Principle · Practice

Internal Connections 身内争力

shēn nèi zhēng lì

Internal connections (身内争力, Shēn Nèi Zhēng Lì, “contending force inside the body”) are the practical, step-by-step training form of the internal contending force (争力). The principle of simultaneously acting, mutually opposed force pairs is translated into named connections between concrete parts of the body: finger to finger, the wrists, elbow to elbow, knee to knee and, in the stance, the diagonal “main connections” front knee to rear hip and head to front foot. Each connection is formed through the intent and given a material quality (thread, rubber band, “magnetic feeling”, steel spring) that determines how it behaves. The build-up runs in three stages: feel the connection → let it draw together and press apart while relaxed → actively press and pull while tensed, in the Song/Jin alternation. It is worked through stance by stance: parallel stance (Píng Bù), step stance (Dīng Bā Bù), friction step (Mocabu, fixed and walking) up to Shili while walking (Zǒu Bù Shì Lì), where the arm and leg connections are deliberately decoupled. Physiologically this is the co-contraction of the antagonists broken down joint pair by joint pair — the same elastic pre-tension that is sought in Zhan Zhuang as a whole-body “ball” (Hun Yuan Li) and felt out in Mo Jin.

From principle to instruction

Zheng Li states that opposed pairs of force must act within the body. Hun Yuan Li describes what results. The internal connections (身内争力) are the piece in between: the didactically broken-down form, the map — which connection, in which stance, pulled or pressed in which direction.

Concrete pairs between concrete body parts are named: finger against finger, knee against knee, front knee against rear hip, head against front foot. That is the difference between a principle and something you can practise.

Material qualities

Each connection is formed through intent and given a material quality that fixes how it behaves:

Threads and ropes — they hold and draw together, with almost no push back.
Rubber bands — elastic pull, wanting to contract.
A magnetic feeling — attracting and repelling, depending on direction.
Steel springs — resistance in both directions, against pressure as against pull.

The choice of material is not a matter of taste: it determines whether the connection yields, pushes back, or does both.

Three stages

1. Establishing and perceiving the connection at all. 2. Working relaxed — letting it draw together and press apart. The material quality does the work, not the practitioner. 3. Working tensed — actively compressing and pulling apart, alternating with phases of release. This is the 松紧 alternation in practice.

Keeping inner and outer apart

Three similar-sounding terms are easily confused. The internal connections are pairs of force within the body — physically the co-contraction of antagonists, elastic preload, without moving the centre of mass. The external connections (身外争力) by contrast project outward into the distance, for instance springs to a tree. And the three external harmonies from the Sechs Harmonien mean something different again: the coordination of hand and foot, elbow and knee, shoulder and hip.