Because the training of an internal art is so different from other things it is easy to get caught in a catch-22. To do the movements properly you need an understanding of internal power. To get an understanding of internal power you need to practice the movements.

To get past this, the first thing to do is to drop pre-conceptions: muscular tension is not the only way to express force; moving fast is not the only way to train responsiveness; stiff resistance is not the only way to create solidity.

My brother has trained with a Master Bill in Vancouver who put this succinctly, “Don’t think with your brain. There’s too much garbage in there.”

(photo by Maciej Dakowicz, 2008)