The danger with internal power is that beginners often think they are using it, but are simply using external strength instead.
The ability to throw around body weight is no reflection of internal skill.

Internal power is real and tangible. It can be tested, explored and practiced.
But it has to be soft.

Most neigong are quite convoluted and esoteric.
They are like zen koan; becoming more fascinating as your understanding deepens and you are capable of seeing more.

Be patient. Be discerning. Watch your own practice carefully and address the means, the how.

It is important not to mistake the menu for the food. An exercise or action designed to cultivate a neigong is not the neigong.

It is only when no doing occurs and the effect is present that the neigong can be said to exist.
A person with a neigong has the effect all the time.
It does not come and go. It is part of their everyday movement.

This is why it is considered to be internal power. Neigong is inherent. It remains. It is a part of you.

Modern culture encourages the individual to parade themselves publicly, to broadcast their skills and draw attention.
This is not what The Art of War and The 36 Strategies recommend.
It is not good to be noticed.

Anonymity is a common taoist theme.
By remaining humble and quiet, unremarkable and unnoticed, a person can proceed through life freely.
Drawing attention is perceived as being unwise because you cannot determine whether the attention is good or bad.

When you lack composure, you are easily startled.
This leads to hurrying. And anxiety.

Instead of patiently waiting to see what unravels, you dither, hesitate and anticipate.

Rushing indicates a lack of competence.
It is obvious that the student has not put in the practice.

When you rush, you force.
Forcing causes your opponent's nervous system to inadvertently tense-up in reaction to your urgency.
This alerts them to your intention and makes them harder to manipulate.

When you can employ the use of the three dimensions skilfully, you will move in harmony with the assailant.
There will be no blocking. No opposing of force. 
You will instinctively feel the way to go, and you will adjust to the changes as they occur.

The Yang style was created by Yang Lu-chan.
Yang Lu-chan rose to fame in China by teaching his tai chi to the Manchu Emperor's elite palace guards.

The mind mobilizes the qi.

Make the qi sink calmly;
then the qi gathers and permeates the bones.

The qi mobilizes the body.
Make it move smoothly, so that it may easily follows the mind.

The intention and qi must interchange agilely,
then there is an excellence of roundness and smoothness.

This is called "the interplay of insubstantial and substantial."

The mind is the commander, the qi the flag, and the waist the banner.

The waist is like the axle and the qi is like the wheel.

The qi is always nurtured without harm.

Let the qi move as in a pearl with nine passages without breaks so that there is no part it cannot reach.

In moving the qi sticks to the back and permeates the spine.

It is said "first in the mind, then in the body."

The abdomen relaxes, then the qi sinks into the bones.

The shen is relaxed and the body calm.

The shen is always in the mind.

Being able to breathe properly leads to agility.

The softest will then become the strongest.

When the shen is raised, there is no fault of stagnancy and heaviness.
This is called suspending the headtop.

Inwardly make the shen firm, and outwardly exhibit calmness and peace.

Throughout the body, the intention relies on the shen, not on the qi.
If it relied on the qi, it would become stagnant.

If there is qi, there is no external strength.

The jing is sung, but not sung; it is capable of great extension, but is not extended.

The jing is broken, but the intention is not.

The jing is stored by means of the curved.

The energy is released by the back, and the steps follow the changes of the body.

The mobilization of the jing is like refining steel a hundred times over.
There is nothing hard it cannot destroy.

Store up the jing like drawing a bow.

Mobilize the jing like drawing silk from a cocoon.

Release the jing like releasing the arrow.

To fa jing, sink, relax completely, and aim in one direction!

In the curve seek the straight, store, then release.

Be still as a mountain, move like a great river.

The upright body must be stable and comfortable to be able to sustain an attack from any of the eight directions.

Walk like a cat.

Remember, when moving, there is no place that does not move.
When still, there is no place that is not still.

First seek extension, then contraction; then it can be fine and subtle.

It is said; “If the opponent does not move, then I do not move. At the opponent's slightest move, I move first."

To withdraw is then to release, to release it is necessary to withdraw.

In discontinuity there is still continuity.

In advancing and returning there must be folding.

Going forward and back there must be changes.

The form is like that of a falcon about to seize a rabbit, and the shen is like that of a cat about to catch a rat.

(Wu Yu-hsiang)

The first weapon ever used by humans was probably a blunt instrument such as a short stick or a bone.
It would have been something that was to hand.
We adopt the same approach and train with sticks because they can be replaced by any suitable object you might find.

The ancient wandering taoist carried only a staff with them for protection.
A simple stick is an ideal weapon for a tai chi person to use.
It is simple, practical and defensive in nature.

What is most notable is the effect.
Internal power is surprisingly powerful with the effect far outweighing the cause.

Some neigong are ‘doings’, others are not.

The more advanced a person becomes at tai chi, the more powerful the neigong.
Each quality is built upon the preceding ones and is only possible because of what the body can already do.
Clearly the first neigong are very simple.