The Internal Ocean

There is a certain type of skill which is never publicly discussed amongst members of the Internal Martial Arts Community. It is that of the ‘Internal Ocean’. I had to come up with this term, for it did not truly exist in either Chinese or English prior. What is this so-called ‘Internal Ocean’? A thorough explanation is due.

A major misunderstanding about the Internal Arts is that they possess what people deem ‘Internal Power’. Many have been mistakenly led to think, that there is a specific skill called ‘Internal Power’ which they are meant to cultivate. That is false. The Internal Arts of China are actually comprised of dozens of different sub-skills which join together to form a Structure – the way in which a martial art shapes the body to behave. This Structure manifests through many different methods, applied at the same time, simultaneously. So for example, we can have something like a Dantian rotation, a certain type of stepping method, a movement of the hips, another movement of the waist, a twisting of the torso, a waving of the spine, a manipulation of one’s Qi through the Ren Mai and Du Mai, and so forth – many things of this sort all happening at-once. The Structure of an Internal Art is thus not a single thing, but rather an amalgamation of skills operating in unison. The External approach is to collect movements and techniques. The Internal approach is to collect subtle skills which work with one-another to generate a more powerful Structure. This is a topic which I have extensively explained in one of my best-selling books, Research of Martial Arts (published 2014; available on Amazon).

The typical person typically moves in two movement-vectors, and loses much or his or her coordination when operating in three move-vectors. The internal martial artist strives to be able to smoothly move in 7 different vectors, and coordinate between them without pause or loss of maneuverability. On the technical level, a mastery of the Internal Martial Arts can in fact be defined as such: One’s ability to simultaneously use all of the subtle body skills of his art’s Structure, while moving in 7 different vectors at the same time, doing so consistently for many minutes on-end, or briefly and successfully in the midst of combat. This, of course, is not the only definition of mastery.

There comes a time in one’s development in the Internal Arts, where things come together to form a special higher skill, that of the Internal Ocean. This occurs when the practitioner can casually move in at least 5 vectors at the same time, and has cultivated many different sub-skills of micro-movement and energy work in his Structure. It arises especially following one having developed the ability to freely move both the Lower Dantian and Middle Dantian (Tan Zhong), and being able to rotate them independently of each-other. At that point, the practitioner begins to sense that his body ‘flows like an ocean’. What is felt in actuality, is that the kinetic energy generated within the structure, can wave itself with less resistance than before. The waving of the spine – a basic skill which ought to be mastered during the first few years of training, can typically only be culminated into a straight line, or at best into a flat curve. Once the Internal Ocean is unlocked, the spinal waves, as well as nuanced movements of the Kua, can be potentiated and recycled into circles and spirals with ease. This creates in the body the feeling as if one’s entire physical nature is akin to a heavy flag waving in calm winds. This in turn, improves all types of performance, whether it be martial or health-oriented. 

As noted earlier, the majority of people have a difficult time coordinating even three vectors of movement. Therefore, when a person can move across 5 vectors or move, and possesses the skill of an Internal Ocean, it makes him much more difficult to contend with. The Internal Ocean, being like a waving flag or an ocean’s wave, has no point which remains steady or unchanging. It is therefore difficult to fix into place or uproot such a person who has this type of skill. 

A problem I have noticed in our time is that many martial arts schools attempt to teach students to wave their bodies in a fast or violent manner like whips, yet do so without additional instruction. Paradoxically, this will never lead to the development of the Internal Ocean. The latter actually requires many years of practice of standing and rooting methods. Only a structure which has studied and perfected the skill of remaining still, could later become like an ocean. In this case, ‘ice comes before water, and water comes before steam’. 

Although not publicly discussed, I am of the belief that all great masters of the Internal Arts, as well as many of my esteemed colleagues, possess the skill of the Internal Ocean. Yet it is not the final product of the Internal Arts! Rather, its manifestation is only the beginning of true understanding of the potential of what these arts have to offer. 

Shifu Jonathan Bluestein is a foremost teacher and author of the traditional Chinese martial arts. He published a number of best-selling books on the martial arts, including:  Research of Martial Arts and The Martial Arts Teacher. He is also the head of Blue Jade Martial Arts International. Search these names to learn more!

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