Global Martial Arts

Choi Lee Fut

2010-06-01T05:55:00.000-07:00

This is a video documentary discovered during one of my trips to hong kong.

Japan Military Shotokan Karate

2009-10-29T04:46:00.000-07:00

Shotokan karate training in Japan. The emphesis is on real self-defence and not sport karate.

A Real Chinese Kung Fu Master Fight in 1953

2008-10-05T07:52:00.000-07:00

This is a REAL classic fight between Ng Style Tai Chi Master Ng Gong Yee and White Crane Ryu Kung Fu Master Chun Huck Fu in Macau 1953.

Very rare fight shaolin kung fu vs. Karate

2008-10-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

Rare fight a Shaolin monk vs. a Karate Master.

Kiai Master vs MMA

2008-10-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

a Kiai Master offers a 5000 dollar challenge that he can beat any MMA fighter. Too bad for him because his techniques doesn't affect the MMA fighter.

Martial Arts Death Touch

2008-10-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

A Fox Chicago newscast about a karate instructor who knocks people out without even touching them.

Notice that Stephan Bonnar is one of the Carlson Gracie jiu-jitsu students who is apparently immune to the deadly technique.

Taekwondo freestyle - Nowy Sącz

2008-10-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

Free Style Taekwondo

Hobby Horses

2006-03-24T05:53:00.000-08:00

Hobby Horses

by Vince Morris, 7th Dan

You know, it's a funny thing but you can always spot people riding hobby horses - they tend to stick out in a crowd!

Now, all things considered, I'm quite in favour of the odd idiosyncrasy - indeed it has been whispered that I myself have been held to hold the occasional odd notion.

However, when, out of the blue, a hobby-horse rider sees fit to launch a few barbs in my direction no-one should be surprised that the old defensive instincts gather themselves together and clamber creakingly out of the old war chest!

Sitting happily and inoffensively in front of my trusty (what a joke) laptop a while back, I found myself subjected to a discourse from a woman who vehemently objected to the fact that on the Kissakikarate.com website there is a photo of a senior instructor using a firearm.

Now being a courteous and civil person, I naturally tried to understand the reasons behind her objections, which - as I recall - seemed based upon the argument that firearms had nothing to do with teaching `traditional' martial arts, and, as such, this photograph was completely out of place on a website which was connected with such `traditional' arts.

I attempted - reasonably I thought - to point out that:

1. That Kissaki-kai was founded upon the reality of karate as a proper, fully sufficient method of self-defence.
2. As such it was necessary to deal with attacks by modern, as well as `traditional' weapons ("Cherish the old but embrace the new!" Funakoshi)
3. Kissaki-kai is a world association with many connections through its subsidiary (Law Enforcement Training Services International) with military and police training, much of which utilises modern weaponry.
4. Even in the UK there is a significant rise in the criminal use of firearms against innocent victims and a working knowledge of the threat could be useful here in the UK.

It seems, however, that riding hobby-horses causes deafness.

The response I received was so implacable that it was obvious that no-one was listening to any argument, but simply waiting for the moment to state the same points over again.

At this point I generally switch off, as life is too short to become involved in endless debates with those who are determined that the world is flat and the earth is the centre of the universe.

However, this time I feel it reasonable to bring the Kissaki-kai philosophy to a wider audience, as I believe it be important that the underlying moral basis is clear for all to see.

I spent what seemed like a life-time training in what is generally termed `traditional' martial arts, only to become painfully aware that mostly they were anything but traditional, mainly being sports based and formulated since the 1920s, existing through a set of rules which diluted the self-defence element, and inculcating the ego-satisfying desire to win medals and trophies.

The bedrock of Kissaki-kai is that the techniques and tactics must be fundamentally effective in self-defence terms, and must be taught in a milieu which encourages respect, civility and self-awareness.

This has meant questioning and changing some of the training methods which were handed down to us by the Japanese masters which they had altered from the concepts and precepts upon which the art of karate was originally based, taught by the Okinawans.

The fact is, much of what the Okinawan masters taught was and is much more appropriate in defensive effectiveness than is much of what came to be taught in the Japanese-based sports-centred styles.

Now, I in no way denigrate or decry anyone who chooses to follow this way! Indeed there are many in Kissaki-kai who also train mostly for competition, and much can be gained from this.

However, we place a great emphasis upon understanding the defensive paradigms and principles of the Kata, and place personal defensive effectiveness for all ages and both sexes above the acquisition of sporting success by fairly few - mostly young and athletic - karate-ka.

In truth, if anyone wishes to train in a system which actually does utilise the old traditional weaponry, then they will find no greater supporter than me.

I do object, on the other hand, to anyone telling me that learning defences against modern weaponry is wrong!

All the `traditional' weapons were once new and contemporary!

The basis of training in the use of old Japanese and Okinawan weapons was to be able to defend against them or use them as defences against other weaponry current in the society of the time.

Do you imagine for one moment that if Uzis had existed at the time they would not have been included in their practice?

In fact, the Japanese themselves eventually even took to using the firearm. Nobunaga a Daimyo (lord), at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, for the first time in the history of Japanese warfare, made tactical use of muskets, which had been introduced by the Portuguese in 1543.

To claim, then, that including firearms in defensive training is wrong is not only logically questionable in light of the fact that many Kissaki-kai members throughout the world carry firearms on a daily basis, but flies in the face of historical fact!

I think a concluding comment by this particular person indicates that clarity of thought is not to assumed!

If my memory serves me correctly it was along the lines that she wood stick faithfully to training with `traditional' weapons.

Excellent!

And the next time she is attacked outside a nightclub on a dark night and she just happens to be carrying a rice-flail, Okinawan oar or indeed a piece of stick a metre or so long, I'm sure she'll deal magnificently with the situation!

In fact, the success of Kissaki-kai not only with martial arts students of all ages, but particularly in law enforcement circles, is that it does indeed deliver training which is fundamentally technically and tactically sound, which is a vital factor in life-threatening circumstances.

The real world generally cannot be found in the Dojo.

I will add this following passage from a student as an example of what hobby-horse riders seldom have to confront.

I tell you this story that happened to me and a few cops in my city Leuven (Belgium) after the week's special training with you in the police academy of Antwerp

I try to tell it in my best English but I am sure you will understand it.

We had a call to go to an apartment in the city because a young person (age 25) had got psychological problems.

It was night and dark . The emergency medics got there first

My partner and I arrived immediately after them.

The incident happened in an apartment on the first floor of a building.

When we got there, the young man was lying on the ground trying to commit suicide with a knife.

On the floor there were already 3 knifes covered with all over with blood.

While he was lying on his back the young man stuck the knife in his throat and there was blood all over everywhere.

He already cut his throat and there was a big hole in his neck. The knife stuck into his neck and with two hands he tried to force the knife deeper in it.

A normal person would not have lived through this (his gullet was cut wide open) but this young man had taken a cocktail of cocaine and heroin and he was very strong.

While the medics tried to help him the young man got very angry, and the medics and my partners had to leave the room very quick because it was getting too dangerous.

When I stepped up to him to try to remove the knife, suddenly he pulled the knife out of his throat, get up very fast and ran to me to stab me with the knife.

Because there was no space in the room ( it was a small kitchen 3 by 3 meters ) there was no possibility to step back and get out quickly, not even to draw my gun )

I already had my baton ready and with an X-movement I could fend off the attack and keep a little distance. ( I remembered your lessons ) So he could not touch me.

Suddenly he stopped, and he threatened me with his knife. He looked straight into my eyes while I was ready to hit him in the face with my baton if I had to. Suddenly, he turned himself round and without waiting he jumped head first out of the window straight through the glass from the first floor.

We all thought he was dead now, but on the ground in the street he was still fighting us. He could not stand up anymore because his back was broken but we still had to kick the knife out of his hand and with 4 officers we had to work on him to keep him calm so the doctors could do their work.

They had to give him several injections to stun and subdue him.

They had to take him to hospital with handcuffs on. It was very scaring to see, it was like a horror movie because his eyes came out of his head because of the pressure and everything was broken in his body and still he went go on fighting us.

A few months later he recovered and went home again. A few weeks later he killed a girl in an other city in Belgium and now he is in jail for murder.

He had a history of trouble and a few years ago they almost had to shoot him to stop him fighting the police.

After all this happened we had to do some talking with the psychiatrist to get over this all because it left us all with a very bad feeling.

The leading officer from the medics thanked us for saving the lives of his nurses. They sent a note to the mayor saying that without a few cops who were well trained, his people would not survived this at all.

This story is true and happened a few months ago. I had to tell this to you to have an example to what people are able when they took drugs. After being shot in the arm 5 years ago this was a second nightmare to me. But I am very glad I had a your good training. So it is true what you always say, cops have to train more often and harder to do their jobs better and to go home safe.

I just wanted to tell you this all.

Goodbye and thank you for the fine week in Antwerp.

(Name withheld for security reasons).

This and many situations like it happen to people trained by Kissaki-kai and LETS int.

To turn one's head away from reality and teach defences that will frequently only work in the comfortable co-operative world of the Dojo, and not recognise and prepare against the viciousness that exists in plentiful examples in today's society is stubborn and - to me - morally reprehensible.

To transcend anything, one must first understand it, be it your own weakness, your personal failures, your fears, your ego and so on.

In just the same way, it is necessary to confront the worst aspects of human nature, and transform them though understanding and by refusing to accept that the evil forces will always overpower the good.

The unavoidable principle was stated many centuries ago: `Know your enemy!'

I wrote a while ago that a contributing factor to King Harold losing the Battle of Hastings to William of Normandy was the failure of his house troops to adapt to the modern tactics and equipment used by the invaders.

They were rightly and justly feared as prime fighting troops. However, they fought anachronistically, not accounting for advances in modern weaponry (use of specially bred Destrier horses, the use of the stirrup and cavalry tactics).

In the end, they died and England was conquered.

Closing one's eyes to unpleasant facts does not make them go away; no more than training with rice flails serves to protect you against scum with a gun.

Now, lest anyone takes away from this the impression that what Kissaki-kai teaches is overtly violent, I am also appending a few remarks from a police inspector who has attended both the basic and advanced training taught at the academy:

Dear Vince,

Yesterday I finished my second week's course of your self defense training program at the police academy of Antwerp , Belgium.

It's a real privilege to be able to learn a few of your skills.

It's a great shame that not everyone understand the value of your lessons. They consider them to be violent , but it's the opposite! It prevents an officer from using excessive violence, because the opponent gets arrested within a few seconds with very simple, effective moves, without a lot of kicking and pulling.

Your training builds up my confidence and makes me aware of potential dangers.

I thank you very much and hope to see you again for many lessons in the future.

Inspector (name withheld for security reasons) Belgium 2002.

I have no desire to dictate to anyone what type of training they follow, nor have I the status or right so to do; all I ask is that argument and discussion be based upon the search for truth, not simply in order to enforce one particular point of view over another, regardless of the truth!

In other words - If you see a hobby-horse rider approaching - head for the hills!

Email or write if you would like to receive an regular newsletter by post or email.

Good training

Vince Morris 7th Dan
Chief Instructor: Kissaki-Kai & IIKR
Director: Law Enforcement Training Services Int.
www.kissakikarate.com
email: vincemorris@kissakikarate.com
PO. Box 17, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 4BY

Correct Training

2006-03-24T05:47:00.000-08:00

Correct Training

by Vince Morris

This short article may at first seem a little technical, but if you are really intent upon developing fast, spontaneous reflex defence skills, it will be worth your while to persevere with it.

One advantage we have over the old masters, is that we can avail ourselves of all the modern knowledge gained from medicine and sports science.

Our current understanding of how the body and mind work has made tremendous advances in the last fifty year, and athletes and martial artists can make use of this greater knowledge to enhance their training regimes.

I have written before of the need to learn the lessons of history and follow Master Funakoshi's admonishment to : “Cherish the Old but embrace the New!”

One area in which I continually make use of the lessons of modern sports psychology and science is in the training I develop and present at Police Academy for Officers and Special Intervention Squads.

Essentially I have to distil complex techniques and manoeuvres into their primary elements and devise teaching programmes which enable non-martial artists to understand the principles of the techniques and master their use so comprehensively that they go out onto the streets armed with effective defensive, restraint and control techniques which they have complete confidence in, and which are immediately effective in high stress situations.

Obviously, the time I have in which to develop this level of skill with the officers is limited, therefore it is vital that each minute is spent to optimum effect.

The essence of how this can be done is based upon an understanding of how the human brain processes input and learns new physical tasks.

Basically, when new techniques are repeated over & over again, a complex pattern of neural activity takes place in the billions of brain cells.

This new pattern of behaviour is initially only slowly processed into the memory, but as it is continually rehearsed the brain releases a fatty substance called myelin. This covers the new synaptic connections made between the neurons which are used in the process of learning the new behaviour, response or technique.

Every time the pattern is repeated, a new layer of myelin is laid down, and the thicker the coat, the faster & easier messages flow between the dendrites, those parts which act as the transmitters and receivers of the brain's neurons,

With sufficient repetition, the desired task is carried out with increased speed and power as the function is now 'grooved' into becoming a rapid response which needs less brain processing, due to this function of myelin.

This is sometimes spoken of as training 'muscle memory' and the value lies in the ability of the body to act spontaneously in high stress situations where split seconds can determine life or death.

Although time often seems to slow down in such instances, the truth is that initial defensive reactions must be spontaneous, and delivered immediately as a reflexive reaction, and this allows no time for conscious thought.

Having survived the initial assault, then the brain can intervene to propose specific control and restraint techniques, once the immediate task of survival is accomplished.

If, however, you are more concerned with developing excellence in martial technique in the Dojo, the lessons can still be useful.

I have spoken before of the problem of 'grasshopper' sensei, who - as a by -product of commercial demands to fill the Dojo - keeps the students' attendance rate high by continually moving on to something new, on the premise that the students are attracted to 'bright shiny objects' and must be indulged.

The minimum training time for this 'muscle memory' -grooving to start to take place is about 15 minutes, and then this must be repeated many times.

This time interval is seldom allotted to one technique or combination. Usually after only a few minutes of stopping and starting (ostensibly for the sensei to correct bad practice) the students are moved on to another combination or a further refinement of the original.

This seldom, if ever, allows the first waza to be properly assimilated, and in a few hours time the student will be hard pressed to remember it - even less to apply it correctly!

There is little wonder, then, that spontaneous reflex defences, triggered by appropriate stimuli, are seldom if ever learned by these students.
Paralysed with Fright

An officer in a violent situation, a student attacked in the street, neither can guarantee that their initial reaction will not be of a paralysing, mind-numbing overwhelming feeling of weakness and fear, unless they have trained specifically to avoid this reaction.

The experience of being paralysed by fear, fright or a sudden shock when startled by someone, or when suddenly accosted or assaulted is not necessarily due to the officer or the martial artist having no confidence in the efficacy of his or her defences.

Nor is it that they do not possess powerful defensive techniques.

Of course, it could be due to this if their training has been insufficient, but even a really well-trained and capable Dojo fighter can experience this, and it is not because of not knowing how to act, but derives from a lack of training with the correct stimuli to recognize the situation and immediately & spontaneously respond with the appropriate manoeuvre.

Highly repetitive training such as is required to build responses into fast reactions will not on its own be sufficient. What is required is a more scenario based training which as closely as possible reflects reality which will then be 'tied' to the repetitive training and immediately evoke it when the situation demands it.

A 'triggered' response is quite useless without a trigger!

To push the analogy even further, there would seem little point in loading a full clip of nine millimetre into a firearm, and then removing the trigger mechanism!

Continual repetition of a defensive manoeuvre in the Dojo will certainly increase the speed and efficiency of the technique itself, but without the correct stimuli it will not be triggered as a spontaneous reflexive technique in that vital half second which must be survived.

This is why I advocate that most officer training (and at least a part of Dojo training) should include scenario training.
More than One Option.

There is, however, another factor to consider when deciding upon the correct type of training.

For officers in the academy, and for experienced special squad members, the choice is simple, as in both cases they need only a few, simple techniques. They are not concerned with how pretty these might look, but only in their effectiveness.

I advocate the simplicity of defensive responses, and the concept of the multifunctional 'one tool'.

The human brain under the severe stress of an attack or assault is quite incapable of what I call 'horizontal' or linear thought.

That is deciding quickly between a number of existing alternative actions.

When the heart rate is sent very high by sudden shock or fear, the brain selects options 'vertically' - that is, one problem - one answer.

Much experimental work has been done to show just how drastically choosing between options increases the response time; and there is a proven correlation between the number of alternative choices available and the time in which a response can be effected.

Then experiments carried out by the PPCT (Headed by Bruce Siddle) demonstrate that simply by offering a choice of two responses instead of one, reaction time by increases 35%.

Another experiment demonstrated a 58% increase in reaction time, plus the addendum that the more complex any technique, the longer the reaction time involved.

When four different blocks to a punch were given as options, the response time leapt from an initial 183 milliseconds to huge increase of 481 milliseconds!

To sum up. If you are specifically concerned with training in a self-defence based martial art, you must find which techniques work best for you and then you must continually repeat them.

Do not become a `collector' of ever-more complex waza, these may possibly get you badly hurt or even killed

You must not just train all the time in a Dojo environment, but frequently in as realistic a one as you can devise, with the sights, sounds and actions reflecting common attack scenarios.

Finally you must put aside the quest for ever more fancy and complex techniques and concentrate on the few simple ones that are proven to be effective!

It is simply incorrect to assume that as a martial artist you have to be 'entertained' by new and 'interesting' methods of subduing an assailant.

More is not better, and to be honest, it will take you all your life to really master the essential waza.

Vince Morris
7th Dan
Kissaki-Kai Karate-Do

Master of All Masters - Chang San Feng

2006-03-09T00:33:00.000-08:00

Tai Chi Chuan was originated by the Taoist immortal Chang San Feng in about 1270AD, toward the end of the Sung Dynasty.

What we know of Chang San Feng is that he lived in a simple straw hut on the holy Wu Tan mountain in Jupeth province, China. He dressed in a simple style, wearing only a light vest even in icy weather, and was often observed to go without food for days, weeks or even months.

Famous as a Taoist master he was sought out by the emperor T'ai Tzu for help with military strategy, and was instrumental in helping to defeat bandit gangs in the Wu Tan mountains. He was honoured by the emperor and a temple erected in recognition of his achievements still stands today. In later years Chang San Feng was canonised as a saint by the emperor Ying Tsung.

The Master was also famous for his healing abilities and his deep understanding of Taoist medicine.

Taoist Master Chang San-Feng

2006-03-09T00:32:00.000-08:00

Circa 1300 C.E.

History, Folklore, and Legend
Taoist Master Chang San-Feng

One tradition claims that Master Chang San-Feng was born at midnight on April 9, 1247 AD,near Dragon-Tiger Mountain in Kiang-Hsi Province in the southeast of China. He is said to have been a government official in his youth, learned Shaolin martial arts whileliving in the Pao-Gi Mountains near Three Peaks (San Feng), and then living for scoresof years as a Taoist hermit and sage in the Wu-Tang (Wudang) Mountains. He is reported tohave lived to be 200 years old (1247-1447AD), but his death date is uncertain. He would have lived in the Sung, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties if these dates were accurate. (Jou, 1980)

Another tradition claims that there were two Master Chang San-Feng Taoist priests.
One was born in the Sung dynasty (960-1279), lived on Wutang Mountain, and combined
the thirteen postures with other Taoist practices and arts to create a style of internal martial arts. The second Master Chang San-Feng (1279-1368), was a native of I-Chou in Liao Tung Province. His scholarly name was Chuan Yee and Chun Shee. He lived on Wutang Mountain, was a highly regarded Taoist adept with many amazing magical powers, and was very popular with the local people.

Master Chang is known by a variety of names: Chang San-Feng, Cheng San Feng,
Chang Chun Pao, Chang Sam Bong, Zhang Sanfeng, Chang Tung, Chang Chun-pao,
Grandmaster Chang, Chang the Immortal, Immortal Chang, Zhangsanfeng, Zhan Sa-Feng,
Zhan Jun-Bao, Yu-Xu Zi, Chuan Yee and Chun Shee. There may have been a number
of male Taoists who chose to use the name Chang San-Feng.

The early legends about Chang San-Feng are linked with activities of Emperor Chengzu
(1403-1424) who searched for Chang and other political refugees. By 1459, Chang
had been declared an Immortal and, as with most saints, stories of his miraculous
powers became part of the folklore in the Wudang Mountain area. There is a fairly
long tradition amongst Wundang Mountain martial artists and Taoists that attributes
the development of soft style martial arts to Chang San-Feng and his disciples
(Yeo, 2001; Wong Kiew Kit, 1996). In 1670, Huang Zongxi wrote a book called Epitaph
for Wang Zhengnan in which Chang San-Feng was called the founder of internal martial
arts practiced near Mount Wudang. By the 1870's, Yang family Tai Chi Chuan teachers
were claiming that Chang San-Feng was the originator of Tai Chi Chuan.
(Wong, 1997; Wile, 1996)

More recently, some scholars and tai-chi historians have argued that Chang San-Feng had little or nothing to do with the founding of Tai Chi Chuan or internal martial arts. They contend that this aspect of the Master Chang legend was invented in the late 19th century by Yang family stylists to give their art form deeper historical roots. (Wile, 1996; Tang Hao, History of Chinese Wushu, 1935; Henning, 1981; and Siaw-Voon Sim, 2002.) These authors contend that the Tai Chi Chuan systems (i.e., forms, push hands, sword/staff, chi kung exercises, and Taijiquan principles) as we know them today (e.g., Chen, Yang, Wu, Hao, Sun), were all created as successive variants to the system developed by the military leader and martial artist Chen Wangting (1600-1680) of Chenjiagou Village in Henan Province.

People in China, Tibet, and India have for millennia used exercises to improve health, cure disease, restore vitality, and increase lifespan. Gentle stretching, breathing methods, herbal remedies, and use of postures for exercise can be traced back over 4,000 years. Martial arts training methods, of course, are of similar antiquity. Good old Master Chang, like the Bodhidharma of Shaolin fame, are just reference points for the imagination steeped in these many centuries of martial arts, health exercises, and the history of Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

At another level, Master Chang, Han Shan, and the Bodhidharma are also examples,
archetypes if you will, of the crazy saint, wise fool, and wandering hermit that
contrasts so markedly with the ordinary family-society lifestyles of the vast
majority in any culture or civilization. The Buddha himself, after military training
in his youth, left family life to wander and live the life of a solitary ascetic and
mystic for a decade.

So, we sometimes look to these fellows, real and imaginary, and ask them
"So, old man, what have you learned that can help us?" We listen to their advice,
and sometimes follow their recommendations. Sometimes we laugh at them and
bang their copper hat. In moments of whimsy, religious fervor or desperation,
we give some of them, like Chang San-Feng or Chang Po-Tuan, magical and marvelous
powers - to disappear and reappear at will, powers to cause rain to fall, powers to
prevent disaster, powers to chase away malevolent spirits, shamanistic skills, techniques for defeating our enemies, methods for calming our troubled souls, and amazing skills at divination. Most important, and what intrigues most folks, is that these hermit seers might hold the secrets for living over 150 years in good health, or rising from the dead, or pointing to the Way for us to attain eternal life as an
Immortal - a Chen Jen: Realized Being.

"Breathing Out -
Touching the Root of Heaven,
One's heart opens;
The Dragon slips by like water..
Breathing In -
Standing on the Root of Earth,
One's heart is still and deep;
The Tiger's claw cannot be moved.

As you go on breathing in this frame of mind, with these associations, alternating
between movement and stillness, it is important that the focus of your mind does
not shift. Let the true breath come and go, a subtle continuum on the brink
of existence. Tune the breathing until you get breath without breathing; become
one with it, and then the spirit can be solidified and the elixir can be made."
- Chang San-Feng, Commentary on Ancestor Lu's Hundred-Character Tablet
Translated by Thomas Cleary, Vitality, Energy, Spirit: A Taoist Sourcebook, 1991, p. 187.
Poetic interpretation by Mike Garofalo of expository text of Chang San-Feng.

Tai Chi & Taoism

2006-03-09T00:23:00.000-08:00

There exists a long history of movement and exercise systems which are associated with Taoism. In some sense one can see elements of all of these as contributing to the climate from which Tai Chi emerged.

Lao Tsu, the founder of Taoism, wrote:

Yield and overcome;
Bend and be straight.

-- Tao Te Ching (22)

He who stands of tiptoe is not steady.
He who strides cannot maintain the pace.

-- Tao Te Ching (24)

Returning is the motion of the Tao.
Yielding is the way of the Tao.

-- Tao Te Ching (40)

What is firmly established cannot be uprooted.
What is firmly grasped cannot slip away.

-- Tao Te Ching (54)

Stiff and unbending is the principle of death.
Gentle and yielding is the principle of life.

Thus an Army without flexibility never wins a battle.
A tree that is unbending is easily broken.

The hard and strong will fall.
The soft and weak will overcome.

-- Tao Te Ching (76)

There are some interesting inspirations for the movement philosophy of Tai Chi within the writings of Chuang Tzu, for example:

"The pure man of old slept without dreams and woke without anxiety. He ate without indulging in sweet tastes and breathed deep breaths. The pure man draws breaths from the depths of his heels, the multitude only from their throats."

And:

"[The sage] would not lean forward or backward to accomodate [things]. This is called tranquility on disturbance, (which means) that it is especially in the midst of disturbance that tranquility becomes perfect."

Talisman of the Jade Lady. Talisman of the Jade Lady.

This approach is reflected in the entire movement philosophy of Tai Chi Chuan. There is, moreover, a long tradition of Taoist monks practicing exercises. Some of these were referred to as tai-yin or Taoist Breathing. Exactly what these were and what their origins were is obscure but they are mentioned in Chinese chronicles as early as 122 B.C.

Then in the sixth century A.D. Bodihdharma (called Ta Mo in Chinese) came to the Shao-Lin Monastery and, seeing that the monks were in poor physical condition from too much meditation and too little excersize, introduced his Eighteen Form Lohan Exercise. This approach gave rise to the Wei Chia or 'outer-extrinsic' forms of exercise.

Later in the fifteenth century A.D. the purported founder of Tai Chi Chuan, the monk Chang San-feng, was honoured by the Emperor Ying- tsung with the title of chen-jen, or 'spiritual man who has attained the Tao and is no longer ruled by what he sees, hears or feels.' This indicates that already at this time there was a close association between the philosophy of Taoism and the practice of Tai Chi.

In the Ming dynasty (14th to 17th centuries), Wang Yang-ming a leading philosopher preached a philosophy which was a mixture of Taoism and Ch'an Buddhism which had certain associations with movement systems.

In any event the principles of yielding, softness, centeredness, slowness, balance, suppleness and rootedness are all elements of Taoist philosophy that Tai Chi has drawn upon in its understanding of movement, both in relation to health and also in its martial applications. One can see these influences (of softness and effortlessness) in the names of certain movements in the Tai Chi Form, such as:

* Cloud Hands
* Wind Rolls the Lotus Leaves
* Brush Dust Against the Wind
* Push the Boat with the Current
* Winds Sweeps the Plum Blossoms

Moreover the contemplation and appreciation nature, which are central features of Taoist thought seem to have been reflected in the genesis of many Tai Chi movements such as:

* White Crane Spreads Wings
* Snake Creeps Down
* Repulse Monkey
* Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain
* White Snake Sticks Out its Tongue
* Grasp Sparrow's Tail
* Golden Cock Sands on One Leg
* Swallow Skims the Water
* Bird Flies into Forest
* Lion Shakes it's Head
* Tiger Hugs its Head
* Wild Horse Leaps the Ravine
* White Ape Devotes Fruit
* Yellow Bee Returns to Nest

The story comes to us that Chang San-feng watched a fight between a bird and a snake and in this event saw how the soft and yielding could overcome the hard and inflexible. Particularly significant here is the reference to the White Crane (The Manchurian Crane, Grus japonensis), with its red crest an important symbol for Taoist alchemists.

Certain features of Taoist alchemy and talismanic symbolism have also penetrated the Tai Chi forms. As part of their contemplation of nature the Taoists observed the heavens and were keen students of astronomy and astrology. Movements of the Tai Chi Form such as :

* Step Up to Seven Stars
* Embrace the Moon
* Biggest Star in the Great Dipper
* Encase the Moon in Three Rings
* The Smallest Star in the Big Dipper
* Meteor Runs After Moon
* Heavenly Steed Soars Across the Sky

Meditating Under the Protection of the Big Dipper. Meditating Under the Protection of the Big Dipper.

Reflect this Taoist astrological concern.

Symbolism was a potent force in Taoist thinking. Taoist magic diagrams were regarded as potent talismans having great command over spiritual forces. They invoked the harmonizing influence of yin-yang and Eternal Change; the Divine Order of Heaven, Earth and Mankind; and the workings of the Universe through the principal of the Five Elements. These were symbolized by the Five Sacred Mountains (Taishan, Hengshan [Hunan], Songshan, Huashan and Hengshan [Hopei]), central places of Taoist development and pilgrimage.

Thus it is no surprise to find that the symbolism of names has, in important ways, infiltrated the forms of Tai Chi. There was a numerological component to this symbolism as well. The number '5' has a special mystical significance to Taoists (and to Chinese in general). There are the symbolic five mountains, five elements, five colours, five planets, five virtues, five emotions, five directions, etc. all of which have a mystic significance. Hence we see five Repulse Monkeys or Five Cloud Hands in the Tai Chi form. There are many instances where the numbers '1', '3', '5' and '7' figure prominently in the structure of Tai Chi.

Harimau Silat Tuo

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o The Sumatran Tiger is revered throughout Southeast Asia for its spiritual magnificense, strength, agility and ferocity.

o These are some of the characteristics and attributes which embody Pencak Silat Harimau.

o The actions of the Sumatran tiger includes: clawing, tearing, catching, gripping, maneuvering to the ground, springing from the gournd, as well as maintaining a strong base from which it can leap up to six feet or more. These actions and movements enable the practitioner to be able to stalk, trap and overcome adversaries at will.

o From the ground, the Harimau practitioner is able to leap. kick & use a devastating array of attacks, with sweeps and leg locks to disable his or her adversaries.

o At times the Harimau fighter tends to disappear from sight, or a clear view, maintaining low stances, utilizing ground fighting and leaping with pivoting and leg trapping movements, catching opponents neck, arms and legs.

o Low combat positions enable practitioners to spring quickly and forcefully upon the attacker with terrifying ferocity.

An Introduction to Pencak Silat

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by Central Board of The Indonesian Pencak Silat Association

PREFACE

Pencak Silat is a compound word. Pencak and Silat have the same meanings and are parts of the culture of people of Malay race, that is, the ethnic group who are the native inhabitants in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

The word Pencak is commonly used by people in Java, whereas the word Silat is commonly used by the people who live in the other regions of Indonesia as well as in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

The combination of the words Pencak and Silat into a compound word was made for the first time when an organization of the unity of Pencak schools and Silat schools in Indonesia was founded in Surakarta in 1948, which called Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia (The Indonesian Pencak Silat Association), abbreviated as IPSI. Since then, Pencak Silat has become the official term in Indonesia. This term is also used by the schools in many different countries which teach Pencak and Silat derived from Indonesia.

In the international communities, Pencak Silat has become the official term since the international federation organization was founded in Jakarta in 1980, which was called Persekutuan Pencak Silat Antarabangsa, abbreviated as PERSILAT, (The International Pencak Silat Federation). Nevertheless, people use the words Pencak and Silat separately as a single word due to the dialectic habit.

The following analysis is the resume of some important things about Pencak Silat included : history, philosophy, kinds, styles, schools and pendekar, research and writing, development and dissemination and challenges against Pencak Silat. The whole analysis will be summarized as a general conclusion.

THE HISTORY

The principal needs of human being are security and prosperity. To fulfill those needs, men invent and develop various means (techniques) and equipment. The men's invention concerning the need for security, are physical means and equipment to deal with and overcome many kinds of threats, challenges, obstacles and annoyances. The means are among others then so called "jurus" and weapon.

Jurus is a technique of effective physical (body) movement for self-defense or attacking with or without weapon. It's early stage form was very simple. It was an imitation of animal's body movement conformed with human's anatomy. Then it was developed continuously, coinciding with the development of men's culture. The used weapon was also developed in the same way.

The Malay ethnic people are agrarian society and their social relationship is accomplished through paguyuban (Gemeinschaft) system. The social characteristics and social relationship of such a system have shaped the wisdom and way of life which hold the religious values and principles and the people's morality in high esteem.

In accordance with the social system mentioned above, jurus should be used in a responsible way. It can be accomplished if the performer practices self control. Jurus can only be used for self-defense. Man also invented means (techniques) and equipment in different kinds to fulfill his prosperity (welfare), among others by developing jurus into artistic and sports forms which can supply physical and mental welfare.

Through their social and cultural development, the Malay ethnic people have absorbed foreign influences into their life, which are in harmony with the religious and moral values and principles they hold in high esteem. Related with that development, the Hindu philosophy has been absorbed and applied to put the wisdom and the way of life of Malay ethnic in order.

Then this philosophy is applied in relation with the control of using jurus. Since this applied philosophy focuses its attention on the budi pekerti luhur or noble mind and character, or sublime ethic, so it is called the philosophy of sublime ethic. The control of self defensive, artistic and sports jurus with its philosophy based on the high esteemed religious and moral values and principles by the Malay ethics as a unity and oneness, is called Pencak Silat.

Thus, the identity of Pencak Silat is determined by 3 principal things, that is :

1. The culture of the Malay ethnic people as its source and pattern.

2. The philosophy of the sublime ethic as the spirit and motivation of its usage.

3. The substance of Pencak Silat itself which has mental spiritual (self control), self defensive, artistic and sports aspects as a unity.

Pencak Silat with such identity came into existence around the 4th century, when there were kingdoms which became the cultural development centers in the living regions of the Malay ethnic people. At the time of these kingdoms, firstly Hindu, secondly Buddhist and lastly Islam, Pencak Silat was developed and spreading widely.

When the living regions of the Malay ethnic people were under the authority of foreign colonial powers from West Europe, the education of Pencak Silat which was regarded as a means to grow nationalistic spirit, was restricted and the prohibited. But the educational activities of Pencak Silat went on secretly.

During the Japanese occupation, the colonial government allowed the people to develop their culture freely in order to get their support for the Japanese warfare against the Allied Powers. At that time the education of Pencak Silat was conducted again as it was in the beginning and was spreading widely.

After the living regions of the Malay ethnic people had been freed from the foreign authorities and then independent countries emerged such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, the growth and dissemination of Pencak Silat became faster, particularly after the founding of national organizations of Pencak Silat in those countries, namely Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia (IPSI) or The Indonesian Pencak Silat Association, Persekutuan Silat Kebangsaan Malaysia (PESAKA) or The Malaysian National Silat Federation, Persekutuan Silat Singapore (PERSISI) or The Singaporean Silat Federation and Persekutuan Silat Brunei Darussalam (PERSIB) or The Brunei Darussalam Silat Federation.

Pencak Silat has also developed and spread outside its original countries, particularly after the founding of Persekutuan Pencak Silat Antara Bangsa (PERSILAT) or The International Pencak Silat Federation.

THE PHILOSOPHY

The Philosophy of Pencak Silat is called the philosophy of budi pekerti luhur (noble mind and character), because it focuses its interest on the sublime ethic. According to this philosophy a peaceful, secure, orderly and prosperous society can be created maximally if all of its members keep the code of sublime ethic. Therefore, the way of life which should be made their principle is the one that forms noble mind and character in themselves. Budi is a dynamic psychological aspect of human being which possesses the elements of cipta, rasa and karsa. The three of them are the dynamic forms of akal (reason), rasa (sensibility) and kehendak (volition). Budi (mind) can be seen in the form of pekerti (character). All of them must be luhur (noble/sublime/ideal). What should be achieved in shaping this sublime ethic is the ability of self control, especially in using the technique of effective physical movement for self defending or attacking which is called jurus. Jurus should be used only for keeping up truth (righteousness), honesty and justice in relation with the exaltation of the religious principles and people's morality as well as for creating "masyarakat tata-tentrem karta-raharja" (a peaceful, secure, orderly and prosperous society). In other words, the exalted ethical philosophy can also be said as the self controlled philosophy.

With his noble moral (ethic) and highly self controlled ability, human being will be able to fulfill his exalted moral obligation as God's creature, individual creature, social creature and universal creature, that is to devote himself to God, to raise his personal quality, to put the people's interest above self interest and to love his living environment. A man who is able to fulfill his noble moral obligation is a man of high dignity.

THE KIND AND STYLES

Based on the aspects inherent in its substance, Pencak Silat can be categorized into four kinds. The performance of each kind of those Pencak Silat has its own purpose and based on that purpose the performance will emphasize a certain aspect but without ignoring the other aspects.

The four kinds of Pencak Silat are :

1. Mental-spiritual Pencak Silat or self-controlled Pencak Silat, whose performance has the purpose to strengthen the ability of self control and therefor emphasizesmental-spiritual aspect more strongly.

2. Self defensive Pencak Silat, whose performance has the purpose to defend oneself effectively and therefore it emphasizes self defensive aspect more strongly

3. Artistic Pencak Silat, whose performance has the purpose to show the beauty of movement and therefore it emphasizes artistic aspect more strongly

4. Sports Pencak Silat, whose performance has the purpose to gain physical fitness and sports achievement, therefore it emphasizes sports aspect more strongly

The other aspects which do not become the focuses still can be seen in different degrees of proportion, some of them are obvious and the others are disguised. Therefore, all kinds of Pencak Silat always have four aspects as a unity and oneness.

The performance of jurus Pencak Silat of any kind, is practiced in various styles. A unique style with its outstanding characteristics and easily distinguished from other style. Whatever unique the performance of a style is, the values of the four aspects of Pencak Silat, that is, ethics, techniques, esthetic and sports as a unity, must exist and can be seen. If not, it has no values as a style of Pencak Silat.

It is not easy to distinguish the styles of Pencak Silat and only those who are experts and who understand various jurus Pencak Silat thoroughly, can do so. The difference of the styles is only concerning the physical practice aspect and it is not concerning the mental-spiritual and philosophical aspects. Therefore, the styles is not the system or sect. No matter whatever kind or style of Pencak Silat, it is always inspired by (based on) the sublime ethic philosophy and has mental spiritual aspect as its self-controlled aspect.

In self-defensive Pencak Silat, there is a style which uses paranormal or a kind of supernatural powers in performing its jurus. Paranormal which is called tenaga dalam (inner power), debus or ngelmu kanuragan is a kind of strengthening jurus or physical invulnerability. Not long time ago there was a theoretical explanation about the paranormal and the practices of how to achieve the skill, but the explanation and its proof were not based on the result of intensive scientific research. The existence of the style used paranormal has enriched Pencak Silat.

THE SCHOOL AND PENDEKAR

The meaning of Pencak Silat school is often confused with Pencak Silat style. Pencak Silat school is an education institution where one can berguru or be a student of Pencak Silat.

Berguru or to be a student has a connotative meaning of studying (learning) intensively and the process of which is observed, guided and supervised directly and completely by a teacher, so that the progress of the ability and morality of the student can be known clearly. The teacher will not educate and upgrade anyone nor extend his education to anyone whose mentality is regarded unworthy. For that reason, it was not easy for a person to be a student or member of Pencak Silat school in the old time. One should take hard or difficult tests concerning mental attitude and pass them before he was accepted as a student.

In view of the kinds of taught Pencak Silat, there are four categories of Pencak Silat school, that is :

1. Mental-spiritual Pencak Silat school, which emphasizes its education intensively on the mental-spiritual aspect of Pencak Silat with the purpose of building a high ability of its students or member.

2. Self-defensive Pencak Silat school, which emphasizes its education on the self defensive aspect of Pencak Silat for its students, with the purpose of building high technical skill of self defense by or without using various weapons.

3. Artistic Pencak Silat school, which emphasizes its education on the artistic aspect of Pencak Silat with the purpose of building the skill in performing the beauty of Pencak Silat movement of its students or its members, with or without traditional music accompaniment and by or without using weapons, in accordance with the rules of wiraga (basic bodily movement technique), wirasa (creativity and improvisation which make the bodily movement more beautiful) and wirama (harmony and conformity of movement with the music rhythm accompanying it).

4. Sports Pencak Silat school, which emphasizes its education on the sports aspect of Pencak Silat with the purpose of building the ability of practicing Pencak Silat techniques which have sports values for the sake of keeping physical fitness or competition. For the sake of competition, the education is conformed with the valid rules of contest.

The self defensive Pencak Silat school are the most popular of all, some of which teach paranormal or physical endurance and skill which can be seen like paranormal. Since 1970's, there have been many self defensive Pencak Silat school which teach sports Pencak Silat on behalf of competition with the purpose of making their students or members be permitted to participate in the Sports Pencak Silat championship, because only this kind of Pencak Silat is competed. But since 1990 there is another kind of Pencak Silat can be competed, that is Artistic Pencak Silat. Self defensive Pencak Silat and mental-spiritual Pencak Silat are not competed, but matched in the forms of show and performance.

In view of demand of the modern era development, Pencak Silat schools can be categorized into 3 groups, that is :

1. Traditional Pencak Silat school, and its outstanding characteristics are among others :

a. the top leadership of the school is hereditary

b. The acceptance of its students is through selective test and strict probation period

c. The education method is monological

d. The violation of the school disciplines is punished with the dismissal as a member

e. It has no attributes or written forms regarding the school and its education

f. If does not collect school fee or contribution from its members

g. The activity cost of the school is paid by the leader (owner)

2. The modern Pencak Silat school, and its principal characteristic are among others :

a. The leader and the officials of the school are elected from its cadres who are regarded as reliable candidates

b. It is open and free for anybody in accepting students

c. It does not arrange probation period, but it applies educational period as the primary level

d. The school disciplines are enforced through guidance speech

e. It has attributes and written forms concerning its school and education in limited number

f. It does not collect school fee but it does not refuse contribution from its members

g. The activity cost is paid by the leader and contribution

The implanting of philosophical values and moral-spiritual education an all Pencak Silat schools is not carried out specifically but is inculcated while training is held in the forms of brief instructions, taking the oath of allegiance or loyalty to the school.

In conformity with the demand of social development which becomes more rational, all the traditional and transitional Pencak Silat schools will develop and change into modern ones with professional characteristics of management and education.

In general, the qualification of the leaders of Pencak Silat schools is pendekar which is the highest status related with the grade of skill in performing Pencak Silat according to its rules (principles) or the facts of applying the philosophical doctrine of Pencak Silat consistently and consequently which is worth following as example.

In modern school society, the term pendekar is used as a title of a grade of a grade of skilled ability of Pencak Silat, and there is also such a title which is graded into ranks. The usage of pendekar seems to follow the Japanese model of self defensive school which gives the graded title of Dan to its member who has mastered a high skill of self-defense. The title of pendekar or Dan is translated into English as grand master or principal master.

RESEARCH AND WRITING

The scientific research or writing on Pencak Silat has not been done a lot until nowadays. In general, the research and writing which had ever been done, were focused on the technical aspect of Pencak Silat. They lacked of or had no interest on non-technical aspect, whereas both aspects formed a unity.

The books on Pencak Silat which have circulated widely were the works of Amy Shapiro entitled "Martial Arts Language" and Don F Draeger entitled "Weapons and Fighting Arts of the Indonesian Archipelago".

In the book written by Amy Shapiro, the writer distinguishes Pencak from Silat in their meanings. According to the writer, literally Pencak means skilled and specialized body movements and Silat means to fight using Pencak. Don F Draeger also distinguishes Pencak from Silat, in his book, but both of them can not be separated. According to him, based on the concept of Minangkabau people, Pencak is a skillful body movement in variation for self-defense and Silat is the fighting application of Pencak ; Pencak without Silat is purposeless.

In accordance with the explanation described in the Preface, the words Pencak Silat are derived from the language of Malay ethnic people and both have the same meanings. This is in conform with the explanation about Silat in the dictionary compiled by WJS Purwodarminto.

According to Hisbullah Rahman in his book entitled Sejarah Perkembangan Pencak Silat di Indonesia or the History of the Development of Pencak Silat in Indonesia, in the glorious age of Sriwijaya Kingdom, the University of Nalanda in that country had become the developing center of Buddhist religion and the spreading center of Pencak Silat as well. Many Chinese people came there to learn Pencak Silat and then spread it in their country later.

The books on Pencak Silat in Indonesian language which are circulating widely in Indonesia, were written by Mariyun Sudirohadiprodjo, Mohamad Djumali and Januarno. All the three books are about technical guidance of learning or training of sports Pencak Silat.

Malayan language magazine Pendekar published in Malaysia, gives special attention on information about Pencak Silat. Pencak Silat magazine published by PB (Pengurus Besar) IPSI or Central Board of the Indonesian Pencak Silat Association, whose first publication was published in May 1990, also gives special attention on the same things. Information about Pencak Silat techniques is given a lot in some magazine published in different countries.

The Devastating Art of Pentjak Silat

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The world's largest archipelago stretches like a huge scimitar from Malaysia to New G uinea comprised of more than 13,000 islands and is home to a deadly fighting art known as "Silat", or "Pentjak Silat."

In Malaysia, there are approximately 500 styles. In Indonesia there are perhaps 200 styles with many styles preferring not to be recognized by their respective governments. Accordingly, there may be an incalculable number of styles being practiced today. Archaeological evidence reveals that by the sixth century A.D. formalized combative systems were being practiced in the area of Sumatra and the Malay peninsula. Two kingdoms, the Srivijaya in Sumatra from the 7th to the 14th century and the Majapahit in Java from the 13th to 16th centuries made good use of these fighting skills and were able to extend their rule across much of what is now Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The Dutch arrived in the seventeenth century and controlled the spice trade up until the early 20th century, with brief periods of the English and Portuguese attempting unsuccessfully to gain a lasting foothold in Indonesia. During this period of Dutch rule. "Silat," or "Pentjak Silat" (as it is known in Indonesia today) was practiced undergound until the country gained its independence in 1949.

With the crisscrossing of wars, trade and immigration of various cultures across this region since the 6th century, the effect on present day Pentjak Silat is evident. These influences can be seen such as Nepalese music, Hindu weapons such as the trisula [forked truncheon], Indian grappling styles, Siamese costumes, Arabian weapons Chinese weapons and fighting methods. Pentjak Silat still plays an important role in the lives of thousands of people across the Malay world with the rural village dwellers practicing and making it part of their daily routines.

The word "Pentjak" means; the body movements used in the training method and the word "Silat" means; the application of those movements or the actual "fight." Each style of Pentjak Silat has its own formal curriculum, history and traditions, some shrouded in secrecy and some open to the public. "Silat Pulut" is a method that is openly displayed to the public, seen at public ceremonies such as weddings. "Pulut" means glutinous rice, the sticky kind often eaten at Malay parties and wedding receptions. Thus, this "Rice Cake Silat" is characterized by flashy, aesthetically beautiful moves that have very little to do with real self-defense. Silat Buah is rarely shown in public. Buah means "fruit," implying that part of Silat which is useful. It is the applications or techniques for self-defense. Many systems inter-relate, function and integrate as a whole. Every move, physical or mental is consistent with a certain belief system and fighting rationale, making it a devastating self-defense system.

There is no overall standard for Pentjak Silat. Each style has its own particular movement patterns, specially designed techniques and tactical rationale. However, although all styles use hand and foot motions, the percentage of use of either one depends on the style and the tactics being used. A quite remarkable tactic is the one used by the Harimau style from Sumatra. In this method, the practitioner's movement pattern resembles the antics of a tiger (the name of Harimau), with heavy emphasis on staying close to the ground using crouching, lying, sitting and semi-squat positions. The leg strength and flexibility required is impressive and the Harimau stylist can use his hands like extra feet or his feet like extra hands. He can start the fight from the ground position or will invite his opponent into a trap then take him to the ground. Other types of Sumatran Silat are Menangkabau, Podang, Sterlak, Lintau and Kumango. On the other hand, many Javanese styles use a percentage weighting that is more balanced between hand and legwork. Many Javanese styles require the practitioner to move in close against the enemy in an upright position, then use various hand and foot moves to express the techniques. Styles such as Tjimande Serak, Tjikalong and Tjigrik, all demonstrate this fact.

The names of style can be traced to many diverse origins. Styles are named after a geographical area, city or district, after an animal, after a spiritual or combative principle, after a person, or after a physical action. For example, there is a style called "Undukaym Silat" which takes its name after the footwork actions that mimic those of a hen scratching the ground. Seitia Hati meaning "faithful heart" is named to represent a spiritual principle. Mustika Kwitang is named after the Kwitang district in the city of Jakarta. Serak is named after the person who founded the style. Menangkebau Silat is named after an ethnic group, the Menankabau people. Sterlak Silat is name after a quality and means "to attack with strength." The variety and diverseness of names is not limited to any one style.

Finding good teachers that can pass on the knowledge is not easy. Traditional Pentjak Silat is highly clandestine and secretive. Teachers never compete for students and usually keep to themselves with their small groups. To find a Silat master is usually always by introduction through a family member or friend. The acceptance process is often very selective and the probation period is strict. Each teacher has his own particular criteria he uses to evaluate a prospective student that is often based on the studentís character; specifically his temperament and judgment, his demeanor (his outward behavior, his manner towards others) and his morality and ethics. The student's willingness to learn is also of great importance because the training will be severe. In many styles, the student, once accepted is required to take an oath to the style.

The probation period serves as a screening time so that the teacher may directly observe the behavior of the student and draw a conclusion of his sincerity. The instruction is almost always one on one, supervised directly by the master, so that the ability and morality of the student can be distinguished clearly. The teacher will reject anyone whose attitude or personality is deemed as unworthy. Discipline is harsh and violations often result in dismissal of the student. Learning the "old way" is not an easy thing to do and consequently the number of people practicing is very small. It is not meant to be open for everyone. Such a relationship and training regime is regarded as sanctified and is taken with the utmost seriousness by all involved.

Self-Defense Verses Sport ñ The Old verses the New

There is a movement today where the various governments in Southeast Asia are trying to organize Pentjak Silat on national and regional levels as a sport; with competitions, tournaments and in the educational system with various standards in order to collectively regulate the great diversity of styles. However, according to the traditionalists, the goal of Pentjak Silat is always self-defense and not physical education or sport. The development and transition of Silat, an art designed for self-defense to one for sporting and physical education applications is a favorite subject among the old veterans and masters of Silat. Many of these masters refuse to participate in the "modernizing" of their art, preferring to stay to themselves teaching in small groups in the traditional manner. They feel that if Silat is developed as a sport, its combative vitality and values will be compromised and eventually weaken the effectiveness of it as a fighting art. This view certainly has merit. With these combative aspects watering away, certain protective techniques deemed vital such as guarding the groin, throat, eyes, and joints are eliminated and considered unnecessary to practice, as the rules of the sport do not permit an attack to those targets. How you practice is how you will fight. Old style Silat develops reflex habits that allow the practitioner to automatically counterattack to the assailant's vital areas while remaining keenly aware of his own vulnerability.

In sport Silat, this awareness is lost, resulting on a dangerous dependency of a deficient fighting art no longer designed for real self-defense. The traditionalists also believe that sport Silat will be influenced by tournament success. Schools will develop and train with the objective of winning these tournaments and a "tournament style" of Silat will result, with special techniques designed only for the objective of winning according to the rules. These new creations have nothing to do with real self-defense.

Sportive combat also presents another problem of values. Traditional Silat is mostly defensive in attitude and physical expression. Rarely will the Silat man attack first. The practitioner prefers to wait for the attack before he moves into action. The values of sport are different because the student is training to attack to score points, so he develops the attitude of attack and not the attitude of counterattack from defensive posturing. Training to be a sportsman, develops sportsman-like thinking such as "fair play," and the "you can't win 'em all" idea of being a "good sport about losing." A Silat man has everything to lose because his personal safety, maybe even his life are on the line. He cannot be a good loser. The values of the old fashioned Silat is about protecting your life at all costs, doing whatever is necessary to survive because the only reason you are fighting is to protect your life or the lives of your loved ones. This is why the student is taught to think of his training partner as an "assailant" attempting to take his life. If the student were to think of the assailant as an opponent, then it would negate the meaning of the art, the spirit of combat of actual fighting. In Pentjak Silat training, students are taught to also consider the climate, clothing being worn, time of day and night and the terrain, upon which they are fighting. These all combine to determine the tactics used and the emotional atmosphere of the fight.

The emphasis in physical education and sport on aesthetics and not function is also why in the newer sport versions of Silat, there is an increasing amount of "showmanship" and gymnastics. What looks flashy and pleasing to the eye may or may not have anything to do with combative function. These useless moves added for entertainment value eat away into the fabric of combative Pentjak Silat and begin weakening its structure much like termites over time eating away at the frame of the house. The old folks believe that the practice of traditional Pentjak Silat has all the personal skill and artistry needed without having to weaken it by making it into a sport or an exhibition art.

Fighting Multiple Opponents

All serious styles of Pentjak Silat teach the student to consider multiple opponents. The student maintains the awareness of these multiple assailants while participating in solo training exercises or with a partner. Many styles consider a minimum of three enemies and build up to exercises involving five to seven enemies. A great deal of Silat technique is a mix of grappling and hitting. The grappling is a "loose" type of grappling where the moves are used for take downs, off-balancing sweeps, and tying the opponent up momentarily. Even in the intricate and deadly holds of the Buah Kunchi of Malaysian Bersilat, the trainee can still quickly dissolve the hold in order to engage another assailant. Being able to disengage from one person in order to move to another is essential in fighting multiple opponents. The trainee is not so committed to applying body pressure and leverage where he cannot make an immediate escape. Hitting is used to tenderize and soften up the assailant before going into these intricate and complex techniques. This grappling / hitting mix gives the trainee flexibility and adaptability to meet the changing situation, whatever it is, that he finds thrust upon him.

As the practitioner finishes off his assailant with a take down and follow-up, he immediately crouches, covers, and assumes the "on guard" stance and posture combinations of his particular style, because another attacker may be on his way in. The assailant that he just took down may not be finished after all. He may have been able to take all that punishment or as in many styles of Silat, he may be feigning his hurt condition, hoping the student drops his defenses and he can surprise re-attack. It is important to take the assailant seriously at all times; that he is always dangerous even when down and especially when practicing in order to build this attitude so it is a habit. This cautionary awareness has resulted in the overkill principle, which seems to be prevalent in all types of Southeast Asian self-defense. This being the repeated use of follow-up techniques after the assailant has been thought to already have been taken out. Experience tells Silat people that one or two strikes or breaks seldom finish the job at hand, therefore, for safety purposes, a variety of backups are built into the trainee's reflexes. Each backup technique has its own back up!

The Use of Weapons

Of course, the classical study of Pentjak Silat demands that the trainee learn to wield the traditional weapons such as the knife, the stick, the staff, the tjabang (branch), the short sword, and the sarong (cloth) or rope.

As Draeger notes, "No Pentjak Silat system is combatively idealistic, so foolish, or so naïve as to require this exclusive use of empty hand tactics for solving all combative situations."

The use of these weapons and objects are based on the same technical rationale as the empty hand curriculum of djurus (hand movement) and Langkahs (footwork). In this way, objects from his daily surroundings such as pens, combs, drinking receptacles, shoes, belts and eating utensils, even a salt shaker can be brought into play to enhance a particular technique. In self-defense Silat, the environment is to be used when possible if time permits, because the assailant, even if empty-handed may be concealing a weapon of his own. His moves must be treated extra carefully.

With this unifying, coherent system firmly planted in place in the trainee's mind, he can substitute and transfer the use of weapons to the techniques he already knows empty-handed. His skill is already built in from his empty hand training. This is unlike Filipino methods that teach weapons use first and empty hand derivations second.

The unifying principles of Silat are used to help the trainee fight his fight without being confused about what he should do next. These unifying principles are based on the physics of efficiency of technique and economy of motion, and are kept as secrets of the systems. The unifying principles help the trainee to understand the endless variations of empty hand techniques. There are so many in fact that it is impossible to name them all. They all stem from the root techniques of the empty hand curriculum and are recognized by "insiders" as such. Silat practitioners make use of all parts of the body for locking, joint breaking or as striking weapons. Substituting a shoulder for an elbow, for example, one can produce the same joint / lock conceptually. The various hand formations similar to the crane beak, tiger claw, eagle claw, panther fist, like those used in Kung Fu can be adapted in the moment, to the various techniques. The trainee, at some point in his study designated by the master, learns the vulnerable points of the body to be exploited with the techniques he has already learned. Often times it is a matter of reviewing the techniques already known and adding this knowledge as a finishing touch. Like a road map, the routes are already known and in place, the teacher just makes the student aware of a few more stops and points can be hit, pinched, torn or squeezed and add a rich dimension to the techniques already mastered by the practitioner. They are especially useful against larger assailants who need prodding and convincing in order to make a technique work or escaping holds and locks that the practitioner has somehow found himself caught in.

The Esoteric Spiritual Core

No system of traditional Silat is complete without strong spiritual training. Known as "Kebatinin" or "Llmu," it is considered very important so that the student may be prepared for the violence and consequences of real combat. Some confuse the spiritual aspect of Silat with the common spectacle of street magicians as evidence of spiritual power and mastery. These spectacle include stunts such as eating razor blades and crushed glass, putting needles through different parts of the body, lying on beads of nails, etc., and are used to impress the uneducated and to justify the art's potency. However, true spiritual training is difficult work on the inner self, it is the search for those truths which lead to humility and a reverence for life. There is no room for mysterious tricks and mystical illusions in real Silat. If a student learns to depend on mysticism he doesn't understand, then he learns to depend on something outside himself, and to depend on something outside of himself is to weaken his own nature.

True spiritual Silat strengthens the individual will and knowledge so he can rely on himself. Emphasis on mystification usually indicates the absence of true knowledge and understanding. As Pendekar Paul Dethouars, of the Serak system says, "The truth of combat is hard enough to understand, so why mystify and create more obstacles to it?"

One aspect that is surrounded with the mystical is the use of amulets, prayers and rituals designed to induce invulnerability and protection for the student should he find himself in danger and be forced to use his skills. These methods are unique to each teacher and style of Silat, and are private and never exposed publicly. Amulets and prayers in all the styles have a common function of a physical reminder of the student's connection to the real mystery, the Creator, the Infinite, the Cosmos. This physical reminder can also help reinforce the particular belief system he has been taught. For example, if he is wearing an amulet of tiger's stone, or the tooth of a tiger, then that is a physical reminder that when he uses his Silat he becomes like a tiger in his attitude and takes on the fighting attributes of a tiger. Tenacity, great courage, daring ferocity becomes his mental state.

All methods of Silat involve the understanding of a particular belief system, particular to the style and the master teaching that style. The belief system may be based on the teacher's own religious background and he may use that as a basis for his philosophical teachings, morality and ethics, along with his personal experiences of life. If the teacher's religious background is Hindu, like many teachers on the island of Bali in Indonesia, then the philosophy and spirituality of his system will reflect that religious view. Many Silat teachers are Muslim, so their spiritual system reflects the tenets of Islam. More recently, with the arrival of Europeans in Southeast Asia, some teachers have embraced Christianity, so their philosophical and spiritual teaching reflect Christian ideals. This is very common among the Filipino Escrimadors of the central and northern Philippines where Catholicism is very strong. Some teachers will not accept a student into the higher echelons of their spiritual teachings unless the student embrace his teacher's religion. Other Silat masters are more tolerant and liberal using other criteria to judge a student's character. The end result of all systems regardless of religious orientation is a belief system for the student, that produces the heart of courage, confidence, and the will to fight on the side of truth and justice. This is a tremendous base and back up for the Fighting techniques he has learned.

Not all of the philosophical teachings of Silat systems is based on a particular religious point of view. The physical techniques of Silat also provide for the study of the esoteric philosophy of Silat. Much of the physical truth of traditional Silat leads to the development of a philosophy of life. The parallels between the physical concepts and the mental-spiritual concepts are important for the study of life.

Some examples of this would be that just as the student works hard to refine his physical technique, so he works hard to purify his character strengths and weaknesses, his relationships with others and his relationship to the Creator. Just as he devotes himself to the study of the locks, take downs, sweeps, and weapons, so he devotes himself to the review and examination of his own life, i.e., in all areas; mental, spiritual, career, financial, social, family, physical and spiritual. The old timers say they can tell a lot about a person just by how he practices his Silat. If he hurries through his solo exercises all the time, then he is probably going to hurry through his work in life, leading to sloppiness and poor results. The teachers of traditional Silat are ever vigilant! Every detail is important! Every effort is a step forward! When a sufficient number of steps have been taken, success or achievement is the result. The student may have finished the curriculum and may have known it for a long time, but only when he begins to THINK, LIVE, and above all FEEL, that which is taught him, then and only then will he KNOW the real contents of the lessons he has been taught even though he may have physically and intellectually known the facts of the systems for years. The lessons and knowledge is of value only when it is actually applied. As progress and development proceed, the student reaches down within himself and gradually comes into consciousness of this understanding. Learning the traditional Silat, is never easy, if it was it couldn't be worthwhile. Just as in life, things that one had to work very hard for are valued and appreciated. Things that come easy are never valued for long.

There is an old saying among Silat people that goes, "You do not choose Silat, Silat chooses you!" By the nature of the difficult work necessary to master the art, the art itself selects its worthy initiates and ultimately transforms them.

Moslem's wushu

2006-03-07T15:49:00.000-08:00

In 1219 when after capturing China Chingiz-khan went to the west many arabians and persians became moved to China. Such people were called "semu" ("men with colored eyes"), they had less rights than mongolian but more than chinese. In official documents of Yuan dynasty they were called "huihui". Moved on the east moslem infantrymen and artillerymen in 1275, due to order of founder of Yuan dynasty "in all places entered in communities of border inhabitants", became peasants. From these people, arabian immigrants came to China on ships during Tang and Song dynasties, and chinese men converted to islam formed "huizu" nation ("moslems").

Huizu lived on state lands only. Conditions of living were bad, there were many rebellions. It is known that when Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew Yuan dynasty, many of his soldiers and officers were moslems. Most known of them were generals Chang Yuchun and Hu Dahai. At the end of Ming dynasty there was Ma Shouying in Shaanxi province. His nickname was "lao huihui" ("old moslem"), and nickname of his detachment was "lao huihui ying" ("batallion of old moslem"). They went through battles to North-West and joined to Cao Wangli's rebellion.

During Qing dynasty moslems were under a great supression, and there were rebellion after rebellion.

During more than seven hundred years huizu was indissoluble connected with wushu. They considered wushu as self-defence and as holy action, stimulated moslem's spirit.

Moslems are wide spread in China. During many years they exchanged martial arts with hanzu, took good sides. It is hard to say which styles of wushu are moslem styles. Below are styles popular among all the huizu.

1. Tantui

2. Chaquan

3. Liuhequan

4. Stick fighting, also known as Ali's stick. North-Western art of stick fighting includes one-head stick of mother and son and two-heads stick-stripe.

5. Pole of Sha family and spear of Ma family. These styles are mentioned in the general Qi Jiguang's "New book of notes about achivements" (Ming dynasty). Now there are no specialists of these styles.

6. Huihui shiba zhou

7. Qishi

8. Tongbeiquan

9. Piguaquan

10. Bajiquan

11. Xinyiliuhequan (fist of heart, mind and six coordinations), a brunch of xingyiquan (southern version, from Henan province). Main part - "10 big forms" and "4 cock's grasps". According to legends this style is transferred from moslem wushu master Ma Zhuangtu, who lived during Qing dynasty. Now this style is popular among moslems of Shanxi and Ningxia.

12. Art of sword jian. It is said that in the past there were such a sets as "Suleiman's sword" and "Koran's sword"

The Muslim Master of the Old Empire

2006-03-07T15:44:00.000-08:00

An interview with Grandmaster Ma Xianda

by Gigi Oh, with Gene Ching

Author's note:
This is the complete interview. The article that appeared in the magazine was a shortened version, but it included the Chinese characters and additional informational sidebars.

Ma Xianda "In an effort to standardize Chinese martial arts, the People's Republic of China (PRC) established a national ranking system for masters, the Duan system. Officially commencing in 1997, there are nine levels of Duan. Currently, only four living masters have been recognized as the highest level, Ninth Duan. The youngest of which is Grandmaster Ma Xianda of Xian, China's old capital.

The most recent testimony of Ma's expertise that Americans might recognize is his student, Gao Xian, who played a major supporting role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But Master Gao is only one of Grandmaster Ma's remarkable legacy. More than twenty of Ma's close students have earned the coveted title of Wu Yin or "martial hero," a title conferred on athletes who have repeatedly placed in the top three positions in national competition.) Ma's own sons, Ma Yue and Ma Lun, are national champions and noted masters as well. Ma Xianda comments that Ma Yue got a lot of spankings when he started at age five, but actually he was "pretty good." At age 11, Ma Yue won the Xian city and Shaanxi province all round championships and beat renowned International Wushu champ Zhao Changjun. In 1983, he won a four "gold award", placing first in fanzi, pigua, short weapon and straight sword. Ma Lun captured the National Sanda (free sparring) Championship when he was 17. Now he is a respect coach and international certified referee of Sanda. And of the six Sanda Wang (free sparring kings) that now reign in China, two trained under Ma Lun. Beyond his kin, Ma also coached the aforementioned champion Zhao Changjun for a while and even taught Jet Li what would become one of Jet's favorite forms, Fanziquan.

Ma was born in 1932 to a Muslim family who trace their martial arts roots back six generations. Since 9/11, Muslims have been so profiled, but it's easy to forget that there are many types of Muslims today. Chinese Muslims, or Hui, represent the largest minority of the largest population in the world and have as much connection with. Bin Laden as Christians have with Hitler. Originally from Hebei, Ma learned from his father Ma Fengtu and uncle Ma Yintu, both noted masters in their own right. Ma Fengtu was a general under famed warlord Feng Yuxiang. Ma Yingtu also produced Zhang Wenguang, another ninth Duan holder. Ma Xianda learned many traditional Wushu forms including Tongbei Pigua, Kaimen Baji, Ba Shan Fen, and Cuo Jiao and also studied western boxing, wrestling and fencing. In fact, Ma was one of the very first Chinese to study western martial sports.

In 1952, the first martial arts championship was held after the founding of the PRC in 1949. Ma captured the Lei Tai championship, a free fighting event where fighters knock each other off an elevated platform, defeating Tongbi master Deng Hongzhao and Cuo Jiao master Li Xuewen. He also took the Short Weapon Fighting Champion and the Wushu Performance Grand Champion. He won all this at the young of 19. The following year, Ma won the Huabei Short Weapon Tournament. This included competitors from Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia. Ma won every single bout.

Ma went on to dedicate his life to the martial arts. After graduating from Hebei Teachers’ College, he took a position at the Xian Physical Education College to teach Wushu, Boxing and fencing. He became a full professor there and taught for 30 years. Ma estimates that he has taught nearly 10,000 students, both Chinese and non-Chinese over his expansive career, including many national coaches and champions. Ma authored many books and papers on Wushu, including editing the Zhongguo Wushu Da Cidian (Chinese Wushu Encyclopedia) and earned many illustrious titles over his long career. Probably the most illustrious came in 1995 when he was recognized as one of China's Top Ten Professors of Chinese Martial Arts.

In 1998, Ma was recognized as a Ninth Duan holder. In May of 2002, Ma celebrated his 70th birthday and Kungfu Qigong Publisher Gigi Oh caught up with him for an exclusive interview. As an outspoken authority on Chinese martial arts, we are pleased to be able to bring you the first interview with Ma Xianda in English.

On the Development of Chinese Martial Arts
If we use Chinese communist jargon "I am a lao bing (old soldier.)" My whole life has been devoted to the martial arts. I am a professional martial artist. Wushu has been developing since 1949. Indeed, our government has devoted itself to making many improvements but some of those improvements have a degree of flaw. Just like our Chinese old saying "Even if you have a good heart, you don't get best reward" we don't see a good effect. I can even go so far to say that there is a certain degree of damage to our ancient cultural inheritance. This is due to some misguidance of government policy. For instance, in 1949 we had a policy of wa shang ding (literally translates as "a three-legged wine cup from the Shang Dynasty" but it was used as a catch phrase meaning "dig out the ancient treasures.") That was good until 1955, when the whole policy changed 180 degrees. The government revoked what they were doing and pressed down Wushu, especially the old, traditional, good part of Wushu. That was for a long time. Also they were trying to promote modern Wushu, not the old traditional good stuff."

For example, take China's historic hero, General Qi Jiguang. Historically, his position should be higher than the legendary Yue Fei. Yue Fei fought against the people of the Jin minority. Qi Jiguang fought against the Japanese pirates. He led his troop of 7000 soldiers to defend the Zhejiang coast for 10 years and he totally destroyed the Japanese pirates there. Even many Japanese respect him because they know he was a great general. He was also a promoter and teacher of Chinese Wushu. In his famous 14 chapter book, Ji Shou Ching Hua, he devoted 4 chapters to Wushu. Chi Jiguang was very opposed to flowery Wushu, only pretty or elegant for show for an audience. It's like a beautiful mansion that is empty inside. The Wushu that Qi Jiguang wants to promote is real ability and combat fighting. Surely this is the central core of Wushu. But it is not complete Wushu. Wushu still needs longevity, health and mind cultivation to make it complete. But never forget, the central core is ji (strike.) You must have real combat fighting ability, definitely not a "flowery blooming, only for watching" Wushu.

Following 1949, we have been following in the path of flowery type of Wushu and that caused a lot of damage to Wushu. If you strike or kick, they call you weiji (only want to fight.) Not long ago, Zhongguo Wushu magazine interviewed me and I revealed two hats -one is weiji, the other is fugu (recover ancient.) I think the general public misunderstood me. I am definitely not weiji. I objectively look at Wushu as a whole. Even Taijiquan has an aspect of ji. As soon as you start, you have the "hands holding a ball" posture and that can be used to strike. They all have ji.”

After 1949, the government invested a lot of money to promote Wushu. The communists actually put in more money than the Republic of China (ROC.) Chiang Kai Shek set up the Zhong Yang Guoshuguan (Central Guoshu Institute) and appointed General Zhang Zijiang as the director. The Board of Directors included noted martial leaders such as Lin Sen, Chiang Kai Shek, Sun Ke (a relative of Sun Yat Sen,) Dai Chuan Xian and others. They placed it under Department of Education and also established the Guoli Guoshu Tiyu Zhuanke Xuexiao (Guoshu Physical Education Academy.) Every province established its own guoshuguan (martial arts training hall) under the direction of the governor of that province. The Vice Director was actually the administrator and did all the work. This frame is huge. Big hats, no money. Titles without pay. A lot of good stuff was done during the General Zhang Zijiang, because they tried to combine Wushu with western physical education. Wushu can’t be stuck in the nan bing qi (cold weapon) period, that’s too obsolete, so you have to combine it with physical education. The special character of Wushu is still gong (offense,) fang (defense) and jinen (combat ability.) Wushu and physical education has the same quality. That is culture. We can use Wushu's three special characters combined with western-developed system. That is a very good thing that General Zhang Zijiang did. He also got rid of some of the weeds of Chinese Wushu. Wuhua was not all good. It still had some bad parts.

When the Cultural Revolution hit, it got even worse. They pulled out the essence – the fighting combat. They only left the empty frame. And they still say they are promoting San Shou, Short Weapon and Long Weapon. If you say Wushu has ji, then you are the guilty party and you will be pi pan (publicly humiliated). I cannot say I’m a warrior fighter, but all along I insist on the core part of Wushu. That is the base of Chinese Wushu.”

The Gang of Four corrupted everything, then Deng Xiaopeng came up and the Open Door Policy. A lot of frames were opened. Wushu was suddenly alive again. Sanda came up. Now we can talk about da. Also, the folk martial artists came out and ordinary people could practice Wushu. This is good. However, the policy of the governing body is not quite right. This is why we didn't get our expected result.

In the early 70's, I was training the first Wushu group going to the United States, but because I was not a communist and my background was not very good, I couldn't go. Nonetheless, I did all the ground work and wrote all the explanations. I wrote all the literature and terminology. I couldn't explain Wushu so I just translated it phonetically. After the U.S.A. trip, many American magazines described Wushu as traditional Chinese ballet - very pretty like a butterfly. But this was because they could only see the outside. They could not see the offence and defense capability.

On Kungfu, Guoshu and Guoshu
Ma_Xianda During the ROC (founded 1911,) and even today in Taiwan, it's called Guoshu (literally "national art.") They have their own reason for doing so. My father gave it the name Guoshu. He was the martial brother of Zhang Zijiang. At that time, Chinese painting was called guohua (national painting,) language was called guoyu (national language) and Chinese medicine was called guoyi (national medicine.) Naturally, Chinese Wushu was called Guoshu. And at that time, in Shandong, Hebei and Henan, the folk people called it bashiye (respect.) During the Qing (1644-1911) and Ming (1368-1644) Dynasties called it wuyi (martial skill.) The Qin (221-206 BCE) and Han (206 BCE-220 CE) Dynasties called it shoubo (hand fighting.) The Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) called it bian (whip.) Mabian (literally "bridal reign") were the bodyguards. The bian was also a weapon used to hit people. After 1949, they called it Wushu to distinguish it from the ROC term. Overseas people called it Kungfu, but I don't think this is correct because drinking tea has Kungfu. Kungfu is the degree of your achievement. Kungfu contains time and degree or level. If you use modern language, you can say it is your level of achievement.

On Olympic Wushu
In China, Sanda Wang is very hot because of media attention and the commercial packaging. On the contrary, taolu (forms competition) is standardized. It is more like dancing, so even the higher level national tournaments, there are not many spectators. Nobody likes to see 100 people doing the same thing. Even if Wushu Taolu went into the Olympics, it is not necessary a given that people will want to watch it. Not every category of the Olympics has an audience. If Wushu does not go into the Olympics, then all kinds of Chinese martial arts will bloom at the same time. But if it gets into the Olympics, and the government only pushes those little categories, other categories will die down. They will only feed that small group of professionals to represent the entire Chinese culture, over 1.2 billion people. This is the general feeling of Wushu societies.

It's all the result of some officials. They want to show that they accomplished something. They want to leave some legacy. If Wushu turns into a sport, then it will not really be an ancient Chinese treasure anymore. Thai boxing cannot get into the Olympics, but people still watch it. Olympic boxing and basketball does not have as big a following as pro boxing and pro basketball. Soccer has a big audience but it still not Olympic.

On Sanda
The modern wuxia (literally "martial knight", a genre of martial fiction) books with flying and such are not real Wushu. Those movies are actually preventing the Wushu healthy development because they are so exaggerated. You cannot put Wushu into a fairytale. You must bring their scientific side out. It must be based on science. Critics shouldn't press down Wushu with comments like Chinese sanda can not fight against Thai fighters. Wushu is something you can train and practice, but it also has combat. If we cannot compete against Thai boxing, it is because the method was not right. Nowadays, those Wushu professionals learn for four years in college. That's too short to learn Wushu in depth.”

For example, in 1999, there was a fight in Hawaii (China vs. U.S.A. Art of War) where my son was a referee. It was not so good. I criticized our sanda in front of the top leaders. Our sanda looked like yin yang ren (yin and yang mixed up in one body) because the sanda technique there did not contain Wushu. It only had some western boxing, and even the boxing was not that good. I was one of the first Chinese to train boxing under a western expert and I was a world champion. The kicks didn't look like Chinese kicks. Chinese martial arts have beautiful kicks but nobody there could do them. It's just like wearing traditional Chinese attire with a western mustache. You look "in between." You can't tell the difference between a sanda strike, Korean, Thai, or Japanese.

I was the first sanda champion in 1952. I was only 19. They only had three divisions - lightweight 54 kilos, middleweight 54- 80 kilos, heavyweight 80+ kilos. I was a middleweight. In that time, Shaolin, Wudang, Xingyi, Bagua, everyone came out to fight. But you could tell which system they belong too. Now in sanda, you cannot tell. No character. Even in boxing, you can tell the different styles, British from American. Now no one takes the time to learn basic Wushu. The problem is that basic Wushu training is too weak. Nobody bothers to study what is Chinese sanda or what is Wushu.

In the future for sanda, we should put more Chinese martial arts in it. Actually over the last 100 years, Chinese martial arts were only talked about on paper because you couldn't physically fight. Now we can fight again. That is good. However recently, some Chinese media have exaggerated saying Wushu is so good that they beat up Russian fighters. But the Russian was not a boxer, he was a weight lifter. Chinese people like to boast because we have this national pride. The reason for this is that we were so weak for the last 50 years. The British and Japanese came in and took our land away. Our spirit was weak and our countries physical might was weak. So we exaggerate the result of any little something because we want to overcompensate. Now we really should use the scientific method on our Wushu. If you say you have some extreme secret technique, you should examine it scientifically and find out how it works. You cannot just have it in the mouth or on the paper. That's not going to the real. What is the experimental lab of Wushu? That is the tournament or the battlefield.

On Taiji
I like to joke about Taiji players. You guys said Chen Taiji founder Chen Wanting dreamed that he was learning Taiji from the mythical Taoist warrior Zhen Wu and with it, one person killed 100 enemies. You use this legend and you believe this. That's also a joke. This is the non-scientific side of Wushu. This, plus the long period of time when we could not fight, weakens our Wushu. So now, Wushu has to be scientifically proven. It is a culture. It is knowledge. That knowledge has to be tested. If it can not be tested, it's not real Wushu.

Chen Taiji push hands

In the 60's, people brought Taiji to Japan and now you see Taiji associations all over in Japan. In 1985, I did a seminar in Osaka and I told them it shouldn't be called a Taiji association, it should be a Wushu Taiji association. It's a mother and son-like relationship. Back then, they even put Shaolin in Taiji. But now Japanese have changed. They call it a Wushu Taiji association.

On Short Weapons Sparring
The history of short weapons in China has been up and down many times. In 1949, it had good momentum for development. Then it was bad during the Cultural Revolution (1967.) It opened up for a couple years after, but then it folded again. I fully believe that we have to train the basics first, including fist fighting. If you don't do that, it's just like sanshou – no training and you just go to fight. We should know what the roots are. Sanshou should be a category of Wushu. Short weapon, Taiji, they are all only single categories of Wushu. Wushu is big umbrella. Nowadays people who say sanshou is sanshou and Wushu is Wushu, that's wrong.

After the common folk started competing (in short weapon sparring,) the Beijing governing body decided to regulate it. They figured that common folk were going to do it anyway, so the government should promote this event. So I have been assisting in the development short weapon sparring. The rules have been established. The details of this method are being developed. Now there is standard protective gear designed just for short weapon sparring. Everything is now regulated. I am designing a weapon to be trademarked. It's around 400 grams and between 1 to 1.1 meters long, depending on whether the user is male or female.

The history of jian (straight sword) goes back to the Spring Autumn (770-476 CE) and Warring States (476-221 CE.) The historic warrior Zhou Wen Wang killed 300 people by sword. Sword practice always cased fatalities, so this slowed down its development. Not as many practiced it. How can we improve upon short weapon practice so people are not injured, yet still can show their technique? This is the direction we should go. Today Wushu is still cultivated for health, so this is our first priority.

In 1928, we had the Zhong Yang Guoshuguan headed by General Zhang Zijiang. Under him, my father and my uncle tried to develop short and long weapon. That time also he established guoshu tiyu zhuanke xuexiao (physical institute). The student's standard of quality was very high. They combined Chinese martial arts and sports together, producing many influential students. That influenced practice all the way to Indonesia and Singapore. Even today, the people in the Philippines still call it guoshu not Wushu. They also started long weapon, short weapon and sanshou.

In the United States, there is no real short weapon competition as of yet, only two-man sets. In China, we have already started a short weapon competition and the long weapon is coming up soon. I have heard that in Canada and Japan, long weapon fighting already exists at tournaments.

On the Wushu Culture of China
Americans are very strong because their science and weapons are very strong. China was very strong in the past. Emperor Qin Shihuangdi built the Great Wall. We also have a living great wall, and that is Wushu. If we didn't have this cold weapon of Wushu essence, we would have been conquered long ago. But China keeps coming back. In 1930, my father (also my teacher) wrote a paper titled Wuhua wei wenhua zimu (martial culture is the mother of Chinese culture.) After 1949, Mao Zedong asked "Do we have wuhua or wenhua first? Martial culture or scholar culture?" My father was about the same period as Mao, just five years older. I never tried to discuss this paper because Mao is a leader saint and my father was just a common person. A common person cannot have the same opinion as a saint. But those two old men had their own reasons. That is they both agree. If you don't have wu culture, how can you have wen culture? Of course, they both have a little degree of error. In the ancient times, the human fights with a tiger or leopard for survival, either to protect themselves or get food. This is their survival skill. You cannot call that wu culture. Common people survive by cultivating the land. This is really not wu culture either because they are just trying to survive. Later when they add weapons, wuge (dagger axe) and wuji ("methodical" strike) then you kill the tiger with real productive technique. That contains a part of human culture. That is wuhua.

Chinese Wushu is the essence of Chinese culture. Why is this important part disappearing? In Song dynasty, they established lixue (everything is reason) and zhong wen, qing wu (heavy wen, light wu - author's note, Ma includes science in wu.) If you know how to write baguwen (an eight-level formal paper format) you will pass the test and be a lower officer. That’s why our science is backward too. You don't need to think. You just follow the mold – the frame. Even though we boast about ourselves, recalling that Chinese discovered paper, gunpowder, and the compass, but we haven't done anything in between. What's so good about it? Our gunpowder couldn't even fight off the British. We threw our science away. How could we defend against the Japanese and British people? Wushu also has the same problem. During this whole period, we started to disappear, to shrink. Our Chinese spirit is dying because Wushu is a part of our spirit. Even though we have 5000 years culture and we used to be magnificent, not any more. This is because of the Song dynasty.

Chinese Wushu should have Chinese flavor from the outside package. In the old days, we know the general all wear flags on their back. Thai boxers have a Thai prayer and dance when they come out to fight. Everyone respects that. Even in the old days, when the folk people came out to do marital arts, they bowed first. Then they would say "jian shou" ("laugh at me" – a humble gesture to say "my skill not good, don’t laugh.") But under Mao, we threw these old traditions way. He even humiliated Confucius. We should recover all those old traditions. Thailand, Korea, Japan and a lot other Asian cultures were all influenced by Chinese culture. Those little brothers try very hard to save what part they have. But this big brother just threw out whatever we had. After 1949, we did have a lot of improvements in some areas. But in other areas, we destroyed a lot of traditional Chinese culture. They wanted only one theory - Mao's theory. Is Mao's theory good? Indeed, he has some good parts. I enjoy reading Mao, especially his battlefield tactics. But you cannot squeeze others out and only promote one. Mao promoted baihua qifang ("100 flowers blossom simultaneously" used as a catch phrase meaning "support all the systems.") Treat the country folks fairly from the bottom of your heart. In that way, you can save all those traditional martial arts. If China is trying to return to its former glory, then we must have the right direction. Without this we will not reach the goal. We are improving, since few people are starving anymore.

On Integrity
Just recently I went to the 90th birthday celebration for a master. In my speech, I congratulated him for teaching successfully since his students respect him deeply and gave him such a big birthday party. He must have told them how to respect the elderly and zunn shi zhong dao (respect teachers and philosophy.) Nowadays the society's ethics are corrupt. All Chinese society, including Taiwan, has this problem. The old common laborer doesn't have high social class but he has good students. And his students have a lot of de (integrity.) They learned martial arts from their teacher and are now successful, so they gave their teacher such a big birthday party. That's proof that the teacher is successful.
Ma_Xianda

Jiang Zemin said you have to use de as policy to guide the country. Chiang Kai Shek also promoted de. At the time we had siwei bagang (4 virtues, 8 guidelines) li (courtesy,) yi(civility,) lien(honesty,) chi(ethics,) followed by chong (patriotism,) xiao (filial piety,) ren (benevolence,) ai (compassion,) xin (trustworthiness,) yi(grace,) ho (righteousness) and pin (harmony.) That is de. We Chinese all saw those posters all of the time, but now we don't even know what is li and what is yi, so how can we talk about de? The first thing we need to learn is xiao, then chong. We have to respect our parents first. Nowadays, a lot of people don't even know how to respect their own parents, so how can you show you have de? De is what we really have to emphasize. De includes include wude (martial ethics.) Wude is not just empty, not just a name. You must have wude. Only then you can have wucai (martial ability.) Only then you can show your martial arts ability.

In the Three Kingdoms period (220-265,) we all know Lord Guan, Zhang Fei and Liu Bei. All three heroes together could not defeat Lu Bu. You can find temples to Guan, Zhang and Liu but none to Lu Bu - why? Lu Bu was the better warrior. It's because Lu Bu does not have any de. He killed his stepfather for a woman. He had three step fathers and he killed them all. That's why Luo Guanzhong wrote the novel Three Kingdoms - the first person he disgraced was Lu Bu. So de and cai must be combined.

For all Martial Society, including American Martial Society, the question is: How do we establish a higher standard of wude? How are we going to cultivate and promote this? If wude is strong and everyone follows up on it, the whole society can be strong bringing everything to a higher level. I hope that your magazine can bear that. Show all the lovers of martial arts what is wude."

Grandmaster Ma's new book on Chinese Short Weapons is just about to be published. He plans to follow it with books on Baji, Ma Jia Fanzi, Ma Jia Pigua and Chinese Long Weapons.

Pencak Silat of Minangkabau West Sumatra

2006-03-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

By: B.A. Barendregt

Abstract

Silat, a martial art, is a component of traditional Minangkabau education in West Sumatra. By learning silat a Minangkabau may become a full-grown member of society (urang nan sabana urang). Silat is both a representation of Minangkabau culture and a means of transmitting it. The participants reflect on society, and the relations between the microcosmos, their own body, and the macrocosmos. In this article the set of basic silat movements (langkah) is analysed. In this way we obtain insight in Minangkabau culture. The way in which the participants talk about silat refers to Sufi ideas and socio-political concepts which form the customary law (adat). The Minangkabau consider the silat movements only meaningful if they agree with the Will of Allah.

An evening of silat practice in Minangkabau

Another evening of practising silat in Pauh, a hilly Minangkabau area near the provincial capital of Padang. An area where the locals troubled the Dutch Kompenie for a very long time. Here, countless battles where fought over the past three centuries. Hence Pauh obtained its notoriety as an area filled with 'villains', 'terrorists' and 'rebels'. But nowadays Pauh is considered as just a tiny part of the Republic of Indonesia. However, in the tales former times live on. Historical events reappear in dances, music, poetry and Randai, the Minangkabau dance-theatre. And above all, they serve as an example for the young silat-pupils. The first pupils had already arrived in the late afternoon at the house of their teacher. Some are chatting, others start dozing off in a corner of the room. Around nine 'o clock in the evening the teacher is still drinking his coffee and enjoying his cigarettes. Everybody is here: the teacher; his students, all in their early twenties; his colleagues, all teachers as well; and other friends, who live nearby. Not all of them are listening to the stories of the teacher. Most of them have heard it all a thousand times before. But still, the centre of attention this evening remains, undoubtedly, the teacher. An old grey man, though full of energy. His tales tell about past experiences, about the time when he was young and how adat and religion showed him the way. It is the knowledge of his ancestors. Woven through all of this is a thread of mysticism. Some people only came to listen to him, but most of the young boys are restlessly awaiting that moment when they can enter the playground, their sasaran. Just past eleven 'o clock the young boys change clothes. Now they finally are all dressed in a wide, black shirt and strangely shaped black trousers with an extremely low crotch, called kalempong. They line up to give the teacher their respect and symbolically ask him for permission to start. The pupils salute each other and nod politely to all the older people present. The first two take their position on the playground outside the teacher's house.

Introduction

Silat is a martial art of Indo-Malaysian origin that is to be found all over the Indonesian archipelago. It appears under several names, like panchak, montjak, silèk, or most commonly as pencak silat. These various names indicate different approaches, from stressing the philosophical to stressing the recreational aspects. Traditionally silat combines these aspects: the movements are the outer form of inner life. Silat is a way of living. By analysing the movements we hope to increase our understanding of the culture concerned. In this contribution I will analyse silat movements of the Minangkabau in West Sumatra. For the Minangkabau the silat movements have more than just a technical or esthetical function. Silat is an essential part of traditional education, in which the movements serve as a mystical vocabulary. The relationship between the movements of this martial art and Old Arab writing, as found in the koran, is emphasized. In this way the movements become meaningful symbols. They refer to connections between the microcosmos, society, and the macrocosmos. In the Minangkabau's view all natural phenomena, animals and plants respond to universal laws, passed on to the world by God. It is these laws which maintain harmony, and which ought to be studied by the silat pupils. The study of the silat movements are a road to this understanding. A Minangkabau saying goes "The one who knows the movements will know where the wind is blowing" (Tahu digarak jo garik, tahu diangin nan bakisa; Mid Jamal 1986:12)

The Minangkabau tradition, as contained in the customary law (adat) emphasizes 'learning from one's environment'. This was also stressed by the mystical Islamic teachings from Sufi sects that became extremely influential in West-Sumatra from the 16th century onwards. This Sufi knowledge, corresponding very well with earlier Minangkabau views, led to theories concerning the deeper meaning of the silat movements. The silat movements may also be found in some Minangkabau dances and theatre. Most of contempory silat in Indonesia is a kind of sport, in which the physical aspects are emphasized rather than the spiritual ones. In this approach the national Indonesian identity plays an important role. Concepts like 'achievement' and 'modernity' are crucial. The local and spiritual values are less emphasized. This sports version is very much promoted by the Indonesian government. It is regularly performed as 'national gymnastics' by civil servants and school children. It is remarkable that women, who are very underrepresented in traditional silat, join this sports variant in great numbers. I shall concentrate on the traditional Minangkabau silat and not discuss the 'national gymnastics' variant, nor the variants as represented in the Indonesian Federation of Silat Societies (IPSI: Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia). [2]

General aspects of Silat Minangkabau

The Minangkabau - Silat relationship

Traditionally, Silat is a male activity. As the Minangkabau society is a matriarchial one, young men cannot possess land or family goods. Therefore they must leave the Minangkabau region in search for wealth. This process is referred to as merantau. Here self-defence has an important role to play. Not only to prepare oneself for possible fights, once far away from one's kinsmen, but also as a hard school towards adulthood, towards becoming a truly full-grown human being. Another consequence of matriarchy is the important position which the brother of the mother (mamak) enjoys within the family affairs. It is not the father, but the mamak, who initiates his nephews into the process of maturity. Henceforth he automatically becomes their silat-teacher. Both adat and Islamic education serve in making each Minangkabau person into a full-grown human being, the urang nan sabana urang. In the times when there was no alternative to silat-education, it was taken for granted that each young man participated. He, who did not, could not be Minangkabau. Jokingly it is said that for those who are not Minang, only the Kabau (a buffalo) remained; they are not worth more than cattle. For this education, each tribe (suku) had its own school, called sasaran or gelanggang. When needed their territory, the nagari, was defended, together with the other schools of the nagari.

Mythological origins

According to a local legend (Chaniago:1987), which in certain ways corresponds with the one that relates the origins of the Minangkabau culture, silat emerged from a legendary fighting school somewhere in mid-Asia. The legend narrates of a mythical mid-Asian empire Urhun Jani, situated near the present-day Gobi dessert. One day the emperor, Maharajo nan batanduek duo, decides to send away his three sons to find him the magical flower Sari Manjari.[3] As the sons are educated in the local fighting techniques by an old and wise man, they are well prepared for their journey. Their father also gives each of them a gift, which would reveal something about their future fate. However, in the midst of the wild ocean, the brothers come to fight over a crown, which was the gift belonging to the youngest brother. This crown, as they all knew, guaranteed the fortuned owner an eternal empire. But, in the tumultuous fight, the crown disappears into the sea of Langkopuri and the brothers each decide to go their own way. The oldest one returns to Urhun and succeeds his father as the emperor. He would also continue the local martial arts school, from which in later times Japanese Sumo, and Korean and Tibetan fighting techniques would emerge. The second son concludes his journey in Jani. There he creates his own martial arts school from which later Chinese and Thai boxing would develop. The youngest son, Sangiang Patualo, keeps on wandering, in search of the lost crown. After years of hardship and adventures he strands with his ship and together with his people on top of the mountain Sidulang Ameh, the only part of Sumatra that was then above sealevel. Sang Patualo decides to stay there, and together with his people he builds a settlement, Selo. He is later given the title of Datuek Maharajo Dirajo (King of kings). It is also this same Sangiang Patualo, who created the first fighting school of the area. From this school eventually emerged the first silat, called either Silat Gunuang Marapi, refering to the later name for the mountain Sidulang Ameh, or Silat Pariangan, the 'Mother' of all silat-styles. It is doubtful whether the earlier mentioned legend is of any historical value, though it seems almost certain that the origins of silat should be situated in mid-Asia. In elaborating both technical as well as ideological origins, we shall now see what the influences were from Chinese merchants and Indian monks coming from the area of mid-Asia. First we shall look at the earlier historical stage of this martial art, and discuss the role of the tiger - and generally nature as teachers of silat. Then, we shall look at the inmense influence of Arab merchants and islamic sects on silat.

Earlier development of Minangkabau silat

In earlier times the silat education appears to have been closely connected with the belief in tiger-spirits. The Raja macan, king of tigers, was the patron of all silat students. Culturally, this tiger fulfilled a role as sanctioner and defender of the righteous. The resulting moral values were strongly emphasized in the important etiquette of the silat world. All vices, particularly arrogance, complacency and egocentrism, were to be casted out by the teacher. Students ought to live according to the example of the riceplant (ilmu padi): While still young, it only wishes to grow; only when it is full, it knows how to bow respectfully. Some Minangkabau regard the tiger as the founding father of some silat styles.[4] Moreover, the final stage (putus kaji) of each Minangkabau silat-style can only be accomplished in a fight with the Raja Macan. Among the Talang Mamak tribe in the deep jungle of Inderagiri, Riau, we can still find the remnants of this tiger-belief in the Silat Langkah Panjang (Silat of the long steps). Here every silat lesson starts with the evocation of one or several tiger-spirits (Barendregt 1994:133). Between the 8th and the 13th century new fighting techniques were imported from afar and merged with already existing local ways of fighting. Both Hindu-Buddhist monks from India as well as Chinese merchants came to the area, either visiting or settling. As a result, a number of new styles emerged, most notably the Budhist inspired Silat Biaro; Silat Hong, used by local sorcerers, dukun, in their shamanistic practices; and the Silat Lembago, employed by adat functionaries.

The Hindu-Buddhist influences added new concepts to the etiquette of the silat world. Of utmost importance was the idea of an 'Inner Force' (Tenaga Dalam or 'being' Sakti) and its subsequent martial art techniques. A full-grown silat fighter had to excell in these techniques, which meant seeing and striking from a far distance (gayuang) and knowing the passways to the spiritual world. The 'Inner Force' learnings were based on a capacity to understand the laws of the universe and live in accordance with them. The full-grown human being knew the balance between knowledge, based on experience (pareso), and the subsequent intuition (raso). In the Minangkabau adat this philosophy is referred to as the teachings of the Alam takambang manjadi guru: the environment serves as teacher. Bearing this in mind one can understand how natural phenomena form the base of the different movements in the Minangkabau martial art. So, the fierce attack of a tiger, the praying of an eagle or the snatching of a monkey all serve as examples which can be expressed with the human body. So, a silat-student can learn to hit as if he was pounding rice (tinju alu) or puts into practice the idea of two fighting buffaloos (Langkah arak kabau gadang). However, we are not simply dealing with a plain imitation of animals and plants. The Minangkabau explicitly say: Man is man, animal is animal. One merely learns from the direct environment and applies these learnings to the human body to enhance its possibilities.

From the beginning of the 16th century on, Islam started to spread among the Minangkabau people. It led to radical changes and would give the silat education an even more dominant position than before. The new teachings were brought by soldiers and Arab merchants, who came from north-Sumatran Aceh. It was not so much new fighting techniques, but more a completely new ideology that was merged with already existing silat techniques. This new ideology was a mystical form of Islam, the Ilmu Tassauf. The new silat approach, which subsequently emerged, was called Silek Ulama (Silat of the wise man) or Silat Kain. It is also referred to as Silaturrahim, meaning the establishing of a sustainable relationship with fellow humans, rather than looking for enemies. 'Musuah indak dicari' became the new device: the enemy is not searched for, but in case righteousness would be threatened, one should not avoid a fight. This would eventually create the present identity of Silat Minangkabau: a combination of fighting techniques and a mystical education. The new schools, where the martial art was practised were the Surau, the Minangkabau variant of Arab houses of prayer (musholla). Most schools, however, would be founded by the very influential Sufi-orientated sects, the Tariqat. The importance of the Tariqat and its esoteric teachings of the Ilmu Tassauf cannot be overstressed. Many silat teachers nowadays actually trace back their mastership to an early Tariqat master, or even straight back to the prophet Muhammad or one of his followers. These references should merely be considered as symbolic, as a ways of paying tribute.

In the silat schools actual combat-training was matched with a Sufi education. In order to understand the human body and its movements, the students first needed to fathom the essence of the body and its powers. This essence consists of the 'Seven Divine Philosophies' of man (Filsafat Tuhan dalam diri kita): sight, hearing, speech, knowledge, physical strength, vital strength and will. Within this context, the movements of silat are seen as the materialisation of an inner harmony. A new concept, the Kebatinan, referring to the realisation of the 'Divine Self', was introduced. It was similar to the Hindu-Buddhist concept of 'Inner force'(Tenaga Dalam, Sakti). Breathing techniques (ilmu napas) and recitation (dhikr) were the ways to accomplish this. Compare also van Zanten (1989: :1994;76), who explains that in Sundanese music the musical sounds are the outer form (lahir) of the inner constitution (batin) of the human being. The main principle says that a movement can only be executed when in accordance with the Will of Allah. Thus, each silat movement, however small, starts with Allah. The path to the 'Divine Self' had to be defended under all circumstances. A new definition of 'Self-defence' was born. In contemporary schools like Silat Alif (Alif the first letter of the Arab script) and Silat Hu (distracted from Allahu- meaning 'His Silat') this philosophy still lives on. But some schools focus more on plain self-defence, as opposed to a more theoretical approach. The Minangkabau define both mystical and physical variant as being silat, though they are inclined to view the more mystical variants as the 'true' silat. In fact, that is the final stage of the learning process, in which physical practice forms only an introduction. This last phase is only practised by a small group of mostly elderly men. So the Minangkabau definition of silat is very broad and used for a variety of styles and approaches. In the context of language there is 'silat of the tongue' (silat lidah), which means discussion; an art in which one has to be clever and cunning.

The Movements

Even though there are many different Minangkabau silat styles, there certainly exists a basic set of movements. Differences between the styles generally relate to various aspects, namely geographical variety, different applications and distinct mystical dimensions (the latter has already been discussed above).

Differences in application

While one can speak of silat as the 'science of self defence' (Ilmu Bela Diri), one can also define a more 'art-orientated approach', (Kesenian Bela Diri). The Minangkabau distinguish between fighting techniques, to be used in combat, and those techniques, solely used for training, recreation and performance art. This returns in the different terms used. A combat-orientated fight will be called Silek, whereas a mock-fight is termed Pancha Darek or Pancha Bungo. Bungo means flower and here it relates to the use of often repeated structures, subject to a choreography. These structures do not have a function, but merely serve as decoration.[5] Besides the preparation for real combat, each school has its own dances in which movements of one's own style take a central position.
The most complex of these dances must be the Minangkabau dance-theatre Randai, in which the succeeding scenes are connected by a circle of dancers, while enacting a mock combat. [6]

The different Pencak-dances (Tari Pencak) can be categorized according to their theme or application.Geographical areas also each have their different silat style, which lie at the base of the Pencak dances. The most complex function that the dances can fulfill is a ritual one. The movements of the mock combat then serve as a mirror to display the power of the young generation in one particular area. They serve as a figure-head for the area (nagari), the tribe (suku) and its silat school (sasaran). Here we see the true essence of the art of self-defence: a ritual fight, that serves as an outlet of social tensions without repercussions on relationships within the community. Still, participants generally show more appreciation for the combat-orientated approach as opposed to the art-orientated ones. This is probably related to the fact that in the combat orientated approach the fighter actually enacts the silat movements. Here qualities like improvisation and calculation play an important part. The latter, art-orientated approach, on the contrary, is regarded as a reproduction or imitation. Thus, the term 'bungo-bungo', as relating to the intense use of choreographic elements, somehow has a negative connotation.

However in recent times increasing attention has been paid to performance art, especially the Pencak-dances. Traditionally these dances each belonged to a certain adat-ceremony and their performance was subjected to permission given by adat-functionaries. Nowadays, the dances can also be solely performed as amusement. Most likely this transformation has taken place through the introduction of western forms of performance art. But Pencak-dances are still described as a 'game for the younger generation' (pemainan anak nagari). [7] Most Minangkabau view Silek , the more combat-orientated approach, as the 'real' work. This brings the followers of different styles into fierce discussions, because whose silat is more efficient and more realistic...

The basic set of movements

First of all we should consider the balabeh (see photo 1). This is a Minang concept that refers to the characteristic posture, in which the body is lowered, the weight rests on the knees (called 'horse stance' (kudo)) and one hand is held in front of the chest. In this posture one faces the opponent. But the balabeh contains more than just physical aspects. It also refers to the mental state and concentration of the fighter. It actually is the stance, both physical and mental, with which the fight starts and to which the fighter returns after every phase of the combat. Each time the balabeh takes different forms, often referring to animals, for example in the 'stance of the praying eagle' (balabeh alang babega). [8] Starting from the balabeh the actual fighting techniques are executed. The opponents approach and once they have come near enough, one of the two will launch the attack. The other fighter will try to ward off and launch a counter attack. The techniques used in this sequence of attacks and counter attacks have many names, differing for each region. They are classified according to the different actions like kicking (tendangan), hitting (pukulan), throwing (bantingan), locks (kunci), parrying (tangkisan) and evasions and sidesteps (elak/gelek). In mock combat, these techniques are used in fixed sequences of actions, a structure called jurusan. It can be executed solo or with a partner. A jurusan starts, when one fighter opens an attack with a certain movement, on which the opponent responds with another movement. A jurusan ends, when the opponents take distance and walk their own way, preparing for the next attack.

To move around one uses the langkah. The langkah can be considered the most essential of all silat movements. They form the base of all further movement. They give silat its characteristic appearance, because the participants do not plainly walk, but move in a most gracious way. The langkah mean literally 'steps'. Steps to come near and take distance from the opponent. But the four langkah, as shown in the photos 2.a-2.d, are more than steps alone. They are not just a change of position of the feet, but of the whole body. One turns the body, bends and rises and suddenly makes a step backwards. So the langkah seems better described as a set of different positions. This, however suggests static situations, whereas the most important aspect of the langkah is the moving. The langkah provide safe and stable positions, But by moving from one position to another one opens himself up to the risks of a possible attack of the opponent. This is why it is not possible to move to just any new position, there is a limited choice. The students learn in which order the different langkahshould be applied, how one 'composes' the best possible attack or defence through langkah, and finally, which langkah provides the maximum profit for the continuation of the fight. The different langkah are constantly repeated in the silat training, where the pupils, while facing one another, mirror each other's movements. The rhythmic appearance thus created is also used in the Pencak dances.

Although each Minang silat style shapes their langkah differently, we can generally distinguish between two basic models of Silat Minang. The first model, the Langkah Ampek, has four constructing steps, the second one has three steps, the Langkah Tigo. Using either model does not imply that only these three or four steps are used. In reality a great number of other Langkah are used, but the repetition of the basic models make them the structure and thus appearance of a style. Apart from these two models, there exist styles with a somewhat diverging model, for example using nine steps. In these cases it is commonly agreed upon that non-functional decorative movements, or bungo-bungo, are used. In the Silat Pauh style the Langkah Ampek is used (see figure 1). Here the four steps are respectively called ampang, papek, serong and runcing. Langkah Ampang is a step foreward that can be used both to start an attack as well as to ward off an attacking opponent. Papek is a side-step, to the left or the right, used to evade an attack or to end up next to the opponent. The third step, serong, serves to minimalise the free space of the opponent and fence him in. Finally the langkah runcing completes the attack. We are merely dealing with a general scheme for the attack. After papek, for example, one can return to the first step, ampang and start all over again. But the steps do keep a certain order: before launching the actual attack one must have executed the first steps. The Langkah Ampek is the most common model in the Minangkabau silat styles. Older styles often prefer the model of three. [9] Some say that the model of four is a more defensive one, whereas the model of three is more combat-orientated (Idris: 1993;8). From my own observations I cannot come to such a strict distinction and if we look at the more symbolic explanation it does not seem that relevant.

The movements at a symbolic level

As already mentioned, inspiration for the form of movements came from studying natural phenomena in the direct environment. These vary from the movements of animals to a flowing river or cloud formations. According to the Minangkabau, certain principles can be detected within the environment, that can be recognised within the human body as well. Ultimately these principles are considered to be the 'laws of Allah', to which mankind should subject itself. The holy book of the Islam, the koran, contains the essence of these laws and has to be studied thoroughly. Following this line of thought the associations between the form of the silat movements and the koran is an obvious one. In both, the true values of existence are sought. We shall now further elaborate these associations, which link the different langkah to a spiritual path of four stages, on which the student is the traveller. Most of the teachers refer to the Langkah Ampek, the model of four steps, as 'the four philosophies' of the prophet Muhammad.

The first silat step, the preparing step forwards, is associated with the islamic notion of Sidiq, the first stage of the mystical path in which one focusses on collecting knowledge (Ilm). The student needs to find his 'Self' -the origins of the body and the way it works- through studying the external world and thus understanding the functioning of the 'inner world'. The second step, the side-step, is associated with the notion of Tabligh, the search for the essence of all knowledge (Nur): nothing in this world moves without the Will of Allah. The third step is associated with Amanah. The gathered knowledge is now put into practice. The quest is to be truthful to the 'Self'. The fourth and last step is the attack and associated with Fatanah, which means the final unity with Allah. Each form of (self)deceit is banned and now one lives in true accordance with the 'laws of Allah'.

We meet the same path in a different context as the four stages of the Sufi-education: Syariah, Tariqat, Hakiqat and Marifat. I shall now show that the traditional Minangkabau concepts of the adat and the newly introduced islamic doctrine apply the same principles, and it is therefore not suprising that they could easily be integrated. The structure of the langkah is in effect a metaphor for the life-mission of the young Minangkabau. The Minangkabau adat describes spiritual growth also as a path with four stages:
- urang:those who are able to think
- urang nan takka urang:those with a critical sense
- urang nan kajadi urang:those with a critical attitude
- urang nan sabana urang:those with a own life philosophy

The Langkah Ampek are also expressed in terms of kinship relations. The first step is then called the langkah mande , the 'step of the mother', who gives birth to us and who rears us. In this step the hand is pointing towards the ground, to earth, which is associated with the maternal. The second step is the langkah ayah, that of the father. In this step one hand is pointed upwards, as if greeting heaven, which is associated with the paternal. The third step is the langkah mamak. The mamak, mother's brother, takes a central position in Minang society. He is responsible for the education of his nephews, and therefore becomes their silat teacher. In this step, the fencing-in of the opponent, the 'real' action actually starts. This symbolises the qualities taught by the Mamak. The fourth and last step, is of a completely different kind. We cannot influence this stage and will never know its end. This is the langkah taqdir...the step of fate.

The Langkah Tigo, the model of three steps, has similar meanings, although elaborated differently. For example the steps refer to the journey of the human soul through the three worlds of the islamic tradition, which are alam rahim (mother's womb), alam dunia (the world) and alam akhirat (after-life). Others associate these langkah with the three vowels of the Arab language, in which the first step refers to the 'a', the second one to the 'i' and the third one to the 'u'. Here too the steps are connected to different spiritual stages, i.e. simply being, gaining essential knowledge and uniting with Allah. Although both models, the Langkah Ampek and the Langkah Tigo, refer to the Minangkabau view on human develoment, there is considerable disagreement about which model to apply. As I showed this discussion focusses more on the form of the steps, than their symbolic meaning. Each model is a different method to explain the basic Minangkabau principles. Instead of discussing the advantages of one or the other, some practitioners propose a more complete approach: studying both models. Styles like Silat Kumango or Silat Sungai Patai use a model with seven steps, adding up three and four. At first sight we seem to be dealing with a play of numbers. But a broader connection between the numbers three and four does actually exist within Minangkabau society. Linguistically, the language (Bahasa Minang) is categorised in two models: one of three and one of four. The first category is concerned with the actual meaning of the words, whereas the second one deals with the usage. Both models though, are necessary to understand Minangkabau language.

I
1.kato tersurat: ordinary words (heard with the ear)
2.kato tersirah: words on a more abstract level (heard with the brain)
3.kato tersuruh: words which are essential (heard with the heart)

II
1.kato mendata :spoken to one who is in an equal social position
2.kato menurun :spoken to one who has a lower social position
3.kato mendaki :spoken to one who has a higher social position
4.kato malereang:metaphorical language

The 'full-grown human being', the Urang nan sabana urang, should be capable of using these categories in a conscious way. Another example is found on the traditional sociopolitical level where a distinction is made between three Minangkabau kings (Rajo Tigo Selo), with each their own authority, and four functionaries (Basa Ampek Balai), which can be compared with chancellors. Together they constitute a complete government. Moreover, the number seven seems to have played an important role in older Minangkabau traditions, like in the rituals preceding the harvest of rice and in the belief in tiger-spirits.[10] In these contexts 'seven' has the value of being 'complete' or 'united'. In the case of the Langkah Ampek and the Langkah Tigo we also find this value of 'unity'. To complete the path the full-grown silat fighter should master all seven steps, just as in the islamic tradition, where heaven consists of not one but seven layers, that all should be passed before one finally rests in harmony. In the more mystical silat styles one speaks of returning to the starting point after mastering all seven steps. But the starting point has changed, since the student has no further need to repeat the same way again. The first step then becomes'no step': the empty step, Langkah Kosong or nill. It is a standstill. Any extra movement would inflict this thus created harmony. The process of spiritual growth is therefore ultimately a returning to one's original state: the Divine Human.

This theory is full of Sufi concepts, which are also found in different contexts. In the Malay world we often find comparable concepts in poetry (Braginsky:1993) and also the Minangkabau have e.g. their own Sufi music and literature tradition, the Indang (Sulaiman:1990) and Salawat Dulang (Amir:1990). The question remains whether we can associate these Sufi ideas with silat. In the Minangkabau context,silat was used to spread the Tariqat mystical ideas. Sufi-teachings were introduced during self-defence classes, while the pupils would not have paid attention to this doctrine in a different situation. On the other hand silat was structured by a strong ideology, that gave the pupils moral confidence and self-esteem. Islam gave the silat world a unifying etiquette.

The symbolic meaning given to the silat movements also has another function: a classification and structure of the movement repertory. From a Sufi point of view, the koran summarises all correspondences between micro- and macrocosmos. This is stressed in the silat education, where the human body is associated with the koran itself. The koran is thought to contain 6666 lines (ayad), likewise it is thought that the human body consists of 6666 nerves and veins. Similarly the koran as well as the human body are made by Allah. From here it takes only one step to base the movements in silat on the koran itself. Silat Pauh for example, classifies its movements in seven categories, e.g. kicking, hitting and evading. Each category is divided in four subcategories, which implies that e.g. kicking can be executed in four different ways. Seven times four adds up to twenty-eight. Not an ordinary number, but a conscious choice, as twenty-eight refers to the total amount of letters of the Arab script. In reality far more than twenty-eight movements can be found in Silat Pauh, but this association stimulates the learning of the movements and provides them with an almost magical potency. The true silat fighter is like a pencil in the hand of God. He moves in accordance with 'His Will'. Confronting these movements is considered a challenge to God himself, so the silat fighter is actually one step ahead of his opponent. This is the force of Kebatinan, the Inner Force: a life in accordance with the Will of God grants the fighter immunity. A similar idea can be found on the level of single letters, that can be expressed through movements. For example, Silat Pauh owns a complete action (jurusan) which is called Langkah Lam. In trying to ward off an opponent who is approaching with a knife, the right-leg of the fighter 'writes' in a crescent-like movement the letter Lam ( ) on the ground, just before he kicks his opponent with the same leg. Also the first stance of the fight, the Tagak Alif, is seen this way. The form of Alif ( ), the first letter of the Arab script, corresponds with the straight posture of the silat student. In fact it is the first and the last step. It means stillness and truthfullness. Or like the Minangkabau say: 'Bana badiri seperti Alif': Truth lies in it-Self, like the Alif...

Conclusion
Originally meant as a way of self defence, nowadays most of the silat styles either tend to be more sport-like or concentrate on performance art. In these approaches it is mainly the external form of the movement that is emphasized. However, by not only looking at the form of the silat movements, but also to the concepts that shape and structure them, we obtain an insight in silat as traditional education. The process of learning is an important one, as the capability of correctly executing the movements, starts with the understanding of what the movements actually mean. In this article we focussed on the Minangkabau variant of silat (silek), which is a representation of Minangkabau culture and a means of transmitting it. By learning silat, young boys are introduced to both customary law (adat) and more mystical islamic concepts. Knowledge that is necesarry if one wants to become a full-grown member of society. It would be interesting to see if there is a same correlation between silat and traditional education in other Indonesian cultures, and which concepts are associated with the silat movements being used.

References
Amir A. 1990 Salawat Dulang, sastra sufi di Minangkabau Lapor penelitian proyek op Universitas Andalas
Barendregt B. 1994 De beweging in Silat Minang, Randai en Tarian Pencak Ma-thesis Rijksuniversiteit Leiden.
Braginsky V.I. 1993 Universe-man-text: the sufi concept of literature (with special reference to Malay sufism) in: Bijdragen tot de taal-,land- en volkenkunde KITLV deel 149, 2 pp. 201-225
Brakel-Papenhuijzen,C. 1992 The Bedhaya courtdances of Central Java. E.J. Brill, Leiden
Chambers,Q and D. Draeger 1978 Javanese Silat, the fighting art of Perisai Diri Kokasha, Tokyo
Chaniago, A. 1987 Silat Minangkabau dari tiga panggeran Singgalang 9-8-1987
Cordes, H. 1990 Pencak Silat, die kampfkunst der Minangkabau und ihr kulturelles umfeld. Thesis University of Koln
Idris, A. 1993 Pencak silat Minangkabau paper at the seminar sehari silat tradisional, 1993.
Jamal, Mid. 1986 Filsafat dan silsilah, aliran-aliran Silat Minangkabau C.V. Tropic Bukittinggi.
Kartomi, M. 1981 Randai theatre in west Sumatra: components, music, origins and recent change. in RIMA pp. 3-45
Phillips, N. 1980 Sijobang Cambridge University Press
Sulaiman S. 1990Sastra Lisan Indang di Minangkabau Lapor penelitian Universitas Andalas
Toorn, J. 1890 Het animisme bij den Minangkabauer der Padangsche Hooglanden. in: Bijdragen taal land en volkerenkunde Ned.Indië 39.
Zanten, W. van 1994 L'esthetique musicale de Sunda (Java-Ouest) in: Cahiers de musiques traditionelles
7 1989 Sundanese music in Cianjuran style; Anthropological and musicologicalaspects of Tembang Sunda. Providence, Dordrecht

[1]This paper was first published in 1995 in Odeion, meanwhile a lot more is published on this martial art, these references are however not yet included here. Please refer to this paper as Barendregt, Bart (1995, Written by the Hand of Allah; Pencak silat of Minangkabau, West Sumatra, in van Zanten and Marjolijn van Roon (eds), Oideion, The performing arts world-wide 2, pp. 113-130. Leiden: Research School CNWS.
[2] For an analysis of recent developments in the more sport-orientated approach of the IPSI, see Cordes (1990:300)
[3]The most accepted explanation of the creationstory of Minangkabau culture (but we also find it with other Malaysian tribes) associates this king with the legendary Iskander Zulkaern. Marsden (1880) relates this king with Alexander the Great, who is famous all over Asia. In the present story the name of the king is 'the two-horned king' (Maharajo nan batanduek duo), a title that probably refers to a coin with Alexander's picture on it, though it seems that we are dealing with an other empire than Alexander's. The flower Sari Manjari refers to a budhistic myth.
[4]As in the Solok based Silat Harimau Campo (Tiger of Campa).
[5]In the Javanese silat styles these repeated structures are called Kembangan or Menaren and have the same decorative function. The same term is used in the choreography of some Javanese dances, like the Bedhaya court dances where it refers to certain 'units or patterns of movements'(Brakel-Papenhuijzen:1992;224).
[6]For a more specific introduction on the Randai theatre read Phillips (1980) and Kartomi (1981). The author is togeher with Wim van Zanten presently working on a one hour documentary on this theatre form.
[7]The word 'Pemainan' for the Minangkabau both implies 'game' as well as 'performance'. Most of their performance art like this, is described as a 'game for the people' (pemainan rakyat).
[8]The balabeh corresponds with what in the Javanese styles is called sikap (Chambers:1978).
[9]For a more specific analysis of the differences between the two different models and mythological references dealing with them, see Barendregt (1994:117).
[10]Toorn (1890) describes some of the older beliefs of the Minangkabau living in the highlands.

A Gathering of Old Silat Masters in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia

2006-03-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

On Sunday December 14th 2003, cold wrapped the city of Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia. On this evening a historic meeting took place, in front of the Bung Hatta Palace. For the first time in history, 79 pendeka (Masters) of Silek Tuo (Old Silat) gathered together to demonstrate and share with others the Ancient Art of Pencak Silat. Various practitioners of bersilaturahmi unveiled the beautiful nature of Silat as well as its effectiveness in combat. What is more astonishing, all pendeka were above the age of 70. However, to the observer, these masters radiated with the energy of youth and fitness, yet would act with humbleness and compassion demonstrating the wisdom learned from studying the art of Silat Tuo.

It was startling that with over 200 in the attendance, only one femaled pandeka emerged from the crowd. This female pendeka, Inyiak Upiak Palatiang, being of the age of 104, yet still continuing to spread the Minang tradition. Inyiak's grandchildren's children were also in attendance.

Inyiak demonstrated Silat Tuo Gunuang. Her movement was lively, her gaze was sharp and was always on the alert. She parried attacks with swiftness, precision demonstrating control in all aspects of engagement. When opponents engaged, with lightning-fast movements, Inyiak caught, twisted and locked the oppoents, all with one movement. Inyiak gave the honour, the demonstration ended. Noisy applause, the sign of the salute and amazement.

The "speed and the movement of Inyiak revealing Silat astonished witnesses whom believed the woman to be of the age 30 or so years. In fact Inyiak is 104 years old. Extraordinary and astonishing, said H Indra Catri, the observer and the Information Section Head of tradition art and Padang City Communication.

Inyiak is furthermore not difficult to locate, as her residence in the Kubugadang Village, the Batipuah Subdistrict, Nagari IV Koto, the Flat Land Regency is known by everyone.

That morning Inyiak was resting sembari, after cleaning her house. Sit lesehan, Inyiak said fully the spirit, from time to time demonstrated the movement parried with her supreme steps, both in the position stood and in the position of the re-flooding in the floor.

Inyiak still was carrying out the everyday work in the house, in fact to the paddy-field, weeded rice. The memory, listening, and her sight obviously still normal and sharp.

Inyiak said, Silat was one of the Minang tradition kinds that often had an interest taken in by the community. Silat in the external looked for the friend, while, internally, in her heart looked for the Lord. The intention is, Silat training was the site for the silaturahim, the strengthening of friendships and building of associations. Whereever people traveled they would mentioning the name the teacher, always giving respect to each other, treating each other as family, all Silat practitioners being related. Therefore, it was very rare to have fights (antarkampung, interregional) amongst each other.

Therefore, Silat practitioners looked for the Lord, their intention being how to bring oneself closer to Him. This helped make people aware of themselves as well as the environment and community. If one intended bad they brought wrong-doing upon themselves and their community. Thus, Silat established honor, chivalry and compassion amongst the various communities.

Inyiak explained:

"Therefore, in the procession bersilat, descended to the arena, prayed to the Lord and the upper safety of the Prophet(s) to that main."

The pupil that wanted to pursue knowledge of Silat then must fill the condition, for example to have the Good Intention and the "clean heart", not to strong-gagahan (arrogant).

Must be remembered, Silat not to kill the person, but killed faults someone, like evil-minded, envy, bad the idea, socks jagoan, et cetera. In the long run, the pupil of Silat will be close to the Lord.

According to Inyiak:

the superiority of the Silat of the Minang tradition was in the fluid-movement of the reflex that like lightning. At the time of the opponent drawing their knife, the kick or our movement of the hands has nested in vital points on the hands of the opponent so as the bladed weapon can not be drawn.

"Whatever the weapon, including bullets that were fired, not the strange matter in the Silat of the Minang tradition." Be as fast as bullets took off, again faster the hands caught these bullets. Someone who better understood knowledge of Silat could fall like cotton or alighted in the leaves like cotton, explained Inyiak.

Accompanied by his child afterwards, Mawardi (58) and Zulfachri (42) alias Uncu, Inyiak agreed to what was explained by his child. The "current Silat Tuo in Minang enough, tens." Some of them, that currently are taught and inherited by Inyiak, were to parry the Mountain (Marapi), said Uncu.

Inyiak Upiak Palatiang is not only one of the women champion's of Silat still living andl continuing to bersilat, but also Inyiak is anartist who has created hundreds of poems (saluang) and show/performances of randai (theater performances featuring traditional Minang cultures, music, dance, stories as well as the movement of Silat). In fact, Inyiak also a person known as a pendendang.

Story of My Father - Yip Man the Great Grandmaster of the Wing Chun Style

2006-03-02T11:07:00.000-08:00

by Master Yip Chun

The Last Student

From then on, my father became Grandmaster Chan Wah Shun's youngest disciple. He learnt techniques from Grandmaster Chan and practiced with his fellow-students such as Ng Chung So and Lui Yu Chai. He was in fact the last disciple admitted by Chan Wah Shun. That is why when Yip Man grew up and had his own students, he said to them smilingly that his students had only "Elder Kung-fu Uncles", but not "Younger Kung-fu Uncles". From the above description, it became clear that Chan Wah Shun did not make a mistake in accepting my father, for the boy's success in afterwards was really due to his master's un-reserved teaching, and the boy's dedication and effort he put to his studies. His success in his career was not mere luck. Grandmaster Chan died when Yip man was thirteen years old. At his last minutes, Chan said to his disciple Ng Chung So,"Yip Man is a clever boy, and is more gifted than others. If any of my students is to promote and spread our Wing Chun techniques with success, Yip Man is the one. Is is a regret that I could not stay longer. From now on the duty of teaching him rests with you. Please take good care of him". Ng Chung So promised to take up the responsibility seconds before Grandmaster Chan died. So Yip Man studied under the guidance of Ng Chung So, with the company of fellow-students such as Yuen Kay Shan and Yiu Choi.

Blending the Techniques of Several Masters

For two years Yip Man followed Ng Chung So. After that he went to Hong Kong to pursue academic studies at the St. Stephen's College at Stanley in Hong Kong. On one occasion he was introduced to Mister Lueng Bik, the first son of Grandmaster Leung Jan - the instructor of Grandmaster Chan Wah Shun. Leung Bik was then staying as a guest in a famous silk company in the western district of Hong Kong. He was delighted with Yip Man's cleverness and his effort in learning, so he tried his best to teach him all he knew. That is why my father later said to others that he got a good foundation from Grandmaster Chan Wah Shun, but sophisticated techniques from Mister Leung Bik. He further said that when he was small, he paid attention to the external-form of movements, not knowing why certain movements should be applied in such ways, while other movements in other ways. When he grew older, he knew that the importance of mastering Wing Chun techniques rested on the merging of theory and practical application.

The Origin of WING CHUN

2006-03-02T11:04:00.000-08:00

by Grandmaster Yip Man

The founder of the Wing Chun Kung Fu System, Miss Yim Wing Chun was a native of Canton [Kwangtung Province] in China. She was an intelligent and athletic young girl, upstanding and forthright. Her mother died soon after her betrothal to Leung Bok Chau, a salt merchant of Fukien. Her father, Yim Yee, was wrongfully accused of a crime and, rather than risk jail, they slipped away and finally settled down at the foot of Tai Leung Mountain near the border between Yunan and Szechuan provinces. There they earned a living by running a shop that sold bean curd.

During the reign of Emperor K'anghsi of the Ching Dynasty (1662-1722) Kung Fu became very strong in the Siu Lam [Shaolin] Monastery of Mt. Sung, in Honan Province. This aroused the fear of the Manchu government [a non-Chinese people from Manchuria in the North, who ruled China at that time], which sent troops to attack the Monastery. Although they were unsuccessful, a man named Chan Man Wai, a recently appointed civil servant seeking favor with the government, suggested a plan.

He plotted with Siu Lam monk Ma Ning Yee and others who were persuaded to betray their companions by setting fire to the monastery while soldiers attacked it from the outside. Siu Lam was burned down, and the monks and disciples scattered. Buddhist Abbess Ng Mui, Abbot Chi Shin, Abbot Pak Mei, Master Fung To Tak and Master Miu Hin escaped and went their separate ways.

Ng Mui took refuge in the White Crane Temple on Mt. Tai Leung [also known as Mt. Chai Har]. It was there she met Yim Yee and his daughter Wing Chun from whom she often bought bean curd on her way home from the market. At fifteen, with her hair bound up in the custom of those days to show she was of an age to marry, Wing Chun's beauty attracted the attention of a local bully. He tried to force Wing Chun to marry him, and his continuous threats became a source of worry to her and her father. Ng Mui learned of this and took pity on Wing Chun. She agreed to teach Wing Chun fighting techniques so she could protect herself. Wing Chun followed Ng Mui into the mountains, and began to learn Kung Fu. She trained night and day, until she mastered the techniques. Then she challenged the bully to a fight and beat him.

Ng Mui later traveled around the country, but before she left she told Wing Chun to strictly honor the Kung Fu traditions, to develop her Kung Fu after her marriage, and to help the people working to overthrow the Manchu government and restore the Ming Dynasty.

After her marriage Wing Chun taught Kung Fu to her husband Leung Bok Chau. He in turn passed these techniques on to Leung Lan Kwai. Leung Lan Kwai then passed them on to Wong Wah Bo. Wong Wah Bo was a member of an opera troupe on board a junk, known to Chinese as the Red Junk. Wong worked on the Red Junk with Leung Yee Tei. It so happened that Abbot Chi Shin, who fled from Siu Lam, had disguised himself as a cook and was then working on the Red Junk. Chi Shin taught the Six-and-a-half-point Long Pole techniques to Leung Yee Tei. Wong Wah Bo was close to Leung Yee Tei, and they shared what they knew about Kung Fu. Together they shared and improved their techniques, and thus the Six-and-a-half-point Long Pole was incorporated into Wing Chun Kung Fu. Leung Yee Tei passed his Kung Fu on to Leung Jan, a well known herbal Doctor in Fat Shan. Leung Jan grasped the innermost secrets of Wing Chun, attaining the highest level of proficiency. Many Kung Fu masters came to challenge him, but all were defeated. Leung Jan became very famous. Later he passed his Kung Fu on to Chan Wah Shan, who took me and my elder Kung Fu brothers, such as Ng Siu Lo, Ng Chung So, Chan Yu Min and Lui Yu Jai, as his students many decades ago.

It can thus be said that the Wing Chun System was passed on to us in a direct line of succession from its origin. I write this history of the Wing Chun System in respectful memory of my forerunners. I am eternally grateful to them for passing to me the skills I now possess. A man should always think of the source of the water as he drinks it; it is this shared feeling that keeps our Kung Fu brothers together.

Is this not the way to promote Kung Fu, and to project the image of our country?

Yip Man

Kung-Fu and Karate Originated in India!

2006-03-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

Browsing at the bookstore, I came across the book:

"The Bodhisattva Warriors : The Origin, Inner Philosophy, History and Symbolism of the Buddhist Martial Art within India and China". (The author, by the way, is Shifu
Nagaboshi Tomio, a.k.a Terence Dukes. He is "an ordained teacher and initiate of the Ryushinji Temple in Okinawa, Japan). This was very intriguing. Perhaps some of you have heard of the Buddhist martial arts in India, but I hadn't. I had thought that these had a purely far-Eastern origin.

I flip through the pages, and see Figure 105. Modern Indian Nata dancer (a Kathakali dancer). The movements of Chuan Fa are still clearly visible.

"The Tang Chinese equivalent for the title "Vajramukti", Chuan Fa (Japanese : Kempo) was a nominal approximation used by monks for that section of the Buddhist Vajramukti
art concerned with ritualized movement practices which contained the principles of health preservation, weaponless self-defense and meditative insight.

The term Chuan Fa was commonly used from the Tang dynasty onward [AD 618-907 according to an appendix] to represent in general those aspects of the Vajramukti practices which missionary monks imported from India. Much later it was exported to offshore islands such as Taiwan and the Ryukyus, where the title was pronounced "Kempo". "

A few pages earlier (sorry if this upsets anyone's notions) :

First, a little intro:
According to our author, "Vajramukti" is the name given to the art of unarmed combat. "Vajramukti was practiced in peacetime by means of regular training sessions and these utilized sequences of attack and defense technically termed in Sanskrit "nata"."

We must now look briefly at the historical development in India in order to appreciate the social environment into which the "nata" emerged. After this we will consider the nata further, for it was their sequences which were taken by monks into China and developed into a native form, which, in turn, gave rise to many of the Buddhist physical meditation arts.

(Brief overview of Buddhist monarchs)
Harsha, revitalized the Sanskrit language and Indian cultural arts. He sponsored sculptures, temples, art, drama and Buddhist nata in all their forms. It is only from this dynasty that the Hindu nata can be dated.

In ancient Hinduism, nata was acknowledged as a spiritual study and conferred a ruling deity, Nataraja, representing the awakening of wisdom through physical and mental concentration. However, after the Muslim invasion of India and its brutal destruction of Buddhist and Hindu culture and religion, the Ksatreya art of nata was dispersed and many of its teachers slain. Due to these invasions, subsequent traditions of nata which arose within Hindu India drew inspiration from sources such as the southern Indian (Dravidian) folk dance and developed very different orientations from its original form. These different sources resulted in the nata becoming a popular performance art of mime and dance, reflecting mainly the myths and
legends of the Hindu religious past, rather than the energetic, body-oriented form of the Ksatreya spiritual warrior training. It is only in these Dravidian areas of India that indigenous martial arts, under the name of Kalari exist nowadays.

When Buddhism came to influence India (circa 500 B.C.) the Deity Nataraja was converted to become one of the four protectors of Buddhism, and was renamed Nar(y)ayana Deva (Chinese : Na Lo Yen Tien). He is said to be a protector of the Eastern hemisphere of the mandala.

The Muslim invasions and subsequent slaughter of Buddhist monks and nuns caused many to flee into Southern India, China, and elsewhere. Because of this, much of what we know concerning nata within Indian Buddhism comes to us via Chinese tradition and Buddhist writing. Refugees carried with them living knowledge, not only of Buddhist spiritual teaching, but also of its cultural arts and skillful means of teaching.The Gupta and Pala Dynasty nata would have been among these, and doubtless continued to be developed by subsequent Buddhist masters.

Although modern Sanskritists usually represent the term nata as one describing the Indian classical art of representing events and characters in the Hindu scriptures by means of highly stylized dance, mime and acting, this is not the meaning of the term evidenced with the Buddhist sutras. The term nata in Mahayana Buddhism described "body nourishing movement sequences" of "a demanding nature" performed by one who was "vigorous and determined." It referred not to a spectator-oriented activity of entertainment or pleasure (as were the Hindu nata) but to the practice of warriors."

-a lot more later (for example, there seems to be other evidence that "nata" was kshatriya martial art). arun gupta

According to Shifu Nagaboshi Tomio, "nata" was martial art (mostly armed) practiced by Kshtriyas from Vedic times.

Other fascinating claims : Tiger Striking (Sanskrit: Vyaghraja) was a technique of unarmed combat.

"In addition to the Indian and North Chinese accounts there is a legend, preserved in both the Ryukyuan "Kempo Hishu", the "Itosuchi", and other Japanese manuscripts, that the technique of Vyaghraja in Chuan Fu developed from teachings contained in an account brought from India, via a Tibetan monastery, into China which recorded the hand-to-hand combat held between two deities. Their names are given phonetically as "Ka-shi-ma" and "Ka-chu-ri". The account is said to describe theri movements and practices and says they used these techniques to "control and restrain their followers". The manuscript is usually named in Japanese Ju Jitsu schools as the "Ta-ka-no-kabi". I was even told this story while sitting by a mountainside of the Motobu peninsula of Okinawa with an old Karate master.

Here we have a fascinating record of a living tradition passed down from generation to generation among people who don't really understand its constituents, but who nevertheless still retain accurate elements of an earlier Chinese tradition. The word "Taka no Kabi", literally means "the giving and receiving of the high(er) places" (Chinese: Kao Cha Li) actually represents the Sanskrit term "Devaloka dana
adana", meaning "The heavenly realm of those who give and those who receive" a meaning almost the same. The names Kashimi and Kachuri probably represent Chinese transliterations of the Sanskrit Buddhist term "Ksatre(ya) ksetra". This means "the place - or land - of the Ksatreya." It is both a synonym for the land of India and a place where warriors train and exercise control.

The whole name seems likely to represent a literal Sarvastivada source orignally called something like the "Devloka danadana Ksatreya ksetra", and which, if tradition is accurate, passed from the Vikramasila monastery of India, for it was to here the Tibetans mainly came to be taught Buddhist teachings. It may be a coincidence, but the area in India which contained the most Sarvastivada/Mahasanghika monasteries was named "Danakataka", a word which can be translated fancifully as the "gift of the closed hand". One furhter, as yet unnamed method of the Vajramukti was said to
have arrived in Southern China via Sri Lanka, but this awaits further research."

The Legend of Bodhidharma

2006-03-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

The general background of the martial arts as we know them involves a segregation from the run-of-the-mill 'how-we-whack-our-neighbours' fightiing arts. It is unclear how real this division is. The traditional martial tradition in olden times involved feilty or some external person or organization, typically the lord, the land, or the faith. Self-defense as a right and perogitive of the individual is, in terms of tradition, a more recent phenomenon. Many modern forms of the martial arts have a tradition of participation by the individual for the enlightenment of that person. The pursuit of enlightment through or at least in conjunction with the physical discipline of the martial art are seen as progressing hand-in-hand. Some authors take the trouble to stress that a high level of martial skill is possible without the development of any accompanying spirituality, others suggesting that the spirit and body are implicitly developed together.

I will be returning to this theme in a future feature. Today's feature is about the legend of Bodhidharma, the most enduring and pervasive legend of the origin of the traditional martial arts as we know them today. The existence of this man as a real person who left both a written and an oral history seem well founded. The legends surrounding him are many and fascinating, and some mention of him is almost a requirement in the many histories on the net.

This tradition starts fairly specifically in 567 CE. with the arrival of Bodhidharma, Darumi Taishi (in Japanese), Dat Mor (in Cantonese), Da Mo (in Mandarin), Tamo or Daruma. His task was to help the spread/development of Buddhism in China. Here are some of the stories:

He was told by his spiritual instructor, the sage Panyata or Prajnatara, 2, to go to China. He travelled by ship, for 3 years, arriving in Southern China around 475 CE. One legend has him spending 9 years in meditiation, facing a wall near the Shaolin Temple. He had only 3 recorded disciples. He died in 528 CE . A few years after his death, an official reported seeing him walking in the mountains, carrying only a staff from which hung one sandal and telling the official he was returning to India. The monks, on hearing this, examined his tomb and found one sandal and no body.

He real name was Sardili. He was the prince of a small town in Southern India. He arrived in China after a brutal trek over the Himalayan moutains where he survived both bandits and terrible weather conditions. He settled in the Shaolin temple of Songsham in Hunan province in 526 CE. He found the monks lacked sufficient stamina to meditate properly or defend themselves from the roving brigands of the area. He taught them the '18 Lo-Han Hands', 2, 3, a sysem of dynamic tension exercises that was printed in 550 CE as the Yi Gin Chin. The Lo-Han were probably some form of temple guardian of Hindu origin. These formed the basis for Chinese temple boxing and the Shaolin Arts. Ta Mo died in 539 CE at the age of 57.

He was a member of the Kshatrifa class, the 28th patriarch or successor to Buddha, and brought with him two books, the I Chin Ching and the Hseiu Seu Ching, both dealing with self-defense.

He arrived in China after a three year trip from India. Buddhism was well established in China with an extensive written and oral tradition. He came to teach the true meaning of Buddhism to Emperor Wu-ti, who had supported Buddhism and was anxious to hear what Bodhidharma considered to be its central principles. Bodhidharma's short reply of "vast emptiness" apparently upset the emperor who had been expecting something a little more substantial. Daruma then travelled to the Shaolin (Shorin in Japanese) temple on the Wu-tai Mountain in Honan. He was so determined to attain his true self that he sat before a wall (or like a wall) for nine years. Many came to him with questions but he would not disturb his zazen to answer them. Finally Hui-Ko (Eka in Japanese) cut off his left hand and gave it to the master, saying, "I'll cut off my head next unless you teach me!" To Ma agreed, finally having found a person as determined as himself.

After arriving at the Central Mountain, Da Mo settled down at Shaolin and began to teach. To the north of the monastery, half way up Five Breasts Peak, there is a square-mouthed cave, about the size of a small room, which opened out directly towards the sun. Da Mo went to this cave and faced the wall in a state of dyhana, and in the evening he would go back down to the monastery to discuss Buddhist lore with the other monks. After a short time, however, he no longer returned to the monastery, but sat continuously facing the wall of the cave, legs crossed, in silent contemplation, observing his own inner nature. The days and years passed by in an endless stream. When he became tired, Da Mo would get up and exercise lightly. When the stiffness had gone he would again sit down, look inside himself, dispel all evil and disturbing thoughts, and become silent. In the depth of winter, wolves, tigers, and panthers could often be heard around the door of the cave, howling into the night. Once, a young monk climbed the mountain to bring some food, and as he entered the cave he saw a large gray wolf with it's drooling red mouth open wide and it's front paws on Da Mo's shoulders, about to sink it's teeth into his neck. The young monk startled the wolf by loudly shouting and the wolf turned and fled. Da Mo, totally unaware of the intrusion, continued his meditation. During the winter of another year there was no snow or rain and all the mountain grass was dry as tinder. The grass caught fire and in a short time the winds had turned the whole mountain into a giant torch. Several monks battled up the mountain, against the driving wind, to save Da Mo. When they got to the cave and looked inside, they saw him sitting cross-legged, backs straight, facing the wall without even the slightest hint of movement.

Da Mo meditated at the wall for nine years. During his rest periods he created some of the fighting forms which were basis of today's Shaolin "Heart-Mind-Fist". Among these are the classics, the "Sinew Change Classic" and the "Washing Marrow".It is said that after three thousand days facing the wall, Da Mo's shadow became engraved upon the stone. Some say that today, from a distance, you can see the shape of a man sitting cross-legged, his hands pressed together before him in meditation on the rock face.

His main gifts were the Buddist philosophy of non-violence and the development of both mind and body. Here we have the difference between martial tradition or training and a martial art. Although there is some debate the actual existence of Da Mo as a real person, recently discovered ancient manuscripts are claimed to contain his actual sermons.

I'll discuss the branching out of the various national traditions and how these blended into the existing martial/military traditions of the various nation states in future features.

KALARI PAYAT - by Raymond Miranda

2006-03-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

International Dynamic Self Defense Kalari - I.D.S.D.K.

Every intelligent law abiding citizen should be able to protect her/himself from physical threats. Today, with so many people learning one art or another, you should look for something more specialized, Kalari Payat is arguably one of the most specialized arts. Kalari Payat is a direct method of combat. Each one of the thousands of Kalari Payat techniques is a complete finishing tactic, which enables the person to get into the enemy and put him under control. It consists a wide range of methods of combat: chops, blows, kicks, punches, squeezes, locks, throws, sweeps breaking technique, fallen-down techniques and steps, movements and pressure-point tactics, also vital-point attacks, all methods of sticks, all ranges of weapons, swords, shields, axes, daggers, ropes etc., and all releasing techniques. It also includes yoga, acrobatics, gymnastics and wrestling for the body techniques. International Kalari Payat is taught strictly for self defense. It is aimed to equip it's practitioner with devastating combat tactics that would be applied in real defense. This training is a form of discipline which gives a basic knowledge in physical health and self defense. The art has it's origin with the training of soldiers, Buddhist monks as well as noblemen who had to learn the art, for there were frequent raids on the Kings and Princes' of the time in Kerala (South India) by neighbouring power crazy state/war lords as well as marauding thugs. Kalari Payat was developed a few thousand years ago in the state of Kerala in India, which was introduced in Malaysia by the Mahaguru Ustaz Haji Hamzah Haji Abu, who is the founder of the International Dynamic Self Defense Kalari Payat (FIDSDK).

THE DEADLY NATURE OF KALARI PAYAT - THE MARTIAL ART

The struggle for existence is man's history and is as old as the beginning of man himself. The inventive nature of man has enabled him to be the master of his environment, when the brain and the brawn of man are put together, there is no other force but God in this world which would not bow to him. In the early days man had to fight not only against wild animals but also against man himself. So he had to try harder or improve methods to outdo others. This competition between man against man carried on and continues even today in this space-age. Thus any part of the world where man has inhabited there are traces of some art of combat method or as we call it today, the art of self-defense. In the olden days because of the lack of communication each group or race of people confined to their own part of the world and the knowledge or mode of living of those people stayed with them and come to be known as belonging to them only. The art of self-defense also suffered this confinement and so we hear today arts of self-defense of Indian origin and so on. Now we come to Kalari Payat, which has it's origin in Kerala State, South -West of India. It is based on the principal of first apparently giving way to the attacking force, then adding one's own force so that the sum of both forces is applied against the attacker. Thus a physically weaker defendant can gain victory over a stronger attacker. Up to a certain limit, all self-defense arts are martial arts in the full sense of the word. Beyond that limit all are deadly. Their deadliness can only be measured from the form of application they take. Kalari Payat is a combined application of might and wit. It's techniques are devised in such a way that at close combat even before the enemy thinks of making an attacking move, Kalari Payat experts can not only anticipate but also react accordingly. Training begins with respecting others. Each move, while teaching a new technique, involves certain limbs of the body. The exercises make the body fit and healthy and the feeling of well being develops the trainees. Kalari Payat can finally be compared to a spring which never dries up however much you draw from it.In Kalari Payat, students are more confident in trying new methods and practicing dangerous moves because even in the case of an accident, the instructor is well versed and qualified to remedy the situation and is a specialist on finger-pressure. Just as Kalari Payat is deadly, it has it's finer qualities in making it a really superior and sophisticated martial-art. The training itself is vigorous and painful. Only those with the self-discipline and perseverance can endure the early painful training session. With every new technique learnt, Kalari Payat makes one bold, self-assured and physically fit. It also works into the mental system and makes one calm, cool philosophic and god-fearing and keeps one's equanimity. Kalari Payat itself can be compared to a friend and companion because it comes to one's aid when one's life and properties are threatened by thugs, robbers or other intruders. It is like a religious teacher who teaches one to respect others and to be courteous to all. Anything that is deadly should be handled with care. Therefore Kalari Payat should also be given the respect. Otherwise it would react in such a reverse force that all the training, time and money spent will come useless and may turn against it's own master and destroy him. The long period of training taken to master Kalari Payat makes it a much desirable and reliable force. Kalari Payat totals eighteen (18) methods of training, there are 400 types of locks, the same number of throws and more than a thousand blows and punches. "INTERNATIONAL DYNAMIC" Kalari Payat was introduced in Malaysia by Ustaz Hj Hamzah Hj Abu (FIDK). Fired with enthusiasm to popularize the art he decided to introduce a grading system based on international standards (DAN SYSTEM) the roles and combat outfits have also been changed to reflect a "Modern Kalari Payat Warrior".

HISTORY WAS CREATED

History was created when Kalari Payat exponent N. Mohandas (Honorary Gold Belt), became one of the first two Malaysians to conquer Mount Everest. Kalari Payat is also under the patronage of Malaysian Government having participated in various youth programmes such as Rakan Muda.

For further information contact: Ustaz Hamzah Haji Abu, Founder Kalari Payat Malaysia, 30 Jln Liku, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia OR please e-mail me (to the address given below)

maazwer@yahoo.com

Kalari-Payat - The Ancient Indian Martial Art of Self-Defence

2006-03-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

Kalari-Payat, an ancient Indian Martial Art of Self-defense form of Kerala South India is the mother of Karate Kung-Fu and many other Asian Martial Arts. Research shows that the Malayalees practiced this art thousands of years ago. Its popularity reached its Zenith during the 14th and 15th Centuries when kings, noblemen, monks and the Malabar soldiers were well known in the martial prowess. The Buddhist monks and gurus, who visited Kerala, were the ones who mastered the salient features of the art and propagated in China, Japan and to the shores of South-East Asia. Indian researchers accuse the British in India of suppressing the activities of the Kalaries, which abounded during the 19th century. The art was revived following India's independence and once more gained prominence in society.

Kalari-Payat techniques are a method of combat. Kalari-Payat is a training to fight with chops, blows, kicks, squeezes, locks, throws and pressure point tactics. The Kalari will also master the use of all ranges of weapons such as the 12 span staff called KETTUKARI, the dagger KATTARAN and finally the URUMI, a long deathly stretch of flexible steel wound around the waist. A cut with the URUMI can slice the body in two. It is the deadliest weapon in the armory of a Kalari-Payat warrior. A grand master (Maha Guru) in this art will learn the art called Uzhichil a special massage of the nervous system using specially prepared medicated oils. In his medical knowledge of the Anatomy and the Ayurvedic medicines, he will be able not only to treat his own injuries but also his disciples and students who might suffer from injuries in training or combat.

Psychology In Defence And Attack

2006-02-27T11:47:00.000-08:00

By Bruce Lee

(Bruce Lee's handwritten essay from his pocket journal, circa 1961.)

Size is never a true indication of muscular power and efficiency. The smaller man usually makes up for the imbalance of power by his greater agility, flexibility, speed of foot, and nervous action. Bear this in mind once you go into action and grapple with an opponent: strive to keep him off balance, regardless of his size. So keep moving faster than he and pay absolutely no attention to his size, fierce facial contortions, or his vicious language. Your object is always to attack your opponent at his weakest points, which are mainly gravitational, throwing him off balance, and applying leverage principles so that his body, and the limbs of his body, are used to work toward his own defeat. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

In combatting a man with your bare hands, you must learn to use your head, knees, and feet as well as your hands. The "crowding"act gives you every opportunity to use these parts of your body, especially your elbows. Another simple method while crowding with your opponent is to step on his foot. It has unexpected results. The one point to bear in mind when you are being attacked by a thug is the fact that the thug has but a one-track mind. He thinks but in one groove, which is bent on your destruction, barely considering what you can do, in which case you always have the psychological advantage on your side. With efficiency comes confidence and self-reliance.

Reflections On Gung Fu

2006-02-27T11:42:00.000-08:00

By Bruce Lee

(An article written by Bruce Lee that was never published, written on December 21, 1964,to illustrate the different techniques used by the different schools of gung fu.)

Gung fu is so extraordinary because it is nothing at all special. It is simply the direct expression of one's feeling with the minimum of lines and energy. Every movement is being so of itself without the artificiality with which we tend to complicate them. The closer to the true Way of gung fu, the less wastage of expression there is. Gung fu is to be looked at without fancy suits and matching ties, and it remains a secret while we anxiously look for sophistication and deadly techniques. If there are really any secrets at all, they must have been missed by the "seeing" and "striving" of its practitioners (after all, how many ways are there to come in on an opponent without deviating too much from the natural course?). Gung fu values the wonder of the ordinary, and the idea is not daily increase but daily decrease.

Being wise in gung fu does not mean adding more but being able to remove sophistication and ornamentation and be simply simple, like a sculptor building a statue not by adding, but by hacking away the unessential so that the truth will be revealed unobstructed. Gung fu is satisfied with one's bare hands without the fancy decoration of colourful gloves, which tend to hinder the natural function of the hands. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity while halfway cultivation runs to ornamentation.

There are three stages in the cultivation of gung fu: namely, the primitive stage, the stage of art, and the stage of artlessness.

The primitive stage is the stage of original ignorance in which a person knows nothing of the art of combat. In a fight he simply blocks and strikes instinctively without concern as for what is right and wrong. Of course, he might not be so-called scientific, but he is, nevertheless, being himself.

The second stage, the stage of art, begins when a person starts his training. He is taught the different ways of blocking and striking, the various ways of kicking, of standing, of moving, of breathing, of thinking. Unquestionably he is gaining a scientific knowledge of combat, but unfortunately his original self and sense of freedom are lost, and his action no longer flows by itself. His mind tends to freeze at different movements for calculation and analysis. Even worse, he might be "intellectually bound" and maintaining himself outside the actual reality.

The third stage, the stage of artlessness, occurs when, after years of serious and hard practice, he realises that, after all, gung fu is nothing special and instead of trying to impose his mind on the art, he adjusts himself to the opponent like water pressing on an earthen wall, it flows through the slightest crack. There is nothing to "try" to do but be purposeless and formless like water. Nothingness prevails; he no longer is confined.

These three stages also apply to the various methods being practiced in Chinese gung fu. Some methods are rather primitive with basic jerky blocking and striking. On the whole, they lack the flow and change of combinations. Some "sophisticated" methods, on the other hand, tend to run to ornamentation and get carried away by grace and showmanship. Whether from the so-called "firm" or "gentle" school, they often involve big, fancy movements with a lot of complicated steps toward one single goal (it is like an artist who, not satisfied with drawing a simple snake, proceeds to put four beautiful and shapely feet on the snake).

When grasped by the collar, for example, these practitioners would "first do this, then this, then finally that", but of course the direct way would be to let the opponent have the pleasure of grasping the collar and simply punch him straight on the nose! To some martial artists of distinguishing taste, this would be a little bit unsophisticated; too ordinary and unartful. However, it is the ordinary that we use and encounter in everyday life.

Art is the expression of the self; the more complicated and restrictive a method is, the less opportunity there is for expression of one’s original sense of freedom. The techniques, although they play an important role in the earlier stage, should not be too complex, restrictive, or mechanical. If we cling to them we will become bound by their limitations.

Remember that man created method, and method did not create man, and do not strain yourself in twisting into someone’s preconceived pattern, which unquestionably would be appropriate for him, but not necessarily for you. You yourself are "expressing" the technique and not "doing" the technique; in fact, there is no doer but the action itself. When someone attacks you, it is not which technique that you use, but the moment you’re aware of his attack you simply move in like sound, an echo without any deliberation. It is as though when I call, you answer me, or when I throw something, you catch it. That’s all.

After all these years of practice in the different schools I have found out this: that techniques are merely simple guide lines to tell the practitioner that he has done enough! Of course, different people have different preferences and therefore I will include different techniques of both the Northern and the Southern schools of gung fu. Observe closely the differences as well as the similarities of utilisation.

A Moment Of Understanding

2006-02-27T11:38:00.000-08:00

By Bruce Lee

(Bruce Lee's handwritten essay from one of his courses at the university of Washington.)

Gung fu is a special kind of skill, a fine art rather than just a physical exercise. It is a subtle art of matching the essence of the mind to that of the techniques in which it has to work. The principle of gung fu is not a thing that can be learned, like a science, by fact-finding and instruction in facts. It has to grow spontaneously, like a flower, in a mind free from emotions and desires. The core of this principle of gung fu is Tao - the spontaneity of the universe. After four years of hard training in the art of gung fu, I began to understand and felt the principle of gentleness - the art of neutralising the effect of the opponent's effort and minimising the expenditure of one's energy. All these must be done in calmness and without striving. It sounded simple, but in actual application it was difficult.

The moment I engaged in combat with an opponent, my mind was completely perturbed and unstable. And after a series of exchanging blows and kicks, my theory of gentleness was gone. My only thought at this point was "Somehow or other I must beat him and win!"

My instructor at the time, Professor Yip Man, head of the wing chun school of gung fu, would come up to me and say "Leung(Lee's Chinese nickname was Lee Siu Leung), relax and calm your mind. Forget about yourself and follow the opponent's movement. Let your mind, the basic reality, do the counter-movement without any interfering deliberation. Above all, learn the art of detachment."

"That was it!" I thought. "I must relax!" However, right then I had just done something that contradicted against my will. That occurred at the precise moment I said, "I must relax." The demand for effort in must was already inconsistent with the effortlessness in relax.

When my acute self-consciousness grew to what the psychologists refer to as the "double-blind" type, my instructor would again approach me and say, "Leung(pronounced Loong), preserve yourself by following the natural bends of things and don't interfere. Remember never to assert yourself against nature; never be in frontal opposition to any problems, but control it by swinging with it. Don't practice this week. Go home and think about it."

The following week I stayed home. After spending many hours meditating and practicing, I gave up and went sailing alone in a junk. On the sea I thought of all my past training and got mad at myself and punched the water! Right then, at that moment, a thought suddenly struck me; was not this water the very essence of gung fu? I struck it but it did not suffer hurt. Again I struck it with all of my might, yet it was not wounded! I then tried to grasp a handful of it but this proved impossible. This was water, the softest substance in the world, which could be contained in the smallest jar, only seemed weak. In reality, it could penetrate the hardest substance in the world. That was it! I wanted to be like the nature of water.

Suddenly a bird flew by and cast its reflection on the water. Right then as I was absorbing myself with the lesson of the water, another mystic sense of hidden meaning revealed itself to me; should not the thoughts and emotions I had when in the front of an opponent pass like the reflection of the bird flying over the water? This was exactly what Professor Yip meant by being detached - not being without emotion or feeling, but being one in whom feeling was not sticky or blocked. Therefore in order to control myself I must first accept myself by going with and not against my nature.

I lay on the boat and felt that I had united with Tao; I had become one with nature. I just lay there and let the boat drift freely according to its own will. For at that moment I had achieved a state of inner feeling in which opposition had become mutually cooperative instead of mutually exclusive, in which there was no longer any conflict in mind. The whole world to me was unitary.

Gung Fu : The Centre Of The Oriental Martial Arts

2006-02-27T11:35:00.000-08:00

By Bruce Lee

(Bruce Lee's handwritten essay on gung fu, untitled.)

Gung fu, the centre of the Oriental arts of self-defence, is a philosophical art that serves to promote health, to cultivate the mind, and to provide a most efficient means of self-protection. Its philosophy is based on the integral parts of the philosophies of Taoism and Ch'an (Zen) - the ideal of being harmonious with and not against the force of the opponent. Just as a butcher preserves his knife by cutting along the bones, a gung fu man preserves himself by complementing the movements of the opponent.

The word gung fu means "discipline" and training toward the ultimate reality of the object - be it health promotion, mind cultivation or self-protection. There is no distinction to make between the opponent and the self because the opponent is but the other complementary (not opposite) part. There is no conquering, struggling, or dominating, and the idea is to "fit" harmoniously your movement into that of the opponent. When he expands, you contract; when he contracts, you expand. Expansion then is interdependent with contraction and vice versa, each being the cause and result of the other.

Gentleness/firmness is one inseparable force of one unceasing interplay of movement. If a person riding a bicycle wishes to go somewhere, he cannot pump on both the pedals at the same time or not pump on them at all. In order to move forward he has to pump on one pedal and release the other. So the movement of going forward requires this "oneness" of pumping and releasing. Therefore, gentleness alone cannot forever dissolve away great force, nor can sheer brute force subdue one's foe. In order to survive in any combat, the harmonious interfusion of gentleness and firmness as a whole is necessary, sometimes one dominating sometimes the other, in a wavelike succession. The movement will then truly flow, for the pure fluidity of movements is in their interchangeability.

So neither gentleness nor firmness holds any more than one half of a broken whole which, welded together, forms the true Way of martial art. The tendency to guard against is from getting too firm and stiff. Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind. This is why a gung fu man is soft yet not yielding, firm, yet not hard. The best example of gung fu is water. Water can penetrate the hardest granite because it is yielding. One cannot stab of strike at water and hurt it because that which offers no resistance cannot be overcome.

In actual application, gung fu is based on simplicity; it is a natural result of four thousand years of exhaustive experimentation and is of highly sophisticated complexity. All techniques are stripped down to their essential purpose without wastage or ornamentation, and everything becomes the straightest, most logical simplicity of common sense. The utmost is expressed and performed in the minimum of movements and energy.

The method for health promotion is again based on water, as flowing water never grows stale. The idea is not to overdevelop or to overexert but to normalise the function of the body.

The Tao Of Gung Fu : A Study In The Way Of The Chinese Martial Art

2006-02-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

By Bruce Lee

(Handwritten essay by Bruce Lee dated May 16, 1962.)

Gung fu is a special kind of skill, a fine art rather than just a physical exercise or self-defence. To the Chinese, gung fu is the subtle art of matching the essence of the mind to that of the techniques in which it has to work. The principle of gung fu is not a thing that can be learned, like a science, by fact-finding or instruction in facts. It has to grow spontaneously, like a flower, in a mind free from desires and emotions. The core of this principle of gung fu is Tao - the spontaneity of the universe. The word Tao has no exact equivalent in the English Language. To render it into the Way, or the "principle" or the "law" is to give it too narrow an interpretation. Lao-tzu, the founder of Taoism, described Tao in the following words:

The Way that can be expressed in words is not the eternal Way;
the Name that can be uttered is not the eternal Name.
Conceived of as nameless it is the cause of Heaven and earth.
Conceived of as having a name it is the mother of all things.
Only the man externally free from passion can contemplate its spiritual essence.
He who is clogged by desires can see no more than its outer form.
These two things, the spiritual (Yin) and the material (Yang),
though we call them by different names, are one and the same in their origin.
The sameness is a mystery of the mysteries.
It is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful.

In Masterpieces of World Philosophy: "Tao is nameless beginning of things, the universal principle underlying everything, the supreme, ultimate pattern, and the principle of growth." Huston Smith, the author of The World's Religions, explained Tao as "The Way of Ultimate Reality---the Way or Principle behind all life, or the Way man should order his life to gear in with the Way the universe operates." Although no one word can substitute its meaning, I have used the word Truth for it---the "Truth" behind gung fu; the "Truth" that every gung fu practitioner should follow. Tao operates in Yin and Yang, a pair of mutually complementary forces that are at work in and behind all phenomena. This principle of Yin-Yang, also known as T'ai Chi, is the basic structure of gung fu. The T'ai Chi, or Grand Terminus, was first drawn more than three thousand years ago by Chou Chun I. The Yang (whiteness) principle represents positiveness, firmness, masculinity, substantiality, brightness, day, heat, and so forth. The Yin (blackness) principle is the opposite. It represents negativeness, softness, femininity, insubstantiality, darkness, night, coldness, and so forth. The basic theory in T'ai Chi is that nothing is so permanent as never to change. In other words, when activity (Yang) reaches the extreme point, it becomes inactivity; and inactivity forms Yin. Extreme inactivity returns to become activity, which is Yang. Activity is the cause of inactivity and vice versa. This system of complementary increasing and decreasing of the principle is continuous. From this one can see that the two forces (Yin-Yang), although they appear to conflict, in reality are mutually interdependent; instead of opposition, there is cooperation and alternation. The application of the principles of Yin-Yang in gung fu are expressed as the Law of Harmony. It states that one should be in harmony with, not in rebellion against, the strength and force of the opposition. This means that one should do nothing that is not natural or spontaneous; the important thing is to not strain in any way. When opponent A uses strength (Yang) on B, B must not resist him (back) with strength; in other words, B does not use positiveness (Yang ) against positiveness (Yang), but yields to A with softness (Yin) and leads A in the direction of his own force, negativeness (Yin) to positiveness (Yang). When A's strength goes to the extreme, the positiveness (Yang) will change to negativeness (Yin), and B can then take him at his unguarded moment and attack with force (Yang). Thus the whole process is not unnatural or strained; B fits his movement harmoniously and continuously into that of A without resisting or striving.

The above idea gives rise to a closely related law, the Law of Noninterference with Nature, which teaches a gung fu man to forget about himself and follow his opponent instead of himself; he does not move ahead but responds to the fitting influence. The basic idea is to defeat the opponent by yielding to him and using his own strength. That is why a gung fu man never asserts himself against his opponent, and never puts himself in frontal opposition to the direction of his opponents force. When being attacked, he will not resist, but will control the attack by swinging with it. This law illustrates the principles of nonresistance and nonviolence, which were founded on the idea that the branches of a fir tree snap under the weight of the snow, while the simple reeds, weaker but more supple, can overcome it. In the I'Ching, Confucius illustrated this: "To stand in the stream is a datum of nature; one must follow and flow with it." In the Tao Teh Ching, the gospel of Taoism, Lao-tzu pointed out to us the value of gentleness. Contrary to common belief, the Yin principle, as softness and pliableness, is to be associated with life and survival. Because he can yield, a man can survive. In contrast, the Yang principle, which is assumed to be rigorous and hard, makes a man break under pressure (note the last two lines, which make a fair description of revolution as many generations of people have seen it):

Alive, a man is supple, soft;
In death, unbending, rigorous.
All creatures, grass and trees, alive
Are plastic but are pliant too,
And dead, are friable and dry.
Unbending rigor is the mate of death,
And yielding softness, company of life;
Unbending soldiers get no victories;
The stiffest tree is readiest for the ax.
The strong and mighty topple from their place;
The soft and yielding rise above them all.

The way of movement in gung fu is closely related to the movement of the mind. In fact, the mind is trained to direct the movement of the body. The mind wills and the body behaves. As the mind is to direct the bodily movements, the way to control the mind is important; but it is not an easy task. In his book, Glen Clark mentioned some of the emotional disturbances in athletics:

Every conflicting centre, every extraneous, disrupting, decentralizing emotion, jars the natural rhythm and reduces a man's efficiency on the gridiron far more seriously than physical jars and bodily conflicts can ever jar him. The emotions that destroy the inner rhythm of a man are hatred, jealousy, lust, envy, pride, vanity, covetousness and fear.

To perform the right technique in gung fu, physical loosening must be continued in a mental and spiritual loosening, so as to make the mind not only agile but free. In order to accomplish this, a gung fu man has to remain quiet and calm and to master the principle of no-mindedness (wu hsin). No-mindedness is not a blank mind that excludes all emotions; nor is it simply calmness and quietness of the mind. Although quietude and calmness are important, it is the "non-graspiness" of the mind that mainly constitutes the principle of no-mindedness. A gung fu man employs his mind as a mirror---it grasps nothing and it refuses nothing; it receives but does not keep. As Alan Watts puts it, the no-mindedness is "a state of wholeness in which the mind functions freely and easily, without the sensation of a second mind or ego standing over it with a club." What he means is, let the mind think what it likes without interference by the separate thinker or ego within oneself. So long as it thinks what it wants, there is absolutely no effort in letting it go; and the disappearance of the effort to let go is precisely the disappearance of the separate thinker. There is nothing to try to do, for whatever comes up moment by moment is accepted, including nonacceptance. No-mindedness is then not being without emotion or feeling, but being one in whom feeling is not sticky or blocked. It is a mind immune to emotional influences. "Like this river, everything is flowing on ceaselessly without cessation or standing still." No-mindedness is employing the whole mind as we use the eyes when we rest them upon various objects but make no special effort to take anything in. Chuang-tzu, the disciple of Lao-tzu, stated:

The baby looks at things all day without winking, that is because his eyes are not focussed on any particular object. He goes without knowing where he is going, and stops without knowing what he is doing. He merges himself with the surroundings and moves along with it. These are the principles of mental hygiene.

Therefore, concentration in gung fu does not have the usual sense of restricting the attention to a single sense object; it is simply a quiet awareness of whatever happens to be here and now. Such concentration can be illustrated by an audience at a football game; instead of a concentrated attention on the player who has the ball, they have an awareness of the whole football field. In a similar way, a gung fu man's mind is concentrated by not dwelling on any particular part of the opponent. This is especially true when he deals with many opponents. For instance, suppose ten men are attacking him, each in succession ready to strike him down. As soon as one is disposed of, he will move onto another without permitting the mind to "stop" with any. However rapidly one blow may follow another he leaves no time to intervene between the two. Every one of the ten will thus be successively and successfully dealt with. This is possible only when the mind moves from one object to another without being "stopped" or arrested by anything. If the mind is unable to move on in this fashion, it is sure to lose the combat somewhere between two encounters. The mind is present everywhere because it is nowhere attached to any particular object. And it can remain present because, even when relating to this or that object, it does not cling to it. The flow of thought is like water filling a pond, which is always ready to flow off again. It can work its inexhaustible power because it is free, and it can be open to everything because it is empty. This can be compared with what Chang Chen Chi called "Serene Reflection." He wrote: "Serene means tranquillity of no thought, and reflection means vivid and clear awareness. Therefore, serene reflection is clear awareness of no-thought." As stated earlier, a gung fu man aims at harmony with himself and his opponent. Also, being in harmony with one's opponent is possible not through force, which provokes conflicts and reactions, but through a yielding to the opponent's force. In other words, a gung fu man promotes the spontaneous development of his opponent and does not venture to interfere by his own action. He loses himself by giving up all subjective feelings and individuality, and he becomes one with his opponent. Inside his mind, oppositions have become mutually cooperative instead of mutually exclusive. When his private egos and conscious efforts yield to a power not his own he then achieves the supreme action, non-action (wu we). Wu means "not" or "non" and we means "action," "doing," "striving," "straining," or "busyness." Wu we doesn't really mean doing nothing, but letting one's mind alone, trusting it to work by itself. Wu we, in gung fu, means spontaneous action or spirit-action, in the sense that the governing force is the mind and not the senses. During sparring, a gung fu man learns to forget about himself and follow the movement of his opponent, leaving his mind free to make its own counter movement without any interfering deliberation. He frees himself from all mental suggestions of resistance and adopts a supple attitude. His actions are all performed without self-assertion; he lets his mind remain spontaneous and ungrasped. As soon as he stops to think, his flow of movement will be disturbed and his opponent will immediately strike him. Every action therefore has to be done "unintentionally" without ever "trying." Through wu we, a "reposeful ease" is secured. This passive achievement, as Chuang-tzu pointed out, will free a gung fu man from striving and straining himself:

A yielding will has a reposeful ease, soft as downy feathers, A quietude, a shrinking from action, an appearance of inability to do. Placidly free from anxiety, one acts with the opportune time; one moves and revolves in the line of creation. One does not move ahead but responds to the fitting influences.

Establish nothing in regard to oneself. Let things be what they are, move like water, rest like a mirror, respond like an echo, pass quickly like the nonexistent, and be quiet as purity. Those who gain, lose. Do not precede others, always follow them.

The natural phenomenon which the gung fu man sees as being the closest resemblance to wu we is water:

Nothing is weaker than water,
But when it attacks something hard
Or resistant, then nothing withstands it,
And nothing will alter its way.

The above passages from the Tao Te Ching illustrate to us the nature of water: Water is so fine that it is impossible to grasp a handful of it; strike it, yet it does not suffer hurt; stab it, and it is not wounded; sever it, yet it is not divided. It has no shape of its own but moulds itself to the receptacle that contains it. When heated to the state of steam it is invisible but has enough power to split the earth itself. When frozen it crystallises into a mighty rock. First it is turbulent like Niagara Falls, and then calm like a still pond, fearful like a torrent, and refreshing like a spring on a hot summer's day. So is the principle of wu we:

The rivers and seas are lords of a hundred valleys. This is because their strength is in lowliness; they are kings of them all. So it is that the perfect master wishing to lead them, he follows. Thus, though he is above them, he follows. Thus, though he is above them, men do not feel him to be an injury. And since he will not strive, none strive with him.

The world is full of people who are determined to be somebody or to give trouble. They want to get ahead, to stand out. Such ambition has no use for a gung fu man, who rejects all forms of self-assertiveness and competition:

One who tries to stand on tiptoe cannot stand still. One who stretches his legs too far cannot walk. One who advertises himself too much is ignored. One who is too insistent on his own view finds few to agree with him. One who claims too much credit does not get even what he deserves. One who is too proud is soon humiliated. These are condemned as extremes of greediness and self-destructive activity. Therefore, one who acts naturally avoids such extremes.

Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.
Stop your sense, let sharp things be blunted,
Tangles resolved, the light tempered and turmoil subdued;
For this is mystic unity in which the wise man is moved
Neither by affection nor yet by estrangement,
Or profit or loss or honour or shame.
Accordingly, by all the world, he is held highest.

A gung fu man, if he is really good, is not proud at all. "Pride," according to Mr. Eric Hoffer, "is a sense of worth that derives from something that is not organically part of oneself." Pride emphasises the importance of the superiority of a person's status in the eyes of others. There is fear and insecurity in pride because when a person aims at being highly esteemed and achieves such status, he is automatically involved in the fear of losing his status. Then protection of his status appears to be his most important need, and this creates anxiety. Mr. Hoffer further states that: "The less promise and potency in the self, the more imperative is the need for pride. One is proud when he identifies himself with an imaginary self; the core of pride is self rejection." As we know, gung fu is aiming at self cultivation, and the inner self is one's true self. So in order to realise his true self, a gung fu man lives without being dependent upon the opinion of others. Since he is completely self-sufficient he can have no fear of not being esteemed. A gung fu man devotes himself to being self-sufficient and never depends upon the external rating by others for his happiness. A gung fu master, unlike the beginner, holds himself in reserve, is quiet and unassuming, without the lest desire to show off. Under the influence of gung fu training his proficiency becomes spiritual, and he himself, grown ever freer through spiritual struggle, is transformed. To him, fame and status mean nothing. Thus wu we is the art of artlessness, the principle of no-principle. To state it in terms of gung fu, the genuine beginner knows nothing about the way of blocking and striking, and much less about his concern for himself. When an opponent tries to strike him, he "instinctively" parries it. This is all he can do. But as soon as his training starts, he is taught how to defend and attack, where to keep the mind, and many other technical tricks—which makes his mind "stop" at various junctures. For this reason whenever he tries to strike the opponent he feels unusually hampered (he has lost altogether the original sense of innocence and freedom). But as months and years go by, as his training acquires fuller maturity, his bodily attitude and his way of managing the technique toward no-mindedness come to resemble the state of mind he had at the very beginning of training when he knew nothing, when he was altogether ignorant of the art. The beginning and the end thus turn into next-door neighbours. In the musical scale, one may start with the lowest pitch and gradually ascend to the highest. When the highest is reached, one finds it is located next to the lowest. In a similar way, when the highest stage is reached in the study of Taoist teaching, a gung fu man turns into a kind of simpleton who knows nothing of Tao, nothing of its teachings, and is devoid of all learning. Intellectual calculations are lost sight of and a state of no-mindedness prevails. When the ultimate perfection is attained, the body and limbs perform by themselves what is assigned to them to do with no interference from the mind. The technical skill is so automatic it is completely divorced from conscious efforts. There are big differences between the Chinese hygiene and the Western hygiene. Some of the obvious ones are Chinese exercise is rhythmic, whereas the Western is dynamic and full of tension; the Chinese exercise seeks to merge harmoniously with nature, whereas the Western dominates it; the Chinese exercise is both a way of life and a mental cultivation, while the Western exercise is merely a sport or a physical calisthenic. Perhaps the main difference is the fact that Chinese hygiene is Yin (softness), while Western is Yang (positiveness). We can compare the Western mind with an oak tree that stands firm and rigid against the strong wind. When the wind becomes stronger, the oak tree cracks. The Chinese mind, on the other hand, is like the bamboo that bends with the strong wind. When the wind ceases (that is, when it goes to the extreme and changes), the bamboo springs back stronger than before. Western hygiene is a gratuitous waste of energy. The overexertion and over development of bodily organs involved in Western athletics is detrimental to one's health. Chinese hygiene, on the other hand, throws its emphasis on conservation of energy; the principle is always that of moderation without going to the extreme. Whatever exercise there may be consists of harmonious movements calculated to normalise but not excite one's bodily regimen. It starts out with a mental regimen as a basis, in which the sole object is to bring about peace and calmness of mind. With this as a basis, it aims at stimulating the normal functioning of the internal process of respiration and blood circulation.

Teach Yourself Self-Defence

2006-02-27T11:29:00.000-08:00

By Bruce Lee

(Bruce Lee’s handwritten essay dated 1962)

What would you do if you were attacked by a thug? Would you stand your ground and fight it out? Or, if you will excuse me, would you say that you would run like hell? But what if your loved ones were with you? What then? That’s the all important question. You have only to pick up a newspaper to read of attacks made, not only on lonely commons, but also in built-up areas, to understand the need for self-defence. "To be forewarned is to be forearmed" is an old, reliable proverb, and the purpose of my notes on self-defence is to not only forewarn you, but to forearm you with practical knowledge about meeting any foe, regardless of his size and strength.

Some tips on Self-Defence
Self-defence is not fun. You are liable to find yourself fighting hard to avoid serious injury and so you must expect to be hurt. The method of self-defence I am going to describe will not prevent your being hurt, but it will give you a very good chance of emerging the victor without sustaining any severe injury. You will have to accept this, and should a blow from your opponent break through, it is essential, at least for the time being, to ignore the pain and, instead of giving up, use it as a spur to counterattack and victory. (Bear this in mind: when being attacked by a thug the fact is that he has but a one-track mind, which is bent on your destruction, rarely considering what you can do. If your acts show him that he is up against something he did not expect, it will cut down his attacking ego over 50 percent and will neutralise his attack, in which case you always have the psychological advantage on your side.)

This may not sound very encouraging, but the chances of attack can be very greatly reduced when you are walking, especially alone at night or in lonely places, if you are always alert. Keep an eye on any person who appears to be following you or who approaches. Keep to the outside of the path or in the middle of a lane. Listen for approaching footsteps and watch shadows; that is to say, as you pass a street lamp you will see the shadow of anyone behind you thrown up on the ground in front of you. The same thing happens as a result of lights in houses and the headlights of passing cars. As soon as you see a shadow in these circumstances, immediately glance around and see who it is. Always, of course, avoid patches of deep shadow.

In made-up but quiet streets, I repeat, walk on the outside of the pavement. This obviates the chance of anyone jumping out of a house or garden entrance at you to snatch your purse, handbag, or briefcase or worse. For exactly the same reason I suggest walking down the middle of a lane where there are no made-up paths and perhaps no street lamps. If you consider it advisable, you may even cross the road to avoid a person of whom you are suspicious. If he follows, he at least makes his intention fairly obvious. Although I am again repeating myself, I must emphasise that the success of an assailant’s attack depends on surprise, and if you’re sufficiently alert to prevent a surprise, your counterattack is already halfway to being successful. The main thing is to see the attack coming, which enables you to shout, scream, or just concentrate on dealing with the attacker. Make as much noise as possible as this naturally tends to frighten off lawbreakers.

I hope I have not frightened you and made you think it is not safe to walk along the streets. That is certainly not my intention, but newspaper reports lead one to believe that attacks on innocent people are increasing.

The Basis of Self-Defence
There is only one basic principle of self-defence: You must apply the most effective weapon as soon as possible to the most vulnerable point of your enemy. Although I say there is only one basic principle, it is better to break it into sections and look at it more thoroughly:

1 --- What is the most effective weapon
2 --- Speed
3 --- The point to attack or couterattack

The Weapon
Given a chance I would always choose the leg. It is longer than the arm and can deal a heavier blow, and it is much more powerful. So, should anyone approach you, your kick would make contact before his punch, if both commence at the same speed.

Speed
There is no time to consider the type of defence or weapon to use. Obviously, if your kick does not commence, his punch will land first, and your defence is useless. Only training can produce results (I can help you with this). If you do not consider a few minutes training worthwhile, and you think the chance of assault is small, you are one of those people who encourage thugs to attack, and no one can help you should an emergency arise.

The Point of Counterattack
Among the most vulnerable points for your counter if you are attacked by a man are the groin, eyes, abdomen, and knee.

Bushido - Way of The Warrior

2006-02-25T16:49:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

Bushido, literally translated "Way of the Warrior," developed in Japan between the Heian and Tokugawa Ages (9th-12th century). It was a code and way of life for Samurai, a class of warriors similar to the medieval knights of Europe. It was influenced by Zen and Confucianism, two different schools of thought of those periods. Bushido is not unlike the chivalry and codes of the European knights. "It puts emphasis on loyalty, self sacrifice, justice, sense of shame, refined manners, purity, modesty, frugality, martial spirit, honor and affection" (Nippon Steel Human Resources Development Co., Ltd. 329).

ORIGINS AND INFLUENCES

Bushido comes out of Buddhism, Zen, Confucianism, and Shintoism. The combination of these schools of thought and religions has formed the code of warrior values known as Bushido.

From Buddhism, Bushido gets its relationship to danger and death. The samurai do not fear death because they believe as Buddhism teaches, after death one will be reincarnated and may live another life here on earth. The samurai are warriors from the time they become samurai until their death; they have no fear of danger. Through Zen, a school of Buddhism one can reach the ultimate "Absolute." Zen meditation teaches one to focus and reach a level of thought words cannot describe. Zen teaches one to "know thyself" and do not to limit yourself. Samurai used this as a tool to drive out fear, unsteadiness and ultimately mistakes. These things could get him killed.

Shintoism, another Japanese doctrine, gives Bushido its loyalty and patriotism. Shintoism includes ancestor-worship which makes the Imperial family the fountain-head of the whole nation. It awards the emperor a god-like reverence. He is the embodiment of Heaven on earth. With such loyalty, the samurai pledge themselves to the emperor and their daimyo or feudal landlords, higher ranking samurai. Shintoism also provides the backbone for patriotism to their country, Japan. They believe the land is not merely there for their needs, "it is the sacred abode to the gods, the spirits of their forefathers . . ." (Nitobe, 14). The land is cared for, protected and nurtured through an intense patriotism.

Confucianism gives Bushido its beliefs in relationships with the human world, their environment and family. Confucianism's stress on the five moral relations between master and servant, father and son, husband and wife, older and younger brother, and friend and friend, are what the samurai follow. However, the samurai disagreed strongly with many of the writings of Confucius. They believed that man should not sit and read books all day, nor shall he write poems all day, for an intellectual specialist was considered to be a machine. Instead, Bushido believes man and the universe were made to be alike in both the spirit and ethics.

Along with these virtues, Bushido also holds justice, benevolence, love, sincerity, honesty, and self-control in utmost respect. Justice is one of the main factors in the code of the samurai. Crooked ways and unjust actions are thought to be lowly and inhumane. Love and benevolence were supreme virtues and princely acts. Samurai followed a specific etiquette in every day life as well as in war. Sincerity and honesty were as valued as their lives. Bushi no ichi-gon, or "the word of a samurai," transcends a pact of complete faithfulness and trust. With such pacts there was no need for a written pledge; it was thought beneath one's dignity. The samurai also needed self-control and stoicism to be fully honored. He showed no sign of pain or joy. He endured all within--no groans, no crying. He held a calmness of behavior and composure of the mind neither of which should be bothered by passion of any kind. He was a true and complete warrior.

These factors which make up Bushido were few and simple. Though simple, Bushido created a way of life that was to nourish a nation through its most troubling times, through civil wars, despair and uncertainty. "The wholesome unsophisticated nature of our warrior ancestors derived ample food for their spirit from a sheaf of commonplace and fragmentary teachings, gleaned as it were on the highways and byways of ancient thought, and, stimulated by the demands of the age formed from these gleanings a new and unique way of life" (Nitobe, 20).

Jujitsu History

2006-02-25T16:36:00.000-08:00

It has been said that the origin of Japanese wrestling dates back 1,960 years when two men stood up face to face and kicked each other, one kicked the other in the ribs and stamped on and crushed his waist and killed him, this has been regarded as the origin of jujitsu.

About 400 years ago the Takenouchi school of jujitsu was systemized. Sixty years later a Chinese came to Japan aand taught the art of boxing. And forty years later another Chinese visited Japan and introduced an art of seizing one's opponent. Through the process of elimination, and harmonization, a new art known as Yawara was created and popularized. This is the origin of the present day jujitsu.

Jujitsu is the term which has been applied, at different times, to the whole of the ancient Japanese national art of unarmed self-defense practiced by the Samurai or "warrior class" of Japan. The basic principle of this art is to avoid or give way before an opponent's superior weight and strength in order to overcome him by using his weight and strength to his disadvantage.

The older term JUJITSU, or gentle art,gave way in later years to the word JUDO, or gentle way,which stressed the ethical and philisophical concept of DO or a way in harmony with natural law. When the Japanese Ministry of Education adopted a limited form of the national art (Kodokan Judo) for sports instruction in the secondary schools, JUDO came in time to denote only the sport based on JUJITSU, and JUJITSU remained the only word to denote the entire art.

Henry S. Okazaki, Ju-Jitsu Master, Father of American Jujitsu

The founder of Kodenkan Jujitsu, was born in Fukushima Prefecture, on the island of Honshu, Japan, January 28, 1890. Okazaki went to Hawaii when he was 17 years old. He studied under various masters in Hilo, Hawaii where he mastered the YOSHIN, IWAGA, and KOSOGABE schools of jujitsu by practicing diligently six nights a week. In addition, he studied OKINAWAN KARATE, CHINESE KUNG-FU, HAWAIIAN LUA, and FILLIPINO KNIFE PLAY as well as American boxing and wrestling. In 1924, he toured Japan, making an exhaustive study of the SHIBUKAWA-RYU, YOSHIN-RYU and NAMBA-SHOSHIN RYU, as well as KODOKAN JUDO, in which he was ranked sandan (3rd degree). During his tour of Japan, he visited more than 50 dojos and acquired 675 different kinds of techniques or forms. He made a special study of KAPPO and SEFHUKUJITSU (restorative massage), because he recognized the virtue of jujitsu lay in the possibility of reversing the effects of deadly or disabling arts by restoration and treatment.

Gradually, Professor Okazaki evolved a system of jujitsu comprising courses for men, women, and children, and including methods of defense against the knife, sword, club, gun and bayonet. In this system, called DAN ZAN RYU (Cedar Mountain Style, cedar mountains was the Chinese term for Hawaii. Prof. Okazaki chose this name out of respect for his Chinese martial arts instructor), Professor Okazaki stressed the ancient systems of philosophical and moral training while retaining the best of the arts of self-defense and of restoration together with the system of physical culture and mental cultivation now known as sport judo. Thus, he achieved a true synthesis of ancient and modern elements, a complete system of judo and jujitsu.

In 1930, Professor Okazaki opened the Nikko Sanatorium of Restoration Massage in Honolulu, where he subsequently earned an international reputation for his skill as a physical therapist. That same year, he opened his school, now known as the American Jujitsu Institute of Hawaii. His life from that time forward was devoted to instructing worthy Americans without regard to national origin, the arts and sciences of judo and jujitsu and to developing disciples who would introduce his system throughout the United States.

It is safe to say that when Professor Okazaki died in July 1951, thousands of students had studied in his school. His system - DAN ZAN RYU, REMAINS TODAY THE MOST WIDELY TAUGHT SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES.

On the mainland over the years, a number of disciples who Professor Okazaki had initiated into the highest arts of the DAN ZAN RYU system began to teach and attempted to make a reality of Professor Okazaki's dream to have a school teaching his system in every state of the Union. One of the first, Professor Ray L. Law had established the Oakland Judo School in 1939, and had been followed shortly by Professor Bud Estes (Chico), Professor Richard Rickerts and Professor John Cahill. Others followed and taught over the years, and today, there are a variety of organizations, founded by different Okazaki students dedicated to perpetuating their interpretation of his system.

KODENKAN, the name of Professor Okazaki's physical school, may be translated as The School of the Ancient Tradition, and in fact the Kodenkan system is a synthesis of the best arts of the ancient Jujitsu schools. However, KODENKAN may be rendered as THE SCHOOL IN WHICH SENIORS TRANSMIT THE TRADITION. This translation describes the Kodenkan method of instruction, senior students teach junior students in the spirit which Professor Okazaki declared was inherent in the Hawaiian word Koku, to help another.

Dan Zan Ryu Jujitsu

The basic katas and the course titles of the advanced and secret courses encompass a complete system of combat jujitsu, directed toward PERFECTION OF CHARACTER THROUGH PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND MORAL TRAINING. PHYSICAL TRAINING - The sequence ofinstruction begins with strenuous exercises to condition mind and body and to prepare students to learn safely. Each art must be mastered to the point that its correct execution becomes a mind-body reflex. MENTAL TRAINING - All training, basic and advanced, lays emphasis on training the mind by applying the principles of jujitsu derived from ancient philosophy. Volumes have been written to explain these principles, their meaning can only be suggested here - BY CULTIVATING A RELAXED, MIRROR-LIKE STATE OF MIND WITHOUT PRECONCEIVED IDEAS OR THOUGHTS, THE STUDENT LEARNS TO REACT SPONTANEOUSLY AND NATURALLY WITHOUT EFFORT OR PURPOSELESS RESISTANCE GOING AHEAD WITHOUT HESITATION TO MEET WHATEVER LIFE HOLDS IN STORE FOR HIM.

MORAL TRAINING - By example and precept as well as in the routine of class instruction, a foundation is laid for the development of those character traits which Professor Okazaki set forth in his Esoteric Principles.

Perfection of Character may be regarded as the ultimate claim of the Dan Zan Ryu system, and promotion through the grades is as dependent upon character as upon technical mastery of the basic arts.

THE INTERMEDIATE ARTS

Intermediate instruction aims at training each student to teach. Senior students must not only master and teach each course in turn before being taught the next, but MUST KEEP A NOTEBOOK IN WHICH THEY WRITE UP THEIR OWN DESCRIPTION OF EACH ART. The intermediate arts properly include OKU NO KATA (Oku means deep or advanced) and KIAI NO MAKI (the scroll of Kiai). KIAI NO MAKI includes several subsidiary courses in weapons defense TESSEN fan arts, DAITO sword arts, TANTO knife arts, BO stick arts and TANJU, gun arts.

SEFHUKUJITSU, the famous Okazaki system of restoration massage is taught concurrently with the basic arts, but instruction beyond fundamental stages is restricted to those who have both the HANDS and the PROPER ATTITUDE for the work.

THE SECRET ARTS

SHININ NO MAKI, SHINYO NO MAKII and SHINGIN NO MAKI are the advanced arts. The initial syllable SHIN represents a character denoting HEART in the sense TO TAKE HEART or act with confidence, signifying that confidence gained by mastery of the basic arts is prerequisite to success in these arts.

Confidence, therefore, represents the ultimate attainment of self-knowledge, and the ultimate objective of the Kodenkan Dan Zan Ryu system for WHEN ONE TRULY HAS CONFIDENCE, HE WILL ALWAYS BEAR HIMSELF WITH HONOR AND HUMILITY.

Kissaki-Kai Karate

2006-02-25T16:29:00.000-08:00

Dave Hague 6th Dan © 1998

Martial artists in all over the world – and especially those who read his regular column in ‘Traditional Karate Magazine ’ - will not be unaware of the name "Vince Morris" thanks to his many books and videos and his frequent seminars promoting a better understanding of Kata bunki all over the world, from China to Europe, from Malaysia to the USA and now even in Moscow.

Most know of his work through his Kyusho-Jutsu seminars all over the world, and of his commitment to the training of Law Enforcement Officers in the USA and in Europe where he instructs regularly at Police Academy.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, however, as in the background, however, Vince has been quietly working away at establishing a karate association that incorporates all the valuable aspects of the strong sporting Shotokan schools combined with deep research into the close-range often-neglected Kyusho-Jutsu & Tuite elements of traditional karate.

Never previously really advertising this new group, Vince, with the help of senior Dan grades, is now happy with the balance of the training and agreed to give a brief interview before leaving for seminar tours in the USA and Russia.

Hopefully the readers will enjoy this insight into what lay behind the formation of his association.

The name of the association: Kissaki-Kai has a great significance, as have the Torii (Gate) and Yin-Yang symbols in the Badge.

The sword was considered to be the ‘Soul’ of the Samurai, and the blade itself a venerated object of both beauty and deadly efficiency; a fusion of harmony and function.

The Kissaki is the term for the deadly sharp cutting edge of the very tip.

The use of this term as a name for the karate association was carefully considered and deliberately chosen as representative of those qualities which distinguish the manufacture of such a blade.

Just as it is forged in fire and water, hammered, pounded and beaten until all the impurities disappear and it is shaped into perfection, just so is the spirit of the martial artist forged in the flames of challenge and adversity, tested and reworked time and time again in the intense workshop of the Dojo until such time as it stands, a new creation, straightforward, bold, keen and flexible, functional yet something more than it once was, stripped of the impurities of ego and falsehood.

The Torii symbol of the gate signifies the concept of entering deeply, not being concerned with the amount of things known, but more with the depth of learning and knowledge to be gained by a constant striving to reach to the heart.

A gate is something which is an entrance, but one which demands total commitment. It requires that one must go through to the other side, not merely peer in from the sidelines.

No ‘half-heartedness’ but bold endeavour, this courage will often be called upon to bolster the spirit in its journey, as pitfalls and setbacks will continue to test the traveller.

The Yin-Yang emblem denotes the concept of balance and harmony. A constant reminder of the need for clear-sightedness, of temperance and of an understanding of the wholeness of a situation, a problem or even an enthusiasm.

So much for the name, but the ‘Why’ is another matter!

Throughout his long martial arts career, Vince had never either envisaged, nor even considered that he might one day be the head of his own Ryu.

A long-time student of Shiro Asano 8th Dan, chief instructor of the SKIEF, he was a constant member of the Honbu successful ‘A’ team and the SKI European squad in both Kumite and Kata.

He developed, along with one or two other notables from this stable, a formidable reputation for spirited fighting, but at the same time he was also active on the political front, representing first the SKI, then eventually helping to establish the then governing body for English Karate, (EKF) which in turn led to his appointment as the Chairman of the Martial Arts Commission.

Vince was also instrumental in introducing renowned karate-ka such as Aidan Trimble (the first westerner to win the SKI open-weight kumite world championship in Tokyo) into the national squad and into contact with Ticky Donovan the then English national coach.

Eventually a disagreement between Vince and Asano sensei made it impossible for Vince to continue as his student, and (in a scenario very similar to that shared by more than a few other contemporaries in the Honbu) he left and continued training in his own University Dojo.

Soon he was asked to join Toyakwai, a London-based group, which he was happy to do.

A few years later, Vince’s old compatriot Aidan Trimble was also forced to sever his connections with the Honbu and the SKI.

At this time he approached Vince to ask his help in establishing a new karate group, to be named ‘The Federation of Shotokan Karate’.

This turned out to be successful, and Vince was happy to accede the position of Chief Instructor to Aidan.

Sharing the presentation of courses and the coaching, Vince’s University Dojo continued to amass a notable number of championship successes and when the FSK were asked to represent England at the JKA World Championships in Dubai Vince was the team coach.

For many years Vince had been interested in researching the origins of modern techniques and in the applications of the Kata.

In his first book, ‘The Karate-Do Manual’ published in 1979, we first see the use of the phrase "Kyusho-Jutsu" (Vital Point techniques) which signified a shift of focus away from the relatively ‘new’ sports oriented style of karate exemplified by Shotokan to a deeper study of the original concepts and practical effectiveness of traditional karate. This was long before such concepts became public knowledge through the work of others like George Dillman.

Developing his connections with Military and Law Enforcement training he continued to research and refine his teaching with the emphasis equally divided between the promotion of the health-giving and character-building sporting side and that area devoted to developing the pragmatic and reliable control and protection techniques for which his Law Enforcement Training is well known.

One citation from the Antwerp Police Academy that regularly retains Vince’s services pays compliment to his "Professionalism" and "Amazing Skills" and many an attendee at his Kyusho-Jutsu & Tuite seminars has testified to the effectiveness of his methods.

Just very recently one American student emailed Vince to thank him for saving his life!

He had been studying techniques on some of Vince’s videos, little thinking that he might have to make use of them, but he was attacked by an ex-special forces Vet wielding a knife. Within 3 seconds he disarmed the attacker and knocked him out! He was unscathed, but the assailant suffered 2 black eyes, loosened teeth and had to wear a surgical support collar!

There are many other similar testimonials from others who have had occasion to rely upon the techniques he teaches, which support him in his efforts to develop powerful and effective bunkai, but at the same time to propound a moral philosophy intent upon creating a society in which such techniques would be unnecessary.

In spite of the friendship still enjoyed by Aidan and Vince, it was inevitable that there would come a parting of the ways, as the shortcomings of Shotokan as an all-round method of self-defence were becoming all too apparent, in the form in which it was frequently taught.

In March 1993 the new Kissaki-Kai Karate-Do was formed, with Vince as the head.

In conversation Vince revealed his feelings about establishing a new body, and about the proliferation of ‘splinter’ groups in general.

"In principle I’m against the way there are now so many groups all purporting to teach more or less the same art.

It’s a free country of course, but it seems a shame to me that the long-term efforts of reputable teachers are undermined for what are often the shallowest of reasons!

Naturally if an individual or a group of students really believe that their sensei has taken them as far as he is able, then of course go and study under another. Is this any reason to abandon the former, however? Wouldn’t it be far better to bring this extra knowledge back into the Ryu?

There are other reasons why it must be necessary to break with a sensei, but all too often I see that the only real reason is ego; the desire to be ‘The Boss’ or maybe it is the financial considerations.

I would ask all who consider going this route to consider carefully if they are actually going to become students of a sensei who knows more than the current one, or are you supporting baser reasons?

If the karate is going in a different direction, or there are demonstrable differences in the manner and the content of the teaching, then that is another matter all together."

What then, briefly, distinguishes the Karate practised by Kissaki-Kai from that of most other Shotokan schools?

Conceptually Kissaki-Kai works from the basis of recognising Shotokan for what it is, and undeniably exciting and powerful combat sport.

There is nothing wrong with this on one level, however study and the rigours imposed by confronting the reality of the problems encountered in the real world soon reveal the shortcomings of a style based upon long range techniques and a system of rules which preclude the use of the more effective and dangerous Waza.

Real combat situations rarely occur at distances which allow the defender much chance to employ the most practised techniques, which are favoured in competition, such as mawashi-geri jodan, for example; the other perennial standby - chudan gyakuzuki - is often less than successful in the street than it is assumed to be in the Dojo and Shiajo.

History demonstrates just how much both the techniques and the practice of karate have been modified in post -1930’s Shotokan to develop a relatively safe combat sport.

This has happened at the expense of the extremely effective short-range techniques that are now seen only in the Kata, and then usually misunderstood. So, although the modern karate-ka has indeed developed a new repertoire of powerful techniques at long range it has been at the expense of in-depth training in the methods of self-defence contained within the Kata.

In itself, perhaps it could be argued that:

It doesn’t matter because an attacker can be stopped at long range.

Or:

The purpose of Karate is to develop the character rather than to serve as a method of self-defence

Unfortunately statistics show that in more than 60% of combat scenarios the protagonists end up grappling on the ground. And in answer to the latter, this type of view could well be applied to almost anything, and to uphold it in the area of martial arts is to do a severe disservice to the old masters who built their concept of character-building upon the bedrock of reality.

In fact, of course, it is not necessary that one element precludes the other, as the vast majority of original Waza can be found within the Shotokan Kata, albeit often in a form latterly modified to form a more dynamic and athletically challenging Kata.

Kissaki-Kai forms a synthesis of the old and the new - not throwing the baby out with the bath-water, it continues to teach Shotokan basics, but it includes in the training many concepts and techniques to be found within the Kata but frequently overlooked. Kissaki-Kai forms a synthesis of the old and the new - not throwing the baby out with the bath-water, it continues to teach Shotokan basics, but it includes in the training many concepts and techniques to be found within the Kata but frequently overlooked.

Early versions of the Kata are also studied to help understand the common combat concepts that underlie them, so emphasis is placed once more upon making the techniques work in real situations.

Common Shotokan exercises such as Gohon Kumite, which is fine for beginners and inculcates spirit, a strong attack and so on, is transformed into Shin Gohon Kumite, in which the combat ineffective practice of stepping directly backwards in the face of a frontal attack and then blocking at unreal distances with techniques which are never used as blocks in reality is replaced by tai-sabaki and real defences at every attack.

Thus the pattern is maintained but the form becomes much more vital and meaningful, allowing practice in Kata Bunkai as it used to be in the pre-sporting form.

Another Kissaki-Kai concern is to ensure that training is geared to each individual, whatever age they happen to be.

Expecting a 50-year-old to train in line at the same intensity and with the same techniques as an 18-year-old is frankly ridiculous.

Different ages - different needs: Kissaki-Kai is attempting to encourage effective and productive training right up into a healthy old age.

The senior students are encouraged to develop their own particular objectives, and together with this shift in over-all concern the philosophical and mental side of training is also strongly featured.

Unless one might think that this would adversely affect those who were just interested in the sports side, note that in the 1997 All Students Championships a Kissaki-Kai black-belt from the Honbu Dojo won the heavyweight women’s event, and a week later only three Kissaki students entered the senior EKGB English National Championships, and of the three one won silver, one won bronze and the third got through to the quarter finals! This competition success continued in 1998.

There is an important place in Karate training for the concentration upon kumite competition and basics, and Shotokan basics are undeniable excellent for developing certain strengths.

On the other hand, most Shotokan Dojos continue a type of training in which the only difference between techniques performed by relative beginners and Black Belts is that the latter are able to execute them harder and at greater speed.

This is fine, but not when speed and power are the main criteria in themselves. The aim of higher grades is not just to train in the same fashion all their lives, but to go beyond the basics and use them appropriately according to circumstances.

To do otherwise is to confine karate to the level of the basics, and is much the same as continuing to recite the alphabet all one’s life whilst refusing to create words, sentences, prose and poetry!

It is as senseless in that situation as it is in the practice of a martial art.

Shu, Ha, Ri is otherwise impossible. One cannot eventually transcend anything that one refuses to transcend! Shu, Ha, Ri is otherwise impossible. One cannot eventually transcend anything that one refuses to transcend! Shu, Ha, Ri is otherwise impossible. One cannot eventually transcend anything that one refuses to transcend!

In a nutshell, although Kissaki-Kai teaches Shotokan Karate, it does so in a depth that leads the student into a consideration of the roots from which it sprang, which in turn unavoidably demands that many other aspects are practised than those usually emphasised.

It emphasises ‘core principles’ such as: correct combat distance, body shifting, unbalancing, deflecting, controlling and finishing, in a manner in accordance with the ancient ‘rules of combat’ rather than in terms of ‘sport’ karate, and thus for the student the art is richer and life-long, with the concomitant that karate reverts to the very effective self-defence system it always was, and individual development of character and clarity of perception is constructed from a more solid base.

Some other notable teachers (Trad’s own Harry Cook for example) have come to understand the shortcomings of modern Shotokan and have added elements from other styles (Goju) to their regular training.

In Kissaki-Kai however we prefer to research the original forms and meanings and find with Itosu sensei’s karate – before its further transformation in the later years of master Funakoshi’s life and thereafter (although not discounting the good elements of competition) almost all that is necessary for a balanced and effective martial art.

So Kissaki-Kai Karate-Do is entering its 6th year, and the basis is there for all to see; good strong Shotokan karate and coaching methods which are already producing National Champions, and at the same time an emphasis upon the individual needs of all students based upon the old values and methods dating back to the days of the Shaolin.

Kill Bill - Review

2006-02-24T17:34:00.000-08:00

Kill Bill is Quentin Tarantino’s affectionate treatise on the entire compendium of Asian filmmaking that turns out to be the most plainly worded love note to Cinema that the writer-director has delivered so far. Awash with invention and shrouded in the distinctive style and attention to detail that invigorated audiences some time ago; Kill Bill is more of a flourish of pure creativity than a film in the traditional sense. This will inevitably draw detractors pining away over the dearth of snappy dialogue and rambling situationalism in this latest offering. But decrying the films’ healthy serving of self-indulgence, homage and pretence seems vaguely misplaced, because as pure spectacle Kill Bill is so damn entertaining.

This first volume in a two-part saga is composed, initially, as a straightforward tale of revenge, however very soon just a hint of something more complicated begins to emerge along a characteristically non-linear narrative path. A startling pre-credits opening sees “The Bride”, Uma Thurman, with the kooky dial cranked up to ten, shot down and left for dead on her wedding day along with the entire congregation (including the priest) by the assassination squad she used to head up. Working on the orders of obscure crime boss Bill (David Carradine apparently, although it’s hard to tell) the team leave their former comrade comatose and more than just a tad annoyed. Five years later she’s awake and intent on killing every m*therf*cking last one of them.

As The Bride seeks her prey, the pieces of the plot emerge in the form of chapters, and slowly snap together into a tantalising maze of surprise and misdirection that manages to keep the viewer guessing and enthralled. Clearly demarcated, each segment unfolds a discreet, shorter episode that impacts on the Bride’s task. Her quest to find the perfect Samurai sword for her specific brand of slicing and dicing and the elaborate back story of one enemies’ rise to prominence in the Japanese underworld display Tarantino’s eagerness to contrast mood and tone across the entire spectrum of Asian Cinema. From the customs and iconography of feudal Japanese culture that featured so heavily in the films of Akira Kurosawa to the incorporation of an entire segment devoted to Anime, old Quent is more than happy to deliver a whistle stop tour of eastern film culture and serve it up on a bed of severed limbs.

And make no mistake: limbs do fly, blood does gush, corpses pile high. The catalogue of cartoon violence is fully comprehensive, but hard to see as anything other than deliberately OTT. It becomes evident that Tarantino really enjoyed committing these scenes of martial arts mayhem to film. As henchmen are despatched over and over again and The Bride’s blood lust rises the fighting choreography becomes increasingly intricate and expansive, with no shortage of comical relief. The space of the film opens out to facilitate the rapidly increasing body count and more complicated dance of death. A Tokyo restaurant provides the final arena of confrontation and the setting for those iconic images of a blood splattered Bride in overkill mode, yet it is in the closer more intimate fight scenes that the film shocks, as the full extent of her hostility is displayed.

Uma Thurman, having a hand in the creation of the character was always going to be the natural choice to play her and she brings all the awkward elegance of a baby giraffe, but with sharp swords, to the single-minded intent the role demands. Tarantino extents his usual magnanimity to the bad guys, exploring their motivations as fully as the Brides’ own. The close affinity The Bride shares with her quarry only heightens the final confrontation that occurs in this first instalment, and suggest more to come in part two. A final lingering revelation cleverly installed to set up the second volume ensures that The Bride’s task is going to be more than a simple matter of hacking and slashing.

Tarantino has constructed a highly artificial screen world in which to unfold his funky baroque bloodbath. And sometimes the interchangeable infusion of styles and influences that shift from scene to scene take time to bed down in the mind and can be slightly overwhelming. Ostentatious camerawork, hyperrealist set design and a musical score that sees rockabilly transplanted to the land of the rising sun jarringly combine to underpin the fact that what is being witnessed here is the contrivance of a mind hopelessly devoted to movies. An amalgamated mish-mash of culture and genre spews out as tumultuously as the red stuff from the myriad wounds, amputations and decapitations that take place within. The only way to deal with it is to sit back and gorge on it all, there’s not enough time to mentally tick off all the movie references.

The sheer theatricality of Kill Bill will put some viewers off. Bearing witness to the pet project of a director unchecked by constraint or convention will undoubtedly ruffle some feathers, but it appears that Tarantino has finally accepted that he may never top Pulp Fiction. Only by presenting such a detailed and painstaking slice of operatic showmanship can he shake off the earthy, realist mantle he wore throughout the nineties. A change is as good as a rest, Quentin has had both and the results are startling.

Tarantino seems happy making the films he wants to make in exactly the way he wants to make them, and would be delighted if the enthusiasm he has thrown into this project has provoked a few of us into joining him for the ride. When someone is having this much fun making a film it appear just plain rude not to accept the invitation.

Martial Arts in Nepal No Longer Illegal

2006-02-22T10:17:00.000-08:00

We faced a lot of problems at its beginning,' said Taekwondo coach Sitkar Raj Bhandari

Demonstration of a kata

Martial art schools of taekwando karate and kung fu now wildly popular in Nepal have come a long way since the days of being an outlawed activity in the country.

These martial arts arrived in Nepal in the 1970s. Participants had to practice in secret or risk punishment if they were seen by the police. Instructors and classes went underground, much like training for Maoists these days.

"We faced a lot of problems at its beginning," said Taekwondo coach Sitkar Raj Bhandari. "I used to give training to players escaping from the police. So we didn't have proper place to practice. We did keep moving so they wouldn't find us."

"The society of that time also treated us badly. They thought we were criminals. So it was quite difficult," said chief master of Nepalese kyokushin karate Jagat Gauchan.

"But we never stopped and as a result, martial arts in Nepal is now enjoyed by everyone," he said.

Slowly and gradually martial arts became accepted by society and people became interested. Also, authorities felt pressured to make it legal.

Gauchan was instrumental in making it legal. In 1983, the Patron of National Sports Council His Royal highness semi-crown Prince Dhirendra Shah gave the green light to make martial arts legal.

Karate, now famous in Nepal

After it was legalized, many people were interested. Parents also forced their children to practice. Slowly martial arts became part of people's daily life.

Today more than 14 karate associations are functioning. Thousands of players from different parts of Nepal are playing different karate. Taekwando is also very famous among Nepalese as well as other marital arts

Nepal has very bright future in martial arts. Nepalese players are performing very well on the international level. The Nepalese government needs to continue to support martial arts so its competitors can boost the nation's reputation.

My Martial Arts Disaster

2006-02-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

BY ALEXEI SAYLE

Jane Fonda inspired our correspondent to get fit. Then Roger Cook ruined everything.

At a party recently I ran into a woman who used to come round to my house to teach me yoga. I’d had five or six sessions with her and then, growing bored, had found some excuse not to do any more. “Are you still doing the yoga?” she asked. “No, I’m afraid not,” I replied. “I just did it for a bit, then lost interest. I’m a bit of a dilettante I suppose.”

“Yes,” she said, “they all say that about you.”

As she said this I had a sudden vision of all the many people who have come round to my house over the years to teach me stuff; the woman from the library who gave me salsa lessons on my living-room floor, the t’ai chi teacher who for hours on end had me doing Master Hwang’s Five Loosening Exercises until I was loosened right out of the lessons, the meditation guy, the Pranayama breathing teacher, the tap-dancing woman and the personal trainer.

*
I imagined that all of them used to regularly meet up somewhere — possibly a tapas bar on the Holloway Road that had a broad range of vegetarian options — where the main topic of conversation would be my deficiencies as a student. One of my teachers who definitely would not be there, though, dipping into the patatas bravas and dissing me, would be my karate sensei.

The central character in my new novel is a woman whose life is transformed by becoming adept at a martial art called Li Kuan Yu (invented by me), and it was partly my experiences learning karate that inspired me to write the book. It was early on in my various exercise fads that I came to this man. I used to have this bit in my stand-up comedy act where I’d say “ ‘Alexei?’ People often ask me, ‘why are you drunk all the time?’ and I’d reply ‘ ’Cos I can afford to be!’ ” Now this wasn’t completely true — I was drunk only a fair amount of the time — but once the money started rolling in after I became a successful comedian, the glutton in me was unleashed and I did seem to be eating all the time. I remember my wife and I would have a proper three-course tea, including a pudding with custard, in our council flat, then go to the pub for six pints, then have a Chinese takeaway afterwards.

So it was no surprise that, at the age of 35, I became very fat. This fatness of mine coincided with the first fitness boom when Jane Fonda was continuing the work she’d begun in North Vietnam for the international communism conspiracy. She was helping women across the world to discover muscles they’d never known they had, and in Britain neighbourhood gyms were springing up on every street, like Tesco Metros are today.

To lose weight I began to attend such a place in my local shopping precinct. Soon I discovered that though I had satirised the fitness craze I loved to work out — and before long I was attending the gym three or four times a week. Apart from the improvement in my physical condition, it also gave me a new way of having relationships with other men.

Despite the hard-case image of my stage character, in real life I’ve always been a bit of a girl, with most of my friends being women. I had never before been able to form those brusque male friendships with mild homoerotic undertones that a proper man is supposed to have. Yet here at the gym I was at last able to be a bloke. As Flaubert said: “Inside every revolutionary is a policeman.” I deduced that inside every ex-revolutionary there is a frustrated fitness instructor, since it was mainly these authority figures towards whom I directed my new-found blokeish persona.

It was one particular instructor, a short, muscular dark haired man, to whom I became closest, partly, it must be said, because he was the only instructor that I ever saw twice. The entire staff of the gym, including the receptionists, the office personnel and the cleaners, seemed to change entirely between each of my visits. He’d had an incredibly exciting life, had served in the British Army and the French Foreign Legion, had worked in the Belgian film industry and, most excitingly of all, was an adept at a particular type of long-form Shotokan karate.

I didn’t like to ask. But one glorious day, seeming to read my mind, this man asked if I’d like to become his pupil and learn karate myself. My mind flooded with a vision of people doing the things I wanted them to do — not like in the past, because I was crying and they felt sorry for me, but because they were frightened of me, which would be much better. Sure, the lessons were expensive, but as I was learning from an accredited fourth Dan professional, I’d be getting the good stuff.

Over the following months in the basement practice room of the gym my teacher instructed me in the ways of the warrior. I progressed with astonishing rapidity; almost every week I would kneel at his feet and receive a new and better belt, indicating my swift rise towards the ranks of the Ninja. And, of course, my behaviour began to change outside the gym. With my new karate skills, I was no longer afraid of dark streets and rough neighbourhoods; indeed, I’d seek out dangerous-looking pubs, where I’d outstare the hard men at the bar, secure in the knowledge that, if push came to smack, I’d be able to take them out with no trouble at all. They seemed to know it, too: anybody who had ever been in a fight could see I wasn’t to be messed with. In media drinking holes the tough-guy actors recoiled from me while their expensively educated girlfriends threw themselves at my feet.

Then, one black day, I was practising my killer moves at home listening to Radio 4 when a trailer came on. Back in the 1980s there was a fat man called Roger Cook who had a programme, perhaps called Checkpoint (or perhaps not), where he regularly got beaten up by dodgy builders and sleazy conmen as he exposed their duping of what I always dismissed as the gullible, idiotic public. “Today at 12 on Checkpoint (or perhaps not),” Cook intoned, “we expose the conman who’s selling teaching certificates to his martial art where the teachers qualify in half an hour!”

Tuning in one unhappy hour later, I learnt with horror that my sensei had bought his qualifications, and that what I had thought were my deadly blows, kicks and strikes were in fact a random sequence of flappy hand gestures and Come Dancing leg movements that in no way would render an opponent helpless (except, perhaps, with laughter). I broke out in a cold sweat when I thought of all the genuine tough guys I’d challenged with my unwavering stare, then barged out of my path on the way to the bar.

Of course, when I went round to the gym my sensei had vanished. All he left behind were some nice, colourful, meaningless belts — and unpleasant rumours about just what it was that we’d been doing together in that subterranean room, grappling and making sissy hand motions at each other.

Weeping Women Hotel by Alexei Sayle, Sceptre, is published on February 27, £12.99. Available for £11.69 from Times Books First, 0870 1608080, www.timesonline.co.uk/booksbuyfirst

How to find a qualified teacher

To find a licensed instructor in your area, contact Karate England, the sport’s governing body (01628 487555; www.karateengland.org.uk). There are 6,500 registered clubs in England, with 130,000 members. Philip Don, the body’s development director, says: “Students should ensure that they are training with a registered instructor who holds a certificate recognised by Karate England. They can contact us and we will do our best to verify that their instructor is a recognised one.”

Fist of Legend (1994)

2005-12-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

Reviewed by - Mark Pollard

Premise: Remake of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury has Jet Li as Chen Zhen, a martial artist and patriot who returns to Shanghai after learning that his master has been killed. While struggling against discrimination, Chen discovers the truth behind his master's death and helps fight against Japanese out to destroy the school.

Review: Without a doubt, Fist of Legend is Jet Li's finest film and arguably one of the greatest martial arts films of all time. Ironic and all the more impressive considering that the style of combat and demeanor he adopts for this film are not his specialty.

In the early 1930's, Shanghai is under occupation by various foreign powers including Japan who is using this foothold to prepare for an invasion of the mainland. One of the opposition leaders to Japan's influence in China is Fok Yuen Gaap, a kung fu master and founder of the Jin Wu school. A local Japanese General by the name of Fujita (Billy Chow) has had the teacher poisoned before a match with the leader of a competing Japanese school which results in his death.

As the film begins, Fok Yuen Gaap's leading student hears of his master's death and rushes back to Shanghai from Japan where he has been studying. Chen Zhen (Jet Li) arrives to find the school's reputation in tatters. Unable to believe that his master could have lost a match, Chen challenges the Japanese master who fought Yuen Gaap and beats him easily. This confirms his suspicion and after performing a crude autopsy discovers that Yuen Gaap had been poisoned. With the destruction of China's martial arts reputation and the impending invasion in mind, General Fujita kills the Japanese schoolmaster in order to frame Chen for murder but his trial is thrown out after Mitsuko (Nakayama Shinobu), his Japanese girlfriend shows up to claim he was with her at the time of death. Freed of these charges Chen now has to face discrimination against Mitsuko by his own brothers at the school which leads to a confrontation with Yuen Gaap's successor, Ting On. Chen beats Ting On in a fight and goes to live in the country with Mitsuko. Their solitude is broken after General Fugita sends Matsuko's uncle (Yasuaki Kurata) to kill Chen. Chen is beaten by Fumio but the samurai has great respect for Chen and spares his life.

Meanwhile, the Jin Wu school has been formally challenged by General Fujita. Ting On manages a painful recovery from the disgrace of losing to Chen and visits him knowing this may be his last chance to see his old friend. Matsuko returns to Japan and Chen accompanies his friend to the challenge. Ting On is no match for the brutal Japanese officer's karate skills and Chen steps in to fight which leads to the general's death. To appease tensions between Japan and China, Chen agrees to accept responsibility for the General's death, but his friends may have other plans.

To begin with, this story which ties together the pre-World War II tensions between China and Japan as well as the changing face of martial arts in the modern world has become the foundation for so many kung fu movies. Its difficult to convey just how important was Lo Wei's creation of Chen Zhen (AKA Chen Jun) as portrayed by Bruce Lee to the Hong Kong film industry. But few if any films ever came close enough to the original or even dared to try for fear of failing to live up to Lee's performance. Donnie Yen may have opened up the possibly for another direct feature film adaptation after his successful Fist of Fury television series premiered on Hong Kong television. Shortly after the filming of that series came Fist of Legend that brought together the creative mastery of Jet Li in Bruce Lee's role, several Yuen brothers including Yuen Wo Ping doing choreography, and Gordon Chan whose eclectic skills as a writer and director helped bring about such memorable films as Fight Back to School (1991) and King of Beggars (1992).

Fist of Legend is a powerhouse film that gets just about everything right when it comes to creating a modern martial arts film. The filmmakers carefully steered away from the one-sided depictions of racial intolerance by Japanese with a refreshing relationship between Jet Li and a Japanese woman played by the lovely Nakayama Shinobu. In a memorable scene where Chen pauses during a tense fight with his old friend at the Jin Wu school, he looks at purposefully at Matsuko just before he decides to go on the offensive. This seems to underline the fact that Chen is fighting for more than just Chinese independence, but also for equality and tolerance in general, something Bruce Lee's Chen would never had been so sensitive to.

The Yuen brothers obviously decided early on not to replicate Lee's moves and it was a good idea. Jet Li is a student of northern wushu which is soft, rather than southern boxing which is where Bruce came from with his former Wing Chun training. As Li was portraying a student of "hard" kung fu, his approach is much more intense and brutal in its execution than ever seen before. He would go on to replicate this style in Kiss of the Dragon (2001) and to a lesser degree in The One (2001). Yuen Wo Ping smartly allowed various elements of Li's own moves to be incorporated, thus creating a visually stunning repertoire of moves which Li unleashes upon his foes from agile kicks to rapid punches. The choreography is some of the best ever conceived of by the Yuen brothers. Every move and every camera shot is dynamic and creative without being too fantastic. You rarely if ever see the same move or angle and lots of little touches such as slaps to the face add that bit of zest to each battle.

The costumes, sets, and acting performances are all top notch. Having Yasuaki Kurata portray a sort of mentor and foe to Jet Li was a masterstroke of casting. Kurata has been in dozens of Japanese vs. Chinese martial arts films and many of them quite good, although he was usually cast as the bad guy. This is perhaps his finest performance in terms of acting and likely his last great martial arts role. Chin Siu Ho who once gave Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh a run for their money in The Tai Chi Master (1993) deserves special mention for his stellar performance as Ting On, the new master of Jin Wu school. Again, the filmmakers expanded on the original story by including a rivalry between Ting On and Chen, one that nearly destroys him. In fact, he steals Jet Li's dramatic thunder by being the most distraught protagonist. On the flip side, Jet repeats his stoic image he perfected in Once Upon a Time in China (1991). Unfortunately, he isn't able to capture any of the raw intensity that Bruce Lee was so capable of. This may be another reason why other characters such as Ting On are given more time in the spotlight.

Another complaint I have is how Jet Li's character seems to simply saunter into the final showdown with General Fujita by tagging along with Ting On. Despite Fujita's attempts to have Chen dealt with earlier on, there isn't any real emotion invested in Jet Li's battle with Fujita. The impression I get is that this Chen Zhen spent all his frustration and anger after his first encounter with the Japanese karate school. But, that's a small gripe next to the incredible physical performance Li gives. For sheer kickass entertainment, you cannot beat Fist of Legend. By any standard, this is a classic of martial arts cinema and if you haven't seen it yet, I pity you.

Snake in the Monkey's Shadow (1979)

2005-12-02T18:26:00.000-08:00

AKA: Snakefist vs. The Dragon

Premise: A young fishmonger who dreams of learning kung fu finally gets his chance after finding work at a kung fu school. But his teacher is killed by a pair of snake style experts and he must get revenge with the help of a friend who teaches him monkey style.

Review: Although the film obviously attempts to mine more than just the success of Jackie Chan's Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978), this film bears its own distinction for displaying some terrific snake-style kung fu versus a wicked drunken monkey technique.

John Cheung is Lung, a fishmonger who spends more time than he should dreaming of learning kung fu. After arriving late to the village's leading family with a shipment of old fish, Lung is beaten and sent packing by the Yan's eldest brothers. He eventually gets his revenge after talking Ho (Hau Chiu Sing), a local kung fu master into allowing him to join his school. Lung is relegated to cleaning the place but proves his devotion by practicing everything he has seen performed by the other students at night. Ho finally takes Lung on as a student and teaches him drunken boxing.

While showing off his skill to Ting Sang (Pomson Shi), a monkey style expert, Lung humiliates the two Yan sons which only causes their father to seek a fight with Teacher Ho. This time Ho beats the father and his two sons which only adds more fuel to the flames. Yan hires two fighters who kill Ho and even kill Ting Sang who was an old adversary. Lung is beaten, but survives to train further by combining the drunken boxing and monkey style to defeat the duo's formidable snake style.

Snake in the Monkey's Shadow is simply old fashioned kung fu goodness. The story is indistinguishable from countless other Hong Kong films of the '70's, but the actual combat stands out. John Cheung plays an affable protagonist who ends up performing some rather entertaining training sessions and combat. The highlights include his sparring with a revolving set of poles while hopping around on tables and his final battle with the two villains. At one point, he bites the hand of Charlie Chan and throws him over his head with his teeth still clenched. He flips over and deals Chan a death blow, all while biting the guy's hand. Its a brilliant, if seemingly ignoble piece of choreography.

While some of the early action is somewhat dull, the creativity of the action scenes increases as the film reaches its conclusion. Pomson Shi, who is relatively unknown does a great job performing monkey kung fu. The whole significance of these combat styles which is set up at the beginning of the film is that monkey style beats snake. Since Charlie Chan, who plays the lead villain loses with his snake attacks, he comes back with screen veteran, Wilson Tong to double-team his old foe. Tong really shows off his experience as fight choreographer in these scenes towards the end.

There is nothing new to be seen, but with fast and furious old school action and a lot of great talent going into this production, its a safe bet that most classic kung fu fans will enjoy this title.

Ong-Bak - A Short Review

2005-12-02T05:06:00.000-08:00

A short review of the 2003 Martial Arts Movie Ong-Bak. Booting lives in a small and peaceful village. One day a sacred Buddha statuette called Ong Bak is stolen from the village by a immoral businessman who sells it for exorbitant profits. It soon becomes the task of a young man, Boonting (Phanom Yeeram), to track the thief down to Bangkok voluntarily and reclaim the religious treasure. Along the way, Boonting uses his astonishing athleticism and traditional Muay Thai skills to combat his adversaries.

When the head of Ong-Bak, the sacred Buddha of a poor village is stolen, the population is plunged into misery. The Buddha was the focal point of an anniversary vigil believed to bring rain to the drought-stricken area. Young Ting is selected by the villagers to travel to Bangkok and rescue the relic in time for their ceremony. Ting has an affinity with the statue as he was left on the temple steps as a baby and raised by monks, who taught him muay thai, but forbade him to use it in combat. But now he is forced to delve into a seedy underworld and try to avoid temptation...

Grandmaster Ki Nam Yum

2005-12-01T16:22:00.000-08:00

Hwa Rang Do, or "The Way of the Flowering Manhood" is the ancient Korean martial art of fighting, healing, and self-improvement. Hwa Rang warriors are legendary in Korean history and were the noble protectors of their time. Today, Hwa Rang Do is prominent all over the world, teaching fighting and healing techniques and a family way of life.

A tradition that began almost 2000 years ago, the ancient Korean Knights called the Hwa Rang were gentlemen of high intelligence and nobility who were known as the fiercest fighting sect in all of Asia. With their fighting skills and adherence to a strict code of ethics, history documents literally thousands of incidents of their extraordinary and heroic deeds.

Hwa Rang Do is one of the most comprehensive and diversified martial arts in existence, combining both hard and soft techniques such as kicks, punches, throws, joint locks, grappling, weapons, etc.. Yet Hwa Rang Do is more than just an effective method of personal combat and self-protection. We also believe in developing our mental acuity to the fullest, thereby achieving HARMONY OF MIND, BODY, and SPIRIT.

Choi Kwang Do

2005-12-01T16:19:00.000-08:00

Choi Kwang Do ( C.K.D.) is a modern self defence system devised by Grandmaster Choi specifically orientated to be effective in a real confrontation. There is no "full contact" or "semi-contact" punches or kicks in our classes - the power of Choi Kwang Do is far too great to allow such sparring in class. For the same reason we do not have any competitions since "point-sparring" is also unrealistic with regard to street self defence. Even in your first lesson you will learn blocking and countering techniques, which will help you if you confront danger in a real-life-situation. Korean traditions such as showing respect, bowing to each other, loyalty, courtesy and self-discipline are being used in class as well.

None of our techniques use the "hyper-extension" or "lock-out" movements as in the traditional martial arts styles; Grandmaster Choi found these traditional movements to be not effective enough on the street where it counts. Furthermore on C.K.D. Video number one (available from our organization) you can see and hear 3 medical doctors explain why Choi Kwang Do is superior to other martial arts styles from a health point of view as well since lock-out movements (as seen in Kung Fu and traditional Karate ) often causes swelling, inflammation and other chronic illnesses to the joints .

Despite the tremendous power of Choi Kwang Do it is safe and suitable for ALL: male, female , young or older age. Truly a " family sport ".

About Grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi

Grandmaster Choi advanced to be the youngest Tae Kwon Do master-instructor (martial art of foot and hand techniques) to go out into the world to spread the teachings of Tae Kwon Do. Having seen others and himself suffer physically from the unnatural "hyper-extension" movements of Tae Kwon Do Grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi decided to leave his previous organization and form Choi Kwang Do converting students and masters from all over the world to his new modern system of self-defence.

Grandmaster Choi`s nickname was "The Flash" when in his homeland because of his technical speed …. Now even faster and more powerful see for yourself what Dojunim (translated: The Founder ) has created in CHOI KWANG DO!

Master Lee Shing

2005-12-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

Master Lee Shing was born in China in the province of Canton. Being a Kung fu fanatic since childhood, he studied martial arts from various masters including Wing Chun master Chun Wah Soon.

Later, Master Lee Shing studied with the late Yip Man in Hong Kong after having to leave China during the Chinese Revolution. He then came to Europe and brought the art of Wing Chun with him. Already a well known master in the East, he was pursued by the rather small Chinese community at that time to teach his fellow countrymen.

As the first Wing Chun master to travel the West, 40 years ago, he was greeted with great respect and honour. Before the death of Yip Man he was appointed by him as the permanent President of the Yip Man Wing Chun Association of Europe in 1970.

Sifu Austin Goh

2005-12-01T15:49:00.000-08:00

Austin Goh grew up in Malaysia where he gained a strong foundation in the martial arts. He left his home town in Malaysia for England in the early seventies to continue his academic studies. It was there that he set up his first Wing-Chun school in London and has since expanded into Europe. He now has well over a thousand students in his schools.

Austin has also travelled extensively around the world giving demonstrations and lectures in Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

His success as a teacher in the martial arts is due to his friendly and open-minded teaching methods which have gained him the respect and loyalty of his students. He teaches that anyone who wants to succeed in any martial art must be prepared to work hard and be determined to achieve this goal, and he leads in this respect by his own example.

Austin was the first wing-chun teacher in Europe to teach not only Bil-Chee (wing-chun's third form) but also the pole form, wooden dummy form, and the 180 movements of the Butterfly Knives.

Many wing-chun teachers are not prepared to teach these things for fear that the secrets and techniques of all these forms be revealed and stolen.

Austin feels that there should be no secret formulas or techniques in any style of martial art. He believes that as times change, so must the arts - what worked 300 years ago might not be practical now, and so the training systems and principles must change to suit our modern life. For anything to survive, it should be taught openly and properly.

In 1983 Austin appeared on the British television programme "Just Amazing" where he gave a chi demonstration. In an awesome display of chi strength, he made a new world record by breaking fifteen four-inch concrete blocks on his chest with a sledge-hammer weilded by one of his students.

He also stunned the audience by breaking two concrete blocks against the side of his head with a sledge-hammer!

After this performance, the audience nicknamed him the "Iron Man of wing-chun".

Global Martial Arts

2005-12-01T15:36:00.000-08:00

Wing Chun is a system of fighting said to be created by a female martial artist of the same name. It has been developed over time in the highly populated regions of southern China. Often fights would take place in over crowded boats, where high kicks and swinging punches would not have been favourable. Thus the style favours very few kicks, all below waist height and uses mainly short punching techniques such as the chain punch. It has a special concern about protecting its centre line and attacking the opponents.

Chain punching and sticky hands are two techniques that are often heavily emphasised. The concept of trapping is also an aspect, which is often associated with the style.

Praying Mantis apart from having a cool name also has quite an impressive look to it. Its low stance and claw like hand guard make it quite memorable. Again this system mainly uses the upper body in its attack (obviously the legs play an extremely important role in stability and movement).

Unlike Wing Chun it does not emphasize the centre line as the target, but uses more curved or swinging hooked punches. The shape of the hand when striking an opponent is also unusual in this system. A strike from the back of the hand or fingers joined together to form a beak shape is often seen.

Eagle Claw is another famous technique although it is rare to find an instructor. The system concentrates on grappling techniques, mainly what is termed as Chin na or catching hands. There are 72 preset techniques in Chin na, from which you are to understand how to create more yourself. It is believed to have been originally developed by one of China's many great generals and passed on to his troops to increase their effectiveness in combat.

Eighteen throw system is a little known art, but is amongst some of the oldest styles in China. This is a system of throwing and ground grappling techniques.

Hun Chaun is an extremely widely practiced technique although sometimes the practitioners themselves do not know it. The average Chinese villager who wishes to train in the martial arts often practices this technique. It is also know as Hun Gar or Lau Gar. The Hun or Lau referring to the particular family (Gar) variant.

Chow Lu Fat is another very famous system of Kung Fu renowned for its external fighting style. Again this styles emphasis is on the upper body.

Northern long fist is a flamboyant system that concentrates on punching techniques. The system uses long swinging punches from a distance to attack its opponents.

Southern long fist is an extremely rare system in the west. Although it sounds similar in name to the previous system mentioned, it is by no means the same. It also concentrates on hand techniques. At a basic level it resembles western boxing. It is however, not restricted in its techniques as boxing is due to the rules of the sport.

This style bridges long distances quickly in order to strike with the fist. The advantage being that the opponent does not expect to be hit form such distance. Deception and curved punches are trademarks of the style.

Southern fist

Pak Kua or Ba Gua Zhang as it is sometimes known is one of the main three internal systems of Kung fu. It is characterised by its distinctive footwork and use of curved movements.

Hsing-I is the second of the main three internal arts. It is by far one of the oldest Chinese styles, having first been mentioned around four thousand years ago (Yellow Emperor). It is said to resemble Karate in form but is soft and relaxed. It is practiced at a normal speed unlike the other two internal styles.

Tai Chi Chuan is the third main internal style. It is by far the most famous and widely used. It is characterised by its slow graceful movements, building internal strength. It is not renowned for its combat effectiveness although it can ultimately be used for this. It is also a favourite amongst the elderly community.

Iron Palm is both an internal and external technique. It concentrates on the development of strong powerful palm strikes. Students are often seen sending the hands, fingers first, into hot sand or even coals. To achieve this without damaging the hands one must apply the correct medicine.

Iron Bell is a little known technique and indeed little practiced. To my knowledge there are only two proper Masters known to exist. This style concentrates on creating a highly conditioned body using internal training methods. It is said that these masters only have 2-3 weak points where they are especially vulnerable. The points differ from person to person.

Iron Shirt/Vest is another system that concentrates on conditioning the body, mainly the upper body.

The reference to iron indicates the internal aspect of the three aforementioned styles. An important part of the training is the ability to develop chi.

Drunken Style is a technique that takes on some of the characteristics of a drunkard. These include being extremely relaxed and unpredictable. It is characterised by its use of movements that look off balance but are not.

Flipping kick is another little known technique. It is characterised by its shear speed and power, achieved by the nunchaku like action of the leg.

Pak Mei (White Eyebrow)

Japanese martial arts

Ju Jitsu is a grappling style that was developed on mainland Japan by the Samurai. It uses both throws and wrist/arm locking techniques. Kicks and punches are also taught but is an aspect, which it is not particularly famous for. It is however famous for its submission holds and is a favourite in the British military.

Judo is an offshoot of Ju Jitsu. It concentrates on throwing techniques and was designed by Jigero Kano, to develop the martial artist spiritually as appose to developing a street fighter.

Aikido is another offshoot of Ju Jitsu, and in much the same way as Judo was designed to develop the spirit of the practitioner. It specialises in wrist locks and proclaims to use the force of the opponent against them (a lot of styles claim this).

Ninpo tai jitsu is better known as Nin jitsu. It was developed in the mountains of mainland Japan, where many of societies out casts ended up with native tribes. It contains a range of movements although it is not famous for any particular range.

Karate is probably the most famous of martial arts. It was developed from the Chinese temple boxing system by the Okinawan's. Originally known as Chinese hand, it was changed to mean empty hand by Ginchin Funokoshi who created Shotokan Karate, when Japan invaded China.

Under the banner of Karate there are many variants. These include Shotokan, Wado Ryu, Kyoshinkai etc. They are characterised by the linear attacks and emphasis on conditioning.

Kendo is a sword fighting art. As with a few of the more famous Japanese martial arts, this focuses on the spiritual development more than the self defense, hence the "do" at the end.

The sword is actually made of bamboo so as to prevent injury, and is know as a "Boken".

Ken jitsu is the ancestor of Kendo, the "jitsu" refering to the more lethal martial way. Here real swords are often used in training. Both these arts are known for their short simple movements.

Iedo is a lesser known sword fighting style. It mainly concentrates on trying to finish the fight in one movement. The art of quick draw swords.

Sumo is a type of wrestling. It has many rules to it as it is a sport. It is characterised by some throwing techniques and by powerful striking palms.

Japanese wrestling is a grappling style that includes punching and kicking.

Shoot fighting is mainly a grappling art, developed from various styles particularly ju jit su. It does contain striking aswell but concentrates on submission techniques. It is particularly famous for its sudden grabbing of the legs, hence the shoot aspect of the name.

Korean martial arts

Tae kwon do is a mix between japanese karate (which makes up the main hand techniques) and Korean kicking style Tae Kyon. The kicking technique is the main distinguishing features of Tae Kwon Do.

It is a relatively new style which has grown rapidly in popularity, mainly due to good marketing by the Korean government. It is now an Olympic sport.

Tang Soo do

Hapkido involves a lot of wrist lock technques and some basic grappling techniques, but is not as well known for them as other grappling styles. It too contains kicking techniques derived from Tae kyon.

Soo Bak do

Thai martial arts

Muay Thai is famous for its knee and elbow techniques. Practioners are often commended for their fitness and conditioning. The Muay Thai fighter will land with the shin as oppose to the instep of the foot, thus they condition this area a lot.

Shin kicks to the legs followed by knees and elbows is what you should expect. They are not so famous for their punching techniques, but do still use it on the occasion. The punching is simular to western boxing.

Burmese martial arts

Malaysian martial arts

Penchak Silat is a generic name for various fighting arts that are quite simular in south east asia. It involves puching kicking grapplings techniques. The fighters tend to have a low stance and are quite agressive. Practioners often carry unconventional fighting aid like a hook ring on the finger, which adds a cutting edge to a punch.

Philippines martial arts

Escrima is a stick fighting art.

Konk kolan

Limo lama

Bangladeshi martial arts

Latti is a short stick fighting art. There are only a few people practicing the art now.

Indian martial arts

Kelari pattayu

Thang ta is a sword and spear art.

Gatka is a sword fighting style.

Russian martial arts

Sambo is a russian martial art developed by the Russian army. It is mainly a grappling style, favouring submission holds and featuring leg and ankle locks that are often not in other grappling styles.

European martial arts

Savate/boxe francais (French) was developed indepently in France during the Napoleonic period. Its hand techniques are like mainstrean western boxing. They also have quite distinctive kicks, often kicking with the heels.

Boxing (English) evolved over the last 3 hundred years. Due to the numerous safety rules applied to it (modern rules= queensbury rules) it now only involves punching techniques. Jab, cross, hook and uppercuts are the main techniques learned.

Most fighters only stick to working these moves. Some fighters will work on moving around the opponent coming in for quick shots and moving out quickly before being hit.

Fencing (European) is a sword fighting style. Practitions will often be seen fighting with a Foil or Sabre. It has short parries and long direct jabs.

Brazilian martial arts

Capoeira originally from Africa it was banned by the slave owners from being practiced so the practioners incorperated it into a dance. It is characerised by it flamboyant movements.

U.S.A martial arts

Jeet Kune Do is the style developed by the late Bruce Lee. It translates as the way of the intercepting fist, and is probably one of the U.S.As earliest original arts. There are many variants of JKD and offshoots, depending on who teaches you.

You have the OJKD (original JKD) also known as Jun Fan Gung Fu. This is 80% Wing Chun, the rest is made up of Boxing, Fencing and Savate techniques. The next major group is the JKDC (concepts), these guys do most of the same curriculum as the OJKD guys but also add other stuff from Kali to BJJ any style that they see fit but the aforementioned is a norm.

Other smaller groups but equally influential art Progressive Fighting System PFS, created by Paul Vunak (student of Dan Inosanto who was Lee's second top student), it goes further adapting the techniques himself. So the practitioner may be doing something that was descended from Wing Chun but may not be recognised as one.

American freestyle wrestling is a grappling art descended from greco roman wrestling. It is generally practiced as a sport, where the player has to keep the opponent pinned down for a given number of seconds.

Locks and submission holds are not a general feature of this, although in the advent of nhb tournaments wrestlers are learning these aswell. Some famous names include Dan Severn and Randy Coutor both UFC champions.

Shaolin White Crane Kung Fu

2005-12-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

From the Shaolin White Crane Kung Fu Web Site

Shaolin White Crane Kung Fu is a rare system of self-defense which combines foot techniques, hand techniques and chin na (seizing and controlling). Although rare in the western world, the art is a famous fighting style in Southeast Asia. In fact, it is widely considered to be one of the ancestors of several traditional Okinawan Karate systems. It uses hands, feet, knees, elbows, shoulders and hips in its arsenal of striking techniques. The style is renowned, however, for its rapid hand techniques, its strikes executed in conjunction with grabs and its devastatingly effective pressure point attacks.

The founder of the style, Fang Chi-Niang, was a petite woman who lived in violent times. Most men were comparatively larger and more physically powerful than her. Moreover, body conditioning was, at the time, a much more important part of Kung Fu training than it is today. Enormous time and effort went into strengthening the arms, legs, torso, and even the skull. Fang Chi-Niang reasoned that certain vulnerable areas of the body could not be hardened or conditioned to resist injury. Powerful strikes to the temples, eyes, throat, solar plexus, floating ribs, kidneys, groin, knees, etc., could successfully debilitate even the most determined attacker. Consequently, attacking pressure point targets with specialized hand strikes became a trademark of White Crane.

White Crane combines defense and attack and uses both soft and hard power. It also emphasizes a firm yet evasive footwork. Shaolin White Crane Kung Fu stresses empty hand as well as weapons training, two-person sets, self-defense drills and free sparring. The style's fierce pressure point attacks combined with rapid footwork and no nonsense approach make it a particularly effective, complete, and beautiful martial art.

Fighting Strategy

The Fung Ying Chuan (Phoenix eye fist) is the basic White Crane fist technique. It is named for the slightly protruding index finger which resembles the eye of the legendary Phoenix. It is most useful for pressure point attacks, since it concentrates one's entire power in a very small area, namely the second joint of the index finger. This means that power is extremely focused and that it tends to penetrate deeply. Although it is necessary to practice specific hand and finger strengthening exercises to effectively use the Phoenix eye fist, it is nevertheless considered a relatively easy technique to master. A second commonly used hand formation is Biao so, or Spear Hand. It is formed by completely straightening the fingers and thumb and keeping them held tightly against each other. It is used exclusively against the body's weakest points, such as the eyes, throat or groin. Further hand formation used in Flying Crane include: edge of hand strikes, crane, eagle, tiger, and dragon claws. Most other hand movements either mimic a crane's wings or resemble classical Southern Kung Fu systems hand techniques.

A good White Crane fighter can, amongst other things, sidestep and strike an opponent. This tactic is very effective in self-defense scenarios against a completely committed and possibly enraged adversary. It was not designed for the often tentative, forewarned and illusory nature of controlled sparring involving mutually consenting competitors. This brings us to a most important point: Authentic Chinese martial arts were created and evolved to be devastating self-defense systems. As society changes and evolves, however, many martial art systems have changed their fundamental nature and modified their training regimen. We can safely distinguish between those arts that have remained faithful to their tradition of all-or-nothing self-defense and those that have become martial sports. Both have something very special to offer to the public. There is, however, a great difference in approach.

I believe that most traditional Chinese martial arts focus upon forms, two-person exercises, weapon sets, body conditioning, internal exercises and free fighting. It is, in fact, quite a perversion of reality to suggest that traditional martial arts overemphasize forms training. After all, it is modern Wushu and other performance arts that do so.7 Traditional systems emphasize applications (Yong Fa). To do so, they must study a wide spectrum of subjects related to combat. They need to have a holistic approach to martial arts. This determined and comprehensive study of combat is what we call Kung Fu.

Training Methodology

A unique feature of the White Crane system is the manner in which the many empty-hand and weapon forms are designed. The forms are comparatively short, and many of them are designed to be done as fighting sets with a partner. That is to say, the various blocks, counter-strikes, and joint locks in the second half of a given form make up the correct response to the various moves of the first half. Thus, one can familiarize oneself with the movements in solitary practice, and then test one's understanding in a controlled-contact environment with a partner. This system ensures an organized approach to mastery of not only the individual movements, but also the fighting theory and real-world application of the form.

The same two-person set fighting paradigm is used for many of the weapons forms,8 beginning with White Crane's famed Seven Star Staff (Chi Sing Guen). Along with the spear (Chiang), three-sectional staff (San jie guen), halberd or General Kwan's Broadsword (Kwan Dao), cane (Gwaijian), Horse Cutter Broadsword (Jam Ma Dao), and the tiger fork (Fu Cha), there are several double weapons in traditional White Crane. These include the double iron rods (Swan jien) which are similar to Japanese sai, the double broadswords (Bai Her Dao), and the southern short swords (Nan Dao). Single weapons include: Single Broadsword (Dao), Straight sword (Dsien) and Fan (San Tse). There are over 80 empty hand forms in the Flying Crane style. Some are very short, others rather long. There are also a great many weapons forms.

Besides forms and two-person sets, students also condition their bodies and practice striking various training equipment. Several sensitivity or listening drills are also emphasized. For example, students often pair up and extend their arms so as to make them touch. From this position, they practice attacks and counter-attacks. Regular practice of this listening hands drill permits students to feel their opponent's intentions and act accordingly. It also provides a safe and realistic forum from which to practice the application of their techniques. Free sparring is also introduced early on and is emphasized according to the individual's wants, desires and skill level. Finally, advanced breathing exercises are taught on a one-on-one basis due to their nature.

History of Shaolin White Crane Kung fu

Before proceeding further, it is important to explain to readers that there are actually two martial art systems emanating from China that bear the name of White Crane: one originates in Tibet and the other in the southern coastal province of Fukien. Both arts are famous and have glorious histories of their own. This fact is mentioned in order to avoid confusing the public.

The history of the Fukienese White Crane Kung Fu has been passed down from master to student (father to son) for five generations. Although various accounts do exist, they all tell a similar tale. The history of White Crane Kung Fu as passed down within the Lee family.

Fang Chi-Niang was born in Lei Chow Fu in the middle of the 18th century. Her father's name was Fang Hui Sz and her mother's name was Lee Pik Liung. Fang Hui Sz studied Kung Fu in the Shaolin temple at Nine Lotus Mountain, Ching Chiang district, Fukien (modern day Fujian) province. His wife and daughter lived at Lei Chow Fu. Since they were victimized by local landlords, it was decided to move away from the village. Eventually, they settled down in Ching Chu temple, on Ching Chea Mountain (Lei Chow Fu). One day, as Fang Chi-Niang was drying grain in front of the temple, she saw a huge crane come down from the roof and begin to eat. She decided to use a bamboo stick to chase away the intruder. Fang Chi-Niang was both curious and fearful of the crane. At first, she tried to strike its head but the bird was evasive. Then she attempted to hit the crane's wings but it stepped to the side and used its claw to block the attack. When Fang Chi-Niang tried to poke the bird's body with her staff, it moved back and used its beak to peck the bamboo. Fang Chi-Niang was surprised. She continued to use the techniques her father had taught her but her efforts were completely unsuccessful. Astonished by the crane's skill, Fang Chi-Niang sought to practice with it on a daily basis. Fortunately, the crane obliged. This permitted Fang Chi-Niang to analyze and absorb the bird's self-defense strategies. Eventually, she mastered the movements and spirit of the crane.

During this period, Emperor Chien Lung ordered the destruction of the Southern Shaolin temple after having been informed of revolutionary activities on its grounds. Fang Hui-Sz was one of the few fortunate ones to escape the attack. He sought out his wife and daughter and they initially settled at Pik Chui Liang. Subsequently, Fang Hui-Sz moved to Sah Liang temple near Foochow, where he spent his spare time refining his daughter's Shaolin Kung Fu. Fang Chi-Niang eventually mastered everything her father could teach her and chose to combine the crane's spirit and movements with her Shaolin Kung Fu. She taught Kung Fu at Sah Liang temple to Weng Wing-Seng, Lee Fah-Sieng, Chang The-Cheng, and Ling Te-Sun. Weng was from Lei Chow Fu, Lee was from Chow Ann district, Chang was from Wing Chun district, and Ling was from Foochow. Weng and Lee taught many students at Kao Pei Cliff and set up a school there. Chang (nicknamed Nine Dots monk) settled at the White Crane temple and taught martial arts. Ling's descendants moved to Taiwan. Lee passed his skills to his son Lee Mah-Saw. Lee Mah-Saw continued to set up schools and taught in Chow Ann district. Fang Chi-Niang's teachings gave birth to different interpretations and four principal styles were developed: Flying Crane (Fei He), Eating Crane (Shi He) Screaming Crane (Ming He) and Sleeping Crane (Jan He or Su He). Later on, variations and combinations with other systems occurred which led to the creation of even more types of Fukienese White Crane.

At this point, it may be useful to debate whether the Fukienese White Crane arts are truly Shaolin systems or whether they represent a separate school. Since they were created outside the temple, many older generation White Crane masters do not consider their art to be a Shaolin art. This belief is compounded by the fact that White Crane focuses heavily upon soft power in the advanced stages. On the other hand, the founder did study from her father who was an accomplished Southern Shaolin practitioner. Consequently, it is difficult to resolve the debate as it is largely a question of perspective. Perhaps it is best to acknowledge the root of the art while simultaneously recognizing the founder's unique contributions.

Grand-Master Lee Kiang-Ke: Bringing White Crane into the 20th Century
Historically, with the end of feudal social systems and the widespread use of firearms, advanced methods of combat are no longer an every day necessity. This fact of life, combined with the traditionally secretive nature of kung fu instruction, is contributing to the loss of an irreplaceable part of China's cultural heritage. Many of the hundreds of different styles of kung fu are in danger of being lost or diluted to the point of extinction.

For practitioners of Fukien-style White Crane Kung Fu, the life of Grandmaster Lee Kiang-Ke (1903-1992) represents both a link to the past and window toward the future. To properly understand the reverence a martial artist has for his or her Grandmaster, it is necessary to view the martial art in its proper historical and cultural context. One important difference between the martial arts and other forms of physical activity is that martial arts can be practiced and enjoyed for a lifetime, and progress can be made at virtually any age. As such, many older masters are considered living treasures, due to the decades of accumulated knowledge, experience, and teaching expertise that they possess. Today, fewer and fewer people are willing to devote their lives to the study and teaching of martial arts as was done in the past. Because of this unfortunate reality, priceless martial knowledge often disappears forever upon the death of an elderly Grandmaster. This is especially true in the many styles of Chinese martial arts, where kung fu Shifus were secretive about their personal fighting art, and unwilling to disseminate it indiscriminately.

Fukien ShaolinWhite Crane Kung Fu is continuing to thrive, thanks to the enlightened thinking of one of its foremost proponents. Third-generation Grand-Master Lee Kiang-Ke was the single most influential person responsible for the preservation and dissemination of the flying crane system of Fukien White Crane. His choice to open to the public what had previously been a closed-door system ensured the survival of a most complete and devastating Chinese martial art system.

Grandmaster Lee Kiang-Ke started to learn Kung Fu from his father at the age of seven.

After 10 years of arduous training, his father sent him away to live at a temple (Bai He An) where he furthered his martial knowledge under the instruction of a temple monk known as "Nine-dots Monk." This temple specialized in the instruction of Fang Chi-Niang's White Crane techniques. After four years of intensive study, the young master returned home to assist his father in teaching White Crane and in practicing herbal medicine. In time, he became the chief instructor and medical practitioner in his community. Later on, the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist government) invited him to join the 49th Army Division as a medic. He ended up also teaching the soldiers the long handled broadsword (Da dao).

When his time of service was completed, he returned home and continued teaching martial arts and practicing medicine. Thereafter, Lee Kiang-Ke moved to Singapore where he stayed for six years. In an effort to escape the Japanese invasion forces, he then moved to Kuching, East Malaysia. Unfortunately, the Japanese invaded Malaysia soon after. Following the war, fellow martial artists invited him to open a club. He did so and named it the "Martial Heroes Association" (Woo Ing Tong)3. It prospered for many years. During this period, Malaysian society was quite rough-and-tumble. Polite tests of skill were fairly common. Less friendly challenges and outright life and death self-defense situations also occurred. Master Lee was famous amongst his peers for never losing a challenge.4 In 1963, he moved to the city of Sibu (also in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak). Eventually, he directed several schools in local communities including Kuching, Sibu, Sarikei, and Bintulu.

In 1967, the first South East Asian Kung Fu Tournament was held in Singapore. Lee Kiang-Ke's Kung Fu brother, Lee Wen-Hung, came from China and competed. Lee Wen-Hung had studied with Lee Kiang-Ke under Lee Mah-Saw. Despite his somewhat advanced age, he won first place in combat. He then he settled in Singapore. In 1973, a White Crane student representing Sarawak (East Malaysia) went to compete in the third South East Asian Kung Fu Tournament where he won second place in combat.

Grandmaster Lee Kiang Ke retired in 1978 leaving his son, Shifu Lee Joo-Chian, the leadership of the head school in Sibu, East Malaysia. Master Lee Joo-Chian's own training reveals the hard work needed to acquire some real skill (Kung Fu). Like his father, he started training at the age of seven. Classes were generally two and a half hours long. As the climate is hot and humid, warming up time was very brief. Students practiced forms for a half hour without any break. Thereafter, they briefly rested and recommenced their training of forms and basic moves for another half hour. Two-person forms were then practiced for another half hour followed by conditioning drills or weapons training. Finally, the last half hour was reserved for free sparring practice. The young Lee Joo Chian followed this grueling schedule three times a day, six days per week! Morning class was at 4.30 A.M. Then the children went off to school. Upon his return, Lee Joo Chian helped teach the afternoon class. Around eight in the evening, Lee and his sisters trained once again. Master Lee likes to remind people that there was little television in those days.

Benefits of training

Shifu Bernard believes it is a regrettable fact that many young people no longer engage in regular exercise. It is perhaps no accident that some of the most common ailments of modern life include back pain, hypertension, high stress levels, and insomnia, all conditions that exercise has been proven to alleviate. Training in a traditional Kung Fu school permits people to train their minds and bodies, develop real self-defense skills and preserve some link to martial tradition, folklore and culture. Furthermore, the confidence one gains from knowing real self-defense skill filters through all aspects of that person's life thereby providing access to a more relaxed and pleasurable lifestyle.

Making a habit of regular exercise can be a difficult task. A learning activity like Shaolin White Crane Kung Fu, in which there are always new skills to master, can prevent boredom from setting in. Furthermore, in this age of short-lived trends, some fads don't even last long enough to prove their long-term value or even their safety. The roots of Kung Fu go back over a thousand years, and many instructors retain a high level of fitness into their sixties, seventies, and even eighties. They are living proof that Kung Fu movements, when properly practiced, are at the very least, safe, and most likely, highly beneficial.

Fukien Shaolin White Crane Kung Fu today

Although the Flying Crane style is relatively rare, it and other Fukienese Kung Fu styles have made their influence known in other ways. For example, the link between Fukienese Kung Fu and Okinawan Karate is undeniable. It is also known that in the late nineteenth century, the founder of Goju Ryu Karate came to Foochow, in Fukien province, and studied several styles including White Crane and southern Praying Mantis.

One of the foremost proponents of the system in North America is Shifu Lorne Bernard, based in Montreal. He began his studies with a student of Grandmaster Lee, Shifu Augustine Ngu, who immigrated to Canada in 1977. Shifu Ngu now operates a large Kung Fu academy in Mississauga, Ontario. Shifu Bernard travels to Malaysia on a regular basis to learn from the various White Crane masters both in and out of the Lee family. He has also arranged for the system's present leader, Shifu Lee Joo Chian, to travel to Canada and teach for an extended period of time on several occasions. Access to such highly skilled practitioners permitted Shifu Bernard to gain a deep understanding of the theories and finer points within the art.

In addition to teaching at two schools in the Montreal region, Shifu Bernard has arranged for White Crane to be taught at two major universities in Montreal (Concordia University and Univerité du Québec à Montréal). Shifu Bernard has also trained several instructors, thus ensuring the continued growth and expansion of the White Crane system. A good teacher, in any field, understands that the vitality of a teaching institution can be gauged by the quality of its students. As such, a skilled martial arts instructor takes pride in helping students achieve new heights of proficiency.

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1 This account was given to Shifu Lorne Bernard by Grandmaster Lee Kiang-Ke during his first trip to the Orient in 1989. There are several accounts of the origins of Fukien White Crane Kung Fu. Fortunately, they are all quite similar in that they generally refer to the incident with the crane, and the fact that Fang Chi-Niang eventually became extremely skilled in martial arts.

2 It is noteworthy that in Grand-Master Lee's account, the crane was interpreted as being the personification of a god descended from the heavens and determined to teach Fang Chi-Niang martial arts.

3 It is noteworthy that the name "Wu Ing Tong" was actually the original name of one of the Lee family's Herbal stores in Chow An, Fukien province.

4 His prowess was generally explained by his incredible speed of execution.

5 This is his subtle way of criticizing those who waste countless hours fixed at the television screen.

6 Furthermore I would argue that some of the supposedly combat-oriented "no-nonsense" systems are guilty of underemphasizing forms practice.

7 Wushu literally means martial arts. Chinese martial arts have also been referred to by many other names including Guo shu, Chuan shu, Kung fu and Chuan Tao to name a few. Many family styles will refer to their art as Chuan Tao. Although the use of the term "Wushu" is actually correct, its use in the Western world is undermined by the fact that it is too closely associated with the contemporary martial arts being promulgated by the mainland Chinese government.

8 Some people may question the validity of training so many varied weapons in the modern age. Shifu Bernard always point out that if one is familiar with so many weapons, then anything in that person's reach can be skillfully used in self-defense. He also points out the many other values of traditional weapons training including: better understanding of footwork patterns, of the finality of strikes, cardiovascular and strength training, etc. Besides, most students focus on a few weapons as they may not have the time that professionals have.

Temple Style: A Tai Chi System Beyond The Form,- Part 2

2005-12-01T13:05:00.000-08:00

by Gary J. Clyman

(This article was completed 5 years before the Sash Testing and Ranking System was created. Please see that section for rank qualifications and requirements.)
If "Internal Power" is what makes Tai Chi Ch'uan special, then why is it the best kept secret in the martial arts?

The purpose of this article is to give readers a Grand View of Tai Chi Ch'uan including a understandable description of what the word "internal" really means when used to describe the high level of achievement possible in Tai Chi Ch'uan. The system I am describing is Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan which I began studying in 1974.

When people practice what they call Chinese "internal" arts, all teachers have their own interpretation. Most of the articles used to describe what Chinese internal arts have left me hungry for a definitive answer. This is my attempt to fill in the blanks.

Many transformations that take place inside the body. This is what makes an art Internal. Internal Energy is stored for latter use. The difference between an "internal" art and an "external" art is an "external" art is visible to the untrained eye. That means you can actually see what the actual technique is by the way it appears. For example, a external punch is usually one single long movement. However, when we are describing "internal," we are talking about the transformations that take place inside the body. It is as if the body is the gun and the Jing (Internal Power) is the bullet.

THREE BASIC CATEGORIES OF FAH JING (EXPLODING POWER)
There are three basic categories of Jing: Long, Short, and Cold. Long Power consists usually of one long vibration similar to the motion of a garden hose when shook once. Short Power consists of many vibrations crammed into one small space. Short Power resembles the inside of a laser tube. The vibrations bounce back and forth without leaving their confinement. Cold Power consists of many vibrations that don't take up much space but usually move horizontally and vertically. Cold Power looks like what happens when you throw a bucket of water against a wall. The water moves horizontally and vertically. With Cold Power there is usually no perceivable penetration.
Long Power is usually painless. The person receiving Long Power usually feels nothing at the point of contact, that is, until they hit an unmovable object like a wall or the ground. Long Power has been described as feeling like you were hit by a truck. Believe it or not, Long Power is the "friendliest" variety of Jing.

Short Power usually hurts. The vibrations go too fast for the receiver to neutralize. That means the tissues receiving Short Power could get damaged. People don't like getting hit with Short Power. Short Power is not friendly and can be used to break your opponents will. Short Power possesses the variety of expressions.

Cold Power is used to knock an opponent silly or unconscious. Concussion or shock is the usual outcome of being hit with Cold Power. Cold Power can overload the central nervous system of your opponent and end an altercation immediately. Cold Power feels like you ran into a wall that you didn't see. Permanent damage can result from using this nasty application of Fah Jing. I have been in fights that have lasted only one punch because of Cold Power. Cold Power releases the most energy in the smallest possible space.

There are many variations and expressions of this so called "bullet" or the Jing. Many different variations of Jing and still within Short Power has the most possibilities for expression, so what we have here, is an internal art. When I want to transfer power, I decide what kind of frequency and what speed the vibration will manifest prior to the expressions of the technique or internal power. Then I release my Jing. Not only do you have five element flavors; fire, earth, water, metal, and wood, you also have any kind of design of the vibration that you want to create. It's like bouncing a basketball on the floor, which is "bounce" power or driving in a screw which is "twisting" power, just to name two.

You have all these different variations of Fah Jing otherwise known as Exploding Power: the way that Jing can be expressed. No one ever tells you how you do that, what processes do you go through, or what steps you take to develop the ability to release internal power. Then when you develop the ability to release internal power, how do you develop the ability to hold it or change the frequency to the type of vibration you wish to let out. No one ever told me how, I practiced it for many years, 6-10 hours a day before I figured it out.

It's important to understand, you don't begin as an external practitioner and then suddenly switch to be an internal one. You begin internal and just get better!

When I hit somebody and let out the various frequencies and flavors of Fah Jing, "What are you letting out?" is the question. Not, how do you do it? If you understand the concept of what you're letting out; how do you do it is very simple.

How do you flavor what you let out? First, you have to have developed the ability to suck. You don't get that from doing forms. You get it from practicing Chi Kung or doing what I call "The Tai Chi Connective Meditations." You have Chi Kung which is one aspect, and Tai Chi, the other aspect. Tai Chi gives you the structure. You will find the answers in my Tai Chi structure where all the meditations in the entire system are outlined.

The commodity of energy and cultivating internal energy in yourself comprise step one. Step two is transforming your Chi, which is your cultivated internal energy into cultivated internal power, which is your Jing. So one is your Chi and one is your Jing. Chi you feel and they don't, Jing they do feel. So a lot of people have Chi (Internal Energy), but very few people have Jing (Internal Power). Cultivating this internal power requires special training. We are talking about modulating the amount of Jing and varying the type of frequency that the Jing manifests.

How do you do that? Is it all here in the mind, pointing to one's head? This commodity of energy that you circulate in your body is an exact reflection of your WILL. And your WILL therefore is a direct reflection and extension of your cultivated sexual energy. That's why when you have sex, you don't want to ejaculate.

When you cultivate your internal energy (Chi), the goal is to transform it into Internal Power (Jing), you express your Jing in your life or through applying these energy principles through Fah Jing (Exploding Power). Fah Jing is directly related to your ability to condense. You can modulate or alter your frequency as well as the amount of energy you let out. The important thing to understand here is "when you practice this and you cultivate internal power, it is the kind of thing that can be released from your body without you losing any when you release it." That's why when I hit someone, I don't get tired. But also when I hit someone, I remain intact, and the energy that's released on contact remains my energy in their body. You must invest years practicing condensing breathing before you can do this. What's reflecting here is your ability to create your internal vacuum which will be directly related to your ability to explode.

I'm not trying to make it sound like not ejaculating is the same as cultivating Jing, it's not, but not ejaculating is an important step in cultivating Jing. So you have this commodity of energy that stays intact in your body. After you can circulate this commodity of energy as a capsule throughout your body, the question is, "How does this set you up for being able to release your Jing outside of the physical boundaries of your body to use it in some other space?" Now we are talking about real Jing (Internal Power).

When you cultivate Jing, you develop control of where your energy is packaged in your body. When I hit you very gently, I release the vibration in the form and flavor that I choose the vibration to be. I determine what that vibration will look like. I can draw it on paper and give it to you and you will draw the same picture of the vibration. That is the kind of control that can be developed. But before you can even think in terms of releasing energy with a specific frequency or modulation, you must cultivate it first.

How does your Jing fit in with a business transaction? Your WILL is a direct reflection of your Jing. You do not cultivate energy when you need it you must cultivate energy before you need it. You must have energy already stored. You are going to use "stored energy." Your WILL is a direct reflection of your amount and ability to circulate cultivated sexual energy you possess. So if you practice in the morning and feel alive, you are not going to be a wimp in a business environment. Shen is your level of assertiveness in the world. I have the ability to transmit my internal energy to someone else over distances if I've already worked with them. When I touch you after you've learned Chi Kung from me, you will pick up the vibration from me, then you convert it into yours. When you sit back to back with me, you're getting my energy to circulate throughout your system until you have practiced enough where the energy that I've transfused to you has been adopted and accepted as yours. A little bit of me always stays within you. For instance, if you are under stress, I go back and rev up that piece I left behind.

First you cultivate Chi. Next you transmute Chi into Jing. What we are referring to here is the various expressions of Jing (cultivated sexual energy or Internal Power). There is a difference between Internal Energy and Internal Power. Internal Energy is Chi, Internal Power is Jing. Jing can look like lightning, a whirlpool, or it can look like bouncing a basketball. These are all various expressions of Jing. What do you cultivate or generate to develop the ability to express these specific frequencies and modulations of energy? I am talking about cultivating this golf ball that is moving around under your skin from practicing Chi Kung. You move your WILL inside your body freely. After that has been accomplished, you can then allow your will to leave your body while also still remaining in you. A tiny part can leave which can then be vibrated into another person. The sensation that you can feel, you can eventually shoot. You can separate it from you yet still stay in contact with it. The golf ball that moves under your skin is what you shoot out into the other person. This information has been kept quite a secret. Many authors write about it, but few can actually perform it. This high performance level is one of the major goals of Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan. The Seven Levels of Mastery will describe what is involved in becoming proficient in Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan. Cultivating your vibration is the main purpose for learning and practicing Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan.

THE 7 LEVELS TO MASTERY
LEVEL #1 DESCRIPTION
Level #1 in Temple Style is geared toward creating a strong, yet fluid foundation. In the beginning of the system, during the first year, your Tai Chi must be carefully and patiently practiced. You must allow enough time between learning new forms for your body to change, structurally. Many new Tai Chi students have no idea how frozen and immobile their hips, knees, ankles and other joints actually are. The Foundation Fundamentals (available on video) appear simple and easy while watching, but are extremely difficult and may even appear impossible to perform correctly at first. Beginning Tai Chi students should spend enough time on each form and not be concerned with getting to the next form. Your body will make the necessary adjustments and you will successfully move through the system by concentrating on The Foundation Fundamentals.
Level #1 is not restricted to only Foundation Fundamentals. After creating a foundation to build upon, you will soon begin to learn new material at a faster, yet appropriate rate. Level #I contains all the forms up to and including the construction of The First Section, right and left sides. The Two Person Practices are also taught from the very beginning and will be emphasized throughout your Tai Chi training.

Unlike many other Tai Chi methods, Temple Style encourages learning all the forms on both sides. This feature is and will become even more important in your Tai Chi future. By the time you complete Level #1 in Temple Style, your body should have changed considerably. Your joints will function more smoothly and securely. Your posture will be corrected considerably. You will be breathing more fully in a coordinated fashion, and you will develop a new way to move using your whole body and become firmly rooted to the ground. There may be many other benefits as well depending on your level of health.

This first part of Temple Style training should not be skimmed over. You must realize that your Tai Chi future is based largely on your first year. Be patient and careful not to skip a single detail during your first year. The first year is also your hardest. If you neglect anything in your first year, it will reappear to haunt you until you have successfully repair it.

LEVEL #2 DESCRIPTION
Level #2 begins with a new method of practicing Pushing Hands called "2 Hand Pushing Hands" incorporating Ward Off and Push as a two person practice. Your hips must move fluidity in order to perform 2 Hand Pushing Hands correctly. This takes a lot more work than is apparent. You will then begin learning the Individual Forms that are included in Second Section. Again, being thorough and patient cannot be over emphasized. I do not want learning Second Section to sound like an extension of First Section. It isn't.
Second Section builds on your Temple Style foundation and introduces more variations to your movements. Diagonal and more difficult movements will be introduced and incorporated thus making it obvious how hard you worked while learning First Section. These new kinds of movements will stress your joints differently than the more basic moves in First Section.

The Breathing Training taught at the end of Second Section is important in giving you more endurance, control, and extension of your breathing. This is the only time in Temple Style that this kind of breathing training is taught, so you must successfully and competently be able to perform this breathing training. The breathing training in not related to meditation or some sort of internal power development. It is clearly practiced for endurance purposes only and should not be skimmed over. You will never see this again, so don't skip over this.

It will be clear that you are unable to learn and practice Second Section without first absorbing First Section. Level #2 includes everything up to and including the completion of Second Section.

LEVEL #3 DESCRIPTION
Level #3 contains, completes, and connects the remainder of The Long Form. The primary components of Level #3 is Third Section. However, in this level, a large percentage of the material is dealing directly with the aspect of Tai Chi martial art applications. Fair Lady Works At Shuttles is the main Third Section addition and introduces Upward and Downward movements combined with diagonal movements. Roll Hands, 6 Kinds, is an extremely important subset and must be practiced totally as a unit. Do not pick and choose which ones you like more. All 6 must be practiced equally to insure equal proficiency. These Roll Hands Parts are in preparation for Methods of Roll Hands in Level #4. 5 Style Steps and all its variations is of great importance in the big picture since 5 Style Steps can be combined with nearly every other form. In a fighting situation or while practicing your Two Person Practice, smooth 5 Style Steps will prove to be invaluable.

LEVEL #4 DESCRIPTION
Well, now that the form is done, that means that your Tai Chi is done also? Right? No way! Now the fun begins to start. In Level #4, you will learn some of the most potent Two Person Practices that will give your Tai Chi the hormones it has been lacking. We start with 4 Forms Pushing Hands which gives you applications for using Ward Off, Roll Back, Press, and Push. Temple Style has a very specific order and structure for learning and practicing all the Two Person Practices. It is important not to skip any of these specific practices. There is one video that contains all these Two Person Practices. Don't skim over any of them. They all lead somewhere.
Next in Level #4 we come to what is named Temple Style Martial Art Foundation Forms. This subset is important because it helps create the physical structure and connections you will need for utilizing your internal power in a martial art situation. Again, this subset should be practiced in its entirety to assure even progress.

Now we come to one of the two most important subsets in Level #4. This is called Methods of Roll Hands. These 5 Roll Hands Parts will be responsible for you developing great instinct and ability when performing any Two Person Practice with either your best friend or a total stranger who only speaks a foreign language. You get these down pat, and you can deal with nearly any situation without hesitation. This subset is in The Top 5 Important Subsets in the whole system.

Next we come to the Making Chance subset which teaches you how to apply the various Tai Chi forms to your roll hands practice. This subset will be valuable to your Tai Chi fluidity latter when you start performing Free Style Roll Hands. Condensing Breathing traditionally is introduced at this place in the system approximately 2 and a half years into your Tai Chi practice. Condensing Breathing is taught Personal Power Trainingx and on my Tidal Wavex Chi Kung video program. Condensing Breathing is the single most important factor and principle in Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan. It changes not only your Tai Chi practice but your life. No kidding. Practicing Condensing Breathing will give you an internal vacuum that is responsible for packing 18 inches of movement and power into one inch of space. Condensing Breathing is in The Top 5 Important Subsets in the whole Temple Style system.

After Condensing Breathing has been practiced sufficiently, another extremely important subset is introduced call Basic Path Training which contains the mind training in Preparation, Beginning, Upward and Downward, Inward and Outward, Raised Hands Stance, Tai Chi Stance, and Slanted Flying. This Basic Path Training subset is so important it is also taught in Personal Power Trainingx and on my Blue Sub-set video.

Now we come to a favorite part of Temple Style; First Section Low Stance Training. This is an extremely difficult part of the system but has enormous benefits when practiced sufficiently. First Section Low Stance will give you strength like you have never imagined in the lower half of your body. After practicing First Section Low Stance over a period of time, all other practice will seem much easier in comparison. This is practiced to raise your endurance. You will practice First Section Low Stance forever. It will never become easy. Make sure you keep it that way.

LEVEL #5 DESCRIPTION
By the time a student has completed the first four levels, more attention is paid to developing a higher ability to develop and utilize Jing or Internal Power. Soong, Hwa, and Bii Jing are specific explanations of the 3 different ways to express Jing or cultivated internal power. It is important to understand that Soong, Hwa, and Bii Jing are recognized by the user and are extremely difficult to distinguish and quantify without expert level Tai Chi skill.
"Soong" Jing translates from the Chinese as "loose." By this, I mean Loose in its truest sense of the word. Loose should be interpreted as Zero, or nothingness. In applying Soong Jing, Tai Chi students should practice being insubstantial or as "not there" as possible.

"Hwa" Jing translates from the Chinese "to make heavy or thick." Use the image of moving your hand in a bathtub full of Jello. Hwa Jing is used to make your opponent increase his effort, while you can control him by using your mind, not strength. A Tai Chi practitioner of greater ability can easily confuse his opponent into increasing his use of strength while he has the ability to decrease his own. In applying Hwa Jing, Tai Chi students should increase their resistance without relying on force. The difference between Hwa Jing and force can be detected by an expert's eye.

"Bii" Jing translates from the Chinese as "quick acceleration." This quick acceleration applies to your Tai Chi Two Person Practice. Your ability to increase your velocity, without relying on strength, is the true use for Bii Jing. It is important to note and understand that Bii Jing exists only before the actual contact with the other person. Once you make contact with your opponent or practice partner, Bii Jing turns into Fah Jing.

Next in Level #5, we come to the Change Door Forms. These forms are important in helping you to develop mobility in general. These Change Door forms are related to your martial art forms practice. This gives you the ability to completely change your position thus giving you all new targets and protecting yours.

Ta Lu is the introduction of your diagonal Two Person Practices. When learning Ta Lu, you will be taught how to use the forms of Roll Back, Lean Forward, Split, and Roll Pull. Learning and practicing Ta Lu will give your Tai Chi the ability to move your whole body as a single unit while doing your Two Person Practices. This also will have direct reflections on your martial art ability. (Brown Sub-set video)

Meditations in Methods of Rolling Hands Forms cannot be over practiced. These meditations will add life and substance to your Two Person Practice as well as to your martial art ability. These new meditations are a direct extension of Methods of Rolling Hands that you learned in Level #4 (Two Person Practice Video). There is a prerequisite to learn these meditations. Each Tai Chi student must be extremely proficient in the Methods of Rolling Hands subset. Practicing this meditation subset will significantly improve your Two Person Practices and your martial art ability. Spend as much time as you can designate to perfecting this subset. It will be some of the most productive Tai Chi time you can invest.

Non-Arms Training is a subset where you learn to use your body as though you have no arms. It consists of evasive whole body movements as well as trapping practices. After satisfactorily performing and practicing Non-Arms Training, your arms will be reinserted back into your Two Person Practice. This is the only place you will spend time practicing Non-Arms Training, so be careful not to skim over it.

Now we come to Fah Jing Training. Fah Jing Training is the releasing part of all your Condensing Breathing and Tai Chi Connective Meditations. Most students at one time or another ask the question, "What do I do on the exhale?" Now comes the time to pay attention to the release part of most of your meditations that you've learned up until now. I hope you have been seriously accumulating energy for a long time, you'll need it.

Fah Jing Training is how you will learn to convert many of your Tai Chi forms into your martial art applications. Each specific form has its own Fah Jing practice. Take your time and get these right.

At this point in The Temple Style Tai Chi System you will be taught the difference between Long, Short, and Cold Power Fah Jing. Each one of these different powers have different vibrational frequencies. Long Power Fah Jing resembles the movement of what happens to an empty garden hose when you give it a solid single shake. Short Power Fah Jing resembles the movement of a jig saw when you are cutting a piece of ply wood. Cold Power Fah Jing resembles a firecracker explosion. In this I mean it seems to come from nowhere and cannot be detected until it appears. No telegraphing. I will now explain each individual power in a general sense. Please remember that each Fah Jing can be expressed in nearly any Tai Chi form, but some are easier than others.

Long Power is the practice of releasing one single vibration and sending a person flying across the room. Long Power Fah Jing is usually performed with a wall or backstop behind the person being propelled. The backstop is important for the other persons safety. Without the backstop, you run the risk of the propelled person falling and getting injured. You want to avoid this at all costs. I like using very hard wood walls or solid wood doors for demonstrating Long Power. Concrete is too hard and can do structural damage to the other person. If no backstop is available, I advise not practicing Long Power Fah Jing. Wait until the situation is more suitable and never practice Long Power on a fragile person, they can be hurt by accident.

Short Power Fah Jing is the practice of releasing a huge amount of energy and vibrations in a very small space. There are very little space requirements in order to perform Short Power effectively. You can utilize the space inside your practice partners own body. This is different than the practice of Long Power Fah Jing. In Long Power Fah Jing your practice partner must have room to fly backwards. In Short Power Fah Jing your practice partner requires very little space.

Cold Power Fah Jing again is a very specific way of releasing energy and vibrations. However, when performing Cold Power Fah Jing, your practice partner or the person you are demonstrating on, must be prepared for an intense and surprising shock. Not an electrical shock, it's more like getting hit by a car and never knowing it is there until it is too late. Again, Cold Power Fah Jing requires absolutely no space to perform. Cold Power Fah Jing may also be performed in almost any Tai Chi form and it utilizes shock or concussion, so you need a resilient practice partner.

Practicing Long, Short, or Cold Power Fah Jing in the beginning will appear somewhat crude or rough. You must have patience and faith that you will soon begin to see results. The first time I used or rather it used me while I was practicing Rolling Hands was in 1977. I dumped one of my seniors who had been considered better than me since the start of my Tai Chi training. However, we were both extremely shocked when something unconsciously came out of me and he landed on his head in a deep puddle of water from recent rainfall. I don't know who was more surprised, he or I. I was in Temple Style Tai Chi about 3 years when this happened the first time. Shortly after that, I developed more control of my internal power and eventually began to be able to use my Fah Jing at will.

Now we come to some specific directional meditation practices called Sink Jing and Uproot Jing (Brown Sub-set video). These two Jings train you in sending your mind in single directions, namely, straight up and straight down. The practice of Sink and Uproot Jing does not require the use of any specific Tai Chi forms. Rather these are done in your basic Beginning Stance. Sink and Uproot Jing practice will give all your Two Person Practices more thickness and the ability to control your opponent.

We have now completed Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan Level #5.

LEVEL #6 DESCRIPTION
Level #6 starts out with the various applications of internal power (Jing). There is only one simple way to describe the concept of En-Jing and that is to slam a door. You close the gap on your opponent and leave no space for any additional movement. This is not only a physical technique but also a psychological technique.
Next is Control Power which is exactly what is sounds like, controlling your opponent. Jie-Jing is to borrow the other persons energy and hold them in place.

Next we come to the precursors for Gold Bell Training which is developing the ability to take and repulse a punch from an opponent. Gold Bell Training is also sometimes known as Iron Shirt, only the translation is different. When learning Gold Bell Training, you start with relatively light pressure and accelerate it to full contact. (See IKF Magazine article #2 for details.)

Our next practice we come to is San-So and all the various applications. San So is directly related to your martial art practice. There are literally thousands of variations in techniques. This will help your free fighting.

The next section we come to is Low Stance Training. Here you will get a chance to practice some of your favorite Tai Chi forms, but not in your favorite way. You will use Low Stance. Hang in there, you will eventually get good at this.

In Temple Tai Chi Ch'uan, Chi In Voice And Action is very important. Here is where you learn to coordinate your voice with your ability to repulse hits from a practice partner. This adds coordination ability to your Gold Bell Training.

The next section we come to is related to advanced pushing hands which I have named Intercepting Hands Attaching, In & Out. This is using what you learned years before in your pushing hands practice.

Mother Meditation is the precursor to Nei Kung. Mother Meditation teaches you how to suck energy into your palms and other areas or doorways in your body. Mother Meditation uses many of the basic forms you have already been practicing for years (Brown Sub-set video).

Arms Connected Rolling Hands takes your Free Style Roll Hands a step further. In this I mean, you learn to roll hands with yourself which will give you added sensitivity and fluidity for your Free Style Rolling Hands. To take this principle a step farther, we come to Arms Separated Rolling Hands which will compound your fluidity, which is so important in Tai Chi martial art applications. Here is where I have added Blind Folded Pushing and Rolling Hands with a partner. You can imagine what this will do for your sensitivity training practice. This ends Level #6 in the system.

LEVEL #7 DESCRIPTION
Level #7 contains some of the most important material in the whole system. Some of the subsets are complete in and of themselves.
Level #7 starts with Free Style Mother Meditation. This is a formless practice using whatever you wish to use. Free Style Mother Meditation is rarely found anywhere except in Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan.

Close Encounters Trainingx is the way I designed to teach Tai Chi martial art practices which does not require many years of traditional practicing. Close Encounters Trainingx is divided into three basic segments. The first is segment is called Ten Tai Chi Principles which describe and illustrate the underlying ideas and general ideas to use Tai Chi as an effective martial art.

The next segment in named The Ten In-Fighting Applications which teach you how to use isolated moves not necessarily derived directly from The Long Form.

The next and final segment is called Ten In-Fighting Sequences. This segment is fairly difficult and requires absorption of the first two segments to be done effectively. This is the equivalent of learning street fighting martial art forms. They are fairly viscous and require a good amount of skill to be done well. All these three segments are taught on my videos.

After a Tai Chi student has progressed this far, they are about to begin to learn Free Fighting with Contact. You have been waiting a long time to get here, about five to seven years.

The Linkage Exercises are not exactly Tai Chi but they contribute to connect your body mechanics. These were taught to me after I had already had my school for a few years by my last teacher. I decided to place the Linkage Exercises here in the system. The Extension/Expansion Exercises are the flip side to the Linkage Exercises.

Tao meditation, Standing using two Fingers is a practice that helps you develop the ability to release your internal power at will. It is done in a Preparation Stance. The energy comes from Tan Tien and projects out from your first and second finger on your right hand.

Tao Meditation using Four Directions is performed in a sitting position, preferably cross legged and on a cushion. Tien is for Heaven, Tee is for Earth, Soon is for Man, and Tao is for the explosion into the Universe in all directions at the same time. This practice must be passed orally to another person in order to be practiced correctly.

Pulse Coordination Meditation is extremely relaxing and is used to help become sensitive to your own internal clock. This is a very advanced meditation and should not be practiced too frequently, maybe one per month.

Omei Mountain is a fighting meditation that is used to help bring out your fighting spirit. It is done as a circulation from Tan Tien and is very similar to Standing Tao Meditation except for the contribution to your aggressiveness.

Tiger Chi is also a fighting meditation that is used also to bring up your fighting spirit. Practicing this meditation should be controlled since it does increase your aggressiveness vastly.

The following material is taught in detail in The Personal Power Trainingx. For further descriptions and instruction you should read my book entitled Beyond Self-Help: Mastering Personal Powerx. Condensing Breathing, Basic Path Training, Inside Air, Sitting forms with The Mind Training, Palms on Knees Meditation, The Micro Cosmic Orbit, The Macro Cosmic Orbit, Heaven and Earth Meditation, Creating your Daily Affirmations and Visualizations, Impregnating the Universe, and Layered Condensing are all in my book.

Free Style Chi Kung is a formless method of practicing Sitting Forms with The Mind Training. This practice connects your chi circulations with your sitting movements.

Tao Kung is closely related to the practice of The Micro Cosmic Orbit except you circulate your internal energy at the speed of 1,000 circulations per breath or at the speed of light. While practicing Tao Kung, your body will vibrate violently however, you should not become alarmed. This violent vibration is due to the fact that your body cannot keep up with your Chi circulations. Other teachers warn against this phenomenon, I advise practicing it. Most of this material is taught on the videos.

Nei Kung is the grand finale of The Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan System. The practice of Nei Kung is also called "The Inside Form." The important thing to pay attention to is how you circulate Chi. While practicing Nei Kung, you will purposely drop many of the physical details that you have been practicing for many years. Remember, the circulations are important, not the forms. Good Luck on your great journey. GJC

To order videos: FOUNDATION FUNDAMENTALS - Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan and/or TIDAL WAVE CHI KUNG by credit card, use the order form on my home page or call my 24 Hour Voice Mail Energy Hot Line at (800) 7 TAI-CHI = (800) 782-4244 and I will call you back to confirm your order information.

1990 Gary J. Clyman
E-mail: master@chikung.com

Temple Style: A Tai Chi System Beyond The Form - Part 1

2005-12-01T12:56:00.000-08:00

Published In Inside Kung Fu Magazine - April 1989

by Gary J. Clyman

The purpose of the article is "say more," to break the silence of tradition and "create hope" for the next generation of practitioners of the dying art of Tai Chi Ch'uan. What do I mean when I say for the "next generation?" Everyone knows Tai Chi is on the upswing, but what few realize is that with each new generation comes a further deterioration of details, essence, and the treasures the art previously possessed.

The original reason for organizing this information was to help improve a new student's Tai Chi practice. My friend had been in Tai Chi for nearly 14 years when he approached me for instruction. I accepted him as a private student/friend. His advanced level of Tai Chi compelled me to organize and prepare a curriculum of instruction for near-master level students.

This article represents that instructional organization. I have broken my system, Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan, into various categories and subsets with the intention that this material will enable you, regardless of your martial art persuasion, to improve and interpret your own system more fully.

Everyone assumes "length of time equals expertise," but nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, time in the art is a factor, but there are other equally important factors.

These questions are important for understanding where you stand in relationship to your own art. Did your teacher know what he was doing? Did you understand what you were taught? What percentage of "the teaJings" did you comprehend and retain? Did you "practice" or just "run through" your material as a student? Did your teacher "care about you" when you were learning? Was your teacher trying to reproduce himself? Is your system "real," and yes, how many years have you been in the art? You might not be able to find the answers to all these questions, but you must look.

The answers to these questions will have an important influence on your level of achievement, now and in the future.

FIVE CATEGORIES OF TRAINING:

Each subset will fall under one primary grouping, listed first, and may also be a member of secondary groups.

THE MIND/BODY RELATIONSHIP - Concentrates on what the mind is doing. The body is secondary.

THE BODY/MIND RELATIONSHIP - Concentrates on what the body is doing. The mind is secondary.

ENDURANCE TRAINING - Very physically grueling, highly repetitious, simple and practical.

STRUCTURE TRAINING - Most forms practice with more gross or general details.

CORRECTIVE RESILIENCE TRAINING - Concentrates on more specific details using high repetitions, but not as grueling as Endurance Training, (i.e., proper positioning of the pelvis, pulling the support knee out, slightly bowing the spine, etc.)

SUBSETS AND SPECIALIZED PRACTICES

LOW-STANCE TRAINING - This particular practice is very important not in the beginning so much, but after a student has been in Tai Chi for over a year. There are specific forms that are more appropriate for Low-Stance Training, but in my opinion, the most valuable is practicing First Section by itself repeatedly.
Long-term implications: Low-Stance Training develops enormous strength in the lower body and is a primary component of Endurance Training. When you practice Low Stance, you will lose some of your details. That's okay: you give and take. You give up the details but you get added strength. A problem that many students have is they think they are supposed to practice correctly all the time. That's not important at this stage of your training. Low-Stance Training falls primarily into Endurance Training, but is also in The Body/Mind Relationship.

TAI CHI CONNECTIVE MEDITATIONS - These meditations incorporate condensing breathing into your ward off, roll back, press and push. Practicing these specific Tai Chi meditations is the first link to The Mind/Body Relationship. When practicing Tai Chi Connective Meditations, you will learn to focus with your mind sequentially on three or four specific areas in a row. Theses meditations are unique because they are halfway between doing forms and standing meditation. These are the most basic meditations in the system. Long-term implications: Great changes for the better will show up in your form after even a short period of practicing Tai Chi Connective Meditations. These Tai Chi Connective Meditations are prerequisites for Nei kung, which will be explained later. Tai Chi Connective Meditations falls into the categories of The Mind/Body Relationship and EnduranceTraining.

TWO PERSON PRACTICE

These develop sensitivity to your partner. These act as the measuring devices to your Tai Chi progress. This is not competition like fighting, but can be used as a way of gauging how you compare to others. Long-term implications: Practicing these give your Tai Chi life and develop your communication and fighting skills. Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan is structured so you learn various Two Person Practices. This falls into the categories of Structure Training, Endurance Training and Corrective Resilience Training; they are not the same. In Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan, Two Person Practices start early in the system. Completing The Long Form or even First Section is not necessary or a prerequisite for learning the Two Person Practices. The Foundation Fundamentals have to be practiced and absorbed, but that only takes about 5 to 7 months.

CONDENSING BREATHING This teaches you how to convert coal into diamonds. This is the single most important factor related to improving your Tai Chi. As far as I know, Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan is the only system that contains this practice. Learning Condensing Breathing by itself without learning the rest of the system will enormously help your Tai Chi. Condensing Breathing is one of the first things I teach in The Personal Power Trainingx and on my Tidal Wavex Chi Kung video program. Long-term implications: This will always be practiced and should be treated as a single unit. Even after 20 years, Condensing Breathing still remains an important piece of my daily practice. Condensing Breathing falls into the categories of The Mind/Body Relationship, Endurance Training and Structure Training (See IKF Magazine April 87 article #1 for detailed instruction in Condensing Breathing).

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS TRAINING

I created this out of the need for students to learn how to use Tai Chi fighting applications. This is all practical. Some might say it looks like street fighting. I teach Close Encounters Trainingx in my Tai Chi fighting workshops and on video. Long-term implications: This improves and leads to good fighting skills. Smoothness in changes, timing and practicality are obtained through practicing Close Encounters Trainingx. This falls into the category of The Body/Mind Relationship, The Mind/Body Relationship and Endurance Training.

GOLD BELL TRAINING

This is often talked about but rarely taught by anybody in Tai Chi. Gold Bell Training develops the ability to take a punch, diffuse the energy, and bounce the punch off without being hurt. This is very simple but you need good Condensing Breathing, great timing, courage and the desire to learn. It is not dangerous - it tends to be on the rough side because it is accelerated. It starts off relatively gentle and progresses to full contact over a period of time.

Long-term implications: Gold Bell Training is the practice of repulsing incoming forces or attacks. Practicing Gold Bell Training helps prevent injuries while practicing or fighting. In the order of preference when fighting and being hit are: 1) deflect, not block; 2) neutralize or evade; and 3) absorb or repulse. You do not want to use your Gold Bell Training unless it is absolutely necessary. Gold Bell Training falls into the categories of Endurance Training and The Mind/Body Relationship.

FAH JING TRAINING

Fah Jing Training is where you release your condensing, contracting and sucking meditation practices. Fah Jing Training can be practiced by practicing in any individual Tai Chi forms, such as ward off, roll back, press, push, elbow, shoulder, roll pull, and split. Each Fah Jing Training practice is done differently. These lead to improved fighting skills, but are reliant on your Condensing Breathing ability. There is no Fah Jing Training without first learning how to suck, draw in, condense, and store your internal energy. Long-term implications: Learning Fah Jing Training will give you a technical release of energy in your forms and applications. This falls into The Mind/Body Relationship and Endurance Training categories.

5 STYLE STEPS, ATTACHING STEPS AND CHANGE DOOR PRACTICE

This is very specific Tai Chi footwork and can be performed on top of five patio stones. Long-term implications: This practice will give you versatility in spacing, the ability to match your opponent, and the ability to create false openings for your opponent to fall into. Categories: Endurance Training, The Body/Mind Relationship and Structure Training.

INDIVIDUAL FORMS PRACTICE

Most Tai Chi classes are not systems and only teach "The Long Form." In Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan, each student first learns individual pieces, which later will be constructed into sequences. This characteristic makes Style Tai Chi Ch'uan unique and better than most other Tai Chi systems. Long-term implications: This is the basis of your Tai Chi practice. Categories: Individual Forms Practice fall into Structure Training, Corrective Resilience Training and The Body/Mind Relationship.

FOUNDATION FUNDAMENTALS

This is the first five to seven months of basic training. This is where you develop your various stances, preliminary movements and structure. The rest of the Tai Chi forms are built on this material. Work hard here, it will pay off forever. Long-term implications: At a certain point these basics do not have to be practiced because they are contained in all the material that follows, but that is only if you have worked hard through this stage. Categories: Structure Training, Corrective Resilience Training and The Body/Mind Relationship.

FIRST SECTION ONLY

This is learned after you have gone through and allowed your body to absorb each movement in First Section. When you learn First Section, if you have practiced correctly, you can almost be talked through it without losing the details. Long-term implications: First Section will always be practiced as a single unit with different flavors and attitudes. Categories: Structure Training, The Body/Mind Relationship, Corrective Resilience Training and Endurance Training.

FIRST SECTION REPETITION

This is an important piece in your Tai Chi big picture. While practicing First Section in repetition, you can train many different ways. You can concentrate on continuity, you can concentrate on details, you can concentrate on lengthening and lowering you stance and you can also track your concentration abilities. First Section will remain important throughout your entire Tai Chi career. First Section Repetition falls into many categories, primarily Endurance Training and all the others because of the versatility that can be applied to practicing it separately. Long-term implications: First Section is possibly the most versatile tool in your Tai Chi arsenal. It can be used for anything.

THE LONG FORM

People who say "all things come from just practicing The Long Form" are either dreamers or liars. Most teachers don't know much else besides The Long Form, but when you have a greater overview and perspective of Tai Chi, The Long Form is simply one single tool, one thing, but all most other Tai Chi teachers have is the form and nothing beyond the form. To become a master or to become a professional, you have got to learn from a professional. You have to know more than just The Long Form.
In Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan, The Long Form is merely a beginning phase of your Tai Chi practice and does not represent a majority or even a large piece. In Temple Style there are three sections, as is other Yang styles. Long-term implications: For the first ten years, the framework of your Tai Chi will be based around your practice of The Long Form. At more advanced levels, The Long Form is a minor category, but what's very important to understand is at no time are any of these steps to be skipped, neglected, under practiced or disregarded. Category: Like First Section, The Long Form has many uses.

CHI IN VOICE AND ACTION

This is important in advanced training. This practice helps each cell in your body communicate and transmit to every other cell, very similar to Condensing Breathing. However, Chi In Voice And Action is more advanced than Condensing Breathing, not more important.

Chi In Voice And Action trains your body and is a precursor to Gold Bell Training. This practice teaches you how to take your voice and effect energy. Coordination is developed in the mind. This practice relates to Gold Bell Training as a solo exercise prior to being stimulated or punched by a practice partner. Long-term implications: This practice brings your spirit up to the surface and contributes to your physical presence, awareness and helps develop your "speed of the mind" for advanced Tai Chi practice. Categories: Chi In Voice And Action falls primarily into The Mind/Body Relationship category. It's not hard to do; it's just specific.

FLOATING AND SINKING

The practice of Floating And Sinking is done in basic Tai Chi postures. You train your mind to accelerate up or down, at a very high velocity, but you move very little. This practice is tied into Still Power. It's sort of the Condensing Breathing of the body as opposed to stillness. This is a single direction meditation acceleration practice. This will improve you Pushing Hands and all other Two Person Practices including fighting. Long-term implications: This is an advanced practice but applies everywhere. Categories: Floating And Sinking falls into the category of The Mind/ Body Relationship.

ROLLING HANDS PARTS/INDIVIDUAL FORMS PRACTICE WITH MEDITATIONS AND APPLICATIONS INCLUDING TWO PERSON PRACTICE

This is the single most important part of the advanced Tai Chi Two Person Practice. Learning this material will immediately improve your fighting skills and these individual forms are the reasons for you to excel in Two Person Practice. Very few people know this material.

Long-term implications: You will always be practicing this subset as a single, self-contained unit. First you learn the forms in this part, then you learn the Two Person Practice forms. Last comes the meditations. Categories: Rolling Hands Parts falls into the primary category of The Body/Mind Relationship at the first level of details. At a more advanced stage when the physical forms are perfected, the category changes to Endurance Training and The Mind/Body Relationship. This subset is really cool. The importance of this subset cannot be overemphasized.

HIGH REPS/LOW VARIATIONS TRAINING

Many practices fall into this category, including change door, individual martial art forms, and almost unconscious forms practice. High Reps/Low Variations Training is used to develop instinct and precision in your Tai Chi applications. My favorite forms for this practice are: fist under elbow, long and short hand, fan through back, turn and chop opponent with fist, and fire flame hand. These forms are done while performing change door or 5 style steps. Long-term implications: Fighting skills, sensitivity, improved natural human response and reliability are developed through this practice. Category: Usually this kind of practice is an equal mix among Endurance Training, The Body/Mind Relationship and Corrective Resilience Training.

CHI KUNG

There are too many Chi Kung techniques. What is important to understand here is that the positions and/or movements the body appears to be using are not important. What is important here is what the mind is doing. Do not forget this.

There are four basic categories into which each individual chi king technique falls. Many techniques do indeed fall into multiple categories, but all are clearly members of one primary type. I have put this section at the end, so you can more fully understand this article.

The following is a list and explanation of the four basic categories in the Chi Kung system I teach. These are my classifications:

* THE CONDENSING PRINCIPLE

- This is the single most important ingredient and the first principle to understand. Condensing Breathing is the source of all the energy cultivation exercises. Without practicing this, there will be no "alchemical agent" or "essence" to be circulated. Practicing Condensing Breathing is a meditation that will cause consolidation on all levels. This practice can and will aid in the transformation of one's constitutional properties.

* TORSO CIRCULATION

- The Micro Cosmic Orbit or The 10 Point Cycle: This principle is used in regard to chi circulations limited only to the torso.

* MACRO COSMIC CIRCULATION

- This combines the whole body as a single unit. Each body part is in communication with each other body part. This term is used when relating the extremities to the torso as a single unit with intimate communication.

a. Mother Meditation
b. The Macro Cosmic Orbit
c. The Tai Chi Connective Meditations

* PROJECTING/IMPREGNATING THE UNIVERSE

- Using this is sending your spirit out into the world. Practicing the following exercises in the prescribed order will produce immediate profound results. These practices are distinctly different from other affirmations and visualizations in that they are performed after practicing Condensing Breathing. They are linked to your body and will manifest in a very real, physical, and obvious way.

NEI KUNG

It is rare to find anybody who knows anything about this practice. Nei Kung is clearly different than Chi Kung in that it speeds up the frequency of the mind faster than the body can possibly move. It is as if it changes your metabolism and the speed at which you think. Nei Kung creates excitement in all your practices. When you learn Nei Kung, your Tai Chi will never be the same again. Results will show up immediately.

Nei Kung is like doing the form with your mind and body struggling to keep up. This is an advanced practice and should be learned only after you are very experienced. This will keep improving year after year and will never get boring. Long-term implications: Nei Kung can be used as a self contained system; it does not rely on forms. Nei Kung can be added to other kung-fu systems and will automatically improve your martial art skills. Categories: It falls equally into The Mind/Body Relationship and Endurance Training.

To order videos: FOUNDATION FUNDAMENTALS - Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan and/or TIDAL WAVE CHI KUNG by credit card, use the order form on my home page or call my 24 Hour Voice Mail Energy Hot Line at (800) 7 TAI-CHI = (800) 782-4244 and I will call you back to confirm your order information.

c 1989 Gary J. Clyman

A Chi Kung Interview With Gary J. Clyman

2005-12-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

Plublished In Inside Kung Fu Magazine - April 1987

by Dennis Franke R.N.

This interview was printed in part in the April 87' Issue of Inside Kung Fu magazine. The response to this article gave me a national and international reputation and visibility. Since this publishing, clients and students of all levels have come to study with me from all over the country for my special 2-Day Private Instruction Format. This is that article in its entirety.

Gary J. Clyman is director of the Chicago Wholistic Health Center, a unique clinic where the ancient arts of Taoist self-cultivation still live - 20th century style. Clyman's practice is one of Bio-Mechanics, Spinal Touch Treatment, Orthomolecular Nutrition, Muscle Response Testing, and PERSONAL POWER TRAININGx. But behind this modern terminology, and the doors of his downtown loop office, hides the Chinese arts of Tai Chi boxing, Tao Yin corrective exercise, An Mo massage, Wai Tan alchemy, and Chi Kung meditation - practices of Chinese Taoism shrouded in secrecy and rarely practiced today as a unified self-healing system. In each of these arts Gary J. Clyman is an expert, a modern Master.

Ever since the age of twenty he has been studying, cultivating, refining, and teaching the arts of Yang Sheng - Taoist practices for the "nourishment of life and the strengthening of it against disease." A life-long Chicago resident, he is a senior member in the city's martial arts, macrobiotic, and wholistic health circles. He has appeared on numerous T.V. and radio shows; twelve of the latter with his friend and mentor Dr. Robert Mendelsohn M.D. (deceased April 1988). And in an ever-continuing effort to spread the Illinois Wholistic Health Network: a forum of health care practitioners dedicated to the education and promotion of wholistic healing in the greater Chicago metropolitan area.

If there's still meaning in the epithet, "a self-made man" then Gary Clyman embodies that ideal. All of Clyman's training as a wholistic health practitioner was secured by direct, one-on-one apprenticeship and thousands of hours of intense, disciplined practice. The adventure began in 1974.

After a year and a half of studying the Korean fighting art of taekwondo, with Grandmaster Han Cha Kyo, and enlightened by the new Feng and English translation of the Tao Teh Ching, he went in search of a martial art that could offer more than just fighting know-how. He wanted to develop vitality, assertiveness, self-esteem, and character. Han thought him "so strange for an American to want to be Philosopher"? Eventually, Clyman discovered Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan and the city's premier Tai Chi Master, Waysun Liao; and for the next six years he studied full time with Liao and his two branch school instructors. It was during the period with his second Tai Chi instructor that he immersed himself in the Nei Kung - to develop the self and cultivate the Three Taoist Treasures of Jing, Chi, and Shen.

To cultivate his Chi, his inner energy, Master Liao put him on "the monk's diet": a regimen of grains, beans, vegetables, and seaweed. Living the Monk's life, he ate the diet, became celibate, and practiced Tai Chi from six to ten hours a day. To learn the classical Taoist path his textbooks became the Secret of the Golden Flower, Charles Luk's Taoist Yoga and Secrets of Chinese Meditation, and the tenth-century Ishimpo: Tao of Sex.

In those early days when Liao's was a center for imported Chinese talent, Clyman had the opportunity of being exposed to Chinese wrestling, Shuai Chiao, with the Grandmaster of the art, Ch'ang Tung Sheng, who died April 1987 at 78 years old. Acupuncture was exposed to Clyman in 1976 as he received his first lessons in natural healing. And of course, Master Liao opened the door to the inner workings, the temple secrets, of Temple Style Tai Chi and Chi Kung.

In the fall of 1979 Clyman attended a Chiropractic seminar as the assistant of Dr. Ineon Moon, his acupuncture teacher. The lecturer was Dr. Lamar Rosquist from Salt Lake City, and he was teaching the original John Hurley D.C. technique under the name of "The Spinal Touch Treatment," a non-force, gentle, soft tissue technique that works by releasing hypertonic muscles that misalign the spine and pelvis, he had found it the most helpful technique in his large Chiropractic clinic.

Gary immediately sensed that "The Spinal Touch Treatment" was after the same results as Tai Chi - perfect alignment of the spine through "hanging by a string at top of head" and "tucking the pelvis under." He saw that The Spinal Touch Treatment's goals of proper body mechanics and unimpeded neural flow were the same as those of An Mo massage with its manipulating of the sinews and stroking of the Chi tracts. He added it to his repertoire of natural healing arts and it soon became the center of a successful wholistic health practice.

Gary J. Clyman is an imposing, fiery personality. He often comes on too strong, with his ever-present handshake and booming smile, that new acquaintances are hard put to peg the man. And so they should be -- because Gary Clyman is one of those rare spirits totally enmeshed in the joy of living. If his sense of life could be labeled I'd call it Yang Chu hedonism, after the fourth-century Taoist, because he finds real joy in every action and endeavor, whether it's doing the Tai Chi form, meeting a new client, sparring with a parking lot attendant, or yes, even jostling a drunk driver from his car to perform another citizen's arrest. Optimism and vitality are his trademarks. The years of Tai Chi practice show in his military posture, erect and buoyant, yet still pliable and rooted in his every move. He uses and somehow remanufactures more energy in one day than most of us do in a week, and it just may be that his daily Tai Chi and Chi Kung practice has something to do with it.

In his interview he shares the secrets of Chi Kung meditation, the central practice of Taoist Yang Sheng without the mysticism, which is the foundation of his PERSONAL POWER TRAINING Workshops.

IFK: Just what is Chi Kung meditation?

GJC: Chi Kung is an ancient Chinese Taoist method for rejuvenating your internal energy systems - your Jing, Chi, and Shen. It's done using various postures and different kinds of breathing, but it's the internal exercises behind these outer movements that's important. So right here it's different than say Hatha yoga or Chinese calisthenics, which it can look like; plus, the postures aren't for stretching. Traditionally, it's part of Taoist yoga - the practices of the Taoist monk's. Today, it's the backbone of the internal martial arts of Tai Chi, Hsing I, and Pa Kua. (If it's taught that is!) Right now in China, a popularized version is getting attention as a kind of cancer therapy (see Chi Gong: Chinese Cancer Patients Exercise their way back to Health in East West Journal, March 1983. Ed.) There are similarities with Tantric yoga, but the language, exercises, and objectives are different. What makes Chi Kung unique is the conscious directing and use of the energy. So, it's really a meditation for self-development, for creating change in your life; and it can be done by anyone, I've had doctors, commodity traders, attorneys, teachers, housewives, and business people do this training, and everyone has experienced important, positive changes in their life.

IFK: Many articles are now appearing in martial arts and new age magazines on Chi Kung. With your busy practice, have you had a chance to read them? And if so, what are your conclusions?

GJC: All the articles I've read have been too superficial to do justice to this Nei Kung practice, so deep-rooted in Chinese culture. People have been led to believe that if they sit in the lotus posture and stretch one hand over their head and hold the other at tan tien while they abdominal breathe, that's Chi Kung. No way! Chi Kung means internal energy work, internal training! And it's tied into the oral secret teachings of the Taoists, and martial arts Masters. What we're talking about here is a sophisticated inner science involved in this art. People have spent their entire lives doing this and never moved off a cushion. I mean, if they're doing - why the superficial material? But there is always a purpose in putting something forth: they've prepared the public for what's to come.

IFK: Many of these articles describe "abnormal reactions" or "danger signals" occurring as a result of practicing Chi Kung. Have you seen these reactions in your students?

GJC: I don't know why these reactions are being called "danger signals!" If you're a body builder you're always at risk of hurting yourself somewhere along the line. If you're a surgeon, work in the operating room is one big risk! If you want to be good at anything in life you must develop the warrior spirit to handle the so-called "dangers"; which, by the way, I still haven't acknowledged - and it's been over eleven years now. You have to look at the American people and the prevalent attitude. If they don't get it in five minutes, it's not worth working for. Everyone has to understand that when we're talking about Chi Kung or internal Kung Fu training, this stuff takes awhile to learn. No, I don't mean they should get ripped off by thinking that it will take ten or twenty years. If a student has the right teacher, the right material, and is really motivated, then he can excel in a relatively short time: say, from six months to two years. He doesn't have to sit on the doorstep for five or ten years before the "venerable Master" decides to share a secret or two. So, you have to listen to where the articles are coming from. Does the person giving the warnings really know what he's talking about? Usually the warnings are coming from a place of fear, of trying to protect the system.

IFK: But isn't there a kernel of truth in the articles regarding headaches, ringing in the ears, dizziness, and emotional catharsis that might be triggered by this meditation?

GJC: Yes, but these aren't problems to worry about or to deter you from practicing Chi Kung. The more of these symptoms that a student has when practicing, the better, because as they figure out how to work through all these little bumps on the road, they're going to become masters, powerful, fearless! My advice is "do not worry about these reactions. No pain, no gain, no risk, no nothing!" Years ago in the heart of my Tai Chi training, I learned a valuable lesson applicable here. I'd often see my Tai Chi master whenever I had a problem with another student, a problem at work, or a problem at home. I'd go to him and ask: "What should I do about this?" His standard answer to reduce it's importance was: "When you're on a long road and you run over a little rock, do you stop to see what's happened to the rock, or do you just continue on, more concerned with the actual journey?" That's the approach I use with my students. When a student calls me up and has a problem and says: "What about this. I feel like ....." Whatever it is, I say: "O.K. Don't worry about it. If you just sit it out, you'll get through it" - because the human body is amazing. Look at what we've been eating and breathing all these years, so for a little while you'll be uncomfortable, big deal. Just take a break and come back with a different exercise and slow down." This kind of reassurance is usually all that's needed.

IFK: One last question about "danger signals." Quoting a popular author here: "Another common sensation is shaking or trembling. This is most pronounced in static postures, but may also be experienced in moving forms such as Tai Chi Ch'uan or Pa Kua Chang. Trembling may be in the joints, particularly in the wrists and knees, or even internally, in the abdomen. Shaking should be neither resisted nor encouraged. It is caused by a blockage in Chi flow."

GJC: Only 50% true. First of all, when practicing Tai Chi or sitting in a Chi Kung posture that you're not used to and you start shaking, that doesn't mean there's a "Chi blockage." It means your sinews, that is, your connective tissue, tendons and ligaments, and your muscles too, aren't used to working in these positions. From a Tai Chi point of view, if you look at the way most people move and the way they sit, they sort of jerk around from one position to the next. Look at our favorite Western sport, Baseball. If a baseball game lasts for three hours, are the players exercising for three hours or is it really for only maybe thirty minutes? However, when you're practicing Tai Chi or Chi Kung, it's a continuous thing. So, yes, you're legs and arms will tremble. In fact, I'd say that if somebody learned from me and they didn't tremble or shake, they weren't doing something right: either not working hard enough, not standing low enough, or they were just day dreaming. So, its no big deal, and it's certainly not a "danger." But! With the experienced student who's trained well and who has vibrations in the abdomen or up the spine during meditation, that's what he's been chasing after! He should be excited and grateful about it! It's just here that the student needs an understanding of the traditional Three Treasures so he can make sense out of what's happening, and what's in store for him too.

IFK: So you consider exposure to the "Three Treasures" theory important for success in Chi Kung? What about elusive concepts of Chi, Jing, and Shen?

GJC: Most books confuse this and make it impossible to understand. I'd rather give the student four or five sentences he could relate to and say: "I know what he's talking about." And even taking the risk that the concept he gets is incomplete, at least it's a beginning that he can build upon during his training. It's best to look at Chi, Jing, and Shen as levels. On the deepest somatic (body) level is Jing - sexual energy. When you're sexually attracted to someone, or when sexually aroused and you have an erection, its the energy of raw Jing surging up within you. To harness that energy and work it into a purified form, to cultivate it for purposes other than the sex act, say for fighting or personality development - that's the motivating fiber of Chi Kung meditation.

As the student uses this concrete idea to guide his practice, and as begins to understand my wholistic health orientation, with the emphasis on diet, nutritional supplementation, and proper body mechanics, it's not hard for him to expand this idea into the more abstract one of seeing Jing as the organism's generative and regenerative energy system, a power source that at conception activated cells, and then tissues, organs, the mind, the total person, and now - repairs them too. So, the vibrations then are cultivated Jing. Going back into my own Tai Chi training, I remember my first intense vibrations and having my Tai Chi brother touch the base of my neck to see if he could feel anything. He couldn't feel a thing, but to me I was on a roller coaster. I wasn't afraid though. Remember, there's two attitudes you can take: "Oh my god what's happening to me"! , (wimpy way) or "Oh boy, here we go! This is what I've been working for all these months" (warrior way). So, when my students have their first vibrations they're very excited; they think it's great.

IKF: So how does this contrast with the famous "Chi" or "ki" so often written about?

GJC: With Jing you can transmit its energy, or the manifestation of your internal development, to another person and they can feel it. So here, if I hold both of your hands and decide to give you a shock, the feeling you can get from my cultivation of raw Jing, and its release, the fah, is pure Jing. "Fah Jing" is the "mysterious" power of the great Tai Chi Masters. It's sometimes labeled "Fah Chin." Jing can be transmitted for healing purposes also, but when we're talking about Chi, the energy of Chi can manifest as a sensation I feel that has nothing to do with the vibrations I can transmit to you. Chi energy (internal energy) has a completely different vibratory frequency. Chi vibrations are in the next level and are shorter, smaller, and faster vibrations. Jing vibrations (internal power) are more guttural, more physical, and a slower. Chi of course, moves the entire universe, and is in all of us from our first embryonic breath as the source of organic change and movement, of breathing, eating, walking, fighting, thinking, and even aging too. But to sense it and use it with purpose takes technique, practice, and work. An analogy is helpful here to my students. An internal combustion engine must have an energy source, gasoline, and a method of igniting the energy, the ignition system, into the more usable form of energy, horsepower. For us, Chi is the energy source, Jing is the power, and Chi Kung is the method of transformation.

IKF: So how do you put this mechanism to work? How do you harness the Chi and make it work for you? What's your basic approach here?

GJC: The concept that cuts through the fog of ignorance and secrecy, the concept that allows the student to use Chi with purpose, to cultivate Jing, to develop and "burn" it into form, to become a dynamic self-powered individual is "The Condensing Principle." "The Condensing Process" is one of creating an inner vacuum with Chi, Jing, and Shen all at the same time. It's the process of packing the essence of things into every thought, intention, and action. Here's one basic condensing technique for developing Jing: whatever the posture, on the inhale focus on the body to expand, and at the same time focus on the inhaled Chi to contract, to condense, into the core of the body; then, on the exhale focus on the body to contract, and at the same time focus on the inhaled Chi to expand. On each inhale and exhale there is a simultaneous mental focus to expand and contract. This particular technique does two things: first, it sensitizes you to where you are in space as a physical, material body, and second, it introduces you to the first glimmer of Chi sensation, so much used in later training. This is just step one. As we go on and on, what we're doing is refining this same basic technique to the point where it goes from as gross as the body contracts, to where all the molecules in your body condense into one single atom.

IKF: I understand that you Basic Path Training and the Sitting Forms make use of many postures and coordinated movements. What's the idea behind the variety?

GJC: Basically they all accomplish the same thing - to help the mind direct the Chi and Jing through the auxiliary Chi tracts. It's like dancing: when you're studying it, you have to learn more than one step. A similar problem exists here as in Tai Chi. Many students base their choice of a system or the quality of their chosen system on how many movements there are in it. "Oh, my form has 108, his has only 68, but I know of one that has 138." This is an attitude conceived in ignorance.

What's important is, at he end of the training, what does the interpretation look like, not how many movements there are. In Tai Chi there's only thirteen forms anyway, no matter how you count them: ward off, roll back, press, push, elbow, shoulder, roll/pull, split, and the five style steps or the four directions and center. So, no matter how you concoct the name, the form is still only going to be a combination of "The Original Thirteen Forms."

In my Chi Kung training, I've used "The Condensing Principle" to condense all the material into something that makes sense, and that can save the student years of struggle. Four standing forms in Basic Path Training and "6 Forms and 7 Circulations" otherwise known as "The Sitting Forms with the Mind Training" is the result. More important than the Chi pathways used during the movements is the specific emotion that becomes associated with that movement for each student. They get angry with one movement, they laugh with another, get depressed or excited with another. The forms initiate a real, observable cleansing process, what I call "Retracing/Releasing." For example, if a student has a history of physical violence and was abused as a child, when practicing "The Sitting Forms with the Mind Training," they get in touch with the emotional trace of that experience held in the body tissues by the Jing Chi "burning" it out. Such a history manifests in bursts of crying with one form, anger with another. Its different for each person. So when the material base for the emotion is destroyed and the emotion is reexperienced, they release this pent-up energy. They set themselves free of the past and come to live more "in the moment." A new, clearer vision develops. "The Sitting Forms with the Mind Training," especially help "burn" the way through whatever trace is holding back their development, whether it's in muscle tissue, nerve tissue, Chi tracts, psychic blockages, whatever. This is the "secret" Taoist process called "transmutation of energies."

Chi Kung is such a great system of meditation, and coupled with Tai Chi, its the ultimate. I'd say it's the "Grand Ultimate." (Tai Chi Ch'uan is translated as Grand Ultimate Boxing. Ed.)

IKF: In most meditation the mind is calmed and it simply registers the flux of consciousness to naturally reach a state of pure awareness for eventual union with the absolute. In Chi Kung however, the mind seems to be very active and directed. GJC: It's active, but it's also concentrated, that is, focused. The mind is active only in the sense of "guiding the Chi," not thinking. This is called "Hsing Chi" and it means "wherever the mind goes, the Chi follows." Most meditation restricts awareness to mantra, a mandala, a chant, or the breathing. Most articles treat Chi Kung as a form of visualization - wrong! This is not. My concept of visualization is something created in imagination, something not existing, or not yet existing, like in the method of Creative Visualization. In Chi Kung you're not visualizing Chi condensing, circulating, or dispersing through the use of images, you are actually doing it, physically.

The proof is that you can feel the forewarned effects, and later, the personal power is there and you feel it. When using Tai Chi in a martial application, someone else feels it. This is not like other meditation systems in which consciousness is worked at the expense of the body. In the Taoist view, there is an innate wholistic union of Chi, Jing, and Shen. Whenever one is being exercised, the other two are right there getting worked also. The Taoists wanted us to develop all our innate capacities so we could experience the joys of living here on earth for as long as possible. In Chi Kung, the person develops as a total unit, more fit for living.

IKF: You've talked about Jing and Chi, the basic concept of condensing, and a few other techniques, where does Shen, the third "Treasure," fit in?

GJC: Well, how do you take all this, the whole system of Chi Kung, and use it in your daily life? That's what Shen is about. When you develop the personal power of Jing you have to express this excess of vitality in some way. Since you've released latent Jing energy stored in armored muscles, tendons, and ligaments and added it to your pool of retained sexual energy, you're no longer a composite of everything that's happened to you in the past. You become "in the moment." You're not distracted by what happened last week, or six months ago. Now you can focus all the energy that you are on something new, on new goals, on a new direction for yourself. What I see in my classes is my students and clients developing the ability to recognize events for what they are. They make decisions more quickly and confidently. Their lives become simpler, less cluttered with emotional baggage, and the fear of doing new things disappears.

The cultivated Jing manifests in their physical presence and awareness, the Chi, in their ability to think more clearly, to make up their minds and not be distracted. The Shen is their ability to "follow through" on what they've decided upon. "Shen is the way you can manipulate your universe to be what you want it to be. Its your outlook on life - the way you work in the world." That's my understanding of the "Three Treasures." It grew out of my Kung Fu training, not out of the philosophy books.

IKF: Give me an idea of the energy paths your students use in your PERSONAL POWER TRAININGx.

GJC: "Basic Path Training" makes use of the basic forms from my Temple Style Tai Chi System. This is a non-moving standing meditation where the Condensing Principle is integrated into Upward and Downward, Inward and Outward, Holding Tai Chi Ball, and Raised Hands and Stance. In The Sitting Forms with the Mind Training, they learn the 'well points' for drawing in and releasing Chi, how to circulate along the Chi pathways, The Micro Cosmic Orbit, and the seven subtle tao yin forms. Breath training exposes them to the different breathing methods, and sphincter training helps the student comprehend how to pump Jing, and it prepares them for the advanced Taoist Sexual Technique. And Tai Chi Chi Kung is another advanced course where all basic concepts and techniques come together using moving Tai Chi forms. Many students then decide to take my Temple Style Tai Chi and over a longer period learn the principles of proper body mechanics, how to transfer Jing, and of course my favorite, self-defense.

IKF: Isn't Chi Kung usually taught as part of Tai Chi training? At least isn't that the martial arts tradition?

GJC: Yes. But in my Tai Chi classes I was rarely able to teach this to any of my Tai Chi students - they had to be around for two or three years first and complete the Tai Chi System. The chances of a student surviving my Tai Chi system was about two in a thousand. The training I give is like being in a monastery. It's as if you signed yourself up for five or six years in Taiwan or China and said: "don't let me out until my time is up." This is the intensity of how I teach in Chicago. So to share these secret oral teachings, and to help people with physical or emotional problems take an active role in their own well-being, I've set up the training so I can take someone with no background in internal kung Fu, and I teach them the basic concepts of Chi Kung, the basic techniques, and the practical application for modern, high-intensity living. When they work hard, they receive the personal power benefits of Chi Kung, as if they had studied Tai Chi for ten years. Traditionally, Chi Kung was taught only as an extension of Tai Chi training, only after however long the teacher wants to keep the student on the hook. If the teacher even knows Chi Kung, that is. I'm not doing that. This material is too valuable to keep a secret any longer.

IKF: The basic premise of your work then is that Chi Kung and Tai Chi offer a comprehensive program for optimal health?

GJC: Right! But it even goes beyond that and introduces the element of longevity into the students life. All we've discussed thus far is part of the Taoism Nei Tan program of internal transformation, what I call PERSONAL POWER TRAINING.

Natural diet is important too. It's from our food and air that we receive the Jing and Chi components to manufacture new raw Jing energy for later cultivation in Chi Kung. The more pure and balanced the diet, the better the Jing production. That means basically a macrobiotic diet of grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits. Scientific research is showing that a low-fat, high complex carbohydrate diet like this can zap degenerative diseases and extend the life-span. Even here the Taoists had another trick up their sleeves. Their Wai Tan program of external elixirs was an attempt to create anti-aging medicines so they could experience life with the intensity of the Hsien Immortal - "to fly on the clouds," as Chuang Tzu said. This idea, that certain chemicals could extend our life-span, lives today in gerontology research labs. Scientists like Leonard Hayflick and Roy Walford have written that using vitamin and mineral supplements to neutralize cellular oxidants may be the best method to retard aging and extend the life-span to 120 years. Not quite enough time to become a Hsien Immortal, but good enough for we modern city folk!

IKF: So, as a wholistic health practitioner you've found that changing to a natural diet is pretty important for creating more energy and power in a person's life?

GJC: Of course, but since our farm soils are so over used and crops are force-fed with growth-stimulating fertilizers, its not enough to rely on just the nutrients in foods to supply the needs of a modern people. What's needed is a reliable quick method to check our low energy states and the deficient nutrients that may be responsible. Only then can a wise choice be made in choosing "the right supplements," if they are needed. And its just here again that the Taoists and acupuncturists were close on the track of how to monitor out own nutrition. The acupuncture tracts and their Chi circulation can now be tested using Applied Kinesiology, or muscle response testing, to discover low levels of molecular vibration and the corresponding nutrient deficits. We're all heirs to this tradition and its modern application. If the ancient Taoists are up there" flying on the clouds." I'm sure their earthly pleasure of pride is in full bloom. May they live forever!

To order videos: FOUNDATION FUNDAMENTALS - Temple Style Tai Chi Ch'uan and/or TIDAL WAVE CHI KUNG by credit card, use the order form on my home page or call my 24 Hour Voice Mail Energy Hot Line at (800) 7 TAI-CHI = (800) 782-4244 and I will call you back to confirm your order information.

c 1987 Gary J. Clyman