Through long-term practice of deep relaxation and deep softness (大松大軟) in Taijiquan, practitioners gradually generate a new kind of internal force. This process is called “changing jin” (換勁).
This new internal force contains three elements:
This article explains the relationships among these three elements.
I. Understanding the Three Elements from Common Sense
1. Song-Chen Jin (松沈勁)
Through extensive practice of deep relaxation and softness, all parts of the body gradually relax. Naturally, one feels the body becoming heavier and sinking downward.
What turns this “sinking” into jin is the simultaneous cultivation of internal qi. Besides the sensations of relaxation and sinking, there is also a feeling of fullness and internal vitality. Hence it is called Song-Chen Jin.
2. Suspension Jin (懸浮勁)
According to physics, action and reaction arise simultaneously. When the body’s weight presses downward onto the ground, the ground generates an equal and opposite reactive force. This force travels upward from the soles of the feet, segment by segment, through the body and into the hands.
When a practitioner is sufficiently relaxed and maintains correct body alignment, this ground reaction force feels as if it is supporting the entire body effortlessly, producing a sensation of floating in the air. This is known as Suspension Jin.
3. Internal Qi (內氣)
Standing meditation (zhan zhuang) is widely recognized in martial arts as a method for increasing vitality. Slow Taijiquan practice can be regarded as a low-consumption moving zhan zhuang, generating internal energy.
When muscles are relaxed and the qi pathways are unobstructed, this vitality becomes flowing internal qi. When abundant, it enhances the body’s resilience and elasticity.
The amount of internal qi directly determines the strength of both Song-Chen Jin and Suspension Jin.
II. The Process of Changing Jin:
The Relationship among Song-Chen Jin, Suspension Jin, and Internal Qi
First Stage
Assuming we train using effective methods of deep relaxation and softness (the methods are discussed later in the original text), we will pass through a difficult phase—described by Master Zhao Youbin—as one of whole-body soreness and weakness in the limbs.
After persevering through this stage, Song-Chen Jin and internal qi begin to emerge. With continued practice, the body feels increasingly relaxed and heavy. Not only does the practitioner feel rooted and stable, but others also find it difficult to push or move them.
As internal qi increases, bodily flexibility improves, and Song-Chen Jin gradually matures.
Second Stage
By continuing to practice under the principle of deep relaxation and softness, internal force appears in a new form. The earlier sensations of soreness and weakness disappear, replaced by an even internal tension—like an inflated balloon: soft yet elastic.
Going further, one begins to feel a force rising from the ground, passing through the body and reaching both hands, as if lifting the body upward. With only slight intention, movements begin smoothly and arrive naturally at their destination. At this point, Suspension Jin has formed.
Master Zhao Youbin once described high-level internal jin as:
“As if floating freely in water, drifting in great rivers and streams.”
This is an excellent description of Suspension Jin.
III. The Relationship among Song-Chen Jin, Suspension Jin, and Internal Qi
1. Suspension Jin Is Derived from Song-Chen Jin
From the two stages above, it is clear that Suspension Jin develops from Song-Chen Jin, since reaction force only arises when there is an applied force.
However, Song-Chen alone is passive—an intoxicated person can be relaxed and sinking, yet the ground’s reaction force will not lift them up. To allow the ground’s reaction force to support the body within deep relaxation and softness, the body’s force-generation mechanism must gradually change and be restructured—this is precisely “changing jin.”
Over time, the body develops from being unable to support itself, to being able to support itself, and finally to being able to float, forming Suspension Jin. Because this transformation takes time, Suspension Jin always appears later than Song-Chen Jin.
2. Song-Chen Jin and Suspension Jin Ultimately Merge into One
When both Song-Chen Jin and Suspension Jin mature, they merge into a single, higher-level internal jin. The internal experience becomes one of “both sinking and floating.”
It feels as though every cell in the body is balanced between a downward sinking force and an upward lifting force, reaching equilibrium and suspending the body in space.
In push-hands practice, opponents feel the practitioner’s body and limbs as soft and flexible, yet also heavy and difficult to move. At this point, Taijiquan internal strength training has reached a high level, and the process of changing jin is essentially complete.
3. Internal Qi Is the Substance of Both Song-Chen Jin and Suspension Jin
The transformation from weakness to strength, and from softness to firmness, is a process of whole-body cellular reorganization. This process enhances the flow of bio-electrical currents—namely, internal qi.
The circulation of internal qi improves energy and information transmission throughout the body, integrating all tissues into a unified whole. Muscles become dense, refined, sensitive, and responsive.
External practitioners strengthen only the parts they train, such as arms or chest. In contrast, accomplished internal practitioners need not train specific parts; with abundant internal qi, the entire body becomes elastic and resilient.
This whole-body transformation through internal qi not only promotes health but also elevates the level of Taijiquan internal skill. Even if, during the process of changing jin, a practitioner does not strongly perceive sinking or floating sensations, as long as abundant internal qi is cultivated through deep relaxation and softness, changing jin is essentially accomplished—its effects already contain those of both Song-Chen Jin and Suspension Jin.
Therefore, internal qi is the most fundamental and important element of all three.
