Discovering Internal Principles Through Embodied Practice

[TaiChiGringo]

On 08/01/2026 at 4:19 PM, ChiDragon said:

 

Since you have mentioned the biological systems of connective tissue and nervous system, have you gone deeper into the body cell level? Like an "action potential" that is so characteristic of the nervous system. Sorry, this is a microscopic question entering modern science. Most of the martial artists are not concerned with the internal function of the body. However, our body was affected by our practice. There are some biological changes in the body. I think it is worthwhile to investigate the biochemical effects inside the body cells. What do you think?

 

This is a good and legitimate question, and I agree it’s worth thinking about, even if it takes us into modern biological language that traditional martial arts never explicitly used, and even if it's difficult to prove.

Personally, I’ve mostly approached internal training as efficiency work at the systemic level rather than at the level of individual cells. What internal practice very clearly changes, in my experience, is how the whole system is organized: coordination, load distribution, timing, and the amount of internal resistance present during movement. When those improve, the biological cost of producing force drops.

From that perspective, everything I’m describing can already be explained without invoking special cellular mechanisms. If the body stops fighting itself, less co-contraction, less compression, cleaner force transmission, then:

• less ATP is burned unnecessarily
• less local tissue stress accumulates
• recovery demands fall
• circulation and fluid exchange improve

Those changes will inevitably affect tissue and cellular environments, even if we don’t measure them directly. Better microcirculation, improved nutrient delivery, and more efficient waste removal are very plausible downstream effects, but I see them as secondary consequences of improved system organization, not the primary driver.

So yes, in my view it’s reasonable to assume that long-term internal training creates better conditions at the tissue and cellular level. But I’m cautious about flipping the explanation around. Internal training doesn’t work because cells are doing something exotic; rather, cells benefit because the system above them has become more coherent and economical.

I’ll add one personal observation, because this was what caused me to start thinking along these lines. The effect I notice most clearly is a dramatically reduced need for recovery. The last few years I've been training in BJJ and MMA in addition to my internal training. And I notice that I’m able to tolerate repeated high-intensity sessions with far less DOMS and systemic fatigue than many training partners who are 15–20 years younger (I'm 42).

 

I don’t attribute this simply to being “better conditioned” in the conventional sense, nor to genetics. Rather, I think internal training has changed how my conditioning is expressed. Lower internal friction during effort, less unnecessary tension, cleaner force transmission, and fewer local tissues being overloaded or compressed, means the same work carries a lower biological cost. The work is simply “cheaper” to do.

 

I have a bunch of draft articles around this topic that I’ll be posting soon, as it’s become a particularly interesting aspect of my training over the last couple of years. I’ve also done some recent physiological testing that produced a few surprising results, for example, a VO₂ max of at least 65, despite never having done specific endurance training. I don’t take this as proof of anything mystical, but as another data point about how efficiency and conditioning interact. Internal training lowers the biological cost of movement; that reduced cost lowers recovery demands, which allows for more frequent, higher-quality training, and over time supports improved conditioning.

Edited 7 hours ago by TaiChiGringo

[ChiDragon]

3 hours ago, TaiChiGringo said:

even if it takes us into modern biological language that traditional martial arts never explicitly used, and even if it's difficult to prove.

 

Thank you for your response! May I clarify some hidden issues here. The martial artist do not used modern biological language is because they are lack of knowledge how the human body works biologically. There is no need for proofs, the modern explanation are self explanatory. It is a matter of comprehension and correlate the microscopic view with the macroscopic view. The relationship are very clear if there was no misunderstanding or one's thinking only swing to one side. Besides, what proof does the ancient text have to make it so believable. Isn't that the modern science theories are more reliable?

Edited 3 hours ago by ChiDragon