“Noi Chi” or “internal energy coming from breathing” is an important part of training in Choi Mok. Choi Mok Kung Fu is a demanding fignting system which uses many and complicated techniques and movements which demand a very good use of breathing. If someone cannot breath in the right way, he will not get harmonic combination of all the body parts and the practise will end up to a physical weakness, bad physical shape and sluggish muscles and as a consequence there will be a decreased effectiveness of the technique.
In order to practise “Noi Chi”, first, we will have to practise a particular way of breathing by using the diaphragm and the muscles of the lower belly (this body part is called “Dan Tien” or “perl area” by Chinese fighters). Using this kind of breathing in our training we can achieve deeper breath and reduce the rate of quick and not deep breaths. In this way, the internal energy wiil be stored and circulated and it will provide us with the necessary oxygen for our movements. That’s why Chinese fighters can easily practise in continual and denanding techniques, but the beginners feel like being choked and they also loose their strength easily.
During the fight, the right breathing not only helps us to reveal the force, but also to keep a good balance, to have steady postures and to use whenever we want an explosive energy. So, the right breathing not only helps in the accumulation of the internal energy, but also in its revelation. For example, using the right breathing a Choi Mok fighter is capable of unleashing with one strike all the energy which might come from the legs, the waist and all the body, creating a power called “elastic force”. Actually there are four ways of using and revealing Noi-Chi in Choi Mok Pai:
“Raising the breath”
“Holding the breath”
“Gathering the breath”
“Sinking the breath”
“Raising the breath” : It is a kind of a respiratory movement done with the chest, the upper part of the belly, the thorax and its muscles which are widened. Using this way we make higher the weight centre of the body, in order to help some movements like jumping, pushing forward, attacking, leaping and others.
“Holding the breath” : It means half breathing after an inhall which is followed by sudden attack, affectation and quick counter-strike.
“Gathering the breath” : It is used for the preparation of unleashing attacks, and it includes a deep inhall and exhall during the attack, which strengthens the force of attack. This way of breathing not only strengthens attacks, but also protects from the side-effects which come from the holding of the breath.
“Sinking the breath” : It is a typical form of breathing with the belly. It is done with the diaphragm and the belly muscles (a rumbling may be noticed), so that the energy to be sunk into the abdomen (Tan Yien). It is a deep breath, the chest may widen, but the belly is full of energy. This kind of breathing lowers the weight centre of the body and so we get more stability of our postures and balance, and it helps to face attacks striked from low postures and short distance.
“Ging”
As it is known, “Ging” which means “fighting force” or “fighter’s force”, is different from “Lik” which means “raw force” or “force of a common and untrained person”. “Lik” is dull and inflexible but “Ging” is a kind of flexible force which explodes with the instant muscular contraction because of the training.
There are various kinds of “Ging” in Choi Mok style. We will concentrate only on “Noi Ging” (internal force). With that kind of “Noi Ging” (internal force), a Choi Mok Pai expert can easily change the direction of ”Noi Ging” depending on the changes of the opponent’s movements during the fight. There is the saying of “Teng Ging” (hearing the force) and because of that a Choi Mok expert can pressure his opponent, so as to change constantly his weight centre with the help of the hidden internal force. In this occasion, the opponent is compeletely under control and he will not have any idea where this force comes from, neither how to face the situation.
There is a typical “Choke-Ging” (thunder force) in Choi Mok Kung Fu which seems to be very inflexible and aggressive. So, many people think by mistake, that Choi Mok is an inflexible fighting system. Through a special training we can obtain the “internal energy” and a constant force all over our body. This force might be flexible or not, depending on the battle conditions. If we use various techniques like “receiving and sending away”, “sinking and emerging”, “truthful and real” at the same time, the fists will be shooted at the opponent like explosive bombs.
There are various styles of “Ging” in Choi Mok like: ”Gong” or “stiff force”, “Yau” or “soft force”, “Hui” or “deceitful force”, “Sut” or “solid force”, “Jik” or “straight force”, “Wang” or “diagonal force”, “Che” or “force under ungle” and others. Usually, beginners start learning the “stiff” and “straight” force and then the “diagonal” and “under ungle” force. Finally, they will be trained in “deceitful” and “solid” force, which are more proggressive and difficult to learn. During a fight someone using the Choi Mok style will do the following: “Avoid to attack to the well protected parts of the opponent’s body, and attack to the unprotected. Use flexible techniques to face the solid attacks and face the opponent’s raw force with technical movements”. If we use these principles, the learning of “Choke-Ging” (thunder force) is close.
Certainly, Kung Fu trainees cannot defeat an opponent only with force and without having technical skills. All these can be obtained with long-termed training. Also, it is possible for someone to be very good at the technique, but not to have ability and power. So, a good fighter should get a high level of ability and power, both of them are necessary. Nobody can win a fight without one of the two.
On the contrary, with daily practise in which there is a determined sequence of movements on trainee’s mind in order to use them in real battle, power and ability are absolutely necessary. The trainee is doomed to loose if he doesn’t have both of them. There is a Chinese saying: “there are hundred ways to face different kinds of attack, but it is difficult to be protected from violent repeated attacks”. Moreover, there is another saying: “it doesn’t matter how many times you have practised your forms, because you need only one fist to defeat your enemy”. The opponent’s movements are unpredictable because they change during the fight. So, in order to be able to face the opponent’s attacks we should practise for power and ability, and counter-attack rapidly. With this way we can estimate any situation and face the opponent by using “toughness” or on the contrary “softness”.
