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Certain non-combat arts have limited success on spirits too, usually because of this each martial art just fits a certain application or specific use against certain opponents. At least, they set this up mechanically so no one martial art is "better" than the other.
ive seen it first time in the 'shamo' manga, is the 18+ manga about authentic matrial arts, mainly focused on the dirty form of karate. and so is showed deadly form of tai chi in it.
Xingyi is regarded as one of the four "main" styles of internal boxing, alongside Tai Chi Ch'uan (Two Great Extremes Boxing), Ba Gua Zhang (Eight Trigrams Palm), and Liu He Ba Fa Ch'uan (Six Harmonies Eight Methods Boxing). These martial arts are distinct from external martial arts in that they focus less on cultivation of muscular strength and more on development of the bones, tendons, and ligaments. Internal stylists claim to (and in my experience, actually do in the hands of rare legitimate practitioners) wield a subtle energy called nei jin, or "internal power," which allows a master to exert tremendous physical force with very little movement or muscular effort.
The internal martial arts are traditionally associated with the Taoists of Wudang Mountain, but (speaking as a practitioner) this is a load of mystical crap. None of the four big-name internal styles originate from Wudang, and if there ever were any Wudang internal martial arts, none survive. In fact, those four big name styles? Picked out by a Confucian scholar with no martial arts training of his own and no knowledge of martial arts history. The whole concept is an anachronism - the product of an urge in historical Chinese culture to justify the present by revising the past to match.
Xingyi practitioners do really like to talk about how they're stronger than the other internal styles. It's instructive to remember that they use the same sort of language that you'll hear from, say, a Mixed Martial Artist talking about why modern martial arts are stronger than traditional ones - "oh, we're more pragmatic," "oh, we cut out all of that aesthetic crap," blah blah blah. This is just a line that people are taught on why they should study at one school instead of another. In general, any time you encounter a martial art that lacks pragmatism (especially in traditional styles, which had the historical purpose of crippling and killing other human beings), you're probably looking at a degenerate form of that style.
The history of the martial arts is long, complicated, and poorly documented.
I am a five-year Yang-family Tai Chi Ch'uan student, which is just long enough to know how little I know. I am lucky enough to have studied under the second disciple to Gin Soon Chu, who was himself second disciple to Yang Sau Chung, the fourth and last legitimate successor to the Yang family. Yang-family Tai Chi is not ancient (IIRC it dates to the 16th century), and it is not magical. It can be very strong if you work very hard and study under people who know what they're doing - but those people are few and far between, and I am not one of them.
Tai Chi Ch'uan is not named for the manipulation of chi. It is named for the concept of Yin and Yang, which collectively are referred to as Tai Chi (or taiji, in pinyin). Tai Chi can be translated semi-literally as "Supreme Ultimate." A more accurate translation is probably "Two Great Extremes," referring to the interplay of Yin and Yang that are said to create the universe in Taoism, neo-Confucianism, Moism, and some other Chinese philosophies. The yin-yang symbol you're probably familiar with is referred to as the Tai Chi Disk.
Tai Chi Ch'uan is not about creating the universe. It is about hitting people. It uses the philosophy of Yin and Yang as a central concept for a program of physical and mental training. It is a style of boxing, and couching it in mysticism is simply a way for instructors to hide how little they have to teach. My own teacher has admitted that the magical ideas underwriting his training could be metaphors, for all he knows. He's a martial artist, not a scientist or a Taoist scholar. He knows the techniques, and he knows that they work; the rest is just an excuse.
If Tai Chi heals its practitioners, it does so because it simultaneously relaxes and conditions the body. Kung fu literally means "hard work," and serious Tai Chi practitioners become very, very tough and very, very strong. That's the goal of the style, and I've heard serious Taoist practitioners criticize it on the grounds that it does things they consider foolish and dangerous for the purpose of accumulating and refining internal power. Likewise, if Tai Chi allows practitioners to hurt people, it does so because it strengthens their bodies and instructs them in blocks, strikes, steps and grapples designed to use that strengthening optimally.
Many, many martial arts use pressure points. Most require that you hit them with a lot of force, or restrain the opponent so that they can't resist the technique's application. In my own studies, I've learned at least one hand exercise intended to teach a lethal combination of strikes, and it consists of three blows to the solar plexus, jaw, and carotid artery. There's nothing mystical about how that would stun or kill someone.
Anyone who tells you that their martial art doesn't require strength is a liar or a fool, and is probably trying to sell you something either way. And if Dim Mak techniques are real, they are techniques for masters with tens of thousands of hours of experience, masters who can generate tremendous physical power. It's not worth speculating on whether they then require strength.
Just one thing to add on that:
There are certainly different benefits from strength in different martial arts. Techniques which are based on redirecting energy from your opponent against him require for sure less strength compared to techniques which aim to plainly hitting your opponent. Attacks against joints especially when using levers work fine even without great strength.
But that is technique specific and no effective martial art can consist only of those techniques, and it does not substitute base fitness and strength that is required any combat longer than 10 seconds flat.
So the quote might be one of the best advices for deciding on a martial art ever. *looks to all the *ung scam schemes and systema*
In my experience all forms belong to "Bǎi Wàn Xìngyùn Quán."
if tai chi means the taoist yin and yang, that means balance. and the balance is close to the chi concept.
anyway wasnt my intention comparing fictional things to real one, i just wanted to discuss stuff in context of shadowrun world. therefore strongly mystic stuff in the chinese legends/matrial art traditions.
statement that tai chi is the form of "manipulating chi", was far over-exaggerating the fact, is just straight matrial art based on strength, swiftness, mentality and thousand of exercises the culmination of guts and hard work. like everything else.
however, some legends might says it can include that mystery master knowledge, the one ive called "manipulating chi", but maybe is bad way to express in words what i mean.
http://a.mfcdn.net/store/manga/643/15-150.0/compressed/Shamo_v15_141.jpg
http://a.mfcdn.net/store/manga/643/15-151.0/compressed/Shamo_v15_154.jpg
http://a.mfcdn.net/store/manga/643/16-161.0/compressed/Shamo_v16_146.jpg
there is where i come up with it
ps interesting thing, there is also "hong kong" movie based on manga, but it says, its pretty bad compared to the source.
As to strength being required in martial arts, all martial arts require white muscle or very fast twitch strength (think of it as reflex strength or explosive power). Outside of the grappling arts, not all of them require too much red muscle strength (this is sustained strength). Building white muscle doesn't add bulk, that may be where the myth that some martial arts don't require strength comes from.
i would pick only this line.
in the 6th world, with all the mana gathering, much have changed, i believe... while cultural differences and mentalities remain, this time people of the world are creating new history of martial arts. i'm sure that masters of this form of kung fu are not really capable of demonstrating more than... any other master level adept.
(warning, brutal content on animals)
Nothing points out the mysticism of martial arts like doping up a rabbit until it dies, you betcha.
100%: Xing Yi Quan isn't the 'real ultimate kung fu'. There is no real ultimate kung fu. There's what you're good at, what you adapt to make work, and what you learn from your own fighting experiences, your teachers, and what you can combine.
All of Shen's dialog is written from Shen's perspective. It's definitely NOT objective. Ying Xi Quan (objectively) isn't really from Wudang, and doesn't have much of a mystical past. But in the Sixth World, belief is often more important than fact, when it comes to powering your magic. In Shadowrun, if you're a tai chi master? Pentjak Silat? Kalaripayattu? Doesn't matter. You can be just as powerful as anyone else.
(P.S. No, Shen is never referred to in dialog as a he, or a she. Shen is indifferent to gender. Shen is all about the kung fu.)