How are external and internal martial arts defined? What are their basic differences?
Chinese martial arts are generally classified into external martial arts and internal martial arts. The most well-known Chinese external martial art is Shaolinquan, and the most well-known Chinese internal martial art is Taijiquan. There are more external martial arts than internal martial arts. Other examples of Chinese external martial arts include Praying Mantis, Hung Gar, Monkey, Tiger, Wing Chun. Besides Taijiquan, there are only two other Chinese internal martial arts: Baquaquan and Xingyiquan. Some Chinese martial arts, such as White Crane and Liuhebafa, are sometimes classified as combined external/internal martial arts. Almost all of the martial arts in the West, such as Boxing, Wrestling, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Jujitsu, and Kickboxing, are considered to be external martial arts. Aikido is one of the few exceptions and can be considered to be an internal martial art.
Cultural Loyalty and Political Loyalty
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, when Spain played against the U.S. for the gold medal match in men’s basketball, most Spanish Americans[1] rooted for the Spanish Team. When Brazil played against the U.S. for the gold medal match in women’s soccer, most Brazilian Americans rooted for the Brazilian Team. When China played against the U.S. for the gold medal match in women’s beach volleyball, most Chinese Americans rooted for the Chinese Team. Is there anything unusual or of concern to the U.S. about the above phenomenon? Shouldn’t American citizens be rooting for the U.S. teams? I think to discuss this issue and to answer these questions, we need to differentiate between cultural loyalty and political loyalty.
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