Why is Taijiquan termed an Internal Martial Art ?
There are many schools of thought about the reason for this. One is that Shaolin KungFu was introduced to China by Da Mo, an Indian Buddhist monk, and as such was an external art whereas Taijiquan was created by Zhangsanfeng who was Chinese. My personal observation is that all Martial Arts have external and internal components. The external is what can be seen , the blocks, punches , kicks , evasions etc. The internal is what cannot be seen i.e how is the block administered , how is the force generated for the punch, kick etc. External methods use a large degree of force to block an attack whereas internal methods focus on using minimum force to redirect the attack to the void.Thus to the untrained eye two practictioners who defend themselves with what may look like the same technique could be using completely different approaches. Secondly external methods are used to develop the body to give an external show of power, agility whereas internal methods concentrate on inner development
