THE SKILL OF STRIKING A BUFFALO BEYOND A MOUNTAIN IN COTTON PALM
Sifu Matt Fenton using Cosmos Palm to break the bottom of two bricks demonstrating the skill of "striking a buffalo beyond a mountain"
Question
What advice or general guidelines could you give to Cotton Palm practitioners if they eventually wished to train the skill of Striking a Buffalo Beyond a Mountain? How important would you consider this skill for attaining a high-level mastery in Kungfu?
How to recognize the stage of having enough force and skill with Cotton Palm so that a practitioner might set a candle or gong at a close distance and see whether he can extinguish or sound it respectively with reasonable expectations of success? What would be the choice patterns from the Wudang Cotton Palm set for this purpose?
How does the Cotton Palm differ from Cosmos Palm in learning the skill of Strike-Across-Space? Does the lack of consolidation affect attaining this skill?
Is there any significant difference in terms of time and difficulty between learning to project energy via index finger, palm, or fist? Is it easier to transfer the skill of energy projection from some specific hand form to another?
Olli
Answer
I could not answer from direct experience on how to attain the skill of “Striking a Buffalo Beyond a Mountain” using Cotton Palm, like what I normally do with other questions, because I already have this skill long ago with Cosmos Palm before I trained Cotton Palm. More than 30 years ago, I could break the bottom of two bricks lying one on top of the other, which is a manifestation of this skill.
But I believe that if one trains Cotton Palm correctly for some time, like one year, he would have this skill. He may not be able to break a brick, which needs consolidated force, like the consolidated force from Cosmos Palm, but the flowing force of Cotton Palm can go through obstacles and damage an opponents without damaging the obstacles. Because Cotton Palm may not break a brick, this does not mean that Cotton Palm is less powerful than Cosmos Palm. The flowing force of Cotton Palm can cause more damage to an opponent than Cosmos Palm. Similarly, a dim mark master may not break a break, but the injury of dim mark can be more damaging than a brick-breaking Iron Palm master.
I would consider very highly the skill of “Striking a Buffalo Beyond a Mountain” – much more highly than the skill of breaking a brick, which I would consider 3rd class kungfu. The skill of “Striking a Buffalo Beyond a Mountain” is versatile. It will make all the attack and defence of a practitioner powerful. More significantly, it contributes to his good health, vitality and longevity as well as to peak performance and spiritual joys.
It is recommended that Cotton Palm practitioners practice the whole Cotton Palm set learnt at the course at UK Summer Camp 2017. In this way they will not miss any important aspects of the training. They will eventually attain the skill of “Striking a Buffalo Beyond a Mountain”, besides other wonderful benefits.
If they prefer certain patterns, the following are highly recommended – “Wave Sleeves Light Breeze”, “Cloud Hands”, “Lone Drake Leaves Crowd”, and “Garments Receive Flowing Breeze”.
The flowing force of Cotton Palm, or any internal force, can be recognized by the initiated. The eyes of a practitioner with such force sparkle, his skin glows, his limbs are rounded and there is a small “drum” at his belly. He is alive and full of vitality. His voice is loud and soronous, though he is often soft-spoken, He is fast, agile and elegant.
Striking a candle or a gong from a short distance is a test and confirmation of such force. Other tests and confirmations include smashing a water-melon without damaging its skin, causing serious damage to a tree without leaving outward signs, and breaking some taufo under water.
A choice pattern from the Wudang Cotton Palm set for this purpose is “Wave Sleeves Light Breeze”. Besides feeling forceful himself, the practitioner will find everyday a joy for living, irrespective of where he is.
A main difference between Cosmos Palm and Cotton Palm is that in Cosmos Palm there are both flowing force and consolidated force, whereas in Cotton Palm there is only flowing force. This does not mean that Cosmos Palm is superior to, or more powerful than Cotton Palm. If all other things were equal, Cosmos Palm is good for combat, whereas Cotton Palm is good for health. Needless to say, it does not mean that Cosmos Palm is not good for health, and Cotton Palm is not good for combat. Both Cosmos Palm and Cotton Palm are excellent for health and combat. Both Cosmos Palm and Cotton Palm develop the skill of “Strike Across Space”.
Because of this main difference, the training methods and application of the skill are also different. The Forcefiul Big Windmill, for example, which is used to consolidate force from flowing energy, is found in Cosmos Palm, but not in Cotton Palm. As Cotton Palm focuses on flowing force., its training methods are soft and gentle.
The lack of consolidation in Cotton Palm does not affect attaining the skill of “Strike Across Space”, though it may affect the breaking of hard objects, like a brick. Striking a living opponent is very different from breaking a brick.
The training of Cotton Palm, of course, is not just to break bricks. It is easeir to use a hammer. A good analogy is a hurricane. A hurricane may not break a brick like a hammer does, but it can blow off buildings.
Whether it is easiest to project energy using the finger, the palm or the fist depends on different persons and other factors. But if all other things were equal, it is the easiest to do so using the finger, then the palm and lastly the fist if the person has the skills to do so. Hence, in Shaolin Wahnam Association, which was the fore-runner of our school, Shaolin Wahnam Institute, extinguishing a candle flame from a short distance was one of the items in the First Standardized Test in 1893 because all students had learnt to project energy while training One-Finger Shooting Zen, though many people considered this feat impossible.
Chi kung healers who wish to project energy to their patients use the sword-finger. However, those who wish to project energy over a larger area use their palm. They never do so with their fist. The finger is the easiest to transfer the skill of energy projection, followed by the palm. It is important that those who wish to project energy must be trained to do so. Without proper training, they are likely to harm themselves or others.
Yim Chee Kong, an old student of Grandmaster Wong, extinguishing a candle flame with a punch during the First Shaolin Wahnam Standardized Test in the 1980s
This question and answer are reproduced from the thread 10 Questions Cotton Palm in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
LINKS