To be a complete martial artist a person must have nei gong abd wai gong. This seems to be pretty obvious to most everyone here.

I was told that to study ba gua circle walking, with all the postures, was the highest level of nei gong in ba gua and that a person didn't need to do other kinds like the 8 brocade or hsing I nei gong from your book. Did you find this to be true. Does circle walking condition the body in a similar way to the hsing I nei gong? The first four excercises of the hsing I nei gong are for the shoulders. Ba gua walking seems to condition the body by forcing the person to hold static postures while walking.

Do you believe a martial artist should do a variety of nei gong?

It depends what your goals are and what you consider Nei Gong to be.

Thanks for the replies and merry christmas. I was hoping to buy your upcoming DVD as a chrismas gift to myself but oh well.

My goals would be to become stronger to do better in sparring drills and become a better fighter overall.

What do I consider nei gong to be? Excercises that make tendons, joints, and not just muscles stronger without injuring the tissues as well. These excercises also promote goo posture, using muscles in a coordinated way so that the whole body acts as one, and not overdeveloping single muscles. This whole body coordination can then be applied to other activities such as squatting, kettle bell routines, shoveling snow, dirt , whatever makes you stronger on top of a solid foundation.

Actually, if you want a straightforward and measurable way to develop what you refer to as "nei gong," using a kettlebell would be a good choice.