Legend has it, Ramsey Dewey once fought a 80 year old Tai Chi master. So strong was his qi, it cut two holes in Ramsey's beard and they have never grown back.
I actually have a statue of Bruce Lee in my house. Over the decades, I have owned it, the statue has shown that it can defeat almost anyone without even trying. It’s amazing.
I love Kung Fu Hustle when the protagonist becomes a super human and starts beating the evil guys. Then the landlords start to see him as a son, and the landlady says: "If he studies hard he could become a doctor or a lawyer!" That was a super fun and wholesome line!
@PaMuShin Fighting and alcohol often go hand in hand due to the painkilling effects alcohol can have when ingested. After years of genuine fighting, injuries are common unless youre extremely good at not getting hit.
Having went to medical school for Chinese Medicine, it changed my understanding drastically. “Qi” was NEVER used as a stand-alone term. Qi was always used as the second part of a dual term, and each always referred to a system of the body. “Breath,” for example, was “Da Qi” (Big Qi, because air is everywhere) and the respiratory system. But there is also Qi related to the food you eat, “Gu Qi.” Then there was, “Wei Qi” (the strength of your immune system). Etc etc etc. In other words, every martial art worth it’s weight works with “Qi.” In the sense that they all talk about Breathing, Diet, Health / Resilience / Recovery, etc
For me the "internal" arts emphasise the deep subtleties of the movements, stance and relaxation to allow a very efficient use of power. The focus is on mindfully perfecting these techniques. It works best however when you then go on to pressure test the techniques practically. The thing is that anyone who trains properly will get elements of this in their art. For me BJJ has that aspect to it in that the high level black belts have such a good understanding of their body biomechanics they can tie you up in an effortless, efficient and relaxed way. The effortless relaxation and apparent magic is only there however if they are rolling with someone less skilled. If the skill levels are comparable then you need some real "external" effort to win in a contest.
As a fellow neijia practitioner, I totally agree that pressure testing is an absolute must as is cross training with other systems to learn to adapt what you know to things outside that box.
Funny, I was researching internal arts today. Apparently, they focuses more on internal muscles, near the skeleton, precision of movement and breathing to produce power, alongside elasticity of the body
@KurtAngle89 that's pretty accurate. It's a different way of moving, with that whole Liuhe (six harmonies) thing. The interesting part is that it's also a different way of breathing. And some very odd movement results from it. Or at least it feels that way until you get accustomed to it. Because you're using different connections throughout the body, it feels very strange, like "I breathed and decided my arm should move but I didn't feel any of the major muscles engage even though my arm moved to shoulder height." Almost like you turn your body into a marionette and you're just using your breathing to control it. And, much like using a marionette, the movements are initially a bit clumsy, but grow more refined with continued practice.
@KurtAngle89 that's true. I've seen some more "internal" style training methods and skills come into the combat arts at times. Conner McGregor used dance like kinetic chain training to be able to punch from unusual and otherwise unfavorable positions. In a similar way some of Lomochenko's unusual striking reminds me of some of the strikes from internal arts. As MMA evolves I'm sure we'll see more. Problem is very few people know it well enough to teach it in an efficient and applicable way
@williambrookings722 that's definitely the case. The Chen family that invented taijiquan is a great example. I've been to seminars with some of the big names. Chen Xiaowang. Chen Bu. Chen Ziqiang. They'll drop nuggets, but never just say, "Hey. Do this." They don't teach the whole thing to outsiders, because Chenjiagou relies on tourism $$$. It's why my studies have moved toward baguazhang and xingyiquan. Far less worried about tourist money or keeping secrets.
Hi there Ramsey. I've taken both external kung fu (Choy Li Fut) and internal(Tai Chi) for over ten years now, and I've gotten to know where I know what I'm talking about, so I'll put the differences in layman's terms. First, the two different methods are not different as in black and white. They mix together a lot. The biggest difference is the mentality in the application. External styles like choy Li Fut and American boxing use breathing just like internal styles, but they use the inhaling and exhaling to contract the muscles on contact with the opponent. They do that not only on striking but also joint locks. With joint locks they use the breathing to contract the muscles to snap the opponent's joint into whatever position that they want. Another example of external style is the basic judo hip throw. It's all proper breathing, thrusting the hip out, placing the weight on the balls of your feet and so on. Internal style is a bit harder to explain. When I was first taught Tai Chi, we were taught to "love your enemy to understand how Tai Chi works". What it means is change your mentality to love your opponent so much that it's really easy to read his body language, meaning that your relaxed from not wanting to kill him, so it's a lot easier to read what he is doing. Once you do that, you can sense the shift in body weight, and you can use it against him. A friend of mine that worked with horses told me that she used the same method with horses, and got so in tune with them that she could move them around with a slight touch of her hand, even though she weighed maybe a little over a hundred pounds. Same thing with internal martial arts. That's why you see people that have trained all their lives being able to knock people off balance just by touching them. They can read the body shift in weight. Nothing magical about it. But it takes time though, a LOT of time. After ten years, I'm just starting to get it. Think of instead of being a horse whisperer, you're a bad guy whisperer lol. One thing I have to stress though is that there is absolutely NOTHING mystical about internal martial arts. It's 100% scientific. You just have to get a feel for it.
Clearly Bruce lee was too humble to make any of those _totally factual_ claims himself. But they all came from eye witnesses who clearly saw the -man- demi-god do such incredible feats in person.
I loved that you delved a little into the benifical aspects of internal martial arts! Tai Chi seems to do some pretty amazing things for people. People aren't going to be shooting fireballs from thier butts but it can probably improve thier health.
@PaMuShin. Ya, those studies are not very good. So many factors conveniently being ignored. I am a fan of tai chi and chi gong. Not there is absolutely nothing about them alone that makes people have healthier weight or be more flexible compared to any other exercises. Diet is what matters to weight. Most tao chi practitioners are people who eat lighter meals, rice and steamed veggies. It's not southern bbq lovers practicing tai chi. There is nothing about doing tso chi in groups that makes one lose weight or be more flexible compared to using it yourself. The average person is just more likely to do tai chi on a consistent basis if they have a daily group appointment to keep them accountable.
If people want an Asian Kung Fu practitioner to celebrate as an actual fighter so much, then look at Don Wilson. Kung Fu background who went into kickboxing and became world champion many times. Hell even his nickname is “The Dragon”. And while nowhere near the movie star Bruce Lee was, he has an extensive list of martial arts films he’s worked in himself.
@KurtAngle89. It was one scene in another characters imagination in that film. Not a historical recreation. There were a few other scenes with Bruce in that film where he's teaching and it comes off as reverent and respectful.
I don't care what people say Bruce Lee is my favorite martial artist and this is a fact he is one of the most influential people of the 20th century...
Hey Ramsey, this is one of the clearest takes on the matter I have heard. It's easy and logical to comprehend "internal" as complimentary to "external", or even better, to emphasize that "going out there and work" is necessary. I am doing Taichi since 15 years, became instructor, doing research on the subject - and still struggle with distinguishing what is fiction and what are the actual working things. E.g. we are practicing very gentle tuishou / push hands. Clearly, they are not for fighting, but cooperative practicing with improvisational, unforseen input, and external pressure. From this practice, convincing pushes happen, but they only happen if we stick to the rules of the Taichi game, including the way to move in a Taichi way. The most interesting learnings are on the subtleties of upright balance. So, this is working as a game, has certain learning effect, but in a very constrained setting. And I like this subtle game, it's fun, explorative, interesting things are happening. But it feels like real testing, a complimentary practice that challenges these constraints, is missing. Best from Vienna!
@@emranba-abbad8335 True, in a good school, even your warm-up movements should be conducive to use in combat. Taichi is surely useful for fighting but without a teacher who is actually a warrior, it's hard to understand why until you are ten years into practising it.
Ooh. I can help a bit with this one, as a practitioner of the neijia arts who doesn't go in for either hocus or pocus. Qi literally means breath, as you point out, but there's a little more to it than that. As you again point out (thank you for that) its about connecting the breath to the movement but also using the breath to drive the movement by (and I'm going to reduce this down a bit to keep from getting too wordy), using the breath to pressurize the abdomen to yank on the body's various connective tissues. Most qigong, things like zhan zhuang or eight pieces of brocade, are used to strengthen those connections. They can get strong enough to be the primary motivator, which feels weird as first. But there's no mysticism, just some body skills that most people don't bother to practice, especially nowadays when most folks don't have the time to make it worthwhile. Imagination does play a part, in the the subconscious mind arranges the body more quickly than the conscious mind can. But even that is just another bodily skill. But it's all just meat and bone and mental skill and relaxed power and strategy. Anyone who tells you they can blast someone with a qi fireball or really anything mystical has no idea what they're talking about. Taiji people (Chen taijiquan is my primary art and I used to use it in security work) often have no idea what they're doing. They get all caught up in the wuxia of it and end up spending years learning garbage. With my students, I start off teaching them the breathing and the movement skills. The ones that pay attention are starting to show some promise. The ones who are into all the mumbo jumbo because a prior teacher taught them poorly are struggling and will continue to do so. Which should be fun when we drop in on the neighboring martial arts schools for open sparring night. Thats the other thing I've noticed. Most neijia folks mistake say really dumb things like tui shou is taiji sparring. It's sparring-adjacent, perhaps, but if bodies aren't hitting the floor, it's not sparring, given that much of taijiquan amounts to standing grappling. Apologies if this rambles a bit, but it's the middle of the night. TL;DR: if they tell you it's magical, they're full of crap. It's often misunderstood, but that's hardly unusual these days. It IS different. Some of the skills are unusual or counterintuitive. It's subtle. It takes a ton of time and practice to get decent. But it's not magic, just a different approach to the age old question of "How do I injure this guy while being injured as little as possible in return?"
To give you a real life experience, when I had my 2nd day of Covid I had chills, horrible coughs, a super fever, could barely stand move, and the worst headache of my life so far. I’ve studied Taichi and other “internal martial arts,” For years. When I desperately tried to find a way for me to not be bed ridden by using the techniques and experimented theory crafting from over the years, everything boiled down to a lot of gentle breathing that led to slowly loosening the body then moving it. But a key factor to regaining stability with these functions is focus. (Disclaimer Tylenol and Vicks vapor rub were involved in this therapeutic session, it made the process easier to obtain the result that was needed.) I knew to myself I was hot all over because of the fever, I knew to myself pain was going to be everywhere. There’s a catch to that said pain, it’s not equal. With my breathing, focus, gentle movement/muscle loosening, and psychological intent, I calmed myself to really become aware of my body, my intention was to make myself prioritize my attention of pain elsewhere that didn’t hurt as much or dissipate all of the pain. The surge of focus and intent made me feel the pain of my headache even more so at first, then it migrated to shoulder, then my hands, to my stomach, and ultimately it led to my feet and then I made it travel to my head again just so I could rinse and repeat the process until I could be used to the pain and not be bothered by it as much anymore until the Tylenol will really kick in and put an end to all of it. I stopped, applied Vicks and did the process again. My feet felt like they were hot enough to cause a fire(magical exaggeration.) every pain’s priority eventually balanced out to the point where nothing mattered, the Tylenol kicked and I was at peace. Next moment I saw myself well enough to at least be full of vigor and do things like run, jump, skip and so on again instead of being purely bed ridden. I was happy that even though I felt trashy because of Covid crippling me, I managed to out last the problem until all of the medicine kicked and finished the job. To put it simply, the main things that make a magical experience be the way it is is the way how the sensations of focus, awareness, intention, and intuition are being manipulated both within yourself and out. The balance between action and proper stillness blended in a harmonious way leads to it.
Honestly, this style in your intro suits you pretty well. When other people in your space (and frankly, just on youtube in general) try to do this kind of thing it usually ends up really cringy. I think you played the balance well and had a good sense of humor without taking yourself too seriously or being too cool. I'm impressed! Mainly, just because the bar on this platform has gotten pretty low, especially when we're talking about skits or gags on channels centered around martial arts, firearms, or self-defense. But that being said I liked it! Your videos keep getting better. Keep doing what you're doing, your channel has always drawn me in because of its empirical approach to unconventional styles of fighting. Your videos about capoeira moves that are actually useful is one of my favorites. The tai chi video as well. People usually dismiss these less pressure tested and effective martial arts styles completely without digging in, asking real questions, and putting individual things to the test. Thanks Ramsey!
Thanks for bringing up topics like these. I'm an average kung fu practitioner and I had the opportunity to watch a match between a shotokan karate instructor and a pa kwa chang or ba gua instructor. The Chinese won by asking the loser what happened, he said, I am surprised that his blows were very similar to our KIME theory. Best regards, Master Ramsey
Oh yeah, I do stuff like qigong in between more physically intense training all the time. The super power it gives me is a lot less aches and pains than I probably would otherwise. Not much different than any other athlete that actually bothers to stretch.
Id imagine that Bruce Lee inspired Mr Miyagi to try to catch flies with chopticks, after he caught ten of them with a pair of nunchucks, while blindfolded, which came after he had a secret match with Muhammad Ali and won. Even Beerdy doesnt have my sources
The other day as I was doing my PT I got to thinking that in another context, all this single leg balance stuff I'm doing to work stabilizers and my vestibular system would seem a lot like internal arts practice. Someone once said to me "all language is metaphor" and the context of Qi works if you think about it as another language. In fact my old Chinese weightlifting coach used to describe the explosive triple extension as "fa jing." It all starts to click when I start to think about it all as a different language to explain the same concepts
Much of what there is with Bruce Lee, is modern mythology at work. He was a competent martial artist, had great athletic ability, onscreen presence, and was influential. To be a good competition fighter though, one needs to train for that, and also is expected to lose... or they may win! Some people are more likely to win than others... and thus there is "competition". Many presumed that Mike Tyson would beat Buster Douglas, but he didn't.
As a current practitioner of Chen Style Taijiquan in the US and a former practitioner of Wuji Style Baguazhang and Gu Style Taijiquan both of which I studied for a several years in Qingdao, China, Nei Gong is not just about breathing but primarily about internal micro movements and body alignment, which are critical.
Hey, my friend, I’m an American and I’m currently living in Qingdao and couldn’t find any Bagua guys, do you still know the instructor or someone there who know any Bagua guys here in Qingdao?
I think this is a good explanation of internal martial arts. Neijia uses extremely efficient body mechanics to maximize power with minimal effort. However this can be done in very similar ways in so called external arts. Due to the unique methods of developing these skills and body mechanics, internal martial arts tend to take much longer to use practically.
Thanks! In Kung Fu Hustle The landlords introduce themselves as Romeo and Juliet, I assume. they are using this western reference in place of a Chinese one. Do you know what Chinese story they are referencing, and can you give a brief synopsis?
I have no idea. It’s been a very long time since I saw the movie, and the movie is Cantonese, which I don’t speak. I just looked this article up on tv tropes: “one point, the Landlord and Landlady reveal their names to be (YangGuo)楊過 and (XiaoLongNu)小龍女, two of the most famous Wu Xia novel characters who were known for a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque turbulent love affair (The English subs would have said Paris and Helen of Troy, which is in itself funny). They were known to have amazing martial arts skills, and the two characters were known to eventually go into hiding, as the Landlord and Landlady does, but the irony is that the personality of the Landlady and Landlord were starkly opposite of the graceful and gentle literary characters.”
I heard also an explaination that says that internal martial arts mean that they are focusing on that is not easly seen or not seen and that is both spirituality, meditation, breathing techniques but also on things you do in fighting like one inch power and proper structure (peng)
It is like the yoga or pilates training to the grappler or MMA fighter IMO. Or Conner McGregor's training in unusual dance like movement that let him strike from odd positions
As a certified Qi Gong (Chi Kung) instructor I agree with a lot of what you're saying. I've trained Bjj, kickboxing, boxing, yoga and Taiji Chuan as well. I can definitely atest to the athletic benefits of practicing Qi Gong. The primary foundations are visualization, breath and posture. I have a very low heart rate and have had to declare myself an "athlete" in certain situations and I owe this to Qi Gong training. My posture has changed since beginning training, people tell me I look taller. I have seen 65+ people join Qi Gong classes and go from standing with a walker to doing most of the class on their own. These results vary of course! And it's not a magic pill. It's an exercise system... a very thorough one that can benefit any type of individual or athlete. I realized it was the foundation for Shaolin Martial Arts, so I dove deep. Qi Gong does offer some "martial" training as well but it is moreso Hard Style training such as Iron Body. It takes work and commitment! So I agree with his analysis. Qi Gong practices can be a complete exercise program for anyone, elderly people or out of shape people. If they are interested in some other martial art or athletic endeavor, Qi Gong can be a great foundational system to assist their training or maintain their health. As far as mysticism goes, I am Latino and that may be embedded in me to some extent... I definitely connect to the spiritual aspects of Shaolin martial arts, whether they be Taoist or Buddhist they relate to my personal Vedic and shamanic beliefs. I enjoy working with the Tao and nature and the elements. I cannot say anything magical will happen but I can assure you that there ARE energies especially when considering everything is made up of frequencies and your body is an ELECTROMAGNETIC system. 🙏✨
Thank you for talking about the subject in a reasonable way. As a lifelong practitioner of Baguazhang it is commonly an unpleasant, or at least unenlightening, to talk about these ideas with other practitioners. The "3 families" (as Sun Lu Tang described it) of Tai Chi, Baguazhang, and Xing I, have a lot of unnecessary cultural nonsense attached to them. Try to incorporate modern science into your dialogs, and many of their practitioners (even here in the west) start foaming at the mouth. Or they are on the other side of the non-existent fence, and renounce anything that is outside their understanding of the physical training and sparring. At the end of the day, correlation is just as valuable as causation within the practice. Correlation is an internal-felt-experience, causation is an external-validated-experience.
One interesting aspect about the whole Internal/External Martial Arts discussion is how the delineation between Internal and External styles was originally political in nature. Meir Shahar, a professor of East Asian Studies at Tel Aviv University, talks about this in his book about the history of the Shaolin Monastery that is definitely worth reading. To explain the "political" delineation in a VERY short summary, styles that were labeled "internal" were often styles that drew upon Taoist practices and philosophies, with Taoism being the "internal" religion of China. External styles, like the ones taught at Shaolin, drew upon Buddhist practices and philosophies, with Buddhism being the "external" religion brought over from India. When you consider the socio-political power struggle between the two religions across Chinese history, the classification starts to make sense. Many people forget, for example, that Baguazhang is closely linked to the Eight Trigrams Uprising of 1813, during the Qing dynasty.
Hey coach. I know you've been in china for a while and had encounters with various kung fu styles. What styles of kung fu have you enjoyed and what have you learned from them?
Taichi is awesome for health benefits! After a taichi class, digestion works extremely well, and you sleep like a baby. As long as you have a good instructor, of course!
When I was younger it was the myth surrounding internal practices that got me into martial arts. In my mind it was all connected to the phrase "knowledge is power." Later I learned that knowledge is not power. Action is power. Knowledge only amplifies existing potential by enabling effective action. But I am grateful that I passed through that romantic phase, since it is only thanks to that phase that I eventually learned and progressed to where I am now. Love you, Ramsey. Keep it up.
@@JOHN18042 I mean, whenever a particular action would be detrimental, to not take that particular action is still an action. That doesn't undermine the fact that it all ultimately comes down to action. What do you mean by "depending on the circumstances"?
The internal aspect of martial arts is not necessarily a psychological or phylosophical thing. There was a reference made by Takuan Soho I think which is when a duck is smoothly gliding on the surface of water it actually moves its feet a lot. That can be reffered to internal forms. It is something that can not be seen by an untrained eye. People talk a lot about putting your whole body into a punch which externally does not look that different between trained and untrained person for an inexperienced viewer. The nuances in body mechanics that allow for a trained person to deliver a devastating strike is an internal form. The structure. Internal forms and kata appear very simple on the outside while being way more challenging to perform properly than an external form/kata.
When I think about Qi and "neigong", I think about the electrical impulses that facilitate movement and exercises that loosen, strengthen or awaken underused areas for these impulses to flow smoother (I.e, better muscle control, smoother movement, subtle movement, ect). When you are stiff and lost movement in, lets say, the hips, the idea is to breath, do mobility exercises and really focus on moving that area to regain optimal function. Your nervous system turns your hips back on to prime movement instead of stiff, secondary movement because you are using them and it's an adaptation that is needed (apparently lol). These impulses flow more naturally now as a result and you have better control, strength, flexibility, and whatever else your exercises awarded you. Even further, you become more aware of the inner workings of your hips if you'd been oblivious to it before and have a better sense of how it connects to your movement.
Around @4:36: Hey man, researching the characters I find the meanings breathing/energy (for Qi) and work (for gong). Were from you got hte maning deep breathing?
To judge Bruce abilities on his movies alone is redicilously ignorant. He was very realistic in his approach towards martial arts, even more than lots of people nowadays. He trained with lots of different martial artists from different styles, what we kinda do nowadays. By listening and read some of his interviews i definitely sure he was legit and know what he was talking about.
I've noticed that everyone who hates Bruce Lee doesn't actually know much about who Bruce lee really was, what he believed, spoke about, stood for and did, and only seems to hate Bruce lee due to his fans. Hating Bruce Lee is trendy I guess. Of course anyone who actually studied bruce lee and what he believed and did understands he was legitimate. The man was genuinely athletic and knew how to fight. He did alot of street fighting as a youth due to being a handsome mixed race which was also precisely how he ended up in wing chun and later moved over seas to America. If I remember correctly Bruce Lees family moved to America precisely to get away from the street fighting and violence he partook in constantly. Even years later when fine tuning his craft he took part in street fights to stress test his theories. Yeah beating a street fighter isn't the same thing as beating a trained pro obviously but it is still better then nothing. Everyone says he was a fake martial artist and a fake fighter because 1. He was a movie star and 2. he is glorified like a mythological fighter that is unbeatable, which causes people to hate him and over react and assume he isn't a real fighter at all and can't beat anyone. Which isn't any more true then stating he beats everyone. To assume he can't fight without evidence is even more ignorant then those that believe he is unbeatable. The truth is bruce lee knew how to fight, he may not have in actuality been a god at fighting like is claimed, but to suggest he can't fight is just as stupid. Realistically, we will never know the true extent of his abilities and how well he would fair in MMA or other competitive fighting, since we dont have video evidence or examples from tournaments, but the man had all of the potential in the world to do well due to how hard he trained and studied. There is no reason to suggest he couldnt do well in the UFC for example. He would, especially with access to modern knowledge and trainers. But that isn't the point. The entire point about bruce lee is he was a popular figure head and philosopher that popularized Martial Arts in the west. Which is why he is so beloved and also hated! The man created the concept of MMA before it was a thing. He is the father of MMA in many ways due to him criticizing traditional martial arts and believing in studying all styles and taking what works from each of them while discarding the rest and tailoring your style based on who you are and what works for you. he was literally one of the first people to criticize martial arts masters of old and the belt system and old masters that didn't train their bodies or stay in shape. He was also the one who said a boxer or wrestler that has a month of training beats a martial artist who has years of experience. Idiots will say, oh this proves he can't fight. Um no this proves he can fight? How do you think he came to this conclusion to make this statement? Oh Idk by studying boxing and realizing it is effective. Which means he studied boxing and applied in real life.
Get the book by John Little that just came out, "The Wrath of the Dragon: The Real Fights of Bruce Lee." And please give an honest review of it after reading it.
Personally, I think the idea of “internal” martial arts is one that scholarly teachers used as a marketing term (as opposed to the Fighters, like Chang Dung Sheng of Wang Zi-Peng). You don’t find a lot of that stuff in, “Southern styles” like you do in Tai Chi, Ba Gua, Xing Yi, LHBF, etc Just because you move slower doesn’t make it, “more internal.” White Crane is just as “internal” as Tai Chi, in the sense that the way it develops deep relaxation, fine motor skill, breathing, understanding of leverage, and utilizes relatively static and focused, meditative practices to develop it. They make up legends like Ba Gua circle walking came from some Taoist monks. More likely is the account that the student Cheng Tinghua, who was a Shuaijiao practitioner, came up with the circle walking so his students could walk the palm changes around the outside edge of their Wrestling pit. More striking, he found no contradiction between his Wrestling and his Ba Gua. The same for Yang Lu Chan with the Manchurian’s Wrestling. EVERY martial art uses a mixture of “qi gong” / nei gong internal practices and lin gong (stone locks, sand bags, heavy staff whipping, weaponry, stance holding, body hitting, etc). Its the same as boxing do cardio, then shadowboxing and then the medicine ball. The only thing that separates Kungfu is the pursuit of not relying on pure athleticism. In that regard, it is closer in philosophy to Jujutsu / Jiujitsu or Judo than for example the Wrestling we had to learn in high school.
Do you know any resources available regarding Taiji Zen? It's the version by Jack Ma and Jet Li. I keep looking and all I see is a few videos on UA-cam. Isn't there anything more?
One thing not mentioned is that the whole distinction between neija and waijia was originally just a way to politicize martial arts and arouse nationalism. The inferior invaders were mere externalists while those at home were the real deal internalists. It caught on but really all martial arts have "internal" and "external" aspects. Sun Lutang was one of many who decided to attempt to give the distinction real meaning but even many "internal artists" still have different opinions on it. HOWEVER those arts like Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua, and many others go WAY deeper than just breathing. Each art has a very in depth and rich method that connects breathing, the mind, and the rest of the body. While not necessary magical, these can lead to some pretty profound transormation and connection. Much more than you would get from just stretching and focusing on breathing a little more. Again it's not magic but the idea of internal being just the theoretical part or "this is how you punch" is just scratching the surface. It's good to understand that it isn't the fighting skill itself but a bit disrespectful to equate those practices with warm ups and cool downs at the gym. Another reason why these youtubers ought to invite some IMA practitioners to talk more about what they do. Otherwise it's like me taking a few BJJ classes and chalking it all down to trying to wrestle my way into a getting chokehold. Easy peasy right? 🙄
@RamseyDewey Guess all those techniques like "holding guard" or "passing guard", "shrimping", "framing", "omoplata" etc is just elitist technical jargon baloney.
Here's my attempt at debunking: How many photos aka "money shots" of a boxer or MMA fighter of note feature them knocking the slobber out of someone else in some powerful, well-trained strike? Many, and they're real strikes. How many movies feature the action star Bruce Lee performing high-level choreography and interpretive dance-fu, sending paperweight men flying or flipping about? Many, and they're fun/great movies. Conflating fiction and reality is dangerous.
Bruce Lee made four and half martial arts movies: The Chinese Connection, Fist of Fury, Way/Return of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon… and the incompleted Game of Death.
Whenever Bruce Lee threw a punch he split the entire universe down the middle, but he did it so cleanly that the universe doesn't know its been cut; let us hope it never does discover that fact, cause if it does, we can kiss all existence goodbye.
Ali was a boyhood hero of mine and growing up I thought he was in fact the greatest boxer to ever lived, and that he could beat every one living and not living. Now that I know more about people like Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano etc, and have seen their fights, I don't feel that Ali was anywhere near the "greatest of all time" when he claimed to be that. Also, he was a racist who was a member of a hate group. Yet I still love him for his courage and style and outspokenness. I probably would have cried if I'd ever met him IRL. We believe in the magic of our heroes because we want to believe.
In the world of martial arts, a legend did arise, Bruce Lee's prowess, a spectacle for all eyes. With lightning-fast strikes and wisdom profound, He's the greatest of all, his legacy unbound. In every kick and punch, his spirit does gleam, Bruce Lee, forever, in our hearts, supreme.
Do you have any experience or tips regarding rucking, carrying extremely heavy loads long distances, that sort of training? I like to carry stuff, actually my favorite training used to be carrying small logs. I just wonder if there is any way to do it more effectively. The strength benefit works great in judo, although my form still sucks. Most throws I do with strength, not with technique, which is bad 😢
Right now, I’m struggling to walk unassisted while doing my best to stave off a total knee replacement. I’ve never rucked on purpose with the intent of exercising. I have spent many years walking many miles every day with a heavy backpack hauling all my gear around. Tips? Keep going.
i NEED TO TALK TO YOUR SUPERVISOR 🤣 I love the beginning of the video.😃 Bruce Lee is an great source of inspiration but some deify him regretfully. I like to combine internal and external side of my training. Another great video man, I loved listening to this.
I met Bruce lee back in 69 he could do telekinesis and he could shoot lasers out his eyes. I seen him take down chuck Norris joe Fraser with one finger.
external strength lies in muscles like pectoral major, trapezius, and deltoid posterior (raises your upper arm to the side). the stuff that makes you look super strong and really helps with boxing. internal strength lies in muscles like deltoid anterior (raises your upper arm in front of you), lats, and Rhomboid, and your rotator cuff muscles.. these won't make you look imposing but can still generate plenty of power in certain strikes. I've felt the difference and it's all akin to the pose and angle of your body where you use certain muscle groups vs another. a good way to look at it is pushing your bike up a hill that's too steep to pedal up... if you push your bike from the handle bars it's frickin' hard as hell (can't do it from your seat cuz your handle bars will turn)... but if you get in front and pull your bike (or hell just pick up your bike and carry it), it's super easy. This is because we humans stand up-right, and not perpendicular to a steep hill, pushing direction is actually forward, not necessarily up, so you're kinda pushing into the hill, not up it... where as if you're pulling your bike, you're pulling it up (and of course lifting is lifting it up), so you're not pushing the bike against the angle of the ground now.
What a refreshing take, most combat sports guys will completely dismiss the traditional stuff, while completely ignoring the context. While also calling out the role players 😂
Bruce lee at 165 pounds was hitting harder than mike tyson and francis nganou combined, Maybe not as strong as halftor but certainly as strong as Brian shaw.. Bruce lee was able to do 5000 push up in less than 1 hour, His 1 inch punch was not knocking out 7 guys buy probably only 4-5 and he was able to destroy a 1 feet deep brick wall with his fingers... his kick were even faster sand harder than his punches.... and dont forget when you see one punch from bruce lee on camera its was in fact 3-4 punches but the camera was too slow to capture his speed.. some say That bruce lee was hitting so fast that the wind that was created by his kick was so strong that a person would back off even if not touched by the kick just the wind was enough to make someone knocked back. You could take the 3 best ufc fighter today against prime bruce lee all at the same time in a cage and bruce lee would destroy all 3 in less than 40 seconds.
Why do you have to be such a Bruce Lee hater? He was obviously stronger than 3 Halfthor’s combined and could beat the entire UFC roster simultaneously!
I love the attention to detail with the body language in the opening rant! My 2 cents on 'internal arts'... it is self awareness and 'grounding' through meditation and (if combat focussed) sparring. Self awareness as in awareness of one's own physical abilities and limits as well as mental state and exploring how the two meet. As for 'chi', for me it means energy as understood in physics... levers and fulcrums etc... It's not magic but it really can be a force multiplier!
Chi gong stances are used to increase the electrical energy in the body (internal). You can feel it moving around as you breath in and out. The trick is to relax and let it flow. This energy can then be used to make the muscles contract better, for punching and kicking (external)
Bruce Lee was called the little dragon because he was a literal dragon Well, half... His father was a Cantonese opera singer, and his mom was a literal dragon
I heard that Bruce Lee mastered all the Dragon Shouts of Skyrim. His Fus Ro Da could launch a 300 lb man almost as high into the atmosphere as his side kick!
What I have read is that the differentiation between internal and external styles is obsolete as the differentiation between hard and soft styles. Currently it is differentiated between northern styles and southern styles. Have you heard about that?
It’s kind of crazy. Like, studying Tai Chi, Xyingi, and Pakua together helps channel chi. But let’s talk martial aspects. All 3 together work towards a lot of the philosophy Bruce had. You need Tai chi for the movement, sensitivity, that feel. Pakua gives you the dynamic footwork and has you work on angles and grappling. The Tai chi learned in push hands help you get ready to move into that grappling you do in Pakua. Then Xingyi has the lighting fest striking. Bruce says stay relaxed, don’t tense until impact. Breath control, controlling yourself. Being formless. Ready wherever the attack comes from (tai chi and Pakua). Striking fast (Xingyi) which comes from that relaxed but readiness you get from tai chi. Now shooting chi out of my hands. Those are stories that aren’t needed. The physical effects that people are seeking come from the body mechanics developed. In the end you have to do free sparring like he championed. So they get to the same destination taking different routes.
@@RamseyDewey The way I understand them is that scientists can study monks that emit higher and more consistent levels of Gamma waves and the structure of the brain required for these altered states. But only the monk can experience them. Much like we know how the endocrine system secretes adrenaline from a region described by monks as the solar plexus chakra, but only the monk can experience and organize the experience in their minds eye. I like chakras because they help me understand and engage with different parts of my body and other peoples bodies. The most common are the minds eye and the gonads, or ovaries :)
Great X martial cut at the end. Yup, its good stuff 👍. Iv been an avid martial arts nerd for some time, iv trained for many years, i love researching, and figuring out how to get through the walls of my training partners. However, there is one guy, that we all love but hate sometimes, that brings us endless blight within our training sessions, and it is very difficult to get past his walls/defense. He goes by the name of Mr. Sweet Jams. We call him Jams for short. A very suitable villain name. In all seriousness, he does infact make a great jam, and often will go foraging in the forest for wild berries and edibles to make it. We actually plan on going for another hike soon pretty deep into a region not yet explored. That is where i may challenge him. On a beautiful untouched meadow of berries. This could infact happen. However, as sweet as his jams may be, his soul is not. No, if he reads this, im certain he will grin, in knowing of the struggle we face against him. These are the details. Hes actually very similar to your size. Hes 6 feet, 220, very long arms. Im a tad bit taller than him, but I have a weight of about 20 to 30 lbs on him usually. Size is not everything however. This guys been training alot longer than i have, or any of us have been aswell, so ofcourse that does compinsate. Hel go easy on everyone once in a while, but for the most part he does what he does, and theres nothing wrong with that. Im just seeing if you have any advice to counter something like this. Iv been researching extensively, and have tried different things, which brought me to thinking about the situation, because it actually has a reference to wing chun, which Bruce made me think of. So this is a play out of what usually happens. He uses a double armed long guard, with a squared off stance. Now right now, im sure theres a ton of nerds that already have the answers in their heads, but just hear me out. He was the lucky one at the old gym. Most people were trained to have a close tight guard, but the coach at the time believed that this little jedi should have a green saber instead of a generic blue like the rest of us. So he trained with this long guard. He keeps his back straight while in it, and hel bend his left knee slightly, but keep his back leg mostly straight so that he leans forward slightly, but still has a straight spine. I can get a sub on him the odd time if we go to the ground after a successful take down, but that can be the hardest part since he has incredible take down defense, and counters to go with it. The odd time when i thought iv taken him down and everythings alright, what really happened was he was setting me up for a lock while we were going down. So iv discovered theres a few take downs that obviously prevent this, but getting to them is very difficult. His striking, and defense however is whats the trickiest. Now, i can say i strike very fast for a heavy weight, which came with years and years of shadow boxing primiarly to develope that control and speed. However, my guard is high, and balanced, but also close. Against others with the same iv done great, and against those that seem to think its ok to have a low loose guard, usually dont expect my jab to be as fast as it is until they get tagged with it. Against Mr. Sweet jams however, it is not as simple as it seems. Its like a lumber jack wanting to get at a trees trunk but cant beacause of all of the branches constantly in the way. Iv studied endlessly on how to get past this long guard, and i admire many youtubers attempts on explaining this, but its really not as easy as it seems. This guy usually sees whats coming, and even when you do a feint and try step in low at 45 degrees to get a body hook, he seems to already see it coming once you start moving low, and than when your bent over with your head down, he has a take down or two for that. Anyways. So hes very hard to get a strike on, even with alot of pressure but what usually happens than is he always seems to find that opening once you reach out to tag him, and if he gets you once, he usually has about 2 or 3 follow up shots, knowing how youl react, and than will finish with a take down, or if your backing away, or stepping out off his center line, than its usually a shot in the dark spinning back kick hel try land, and if you try do a generic take down while holding his leg if you catch it, sometimes hel use it as bate and before you react, hel jump in and get a knot inbetween your legs with his, youl both go down, and hes not fun to leg fight with. I love leg locks, but this guy is miles ahead of me with them. So hes just very complicated. By saying he uses a long guard, its so far out that he cant throw a hook unless he brings his arm in a bit. He rarely throws them, he usually just does straight punches at different angles and levels that seem to find their mark, as mentioned, hes very good at knowing a reaction after a strike, or a feint. So, its not the most powerful of shots, but they do still have alot of force since he really pushes his weight into them, when hitting the mits or bag. There just very tedious strikes. So, on the topic of bruce lee, and wing chun that came to mind. The only thing iv found that really works against his long guard, is the wing chun hand trapping, or pummelling, and a quick and short straight punch with a vertical fist once there is a minor opening. Iv never studied wing chun before, so i didnt know much. The odd time, a guy passing through the city for work up north would sometimes stop into our gym, and i always admired the art, especially the foot work. So i just took the basics to try and get some openings or try take his back. As you mentioed before, alot of wrestling and such can be seen in tradional arts like karate, and tai chi as you mentioned. So i guess my question would be, is my logic flawed going against this sort of defense, or can you think of any other options to try? Or am i stuck trying to pumel through the guard to get one small quick shot in. If youd like to respond in any form, itd be appreciated.
Got an idea for you Ramsey; start a side channel teaching Chinese. I just find it particularly intriguing when westerners are proficient at Asian languages, and you're a good teacher! It would also be awesome if you showed us around Shanghai one of these days!
@jpssteveshanahan9572 Anyone learning Chinese these days, it should certainly be mandarin. You’ll be able to speak not only with the 1.5 billion people in China, but tens of millions more in Taiwan, several tens of millions more in Malaysia, plus the millions of Chinese diaspora and bilingual speakers all around the the world. The number of people who speak Cantonese are a tiny fraction of that.
Mandarin. Cantonese is only spoken in Hong Kong and Guandong. Did you know there are over 400 different languages in China? Mandarin is the lingua franca.
@jpssteveshanahan9572 A huge percentage of Chinese people learn Mandarin as a second language. (their native tongue being their hometown language, of which there are many) In fact, there are still a lot of Chinese people who don't speak Mandarin at all. Mandarin (puntonghua, the common tongue) is a language from Beijing that the Ming Dynasty started spreading across the country about 400 years ago to try to unify a linguistically diverse population. My friend Hairat (you can see him in some of my videos) is from Xinjiang, China. He learned Mandarin as his 7th language after Uyghur, Turkish, Kazakh, Arabic, Russian, and English. And he always tells me that my Mandarin is better than his (and my Chinese sucks)
In the whole taijiquan side, it took me a long time to understand Wu style's differences (I practiced a Yang style, and Chen style made sense immediately in transfer). I found that they really emphasize the lean and it took watching some catch as catch can wrestling videos (especially older ones) to understand it. Considering the folk wrestling background it makes sense to see the relationship. Internal arts means so many different things, but what I think people forget is that almost every martial art falls in one of two categories: A soldier's toolkit to inflict your will on your opponent, or something refined taught to the rich and the nobility. The first is only effective because what doesn't work from it is paid for in blood, but is subject to stagnation and loss of efficacy as times change. The second only becomes effective when you put it behind a soldier who's paid a little of that blood toll. Taijiquan has this same problem. It's the result of a grizzled veteran taking his changquan (long fist for the rest of y'all) and repurposing it for the nobility he's teaching.
I agree that qigong, zhan zhuang, and other internal practices don't replace training like drilling and sparring if fighting skills is the goal. They won't grant superpowers like no-touch push and flying. On the other hand, internal practices can push the mind and body to almost superhuman levels. For example this Wudang master can almost glide like in the wuxia movies ua-cam.com/video/m6QUWLMQ8AY/v-deo.html.
Those look like pretty normal human martial artist levels to me. He’s wall running, doing hand springs, jumping spinning hook kicks, and bicep curls with what looks to be about 25 lbs. Am I missing something?
Yes that Wudang master did not do anything superhuman, but he is probably closest someone can get to actual flying or walking on walls. Asian legends tend to overexaggerate when they see someone run up walls they will then tell stories about a person flying or walking on walls. Light body is just one feat achievable by internal training. There are others like fa jin, iron palm, iron body, and Wim Hof breathing to withstand ice cold temperatures for more than an hour. These feats seem like magic but is achievable by anyone with dedication and training.
That’s a video clip from Elder Scrolls VI played on a loop with me in front of a blue screen. It was raining in the game, so that’s where the effect came from.
He’s in jail right now. I don’t have the full story. His wife sent me an email, it sounded like he got in an argument with someone who called the police on him, and had him arrested on what sounded like trumped up charges.
Great subject, Hey Ramsey I would just like to share with you my experience with practicing the Internal style of Taoist Yoga, and what I will say about it will hopefully help you understand something that most do not understand about the internal practice of Nui Gung. For one the idea of connecting with your internal energy is possible, a possibility that most will not attain because most will not have the will, commitment, or desire to take this seriously. I for one was fortunate to have been introduced to a Taoist Priest from China that taught these internal style of exercises that if practice with the dedication and diligence one could reach nirvana. So first why would anyone care about this, well let me explain, first in the tradition of martial training it is about developing the mind, body, and breath to become one with yourself and the universe. So the mind: is linked to thinking, thoughts, logic, how we understand the world, so the body: all the physical possibility we can developed and connect with, so the breath: how body, mind and breath become one with ourselves and the universe: a connection with our spiritual consciousness. This is something that is very real, and how it is achieved is through the idea of stopping all thoughts, something we are all stuck on and are very geared for, second connecting with our five senses, something that we are not as in touch with because of our stuckness in thoughts and lack of exposure to things that will stimulate our connection to our feelings, thirdly connecting with our breath to such a degree that we are consciously not thinking, physically connecting with our five senses in a way where relaxation is in sink with how we feel without a thought. So sure this can be perceived as some illusional mythical belief, but let me say this: can we stop thinking completely, this is hard because we are so use to thinking that it is quite difficult to do so. And if we stop thinking what happens then: does all the energy that goes into thinking just disappear, no it then becomes distributed into your five senses: whereby now your five senses become more prevalent, more sensitive. And if this happens you will start to feel your energy, possibly seeing your aura, hear the sound of your energy, and knowing that you are in a altered state of consciousness. I will say that the importance of this achievement "nirvana" is not about becoming all powerful or subhuman, but that achieving this would lead to a peace of mind for the rest of your life. And in the relationship to martial arts: I would say that your expression of it will be less theoretical and more autonomous. I am expressing my thoughts and feelings about this because as a martial artist and yoga practitioner I was able to obtain these experiences and realize it's value for living. Since reaching nirvana I am less stressed than most, more relax and at ease in life, and just feeling pretty in touch with being okay. The way is the training : for peace of mind and for a healthier way of being
Will you ever do something like an encyclopedia where you explain the classic forms of a style and explain their applications in real combat? Kind of like what you did in that episode where you showed leg swep and form from classic form exercise for meditation. Already two years ago you mentioned that thanks to your experience you guessed the meanings of other forms and I am afraid that after your death this knowledge will be lost. I don't know anyone who would raise this topic publicly and maybe even encourage others to share their observations.
Bruce Lee: the only man ever known to have killed Chuck Norris 3 days later, Chuck Norris rose from the dead and Bruce Lee died under mysterious circumstances.
as a former tai chi practitioner, i always say internal combat arts rely almost entirely on the faith of both combatants to work. if drawn against a hard martial artist, the internal artist will soon be paste on the floor. however one thing i got and still cherish from my years of tai chi is they taught me how to breath properly. nowadays i don't do martial arts becasue i don't have access to a space but i do workout at a gym several times a wekk, where i lift weights and do cardio. in both areas i find the breathing techniques i learned doing tai chi helps a tremedous amount, not becasue there is any mysticism to it but because muscles like oxygen and when you breat properly, they get it in spades.
Well IMO most people who do taijiquan including most teachers do not have high levels of skill. There are many reasons for this but I think mainly because "tai chi" was taught mainly for health like a moving meditation. The actual origin of taijiquan was never about health. It was an actual martial art. I have been highly lucky in having teachers who were truly knowledgeable and skilled.
15:18 I think one of the things that got me out of Catholicism when I was younger was that told us to think but they never taught us how or what to think about specifically. Nowadays, I see so many more interesting and useful things I would think about.
Bruce Lee was a big inspiration to me to do Martial arts in the first place, his philosophy of cross training has been a major influence in my training. The so called facts of all the things he has done is extremely silly. His skills looked good on film, but there is no real evidence that he really fought anyone.
He wasn’t a fighter, he was an actor. That been said, his movies inspired some legitimate fighters, much in the same way I was inspired by Goku. Everyone needs a phony martial artist to look up too as a kid
@@Tr8ntI agree with mostly what you said, however I don't think he was a phoney martial artist, he just wasn't this invincible god people make him out to be.
@@seculardojo7738 He was a good choreographed martial artist, I’ll give him that. Against an actual opponent, well, his lack of fighting experience speaks for itself
@@Tr8nt I agree with you about that. There is no real way to know how good he would have been without fighting experience, and there is no evidence he did fight, except from hearsay
Internal energy is the result of a combination of factors and actions like deep relaxation and releasing muscle tension, efficient transfer of body mass and shift in weight, overcoming the body's natural restrictions on loading force(autogenic inhibition), proper posture, properly utilising the connective tissue, including fascia, etc. It's not magic. But to learn all this, you need a qualified teacher who can do all this and explain it to you properly. So having a good teacher is very important. Too many people out there who claim they have the goods, but can't do any of it.
National geographic did a great look at how buddhist monks have different brains from years of meditation. Excessive gamma waves which appear during sensations, among other things.
Legend has it, Ramsey Dewey once fought a 80 year old Tai Chi master. So strong was his qi, it cut two holes in Ramsey's beard and they have never grown back.
Is this true
very funny
I actually have a statue of Bruce Lee in my house. Over the decades, I have owned it, the statue has shown that it can defeat almost anyone without even trying. It’s amazing.
ha ha ha be gone! 🫲🤛🫲🤛
The art of fighting without fighting.
Makes total sense, I've never seen a statue put much effort into anything.
Almost anyone?
I love Kung Fu Hustle when the protagonist becomes a super human and starts beating the evil guys. Then the landlords start to see him as a son, and the landlady says: "If he studies hard he could become a doctor or a lawyer!"
That was a super fun and wholesome line!
It’s a great movie!
Freaking love that movie.
@PaMuShin I feel like there's a similar pattern in Southeast Asia and Central-South America as well.
@PaMuShin
Fighting and alcohol often go hand in hand due to the painkilling effects alcohol can have when ingested. After years of genuine fighting, injuries are common unless youre extremely good at not getting hit.
That's not wholesome!
Realistic, yes, haha.
Having went to medical school for Chinese Medicine, it changed my understanding drastically. “Qi” was NEVER used as a stand-alone term. Qi was always used as the second part of a dual term, and each always referred to a system of the body. “Breath,” for example, was “Da Qi” (Big Qi, because air is everywhere) and the respiratory system. But there is also Qi related to the food you eat, “Gu Qi.” Then there was, “Wei Qi” (the strength of your immune system). Etc etc etc. In other words, every martial art worth it’s weight works with “Qi.” In the sense that they all talk about Breathing, Diet, Health / Resilience / Recovery, etc
Yeah but medical terminology is different because it’s specialized, in classical Chinese philosophy the concept of “Qi” IS USED as a stand alone term.
@@BRAINFxck10 Which makes it useless in any practical application.
Brian, which Classical Chinese philosophers have you read?
Gotta love that gucci. Lol.
@@RamseyDewey
I’m not losing sleep waiting for the answer
Meditation can’t make butt fire ball real, but spicy beans can.
I heard Bruce lee can fly
Well you would have never seen him, he's so fast.
Can’t he?
Lol this sounds a lot like the chick noris memes and I'm here for it lol
Of course he can! Where do you think they got the Liu Kang bicycle kick from 😂
I heard he made your mother pregnant by just entering the same room 😮
For me the "internal" arts emphasise the deep subtleties of the movements, stance and relaxation to allow a very efficient use of power. The focus is on mindfully perfecting these techniques. It works best however when you then go on to pressure test the techniques practically.
The thing is that anyone who trains properly will get elements of this in their art. For me BJJ has that aspect to it in that the high level black belts have such a good understanding of their body biomechanics they can tie you up in an effortless, efficient and relaxed way.
The effortless relaxation and apparent magic is only there however if they are rolling with someone less skilled. If the skill levels are comparable then you need some real "external" effort to win in a contest.
As a fellow neijia practitioner, I totally agree that pressure testing is an absolute must as is cross training with other systems to learn to adapt what you know to things outside that box.
Funny, I was researching internal arts today. Apparently, they focuses more on internal muscles, near the skeleton, precision of movement and breathing to produce power, alongside elasticity of the body
@KurtAngle89 that's pretty accurate. It's a different way of moving, with that whole Liuhe (six harmonies) thing. The interesting part is that it's also a different way of breathing. And some very odd movement results from it. Or at least it feels that way until you get accustomed to it. Because you're using different connections throughout the body, it feels very strange, like "I breathed and decided my arm should move but I didn't feel any of the major muscles engage even though my arm moved to shoulder height." Almost like you turn your body into a marionette and you're just using your breathing to control it. And, much like using a marionette, the movements are initially a bit clumsy, but grow more refined with continued practice.
@KurtAngle89 that's true. I've seen some more "internal" style training methods and skills come into the combat arts at times. Conner McGregor used dance like kinetic chain training to be able to punch from unusual and otherwise unfavorable positions. In a similar way some of Lomochenko's unusual striking reminds me of some of the strikes from internal arts.
As MMA evolves I'm sure we'll see more. Problem is very few people know it well enough to teach it in an efficient and applicable way
@williambrookings722 that's definitely the case. The Chen family that invented taijiquan is a great example. I've been to seminars with some of the big names. Chen Xiaowang. Chen Bu. Chen Ziqiang. They'll drop nuggets, but never just say, "Hey. Do this." They don't teach the whole thing to outsiders, because Chenjiagou relies on tourism $$$. It's why my studies have moved toward baguazhang and xingyiquan. Far less worried about tourist money or keeping secrets.
Hi there Ramsey. I've taken both external kung fu (Choy Li Fut) and internal(Tai Chi) for over ten years now, and I've gotten to know where I know what I'm talking about, so I'll put the differences in layman's terms.
First, the two different methods are not different as in black and white. They mix together a lot. The biggest difference is the mentality in the application. External styles like choy Li Fut and American boxing use breathing just like internal styles, but they use the inhaling and exhaling to contract the muscles on contact with the opponent. They do that not only on striking but also joint locks. With joint locks they use the breathing to contract the muscles to snap the opponent's joint into whatever position that they want. Another example of external style is the basic judo hip throw. It's all proper breathing, thrusting the hip out, placing the weight on the balls of your feet and so on.
Internal style is a bit harder to explain. When I was first taught Tai Chi, we were taught to "love your enemy to understand how Tai Chi works". What it means is change your mentality to love your opponent so much that it's really easy to read his body language, meaning that your relaxed from not wanting to kill him, so it's a lot easier to read what he is doing. Once you do that, you can sense the shift in body weight, and you can use it against him. A friend of mine that worked with horses told me that she used the same method with horses, and got so in tune with them that she could move them around with a slight touch of her hand, even though she weighed maybe a little over a hundred pounds. Same thing with internal martial arts. That's why you see people that have trained all their lives being able to knock people off balance just by touching them. They can read the body shift in weight. Nothing magical about it.
But it takes time though, a LOT of time. After ten years, I'm just starting to get it. Think of instead of being a horse whisperer, you're a bad guy whisperer lol.
One thing I have to stress though is that there is absolutely NOTHING mystical about internal martial arts. It's 100% scientific. You just have to get a feel for it.
With the level of physical acting you should have just subtitled it and made it a silent movie. I love it!
Clearly Bruce lee was too humble to make any of those _totally factual_ claims himself. But they all came from eye witnesses who clearly saw the -man- demi-god do such incredible feats in person.
I loved that you delved a little into the benifical aspects of internal martial arts! Tai Chi seems to do some pretty amazing things for people.
People aren't going to be shooting fireballs from thier butts but it can probably improve thier health.
@PaMuShin. Ya, those studies are not very good. So many factors conveniently being ignored. I am a fan of tai chi and chi gong. Not there is absolutely nothing about them alone that makes people have healthier weight or be more flexible compared to any other exercises. Diet is what matters to weight. Most tao chi practitioners are people who eat lighter meals, rice and steamed veggies. It's not southern bbq lovers practicing tai chi. There is nothing about doing tso chi in groups that makes one lose weight or be more flexible compared to using it yourself. The average person is just more likely to do tai chi on a consistent basis if they have a daily group appointment to keep them accountable.
If people want an Asian Kung Fu practitioner to celebrate as an actual fighter so much, then look at Don Wilson. Kung Fu background who went into kickboxing and became world champion many times. Hell even his nickname is “The Dragon”. And while nowhere near the movie star Bruce Lee was, he has an extensive list of martial arts films he’s worked in himself.
Boring choreography and bad acting tho. I can watch his fights all day, but he made garbage movies. Cung Le has at least been in some good movies
It’s just that, that happened so long ago, and in kickboxing. What the style needs now is a Machida of sorts, someone to give it legitimacy.
No one can rival Quentin Tarantino in hating Bruce Lee.😅
No, but it's funny how people really believed that😂
@KurtAngle89. It was one scene in another characters imagination in that film. Not a historical recreation. There were a few other scenes with Bruce in that film where he's teaching and it comes off as reverent and respectful.
I don't care what people say Bruce Lee is my favorite martial artist and this is a fact he is one of the most influential people of the 20th century...
Hey Ramsey, this is one of the clearest takes on the matter I have heard. It's easy and logical to comprehend "internal" as complimentary to "external", or even better, to emphasize that "going out there and work" is necessary.
I am doing Taichi since 15 years, became instructor, doing research on the subject - and still struggle with distinguishing what is fiction and what are the actual working things. E.g. we are practicing very gentle tuishou / push hands. Clearly, they are not for fighting, but cooperative practicing with improvisational, unforseen input, and external pressure. From this practice, convincing pushes happen, but they only happen if we stick to the rules of the Taichi game, including the way to move in a Taichi way. The most interesting learnings are on the subtleties of upright balance. So, this is working as a game, has certain learning effect, but in a very constrained setting. And I like this subtle game, it's fun, explorative, interesting things are happening.
But it feels like real testing, a complimentary practice that challenges these constraints, is missing.
Best from Vienna!
They teach it to you stripped off its spirit, find a real teacher. It is worth it.
@@emranba-abbad8335 True, in a good school, even your warm-up movements should be conducive to use in combat. Taichi is surely useful for fighting but without a teacher who is actually a warrior, it's hard to understand why until you are ten years into practising it.
I think tuishou improved my long guard
If you can, pick up "The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi Chuan"
Ooh. I can help a bit with this one, as a practitioner of the neijia arts who doesn't go in for either hocus or pocus.
Qi literally means breath, as you point out, but there's a little more to it than that. As you again point out (thank you for that) its about connecting the breath to the movement but also using the breath to drive the movement by (and I'm going to reduce this down a bit to keep from getting too wordy), using the breath to pressurize the abdomen to yank on the body's various connective tissues. Most qigong, things like zhan zhuang or eight pieces of brocade, are used to strengthen those connections. They can get strong enough to be the primary motivator, which feels weird as first.
But there's no mysticism, just some body skills that most people don't bother to practice, especially nowadays when most folks don't have the time to make it worthwhile.
Imagination does play a part, in the the subconscious mind arranges the body more quickly than the conscious mind can. But even that is just another bodily skill.
But it's all just meat and bone and mental skill and relaxed power and strategy. Anyone who tells you they can blast someone with a qi fireball or really anything mystical has no idea what they're talking about.
Taiji people (Chen taijiquan is my primary art and I used to use it in security work) often have no idea what they're doing. They get all caught up in the wuxia of it and end up spending years learning garbage.
With my students, I start off teaching them the breathing and the movement skills. The ones that pay attention are starting to show some promise. The ones who are into all the mumbo jumbo because a prior teacher taught them poorly are struggling and will continue to do so.
Which should be fun when we drop in on the neighboring martial arts schools for open sparring night. Thats the other thing I've noticed. Most neijia folks mistake say really dumb things like tui shou is taiji sparring. It's sparring-adjacent, perhaps, but if bodies aren't hitting the floor, it's not sparring, given that much of taijiquan amounts to standing grappling.
Apologies if this rambles a bit, but it's the middle of the night. TL;DR: if they tell you it's magical, they're full of crap. It's often misunderstood, but that's hardly unusual these days. It IS different. Some of the skills are unusual or counterintuitive. It's subtle. It takes a ton of time and practice to get decent. But it's not magic, just a different approach to the age old question of "How do I injure this guy while being injured as little as possible in return?"
Bruce Lee was standing faster than we were running
Bruce Lee could stand at 600 miles per hour. Facts.
This is the funniest Bruce Lee fact I've heard so far.
@@RamseyDewey😂😂😂👍
To give you a real life experience, when I had my 2nd day of Covid I had chills, horrible coughs, a super fever, could barely stand move, and the worst headache of my life so far. I’ve studied Taichi and other “internal martial arts,” For years. When I desperately tried to find a way for me to not be bed ridden by using the techniques and experimented theory crafting from over the years, everything boiled down to a lot of gentle breathing that led to slowly loosening the body then moving it. But a key factor to regaining stability with these functions is focus.
(Disclaimer Tylenol and Vicks vapor rub were involved in this therapeutic session, it made the process easier to obtain the result that was needed.)
I knew to myself I was hot all over because of the fever, I knew to myself pain was going to be everywhere. There’s a catch to that said pain, it’s not equal. With my breathing, focus, gentle movement/muscle loosening, and psychological intent, I calmed myself to really become aware of my body, my intention was to make myself prioritize my attention of pain elsewhere that didn’t hurt as much or dissipate all of the pain. The surge of focus and intent made me feel the pain of my headache even more so at first, then it migrated to shoulder, then my hands, to my stomach, and ultimately it led to my feet and then I made it travel to my head again just so I could rinse and repeat the process until I could be used to the pain and not be bothered by it as much anymore until the Tylenol will really kick in and put an end to all of it. I stopped, applied Vicks and did the process again. My feet felt like they were hot enough to cause a fire(magical exaggeration.) every pain’s priority eventually balanced out to the point where nothing mattered, the Tylenol kicked and I was at peace. Next moment I saw myself well enough to at least be full of vigor and do things like run, jump, skip and so on again instead of being purely bed ridden. I was happy that even though I felt trashy because of Covid crippling me, I managed to out last the problem until all of the medicine kicked and finished the job.
To put it simply, the main things that make a magical experience be the way it is is the way how the sensations of focus, awareness, intention, and intuition are being manipulated both within yourself and out. The balance between action and proper stillness blended in a harmonious way leads to it.
Honestly, this style in your intro suits you pretty well. When other people in your space (and frankly, just on youtube in general) try to do this kind of thing it usually ends up really cringy. I think you played the balance well and had a good sense of humor without taking yourself too seriously or being too cool. I'm impressed! Mainly, just because the bar on this platform has gotten pretty low, especially when we're talking about skits or gags on channels centered around martial arts, firearms, or self-defense. But that being said I liked it! Your videos keep getting better. Keep doing what you're doing, your channel has always drawn me in because of its empirical approach to unconventional styles of fighting. Your videos about capoeira moves that are actually useful is one of my favorites. The tai chi video as well. People usually dismiss these less pressure tested and effective martial arts styles completely without digging in, asking real questions, and putting individual things to the test. Thanks Ramsey!
Thanks for bringing up topics like these. I'm an average kung fu practitioner and I had the opportunity to watch a match between a shotokan karate instructor and a pa kwa chang or ba gua instructor. The Chinese won by asking the loser what happened, he said, I am surprised that his blows were very similar to our KIME theory. Best regards, Master Ramsey
Oh yeah, I do stuff like qigong in between more physically intense training all the time. The super power it gives me is a lot less aches and pains than I probably would otherwise. Not much different than any other athlete that actually bothers to stretch.
Id imagine that Bruce Lee inspired Mr Miyagi to try to catch flies with chopticks, after he caught ten of them with a pair of nunchucks, while blindfolded, which came after he had a secret match with Muhammad Ali and won. Even Beerdy doesnt have my sources
That sounds… 100% accurate!
The other day as I was doing my PT I got to thinking that in another context, all this single leg balance stuff I'm doing to work stabilizers and my vestibular system would seem a lot like internal arts practice. Someone once said to me "all language is metaphor" and the context of Qi works if you think about it as another language. In fact my old Chinese weightlifting coach used to describe the explosive triple extension as "fa jing." It all starts to click when I start to think about it all as a different language to explain the same concepts
Much of what there is with Bruce Lee, is modern mythology at work. He was a competent martial artist, had great athletic ability, onscreen presence, and was influential. To be a good competition fighter though, one needs to train for that, and also is expected to lose... or they may win! Some people are more likely to win than others... and thus there is "competition". Many presumed that Mike Tyson would beat Buster Douglas, but he didn't.
As a current practitioner of Chen Style Taijiquan in the US and a former practitioner of Wuji Style Baguazhang and Gu Style Taijiquan both of which I studied for a several years in Qingdao, China, Nei Gong is not just about breathing but primarily about internal micro movements and body alignment, which are critical.
Hey, my friend, I’m an American and I’m currently living in Qingdao and couldn’t find any Bagua guys, do you still know the instructor or someone there who know any Bagua guys here in Qingdao?
I think this is a good explanation of internal martial arts. Neijia uses extremely efficient body mechanics to maximize power with minimal effort. However this can be done in very similar ways in so called external arts. Due to the unique methods of developing these skills and body mechanics, internal martial arts tend to take much longer to use practically.
Well delivered argument. So internal is the theory, application drilling is the 10 page paper, and sparring (external) is the work experience.
Thanks! In Kung Fu Hustle The landlords introduce themselves as Romeo and Juliet, I assume. they are using this western reference in place of a Chinese one. Do you know what Chinese story they are referencing, and can you give a brief synopsis?
I have no idea. It’s been a very long time since I saw the movie, and the movie is Cantonese, which I don’t speak. I just looked this article up on tv tropes:
“one point, the Landlord and Landlady reveal their names to be (YangGuo)楊過 and (XiaoLongNu)小龍女, two of the most famous Wu Xia novel characters who were known for a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque turbulent love affair (The English subs would have said Paris and Helen of Troy, which is in itself funny). They were known to have amazing martial arts skills, and the two characters were known to eventually go into hiding, as the Landlord and Landlady does, but the irony is that the personality of the Landlady and Landlord were starkly opposite of the graceful and gentle literary characters.”
I heard also an explaination that says that internal martial arts mean that they are focusing on that is not easly seen or not seen and that is both spirituality, meditation, breathing techniques but also on things you do in fighting like one inch power and proper structure (peng)
It is like the yoga or pilates training to the grappler or MMA fighter IMO. Or Conner McGregor's training in unusual dance like movement that let him strike from odd positions
As a certified Qi Gong (Chi Kung) instructor I agree with a lot of what you're saying. I've trained Bjj, kickboxing, boxing, yoga and Taiji Chuan as well. I can definitely atest to the athletic benefits of practicing Qi Gong. The primary foundations are visualization, breath and posture. I have a very low heart rate and have had to declare myself an "athlete" in certain situations and I owe this to Qi Gong training. My posture has changed since beginning training, people tell me I look taller. I have seen 65+ people join Qi Gong classes and go from standing with a walker to doing most of the class on their own. These results vary of course! And it's not a magic pill. It's an exercise system... a very thorough one that can benefit any type of individual or athlete. I realized it was the foundation for Shaolin Martial Arts, so I dove deep. Qi Gong does offer some "martial" training as well but it is moreso Hard Style training such as Iron Body. It takes work and commitment! So I agree with his analysis. Qi Gong practices can be a complete exercise program for anyone, elderly people or out of shape people. If they are interested in some other martial art or athletic endeavor, Qi Gong can be a great foundational system to assist their training or maintain their health.
As far as mysticism goes, I am Latino and that may be embedded in me to some extent... I definitely connect to the spiritual aspects of Shaolin martial arts, whether they be Taoist or Buddhist they relate to my personal Vedic and shamanic beliefs. I enjoy working with the Tao and nature and the elements. I cannot say anything magical will happen but I can assure you that there ARE energies especially when considering everything is made up of frequencies and your body is an ELECTROMAGNETIC system. 🙏✨
Thank you for talking about the subject in a reasonable way. As a lifelong practitioner of Baguazhang it is commonly an unpleasant, or at least unenlightening, to talk about these ideas with other practitioners. The "3 families" (as Sun Lu Tang described it) of Tai Chi, Baguazhang, and Xing I, have a lot of unnecessary cultural nonsense attached to them. Try to incorporate modern science into your dialogs, and many of their practitioners (even here in the west) start foaming at the mouth. Or they are on the other side of the non-existent fence, and renounce anything that is outside their understanding of the physical training and sparring. At the end of the day, correlation is just as valuable as causation within the practice. Correlation is an internal-felt-experience, causation is an external-validated-experience.
Bruce Lee was like the Fonz because I’ve never seen him in a fight.
One interesting aspect about the whole Internal/External Martial Arts discussion is how the delineation between Internal and External styles was originally political in nature.
Meir Shahar, a professor of East Asian Studies at Tel Aviv University, talks about this in his book about the history of the Shaolin Monastery that is definitely worth reading.
To explain the "political" delineation in a VERY short summary, styles that were labeled "internal" were often styles that drew upon Taoist practices and philosophies, with Taoism being the "internal" religion of China.
External styles, like the ones taught at Shaolin, drew upon Buddhist practices and philosophies, with Buddhism being the "external" religion brought over from India.
When you consider the socio-political power struggle between the two religions across Chinese history, the classification starts to make sense.
Many people forget, for example, that Baguazhang is closely linked to the Eight Trigrams Uprising of 1813, during the Qing dynasty.
Hey coach. I know you've been in china for a while and had encounters with various kung fu styles. What styles of kung fu have you enjoyed and what have you learned from them?
Taichi is awesome for health benefits!
After a taichi class, digestion works extremely well, and you sleep like a baby.
As long as you have a good instructor, of course!
When I was younger it was the myth surrounding internal practices that got me into martial arts. In my mind it was all connected to the phrase "knowledge is power." Later I learned that knowledge is not power. Action is power. Knowledge only amplifies existing potential by enabling effective action. But I am grateful that I passed through that romantic phase, since it is only thanks to that phase that I eventually learned and progressed to where I am now.
Love you, Ramsey. Keep it up.
But knowledge is power depending on the circumstances, just like taking action can become a detriment in other circumstances
@@JOHN18042 I mean, whenever a particular action would be detrimental, to not take that particular action is still an action. That doesn't undermine the fact that it all ultimately comes down to action.
What do you mean by "depending on the circumstances"?
The internal aspect of martial arts is not necessarily a psychological or phylosophical thing. There was a reference made by Takuan Soho I think which is when a duck is smoothly gliding on the surface of water it actually moves its feet a lot. That can be reffered to internal forms. It is something that can not be seen by an untrained eye. People talk a lot about putting your whole body into a punch which externally does not look that different between trained and untrained person for an inexperienced viewer. The nuances in body mechanics that allow for a trained person to deliver a devastating strike is an internal form. The structure. Internal forms and kata appear very simple on the outside while being way more challenging to perform properly than an external form/kata.
The quickness of these flashy edit cuts, and sound effects.......I was knocked out before your sponsor got mentioned........lol
Thought it was Tyson Fury without my glasses on 🤣😂
I study neijiaquan.great explanation fren :D
If Bruce Lee is alive you never dare tell this
Bruce is alive. The human soul is immortal.
When I think about Qi and "neigong", I think about the electrical impulses that facilitate movement and exercises that loosen, strengthen or awaken underused areas for these impulses to flow smoother (I.e, better muscle control, smoother movement, subtle movement, ect). When you are stiff and lost movement in, lets say, the hips, the idea is to breath, do mobility exercises and really focus on moving that area to regain optimal function.
Your nervous system turns your hips back on to prime movement instead of stiff, secondary movement because you are using them and it's an adaptation that is needed (apparently lol). These impulses flow more naturally now as a result and you have better control, strength, flexibility, and whatever else your exercises awarded you.
Even further, you become more aware of the inner workings of your hips if you'd been oblivious to it before and have a better sense of how it connects to your movement.
Exactly
Around @4:36:
Hey man, researching the characters I find the meanings breathing/energy (for Qi) and work (for gong). Were from you got hte maning deep breathing?
Better question: how are you translating “energy” from 气?
@@RamseyDewey Let me be more specific, I'm just asking for a source to read about the meaning/translation of Qi Gong to deep breathing.
To judge Bruce abilities on his movies alone is redicilously ignorant. He was very realistic in his approach towards martial arts, even more than lots of people nowadays. He trained with lots of different martial artists from different styles, what we kinda do nowadays. By listening and read some of his interviews i definitely sure he was legit and know what he was talking about.
And I thought fighting was about actually defeating competent opponents in tournaments. Apparently it's about talking in a self confident manner.
I've noticed that everyone who hates Bruce Lee doesn't actually know much about who Bruce lee really was, what he believed, spoke about, stood for and did, and only seems to hate Bruce lee due to his fans. Hating Bruce Lee is trendy I guess.
Of course anyone who actually studied bruce lee and what he believed and did understands he was legitimate. The man was genuinely athletic and knew how to fight. He did alot of street fighting as a youth due to being a handsome mixed race which was also precisely how he ended up in wing chun and later moved over seas to America. If I remember correctly Bruce Lees family moved to America precisely to get away from the street fighting and violence he partook in constantly. Even years later when fine tuning his craft he took part in street fights to stress test his theories. Yeah beating a street fighter isn't the same thing as beating a trained pro obviously but it is still better then nothing.
Everyone says he was a fake martial artist and a fake fighter because 1. He was a movie star and 2. he is glorified like a mythological fighter that is unbeatable, which causes people to hate him and over react and assume he isn't a real fighter at all and can't beat anyone. Which isn't any more true then stating he beats everyone. To assume he can't fight without evidence is even more ignorant then those that believe he is unbeatable.
The truth is bruce lee knew how to fight, he may not have in actuality been a god at fighting like is claimed, but to suggest he can't fight is just as stupid. Realistically, we will never know the true extent of his abilities and how well he would fair in MMA or other competitive fighting, since we dont have video evidence or examples from tournaments, but the man had all of the potential in the world to do well due to how hard he trained and studied. There is no reason to suggest he couldnt do well in the UFC for example. He would, especially with access to modern knowledge and trainers.
But that isn't the point. The entire point about bruce lee is he was a popular figure head and philosopher that popularized Martial Arts in the west. Which is why he is so beloved and also hated! The man created the concept of MMA before it was a thing. He is the father of MMA in many ways due to him criticizing traditional martial arts and believing in studying all styles and taking what works from each of them while discarding the rest and tailoring your style based on who you are and what works for you.
he was literally one of the first people to criticize martial arts masters of old and the belt system and old masters that didn't train their bodies or stay in shape. He was also the one who said a boxer or wrestler that has a month of training beats a martial artist who has years of experience. Idiots will say, oh this proves he can't fight. Um no this proves he can fight? How do you think he came to this conclusion to make this statement? Oh Idk by studying boxing and realizing it is effective. Which means he studied boxing and applied in real life.
The breathing thing can make you INCREDIBLY strong and allow you to absorb WAY more damage.
Bruce Lee’s exploits are well-documented in the documentary Enter the Dragon.
Hahaha! Yes! It wouldn’t have been set to film if it wasn’t a historical event!
Get the book by John Little that just came out, "The Wrath of the Dragon: The Real Fights of Bruce Lee." And please give an honest review of it after reading it.
Personally, I think the idea of “internal” martial arts is one that scholarly teachers used as a marketing term (as opposed to the Fighters, like Chang Dung Sheng of Wang Zi-Peng). You don’t find a lot of that stuff in, “Southern styles” like you do in Tai Chi, Ba Gua, Xing Yi, LHBF, etc
Just because you move slower doesn’t make it, “more internal.” White Crane is just as “internal” as Tai Chi, in the sense that the way it develops deep relaxation, fine motor skill, breathing, understanding of leverage, and utilizes relatively static and focused, meditative practices to develop it.
They make up legends like Ba Gua circle walking came from some Taoist monks.
More likely is the account that the student Cheng Tinghua, who was a Shuaijiao practitioner, came up with the circle walking so his students could walk the palm changes around the outside edge of their Wrestling pit. More striking, he found no contradiction between his Wrestling and his Ba Gua. The same for Yang Lu Chan with the Manchurian’s Wrestling.
EVERY martial art uses a mixture of “qi gong” / nei gong internal practices and lin gong (stone locks, sand bags, heavy staff whipping, weaponry, stance holding, body hitting, etc). Its the same as boxing do cardio, then shadowboxing and then the medicine ball.
The only thing that separates Kungfu is the pursuit of not relying on pure athleticism. In that regard, it is closer in philosophy to Jujutsu / Jiujitsu or Judo than for example the Wrestling we had to learn in high school.
Huge Naruto nerd here. No offense taken Ramsey! I love your videos. One of your footwork videos has helped me especially.
Do you know any resources available regarding Taiji Zen? It's the version by Jack Ma and Jet Li. I keep looking and all I see is a few videos on UA-cam. Isn't there anything more?
One thing not mentioned is that the whole distinction between neija and waijia was originally just a way to politicize martial arts and arouse nationalism. The inferior invaders were mere externalists while those at home were the real deal internalists. It caught on but really all martial arts have "internal" and "external" aspects. Sun Lutang was one of many who decided to attempt to give the distinction real meaning but even many "internal artists" still have different opinions on it.
HOWEVER those arts like Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua, and many others go WAY deeper than just breathing. Each art has a very in depth and rich method that connects breathing, the mind, and the rest of the body. While not necessary magical, these can lead to some pretty profound transormation and connection. Much more than you would get from just stretching and focusing on breathing a little more.
Again it's not magic but the idea of internal being just the theoretical part or "this is how you punch" is just scratching the surface. It's good to understand that it isn't the fighting skill itself but a bit disrespectful to equate those practices with warm ups and cool downs at the gym.
Another reason why these youtubers ought to invite some IMA practitioners to talk more about what they do. Otherwise it's like me taking a few BJJ classes and chalking it all down to trying to wrestle my way into a getting chokehold. Easy peasy right? 🙄
BJJ = wrestle your way to a chokehold? Yes, you are 100% correct!
@RamseyDewey Guess all those techniques like "holding guard" or "passing guard", "shrimping", "framing", "omoplata" etc is just elitist technical jargon baloney.
2:32 Look for the "No Zero Days" concept as well, it goes in the same direction.
Here's my attempt at debunking: How many photos aka "money shots" of a boxer or MMA fighter of note feature them knocking the slobber out of someone else in some powerful, well-trained strike? Many, and they're real strikes. How many movies feature the action star Bruce Lee performing high-level choreography and interpretive dance-fu, sending paperweight men flying or flipping about? Many, and they're fun/great movies. Conflating fiction and reality is dangerous.
Bruce Lee made four and half martial arts movies: The Chinese Connection, Fist of Fury, Way/Return of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon… and the incompleted Game of Death.
Whenever Bruce Lee threw a punch he split the entire universe down the middle, but he did it so cleanly that the universe doesn't know its been cut; let us hope it never does discover that fact, cause if it does, we can kiss all existence goodbye.
Ali was a boyhood hero of mine and growing up I thought he was in fact the greatest boxer to ever lived, and that he could beat every one living and not living. Now that I know more about people like Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano etc, and have seen their fights, I don't feel that Ali was anywhere near the "greatest of all time" when he claimed to be that. Also, he was a racist who was a member of a hate group. Yet I still love him for his courage and style and outspokenness. I probably would have cried if I'd ever met him IRL. We believe in the magic of our heroes because we want to believe.
In the world of martial arts, a legend did arise,
Bruce Lee's prowess, a spectacle for all eyes.
With lightning-fast strikes and wisdom profound,
He's the greatest of all, his legacy unbound.
In every kick and punch, his spirit does gleam,
Bruce Lee, forever, in our hearts, supreme.
Ha ha ha Be gone!! 👋🤛👋🤛
I love this!
You made me laugh genuinely hard for the entire “how dare you” intro 😂😂😂. Thank you
As some ignorant once said, "don't confuse me with your facts".
Insult to the hero is habit of the cowards
Do you have any experience or tips regarding rucking, carrying extremely heavy loads long distances, that sort of training? I like to carry stuff, actually my favorite training used to be carrying small logs. I just wonder if there is any way to do it more effectively. The strength benefit works great in judo, although my form still sucks. Most throws I do with strength, not with technique, which is bad 😢
Right now, I’m struggling to walk unassisted while doing my best to stave off a total knee replacement.
I’ve never rucked on purpose with the intent of exercising. I have spent many years walking many miles every day with a heavy backpack hauling all my gear around. Tips? Keep going.
i NEED TO TALK TO YOUR SUPERVISOR 🤣 I love the beginning of the video.😃 Bruce Lee is an great source of inspiration but some deify him regretfully. I like to combine internal and external side of my training. Another great video man, I loved listening to this.
I met Bruce lee back in 69 he could do telekinesis and he could shoot lasers out his eyes. I seen him take down chuck Norris joe Fraser with one finger.
external strength lies in muscles like pectoral major, trapezius, and deltoid posterior (raises your upper arm to the side). the stuff that makes you look super strong and really helps with boxing.
internal strength lies in muscles like deltoid anterior (raises your upper arm in front of you), lats, and Rhomboid, and your rotator cuff muscles.. these won't make you look imposing but can still generate plenty of power in certain strikes.
I've felt the difference and it's all akin to the pose and angle of your body where you use certain muscle groups vs another.
a good way to look at it is pushing your bike up a hill that's too steep to pedal up... if you push your bike from the handle bars it's frickin' hard as hell (can't do it from your seat cuz your handle bars will turn)... but if you get in front and pull your bike (or hell just pick up your bike and carry it), it's super easy. This is because we humans stand up-right, and not perpendicular to a steep hill, pushing direction is actually forward, not necessarily up, so you're kinda pushing into the hill, not up it... where as if you're pulling your bike, you're pulling it up (and of course lifting is lifting it up), so you're not pushing the bike against the angle of the ground now.
What a refreshing take, most combat sports guys will completely dismiss the traditional stuff, while completely ignoring the context.
While also calling out the role players 😂
A Bruce Lee hater is another word for goof. Bruce Lee rocks MMA is overrated, and Kung Fu rocks and it is about time some one said it!🐲🐉
Hey dude with your voice u could do voice over’s or be a professer in a university. Good video with good insight.
I did teach at a university. I have done voiceovers. Welcome to the channel.
Bruce lee at 165 pounds was hitting harder than mike tyson and francis nganou combined, Maybe not as strong as halftor but certainly as strong as Brian shaw.. Bruce lee was able to do 5000 push up in less than 1 hour, His 1 inch punch was not knocking out 7 guys buy probably only 4-5 and he was able to destroy a 1 feet deep brick wall with his fingers... his kick were even faster sand harder than his punches.... and dont forget when you see one punch from bruce lee on camera its was in fact 3-4 punches but the camera was too slow to capture his speed.. some say That bruce lee was hitting so fast that the wind that was created by his kick was so strong that a person would back off even if not touched by the kick just the wind was enough to make someone knocked back.
You could take the 3 best ufc fighter today against prime bruce lee all at the same time in a cage and bruce lee would destroy all 3 in less than 40 seconds.
Why do you have to be such a Bruce Lee hater? He was obviously stronger than 3 Halfthor’s combined and could beat the entire UFC roster simultaneously!
Hahahahahaha. Hilarious
I love the attention to detail with the body language in the opening rant!
My 2 cents on 'internal arts'... it is self awareness and 'grounding' through meditation and (if combat focussed) sparring. Self awareness as in awareness of one's own physical abilities and limits as well as mental state and exploring how the two meet. As for 'chi', for me it means energy as understood in physics... levers and fulcrums etc... It's not magic but it really can be a force multiplier!
I've got no time to look it up so I'm just gonna assume that internal martial arts is when your stomach punches your liver.
No, it’s when your páncreases puts a rear naked choke on your kidneys.
good video as usual. but i didn't expect the spanish inquisition.
Chi gong stances are used to increase the electrical energy in the body (internal). You can feel it moving around as you breath in and out. The trick is to relax and let it flow. This energy can then be used to make the muscles contract better, for punching and kicking (external)
Bruce Lee was called the little dragon because he was a literal dragon
Well, half... His father was a Cantonese opera singer, and his mom was a literal dragon
So his father Entered the Dragon?
I heard that Bruce Lee mastered all the Dragon Shouts of Skyrim. His Fus Ro Da could launch a 300 lb man almost as high into the atmosphere as his side kick!
What I have read is that the differentiation between internal and external styles is obsolete as the differentiation between hard and soft styles. Currently it is differentiated between northern styles and southern styles. Have you heard about that?
It’s kind of crazy. Like, studying Tai Chi, Xyingi, and Pakua together helps channel chi. But let’s talk martial aspects. All 3 together work towards a lot of the philosophy Bruce had. You need Tai chi for the movement, sensitivity, that feel. Pakua gives you the dynamic footwork and has you work on angles and grappling. The Tai chi learned in push hands help you get ready to move into that grappling you do in Pakua. Then Xingyi has the lighting fest striking. Bruce says stay relaxed, don’t tense until impact. Breath control, controlling yourself. Being formless. Ready wherever the attack comes from (tai chi and Pakua). Striking fast (Xingyi) which comes from that relaxed but readiness you get from tai chi. Now shooting chi out of my hands. Those are stories that aren’t needed. The physical effects that people are seeking come from the body mechanics developed. In the end you have to do free sparring like he championed. So they get to the same destination taking different routes.
Reminds me of the (now infamous) poll on the Aikiweb forums, asking if Morihei Ueshiba could really dodge bullets: 80% said yes.
What about Yoga chakras and the endocrine system?
What about them? What do you know about chakras?
@@RamseyDewey The way I understand them is that scientists can study monks that emit higher and more consistent levels of Gamma waves and the structure of the brain required for these altered states. But only the monk can experience them. Much like we know how the endocrine system secretes adrenaline from a region described by monks as the solar plexus chakra, but only the monk can experience and organize the experience in their minds eye. I like chakras because they help me understand and engage with different parts of my body and other peoples bodies. The most common are the minds eye and the gonads, or ovaries :)
Hey Ramsey I have a question. What do you think of drunk boxing the way Emmanuel Augustus does it?
Is it worth exploring/practicing?
Great X martial cut at the end. Yup, its good stuff 👍. Iv been an avid martial arts nerd for some time, iv trained for many years, i love researching, and figuring out how to get through the walls of my training partners. However, there is one guy, that we all love but hate sometimes, that brings us endless blight within our training sessions, and it is very difficult to get past his walls/defense. He goes by the name of Mr. Sweet Jams. We call him Jams for short. A very suitable villain name. In all seriousness, he does infact make a great jam, and often will go foraging in the forest for wild berries and edibles to make it. We actually plan on going for another hike soon pretty deep into a region not yet explored. That is where i may challenge him. On a beautiful untouched meadow of berries. This could infact happen. However, as sweet as his jams may be, his soul is not. No, if he reads this, im certain he will grin, in knowing of the struggle we face against him. These are the details. Hes actually very similar to your size. Hes 6 feet, 220, very long arms. Im a tad bit taller than him, but I have a weight of about 20 to 30 lbs on him usually. Size is not everything however. This guys been training alot longer than i have, or any of us have been aswell, so ofcourse that does compinsate. Hel go easy on everyone once in a while, but for the most part he does what he does, and theres nothing wrong with that. Im just seeing if you have any advice to counter something like this. Iv been researching extensively, and have tried different things, which brought me to thinking about the situation, because it actually has a reference to wing chun, which Bruce made me think of. So this is a play out of what usually happens. He uses a double armed long guard, with a squared off stance. Now right now, im sure theres a ton of nerds that already have the answers in their heads, but just hear me out. He was the lucky one at the old gym. Most people were trained to have a close tight guard, but the coach at the time believed that this little jedi should have a green saber instead of a generic blue like the rest of us. So he trained with this long guard. He keeps his back straight while in it, and hel bend his left knee slightly, but keep his back leg mostly straight so that he leans forward slightly, but still has a straight spine. I can get a sub on him the odd time if we go to the ground after a successful take down, but that can be the hardest part since he has incredible take down defense, and counters to go with it. The odd time when i thought iv taken him down and everythings alright, what really happened was he was setting me up for a lock while we were going down. So iv discovered theres a few take downs that obviously prevent this, but getting to them is very difficult. His striking, and defense however is whats the trickiest. Now, i can say i strike very fast for a heavy weight, which came with years and years of shadow boxing primiarly to develope that control and speed. However, my guard is high, and balanced, but also close. Against others with the same iv done great, and against those that seem to think its ok to have a low loose guard, usually dont expect my jab to be as fast as it is until they get tagged with it. Against Mr. Sweet jams however, it is not as simple as it seems. Its like a lumber jack wanting to get at a trees trunk but cant beacause of all of the branches constantly in the way. Iv studied endlessly on how to get past this long guard, and i admire many youtubers attempts on explaining this, but its really not as easy as it seems. This guy usually sees whats coming, and even when you do a feint and try step in low at 45 degrees to get a body hook, he seems to already see it coming once you start moving low, and than when your bent over with your head down, he has a take down or two for that. Anyways. So hes very hard to get a strike on, even with alot of pressure but what usually happens than is he always seems to find that opening once you reach out to tag him, and if he gets you once, he usually has about 2 or 3 follow up shots, knowing how youl react, and than will finish with a take down, or if your backing away, or stepping out off his center line, than its usually a shot in the dark spinning back kick hel try land, and if you try do a generic take down while holding his leg if you catch it, sometimes hel use it as bate and before you react, hel jump in and get a knot inbetween your legs with his, youl both go down, and hes not fun to leg fight with. I love leg locks, but this guy is miles ahead of me with them. So hes just very complicated. By saying he uses a long guard, its so far out that he cant throw a hook unless he brings his arm in a bit. He rarely throws them, he usually just does straight punches at different angles and levels that seem to find their mark, as mentioned, hes very good at knowing a reaction after a strike, or a feint. So, its not the most powerful of shots, but they do still have alot of force since he really pushes his weight into them, when hitting the mits or bag. There just very tedious strikes. So, on the topic of bruce lee, and wing chun that came to mind. The only thing iv found that really works against his long guard, is the wing chun hand trapping, or pummelling, and a quick and short straight punch with a vertical fist once there is a minor opening. Iv never studied wing chun before, so i didnt know much. The odd time, a guy passing through the city for work up north would sometimes stop into our gym, and i always admired the art, especially the foot work. So i just took the basics to try and get some openings or try take his back. As you mentioed before, alot of wrestling and such can be seen in tradional arts like karate, and tai chi as you mentioned. So i guess my question would be, is my logic flawed going against this sort of defense, or can you think of any other options to try? Or am i stuck trying to pumel through the guard to get one small quick shot in. If youd like to respond in any form, itd be appreciated.
Got an idea for you Ramsey; start a side channel teaching Chinese. I just find it particularly intriguing when westerners are proficient at Asian languages, and you're a good teacher! It would also be awesome if you showed us around Shanghai one of these days!
Hahaha! My Chinese is terrible!
@jpssteveshanahan9572 Anyone learning Chinese these days, it should certainly be mandarin. You’ll be able to speak not only with the 1.5 billion people in China, but tens of millions more in Taiwan, several tens of millions more in Malaysia, plus the millions of Chinese diaspora and bilingual speakers all around the the world. The number of people who speak Cantonese are a tiny fraction of that.
Mandarin. Cantonese is only spoken in Hong Kong and Guandong.
Did you know there are over 400 different languages in China? Mandarin is the lingua franca.
Here in Shanghai, for example, the native language is Shanghainese. But most people here speak Mandarin.
@jpssteveshanahan9572 A huge percentage of Chinese people learn Mandarin as a second language. (their native tongue being their hometown language, of which there are many) In fact, there are still a lot of Chinese people who don't speak Mandarin at all.
Mandarin (puntonghua, the common tongue) is a language from Beijing that the Ming Dynasty started spreading across the country about 400 years ago to try to unify a linguistically diverse population.
My friend Hairat (you can see him in some of my videos) is from Xinjiang, China. He learned Mandarin as his 7th language after Uyghur, Turkish, Kazakh, Arabic, Russian, and English. And he always tells me that my Mandarin is better than his (and my Chinese sucks)
In the whole taijiquan side, it took me a long time to understand Wu style's differences (I practiced a Yang style, and Chen style made sense immediately in transfer). I found that they really emphasize the lean and it took watching some catch as catch can wrestling videos (especially older ones) to understand it. Considering the folk wrestling background it makes sense to see the relationship.
Internal arts means so many different things, but what I think people forget is that almost every martial art falls in one of two categories: A soldier's toolkit to inflict your will on your opponent, or something refined taught to the rich and the nobility.
The first is only effective because what doesn't work from it is paid for in blood, but is subject to stagnation and loss of efficacy as times change. The second only becomes effective when you put it behind a soldier who's paid a little of that blood toll.
Taijiquan has this same problem. It's the result of a grizzled veteran taking his changquan (long fist for the rest of y'all) and repurposing it for the nobility he's teaching.
I agree that qigong, zhan zhuang, and other internal practices don't replace training like drilling and sparring if fighting skills is the goal. They won't grant superpowers like no-touch push and flying. On the other hand, internal practices can push the mind and body to almost superhuman levels. For example this Wudang master can almost glide like in the wuxia movies ua-cam.com/video/m6QUWLMQ8AY/v-deo.html.
Those look like pretty normal human martial artist levels to me. He’s wall running, doing hand springs, jumping spinning hook kicks, and bicep curls with what looks to be about 25 lbs. Am I missing something?
Yes that Wudang master did not do anything superhuman, but he is probably closest someone can get to actual flying or walking on walls. Asian legends tend to overexaggerate when they see someone run up walls they will then tell stories about a person flying or walking on walls.
Light body is just one feat achievable by internal training. There are others like fa jin, iron palm, iron body, and Wim Hof breathing to withstand ice cold temperatures for more than an hour. These feats seem like magic but is achievable by anyone with dedication and training.
You're awesome dude! Keep it up.
Bruce Li didn't die. He was summoned to fight in Mortal Kombat.
Cool backdrop, Ramsey. Is it painted on glass or is it like back-lit canvas? How is the rain effect achieved?
That’s a video clip from Elder Scrolls VI played on a loop with me in front of a blue screen. It was raining in the game, so that’s where the effect came from.
@@RamseyDewey Hmmmmm, I wonder how big of a TV screen I can afford?
@@varanid9 it’s not a TV screen. It’s just a blue wall. The transparency/blue/green screen/choma key effect is done digitally.
Your skits are top tier
Thanks!
My teacher has always said that in the old days, qigong, neigong and waigong were all done together.
Hey sir , do you or anyone know how is Red Chuck , I think he isn't doing well
He’s in jail right now. I don’t have the full story. His wife sent me an email, it sounded like he got in an argument with someone who called the police on him, and had him arrested on what sounded like trumped up charges.
Thank you sir , Red Chuck isn't bad bad guy, he just has trouble also great video, love your work
Great subject, Hey Ramsey I would just like to share with you my experience with practicing the Internal style of Taoist Yoga, and what I will say about it will hopefully help you understand something that most do not understand about the internal practice of Nui Gung. For one the idea of connecting with your internal energy is possible, a possibility that most will not attain because most will not have the will, commitment, or desire to take this seriously. I for one was fortunate to have been introduced to a Taoist Priest from China that taught these internal style of exercises that if practice with the dedication and diligence one could reach nirvana. So first why would anyone care about this, well let me explain, first in the tradition of martial training it is about developing the mind, body, and breath to become one with yourself and the universe. So the mind: is linked to thinking, thoughts, logic, how we understand the world, so the body: all the physical possibility we can developed and connect with, so the breath: how body, mind and breath become one with ourselves and the universe: a connection with our spiritual consciousness. This is something that is very real, and how it is achieved is through the idea of stopping all thoughts, something we are all stuck on and are very geared for, second connecting with our five senses, something that we are not as in touch with because of our stuckness in thoughts and lack of exposure to things that will stimulate our connection to our feelings, thirdly connecting with our breath to such a degree that we are consciously not thinking, physically connecting with our five senses in a way where relaxation is in sink with how we feel without a thought. So sure this can be perceived as some illusional mythical belief, but let me say this: can we stop thinking completely, this is hard because we are so use to thinking that it is quite difficult to do so. And if we stop thinking what happens then: does all the energy that goes into thinking just disappear, no it then becomes distributed into your five senses: whereby now your five senses become more prevalent, more sensitive. And if this happens you will start to feel your energy, possibly seeing your aura, hear the sound of your energy, and knowing that you are in a altered state of consciousness. I will say that the importance of this achievement "nirvana" is not about becoming all powerful or subhuman, but that achieving this would lead to a peace of mind for the rest of your life. And in the relationship to martial arts: I would say that your expression of it will be less theoretical and more autonomous. I am expressing my thoughts and feelings about this because as a martial artist and yoga practitioner I was able to obtain these experiences and realize it's value for living. Since reaching nirvana I am less stressed than most, more relax and at ease in life, and just feeling pretty in touch with being okay. The way is the training : for peace of mind and for a healthier way of being
Bruce Lee, Tupac, and Elvis are all still alive.
Will you ever do something like an encyclopedia where you explain the classic forms of a style and explain their applications in real combat?
Kind of like what you did in that episode where you showed leg swep and form from classic form exercise for meditation.
Already two years ago you mentioned that thanks to your experience you guessed the meanings of other forms and I am afraid that after your death this knowledge will be lost.
I don't know anyone who would raise this topic publicly and maybe even encourage others to share their observations.
+1
That is like asking a 5 yr old to explain how to do open heart surgery.
I want that gi, where didyou get it?
Submission Sniper
Bruce Lee: the only man ever known to have killed Chuck Norris
3 days later, Chuck Norris rose from the dead and Bruce Lee died under mysterious circumstances.
as a former tai chi practitioner, i always say internal combat arts rely almost entirely on the faith of both combatants to work. if drawn against a hard martial artist, the internal artist will soon be paste on the floor. however one thing i got and still cherish from my years of tai chi is they taught me how to breath properly. nowadays i don't do martial arts becasue i don't have access to a space but i do workout at a gym several times a wekk, where i lift weights and do cardio. in both areas i find the breathing techniques i learned doing tai chi helps a tremedous amount, not becasue there is any mysticism to it but because muscles like oxygen and when you breat properly, they get it in spades.
Well IMO most people who do taijiquan including most teachers do not have high levels of skill. There are many reasons for this but I think mainly because "tai chi" was taught mainly for health like a moving meditation. The actual origin of taijiquan was never about health. It was an actual martial art. I have been highly lucky in having teachers who were truly knowledgeable and skilled.
'A person who trains boxing and wrestling for a year will beat any Kung Fu fighter' -
Bruce Lee
15:18 I think one of the things that got me out of Catholicism when I was younger was that told us to think but they never taught us how or what to think about specifically. Nowadays, I see so many more interesting and useful things I would think about.
The 1" punch spasms was the first time I lol'd today. 😄
Honestly, there is nothing wrong with respecting someone and still being realistic. They did the same thing with Norris and I get it but damn.
Bruce Lee was a big inspiration to me to do Martial arts in the first place, his philosophy of cross training has been a major influence in my training. The so called facts of all the things he has done is extremely silly. His skills looked good on film, but there is no real evidence that he really fought anyone.
He wasn’t a fighter, he was an actor. That been said, his movies inspired some legitimate fighters, much in the same way I was inspired by Goku. Everyone needs a phony martial artist to look up too as a kid
@@Tr8ntI agree with mostly what you said, however I don't think he was a phoney martial artist, he just wasn't this invincible god people make him out to be.
@@seculardojo7738 He was a good choreographed martial artist, I’ll give him that. Against an actual opponent, well, his lack of fighting experience speaks for itself
@@Tr8nt I agree with you about that. There is no real way to know how good he would have been without fighting experience, and there is no evidence he did fight, except from hearsay
@@seculardojo7738 Hitting a bag and doing scripted scenes is very different to hitting a moving opponent that hits back lol. Least we agree on that
That was one of the best intros of the channel, Grandmaster of Bruce Lee-Hating Sensei Chosen One
Internal energy is the result of a combination of factors and actions like deep relaxation and releasing muscle tension, efficient transfer of body mass and shift in weight, overcoming the body's natural restrictions on loading force(autogenic inhibition), proper posture, properly utilising the connective tissue, including fascia, etc. It's not magic. But to learn all this, you need a qualified teacher who can do all this and explain it to you properly. So having a good teacher is very important. Too many people out there who claim they have the goods, but can't do any of it.
National geographic did a great look at how buddhist monks have different brains from years of meditation. Excessive gamma waves which appear during sensations, among other things.
Well I had to look that up. How interesting. The human brain does, in fact, emit gamma waves when intensely focused or engaged in problem solving.
Gamma waves? So they can shoot lasers at people!
@@Sbv-25 pew pew