SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
DECEMBER 2020 PART 1
When you perform a kungfu set you move about
Question 1
This is very good, as I think that I will finish these projects by the end of the month! This is no small feat, since I have been working on them for YEARS!
— Brian, USA
Answer
Congratulations, you have done very well.You have become very efficient, and you enjoy your work. What your work might take years, now you can finish it in a month!
If a person is distracted, he will do better if he is focused. If he is tensed, he will do better if he is relaxed. If he has no internal force, he will do better when he has internal force. If he has no mental clarity, he will do better when he has mental clarity. You have all these -- being focused, being relaxed, have internal force and have mental clarity.
Because of exponential progression, it is not 4 times better, but 16 times better. In other words, you are now 16 times better than before you learned chi kung and kungfu from Shaolin Wahnam, and 16 times better than most other ordinary people.
Question 2
I'm not sure what to say as there doesn't seem to be any improvement this week. Days are up and down. Some days it is better, other days it is worse.
Answer
Healing takes time. If someone can heal over-night, it is bad for him; it will throw all other organs besides the diseased one out of order.
It is best to perform the art according to how it is taught
Question 3
I have practiced this in many different ways, standing, sitting, and lying. I have found the easiest is actually standing. Do you have thoughts on this, Sifu?
Answer
Different positions -- like standing, sitting, lying and moving about -- depend on different situations. It is best to practice the art according to how it is taught. Our arts have gone through a period of time and have become established.
When you practice a kungfu set, you move about. When you flick your fingers in Sinew Metamorphosis, you stand. When you practice meditation, you sit. When you sleep at night, you lie in your bed. People who are weak or sick, may sit or lie down.
Question 4
Would you rank the dissolution of the "observer" at 8th meditative level, i.e. "Beyond perception and non-perception"?
— Sifu Leonard Lackinger, Shaolin Wahnam Austria
Answer
I am conservative in my estimate of "Si Chan Pa Ding", or "Four Zen Eight Stillness", which are:
1. Absence of desires.
2. Joy.
3. Non-attachment.
4. Awareness beyond thought.
5. Boundless space.
6. Pure consciousness.
7. Pure emptiness.
8. Beyond perception and non-perception.
I would estimate "the observer" at the first stage of spiritual development, that is absence of desire, which is by itself very high.
"Si Chan Pa Ding", or "Four Zen Eight Stillness", is very high spiritually. Even monk who spends time professionally cultivating spiritually in a temple may not reach this very high level of spiritual cultivation. For example, those who like to eat the new type of vegetarian food, like the type you can get in Penang, has not reached this very high level. They enjoy eating the new type of vegetarian good; they are still not free from desires. Although this new type of vegetarian food is purely made from vegetables, they look and taste like meat.
We in Shaolin Wahnam are not a spiritual centre. We are given this phenomenal life, and we want to make the best of this phenomenal life. Hence we do not pay much attention to meditation, which is the training of mind or spirit, but we pay much attention to chi kung and kungfu as they give us good heath, vitality, longevity, peak performance and spiritual joys. Good heath, vitality, longevity, peak performance and spiritual joys, which are the aims of Shaolin Wahnam, enrich our phenomenal life.
"Prescious Duck Swims through Lotus", a pattern from Four Gates.
Question 5
When you learnt from sitaigung how did your development look like? For example, did you practice Four Gates for a few months and then move on to something else? And did your home practice consist of many different things or did you only focus on the skills sitaigung was teaching at that time?
— Miguel, Netherlands
Answer
Please remember that a Shaolin Wahnam student takes only one month to attain what I did in one year when I was a student. You must guard against over-training.
Remember also that my courses are very intensive. We achieve in a few hours what would normally take years. My courses are different from regular classes you practice with your sifu.
I presume you referred to my sifu, Sifu Ho Fatt Nam.
My kungfu development took a long time. But I was much faster than most other students not in Shaolin Wahnam. Mine was more on practicing. Those who attended my courses were more on learning. Students in my courses took only a few hours to learn what it would take years to practice.
My focus was on internal force and combat application. Most schools today focus on learning kungfu sets.
I can't remember how long it took me to learn Four Gates. Perhaps it was a few months, but I used techniques from Four Gates for combat throughout my time with my sifu. Sometimes I used techniques from the Shaolin Pakua Set.
I mainly focused on the skills my sifu was teaching at that time. I remember that when I learned Seven Stars I had to jump about for months. Looking back I realized that was kungfu. It gave me much agility, both physically and intellectually.
Question 6
Is it possible to perform my One-Finger Shooting Zen immediately after my Golden Bridge or should I separate each session?
Answer
One-Finger Shooting Zen and Golden Bridge are both very powerful. You should practice them separately.
Another very powerful exercise is Sinew Metamorphosis. You should do only 1 out of the 12 exercises. If you flick your fingers for only 5 minutes, for example, you can develop a lot of internal force.
Lifting Water
Question 7
I have noticed that every time I try to increase my internal force training, I can do so for 2-3 months, but then I start having over-cleansing symptoms and I have to take a break on the internal force exercises. When I do, the symptoms go away usually in a week or two.
But because of this, my internal force training is irregular. I can practice Three Circle Stance or Golden Bridge about two times a week without starting to over-cleanse.
I also have to keep the time in the stances under 10 minutes.
— Sifu Nessa Kahila, Shaolin Wahnam Finland
Answer
Remember that a typical Shaolin Wahnam student can gain in one month what I would need one year in my student's days. You are not an ordinary Shaolin Wahnam student, you are a Shaolin Wahnam instructor.
You are already powerful even if you did not train.
A good way is to practice about 30% of your potential. This is not easy, but you have to do it if you train everyday and do not want to over-train. Spend more time on chi flow and combat application than on Three-Circle Stance or Golden Bridge.
If we practice for 10 minutes, it is better than others who practice for an hour. Most people do not practice correctly. They tense and think of myriad thoughts. Other people may not like what I have said, but that is their problem, not ours. I just state the truth.
Question 8
I remember that once in Malaysia you told me that Lifting Water would be the best internal force exercise for me. Because of that, I have mostly practiced it. Could it be that for some reason the flowing internal force exercise suit me best? Is it enough to practice only the flowing internal force exercises to develop enough internal force for combat?
Answer
"Lifting Water" is good for you because it is flowing. It also consolidates, but the flowing aspect is more.
It is enough to practice just flowing internal force for combat. Most people do not have any internal force, though some of them may perform the techniques of internal force correctly. They do not have the skills. They merely perform physical exercise. They also tense their muscles.
It is good to remind ourselves that internal force is not just for martial arts or sports. It is for our daily life. Internal force gives good health, vitality, longevity, peak performance and spiritual joys.
Let us compare a person with internal force and another person without internal force. The one with internal force will be healthier, have more vitality, live a longer life, can perform his tasks better, and be more peaceful and happier. I am now more than 70, and I have good health, full of vitality, longevity, enjoy my daily work, and am peaceful and happy every day. I owe this much to my internal force.
Question 9
I enjoy my practice and teaching kungfu very much.
Answer
It is great that you enjoy practicing and teaching kungfu. I have discovered that it is true that when you are accomplished in genuine Shaolin arts, it is better than changing stones to gold by touch. At first I thought it was an exaggeration. Much of it is due to your internal force.
If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at stating your name, country and e-mail address.
LINKS
Selected Reading
- Cross Roads at Four Gates
- Some Applications of Dragon-Tiger Set
- Memorable Tai Chi Chuan Training with Sifu Wong
- You Show Me the Smile in my Heat
- Across the Apalachain