The Secret to Kung Fu “Power”

I learned the secrets to using internal power from Dmitri Nogay!
His IG is @ sugatana

Thanks to @KevinLeeVlog for setting this up!

[BringerOfSabbath]

This entire video is like watching a DnD Fighter taking levels in Monk and realizing the difference between Strength and Dexterity scaling. It’s great

[obiwanquixote]

Two things that helped me with this concept:

1) It's basically like what my old boxing coach would say. You punch relaxed. Your fist is a rock on a rope so you uncoil your body to send it (the rock) into the target. If you watch a good boxer in slow motion everything is relaxed until the moment of impact.

2) Chinese as a language is very different than English. All language is metaphor and conceptually Chinese tackles things holistically while English tries to dissect and break down into detail. Think about it in terms of how people talk about big compound lifts like squats, cleans and snatch. You need to use metaphors like "spreading the floor" or "jump down under the bar" rather than describe each individual muscle contraction. The "energy" is a number of things working together. Not some kind of magic electricity that channels the ley lines from the black blood of the earth into your finger tips.

[Cavouku]

I don't know if this helps, but let's start with your explanation near the 14:30 mark:

Pushing into the ground with your legs results in an equal but opposite force going back up the leg, which I'll call the "reactive force", so you're basically correct on that part. This can be enhanced by "dropping your weight" into the floor before the push, since now you're adding most of your mass into that reactive force. However, this usually displays anticipatory movement, so it should either be disguised or disregarded against an opponent who knows what they're doing.

That stomping action with the heel is also a way to very suddenly generate a reactive force. Remember that Kinetic Energy = (0.5 * mass) * (velocity^2), so very fast actions using relatively little body mass can still generate a lot of force into the ground for a reactive force.

Most of those elements of rooting, mind/body unity, timing and precision are about utilizing a concept known as the "kinetic chain", to transfer as much of that reactive force into a strike as possible. This is something that has to be specifically practiced more than anything, because it's largely based on optimizing what muscles you are and aren't using, in specific sequence. There's not really a shortcut to this, you just have to know what you're trying to do and then keep practicing and improving it.

Essentially, this is about using "timed stiffness" to transfer the energy. Kinetic force travels more quickly through stiffer matter. It also loses energy in a shorter distance in stiffer matter, but the distance of your foot to your arm is too short for that to be a major factor. But if your WHOLE body is stiff for the WHOLE transference, the energy will go through every direction of your body. So it's about being loose everywhere EXCEPT the "road" you want the energy to travel down.

Spiraling, so far as I've studied it, is more of an additive property of energy than conserving/enhancing. If you sit still in a chair and throw a punch, you'll obviously find it's weaker than if you were standing. But if you pull in your other arm as you "push out" the punching arm, to create that spiraling effect, you can punch a decent bit harder. You can even do this to generate power floating in the pool. If it helps, whenever you hear "spiral", just think "push-and-pull", which will naturally cause rotation if it's done around an axis, like your torso, and that this is a way to either generate or add power to a strike.

Lastly, regarding coordination of breath: as far as power goes, this is just about controlling the stiffness of your core, and relates to everything else above. But it's also important to practice coordinated breathing to stay oxygenated while fighting. Breathing patterns develop as specific adaptations to the action you're doing, so doing "cardio sparring" is a good way to "build your gas tank" for a fight. You learn (at least subconsciously) when to inhale, exhale and hold in response to different cues to get the most efficient intake and exhaust of breath (remember, breathing out is just as important as breathing in, if not more so).

Lemme know if that's clear as diamond, mud, or anything in between, if you took the time to read it. This goes for anybody, not just Seth. I also entirely acknowledge I could be missing some pieces here, but I'm trying to translate some more mystical/esoteric concepts into material science speak.

[christopherbrown]

This reminds me of a scene in the first episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's the scene where Zuko is practicing Firebending(which is based on Northern Shaolin Kung Fu)on his ship while his uncle gives instruction. His uncle criticizes his performance saying that "Power in Firebending comes from the breath. Not the muscles. The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire."

[nyhyl]

I have been training Xingyiquan and Taijiquan for over 10 years and have a years long training background in Taekwondo and Karate. I think you understood it pretty well for 1h of training. The thing is understanding and reproducing this stuff takes a long time and you have to develop a feeling for details in your movement no other styles really teach as far as I know. So your frustration and low progress is completely normal. This stuff is very hard to do! That is why these arts are not known for giving you fighting skills in a short time and most of the time people don't bother doing more than forms anyway. So hats off to you for figuring it out so fast!
There are 4 core aspects you have to focus on while learning so called internal power/fajin:

1. Relaxation
2. Heaviness (additionally to relaxing, let your weight sink into the ground, be heavy like someone who has passed out, turned completely relaxed and feels now really heavy. Let your shoulders fall, let everything relax, feel heavy and grounded)
3. Structure (body alignment)
4. Focus/Attention (be very attentive and focused on your body when training because it takes a high amount of concentration to feel all that stuff and even more to make constant progress. It is a highly technical training and doesn't work by forcing it. If you are good at it you can back it up with force while sparring all you want but first you need to understand the technique to feel where and how much force you can integrate into the technique without losing speed and power.)

[yigo]

As a muay thai practicioner i just checked he parried that a punch in less than half of a second. Still not so sure about kung fu but that impressed me.

[TheElbowMerchant]

Between waking up to a Sensei Seth video, and UFC 305 later today, this is going to be a beautiful Saturday.

[EggShen]

Small clarification: it's not using "no muscle"; it's using "no extra muscle beyond what you would usually use to move". He's saying you only need a natural efficiency of motion, not more strength. Remember, mass x acceleration = power. All you have to do to hit harder is increase acceleration. Muscles are necessary for that, but body mechanics can supply a lot of acceleration too, and without such a narrow window to get the best effect that would be required by "energizing" your muscles to "push harder".

[lukydrozd]

This is the same principal that boxing coaches teach for punching power (or should teach). My coach always says that your arms should be like whips and your fist like hammers. And you put power into the arm from the ball of your foot, into your hips, your torso, your shoulder and then your fist. Almost no muscles needed, just one natural, relaxed and fast movement.

[TheElbowMerchant]

"Muscles in your pants" had me laughing way harder than it should have. I'm not a perfect person, and I'm clearly an immature man-child, but that's probably going to keep me chuckling for the rest of the day, haha.

[tonezboy]

For someone who hasn't trained internal arts that was a pretty good interpretation. As for tendons, it's tendons and structure. All internal arts will have their own exercises, often two man resistance exercises, that over years of training develop these things. It creates a different sort of relaxed, heavy power that can be super fast. People give traditional Chinese martial arts crap saying they don't work it's just that it takes years of training to become proficient enough to actually use it.

[redrenegade]

Seth, you are absolutely right that engaging your muscles slows down the punch. I was taught that in doing faat ging I should be as relaxed as possible, only tensing just before the moment of impact. I've heard it described as resembling a "whip-crack".

Your energy does in fact come from the ground -- and the truth is, there's no right answer as to what that "energy" is. Some people think of it as the energy that naturally inhabits the earth (as in eastern geomancy) some think of it as chi, some think of it as purely mechanical kinetic energy. The point is that whatever you have to visualize to succeed, that is what the energy becomes to you.

What a great video! I love when you cross the proverbial salt into other styles, particularly my first love, kung fu.

[Niborino]

Seeing Dmitrys explanation on power transfer helped me immensely for my kickboxing. Really helped me get that snap in my punches and make everything flow together!

[drdinkleberry]

Hey there I'm a boxer who learned underneath a Taiji, XingYi master, and ill try to explain as best I can. To use internal power or fajin you HAVE to be relaxed. Imagine your arm is very tired, from carrying things all day, that it doesn't have an ounce of energy left. It is sooo tired that you can ONLY feel the weight of your arm. Then throw it out while still relaxed and when there's an inch left of space then use explosive power. It is similar to those who play golf, baseball or if you slap someone. If you want to generate more power, it makes sense to be more relaxed and only use power at almost the point of impact. If you swung with force the whole way through with a golf club, the ball wouldn't go very far, however if you swung it being relaxed with good form and stance, then explode at the last second, it would go way further. The idea is that when you're relaxed or why he keeps saying use tendon instead of muscle is because, you're able to move faster relaxed instead of being stiff with your muscle. My understanding of the American detailed science explanation is Force = mass x acceleration. Mass is almost always the same and acceleration is just how fast the punch comes out. The basic idea is, if you're relaxed " Your punch will come out faster." = more force. That's why when Dmitri does the throw his arm makes that sound. Its the snapping of tendons and ligaments, and only can be done if your arm is relaxed. A good example of this is Prime Mike Tyson, he was strong but also very relaxed. If you study his old fights he was able to generate so much power because he understood this method.

[cruxmind]

17:24 after you guys talk about chi, he changes the word to 'motion.' instead of energy, I believe it would feel comfortable if it was 'motion' instead. That's basically whats happening. lower body motion to accelerate a strike.

[thundering_talon]

I dont know if this helps, but as a practitioner of chinese martial arts, "energy" is literally kinetic energy, or movement. You flex your muscles to rotate your fists, or kick off the ground to generate force through your body to send anywhere (like into a punch or a kick)

[slumptydumpty]

He's telling you to use your body to whip. Be flexible, fast, and powerful. Like a whip.

[jonathandefoy]

Hi Sensei Seth, I am sure you get these comments a lot. I wanted to thank you, Because of your channel I just took my first karate lesson. I am looking forwards to starting this journey.

[Christianmartialartist]

I did Shorin-ryu for about 8 years and one of the first things I had to learn was the same thing you are talking about. It was so hard learning to move my feet, relax my arms, twist my hips and throw my punch at the same time. Once I got it down (about 2 to 3 months) I noticed that I was hitting harder and faster without exhausting myself. Then the fun part was included it in my katas. Honestly watching a bunch of guys learn to use their hips to generate power is one of the funniest thing you will see.

[mikee]

A lot of TCMA talks about things in a mystic fashion, but a lot of that just comes from the fact that these old masters didn't really have scientific or technical terms to describe what body mechanics they figured out.

It all comes down to body mechanics. I did Xingyi for a few years. A lot of what the internal styles are about is practicing efficient energy transfer and using your core to really generate speed and power. In Xingyi, a lot of the power comes from combining this sort of explosive whip energy, Fajing, that you generate from your core/hips with good structure so that when you incorporate the stepping you are essentially crashing into them with whatever limb you are making contact with. The idea is that you are essentially running them over with your fist, a little bit of a similar idea to a stiff arm in football and then using this whip like energy as both a force multiplier and a source of speed and power in the movement of your limbs.

It's not super intuitive, which is where all the standing exercises and Fajing exercises come in. They are designed to help you develop structure and to feel the how your body moves naturally without flexing or forcing with your muscles. It's not that you don't use muscles at all. You had the right idea in that it's more about not letting muscle tension get in the way. Dimitri's ball throwing concept works. Try pitching with just your arm: not a lot of power, then include your waist and hips but keep your biceps and forearm flexed the whole time: the stiffness of your arm basically robs you of all that power you just generated by adding in your hips.