Discussing early Neigong texts
Hi friends, in the pod today I’ve decided to present a little discussion of the background of the Neigong genre and what it means to internal practice.
My basic conceit can be summed up as follows:
Neigong started out as martial arts well being practices,
it is not a stand alone system outside of martial arts,
it is designed specifically for the “civil” aspect of martial training,
it is not Neidan,
it is most similar to Dao Yin styles popular between the 18th and 19th centuries.
it was largely absorbed into multiple contemporary Qigong styles,
Behind the paywall today is a translation of the Neigong Jing, a popular text used in the Shanxi style of Xingyi which presents postural ideas and internal practices. The Neigong Jing is part of a collection called the four classics of Neigong, the others of which I may choose to translate at a later time. although it has been translated already by Tom Bisio and Josh Paynter, so if you are interested in their version you can find it on amazon. I’ve also included my translation of the inner and outer skill differentiation from the Nei Gong Tu Shuo, which I’ve put below the Neigong Jing translation, so today you can access two documents. The differentiation is an article explaining the difference between internal and external practice, why we do them and their benefits, so I hope you enjoy it!
1: 内功经
Neigong Jing: