From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Nei chia (內家; Pinyin nei4 jia1 "Inner Family") denotes the internal, or "soft style" family of Chinese martial arts. Traditionally, the three arts Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan, T'ai Chi Ch'uan), Bagua zhang (Pa Kua Chang) and Hsing Yi (Xingyiquan, Hsing-i Ch'uan) are regarded as internal, although other styles also claim the designation.
This classification is said by some historians to have been formulated in the 1920s by the Chinese philosopher and martial artist Sun Lutang 孫祿堂 (1861-1932), although the principles he describes are certainly much older. According to Sun's classification, the principles defining an internal martial art are:
- Using the mind to coordinate the leverage of the body in relaxation is emphasized over brute strength.
- Internally develop, circulate and express qi (氣; py qi4 or Wade-Giles ch'i).
- External movement principles applied from Taoist qigong (氣功 py qi4 gong1 or wg ch'i kung).
