What Is Internal Training?
A lot of people getting into these practices for the first time have only a basic idea of the internal arts. People come to them for their own reasons but are generally looking to connect with an idea or something that chimes with them. In my years of study one thing I've come to realise is finding authentic information and training is reasonably hard to come by — and a lot of trial and error, dead ends and u-turns can take place before finding what you're looking for.
It is for this reason that I've written this page as a basic introduction to the ideas, theories, and practices taught in our school and the wider lineage. I have also added some videos by my teacher, Damo Mitchell, to compliment the areas raised in the text. The videos are reasonably detailed and long so are useful to help you start to deepen your understanding of what is taught in our lineage if you wish to do so.
If you're like me when I first began and you've maybe known for some time that you want to learn Qi Gong and the wider internal arts but, if you're honest, you don't really know what they are, then this will hopefully give you a strong indication as to what it is you're actually looking for. Or more to the point, what it is that we offer through our teachings at this school. And if you're further down the line then hopefully the basic idea of the method we use will appeal to you here. I say hopefully only because it will mean that I can be of some help to you at this stage as you travel further down your path. So please take a look and then get in touch if you'd like to join one of our weekend courses or regular monthly classes.
Thanks for reading,
Jaemie
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Internal Training means that we are working to develop and cultivate the internal landscape of the body. All authentic systems of Qi Gong will follow the principles of the classical teaching of the Yi Jin Jing or the "sinew changing classics." This is an ancient text which outlines how the body and mind are built for the internal arts, which at its core builds the body of the internal practitioner from the inside out.
One of the the issues around understanding internal training is that it is accompanied by so much jargon and terminology that the uninitiated can quickly become confused or put off. However, have no fear, part of learning an internal art like Qi Gong, is to access the theoretical ideas behind the practical work. The theory helps shape the mind in the right direction while the physical work acts as a kind of feedback loop so that what may seem alien in the beginning becomes clearer as you progress and build an experiential understanding. The good news is that authentic systems are very tangible and the somatic experiences can be very strong at times, for example, if you are not sure you are experiencing Qi, the rule of thumb is you’re not. When the Qi is built you will know it. For these reasons, in our teaching, we don't use imagination or visualisations, we don't picture things in our minds in order to bring about an understanding of Qi. There is simply no need for this. The practice is grounded in solid body mechanics and utilising and building correct qualities of mind in order to lead you inside.
Qi Gong and Nei Gong are arts that spawn from the tradition of Daoism, which reaches back thousands of years into ancient China and ultimately India. For the Daoists the body and mind connection was absolute, with the body being thought of as a physical manifestation of your mental experiences. Most people will have heard of the meridians or channels - the lines along which the Qi flows through the body. What some might not realise is that these channels run along the connective tissue lines of the body - the tissue being like a riverbed while the Qi itself is the river. What's often also not understood is that the channels and the Qi are an extension of the quality of your mind. It is for this reason that as we work to transform our bodies in Qi Gong practice we will inevitably transform our minds and as we build certain qualities in our minds this inevitably spreads out into our bodies in a continual loop of self transformation.
As we develop the qualities and principles laid out in the classical work of the Yi Jin Jing the body's physical vitality will build, blood flow increases, the channels open and the strength of the flow of Qi through the body grows, helping to maximise the efficiency of the body's functions. With this comes a growing experience of balance within the mind and your relationship to life. One of the reasons for this is that a key skill in the internal arts is your capacity to release or let go, consequently your ability to face adversity in life without holding on grows too. This means that what previously would have eaten you up begins to wash over you. Your stability in times of strife becomes more easily maintained. Interestingly, while all of this sounds great, it is considered by the tradition to be nothing more than the consequence of reaching a good standard of beginner level.
So how do we move through the process and build the principals? The following must occur:
Build the frame
Release tension
Open the body
Sink the Qi
Consolidate the Qi
Mobilise the Qi
Open the channels
Using specific methods, beginners are first taught how to align the body in a very particular fashion in order to get the large muscles out of the way. Muscles are considered external for the Qi Gong practitioner and so we work to relax and release them in order to move past them. The process of letting go of habitual tension in the body begins, and the act of releasing the body starts to unbind the habitual tensions of the mind. A lot of this work is done in the practice of Wuji, the core static standing practice of the system.
The work of releasing and opening is aided by Dao Yin practices, which use intention combined with certain postures and movements to open the joints and stretch the tissues into a more conductive state so that pathogenic Qi and blockages can be guided out of the body. The health and openness of the spine is worked on in a lot of detail through the Dragon Dao Yins, which twist and stretch open the body, purging stuck Qi and building strong lines of connectivity through the soft tissue network.
If we understand that the mind extends into the body and that the body manifests itself according to the quality of the mind then we can see that clearing the body of these blockages and what is called Xie Qi or "sick Qi" can be quite a powerful tool. Opening up in this way helps practitioners release the impact of emotional traumas and turmoil that manifests themselves as blockages in the channel system and tightness and stiffness in the body.
Qi can be thought of as a kind of fluid of the mind. Like water at the top of a mountain, when the mind is released it will flow downwards, sinking through the body. We use specific methods to help our minds seep deep into the tissues of the body, which aids release and makes space for the Qi to move in. The more we can release and sink the Qi the more it can gather. We use this process of sinking the Qi to build our energy centre, otherwise known as the Lower Dan Tien, which is like a battery that needs charging up with Qi. This is then combined with the movement practices of Qi Gong to help mobilise the Qi and elasticate the connective tissues of the body so that the Qi can conduct and build in strength, while simultaneously building the strength of the connective network of tissues of the body. What is often missed in people's understanding of Qi Gong is that as the mind or the Qi moves deeper into the body and space opens up, the tissues begin to expand and stretch outward as a reaction to the Qi. In this way, the practice has adhered to the Yi Jin Jing by using the Qi to build the physical body from the inside out.
One of the skills to Qi Gong training and one of the most fascinating aspects of Qi Gong and the Nei Gong process is the idea of stepping back from yourself and allowing the Qi and the body to do its thing. This is known as Wu Wei or none doing. We do all of the exercises and movement sets to guide the Qi toward the right direction but then return to stillness, to the blank canvas of Wuji and allow the process to take place within us. It's interesting to note that once you begin to build some proficiency in the arts your understanding of how the body can move is totally re-written. This is something that can only be understood once the Qi Gong body has been built to a certain degree and your internal mechanisms have come alive. What has previously laid hidden to you now reveals itself in a powerful new experience. All of these things arise over time with one common and essential theme and that is hard work and dedicated practice by the practitioner. We can give you the tools for the job but only you can carry it out.
So what is the purpose of all this? Why do people dedicate endless hours of practice to these arts? On a simple level, these practices help you towards mastering life. You can probably imagine the vast improvements to your day to day existence via some of the processes written about above and through building some of the qualities that arise from the practice. For the cultivator, who is truly interested in the arts, the purpose of building Qi is to help one toward spiritual elevation. To move beyond the mind can only be done once we can stabilise it and the Qi powers the ability to stabilise and absorb the mind into the object. Once you can absorb the mind fully into the object, time and space are said to disappear, your body will become irrelevant and you will discover what sits deep within you as you move toward your spirit.
This is what they say, at least. I understand, via direct experience, everything written here - up to the point where I mention spirit, which is currently beyond my pay grade. Personally, after almost 10 years of practice I feel like I’m finally tinkering around the edges of this and it’s more than enough already. The practice can be deeply profound and life changing. So far it has been a great adventure walking along this path and it’s hard to ask for much more than that.
If any of this is of interest to you and you'd like to find out more and join the next course then please get in touch.
