Internal martial arts are a set of martial systems that all originate in China, and share certain commonalities in the body methods that use. Taijiquan, along with Baguazhang, Xingyiquan make up the three most widely known internal martial arts, although there are many other less widespread systems. 

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They share certain principles and some common elements in their training systems. Here I'll outlines some of the elements of internal systems according to my understanding, and also from the Chen Taijiquan perspective, as I have not trained in either Xingyi or Bagua. I'll also link to some interesting articles at the bottom of the page.  

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I hesitate to try and define internal arts, but they tend to have a number of things in common

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I came across this nice piece which outlines very well the difference of approach of internal vs external amrtial arts. 

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http://www.shenwu.com/Internal_VS_External.htm

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fighting sytems...

power generation

postural sensitivity - ting jin

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power generation

realxation

progressive firing

alignment

winding/elastic recoil

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listening / rooting

tensegrity

relaxation / heaviness

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tensegrity

descrption

listening - my structure is sfoter and more even, I can feel other

rooting, absorb force

neutralisation - mantain postural principles while rearranging structure according to incominig force

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