SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
JUNE 2011 PART 2
Chinese Medicine uses a different paradigm from that of Western Medicine
Question 1
Dear Sigung
I sent you an email expressing that my wife and I were quite worried regarding the development of our youngest daughter. You were so kind to look after her in my Sifu's kwoon and treated her by releasing some major blockages.
You showed us how to continue your treatment with our own chi treatment which I am doing in the morning and the evening and my wife once a day in the afternoon. My wife and I were both very happy and optimistic that with your treatment and advice given, we would be able to overcome our worries and our daughter's developmental deficits.
Unfortunately this changed all of a sudden when my wife and I got the result of a genetic test which we had a few weeks before you met with our little one. The test had been suggested by western doctors who had difficulties to give a clear diagnosis why our daughter was not developing in a normal way with the intention to exclude any major genetic deficit.
Just 3 weeks ago we received a result which changed our life. Our beloved daughter has a genetic disorder called Rett-syndrome. Rett-syndrome is a neuro developmental disorder of the grey matter of the brain that affects girls almost exclusively.
While I have always continued to treat our daughter as you suggested, my wife and I really don't know what to do and how to cope with this diagnosis. We never thought of having a child who can't speak and who most likely will not be able to walk if one accepts the diagnosis. Therefore, my wife and I both strongly felt that we needed to liaise with you to get your perspective and guidance.
We would be very happy to hear from you and would do whatever you suggest for our little daughter. We could come to Malaysia to visit you if you deem appropriate.
— Mark, Germany
Answer
You need not be disappointed with the Western diagnosis. In fact it is quite expected. If there is a cure in Western medicine, it is often faster than chi kung therapy or other Chinese medical treatment. In most cases, if not all, it is precisely when Western medicine does not prove helpful that patients turn to chi kung healing and other branches of Chinese medicine.
Western medicine and Chinese medicine use different paradigms. It is important to note that a paradigm is not a set of absulute truths, but a particular way of viewing things. But often people are so used to a certain paradigm that they forget that it is only a particular way to view things.
Fo example, we classify food into proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins. We are so used to this paradigm that people often forget that it is not an absolute truth that food must be classify this way. The traditional Chinese and the traditional Indians, for example, classify food differently. Generally they classify food into hot food and cold food. They know nothing about proteins and vitamins. Yet, when they take what Westerners call proteins into their stomach, they digest the proteins too, though they may never have heard about proteins.
In the same way, diagnosing your daughter's disease as a genetic disorder called Rett-syndrome is a Western medical paradigm, a particular way of looking at things from the perspective of Western doctors. There are also other ways of looking at the same things. In the Chinese medical paradigm, your daughter's disorder would not be called Rett-syndrome.
Depending on the diagnosis by Chinese doctors, the disease may be called by different terms, but ultimately it is called yin-yang disharmony. Yin-yang disharmony is a Chinese medical jargon which means a patient's natural processes are not working harmoniously to adjust to constantly changing conditions. It is due to energy blockage, another jargon which means that the energy that works the natural processes is prevented from doing its work. If the blockage is cleared, and the energy flow restored, the patient would overcome the disease.
There are various ways to clear energy blockage, such as using chi kung therapy, herbs and acupuncture. In your daughter's case, it would be better to use acupuncture, but of course she must be treated by a very good acupuncturist. Instead of coming to Malaysia to consult me, I would suggest you consult a very good acupuncturist, Ho Kok Cheong, who is my sifu's (or teacher's) eldest son, in which case you would address him as Sisookgung, which means "kungfu grand-uncle". His e-mail address is hoomedical@gmail.com. He was in Frankfurt recently, invited by your Sifu. Perhaps you may have met him already.
I suggest you write to him directly. Hence I am copying this e-mail to him so that he has some background information. Of course no one can guarantee a cure, but at least according to the paradigm your Sisookgung is using, your daughter has a chance to be cured.
Question 2
I have read the Ten Shaolin Laws and agree that they do not conflict with my Christian belief.
— Alphonsus, Indonesia
Editorial Note: Alphonsus' other questions are found in theJune 2011 Part 1 issue of the Question-Answer Series.
Answer
The Ten Shaolin Laws can be rewardingly practiced by people of any religion. They form the base of our moral training.
When you practice genuine Taijiquan, you develop internal force in the learning process itself. Performing "Grasping Sparrow's Tail" as shown by Grandmaster Wong above, for example, will develop internal force.
Question 3
For my medium term program (6-18 months) I would like to build up sufficient internal force to do Taiji Chen style properly. Thinking of doing: tui shuo after 6 months. Therefore, I would be able to do martial art sparring as Master Wong repeatedly suggests in your books.
Answer
You don't have to build up internal force first, then practice Taijiquan. Practicing Taijiquan itself is a process of internal force training.
Here, we are speaking about genuine Taijiquan, where force training and combat application are integral aspects of its practice. Today, most people practice only external Taijiquan forms, without any training in internal force and combat.
Question 4
How much time would be needed for Master Wong to verify what I do (correct stance, or proper meditation posture, etc.) or to change what I do given my long term objective?
Answer
To realize the aims and objectives you have mentioned, you just need to attend my Intensive Chi Kung Course or Intensive Taijiquan Course, and return home to practice on your own. What you need to practice is quite different from what you have described in your self-training.
You don't have to practice for hours, as you are doing now. For chi kung, you need to practice only about 15 minutes per session, two sessions a day. For Taijiquan you need to practice for about an hour a day. If you like, you may add another hour of Taijiquan, which includes chi kung. This will give you a lot more time for yourself, your family and your work and play. The arts we practice should enrich our life; we should not enslave ourselves to the arts.
You will be very surprised to find that after attending either course, by spending less time on fewer exercises you can get many times more beneftis than what you have been doing. You will find that after having learnt from me, spending just 10 minutes in Three-Circle Stance or Standing Meditation will give you more internal force and mental clarity than you have been doing with 40 minutes of stance training or meditation. It may sound too good to be true, but you can easily test it out at the course itself! In other words, you don't even have to practice for a few months, not even a few weeks, to find out whether internal force is real. You can find out at my three-day chi kung course or five-day Taijiquan course itself.
Sifu Riccardo Salvatore and Grandmaster Wong demonstrate some combat application at an Intensive Taijiquan Course
Question 5
When could I see Master Wong soonest?
Answer
See me at my Intensive Chi Kung Course or Intensive Taijiquan Course -- if your application is accepted. I offer the Intensive Chi Kung Course about 2 or 3 times a year. Please see my website for availbale dates, and apply to my Secretary for acceptance.
I offer the Intensive Taijiquan Course only when there are many people request for it. You may write to my Secretary to be placed in a waiting list, as well as express your interest in our Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum to see if there are many others interested too.
Question 6
What would be the cost involved?
Answer
The fee for the Intensive Chi Kung Course is 1000 euros, and for the Intensive Taijiquan Course is 1500 euros. You also pay for your own food, accommodation and transport.
Students enjoying inner peace during Standing Meditation at an Intensive Chi Kung Course
Question 7
I notice that "Lifting the Sky" and "Carry the Moon" takes the "yi" to lead the chi to either hand or feet. I am concerned that my chi is not sufficiently developed and doing that kind of exercise would weaken my internal force or injure my chi.
Answer
Your concept is mistaken. If your practice is correct, when chi flows to your hands or any parts of your body, or even out of your body, it does not mean that some parts of your body are drained off this amount of chi. Chi will flow in from the Cosmos to replace this amount, with the result that you have more chi than when you started. That is why after an hour or more of vigorous sparring, our students are not only not tired and not panting for breaths, they actually are more energized.
However, if your practice is wrong, then some chi is drained from other parts of your body to your hands. If this is excessive or prolonged, it may cause much harm. The two main factors for wrong practice are mental stress and physical tension. Hence, if you intellectualize during your practice, or tense your muscles, you experience a drain of energy instead of a flow, resulting in you becoming tired after the exercise.
Question 8
To support my long term program, I would like to meet Master Wong every 3-4 months for the next five years to evaluate progress.
Answer
A good way is to repeat my Intensive Chi Kung Course or Intensive Taijiquan Course. You will not just have your practice evaluated, but also remarkably improve your skills, which are more important than techniques in your progress.
Some people may wonder why they should repeat a course that they learned before. The answer is simple. They will benefit more than the previous time they took the "same" course. In fact, although the material taught may be the same, they will find the "same" course very different the next time they take it again. This may sound odd to some people, but it is true.
What you think you should practice is typical of what someone reading from books would do. Actually what a living master would teach you and what you would practice under his guidance is very different, even when the desired results are the same. And if you learn from us in Shaolin Wahnam, it is also very different from what other masters would teach you. You will get the same results in much shorter time, and in a more pleasant way too. You may find it hard to believe, and others may think us boastful, but again it is true.
LINKS
Selected Reading
- I Dance, I Enjoy, I Live
- Learning from a Master has No Comparson
- Bull-Shit in Chinese Martial Art?
- Carry Tiger Back to Mountain
- Free Sparring Galore