Letters
Internal Strength
17October 2004
The most intriguing comments I've read were regarding the impression a Hsing I practitioner made on you in Japan and the subsequent development and codification of the what I guess is commonly referred to as Internal Strength now-a-days. More material seems to be published by westerners trying to decimate this unique body mechanic and as you undoubtedly understand it I was wondering if you have ever considered providing videos on articles on a method to develop these mechanics? If not is it because you feel it has little value or cannot be taught effectively?
Sophie Flynn
I'm always reluctant to go into these areas because I don't want to be assumed to be part of some exotic group. I'm not, and never have been.
In the context of the time, the Hsing-I demonstration you refer to was the most formidable demonstration of a choreographed form I'd seen, in that it contained all the elements, both internal and external, that all shadowboxing forms should. And it had a real sense of the presence of an enemy. It gave inspiration, but it wasn't something I was going to fixate upon for the rest of my life. And that's the difference between my internal representation of fighting and, say, Hsing-I, Pa-Kua, or Tai Chi. I haven't systemized or codified it in any way.
Personally, I think the Chinese view is an oversimplification. Indeed, when you ask the question, have I anything to teach, the answer is that internal strength is more than just the oversimplification of "chi" but rather the summation of all of the impressions, knowledge, and experience of my life being processed unconsciously to solve a particular problem at a specific time. I can break down all of the individual factors, but I don't really know how they are all coming together in that one decisive moment, and I'd be a liar if I said I did. That's something that I've entrusted to my unconscious mind, and I'm happy with that.
With regard to specific practices, you can't really isolate 'internal strength' from all of the other elements of combat. They all come together in a unique way in a unique situation, for a unique individual. I will say that one of the most important factors, I believe, is a sense of interval of time: that period within a process or between processes. That is both internal and external (you have an external sense of his movement processes and you're able to both synchronize with and syncopate upon them, but equally you kinesthetically sense the timing intervals of your own motor events) and with that sense of period of time of opportunity (created or given) in hundredths of a second, you are able to fit that total physical and psychological letting-go (simultaneously or sequentially) into that moment--and to be able to do it again and again and again. That's why I call it the firing of a bullet or the cracking of the whip. The total body release has to happen in that moment.
That experience of being in the Army, firing guns, etc. has led me to use that modern conceptualization of the firing of a firearm and to try to duplicate it within myself. And through my research, I have found that those processes actually exist on a physiological level, leading me to sometimes wonder, was I imitating the gun or was the gun designed in imitation of me (i.e., man)? And by cracking a handkerchief with a 6p piece sewn into the corner and using it to split open Coke cans, I grasped the principle of cracking a whip and then applied it to my own body. This is where I got the concept of simultaneous and sequential release. In any case, I have avoided using Eastern terminology and imagery as mine works better for me.
About so-called 'chi', the proviso is, you either believe it, intuitively, instinctively, or you've managed to rationalize it through science. But that's the first premise you have to have. Then it's simply the quality and the clarity of the impression of what you need to do that determines the order and the magnitude of the recruitment for any given skill pattern. Movement is the translation of emotions, thoughts, sensations (extero, intero, proprioceptive) within the integrative action of the CNS, inseparable from the physical structure and defined by the requirements of response to the specific situation. Key to effective movement is that flash impression of what you need to do in the split second before you (without hesitation) do it. The impression has emotive content. You see and feel the effect of what you have to do in the split second before you do it. That's the key to survival, and paradoxically, training sometimes inhibits this natural phenomenon because by setting limits, you limit the impression of what you can do.
I've also just been asked for practices to overcome the Golgi Tendon reflex, which inhibits muscle contraction in response to sudden stretching. My advice is that rather than trying to solve the problem in a physical sense (through plyometrics, extreme isometric exercises, etc.) it would be better to concentrate on developing an explosive impression within your mind's eye, and acting upon it WITHOUT HESITATION. Any second thoughts will form a second impression and you will be acting upon that. You cannot concern yourself about the consequences. Just do it. Usually, people can't produce the explosion because they second-guess themselves and form a second impression just before they're going to execute the movement. However, having said that, most people can't even conjure up in their mind's eye an initial explosive impression. That's where you have to call upon past experience, or references like feeling a shotgun go off, etc.
The boxing takes place in your mind. The problem is that that conversation within the mind's eye sometimes becomes a little (or a lot) academic. And the only way it can really be clarified is through reality-based training where it is constantly being tested and updated.
As far as teaching goes: I have tried, and continue to try. But I suspect this thing is probably genetic and nurtured from a very early age, and the rationalization of it has simply refined it. It can't be imparted full-scale. I don't know what's going on in somebody else's mind. I can only tell people what's going on in my mind and what I believe is responsible for what people have called 'supernormal' power, and hope that somehow they can get a handle on that and make use of it. To date, very few people have understood what I was talking about and there has been no one I have recognized as a 'fellow traveler' in that sense.
You have primal aggressive/sexual drives that seek immediate, impulsive gratification. You have a primal (or original) state of mind, of focused, purposeful intent. You have reflexive/behavioral patterns, which are part of a defined physical structure (biomechanics, etc.), and by learning you develop the strategies, tactics, etc. by which to gratify these drives. Society, religion, school, parents, teachers, authority all seek to suppress these drives or redirect them into 'nobler' pursuits. Me, I just direct them into fighting.
Without those drives, then that partially psychotic/non-neurotic/extroverted state of mind I talk about in my articles wouldn't exist. How can I teach that? You can't take somebody back and give him the childhood that the 2% have had.
On the other hand, I've had past trainees tell me that they experienced unexpected levels of violence within themselves after training with me for a period of time. Not that I acted violently towards them: they simply picked up on the energy in the gym, and the practices which I had specifically designed to remove their inhibitions.
When George Chew didn't pay me any money for teaching at the Vauxhall LKK, I would punch holes in the walls and doors, always with George Chew's face in my mind. I suppose somewhere you've got to find your enemy inside yourself. For me it was easy: I had the hands, strength and conditioning to take the physical punishment. But for some people, their knuckles break, they scrape their hands, etc. So one way--and I did this with Trish--you get a baseball bat, you hang up some tires from the ceiling, tell the person to look for their emotional motivation, and leave the room. That person should hit the tires as hard as they can for as long as they can with as much emotion as they can. Now you've got the impression of violence. And you know the amount of physical violence you can actually produce, because you're not worried about hurting yourself. You just need to do the conditioning and get the skills by which you can give more direction to the explosion, and also learn to take some of the abuse yourself.
I suppose everybody tries to wrap this thing up in too many exotic formulae. The refinement sometimes comes too soon. You first need the energy that arises out of a violent, destructive intent.
Finally, in answer to the question of whether I teach internal strength: all these principles are examined in my articles, videos, and courses, but not in isolation and in a reality-based way.
Steve Morris
