LI AND QI

by Phillip Starr

“Li” (力) means “strength” or “force” in Chinese and is one of the radicals used in the characters for “kung-fu” ( 功夫). I remember my teacher telling me not to apply too much li in my practice of xingyiquan but it confused me; was he saying that I shouldn't use muscular effort/strength? Was I supposed to remain relaxed?

This is a sticky issue with many people who practice a form of the neijia (the so-called “internal” arts of taijiquan, xingyiquan, and baguazhang) and in fact, any form of the martial ways. We are told not to use strength and/or to relax, which seems contrary to the delivery of powerful techniques, What are we to do?

Ancient writings (or “songs”, as they are often called) tell us that Yi (one's imagination, will, idea, mind), Li, and Qi go together. If your mind is directed towards a certain thing, your Qi naturally extends towards whatever your mind engages. But to effectively emit Qi, you must use your body. This is where it gets tricky...

To effectively emit Qi, one must use no more Li than absolutely necessary; excessive muscular tension cuts the flow of Qi to a trickle. For instance, when you push a door to open it you use only as much strength as you must; the amount of resistance offered by the door determines exactly how much force you must apply. It's the same with picking up a pencil or any other mundance, everyday object. To grab a pencil, you don't use all, or even most, of your (muscular) strength. If you did, you'd probably be unable to accomplish this simple task. This is why toddlers have difficulty in picking up things like pencils; they haven't yet learned not to “over-muscle”it; they use too much strength and have trouble picking up the item. You, on the other hand, can instantly feel exactly how much (minimal to a very small degree) strength is required and you can pick up a pencil almost effortlessly (I say “almost” because some use of muscular effort is, in fact, required).

And so it goes with everything...such as braking your car (remember when you were first learning to use the brakes and almost put your teacher through the windshield?), opening and closing doors, tying you shoes, and so on. And this same idea applies to martial arts as well.

Focus on making your technique as perfect as possible. Let impact (resistance) determine and CREATE the (minimal) amount of tension you require. Don't try to do it yourself; you'll only muck it up and “over-power” your technique. If you concentrate on the technique being as perfect as possible, power will come...naturally.