HOW MANY PRACTITIONERS CAN ATTAIN A MASTER'S LEVEL?
A chi kung master exhibits good health and vitality
Question
You have mentioned in your article "Developmental Stages In Training to Become a Master" that "The great majority, which constitutes more than 95%, will be unsuccessful".
I must say that this number impressed me a lot. I never realised that it was so high. I believe that you speak in general terms, which also include practitioners from other schools.
How about Shaolin Wahnam? How many of us do you estimate that will be successful in achieving the masters level? Having such an excellent Grandmaster and Sifus in our school and an incredibly extensive philosophy resources behind, it seems very hard to deviate from the noble purpose of achieving the masters level. Why does then many might not achieve it? What will our challenges be?
Santiago
Answer
When I mentioned in my article Developmental Stages In Training to Become a Master that the great majority, which constituted more than 95%, would be unsuccessful in becoming a master, I was speaking generally.
I also explained in the article that “This is especially so today when learning a genuine art from a real master is so very rare.”
The main test of genuine kungfu is combat efficiency -- of course using kungfu. If a practitioner cannot apply his kungfu for combat, irrespective of whether he wins or loses, his art cannot be said to be genuine kungfu.
The essence of chi kung is energy flow. If there is no energy flow in a practitioner, his art cannot be said to be genuine chi kung. We need to be aware that energy flow in our school is noticeable and often vigorous. In many schools, the energy flow may not be obvious, but so long as there is energy flow, the art is genuine chi kung.
More than 90% of those who practice kungfu today cannot apply their kungfu for combat. They only perform kungfu gymnastics for demonstration, or use other martial arts for free sparring. Of the remaining 10% who practice genuine kungfu, which means 10 persons out of a 100, only 5% become masters, which means less than 1 person in a 100 will be a master.
More than 80% of those who practice chi kung today do not experience an energy flow. Of the 20 practitioners out of a 100 who experience an energy flow, 15 of them may not realize it, and only 5 persons may know it happens. But we still consider these 20 persons practicing genuine chi kung. Of these 20 practitioners, 5% will become a master, which means there will be 1 master out of 100 practitioners.
With this understanding, you may not be so surprised now that there are very few real masters, though “masters” by name, including those we call masters out of respect, are plentiful.
My estimate that 5% of those who practice genuine kungfu and genuine chi kung will become masters, is reasonable. To have mastered kungfu, not only he can use kungfu for combat, but also has some internal force, though he may not realize it, and knows some basic kungfu philosophy. To have mastered chi kung, not only he can generate an energy flow, even though he may not be conscious of it, but also he exhibits good health and vitality.
We would not reasonably call a kungfu practitioner a master, regardless of how long he may have trained, if he does not know combat application of most of the patterns in his kungfu sets. We would not reasonably call a chi kung practitioner a master, regardless of how long he may have trained, if he is routinely weak and depressed.
Our school, Shaolin Wahnam Institutue, is elite. More than 70% of those who practice kungfu in our school, and more than 80% of those who practice chi kung will have reached a master’s level, though we may not normally call them masters.
What criteria would you use to call a practitioner a kungfu master? Many people may use time of training as the sole criterion. Irrespective of whether the practitioner can apply his kungfu for combat, and sometimes even irrespective of how bad his kungfu form may be, if he has trained kungfu for more than 20 years, he would be called a master.
My criteria are different. A kungfu practitioner would have reached a master’s level if he can apply his kungfu to beat many martial artists, his kungfu form is correct, he knows some kungfu philosophy, has some internal force, and is healthy and cheerful, I believe more than 70% of the kungfu practitioners in our school have reached this level.
What criteria would you use to call a practitioner a chi kung master? Again, many people may use time of training as the criterion. Even when he is sick and weak, if he has trained for more than 20 years, they would call him a master.
Again my criteria are different. A chi kung practitioners would have reached a master’s level if he knows some chi kung techniques, skills and philosophy, and is healthy, full of vitality, peaceful and happy. I believe more than 80% of chi kung practitioners in our school have accomplished these criteria.
However, we do not normally call these 70% of our kungfu practitioners, and 80% of our chi kung practitioners, masters, out of convention as well as respect for other masters, so-called or genuine.
I can reasonably call 30% of our kungfu practitioners and 50% of our chi kung practitioners masters, though some of them are not certified instructors in our school, which means that their status is still “students”. Most of them have practiced our arts for more than 10 years.
I would call only 30% of our kungfu practitioners as master, although 70% of them have attained a master’s level because the remaining 40% cannot comfortably defeat a black-belt holder of Karate, Taekwondo or other martial arts. A main reason for this inadequaqncy is because although they practice kungfu, combat efficiency is not top on their priorities. They are also not ready to put in time and effort to train the “ever-victorious strategy” I have told them to do.
Nevertheless, 30% of kungfu practitioners and 50% of chi kung practitioners can be called masters, is very high compared to only 5% I would estimate in other schools even if we regard that all the other students practice genuine kungfu and genuine chi kung.
The very reason why we in our school can have this very high percentage of students becoming masters is because of an excellent grandmaster and instructors with an incredibly extensive philosophy. Not only our arts are genuine, i.e. our kungfu practitioners can apply kungfu for combat, and our chi kung practitioners have energy flow, our methodology is also very cost effective. People in other schools may not be happy to hear it, but our students can accomplish in one month what others may need one year if they ever accomplish it. So, in our school only a minority deviate from achieving the master’s level. Their challenges, irrespective of whether they attain the master’s level, are to put in time and effort.
Those who fail to attain the master’s level are those who fail to put in time and effort. They only attain courses as novelty, and they do not practice consistently at home. But even if they fail to become masters, they are genuine practitioners, being able to apply their kungfu for combat, particularly when they spar with their classmates, and they overcome their illness and are healthy, full of vitality, peaceful and happy.
A kungfu master can apply his kungfu for combat
The above article is reproduced from the thread Deviating from the Fundamental Skills of Shaolin Chi Kung in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum
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