The following pictures were taken during a session for Tang Su Do black belts, or better, midnight blue belts, held by Senior Master Roberto D. Villalba on October, 19th 2008. That day, more than an hour and a half of the lesson was about Ki Kong (Qi Qong in Chinese). This shows the deep connection between what we call "internal work" (Nei Kong, which embraces the practice of Ki Kong) and "external work" (Wei Kong).

A serious and thorough practice and study of any Eastern martial art, where the research of technical effectiveness goes together with knowledge along a parallel path aspiring to spiritual and individual introspection as much as to the achievement of an inner well-being which has a positive reflection on ordinary social life, must well consider that there is a bond between Wei and Nei that simply cannot be interrupted.

Moreover, there is an imbalance whenever one of the two is preferred to the other. When the practice of Wei and Nei is nonconforming, disharmonic or lacking the necessary fluidity of a reciprocal energetic exchange where each gives and takes power from the other, there is a displacement between Ying and Yang (Um and Yang in Korean) very well known to Eastern Philosophy wise men.

Besides, the pursuit of balance between Ying and Yang, along with the study of the therapies aimed to restore it, are among the foundations of Chinese and Eastern medical knowledge. As a matter of fact, it often happened that Martial Arts Masters were also "medicine men", hence combining the skill of fighting techniques as well as the knowledge of healing abilities, the powers of medical herbs, and so on. For instance, the study of the vital points of the human body means understanding how and where to strike or press depending on the desired result: life or death. If it may sound strange that a great warrior could also be a great healer, it must be considered that in the eastern tradition and philosophy of "Mu Do" (Wu Tao in Chinese, Bu Do in Japanese) those who knew how to bring death should also know how to preserve life.

Back to present days, this short collection of photographs displays some of the basic exercises aimed at neuro-muscular relaxation, correct posture and body alignment, and the study and control of breathing. Additionally, some glimpses of static-dynamic Ki Kong movements can be seen: those are the natural counterpart of the Wei Kong techniques that will followed throughout the lesson. But also, they are the starting point of the more advanced practice of concentration and meditation which are the first steps towards Shim Kong, or Spiritual Work.

Therefore, once again we underline how Tang Su Do practice is far from being a punching-and-kicking sport: divided roughly in Wei Kong, Nei Kong and Shim Kong, it offers different techniques for different types of energies that all combine, in a continuous interchange of powers, to bring about new life in the particular microcosm which is the human being.