After the training of Gu Yuan, all or part of the essence will be refined and absorbed, and then a stronger and stronger internal Qi will be produced. People will feel full and heavy. After having the foundation of Kung Fu, the question is how to practice and use Qi. The martial arts world naturally puts it into practice. There are many methods and categories of Qi circulation, and they are too numerous to count. However, no matter how many methods there are, just like the essence of martial arts, they are divided into two categories. One type is to run along the line, for example: from a certain acupoint to a certain acupoint, from a certain meridian to a certain meridian, it has a route, which we call “walking the line” for short; and the other type is not to run along the line, but to radiate from the center of production to the surroundings in a rotation, which we call “walking in a circle” for short. In the operation of internal Qi in external boxing, “walking the line” is often used, while in the operation of internal boxing, “walking in a circle” is often used. The details are as follows:

External boxing “walking the line” – due to the needs of the Kung Fu it practices, external boxing often uses “walking the line” in the operation of internal Qi. If you want to practice palm or finger skills, the Qi should be moved to the hands, from the Dantian to the hands; if you want to practice head or body skills, the Qi should be moved upwards; if the whole body needs it, the small and large Zhoutian should be moved, etc. It is common to tie the waist tightly with a belt after the Qi is well moved to prevent it from running down. Therefore, the internal strength of external martial arts is to move the Qi to the required part. Generally, after it is moved, the back should be tied tightly to prevent it from flowing back. If the Qi is well moved, we can generally see from the outside that the surface of the skin can bulge, and the bulging Qi bags can be pushed to the required parts one by one. The outside of these parts can be trained with beating and grinding to achieve extraordinary effects. The movement of Qi is carried out under the guidance of the mind.

“Walking in a circle” in internal martial arts – due to the needs of the skills they practice, internal martial arts often use “walking in a circle” in the movement of internal Qi. Internal martial arts pursue the integrity of force, so the movement of Qi as the basis of force must also be holistic, and it cannot be that Qi is moved on one side but not on the other side. As we all know, the nebulae in the universe are rotating. Rotation is the basis of the movement of all things in the universe. Its power is huge. Rotation produces centrifugal force, and acceleration will multiply its force. The internal boxing qi movement adopts this principle. Through external circular motion (such as Tai Chi, Bagua, etc.), the internal qi is rotated to achieve the purpose of overall opening of the power. The details are as follows:

The middle qi is generated by Dantian. Under the guidance of the overall rotation movement of internal and external internal and external internal boxing, the Dantian qi is slowly rotated, just like stirring water with a stick. The more you stir the water, the faster it rotates. This rotating qi, due to the centrifugal force, is emitted in all directions and penetrates all holes. Finally, it breaks through all the meridians of the five senses and bones, so that the qi is transported to the whole body at the same time, forming a whole. This is the scene described in the ancient boxing manual: “Qi reaches the four extremities”, “Qi is surging”, “two hands are like burning fire, two kidneys are like boiling soup, and the whole body is like burning fire”. At this time, the practitioner will feel that the whole body is like an inflated tire, and the internal force is burning. All external objects, including people, feel vulnerable and will break at the first touch. This is actually the case (there are examples in the previous and next chapters). If the Qi is further trained, it will affect the surrounding objects as mentioned in the previous chapter. The advanced ones will make the enemy lose without fighting. ··If you practice a little deeper, or if you practice the Qi a little deeper, it will not only activate the Qi in the Dantian. (Chinese) medicine and martial arts know that the middle of the two kidneys is the gate of life, which is the place where the innate essence is located. The acquired essence (sperm) is produced from the innate essence. If the fire of the gate of life is extinguished, people will die. Therefore, Chinese medicine theory has a discussion: the length of a person’s life is determined by the rise and fall of the life energy. So why are the two kidneys “boiling like soup”? It is the result of the fire of the gate of life and the energy of the true Qi being stored and replenished in the kidneys. In other words, the deeper energy and potential are activated, so it will produce more special effects.

Due to the effect of this overall rotation of internal energy, the human body’s biofield changes, and the relationship between people and the earth also changes, which will somewhat reduce the impact of gravity on the human body. At this time, when the master is practicing boxing, he feels that his feet are particularly light, and his body is also particularly light, as if he has the feeling of “lightness”. When he is excited, it is not surprising that he can fly two or three feet away with one foot. According to historical records, the master of Baguazhang, Dong Haichuan, shuttled through hundreds of dense crowds at a royal banquet, holding wine and food, and sometimes passed over people’s heads without any collision. Everyone was shocked when they saw this. He is also very good at fighting. The person who is hit often has no external injuries, but has serious internal injuries. He is also outstanding in resisting blows. Except for not being as good as the superior “Golden Bell Cover” kung fu of the external family, the rest are all equal.

Some people may ask: There are many places in the books of internal martial arts that talk about the “flow of qi”, such as from acupoint to acupoint, from a meridian to a meridian, which is no different from external martial arts. There are two situations:

First, as we all know, the meridians and acupoints mentioned in traditional Chinese medicine are not the hardware of the human body, unlike bones, muscles, and nerves, which are concrete, tangible, and visible, so Western medicine has never recognized it. It was not until modern times that it was figured out that it is the software of the human body, the electric field network of bioelectricity. But it is not without controversy. We know that all soft things in the world are controversial. But it has been proven that it is effective. As a person in the martial arts world, I don’t know so much about it, and I don’t distinguish so clearly between the forms of movement of force, qi, and true qi. If internal martial arts don’t say this, then there is simply nothing to write about it. So we always have to talk about some movements and meridians, qi channels, and acupoints to have content and seem to convince people. But in fact, it is said and practiced, and internal martial arts are not practiced in the same way as external martial arts.

Second, some internal martial arts masters cannot understand the advanced mechanism of internal martial arts, and do not know the existence of divine power level in theory. They often set the internal power level as the highest goal to pursue. Some of them fall into the pursuit of skills and strength similar to external martial arts, and naturally fall into the saying of “walking the line”. If it is simple, high-level internal martial arts only need to grasp two key points, one is to seal the bottom (no leakage), and the other is to strengthen the rotation of internal energy, and then divine power will come out. As the ancient boxing manual said, “the divine principle will appear by itself”, so don’t do things that sacrifice the essence for the sake of the end. We can also see that the inside and outside of high-level martial arts are consistent, it is true: “wireless wins over wired, and no moves win over moves.” In fact, everything is the same, there must be an appearance if there is an inside. As Sun Tzu’s Art of War said, “using the roundabout way to be straight” is a master, it seems to be a detour, but it is actually a shortcut.