Withdrawing "the Boys"

[taai gihk yahn]

There is even more to it, believe me.

my sifu has an indirect relationship to this system;

I agree and of course no one can move without using their muscles but this lineage is notoriously (and understandably) secretive. So all you are going to get from them are hints. Those who have trained this system the way it was meant to be will know what he means. It is a question of emphasis and a particular way of doing so.

perhaps, but I think that he is also buying into / perpetuating a particular conceit on the part of "internalists", who seem to have this need to characterize what they do as being above such base methods as using muscle power - it's one that has rather deep roots, unfortunately; and I have experienced it before elsewhere; problem is, they can be clueless about anatomy and kinesiology: for example one person I knew, very high level bagua, tried to make his point about not using muscle power by having me feel his tricep while he held his arm out extended at 90˚ from his torso - he was like "look, no muscle power"; of course, I didn't have the heart to tell him that triceps have nothing to do with holding the arm out that way one it is already extended - but I suspect he was showing what he had been shown by his sifu...
anyway, I don't think that, just because they demonstrate skill in their given area of expertise that it should make an allowance for him being intellectually sloppy in another area - consider the inverse: someone with expert knowledge of neuromuscular physiology drawing incorrect conclusions about "internal" practice - how forgiving would you be of that...sword cuts both ways...the interesting thing then is, what happens when you come across someone high-level competent in both areas...

What you describe holds true for Chow Gar (up to a point) as well as some other none related internal kung fu styles and methodologies. It is just that Chow Gar, (together with Pak Mei, Dragon, etc , I am told)have their own distinct methodologies that are not going to be in any YouTube videos. However, there are hints to them in what certain Masters may publicly say. Of course, each MA-ist will interpret them in relation to their personal experience.

IMPE, one can talk about it all day and even reveal the "secrets" if one wanted to, but the reality is that the only way to really "get it" is to a) feel it; b) train it; but this is the case with most anything involving subjective skill; I personally think that it has more to do with keeping one's rice bowl intact...

I believe that your take of it is pretty d@mn good for someone who has not practiced this style. Of course, that reflects a meeting point of different Internal approaches.

IMPO, the body is the body, and nature functions according to the principle of regression towards the mean...