Stretching To Deep Transformation

打拳壯筋骨

Training to strengthen fascias and bones.

寧練筋長一寸，不練肉厚三分

Rather train to lengthen the fascias by one inch than to thicken the flesh by one third.

百折連腰盡無骨

A hundred twists linking the waist, a boneless utmost¹.

    

The first part of internal training was meant to deeply transform the body and its metabolism. Both were trained by deeply stretching the body, though the second one also involved some special breathing and putting physical pressure on the body to make it hotter².

Once again, this was mainly meant for teenagers during their puberty time, taking a few months for the stretching and a couple of years for the metabolism. If an adult had to go through the same kind of training, what took months would take years and years decades. Some training was also simply not possible any more after puberty³. Adding the leisurely factor, one can easily understand that most of the old exercises become then totally useless. Indeed, one had to train them consistently 24/7 until they reached the desired effect, hence the old saying, ‘One day of training, one day of fruits; one day without training, ten empty ones⁴’.

They were actually three main reasons to change the muscle/flesh/fascia structure. External, so one could move and generate strength differently, the famous ‘better strength’ from the saying ‘Without strength, the better strength’. In between, reaching the visceral fascias to improve them and keep the organs in their rightful place. Internal, improving the flow of vapours.

Externally, one had to stretch so that the muscles/flesh became longer and thinner. The biceps are often a good example. An internalist biceps do not protrude, remain almost a straight line from the shoulder to the inside of the elbow when the arms are bent. Quite the opposite of what a good bodybuilding would achieve⁵. Changing the shape of the muscles/flesh/fascia structure was the prerequisite which explains why the internal arts delayed weight training until one’s body was ready for it. Still too round and hard, weights would only make muscles harder and rounder. Tender and oval enough, weights would, by increasing the stretch, improve the fascias while keeping the flesh tender.

The other part was meant to improve the organs through quite deep, extensive, extreme, acrobatic and intensive stretching. Indeed, reaching deep fascias is obviously harder and one has to twist his/her body in all kinds of extreme postures to achieve such a feat. This, and the so-called whip backbone, a capacity to twist one’s spine in all kinds of angles without hurting it, were directly aimed at finding ways to stretch deeper and deeper up to the visceral fascias or any part of the body. Reaching a level where all the fascias would stretch in unison was considered as finally reaching the whole body strength.

Finally, since vapours and the lines of fascias are intimately linked, improving the latter would enhance their flow. Furthermore, reaching the visceral fascias would improve the organs, the source of vitality.

Once the body was sufficiently transformed, one would then learn to move differently to create power, stretching instead of contracting.

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1. Emei Taoist Boxing Song, 峨嵋道人拳歌

2. Roughly. Metabolism, the organs, the internal alchemy and the infamous vapours are quite a complex matter, especially because they are not visible.

3. Think in terms of breaking-in period for puberty. Adults are already broken in and you cannot unbreak them to break them again. That is why some of the training intended for teenagers cannot work on adults. The basic method of old practices being lost, people nowadays blindly train exercises not meant for their age category, wondering why they do not produce the desired effects…

4. 一日練，一日功，一日不練十日空. And this saying actually only concerns regular training. The so-called ‘hundred days training‘ were even stricter, one day missed and one had to start all over again…

5. Unfortunately, the author cannot make a decent picture of his modified arm at the time being. He will try to update the post with comparative pictures in the future.