Can you imagine reaching a level where your "Chi" dictates how you move.

To most martial arts practitioners this makes sense.

You might already feel like that at times.

But I've seldomly heard about it being transfered to other areas like chinese calligraphy.

Until a couple of years ago.

I had a chance recently to watch my Neigong instructor, Raf, perform flawless brush strokes depicting various chinese symbols on very fine rice paper.

The perfect example of yin and yang.

Just enough strength to press the ink to reveal a letter and just enough softness to not rip the paper in half (he ususally has you hold the paper while he writes), this level of hand dexterity then extends to sword play.

As you can imagine, it's hard enough to write just standard english calligraphy let alone chinese calligraphy.

It's a perfect example of the finesse you can acquire when practicing an internal art like Wudang Neigong.

As martial artists, we have to understand that what we do is an art.

An artist is judged by his or her performance. In our case, in martial arts it's demonstrating a kick or a series of attacks. It must be beautiful to watch the practitioner move with strength, balance and flexibility while making it look effortless.

The same is true with painting or calligraphy.

By watching the end result of their work you can better understand what's going on inside. It has a way to reflect the artist's inner world.

If he is angry, sad, distracted or unyielding, his work will be less than stellar.

If he is happy, focused, clear and flowing with his chi, it will display itself in his finished work.

Like I mentioned earlier, I had a chance to watch Raf do this recently and managed to snap a picture of his performance. You can see it here.

Master Yourself,

Sibok Martin

P.S. I'll keep you posted for upcoming Neigong seminars at a school near you. Stay tuned.

Labels: Chi, Chi-Gong, Fang Shen Do, Internal Martial Arts, Internal Training, Wudang Neigong