Skip to content
EntityQ1663990· pop 13· linked from 265 articles

Neijia (內家) is the collective name for the internal Chinese martial arts. It relates to those martial arts occupied with spiritual, mental or qi-related aspects, as opposed to an "external" approach focused on physiological aspects. The distinction dates to the 17th century, but its modern application is due to publications by Sun Lutang, dating to the period of 1915 to 1928. Neijin is developed by using neigong or "internal changes", contrasted with waigong (外功; wàigōng) or "external exercises" .

Wikidata facts

Subclass of
martial arts
Show 2 more facts
Commons category
Internal martial arts
topic's main category
Category:Neijia
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~8 min read

Encyclopedic overview

12 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Qing China
  • Republic of China
  • Sun Lutang
  • Training
  • Characteristics
  • Current practice
  • Fiction
  • See also
  • Citations
  • General bibliography
  • External links

Neijia (內家) is the collective name for the internal Chinese martial arts. It relates to those martial arts occupied with spiritual, mental or qi-related aspects, as opposed to an "external" approach focused on physiological aspects. The distinction dates to the 17th century, but its modern application is due to publications by Sun Lutang, dating to the period of 1915 to 1928. Neijin is developed by using neigong or "internal changes", contrasted with waigong (外功; wàigōng) or "external exercises" .

Wudangquan is a more specific grouping of internal martial arts named for their association in popular Chinese legend with the Taoist monasteries of the Wudang Mountains in Hubei province. These styles were enumerated by Sun Lutang as tai chi, xingyiquan and baguazhang, but most also include bajiquan and the legendary Wudang Sword.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Neijia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.