THE SAME FIVE CRITERIA BUT DIFFERENT STYLES TO SYNTHESIZE AN INTEGRATED STYLE
Hoong Ka Kungfu
Question
The story of Wuzuquan's origin you wrote is fascinating. Since the days of Bai Yu Feng Shaolin Kungfu has developed and spread around even more effectively, even though its standards have now declined.
Suppose that you became similarly concerned that the original Shaolin Kungfu could lose its flavor in this dispersion. With the styles that have developed ever since (or not involved in the formation of Wuzuquan), how would you synthesize a new integrated style in the spirit of Wuzuquan if you were to use the same criteria as Bai Yu Feng used in justifying the best five five styles available: presence of mind, picture-perfect form, body position, energy cultivation, and agility?
Would you think these criteria capture the sufficient features of any excellent Kungfu or would you improve upon them?
Olli
Answer
The various Shaolin styles at the time of Bai Yi Feng were far less than now, but their standard was much higher. The Shaolin styles at that time were from Northern Shaolin. South Shaolin was not known yet. It came after Bai Yi Feng in the subsequent Ming Dynasty, and flowered in the Qing Dynasty.
The various Northern styles were Huaquan (meaning “Beautiful Kungfu”), Chaquan (named after Cha Mi Er or Ismail, a Chinese Muslin), Hoongquan (not to be confused with Hoongquan of Souther Shaolin named after Hoong Hei Koon), Taizuquan (or “First Emperor Kungfu”), White Crane (different from but probably inspired or originated the White Crane of Southern Shaolin), Monkey Style, and Xingyiquan and Eagle Claw Kungfu from Yue Fei.
Wudang Taijiquan, or Wudang Shaolin Kungfu, of Zhang San Feng was already in existence, but was exclusively practiced on the Wudang Mountain. Praying Mantis Kungfu invented by Wang Lang and is very popular today, was unknown.
All kungfu styles from Southern Shaolin were not known yet, and they included Hoong Ka Kungfu, Lau Ka Kungfu, Choy Ka Kungfu, Li Ka Kungfu, Wing Choon Kungfu, Choy-Li-Fatt Kungfu, Buddha Style, Fujian White Crane, Southern Praying Mantis, Dragon Style and Tiger Style. Baguazhang, which is normally considered a northern style, was also not known yet.
Despite only about half of the kungfu styles known today, all of which were derived from Shaolin, were available at the time of Bai Yi Feng. He was concerned that the spread of Shaolin Kungfu was so extensive that it might loose its characteristics. Huaquan, for example, was very different from Northern White Crane, and Taizuquan very different from Eagle Claw. And all these styles were different from Lohan Kungfu, commonly called Shaolin Kungfu, practiced at the Shaolin Monastary on Song Mountain.
I was also very concerned, but my concern was not that Shaolin Kungfu would lose its characteristics, but that kungfu as a whole would lose its essence. This concern led to the establishment of Shaolin Wahnam Association, and later to our school, Shaolin Wahnam Institute.
My concern was real. Kungfu practitioners then, and also now except in our school, could not use their kungfu for combat, although kungfu is an art of attack and defence. Kungfu, which is actually a wonderful and very effective martial art, degenerated into “flowery fists and embroidery legs”, suitable only for demonstration. It is even worse now. Kungfu practitioners threw away their kungfu techniques, or throw away gems for stones, bounce about and fight like children, or use kick-boxing or other martial art techniques.
If I had to synthesize a new integrated style like Bai Yi Feng did using five criteria, which are presence of mind, picture-perform form, body position, energy circulation and agility, but not using the styles used by Bai Yi Feng in formulating Wuzuquan, I would pick the following.
For presence of mind I would use Dragon Style, like Dragon Strength Set and Dragon Form Set from our school. These two sets, as well as Dragon Style, were not available at the time of Bai Yi Feng.
For picture-perfect form, I would choose Hoong Ka Kungfu, or Southern Shaolin which I learned from Uncle Righteousness. Uncle Righteousness was very particular in picture-perfect form, which is very important in Hoong Ka Kungfu, in fact in all styles of kungfu.
For body-position, I would choose Choy-Li-Fatt Kungfu. Choy-Li-Fatt Kungfu, the style developed for mass fighting, like the revolutionaries of Dr Sun Yat Sun in fighting the Manchurian army, places much importance on body-position. Instead of moving away, for example, a Choy-Li-Fatt practitioner would slant his body to avoid an opponent’s attack, and simultaneously counter-strike.
For energy circulation I would choose Yang Style Taijiquan. I would have chosen Dragon Strength, but since Dragon Strength has been chosen for presence of mind, I would choose another favorable style. Energy circulation is very important in Yang Style Taijiquan, without which the art could not be effectively used for health, combat and spiritual cultivation, the three levels of Taijiquan attainment cherished by many Taijiquan masters. Unfortunately, most Yang Style Taijiquan practitioners today, or Taiji dancers, do not know energy circulation.
For agility, I would choose Bagauzhang. Baguazhang is famous for agility. A Baguazhang master can easily get to the back of his opponent. Baguazhang circle walking is also excellent for training movement in mass fighting. Even without moving, by using only its stance a Baguazhang exponent can avoid an opponent’s attack and simultaneously counter-strike.
It is interesting to note that all the five kungfu styles chosen by me for their special characteristics were all developed after Bai Yi Feng. This is inevitable, though it may not be obvious to many people. As kungfu developed, it became better. The exception is now, when kungfu has lost its essence.
It is also worthy of note that Bai Yi Feng did not use these five criteria in his formulation of Wuzuquan. He chose five best styles of all the styles demonstrated at the Shaolin Monastery on Song Mountain, and these five best styles happened to be noted for these five characteristics.
Yes, these five characteristics capture the features of any excellent kungfu. This can be seen in Wuzuquan which has remained to be an outstanding kungfu style since its inception. My sifu, Sifu Chee Kim Thong, an expert in Wuzuquan, was not called a living treasure of the People’s Republic of China for no good reasons. He was a champion in an all styles free sparring kungfu competition in his young days, unarmed and singly successfully defended a bus driver from a mob of angry attackers with weapons, and defeated many other martial art masters.
I would not dare to criticize Bai Yi Feng for his choice of the five best styles with these five characteristics. I would say that his choice and his creation of Wuzuquan were excellent. I could not improve upon them.
But Bai Yi Feng lived in a different era, about 7 centuries before us. The needs at his time were different from ours. The most important consideration for kungfu at his time was combat. Combat is insignificant to us in our law-abiding societies. Our most important consideration is health. We practice kungfu, an art for combat, because it is far better than many other ways in its contribution to our excellent health.
So, if I had to synthesize a kungfu style my criteria would be different. I would choose the following criteria: good health, vitality, longevity, peak performance and spiritual joys. These criteria happen to be the same criteria we cherish in our school. This is no coincidence, because our practice is to attain these wonderful characteristics.
As mentioned earlier, besides combat efficiency, practicing kungfu is excellent for us to attain these wonderful characteristics. Those who find kungfu training too demanding, can practice chi kung, which will also help practitioners to attain these characteristics.
I also realize that different people may be faced with different factors, like different preferences, nature, resources and opportunities, in attaining these wonderful characteristics. For a long time I resisted teaching Taijiquan and taught only Shaolin Kungfu, which was my best, until someone told me that some people might find practicing Taijiquan more favorable in attaining these characteristics. Hence, today in our school we have a great variety of kungfu and chi kung styles. Of course, this great varity also gives us other wonderful benefits.
Yang Style Taijiquan
This question and answer are reproduced from the thread Wu Zu Quan -- 10 Questions to Grandmasrter Wong in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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