Finding Gongfu 4/13/2011

By literal definition 'gong fu' means labor, effort, merit, and/or skill. By practicing a martial art, one is trying to zhao gong fu(找功夫) or 'find skill' through martial methods. Martial methods vary among all schools of martial arts, but the acquiring of gong fu is basic across the board: skill is defined by the effort or labor of practice over time- the practical meaning of gong fu. Wu gong(武功) means martial skill, and differs from 武术(wu shu), in practical meaning, which means martial arts. In China, internal arts such as taijiquan(太极拳- tai chi chuan) is typically not considered wu shu.

Surprising enough, the art that is rarely interpreted as boxing is regarded as the practice of wu gong. Setting the case of semantics aside, distinguishing between the different categories of martial arts, through practice, is vital to the expected results of the practitioner. 

Today, wu shu should be defined as the artistic practice of martial form. Practitioners of contemporary wu shu have mastered this concept; they have found gong fu in the art form. The regiment of contemporary wu shu consists of the repetitious practice of one move until it has been mastered, making the technique seem effortless. 

Physical conditioning is a fundamental requirement for practicing wu shu(as it is defined above): flexibility, stamina, and strength training are equally practiced alongside the form, thus enhancing the practiced form to a physically artistic expression of martial techniques. 

Wu gong practitioners, however, express martial form through the

application of the technique. Today, most traditional schools of Chinese martial arts follow this concept. A key element of practice for wu gong practitioners is gong fa(功法) or skill methods. If a school of martial arts focuses primarily on palm strikes, the gong fa methods would be striking bags of rice, wood, metal, etc in order to improve the skill method of the palm strike. Wu gong training regiments are specific to the martial art's characteristics and particular to the enhancement

of the art's boxing tendencies; thus physical conditioning varies among

each school. 

Beyond these two categories exists nei gong(内功) or internal skill, noting, also, there is no concept of wai gong(外功) or external skill. Internal skill, consequently, is divided into hard and soft, in order to differentiate internal energies. Therefore, the practice of nei gong is defined by the methods used to practice energy. The concept of energy work starts by practiced methods of breathing, typically in a stationary

posture, in order to allow the physical body to follow the intervals of breath. Physical conditioning such as strength, stamina, and flexibility are reliant on stationary postures and breathing techniques. Strength is generated from the abdomen, flexibility is gained by stationary static postures and changing of tendons, and stamina is enhanced by qi(气-vital energy). When yi(意-intent) is added to nei gong practice, physical energy is created by the culmination of all three forces working in harmony: intent, vital energy, and the body. A fourth energy,

shen(神-spiritual(instinctive)) is required for mastery of nei gong; shen allows energy changes to happen without the focus of the conscious or yi on the practitioner's body. 

As as result, shen practice incorporates the projection of yi through the eyes, the projection of qi through sound, and the projection of physical energy through the body;

thereby unifying internal energy(shen, yi, qi) through external movement of the body: yin yang rou gang(阴阳柔刚- the hard combines with the soft)All methods of internal energy(hard and soft) follow these practices; and variations of practice methods exist only on the physical level of the body.

Yang shen(养身-cultivating the body), when trying to 'find gong fu',eventually becomes the main goal of any martial artist: the ability to keep up the practice of wu shu, wu gong, and nei gong though out one's entire life is a merit in itself. However, when practiced individually through martial arts, yang shen depends entirely on the practitioner and the desired outcome of a healthier life. One of the above mentioned methods can easily be the sole key to keeping healthy. 

Yet, the evolution of internal martial arts is defined by all the categories; and the practice of gong fu in a martial art is dependent on the mastery of each. Choosing to practice only one of the categories will result in the skill of that category. Nei gong practitioners will never have the physical mastery of wu shu practitioners; wu gong practitioners will never have the energy command of nei gong practitioners; and wu shu practitioners will never be able to fight like

the wu gong practitioners. Therefore, finding gong fu is the complete mastery of the art in every facet, and applying it to every function of one's daily life- effortlessly!