FORCE TRAINING IN CHOY-LI-FATT
Grandmaster Wong demonstrating a Choy-Li-Fatt pattern
Question
It seems that waist rotation is an important part of Choy Li Fatt mechanics. Could a Choy Li Fatt specialist use the form of Choy Li Fatt to develop internal force, as Taijiquan practicioners do, without relying on a separate set of force training techniques as in other styles?
-- Sifu Mark Blohm
Answer
Yes, waist rotation is very important in Choy-Li-Fatt, without which it would not be fast and agile which is especially necessary in mass fighting.
However, Choy-Li-Fatt practitioners do not use their form, including waist rotation, to develop internal force. The key to internal force training is chi, usually induced by methodical breathing, as expressed in the kungfu saying "noi lin yit hou hei" (Cantonese), which means "internal cultivation is based on breathing". Choy-Li-Fatt practitioners normally do not pay much attention to this chi aspect.
Hence, a separate set of internal force training methods is needed. Internal force training in Choy-Li-Fatt is the prerogative of masters; students seldom have this opportunity. What is commonly used is a set of triple-stretch movements, similar to those in our Triple-Stretch Set and Flower Set. However, most Choy-Li-Fatt practitioners merely perform the external form, missing the inner essence.
Those who still have access to classical methods use the Eighteen-Lohan Art. This is rare today. I have found only one Choy-Li-Fatt master in south China teaching this method. The exercises in his system, however, are different from those of our Eighteen-Lohan Art.
Most Choy-Li-Fatt practitioners use external methods for force training, like hitting sandbags and wooden men, and using traditional stone-locks or modern dumb-bells. Over many years of training, the external force of some Choy-Li-Fatt masters has become internal.
In our Choy-Li-Fatt course at the 2012 Winter Camp, we shall have a comprehensive introduction to Choy-Li-Fatt force training, including using triple-stretch, selected exercises from the Eighteen-Lohan Art and modern dumb-bells.
-- Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit
The Eighteen-Lohan Art is a secret force training method in Choy-Li-Fatt
The above is reproduced from the thread
20 Questions for Grandmaster: Choy-Li-Fatt and Kungfu against Other Styles
in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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