THE SECRETS ARE FOUND IN THE BASICS
Combat Sequence 1, beloved by many people in Shaolin Wahnam, is both simple and profound. It consists of only two patterns, "Single Tiger Emerges from Cave" and "Black Tiger Steals Heart", but contains many kungfu secrets.
The following discussion is reproduced from the thread Dispelling Ignorance and Restoring the Glory of Kungfu started in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum on 15th April 2006.
Adam Kryder
Shaolin Wahnam USA
11th May 2006
Originally Posted by Ronan
Here's a simple form you can experiment with – punching at Horse-Riding Stance. The form is performed as follows. Move into the Horse-Riding Stance and punch out with a level fist. I would like to invite forum members to suggest what secrets we can find in the application of this form. If no one sugeests anythinig then I'll just carry on with my next point but it would be interesting to many people to have a glimpse at the depth of such a simple pattern.
I dont know about secrets but I can
share an experience.
After practicing this simple form I found a couple of strong points.
1. My gastrointestinal system went crazy and soon much pressure was released
2. I am a person who has had struggles with relaxing in practice. This simple pattern let me find silence, find my root, and dantian, and focus on the punch as a complete unit of force. As a result
I became incredibly relaxed, confindent, and centered
. This then transferred into my sequence training and I felt every movement was much more solid, focused and flowing.
3. After my session ended, I went to a social function and the attitude and manifestations of my practice session were present throughout.
Further thoughts:
I am a firm believer and someone who has experienced that much of our human potential both known and unknown is found in our
"silence".
This simple pattern lent me that silence and furthermore. I was able to apply it in many ways, during my training session and after.
There is a saying in Chinese.
一言有尽， 而意无穷。
yi yan you jin, er yi wu qiong.
translated
--> One word may be exausted, but its meaning is of infinite proportion. Or in the context of kung fu,
One pattern may be exausted, but its applications are infininte.
Often I find this saying relavant to our training in Shaolin Wahnam or any other genuine system of Art.
Thank you "Rugged Brother" for sharing the silk thread!
Best WIshes ,
Adam
Sifu Ronan Sexton
Instructor, Shaolin Wahnam England
17th May 2006
Those were good results Adam, just from practicing the solo form of one pattern! Understandably many people wouldn't believe this until they experienced it, which is why I asked anyone interested to do the experiment themselves rather than simply reading our words here.
As you only had one pattern to practice it was easier to work on
developing skills
, like relaxation, focus, breathing, correct form, force and intent (or jing, chi and shen). And as you said, these skills can then be applied in the rest of your training.
These are Kungfu
"secrets"
, even though the information is available to the public, not many people actually apply it to their training, therefore your training partner (who doesn't apply these principals in his practice) may be shocked at your progress compared to his and ask you what your "secret" is.
There are many more important skills we can learn from just this one simple pattern
. Another example can be found in the huge variations of application in combat. Once you are reasonably competant in the solo form and have some spacing and timing skills you can try this in your sparring. As your opponent moves in to attack you, move diagonally sideways into a Horse-Riding Stance and simultaneously strike him with a level punch. The groin is purposely left exposed as a trick. If he kicks at your groin, move one leg backward and strike the kicking leg with a hanging fist, followed by moving forward to strike him again. As you anticipate the kick you'll be faster and more effective at dealing with it and if it doesn't come you can simply press the attack.
This is just one of many various ways to deliver this simple pattern in sparring but as you can see, with the appropriate skills it could be enough to win a fight. You may only need this one pattern! Thankfully there are many patterns in Shaolin Kungfu with unlimited variables so we're never short on choices, but this shouldn't entice us to just breeze over all of them. As Adam pointed out,
spending some time on developing skills in just one pattern will carry over to other patterns.
This is one of the great secrets of the Masters,
"the secrets are found in the basics"
. Someone with a big ego wouldn't be able to put much effort into the basics, they'd rather rush ahead to the complicated, "advanced" looking stuff and therefore they'd miss the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to apply their Kungfu effectively in combat.
Best wishes
Ronan
Tapio Raavaara
Shaolin Wahnam Finland
17th May 2006
Originally Posted by Antonius
"Or try this. Do "False Leg Hand Sweep" a few times with the correct hand posture. Then try it a few times with the thumb at a relaxed angle. Can you feel the difference? Can you feel how, with the thumb bent, the chi focuses at the knife-edge of the hand?"
Originally Posted by Antonius
"When I teach my students "White Snake Shoots Venom," I tell them not to put their thumb on the side of their hands the way they do with "False Leg Hand Sweep." Try this yourself. For "White Snake", the thumb comes underneath the palm a bit. But why?"
Dear Anthony Siheng,
Thank you for sharing this. Yesterday I tried both hand postures on both patterns, and was simply amazed. A year ago I'd have never believed that after little more than a half year's practise one would be able to fine tune his posture to such degree based on one's own feeling of energy flow.
What a magnificent art! Every single day I'm reminded to be grateful.
__________________
From the Heart
Grandmaster Wong demonstrates how internal force is channelled from the dan tian to the punch when "Black Tiger Steals Heart" is properly executed. Notice that the movement begins at the back leg, controlled by the waist and completed at the fist.
Adam Kryder
Shaolin Wahnam USA
17th May 2006
Originally Posted by Ronan
"There are many more important skills we can learn from just this one simple pattern. Another example can be found in the huge variations of application in combat. Once you are reasonably competant in the solo form and have some spacing and timing skills you can try this in your sparring."
This is just one of many various ways to deliver this simple pattern in sparring but as you can see, with the appropriate skills it could be enough to win a fight. You may only need this one pattern!
Thankfully there are many patterns in Shaolin Kungfu with unlimited variables so we're never short on choices, but this shouldn't entice us to just breeze over all of them."
I would like to pickup with a couple of points that I feel have relation to the spirit of the quotes above.
1.
Is the general spirit and intent of practice.
For me, from the begining to the present,
learning kung fu has been a tool I use to find liberation
-- o f the Body, Mind, and the Unknown.
As I am a huge fan of free jazz. (Don Cherry baby!) And in a discussion with a dear friend and Doctor of music I was discussing the topic of freejazz. Inside this discussion form and formlessness of musical expression was the prevading topic to which he exclaimed
"You must know the form to break the form."
I find that this has much relavancy to kung fu training or any other artistic expression.
The basics and their application are astoundingly profound
. I remember hearing at an intensive course that Sifu Ho Fatt Nam (correct me if I'm wrong) used the basic patten Black Tiger Steals Heart often as a preferred pattern.
(
Editorial Note
: It was Sifu Lai Chin Wah, whose specialized pattern "Black Tiger Steals Heart" earned him the enviable titile "Uncle Righteousness" in kungfu circles.)
The train of thought I am given to is: How did he use it?
I'll let that brew a little.
-------------------------------
2.
Another thing that came about from the intensive course was Sigung instructing us on
composing our own Combat Sequences for a Specific Purpose
. Again, Liberation.
Something I found very useful when going over defense against a knife or firearm with a colleague of mine. I soon found myself successfully utilizing a few basic patterns that were very effective. That is application of basics in Life or Death situations!
---------------------
3.
Intent and Purpose of Form/Pattern
I find of all the things that my practice of the Sets and patterns lend, the greatest benefit is the finding of a deep, calming inner silence. This, inner silence at its best transforms in the practicioner to a state I most often refer to as
Unbending Intent or Zen
.
Unbending intent, Zen and inner silence in my mind are a strong three of the many important aspects that leads a practicioner through intense situations. WHether in combat or other intense situations. This is basic, and may be found in the simplest of patterns and must be maintained throughout the rest.
My thought here is in relation to a quote I have often been reminded of.
" It is not that the warrior sees, or what the warrior sees. It is how the warrior
uses
what they see."
An explanable definition I believe to not be needed, instead what I urge is a practicioner to wonder, percieve and experience how one might use these basic patterns to experience Zen, and how might one
use
Zen and/or Unbending Intent both in everyday practice, unexpected combat, or any other challenge presented to us by our living. (All of the above situations usually not being as convienient as an open space in which most of us normally practice our combat: especially unexpected combat)
I relay this message in the spirit of
Liberation.
Best Wishes
Adam
Sifu Ronan Sexton
Instructor, Shaolin Wahnam England
23rd May 2006
Thanks for everyone's imput to this thread. It's our small contribution to restoring and spreading the Shaolin Arts to help all peoples of all nations.
I thought I'd leave it with a brief summary.
Some of those who talk about hiding forms or purposely performing at low-level to prevent others knowing their secrets may do so out of
ignorance
, but many do so to mislead their students or the general public with the intension of
appearing profound
.
What they don’t realize is that their mistaken or false statement indicates their lack of direct experience.
If they had direct experience, they'd know that the secrets of combat efficiency lie not in the forms but in their application – in combat and in force training as well as in daily living
.
But the
damage
they do to the genuine arts is far reaching, maybe more than they could imagine.
It encourages students to pursue their kungfu career by merely learning forms
, which actually serves the interest of these bogus masters, as teaching forms is often the only thing they do. Forms and repeating kungfu sayings which they've read but don't really understand due to their lack of direct experience. This just adds even more to the degradation of kungfu, which is already at a pathetic level.
Sifu has given all of us a precious gift by showing us a simple
criteria for a Master or good instructor. They must practice what they preach
. I recently saw an instructor teaching Chi Kung and the first thing I thought was "why would anyone want to learn Chi Kung from that guy?"
He was unhappy, unhealthy, angry, nervous, lacking energy and vitality and looked also very tense, which is simply ridiculous for a Chi Kung instructor. I though it was blindingly obvious to anyone that he didn't have the traits of a Chi Kung practitioner, let alone Master. Maybe he covered up this point by saying that the past descriptions of Chi Kung Masters were just poetic over exaggerations and that actually Chi Kung Masters are very dull and borring and unhappy. Either way he had plenty of students, most of whom displayed the same symptoms as him. I just couldn't understand it. It went against all logic.
Why go to someone and pay them money to make you unhealthy?
If he's healthy and happy and that's what we want then we would listen to him. But if he says he teaches an art to develope combat skills, freshness of mind and spirutual joy, yet he himself cannot fight, is unhealthy and not joyfull, then we have good reason to look somewhere else.
So it's simple really. For those of us who train these god given arts, If we love the art, we have a duty to preserve it. One efficient way is to
dispel ignorance.
With better understanding, you can avoid bogus teachers and learn from genuine ones, and help to
restore the past glory and greatness of kungfu
. More immediately, you will get real benefits from your own training and if you're a good student you may experience a joy and freedom in your life that you could never have imagined.
I wish everyone all the best in life and happiness
Ronan
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