XINGYIQUAN, TAIJIQUAN AND SHAOLIN KUNGFU
Black Tiger Steals Heart of Shaolin Kungfu
Question
Would attending the Tai Chi Chuan Intensive course or Hsing Yi course detract my focus of going deeper in Shaolin Kung Fu in any way?
— Sifu Claudien Scicluna, Malta
Answer
For other people, yes; for us, no.In other words, for other people, if they also practice Taijiquan or Xingyiquan besides Shaolin Kungfu, their result will be less than if they only practice Shaolin Kungfu. For us if we also practice Taijiquan or Xingyiquan besides practicing Shaolin Kungfu, our result will be more than if we only practice Shaolin Kungfu. The increase in benefit is not slight, it can be a lot.
Why is it that for other people, practicing another art will detract from their main art, whereas for us it will enhance?
It is because we can benefit from breadth and depth, whereas for other people the different arts cancel each other's benefits.
Why is this so? The main reason is chi flow. There are other reasons like we understand the underlying philosophy, have basic skills, are flexible and have positive transfer, whereas other people don't.
Let us take a very simple example. In Xingyiquan the Santi or Three-Body Stance is frequently used. It is somewhere between the Bow-Arrow Stance and the False-Leg Stance.
In our case, this extra stance is an advantage. When the situation warrants it, we may use a Santi Stance in a Shaolin pattern instead of its normal Bow-Arrow Stance. For other people, this stance becomes a distraction. It may affect their Bow-Arrow Stance that its form may not be perfect resulting in setbacks.
Let us take another example. In executing a right Black Tiger Steals Heart in a left Bow-Arrow Stance, our spiral force shoots out from our dan tian in a clockwise direction. In Xingyiquan when executing a right spiral punch in a right Santi Stance, the spiral force shoots out from the dan tian in an anticlockwise direction.
For us, because we understanding the underlying principle and are skilled in mind and energy, this new experience adds to our ability in exploding spiral force. It makes our spiral force alive. For other people who do not understand the underlying principle and who attained spiral force by sheer practice of techniques over a long time, this reverse flow of energy and movement would confuse them, making them less able to explode spiral force.
Serpent Spirals through Water of Xingyiquan
LINKS
The question and answer will be posted in the Question-Answer Series, but due to a long waiting list will only appeal in the December 2013 Part 1 issue.