NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Nei chia

Nei chia (Chinese: 內家; pinyin: nèijiā; literally "internal school") denotes the "soft style" group of Chinese martial arts, in distinction to the wai chia (Chinese: 外家; pinyin: wàijiā; literally "external school") or "hard style" group, which is associated especially with Shaolin Quan (Shaolin Ch'üan) and its many derivatives. Traditionally, the three arts of T'ai Chi Ch'üan (Taiji quan), Bagua zhang (Pa Kua Chang) and Hsing-i Ch'üan (Xingyi quan) are regarded as internal, although other styles also claim the designation. Pinyin (拼音, pīnyīn) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration to roman script) for Standard Mandarin used in the... Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ... Pinyin (拼音, pīnyīn) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration to roman script) for Standard Mandarin used in the... Shaolin Quan or Shaolin Chüan (少林拳) (in Cantonese Siu Lum Kuen) is the term typically used to describe the Chinese martial arts that originate from the famous Buddhist Shaolin Temple and monastery at Songshan in Henan, founded in 495 by Tamo. ... Tai Chi Chuan or Taijiquan (Chinese: 太極拳; pinyin: ; literally supreme ultimate fist), commonly known as Tai Chi, Tai Chi, or Taiji, is a nei chia (internal) Chinese martial art which is known for the claims of health and longevity benefits made by its practitioners and in some... Bagua zhang (Chinese: 八卦掌; pinyin: ) (also called Pa Kua Chang, Bagua Quan, Pa kua chüan, Bagua, Pakua, Pakua boxing) is one of the three major internal Chinese martial arts, the other two of which are Xingyiquan (形意拳) and Taijiquan (太極拳). ... Hsing Yi (Chinese: 形意拳; pinyin: Hsing Yi claims to specialize in deceptively soft, linear, low attacks and quick yet solid footwork appropriate for the battlefield and the military. ...

The internal/external distinction was apparently described in some martial art related documents dating from the 18th century, and definitively by others in the possession of T'ai Chi's Yang family from at least the second half of the 19th century, and was further categorized in the 1920s by the Chinese philosopher and martial artist Sun Lutang 孫祿堂 (1861-1932), although the principles of the internal school are certainly much older. According to Sun's classification, the principles defining an internal martial art are: (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Yang style (楊家) Tai Chi Chüan in its many variations is the most popular and widely practised style in the world today and the second in terms of seniority among the primary five family styles of Tai Chi. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sometimes referred to as the Roaring Twenties or the Jazz Age. ... Sun style (孫家) Tai Chi Chüan was developed by Sun Lu-tang (孫祿堂, 1861-1932), who was considered expert in two other internal martial arts styles: Hsing-i Chuan (Xingyiquan) and Pa Kua Chang (Baguazhang) before he came to study Tai Chi. ... 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1932 is a leap year starting on a Friday. ...

Some modern theorists believe the descriptions hard and soft were assigned at first, not by the martial artists, but by hypothetical spectators. When they saw a style like T'ai Chi Ch'üan, which looks superficially slow and gentle, by this theory they called it soft. When they saw a style like Shaolin Ch'üan, which has deep horse stances, long punches, and tense, vigorous movements, they called it hard. However, since T'ai Chi was trained secretly until the early 20th century, and in its original forms (as opposed to most modern manifestations of the art) contains many low stances and long punches, most traditionally informed internal practitioners argue the analogy doesn't hold up under scrutiny. See Qi (disambiguation) for other meanings of Qi. Qi is the (partial) pinyin romanisation (more properly transliterated as qì) of what was once transliterated, using the older Wade-Giles romanisation, as chi (and frequently mis-spelled as chi). ... For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ... Tao Yin (導引, pinyin dǎoyǐn) exercises were an ancient precursor of chi kung, specifically practised in Chinese Taoist monasteries for health and spiritual cultivation, attested from at least 500 BC. Tao Yin is also said to be (along with Shaolin Chuan) a primary formative ingredient in the martial... Qigong (Simplified Chinese: 气功; Traditional Chinese: 氣功; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: chi kung) is an increasingly popular aspect of Chinese medicine. ... Gate of the Shaolin Temples, Henan Province, China. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

See also