Murphy Martial Arts

Today Martial Arts are classified as either an Internal or External system. Many people think of the three sisters (Xingyi, Bagua, Taiji) as the only internal systems. This is not the case, they are just the most commonly known today. My goal here is to give you some insights into the differences that may help you find the right approach for you. Both External and Internal approaches can be very effective when you learn a valid system under a qualified teacher. Here are some differences to help you distinguish between the two approaches when observing or choosing a specific system.

External:

There is a wide variety of external systems and they have a wide variety of approaches. In external systems you see much less time devoted to learning basic stances and fundamentals. You don’t see the emphasis on relaxation. You do see more emphasis on developing physical strength, endurance, and flexibility in the early stages. Straight line force tends to be used for blocking and striking, though large circular force is sometimes used. Very little time if any is spent on developing feeling to interpret attacks. Attack and defense rely on quick reflexes. This means you reach your peak quickly and at a young age. Often force is used against force. Lots of one step and two step sparring is a regular part of training. Techniques rely on external strength, though later internal power may be emphasized. They may practice Chi Kung exercises to develop this power. They often isolate body parts like arms or legs to strike, using muscles inefficiently. For example they might develop a solid stance but, only use the waist and the arm to generate force for a strike.  They may only use the arm by itself to generate a strike. The force produced is very rigid, and can be likened to hitting something with a hammer.

Internal:

Focus is much more on structure, balance, relaxation, and proper alignment. Internal systems focus more on training the nervous system to move your body in an integrated/unified method. Small subtle circular movements are used. Sensitivity, relaxation, sticking, and following the opponents power are emphasized. By doing this it is possible to continue to develop skills well into old age. The opponents force is used against them. They tend to use longer two man fighting forms, and sensitivity drills to develop flow and fighting skills. Development of internal power is a primary goal. Chi Kung/Nei Kung is practiced for health as well as power. Taoist breathing and meditation techniques along with Traditional Chinese Medical theory are used to develop power, and fighting movements. Integrated body movement is used to generate power. You will often hear that an internal stylist hits with his feet. Power comes from the ground through your root (normally your foot), and is directed by the waist. With the whole body integrated the power generation resembles putting a chisel on what you want to hit, then striking the chisel with a hammer.

Things to keep in mind:

One thing to keep in mind is that you must keep in accordance with the correct principles of any system to be truly practicing that system.  It is possible to practice an external system with internal principles, and an internal system with external principles. After all when you first learn any form as a beginner it is purely external movement. Once you have the form you can begin working on the principles of the system.

While I believe it is possible for someone to have learned an external system, then later learned an internal system, I don’t believe you can maintain a high level of skill in both approaches. Learning an internal art may help augment your external martial arts but, you will not be able to develop high levels of skill in an internal martial art while training in an external style. The approaches are contradictory. Eventually you must choose one or the other approach to advance to the higher levels.

If you go to a school that primarily focuses on external systems like a karate school and they teach Taiji, you need to watch to see if they are teaching taiji in accordance to taiji principles. The school may have different teachers for the different systems, but may have one teacher teaching all the systems at the school. If their taiji looks like a karate guy doing a taiji form, it isn’t taiji, regardless of what form they are mimicking. You would be wasting your time learning taiji from them, though their karate may be very good.

You may also run into an Internal school where they teach an external style either as a gateway system, or for children. It is normally a system that the teacher learned prior to studying internal martial arts. While I have seen many people start out training external systems, and later move to internal systems, I’ve never seen someone go the other way. While the teacher may explain the system in the context of an external art to his students, if you watch him actually move you’ll most likely see the same internal principles now in the external system that are in his internal system. What you need to be aware of is that the teacher doesn’t practice this system any more then he has to to teach students, because it can interfere with the development of his internal martial arts.

This is not to imply that one approach or the other is better. They are both great choices, you need to pick the one that best fits you. The approach that is best for you today may not be the best approach for you in the future.

Mike Murphy

http://murphymartialarts.com

An instructor from another school asked me the other day, “How do you answer when someone asks why we practice forms?”.  While I think there are stock answers that most give to the question, the truth of those answers may vary with the system and how you use the forms as part of your training.

There are many that are of the opinion that training forms is a waste of time. I know that I myself had at one time believed the same thing. It was after years of training and learning multiple systems that I came to value forms as part of training.

Some people focus on drills or working techniques with a partner as part of their training, along with sparring. I would suggest that working set techniques with a partner is a type of two man forms training. After all they are working a specific attack and defense to that attack. When a boxer is shadow boxing he is practicing set techniques or combinations of those techniques against an imaginary opponent.  Again I say that is forms practice. After all you are supposed to be doing that when you are practicing your forms.

Perhaps it is more of a word play then anything else? I think the idea is that traditionally forms such as you see in Karate, Tai Kwon Do, Taiji are what most think of when they think of forms practice. Maybe the concept should be broadened?

Something I want to point out is that not all forms are created equal. These days many people create forms for open competitions. These forms are designed to be flashy and win plastic metal trophies. They highlight things like gymnastic, and acting abilities.  You constantly see people stopping to pose while making the most creative faces as they do very long and creative Kia’s. You see people standing holding one leg high above their head as they do multiple kicks at the ceiling. You see people doing forms to music. You see people creating weapons forms and doing self defense techniques with them they made up, that demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge of how those weapons were really used. Often times trying to actually use a weapon in the manner demonstrated in their forms would get them killed. If there is value in this type of forms training it would be equal to that derived from taking dance classes, or gymnastics.

Traditional martial arts forms on the other hand serve a different purposes. You need to spend a lot of time on jiben gong which is foundational training. Once you have warmed up practicing your jiben gong exercises, practicing your forms are a more advanced way to train solid fundamentals. Depending on the complexity of the fundamentals of a system, having a method to slow things down and work through forms with proper feeling can be a must to reach the higher levels. Many systems require physical changes to occur to be able to fully employee the fundamentals/ principles of a system. These physical changes take years and happen gradually. The only way to get there is through fundamentals and forms training.

Traditional forms are also a catalog of techniques as well as principles for a system. One thing to keep in mind is that the training method may not be the same as the fighting method. For example some systems may practice their forms with weight distribution between their feet done differently then would be in a fight. A reason for that could be they are also working the principles of lightness and sensitivity while practicing their forms. Another example is that systems that appear to have the waist excessively turned, perhaps doing techniques from a side horse. Some would look at these forms and think them impractical. Others might think they are hiding the techniques. The techniques might in reality be done facing the opponent head on not from a side stance. The reason you would train this way is to stretch the joints, tendons, ligaments, and connective tissue. It also increases muscular strength for a particular movement. When we exert strength in any movement we are strongest in the middle of our range of motion.  We are weakest at the extreme end of any stretch/movement. By training in this method we increase stretch and range of our power curve in our technique. One more misunderstood thing done in internal forms is that they flow, and sometimes you can’t see strikes. The reason for this is due to a fundamental difference in internal and external arts. External artists are most powerful on guard and at the end of their strike, but go missing in between. Internal stylists don’t they are equally powerful throughout the whole movement and can issue power in any direction with any part of their body at any point. A reason to practice this flow is so they don’t condition themselves to be like the external stylist, only powerful at each end of the movement.

Often these days you see people practicing forms but, not really understand how the applications are to be drawn from the form. Due to the way point fighting/sparring has evolved it is common for the sparring method to no longer resemble the original techniques from the forms which are design for the street. Perhaps systems focused on sport in this manner derive limited benefit from forms? If the bunkai (analysis) of the forms is lost, perhaps forms are no longer of much value in those systems. If they train the forms, take them apart and work bunkai constantly, then forms training is of great value.

Having available training partners everyday to train with can be problematic.  Forms training is a good method of solo training.

I consider forms training to be an extremely important part of daily training.

Mike Murphy

http://murphymartialarts.com

I’ve been training for over 40 years now. I still have several teachers, and am always trying to learn from anyone I train with. If you train long enough there may come a time when you have to travel great distances to train with the teachers you need.  If you have the teacher you need living close to you, you are lucky indeed.

I train different systems with the various teachers. While most of my teachers have learned, and teach multiple systems from multiple teachers, I want to focus on learning what each does best. The insights and understanding of each teachers core system, will be evident in all other systems they teach anyway.

I look at learning from different teachers in a similar manner to learning different systems. They each have their strengths, and perhaps weaknesses. Often times I find that each teacher teaches the same principles but, with a different interpretation and training method. The same can be true of systems as well. Sometimes it helps to have different perspectives, so that you can more clearly understand what is being taught. It can help and accelerate learning as you peel back the layers of the onion.

I would however caution you that you can try to learn too many things at once. So you must be careful not to try to learn too many systems, or have too many teachers at the same time. If you do you could end up with a confused mess, and make very little progress. In my opinion you only need one teacher at a time but, could possibly benefit from having two or possibly three. That is as long as what they teach isn’t in conflict. Over a course of a lifetime you could certainly have many more teachers.

Another reason to always have a teacher is to keep you on the right path in your development. It is easy to get off on tangents when off on your own. While you can certainly continue to learn and grow on your own, it is also possible to misunderstand something and go down the wrong path. The longer you are on your own the more you may change things. Your memory of things may also change over time. You can fool yourself into thinking you have a deep understanding of principles, concepts, or a system but, truly only have a surface level understanding. Worse than that if your understanding of a core principle etc. becomes increasingly flawed over time, it can have a ripple effect in all you do.

Having the right teacher can help you progress much further then you will ever be able to get on your own. While I’ve  specifically been talking about martial arts here, the same is true of all paths we take in life.

Mike Murphy

http://murphymartialarts.com

Never attack an opponent where he is strong, only attack where he is weak. This is a universal concept used by internal and external martial artists alike.  It is also common sense for people who have never trained a martial art. Trained martial artists each use it in their comfort zone, and at the distance they train to fight at. I have however seen some forget this concept when they are fighting at a different range then they normally train for. To me that means a deeper understanding of the concept is needed.

For example taijiquan practitioners spend a lot of time training push hands. They use this practice to develop lightness and sensitivity. Whether practicing single hand, double hand, fixed pattern, or free style, they always start with the gap closed and they are already touching.

When doing push hands two people face each other and make contact feeling their opponent. One will initiate movement, normally seeking the opponents center. The defender will yield and deflect the attack. If the attacker puts to much tension/ power in the attack or over extends, he makes himself vulnerable to counter attack. If the defender stiffens using strength to defend they will expose a weakness the attacker can exploit. They push back and forth looking for this opening. Sometimes in order to create this opening one might tense push or pull a little hard momentarily at a point to get the other person to commit his weight and strength to defend that attack. The side they are strong on is the full side, their opposite side goes empty to balance the full side. The empty side is weak. Attacking their empty side gets the best results.

When you ask most taiji practitioners how they close the gap to touch their opponent in a fight, the most common answer is that you creep in until you can touch them. I’ve heard some say you just have to be willing to take a shot to close the gap if necessary. I’ve also heard this same thought process from Judoka, Juijitsuka, and wrestlers. To me that means they don’t understand how someone that is primarily a striker would apply the same concept.

When opponents square off, they will have some form of on-guard position that puts their strongest defense and offensive tools toward the opponent.  Unless you are much bigger, stronger, and faster then the opponent it would be unwise to attack them head on at their strongest point. They also start outside of each others reach, and must close the gap to strike in a real fight. When you are in transition/moving into the range where you can hit each other you are vulnerable to counter attack.

To attack the opponent when and where they are weak external martial artist move around their opponent toward a weak side. The opponent has to adjust to bring his strong side  back to facing his opponent. They will have a full side as they move making the other empty. Anytime they are in transition they are weak as well.  They use different footwork, feints, fakes, broken rhythm attacks, etc. to set up an opening to attack the weak/empty side. If you can see how they are breathing at the end of their exhale they are empty and weak. They have to inhale and become full before they can move and defend. Time your attack to coincide with the end of the exhale. These methods are how they will close the gap.

Once the gap is closed and the first strike has hit, their mind goes to where they were attacked, leaving other targets empty and easy to attack. That is way you work up and down the body. That is why you work the various combination. You always want to be attacking the empty weak side.

Strikers that specialize in fighting at a distance need to be careful if they end up in a clinch, they don’t forget the same concepts they use at a distance.  They then need that same understanding that people trained in Taiji, Judo, Jujitsu, and wrestling have of this idea.

Mike Murphy

http://murphymartialarts.com

People feel very strongly about this topic. There are many reasons for this. Obviously those that believe they have good lineage think it is very important. Those that don’t, think it is unimportant.

I think having a good teacher is very important. Without the right teacher you are left with only your own knowledge and experiences to draw on. Books, video, and training with peers can only help you so much. By having the right teacher you have two peoples lifetime experiences and knowledge to draw on for your training. Each teacher has had his own teacher or teachers as well. Each generation you add is a multiplier for the available wisdom and experience you can benefit from in your training. However if you learn from a teacher with poor lineage or no lineage, there are other potential problems. Without good lineage you could be learning something that isn’t effective, or worse something that could get you injured or killed.

When looking for the right teacher you should keep in mind, that having a great teacher doesn’t mean the student will ever be great. Therefore you can find teachers with good lineage that don’t have the knowledge and skills of their teachers. If they don’t have a true understanding of their art and can’t demonstrate it, they might not be the best person to learn from. Another thing to keep in mind is that even if they have the true system, they may not be passing it on to you. Many teach an outdoor version to the masses, and only teach the real system to a few indoor students. This is one of the reasons for the decline in popularity of traditional systems.

On the other hand if you learn from someone with questionable lineage, or bad lineage for a system you have other issues. They can’t possibly have a true understanding of the system being represented, so couldn’t pass it on to you correctly even if they wanted too.  Now this doesn’t mean that they might not have as much or more to teach you, then a person teaching the same system with good lineage.  They might even be a far superior martial artist. It just means that they can not be true to the system they claim to represent, unless it is a system they created.

I look at learning from an indoor student of a system compared to someone that learned as an outdoor student, or via other means like this. If you go into an Italian restaurant and order lasagna and they bring you spaghetti instead. It isn’t what you ordered, it may have mostly the same things in it and be as good, but it isn’t lasagna. Someone with no lineage might be telling you they are serving you steak and maybe they are but, then again you might get a hamburger.  People have to decide for them selves if that is important.

Mike Murphy

http://murphymartialarts.com

Iron Hand or Iron Palm as it is sometimes called, is a form of conditioning that seems to be controversial. There are certainly pros and cons to it. It was certainly more common a century ago when someones skills to defend themselves was of more concern, then the person living in what is considered civil society today. So the question is, is it necessary today, and/or is it of enough value to warrant training? Do the pros out weigh the cons? I think that each person has to decide for themselves if it is right for them. So here are some perspectives that might help you make the best decision for yourself.

Iron Palm is generally practiced by practitioners of what is referred to as external martial arts. Though many internal stylist also practice it.  Many would also say that men fight with weapons, steel weapons come harder then you will ever make your hands. Developing iron hand takes time and practice. With those things in mind there might be different answers to the question for different people, as to train it or not.

Practitioners of external styles are inclined to train body conditioning and hardening exercises, but they also may modify their techniques to get around a lack of serious conditioning. For example they may tend to use closed fists more then open hands to strike. They might also sometimes modify what part of the body is used for a strike. An example of that might be to move in a little closer and replace knife hand, and ridge hand strikes with forearm strikes. Then of course you can be more selective of your targets and focus your strikes on soft body parts. If you do those types of things you can be extremely effective without Iron Hand.

Internal stylists tend to feel that Iron Hand is unnecessary because of their method of hitting. One way to explain the difference is to think of an external stylist hitting with their fist. Their fist is like a hammer that you strike the target with. While the hand of an internal stylist is more like a chisel you place on the target while they generate the power or the hammer from their feet through their bodies to the hand. In this manner their hand doesn’t have to absorb all of the impact the way it would, if the other power generation method was used.

So if it isn’t needed is there still a reason to develop it? Well in my pre-Iron Hand days, I had broken my hand once, and a finger here and there sparring. these were accidents. They happened either when I was countered, or when I was just off fractions of an inch in a defensive movement. Since taking up iron hand training, I haven’t broken anymore bones in my hands. Now this isn’t to say that your hands and fingers can never be broken, because they certainly can. However it certainly reduces the likelihood of it happening, while making your hands a better self defense tool.

Some people have the misconception that your hands become deformed and mutilated through Iron Hand conditioning. This is a myth. If your hands become this way it is from improper training methods.  If you train properly using the correct herbs your hands actually will have increased sensitivity. There should be no visible callouses or deformities. yet your hands become very strong, and hard as iron when you strike. I would caution anyone thinking of training Iron hand to seek out a qualified instructor before attempting any training. If you do learn a proper method, training will make the bones in your hands denser, and your hands stronger.  Anything that does that has to be good for you.

You can take your training to different levels. A basic Iron Hand training method could take about 30 to 45 minutes to do, while a more advanced training method might take 90 minutes to do. Training daily gets the best results, and is a must for serious Iron Hand development. Once you have achieved the level of hand conditioning you want, you can reduce the number of days a week you train to maintain the development you have. If you train two or three times a week, you will certainly receive some benefits. Training once or twice a week will maintain the level you previously developed.

With the above information you should be able to determine if training Iron hand is for you. Remember to seek out a qualified teacher if you do decide to pursue this training method.

Mike Murphy

http://murphymartialarts.com

I’ve talked about this topic before, but I had a shift in my training routine again this morning.  I’ve learned and practiced many systems over my lifetime so far. Each one was the right one for me at the time. So the question became what to keep and what to throw away (if anything). So I have two systems that get most of my attention and two others that are right behind them. This means I spend a minimum of an hour a day on each of these.  Other systems I have I dabble in from time to time, depending on who I’m training with or teaching. I might run through them one to three times a week.

Anyway practicing each for me helps peel back layers of the onion for the other systems. Each time I gain a new insight in one system, I revisit the others to see if it holds true to them as well. It has been said that truth is in the similarities, and ego is in the differences of the arts.

In my youth I did a lot of weight training. In weight training you workout using the same routine for about 4-6 weeks, then you change your routine. This does two things for you. First it keeps your body in shock so it is growing muscle mass to keep up with the changing demands being placed on it. The second thing it does is keep you from getting bored with your training. People that get bored eventually quit training.

So at the very least if you don’t change things up from time to time your progress will be slower then it needs to be. If you get bored and training isn’t fun, you may not train with the intensity needed to make great progress. That is if you just don’t quit all together.

To become good at anything, requires constant hard work over a long period of time. Make it fun!

Mike Murphy

http://murphymartialarts.com

There is a difference between “Light and Sensitive” and “Soft and Relaxed”. The first is found in nature. Look at an insect as its antenna brushes against something. Watch a praying mantis, it is a perfect example of “Light and Sensitive”.

To become too “soft” is to become too “yin” and lack balance. It is to become weak. Weak does not survive in nature.

People start out to “Yang”. They use to much power in each movement, they are stiff and have too much tension. They don’t feel, and can’t adapt very quickly to changes their opponent makes. They tend to over extend and put themselves off balance unnecessarily, and for longer then needed.  This makes them easy to manipulate. They lack “Yin” to balance their “Yang” , so emphasis in training is often about seeking to develop “Yin” in order to have proper balance.

So one of the first things they are taught is to relax, and not use any muscle tension that is not required. This is an important skill to develop. It is developed through proper training and repetition.

Softness is a term used often in conjunction with being relaxed and sensitive. Many work to be as soft as they can.

Some systems use various methods of push hands to develop softness and sensitivity.  This is a great training method, and should be used in some form by anyone training in a martial art.

However many get caught in the trap of  working to ever become softer and more relaxed, even to the exclusion of normal exercise.  They lose all aspects of Yang.

People that follow this path think they are developing higher levels of skill that may take 20 or more years to develop.  They rationalize in their own minds  that pursuit of this goal will eventually make them the superior martial artist. This is even while they continue to lose any confrontation with an opponent. If you’ve been training a system for a number of years, and you can’t defend yourself against an untrained attacker, you are practicing fantasy martial arts.

Training properly in an internal style, you will continue to develop higher levels of skill and understanding throughout your life. However if you aren’t learning how to use it from the beginning, and you are intentionally making yourself weak to improve softness and relaxation you’re going down the wrong path.

You must maintain balance between yin and yang to be an effective fighter, and to maintain your health at the highest level. So with this in mind, I suggest you should be thinking “Light and Sensitive” instead of “Soft and Relaxed”

Mike Murphy

http://murphymartialarts.com