The Science of Nei Jia Quan

By: Zhang Naiqi

Translation by: Nitzan Oren and Jonathan Bluestein
Forward by Nitzan Oren
As I was strolling the used book markets in China when I was living in
Tianjin, I encountered a book (more of a booklet actually) whose
name caught my eye: The Science of Nei Jia Quan published in
1928. I hurried to purchase this piece, which turned out to be a real
treasure. The next day I showed it to my teacher, master Zhou
Jingxuan, who had remembered reading it long ago, back when he
was younger. Zhou was enthusiastic about me reading and
researching this book.
The Science of Nei Jia Quan is one of the most fascinating books
that I had read on the subjects of Qi

Gong and Nei Gong (Internal Skill). It describes the benefits from
training internal methods in a language which is coherent to any
reader. Unlike in many other Chinese martial arts books (back then
and nowadays as well) who use all sorts of complex lingo related to
Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Cosmology, the author of
this book had attempted to provide scientific explanations to the
beneficial results which arise from training Internal Methods. Even
though the content of this book is relevant for us even today, it is
important to take into account that the book was written over 70
years ago, and the knowledge we have now is slightly more
advanced than it had been back in the day.
To better understand the contents of the book and in order to read
more materials published by its author, Zhang Naiqi, I began to look

for more information about his life, his education and his practice in
the traditional Chinese martial arts. Most of my efforts came up in
vein, and I couldnt find much neither on the Internet, nor in martial
arts circles. From the little written in the forward of the book itself it
appears the author had trained in Xing Yi Quan, Bagua Zhang and
Taiji Quan. Recently Ive managed to find out he was also involved in
the revolution in China in the beginning of the 20th century, and that
he had written an additional article on Qi Gong.
In 2006 I reread the book several times, and decided to translate it
into Hebrew, so the Israeli reader could also benefit from its content.
The book was later further translated into English, under my
supervision, by my student Jonathan Bluestein, in May 2013. As
the book includes lots of descriptions, stories and explanations
which I did not think were so important, I chose to skip them and only
translate the parts which I felt were meaningful and useful to the
reader.
Internal Skill and Fatigue
The Internal Skill eliminates fatigue in the following 3 ways:
1. During rest, the Chest and Abdomen, which contain the vital
organs, are completely relaxed and flaccid.
2. While moving, the tension is transferred from the Chest into the
Abdomen area.
3. By avoiding unnecessary tension in bodily areas which remain
static.
Wu Ji Full Body Relaxation at Rest

Before you begin to practice movement in the art of internal skill,

there is a preparatory stage consisting of a static posture, in which
the entire body is brought to a relaxed state. This preparatory
position is very important for the whole practice. First, one should
stand in a frontal stance or slightly facing sideways, while the entire
body is in harmony with the mechanical principles of a fulcrum.
Discomfort does not exist at any point in the body, and all the joints
are naturally slightly

folded. Afterwards, one should use his Yi (Intention) to conduct an

orderly inspection of the body: from up to down head, neck,
shoulders, chest, arms, abdomen, buttocks and feet and feel
whether there exist any unnecessary unconscious tension at some
place or another. Tension created by improper posture should be
corrected, and tension which was originally unconscious (created by
mental causes) should be consciously released. Now, one should
sense whether the breathing is natural and without disturbance, and
make sure it is calm. Afterwards, the whole body, together with all
the loosened and relaxed organs, should be allowed to drop down
by the influence of Gravity. This dropping and sinking should
become unconscious and completely natural.
The positioning of the skeleton is based on the laws of mechanics
and that of the fulcrum, and the structure need not necessarily lean
upon the muscles and tendons to keep itself together. The muscles
and tendons should be as hanging from a coat-hanger, while the
breath is in parallel light and calm like trail of smoke coming up from
incense. Natural breathing is completely dependent upon the
expansion and contraction of the lungs without directed
intervention.

At this time, it should not be allowed for the eyes or ears to notice
the outside world, because as soon as they become aware of what is
going on around them, an unconscious tension appears in the
chest. One should only focus on keeping the relaxed state of all
bodily parts, and especially make sure the breathing is natural. This
sort of focus helps one avoid what goes on around oneself.
Sometimes the breath is vocal and heavy. This is many a time a
result of undue tension in windpipe, and not because of fast
breathing. All that should be done to resolve this is to avoid any
tension in the mouth, nose, neck and chest, and as a result the
windpipe will expand and the breathing becomes easy.
One could notice that unlike adults, children do not have any tension
in their chests. Among children, the abovementioned relaxation of
the muscles and breath are natural. Their chests and bellies slightly
protrude outwards. In this state, the stomach and intestines are lain
rather than hanged. Even though practically and physically we are
not really hanging them, psychologically there is a feeling of having
no safe place to lay them, so one is forced to hang them up in order
to prevent them from dropping. This also works the other way
around the feeling of the stomach and intestines being hung also
produces the anxiety of their possible dropping in the unconscious,
and this anxiety in turn produces a pressure from the abdomen
upwards, supposedly providing support for the stomach and
intestines. These two phenomenon produce and create each-other.
Further,

the tension in the chest contracts the chest muscles and the internal
organs.
This cycle of anxiety and tension in the chest leads to fatigue. An
upwards pressure of the intestinal wall is extremely fatiguing

anyone could feel it. Because of the fatigue, once in a while one has
to loosen-up. But as soon as a thought arises, or there is a will to
perform some sort of action, the upward pressure immediately
returns. These cyclical contraction and release lead to a lot of
excessive movement of the stomach and intestines and lead to
fatigue.
(Jonathan: Albeit being fairly accurate, the word Psychologically,
which was used in the last paragraph, is a modern translation and
interpretation to what Zhang was saying)
We must aspire to a state in which the entire body is free from any
undue tension. This state of release from tension and the looseness
of the body is in Daoist literature referred to as Wu Ji (Without
Poles), or: Yin and Yang have yet to be determined. What is Yin? It
is Absence/Emptiness. What is Yang? It is Fullness. At this time, the
entire body is free and loose. The chest and the abdomen too are in
a state of complete looseness. When we start to move we should
keep the belly full and the chest broad. Of this was said: Emptiness
and Fullness have yet to be determined. All these names bear the
identical meaning: Pre-heaven, Wu Ji, Yin and Yang not yet
determined, etc. It Buddhist literature this is called Serenity, or
Existing Naturally. At this time, the inside and outside of the body
accept the authority of gravity and sink downwards without the tiniest
bit of resistance. At this time, all the bodily cells (not to be taken
literally) are separated from each-other, unrelated and care not for
one-another each of them exists by itself and for itself.
Fullness in the Abdomen, Openness in the Chest
When we rest, our body is relaxed and loosened, but it is no longer
so once we move. There are two reasons for this. First to move

our body we have to lengthen and shorten our muscles. Second

for us to be able to produce power we have to change the tension
within the muscles and the intensity of their contraction. Therefore,
tension in the muscles is unavoidable.
Like what we had now described as a form of more external tension,
so do the more internal parts need hold some kind of tension. This
can be easily felt when issuing a punch, a momentary tension will
appear in the chest and solar plexus areas. There are four reasons
for the appearance of this type of tension:
1. Recoil, or a counter-force to the movement. While operating
force with the hand or the leg to the outside of the body (away from
it), a counter-force reacts upon the body. While throwing a
movement in the air, the air itself is resistant with a tiny amount of
force. When firing a cannon, for example, the body of the cannon is
pushed in the opposite direction when a shot is fired. This recoil
affects the internal organs, and it is natural that it would create some
tension there so they can resist.
2. The connections between all the nerves. Even though the
limbs and internal organs are connected to different nerves and
nerve-systems (sympathetic and parasympathetic), a command
given through one nerve commonly affects others. So, when we
command the body, through our nervous system, to issue a punch,
the spinal nerves commands the arm muscles to contract, which also
affects the sympathetic nerves and causes tension to appear in the
internal organs.
3. The movement of the lungs. When the limbs issue force to the
outside of the body, the lungs are stimulated to blow air, which
helps produce that force. The action of the lungs contributes to the
creation of pressure within the chest.
4. Tension in the intercostal muscles (the muscles between

the ribs). This tension is directly affected by the onset of tension in

the arms, because both the arm muscles and the intercostal

muscles are connected via the nerve plexus of the spine, which yield
mutual influence. Tension in the intercostal muscles shrinks the
volume of the chest cavity, which then creates a sensation of
pressure in the heart and lungs.
Most people will feel this sort of tension in the chest area. For many,
this tension in the chest is unavoidable even when doing nothing,
and as soon as they use outwards-driven force, the pressure levels
rise significantly.
Unification between Awareness and Movement
When the body is active, the tension reaches the limbs. Because of
the nature of various movements, sometimes the left side is loose
and the right contracted, or vice-versa, or they can both be
contracted. Contraction means Fullness, or being Yang. Loose
means Absence (lack of Fullness), or Yin. The mutual relationship
between contracted and loose, between Fullness and Absence, is
one of the five rules that explain the ancient principle of Tai Ji (same
as Tai Chi in Tai Chi Chuan or Taiji Quan).
A lack of uniformity between movement and Intention (Yi) can point
to a state in which the Intention predates bodily movement, or that
the body reacts before one has the Intention for it to do so.
When we practice one movement for a long time in succession, it
often happens that the bodily action comes ahead of ones intention
For example, among Xing Yi Quan practitioners, when they practice
one of the Wu Xing (Five Fists) for a long time in a row. It can

happen that before one had the intention to throw a punch, it

already came out. This is a state in which the intention chases the
limbs instead of commanding them. In a state in which the intention
has noticed the limb movement only after the movement has already
began, the intention loses its ability to command the body, and is
instead commanded by it.
There can also exists a state in which we strongly strive towards a
certain goal or target, and the intention very prominently projects
itself even before we move (Jonathan: A good example would be
what has been referred to in Western martial arts as Telegraphing
ones strikes to the opponent).
Because of impatience, there results a situation in which the bodily
movement is still half-way, but the intention already rushes ahead
towards the target. This does not mean that the intention can really
physically get ahead of the body, but that in our imagination and
thought it is already there (too soon). Inside the body, this causes
the feeling of a tendency and momentum forward, as the skin is
some exterior shell we yearn to break through.
Awareness Towards the Inside and Towards the Outside
In the previous chapters I have explained that attention must be
given to the state of the abdomen, and that one should be aware of
the tensions in that area. I have also explained that in movement,
one should pay attention to the hand and its outwards-driven
power/force. Meaning one should command the force with
Awareness, or Intention (Yi). In this state, the Intention has to make
two actions simultaneously, in opposite directions. How is that
possible?
In fact, it is impossible for the Intention and Awareness to be directed

at two opposite directions at

the same time. Therefore, the direction should alter interchangeably,

and flow from an outwards focus to an inwards focus and back
again. How can this be done?
While moving the hand away from the center of the body, the
Intention commands the hand outwards. When moving the hand
towards the center of the body, the intention commands the hand
inwards, and at the same time, the intention should move towards
the abdomen area. Inhaling air while the intention moves towards the
abdomen area assists the intention to follow. Ones awareness
accompanies the air that is sucked and moves inwards with it,
because the distance to the abdomen is short. When pointing ones
direction outwards, the blowing of air guides it, and the direction of
ones stare helps a lot as well.
In movement among many people, the act of breathing becomes
loud and vocal. As I have explained in previous chapters, this results
from the narrowing of the windpipe due to excess tension. So one
has to loosen the muscles of the mouth, nose, back of the neck and
chest cavity, and reach a state in which albeit the breathing being
heavy, it is not loud.
This unification between Awareness, Movement and Breathing is
what is called The Three Internal Harmonies, or the harmonies
between Qi, Yi (Intention) and Li/Jin (Power). What is called Shen
(Spirit), which is expressed in ones gaze, is affected by this.
Interchanging between inside and outside awareness aids in the
concentration of intention and prevents one from becoming
scatterbrained or being easily distracted. In case one makes a
movement with the hand towards the center of the body, but forgets

to aim and keep the intention pointing to the inside, then the
following movements would be intentionless.
When the ancients said The Real Power of the Dantian they were
utterly wrong. They were mistaken to think of Intention as a type of
power by itself. They were mistaken to think that the gathering of
intention and concentrating inwards is collecting power. They were
mistaken in that the thought that outwards concentration equals a
release of force. The lower abdomen which they called Dantian is
nothing but what I have referred to earlier as Fullness in the
Abdomen, Openness in the Chest (as something which manifests
downward pressure).
(Jonathan: I dont think Zhan Naiqi was trying to say that the Dantian
is useless. He probably meant to suggest that the Dantian is a
physical thing which could and ought to be explained with physical
actions and language rather than a metaphysical one).
The Importance of a Steady Posture, and the Vigor of
Muscles, Tendons and Bones
Important posture is very important. First, when standing, the limbs
should be in harmony with the principle of the fulcrum. The purpose
of uniform movement of the hands and feet in the Internal
Martial Arts is to find the correct fulcrum. When we release a
punch outwards with all our might, if the hand and foot are not sent
ther, the body loses balance because it loses the fulcrum.

Additionally, (it loses balance) because there is created a fear of

slipping even before one has slipped, which prevents one from using
all his power. Outwardly, the sending of the punch should be

accompanied with sending the foot to provide as fulcrum. Inwardly,

there is growing firmness in the belly, which supports the generation
of downwards power vector. This way, the body gains stability.
In the Nei Jia arts there is a very interesting saying: The three tips
point at the same direction. The three tips are the edge of the nose,
the edge of the hand, and the edge of the foot. When the edges of
the nose and hand point in the same direction, ones eyesight is
directed at the hand, and the Will and Intention are focused. When
the edge of the hand and the edge of the foot simultaneously point
at the same direction, the body gains a proper fulcrum.

In Nei Jia arts one should maintain the hand and leg joints slightly
bent. This way, springiness is maintained when the tendons and
muscles near the joints are flexed or extended. This helps assure
that an outwards pressure cannot break the joint. Additionally, a
state is created in which the tension in the muscles and tendons is
low, which enables one to produce more power. Attempting to use
any sort of force while the arm is fully extended can lead to the
breaking of the elbow joint. On the other hand, insisting to overly flex
the joint inhibits the initiation of forward-driven movements.