HARMONIOUS CHI HAS A PLACE EVERYWHERE, AND INTERNAL FORCE IS REAL

Iron Shirt

An old picture showing Sifu Wong Yin Tat demonstrating Iron Shirt

The following discussion is reproduced from the thread What is Genuine, Traditional Taijiquan? started in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum on 5th June 2006.

"It is interesting how a simple statement can clearly reveal a person's experience (or lack thereof) with internal force."

-- Sifu Anthony Korahais

Yeniseri
A chi kung teacher
USA
20th June 2006

Fighting is animal style; no tai ji pajama movie gracefulness

Robin,

All your points are excellent but I have never been graceful in any encounter and hope I will never be when confronted with street thugs because that is their modus operandi.

Chi or internal force does not work in this scanario but it does work with cooperative students in a school setting. Nothing is wrong with that because people like it so!

Harmonious chi has no place in the street because ultimately the other has a weapon. I personally will not be there or I will run like hell but I cannot outrun a bullit. The only harmonious signal is my feet and my mind working together to get me out of dodge! as they say.

I acknowledge Wahnam Taijiquan is the best but just stating my view. I do acknowledge that real taijiquan gives one clarity and mental cultivation!

Andrew Barnett Sifu Andrew Barnett
Instructor, Shaolin Wahnam Switzerland
21st June 2006

Originally Posted by yeniseri:
"All your points are excellent but I have nevr been graceful in any encounter and hope I will never be when confronted with street thugs because that is their modus operandi."

I am sad to read this. It means you feel you must lower yourself to the level of your attackers in order to survive.

Originally Posted by yeniseri:
"Chi or internal force does not work in this scanario but it does work with cooperative students in a school setting."

You admit that you have no experience of chi and internal force yet make such a sweeping (and incorrect) statement. I wonder why.

Originally Posted by yeniseri:
"Harmonious chi has no place in the street because ultimately the other has a weapon."

Again a completely incorrect statement.

Harmonious chi has a place everywhere and in every situation.

If your chi is flowing harmoniously you have one of the basic ingredients for health, vitality and mental clarity. Mental clarity, in particular, together with internal force (also needs harmonious chi flow for optimum usage) are key for combat efficiency, correct judgement, timing, spacing, etc. And you say this has no place in the street.

Andrew
__________________
Andrew Barnett
Shaolin Wahnam Switzerland
http://www.shaolin-wahnam.ch/

Chi Kung, Qigong

In our school, Shaolin Wahnam, even beginners experience chi

Anthony Korahais Sifu Anthony Korahais
Instructor, Shaolin Wahnam USA
21st June 2006

It is interesting how a simple statement can clearly reveal a person's experience (or lack thereof) with internal force. Yeniseri's statements in this thread make it clear that he has no experience with internal force. Similarly, some of the statements that Paul (Kaitain) made earlier were also revealing. Here are two examples from Yeniseri's posts:

Originally Posted by yeniseri:
"Chi or internal force does not work in this scanario but it does work with cooperative students in a school setting."

Originally Posted by yeniseri:
"it was stated that 'A true internal martial arts master at 60 years old would be much more powerful than when he was 30' but this is not so. Power in IMA is either overestimated and underestimated in that a skillful master uses the momentum of the other as opposed to 'power' (perhaps use of the word power is just semantics!)."

Chi and internal force are often mentioned in kung fu schools, particularly Taijiquan schools. Sadly, many schools have little or no experience of them.

Some of these people, including instructors, may have spent years searching for a genuine experience of chi or internal force. After spending 10 or 20 years searching, they eventually conclude that "chi" and "internal force" are just poetic Chinese phrases to describe body mechanics and blood flow.

We are so lucky. In Shaolin Wahnam, all of us, even beginners, experience chi and internal force.

To us, these are not just poetic phrases. I have described my own personal experiences with internal forece many times on this forum. And my experience are by no means unusual. If anything, they are the norm in Shaolin Wahnam.

Interestingly, Sifu recently released a video taken about 25 years ago showing Wong Yin Tat demonstrating Iron Shirt. If you watch the video, you can see Lek Por striking Yin Tat with several flying kicks, in addition to others striking him with punches and regular kicks.

Among all the strikes in the video, the flying kicks are significant. Flying kicks are among the most powerful techniques that can be performed without internal force because they land with the person's full weight, momentum, and body force. Flying kicks like the ones Lek Por uses in the video might break an ordinary person's back, but Yin Tat was not injured at all.

The significance of the flying kicks goes even further. Skeptics watching the video (including instructors who talk about internal force but have no experience of it) can argue that the punches are being pulled. Of course, they are not being pulled, but this is hard to see in a video, especially an old one.

However, there is no way to pull a flying kick. It either hits, or it misses. And you can clearly see Yin Tat's body being hit violently by the flying kicks. These details are important. What you are seeing in this video is a genuine demonstration of Iron Shirt (which is quite different than the demonstrations often shown by the modern Shaolin wushu monks).

Internal force is real.

It is not a poetic way to describe body mechanics or blood flow. Nor is it a "lost skill" as Yeniseri suggested. It is very much alive in Shaolin Wahnam. I would suggest that students of Shaolin Wahnam take a moment during their next practice session to express gratitude towards our past masters, particularly Sifu Wong, for helping us to find what others have not found even with 10 or 20 years of searching.


__________________
Anthony Korahais
Shaolin Wahnam, Florida
Website: http://www.FlowingZen.com
YouTube: http://www.YouTube.com/FlowingZen
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What is Genuine, Traditional Taijiquan?

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