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Old 12-26-2009, 08:56 AM   #98
Mike Sigman
Location: Durango, CO
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,123
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Re: Some similarities in Internal Body Skills between Chinese and Japanese arts

Quote:
Dan Harden wrote: View Post
Seems the general consensus is I get attacked, I defend.
Er, sorry, but you posted the Rum Soaked Fist post about me and it was incorrect. I.e., you initiated it. The discussion is about similarities in Internal Body Skills between Chinese and Japanese martial arts. My position is, and has been for years, that there is no substantive difference between Chinese and Japanese I.S. skills simply because they work on the same basic principles. "Aiki in yo ho", "Ju", "Reiki no ho", "Kokyu", Misogi breathing, and many other terms Japanese sound "Japanese", but the physical actions, skills, and practices, give or take some minor variations in the process but the not the principle, are to be found in Chinese martial arts. The most I can get a really knowledgeable Chinese expert to say is the word "similar" rather than "same", but that's only because of the variations. The principles are the same.

And of course even a cursory investigation into what a, for instance, Japanese expert is demonstrating and a Chinese expert is demonstrating demonstrates quickly that things *must* be the same if they are demonstrating the same I.S. skill.

The only place I can see an argument would be when someone *thinks* the same thing is being shown, but they misunderstand the point. As an example, a Yiquan person may stand against a push to his forearm while a Tohei-analogue from a Japanese m.a. does the same apparent thing. However, the Japanese person may think that he is demonstrating the grounding of the force of the push and the Chinese person will acknowledge that he is to a degree doing that, too, but he's also showing something else that is not as obvious. I.e., my point is that if there are differences, it's probably just a level of degree; the basic principles will and must be the same.

FWIW

Mike Sigman
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