Nei Jia Quan- Internal Martial Arts are categorized as such due to the different training methods used as compared to more common fighting arts. The internal arts focus more on developing the body from the inside out as opposed to developing muscle power first. The training focus differs in that more emphasis is placed right from the beginning on learning to use proper skeletal alignment and more of your core (dantien) . The mind training is very important right from the beginning whereas in many other arts the focus on muscle strength and muscle power is more emphasized in the beginning and then much later in training the inner skills are taught.
Bagua Zhang, Xinyi/Xingyi Quan and Taiji Quan are the BIG 3 internal styles that are most commonly referred to as Neijia Arts. The internal methods we teach and share are from the Lineage of Master Li Tailiang. Master li formed his own system adding his experience with Sanda and Shaolin to the mix of his Internal Arts. Dan has been a disciple of Master Li for decades and teaches the health , self defense, and healing method of Xinyidao combined with Dan”s Traditional Chinese Medicine and Internal aspects of Indonesian Silat as well as other Chinese Gong Fu Systems.
Training Xingyi since childhood under his father and later studying Bagua and other arts Grandmaster Li was selected to join the Wushu Department of Beijing Sports University to study San Shou (Chinese Kickboxing) and various forms of martial arts, including bagua, taiji, pao quan, western boxing and modern wushu. Grandmaster Li’s instructors included the illustrious 1936 Wushu Olympian, Professor Zhang Wenguang. Grandmaster Li developed special expertise in San Shou, winning the National Chinese Martial Arts Competition in San Shou and the National Police Combat Competition. Upon retiring from competition, Grandmaster Li become the first coach of the Beijing San Shou team. He also instructed the Chinese Special Police forces, was the head coach for the Shaolin Temple’s San Shou program, and was the chief referee for the National San Shou Competition.
The body training is very important in Internal Arts, the movements can be like static yoga or also moving yoga where you train body in a different way than more commonly seen in other arts and sports. The internal arts often use a more twisting power like a snake being coiled and lashing out, or a dragon wrapping around something , this method requires a lot of dedication to body training.
The self defense tactics of the Internal Arts work very well when in close range , however when fighting more from a distance we prefer to use our Sanda training (Chinese kickboxing) to close the gap.
( above Dan and his teacher at a celebration at the Corona Queens NY school .)
Dan combines his knowledge from his Acupuncture, Herbal medicine, Physical Therapy Aide and Martial Arts training when treating patients. With all this experience he is able to blend these methods and put together very detailed exercises for each patients injury which when combined with the acupuncture and herbal treatments often lead to much faster results.
