Fa Jing

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Fa jing, fa jin, fa ching or fa chin (fā jìn, 發勁) is a term used in some Chinese martial arts, particularly the neijia internal martial arts, such as Xingyi, T'ai Chi Chuan and Baguazhang .

It means to issue or discharge power, and is not specific to any particular striking method. (Jìn or jìng (勁), or "power," is often confused by Westerners with the related concept of jīng (精), which literally means "essence." Fa jing can be understood in two general senses. The first being a primarily physical concept in which large coordinated groups of muscles work together to expel force in a relaxed manner. A popular example of this would be Bruce Lee's demonstration of the One inch punch. This is in contrast to the isolated muscular contraction and inertia that is the force behind for instance, a punch in Western boxing. The second, and perhaps rarer, type of fa jing involves subtler discharge of energy (the Chinese concept of Qi) possibly without much noticable physical exertion. The most common example of the latter would be the "Qi demonstrations" of Qigong masters. These two are not mutually exclusive, and most demonstrations of fa jing by internal martial artists utilize some of both.