandarin

nei li/jing - internal strength
wai li - external strength

nei gong - internal skill/excercise
wai gong - external skill/excercise

Internal is a mixture of Mind(Yi) and Qi, and when issued out it is called Jin; external is muscle power (Li). If someone defends against an incoming force, he might have used his muscle power(Li) against the force, he might issue internal power, or he might simply shift his body weight (avoid that power).

Though I am a Cantonese, I tend to use Mandarin as my teachers speak mandarin.