Neijia in the context of "Zhan zhuang"

Neigong (internal strength or internal skill), also spelled nei kung, neigung, or nae gong, refers to a series of internal changes that a practitioner goes through when following the path to Dao, and these changes may be achieved through practices including qigong or tai chi. Neigong is also associated with xingyi quan.

Neigong practice is normally associated with the so-called "soft style", "internal" or neijia Chinese martial arts, as opposed to the category known as waigong 外功 or "external skill" which is historically associated with Shaolin kung fu or the so-called "hard style", "external" or waijia Chinese martial arts. Both have many different schools, disciplines and practices and historically there has been mutual influence between the two and distinguishing precisely between them differs from school to school.

Xingyiquan (Chinese: 形意拳; pinyin: xíngyìquán), also known as xingyi (Chinese: 形意; pinyin: xíngyì), is a style of internal Chinese martial arts. The word approximately translates to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist".

The style is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements, and explosive power most often applied from a short range. A practitioner of xingyi uses coordinated movements to generate bursts of power intended to overwhelm the opponent, simultaneously attacking and defending. Methods vary from school to school but always include bare-handed fighting (mostly in single movements/combinations and sometimes in forms) and using weapons with similar body mechanics to those in bare-handed intense fighting. Movement and body mechanics in the art were heavily influenced by the practice of using staves and spears.

Baguazhang (Chinese: 八卦掌; pinyin: bā guà zhǎng; Wade–Giles: pa-kua chang) is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school, the other two being tai chi and xingyiquan. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or neijia). Baguazhang literally means "eight trigram palm", referring to the bagua "trigrams" of the Yijing, one of the canons of Daoism.