Bruce Lee’s Biggest Hater Explains Internal Martial Arts 

Legend has it, Ramsey Dewey once fought a 80 year old Tai Chi master. So strong was his qi, it cut two holes in Ramsey's beard and they have never grown back.

I actually have a statue of Bruce Lee in my house. Over the decades, I have owned it, the statue has shown that it can defeat almost anyone without even trying. It’s amazing.

I love Kung Fu Hustle when the protagonist becomes a super human and starts beating the evil guys. Then the landlords start to see him as a son, and the landlady says: "If he studies hard he could become a doctor or a lawyer!" That was a super fun and wholesome line!

Having went to medical school for Chinese Medicine, it changed my understanding drastically. “Qi” was NEVER used as a stand-alone term. Qi was always used as the second part of a dual term, and each always referred to a system of the body. “Breath,” for example, was “Da Qi” (Big Qi, because air is everywhere) and the respiratory system. But there is also Qi related to the food you eat, “Gu Qi.” Then there was, “Wei Qi” (the strength of your immune system). Etc etc etc. In other words, every martial art worth it’s weight works with “Qi.” In the sense that they all talk about Breathing, Diet, Health / Resilience / Recovery, etc

I heard Bruce lee can fly

Meditation can’t make butt fire ball real, but spicy beans can.

No one can rival Quentin Tarantino in hating Bruce Lee.😅

Bruce Lee was standing faster than we were running

With the level of physical acting you should have just subtitled it and made it a silent movie. I love it!

Clearly Bruce lee was too humble to make any of those _totally factual_ claims himself. But they all came from eye witnesses who clearly saw the -man- demi-god do such incredible feats in person.

Hi there Ramsey. I've taken both external kung fu (Choy Li Fut) and internal(Tai Chi) for over ten years now, and I've gotten to know where I know what I'm talking about, so I'll put the differences in layman's terms. First, the two different methods are not different as in black and white. They mix together a lot. The biggest difference is the mentality in the application. External styles like choy Li Fut and American boxing use breathing just like internal styles, but they use the inhaling and exhaling to contract the muscles on contact with the opponent. They do that not only on striking but also joint locks. With joint locks they use the breathing to contract the muscles to snap the opponent's joint into whatever position that they want. Another example of external style is the basic judo hip throw. It's all proper breathing, thrusting the hip out, placing the weight on the balls of your feet and so on. Internal style is a bit harder to explain. When I was first taught Tai Chi, we were taught to "love your enemy to understand how Tai Chi works". What it means is change your mentality to love your opponent so much that it's really easy to read his body language, meaning that your relaxed from not wanting to kill him, so it's a lot easier to read what he is doing. Once you do that, you can sense the shift in body weight, and you can use it against him. A friend of mine that worked with horses told me that she used the same method with horses, and got so in tune with them that she could move them around with a slight touch of her hand, even though she weighed maybe a little over a hundred pounds. Same thing with internal martial arts. That's why you see people that have trained all their lives being able to knock people off balance just by touching them. They can read the body shift in weight. Nothing magical about it. But it takes time though, a LOT of time. After ten years, I'm just starting to get it. Think of instead of being a horse whisperer, you're a bad guy whisperer lol. One thing I have to stress though is that there is absolutely NOTHING mystical about internal martial arts. It's 100% scientific. You just have to get a feel for it.

If people want an Asian Kung Fu practitioner to celebrate as an actual fighter so much, then look at Don Wilson. Kung Fu background who went into kickboxing and became world champion many times. Hell even his nickname is “The Dragon”. And while nowhere near the movie star Bruce Lee was, he has an extensive list of martial arts films he’s worked in himself.

I loved that you delved a little into the benifical aspects of internal martial arts! Tai Chi seems to do some pretty amazing things for people. People aren't going to be shooting fireballs from thier butts but it can probably improve thier health.

For me the "internal" arts emphasise the deep subtleties of the movements, stance and relaxation to allow a very efficient use of power. The focus is on mindfully perfecting these techniques. It works best however when you then go on to pressure test the techniques practically. The thing is that anyone who trains properly will get elements of this in their art. For me BJJ has that aspect to it in that the high level black belts have such a good understanding of their body biomechanics they can tie you up in an effortless, efficient and relaxed way. The effortless relaxation and apparent magic is only there however if they are rolling with someone less skilled. If the skill levels are comparable then you need some real "external" effort to win in a contest.

Ooh. I can help a bit with this one, as a practitioner of the neijia arts who doesn't go in for either hocus or pocus. Qi literally means breath, as you point out, but there's a little more to it than that. As you again point out (thank you for that) its about connecting the breath to the movement but also using the breath to drive the movement by (and I'm going to reduce this down a bit to keep from getting too wordy), using the breath to pressurize the abdomen to yank on the body's various connective tissues. Most qigong, things like zhan zhuang or eight pieces of brocade, are used to strengthen those connections. They can get strong enough to be the primary motivator, which feels weird as first. But there's no mysticism, just some body skills that most people don't bother to practice, especially nowadays when most folks don't have the time to make it worthwhile. Imagination does play a part, in the the subconscious mind arranges the body more quickly than the conscious mind can. But even that is just another bodily skill. But it's all just meat and bone and mental skill and relaxed power and strategy. Anyone who tells you they can blast someone with a qi fireball or really anything mystical has no idea what they're talking about. Taiji people (Chen taijiquan is my primary art and I used to use it in security work) often have no idea what they're doing. They get all caught up in the wuxia of it and end up spending years learning garbage. With my students, I start off teaching them the breathing and the movement skills. The ones that pay attention are starting to show some promise. The ones who are into all the mumbo jumbo because a prior teacher taught them poorly are struggling and will continue to do so. Which should be fun when we drop in on the neighboring martial arts schools for open sparring night. Thats the other thing I've noticed. Most neijia folks mistake say really dumb things like tui shou is taiji sparring. It's sparring-adjacent, perhaps, but if bodies aren't hitting the floor, it's not sparring, given that much of taijiquan amounts to standing grappling. Apologies if this rambles a bit, but it's the middle of the night. TL;DR: if they tell you it's magical, they're full of crap. It's often misunderstood, but that's hardly unusual these days. It IS different. Some of the skills are unusual or counterintuitive. It's subtle. It takes a ton of time and practice to get decent. But it's not magic, just a different approach to the age old question of "How do I injure this guy while being injured as little as possible in return?"

I don't care what people say Bruce Lee is my favorite martial artist and this is a fact he is one of the most influential people of the 20th century...

Honestly, this style in your intro suits you pretty well. When other people in your space (and frankly, just on youtube in general) try to do this kind of thing it usually ends up really cringy. I think you played the balance well and had a good sense of humor without taking yourself too seriously or being too cool. I'm impressed! Mainly, just because the bar on this platform has gotten pretty low, especially when we're talking about skits or gags on channels centered around martial arts, firearms, or self-defense. But that being said I liked it! Your videos keep getting better. Keep doing what you're doing, your channel has always drawn me in because of its empirical approach to unconventional styles of fighting. Your videos about capoeira moves that are actually useful is one of my favorites. The tai chi video as well. People usually dismiss these less pressure tested and effective martial arts styles completely without digging in, asking real questions, and putting individual things to the test. Thanks Ramsey!

Hey Ramsey, this is one of the clearest takes on the matter I have heard. It's easy and logical to comprehend "internal" as complimentary to "external", or even better, to emphasize that "going out there and work" is necessary. I am doing Taichi since 15 years, became instructor, doing research on the subject - and still struggle with distinguishing what is fiction and what are the actual working things. E.g. we are practicing very gentle tuishou / push hands. Clearly, they are not for fighting, but cooperative practicing with improvisational, unforseen input, and external pressure. From this practice, convincing pushes happen, but they only happen if we stick to the rules of the Taichi game, including the way to move in a Taichi way. The most interesting learnings are on the subtleties of upright balance. So, this is working as a game, has certain learning effect, but in a very constrained setting. And I like this subtle game, it's fun, explorative, interesting things are happening. But it feels like real testing, a complimentary practice that challenges these constraints, is missing. Best from Vienna!

Id imagine that Bruce Lee inspired Mr Miyagi to try to catch flies with chopticks, after he caught ten of them with a pair of nunchucks, while blindfolded, which came after he had a secret match with Muhammad Ali and won. Even Beerdy doesnt have my sources

To give you a real life experience, when I had my 2nd day of Covid I had chills, horrible coughs, a super fever, could barely stand move, and the worst headache of my life so far. I’ve studied Taichi and other “internal martial arts,” For years. When I desperately tried to find a way for me to not be bed ridden by using the techniques and experimented theory crafting from over the years, everything boiled down to a lot of gentle breathing that led to slowly loosening the body then moving it. But a key factor to regaining stability with these functions is focus. (Disclaimer Tylenol and Vicks vapor rub were involved in this therapeutic session, it made the process easier to obtain the result that was needed.) I knew to myself I was hot all over because of the fever, I knew to myself pain was going to be everywhere. There’s a catch to that said pain, it’s not equal. With my breathing, focus, gentle movement/muscle loosening, and psychological intent, I calmed myself to really become aware of my body, my intention was to make myself prioritize my attention of pain elsewhere that didn’t hurt as much or dissipate all of the pain. The surge of focus and intent made me feel the pain of my headache even more so at first, then it migrated to shoulder, then my hands, to my stomach, and ultimately it led to my feet and then I made it travel to my head again just so I could rinse and repeat the process until I could be used to the pain and not be bothered by it as much anymore until the Tylenol will really kick in and put an end to all of it. I stopped, applied Vicks and did the process again. My feet felt like they were hot enough to cause a fire(magical exaggeration.) every pain’s priority eventually balanced out to the point where nothing mattered, the Tylenol kicked and I was at peace. Next moment I saw myself well enough to at least be full of vigor and do things like run, jump, skip and so on again instead of being purely bed ridden. I was happy that even though I felt trashy because of Covid crippling me, I managed to out last the problem until all of the medicine kicked and finished the job. To put it simply, the main things that make a magical experience be the way it is is the way how the sensations of focus, awareness, intention, and intuition are being manipulated both within yourself and out. The balance between action and proper stillness blended in a harmonious way leads to it.

As a current practitioner of Chen Style Taijiquan in the US and a former practitioner of Wuji Style Baguazhang and Gu Style Taijiquan both of which I studied for a several years in Qingdao, China, Nei Gong is not just about breathing but primarily about internal micro movements and body alignment, which are critical.

The other day as I was doing my PT I got to thinking that in another context, all this single leg balance stuff I'm doing to work stabilizers and my vestibular system would seem a lot like internal arts practice. Someone once said to me "all language is metaphor" and the context of Qi works if you think about it as another language. In fact my old Chinese weightlifting coach used to describe the explosive triple extension as "fa jing." It all starts to click when I start to think about it all as a different language to explain the same concepts

Thanks for bringing up topics like these. I'm an average kung fu practitioner and I had the opportunity to watch a match between a shotokan karate instructor and a pa kwa chang or ba gua instructor. The Chinese won by asking the loser what happened, he said, I am surprised that his blows were very similar to our KIME theory. Best regards, Master Ramsey

Oh yeah, I do stuff like qigong in between more physically intense training all the time. The super power it gives me is a lot less aches and pains than I probably would otherwise. Not much different than any other athlete that actually bothers to stretch.

Much of what there is with Bruce Lee, is modern mythology at work. He was a competent martial artist, had great athletic ability, onscreen presence, and was influential. To be a good competition fighter though, one needs to train for that, and also is expected to lose... or they may win! Some people are more likely to win than others... and thus there is "competition". Many presumed that Mike Tyson would beat Buster Douglas, but he didn't.

One interesting aspect about the whole Internal/External Martial Arts discussion is how the delineation between Internal and External styles was originally political in nature. Meir Shahar, a professor of East Asian Studies at Tel Aviv University, talks about this in his book about the history of the Shaolin Monastery that is definitely worth reading. To explain the "political" delineation in a VERY short summary, styles that were labeled "internal" were often styles that drew upon Taoist practices and philosophies, with Taoism being the "internal" religion of China. External styles, like the ones taught at Shaolin, drew upon Buddhist practices and philosophies, with Buddhism being the "external" religion brought over from India. When you consider the socio-political power struggle between the two religions across Chinese history, the classification starts to make sense. Many people forget, for example, that Baguazhang is closely linked to the Eight Trigrams Uprising of 1813, during the Qing dynasty.

i NEED TO TALK TO YOUR SUPERVISOR 🤣 I love the beginning of the video.😃 Bruce Lee is an great source of inspiration but some deify him regretfully. I like to combine internal and external side of my training. Another great video man, I loved listening to this.

I heard also an explaination that says that internal martial arts mean that they are focusing on that is not easly seen or not seen and that is both spirituality, meditation, breathing techniques but also on things you do in fighting like one inch power and proper structure (peng)

Well delivered argument. So internal is the theory, application drilling is the 10 page paper, and sparring (external) is the work experience.

The quickness of these flashy edit cuts, and sound effects.......I was knocked out before your sponsor got mentioned........lol

Bruce Lee’s exploits are well-documented in the documentary Enter the Dragon.

I love the attention to detail with the body language in the opening rant! My 2 cents on 'internal arts'... it is self awareness and 'grounding' through meditation and (if combat focussed) sparring. Self awareness as in awareness of one's own physical abilities and limits as well as mental state and exploring how the two meet. As for 'chi', for me it means energy as understood in physics... levers and fulcrums etc... It's not magic but it really can be a force multiplier!

The breathing thing can make you INCREDIBLY strong and allow you to absorb WAY more damage.

Bruce Lee was like the Fonz because I’ve never seen him in a fight.

You made me laugh genuinely hard for the entire “how dare you” intro 😂😂😂. Thank you

To judge Bruce abilities on his movies alone is redicilously ignorant. He was very realistic in his approach towards martial arts, even more than lots of people nowadays. He trained with lots of different martial artists from different styles, what we kinda do nowadays. By listening and read some of his interviews i definitely sure he was legit and know what he was talking about.

The internal aspect of martial arts is not necessarily a psychological or phylosophical thing. There was a reference made by Takuan Soho I think which is when a duck is smoothly gliding on the surface of water it actually moves its feet a lot. That can be reffered to internal forms. It is something that can not be seen by an untrained eye. People talk a lot about putting your whole body into a punch which externally does not look that different between trained and untrained person for an inexperienced viewer. The nuances in body mechanics that allow for a trained person to deliver a devastating strike is an internal form. The structure. Internal forms and kata appear very simple on the outside while being way more challenging to perform properly than an external form/kata.

As a certified Qi Gong (Chi Kung) instructor I agree with a lot of what you're saying. I've trained Bjj, kickboxing, boxing, yoga and Taiji Chuan as well. I can definitely atest to the athletic benefits of practicing Qi Gong. The primary foundations are visualization, breath and posture. I have a very low heart rate and have had to declare myself an "athlete" in certain situations and I owe this to Qi Gong training. My posture has changed since beginning training, people tell me I look taller. I have seen 65+ people join Qi Gong classes and go from standing with a walker to doing most of the class on their own. These results vary of course! And it's not a magic pill. It's an exercise system... a very thorough one that can benefit any type of individual or athlete. I realized it was the foundation for Shaolin Martial Arts, so I dove deep. Qi Gong does offer some "martial" training as well but it is moreso Hard Style training such as Iron Body. It takes work and commitment! So I agree with his analysis. Qi Gong practices can be a complete exercise program for anyone, elderly people or out of shape people. If they are interested in some other martial art or athletic endeavor, Qi Gong can be a great foundational system to assist their training or maintain their health. As far as mysticism goes, I am Latino and that may be embedded in me to some extent... I definitely connect to the spiritual aspects of Shaolin martial arts, whether they be Taoist or Buddhist they relate to my personal Vedic and shamanic beliefs. I enjoy working with the Tao and nature and the elements. I cannot say anything magical will happen but I can assure you that there ARE energies especially when considering everything is made up of frequencies and your body is an ELECTROMAGNETIC system. 🙏✨

Taichi is awesome for health benefits! After a taichi class, digestion works extremely well, and you sleep like a baby. As long as you have a good instructor, of course!

Great subject, Hey Ramsey I would just like to share with you my experience with practicing the Internal style of Taoist Yoga, and what I will say about it will hopefully help you understand something that most do not understand about the internal practice of Nui Gung. For one the idea of connecting with your internal energy is possible, a possibility that most will not attain because most will not have the will, commitment, or desire to take this seriously. I for one was fortunate to have been introduced to a Taoist Priest from China that taught these internal style of exercises that if practice with the dedication and diligence one could reach nirvana. So first why would anyone care about this, well let me explain, first in the tradition of martial training it is about developing the mind, body, and breath to become one with yourself and the universe. So the mind: is linked to thinking, thoughts, logic, how we understand the world, so the body: all the physical possibility we can developed and connect with, so the breath: how body, mind and breath become one with ourselves and the universe: a connection with our spiritual consciousness. This is something that is very real, and how it is achieved is through the idea of stopping all thoughts, something we are all stuck on and are very geared for, second connecting with our five senses, something that we are not as in touch with because of our stuckness in thoughts and lack of exposure to things that will stimulate our connection to our feelings, thirdly connecting with our breath to such a degree that we are consciously not thinking, physically connecting with our five senses in a way where relaxation is in sink with how we feel without a thought. So sure this can be perceived as some illusional mythical belief, but let me say this: can we stop thinking completely, this is hard because we are so use to thinking that it is quite difficult to do so. And if we stop thinking what happens then: does all the energy that goes into thinking just disappear, no it then becomes distributed into your five senses: whereby now your five senses become more prevalent, more sensitive. And if this happens you will start to feel your energy, possibly seeing your aura, hear the sound of your energy, and knowing that you are in a altered state of consciousness. I will say that the importance of this achievement "nirvana" is not about becoming all powerful or subhuman, but that achieving this would lead to a peace of mind for the rest of your life. And in the relationship to martial arts: I would say that your expression of it will be less theoretical and more autonomous. I am expressing my thoughts and feelings about this because as a martial artist and yoga practitioner I was able to obtain these experiences and realize it's value for living. Since reaching nirvana I am less stressed than most, more relax and at ease in life, and just feeling pretty in touch with being okay. The way is the training : for peace of mind and for a healthier way of being

When I think about Qi and "neigong", I think about the electrical impulses that facilitate movement and exercises that loosen, strengthen or awaken underused areas for these impulses to flow smoother (I.e, better muscle control, smoother movement, subtle movement, ect). When you are stiff and lost movement in, lets say, the hips, the idea is to breath, do mobility exercises and really focus on moving that area to regain optimal function. Your nervous system turns your hips back on to prime movement instead of stiff, secondary movement because you are using them and it's an adaptation that is needed (apparently lol). These impulses flow more naturally now as a result and you have better control, strength, flexibility, and whatever else your exercises awarded you. Even further, you become more aware of the inner workings of your hips if you'd been oblivious to it before and have a better sense of how it connects to your movement.

good video as usual. but i didn't expect the spanish inquisition.

Huge Naruto nerd here. No offense taken Ramsey! I love your videos. One of your footwork videos has helped me especially.

Your skits are top tier

Chi gong stances are used to increase the electrical energy in the body (internal). You can feel it moving around as you breath in and out. The trick is to relax and let it flow. This energy can then be used to make the muscles contract better, for punching and kicking (external)

Great video i think i understand now the breathing and supplements to martial arts, i practice shadow boxing and bo staff but i realized when skateboarding i really need to focus on my breathing espacially when i ride ramps i really need to use me energy efficiently especially since i'm 28 years old. I have also learned that nutrition really helps me progress with new tricks and keeping up my conditioning. I really have took your advice try to be athletic to heart. +skateboarding gives me my share of hard knocks and falls. xD

I've got no time to look it up so I'm just gonna assume that internal martial arts is when your stomach punches your liver.

Thank you for talking about the subject in a reasonable way. As a lifelong practitioner of Baguazhang it is commonly an unpleasant, or at least unenlightening, to talk about these ideas with other practitioners. The "3 families" (as Sun Lu Tang described it) of Tai Chi, Baguazhang, and Xing I, have a lot of unnecessary cultural nonsense attached to them. Try to incorporate modern science into your dialogs, and many of their practitioners (even here in the west) start foaming at the mouth. Or they are on the other side of the non-existent fence, and renounce anything that is outside their understanding of the physical training and sparring. At the end of the day, correlation is just as valuable as causation within the practice. Correlation is an internal-felt-experience, causation is an external-validated-experience.

'A person who trains boxing and wrestling for a year will beat any Kung Fu fighter' - Bruce Lee

Reminds me of the (now infamous) poll on the Aikiweb forums, asking if Morihei Ueshiba could really dodge bullets: 80% said yes.

external strength lies in muscles like pectoral major, trapezius, and deltoid posterior (raises your upper arm to the side). the stuff that makes you look super strong and really helps with boxing. internal strength lies in muscles like deltoid anterior (raises your upper arm in front of you), lats, and Rhomboid, and your rotator cuff muscles.. these won't make you look imposing but can still generate plenty of power in certain strikes. I've felt the difference and it's all akin to the pose and angle of your body where you use certain muscle groups vs another. a good way to look at it is pushing your bike up a hill that's too steep to pedal up... if you push your bike from the handle bars it's frickin' hard as hell (can't do it from your seat cuz your handle bars will turn)... but if you get in front and pull your bike (or hell just pick up your bike and carry it), it's super easy. This is because we humans stand up-right, and not perpendicular to a steep hill, pushing direction is actually forward, not necessarily up, so you're kinda pushing into the hill, not up it... where as if you're pulling your bike, you're pulling it up (and of course lifting is lifting it up), so you're not pushing the bike against the angle of the ground now.

Great X martial cut at the end. Yup, its good stuff 👍. Iv been an avid martial arts nerd for some time, iv trained for many years, i love researching, and figuring out how to get through the walls of my training partners. However, there is one guy, that we all love but hate sometimes, that brings us endless blight within our training sessions, and it is very difficult to get past his walls/defense. He goes by the name of Mr. Sweet Jams. We call him Jams for short. A very suitable villain name. In all seriousness, he does infact make a great jam, and often will go foraging in the forest for wild berries and edibles to make it. We actually plan on going for another hike soon pretty deep into a region not yet explored. That is where i may challenge him. On a beautiful untouched meadow of berries. This could infact happen. However, as sweet as his jams may be, his soul is not. No, if he reads this, im certain he will grin, in knowing of the struggle we face against him. These are the details. Hes actually very similar to your size. Hes 6 feet, 220, very long arms. Im a tad bit taller than him, but I have a weight of about 20 to 30 lbs on him usually. Size is not everything however. This guys been training alot longer than i have, or any of us have been aswell, so ofcourse that does compinsate. Hel go easy on everyone once in a while, but for the most part he does what he does, and theres nothing wrong with that. Im just seeing if you have any advice to counter something like this. Iv been researching extensively, and have tried different things, which brought me to thinking about the situation, because it actually has a reference to wing chun, which Bruce made me think of. So this is a play out of what usually happens. He uses a double armed long guard, with a squared off stance. Now right now, im sure theres a ton of nerds that already have the answers in their heads, but just hear me out. He was the lucky one at the old gym. Most people were trained to have a close tight guard, but the coach at the time believed that this little jedi should have a green saber instead of a generic blue like the rest of us. So he trained with this long guard. He keeps his back straight while in it, and hel bend his left knee slightly, but keep his back leg mostly straight so that he leans forward slightly, but still has a straight spine. I can get a sub on him the odd time if we go to the ground after a successful take down, but that can be the hardest part since he has incredible take down defense, and counters to go with it. The odd time when i thought iv taken him down and everythings alright, what really happened was he was setting me up for a lock while we were going down. So iv discovered theres a few take downs that obviously prevent this, but getting to them is very difficult. His striking, and defense however is whats the trickiest. Now, i can say i strike very fast for a heavy weight, which came with years and years of shadow boxing primiarly to develope that control and speed. However, my guard is high, and balanced, but also close. Against others with the same iv done great, and against those that seem to think its ok to have a low loose guard, usually dont expect my jab to be as fast as it is until they get tagged with it. Against Mr. Sweet jams however, it is not as simple as it seems. Its like a lumber jack wanting to get at a trees trunk but cant beacause of all of the branches constantly in the way. Iv studied endlessly on how to get past this long guard, and i admire many youtubers attempts on explaining this, but its really not as easy as it seems. This guy usually sees whats coming, and even when you do a feint and try step in low at 45 degrees to get a body hook, he seems to already see it coming once you start moving low, and than when your bent over with your head down, he has a take down or two for that. Anyways. So hes very hard to get a strike on, even with alot of pressure but what usually happens than is he always seems to find that opening once you reach out to tag him, and if he gets you once, he usually has about 2 or 3 follow up shots, knowing how youl react, and than will finish with a take down, or if your backing away, or stepping out off his center line, than its usually a shot in the dark spinning back kick hel try land, and if you try do a generic take down while holding his leg if you catch it, sometimes hel use it as bate and before you react, hel jump in and get a knot inbetween your legs with his, youl both go down, and hes not fun to leg fight with. I love leg locks, but this guy is miles ahead of me with them. So hes just very complicated. By saying he uses a long guard, its so far out that he cant throw a hook unless he brings his arm in a bit. He rarely throws them, he usually just does straight punches at different angles and levels that seem to find their mark, as mentioned, hes very good at knowing a reaction after a strike, or a feint. So, its not the most powerful of shots, but they do still have alot of force since he really pushes his weight into them, when hitting the mits or bag. There just very tedious strikes. So, on the topic of bruce lee, and wing chun that came to mind. The only thing iv found that really works against his long guard, is the wing chun hand trapping, or pummelling, and a quick and short straight punch with a vertical fist once there is a minor opening. Iv never studied wing chun before, so i didnt know much. The odd time, a guy passing through the city for work up north would sometimes stop into our gym, and i always admired the art, especially the foot work. So i just took the basics to try and get some openings or try take his back. As you mentioed before, alot of wrestling and such can be seen in tradional arts like karate, and tai chi as you mentioned. So i guess my question would be, is my logic flawed going against this sort of defense, or can you think of any other options to try? Or am i stuck trying to pumel through the guard to get one small quick shot in. If youd like to respond in any form, itd be appreciated.

What I have read is that the differentiation between internal and external styles is obsolete as the differentiation between hard and soft styles. Currently it is differentiated between northern styles and southern styles. Have you heard about that?

When I was younger it was the myth surrounding internal practices that got me into martial arts. In my mind it was all connected to the phrase "knowledge is power." Later I learned that knowledge is not power. Action is power. Knowledge only amplifies existing potential by enabling effective action. But I am grateful that I passed through that romantic phase, since it is only thanks to that phase that I eventually learned and progressed to where I am now. Love you, Ramsey. Keep it up.

Hey coach. I know you've been in china for a while and had encounters with various kung fu styles. What styles of kung fu have you enjoyed and what have you learned from them?

This is am excellent rundown, as someone who trained external (Shaolin) and internal (tai chi chuan). I always saw them as two sides of the same thing, similar to the yin yang! The end goal is fighting skill. But internal and external approach it from different sides. But over time, you end up in the same place. A practitioner of an external art, after sufficient training, will have achieved the same skills as an internal practitioner. And vice versa.

As some ignorant once said, "don't confuse me with your facts".

In the world of martial arts, a legend did arise, Bruce Lee's prowess, a spectacle for all eyes. With lightning-fast strikes and wisdom profound, He's the greatest of all, his legacy unbound. In every kick and punch, his spirit does gleam, Bruce Lee, forever, in our hearts, supreme.

I can't believe I had argument with my dad about Lee's legitimacy. 😂😂

In the whole taijiquan side, it took me a long time to understand Wu style's differences (I practiced a Yang style, and Chen style made sense immediately in transfer). I found that they really emphasize the lean and it took watching some catch as catch can wrestling videos (especially older ones) to understand it. Considering the folk wrestling background it makes sense to see the relationship. Internal arts means so many different things, but what I think people forget is that almost every martial art falls in one of two categories: A soldier's toolkit to inflict your will on your opponent, or something refined taught to the rich and the nobility. The first is only effective because what doesn't work from it is paid for in blood, but is subject to stagnation and loss of efficacy as times change. The second only becomes effective when you put it behind a soldier who's paid a little of that blood toll. Taijiquan has this same problem. It's the result of a grizzled veteran taking his changquan (long fist for the rest of y'all) and repurposing it for the nobility he's teaching.

Bruce Li didn't die. He was summoned to fight in Mortal Kombat.

Ali was a boyhood hero of mine and growing up I thought he was in fact the greatest boxer to ever lived, and that he could beat every one living and not living. Now that I know more about people like Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano etc, and have seen their fights, I don't feel that Ali was anywhere near the "greatest of all time" when he claimed to be that. Also, he was a racist who was a member of a hate group. Yet I still love him for his courage and style and outspokenness. I probably would have cried if I'd ever met him IRL. We believe in the magic of our heroes because we want to believe.

Bruce Lee was called the little dragon because he was a literal dragon Well, half... His father was a Cantonese opera singer, and his mom was a literal dragon

It’s kind of crazy. Like, studying Tai Chi, Xyingi, and Pakua together helps channel chi. But let’s talk martial aspects. All 3 together work towards a lot of the philosophy Bruce had. You need Tai chi for the movement, sensitivity, that feel. Pakua gives you the dynamic footwork and has you work on angles and grappling. The Tai chi learned in push hands help you get ready to move into that grappling you do in Pakua. Then Xingyi has the lighting fest striking. Bruce says stay relaxed, don’t tense until impact. Breath control, controlling yourself. Being formless. Ready wherever the attack comes from (tai chi and Pakua). Striking fast (Xingyi) which comes from that relaxed but readiness you get from tai chi. Now shooting chi out of my hands. Those are stories that aren’t needed. The physical effects that people are seeking come from the body mechanics developed. In the end you have to do free sparring like he championed. So they get to the same destination taking different routes.

15:18 I think one of the things that got me out of Catholicism when I was younger was that told us to think but they never taught us how or what to think about specifically. Nowadays, I see so many more interesting and useful things I would think about.

Your video with coach chong xie which discussed internal martial arts was good

Get the book by John Little that just came out, "The Wrath of the Dragon: The Real Fights of Bruce Lee." And please give an honest review of it after reading it.

Hey dude with your voice u could do voice over’s or be a professer in a university. Good video with good insight.

The 1" punch spasms was the first time I lol'd today. 😄

2:32 Look for the "No Zero Days" concept as well, it goes in the same direction.

Here's my attempt at debunking: How many photos aka "money shots" of a boxer or MMA fighter of note feature them knocking the slobber out of someone else in some powerful, well-trained strike? Many, and they're real strikes. How many movies feature the action star Bruce Lee performing high-level choreography and interpretive dance-fu, sending paperweight men flying or flipping about? Many, and they're fun/great movies. Conflating fiction and reality is dangerous.

Hey Ramsey I have a question. What do you think of drunk boxing the way Emmanuel Augustus does it? Is it worth exploring/practicing?

One thing not mentioned is that the whole distinction between neija and waijia was originally just a way to politicize martial arts and arouse nationalism. The inferior invaders were mere externalists while those at home were the real deal internalists. It caught on but really all martial arts have "internal" and "external" aspects. Sun Lutang was one of many who decided to attempt to give the distinction real meaning but even many "internal artists" still have different opinions on it. HOWEVER those arts like Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua, and many others go WAY deeper than just breathing. Each art has a very in depth and rich method that connects breathing, the mind, and the rest of the body. While not necessary magical, these can lead to some pretty profound transormation and connection. Much more than you would get from just stretching and focusing on breathing a little more. Again it's not magic but the idea of internal being just the theoretical part or "this is how you punch" is just scratching the surface. It's good to understand that it isn't the fighting skill itself but a bit disrespectful to equate those practices with warm ups and cool downs at the gym. Another reason why these youtubers ought to invite some IMA practitioners to talk more about what they do. Otherwise it's like me taking a few BJJ classes and chalking it all down to trying to wrestle my way into a getting chokehold. Easy peasy right? 🙄

Whenever Bruce Lee threw a punch he split the entire universe down the middle, but he did it so cleanly that the universe doesn't know its been cut; let us hope it never does discover that fact, cause if it does, we can kiss all existence goodbye.

Personally, I think the idea of “internal” martial arts is one that scholarly teachers used as a marketing term (as opposed to the Fighters, like Chang Dung Sheng of Wang Zi-Peng). You don’t find a lot of that stuff in, “Southern styles” like you do in Tai Chi, Ba Gua, Xing Yi, LHBF, etc Just because you move slower doesn’t make it, “more internal.” White Crane is just as “internal” as Tai Chi, in the sense that the way it develops deep relaxation, fine motor skill, breathing, understanding of leverage, and utilizes relatively static and focused, meditative practices to develop it. They make up legends like Ba Gua circle walking came from some Taoist monks. More likely is the account that the student Cheng Tinghua, who was a Shuaijiao practitioner, came up with the circle walking so his students could walk the palm changes around the outside edge of their Wrestling pit. More striking, he found no contradiction between his Wrestling and his Ba Gua. The same for Yang Lu Chan with the Manchurian’s Wrestling. EVERY martial art uses a mixture of “qi gong” / nei gong internal practices and lin gong (stone locks, sand bags, heavy staff whipping, weaponry, stance holding, body hitting, etc). Its the same as boxing do cardio, then shadowboxing and then the medicine ball. The only thing that separates Kungfu is the pursuit of not relying on pure athleticism. In that regard, it is closer in philosophy to Jujutsu / Jiujitsu or Judo than for example the Wrestling we had to learn in high school.

Do you know any resources available regarding Taiji Zen? It's the version by Jack Ma and Jet Li. I keep looking and all I see is a few videos on RU-vid. Isn't there anything more?

Oh hey! Didn't see you there 😅 Is that Skyrim in the background?

My teacher has always said that in the old days, qigong, neigong and waigong were all done together.

Do you have any experience or tips regarding rucking, carrying extremely heavy loads long distances, that sort of training? I like to carry stuff, actually my favorite training used to be carrying small logs. I just wonder if there is any way to do it more effectively. The strength benefit works great in judo, although my form still sucks. Most throws I do with strength, not with technique, which is bad 😢

Thanks so much!! 💙☯️

That was one of the best intros of the channel, Grandmaster of Bruce Lee-Hating Sensei Chosen One

"Ramsey Dewey. By the power of one inch punch. I compel you!"

@Ramsey Dewey I spend a lot of time visualising my self not getting into fights. If I spent that much time thinking about fights I would see enemies everywhere.

I agree that qigong, zhan zhuang, and other internal practices don't replace training like drilling and sparring if fighting skills is the goal. They won't grant superpowers like no-touch push and flying. On the other hand, internal practices can push the mind and body to almost superhuman levels. For example this Wudang master can almost glide like in the wuxia movies ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m6QUWLMQ8AY.html.

Hey Sir your a wonderful human being and a great MMA fighter n Trainer but what we love most of all is your humble perspective personality happy. Fun videos and ur claim you can beat bruce lee in a real FIGHT but you would have to help train bruce lee up to todays MMA ring style fighting and im sure he would agree if u made a film im sure it could b GREAT SIR❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Cool backdrop, Ramsey. Is it painted on glass or is it like back-lit canvas? How is the rain effect achieved?

Internal art, nei jia, is body mechanics + dynamic linkage + muscle control. External art, wai jia, is body conditioning + strength training.

Would be interesting to see where the common ground begins and ends between Ramsey and @THEMARTIALMAN on this topic.

Great translation of Classical Chinese jargon to Contemporary Martial Arts Exercise and Practices. Combative Exercise to Non-Combative Physical Therapy

The intro skit cracked me up 😂 just like the mental image of Bruce Lee sidekicking a guy to the moon

My understanding is that the distinction between internal and external styles was very uncommon and was originally a political/religious classification with internal being Daoist derived martial arts styles (with supporters of the Ming dynasty using them) and external being non-Daoist (mainly Buddhist) martial arts styles that may or may not have supported the Qing. It is only later (in the early 20th century) that the idea of internal styles had a bunch of mumbo jumbo tossed into it.

What a refreshing take, most combat sports guys will completely dismiss the traditional stuff, while completely ignoring the context. While also calling out the role players 😂

Chi-gung, Chi Kung, or qigong is best translated as 'energy work', gong being the same word as in gong fu (Kung Fu). The breathing is important, but the visualization of chi flows is absolutely integral to the practice.

Internal energy is the result of a combination of factors and actions like deep relaxation and releasing muscle tension, efficient transfer of body mass and shift in weight, overcoming the body's natural restrictions on loading force(autogenic inhibition), proper posture, properly utilising the connective tissue, including fascia, etc. It's not magic. But to learn all this, you need a qualified teacher who can do all this and explain it to you properly. So having a good teacher is very important. Too many people out there who claim they have the goods, but can't do any of it.

no one ever talks about "rooting" - about how to Stand - most powerful secret of Eastern Martial Arts - Basic in Kung Fu - never taught anywhere else

as a former tai chi practitioner, i always say internal combat arts rely almost entirely on the faith of both combatants to work. if drawn against a hard martial artist, the internal artist will soon be paste on the floor. however one thing i got and still cherish from my years of tai chi is they taught me how to breath properly. nowadays i don't do martial arts becasue i don't have access to a space but i do workout at a gym several times a wekk, where i lift weights and do cardio. in both areas i find the breathing techniques i learned doing tai chi helps a tremedous amount, not becasue there is any mysticism to it but because muscles like oxygen and when you breat properly, they get it in spades.

To my knowledge Baji Quan is an external style of kung fu and that is why it has been traditionally combined with Piqua Zhang, which is an internal style to balance Baji's hardness. Having said that, all traditional kung fu styles have both internal and external aspects that are 'balanced' within the given style's essence and character. The main Internal styles delve much deeper into the internal aspects, VERY much deeper. Combine that with the secrecy surrounding some of these methodologies then you get all of the misunderstandings related to the Internals. "Standing Meditation' is ultimately designed to fill your body with chi. If you do it correctly then you will eventually start experiencing the 'fullness' that it develops. Finally, all kung fu styles were designed for fighting, whether internal or external.

😂 I lost it with those banishing 1 inch punches!

Even before watching the video, just seeing the face on the thumbnail, the first thought was "Brazilian Jiujitsu". I wasn't wrong. I'm also visualising in 5-7 years from now, when trauma accumulates, and sh..t stops being as tough as an iron rod, the author secretly enrolling into a Taijiquan class. And you know what, I'm sure he'll be good at it !

Just like to mention a couple of storeys in brief i was robbing a clothes shop once (don't tell the police i was very young) we were on top of a building 30 maybe 40ft high as we sawd through the iron bars that sealed the shops goodeys the alarm went off my mate scarped down the climing rope i lost my grip i was suddenly falling it seemed like time stood still as the night sky rotated slowly as I fell i landed with a thud got up leapt over a 4 and a half foot wall and joined my friend who had somehow found a pram and was beckoning me to join him as a police car shot up the street and went straight past us. Years later i was doing my job under an apartment building emptying the bins (at the time I was learning to draw for cartoons i was useing material from fighting books the book i was trying to draw from was on the art of jujitsu the picture i was trying to draw from was called a lift kick any way as I was going about my business a lad who was loading the lifts with furniture and was being quite vocal and loud decided he was going to try and intimerdate me and came over to me waveing he's Stanley knife he was using to open the packages as he came close the image of the lift kick rushed into my head i pinched my fingers together like those meditating soften my knees lifted my foot right between he's legs i am sure I could feel he's balls through my boots and gently kicked him which instantly reduced him in pain to the floor. I had to help him up to he's feet and apologised for hurting him i had no ill intent and he was acting aggressively he later told me he was a top kick boxer from Romania and said he was most impressed with my kick. I am no fighter apart from a little judo at school but I do believe that visualisation is very powerfull. Hope you find this amuseing.