Nèi Jìng

Nèi Jìn (Chinese: 內勁) is the Chinese term for the "internal power" associated with Chinese martial arts. Theoretically the opposite of brute muscular force, nèi jìn should be characterized by softness, elasticity, and flexibility. When nèi jìn is successfully exerted, body and breathing supposedly work together as a single unit, with no wasted effort anywhere in the musculature.

Proponents of nèi jìn claim that as one ages the power of muscles expanding and contracting in tension gradually decreases but coordinated nèi jìn and its resulting leverage will increase with time if it is cultivated assiduously. This power is allegedly unique to the internal martial arts of China and rarely found in other martial arts, if at all, although different schools define the term differently.

Nèi jìn is developed using "nèigōng" (內功), or "internal exercises," as opposed to "wài gōng" (外功), "external exercises." A famous application of nèi jìn is the "fā jìn" (發勁) used by practitioners of the internal martial arts to throw opponents great distances away from them, among other applications.

Jìn (勁), or "power," should not be confused with the related concept of jīng (精), which literally means "semen," but by extension is used metaphorically to mean "essence" within the context of Taoist literature and traditional Chinese medicine.

See also