concepts:- qi (or, chi)
- representations of kung fu
- standing tai chi qi-gong
- 2-person form, palm change 6
representations of kung fu
he also said he'd been contemplating just what kung fu masters (if they were asked by such a show) should say or demonstrate as the essence of kung fu. according to Sifu, there'd be a definite difference between northern and southern styles. the southern styles would be much more similar to the ones typically known to the West (e.g., karate, savate, etc.). the northern styles, in contrast, would be best summarized on a 1-hour episode as being differentiated by how they approach opponents--that for northern styles, the focus is not on techniques (as in developing, countering, matching technique-against-technique with an opponent) but more on energy (as in recognizing, responding, interacting the energy distribution and movement of an opponent).
Sifu continued his discussion by saying that unfortunately, he was unsure as to whether there could be any true representatives of northern styles of kung fu in terms of match fights, particularly a representative who could choose and then exclusively use only 1 northern style in the kind of match fight presented in Human Weapon. based on his knowledge, he believes that too many of the masters are too old, and too many of the younger practitioners lack combat application skills.
he went on to state that this is yet another reason why kung fu holds the perceptions it does in Western cultures. he said that this situation is a result of:
- too many masters are no longer training for combat situations
- too few students are seeking training for combat situations
- too many masters presented non-combat aspects of northern styles to the West
- too few Westerners have seen only non-combat aspects of northern styles
Sifu reiterated that this was why he still saw value in tournament fighting. while other colleagues (even within Wutan) avoid tournaments because they are not real combat situations (i.e., street fighting scenarios or battlefield scenarios), Sifu says he thinks tournaments still have value because it helps practitioners learn how to apply kung fu against a hostile, unknown opponent in a random, dynamic setting--aspects which are relevant to real combat situations.
Sifu said that this is also why he thinks real representatives of kung fu need to know all of its aspects--not just the non-combat parts, but also the combat parts. because otherwise it's not really kung fu, but just dancing. kung fu, according to Sifu, has the original purpose of combat, and so anyone who represents it should be able to use it in combat.
standing tai chi qi-gong
Sifu went to start the baji students with their lesson plan, but instructed Phunsak to lead us through the 2-person form of palm change 6. before we started, however, John asked Phunsak and Art about a time to review the tai chi qi-gong from last Saturday's seminar. Art said that the new DVD covered everything in detail.
at this point, i mentioned that i had found that the tai chi qi-gong felt much better than the bagua qi-gong. Art looked puzzled, saying that he had found bagua qi-gong much more effective in raising qi. i told him that personally, i hadn't felt any qi doing anything, but that i just thought the tai chi qi-gong felt better (as in more calming, more natural, and more helpful in clearing & focusing the mind).
Phunsak responded that he thought tai chi qi-gong was much quicker that bagua qi-gong. he then said there was a guaranteed way to feel qi, and it was from a basic tai chi qi-gong practice (actually, it was also a basic tai chi movement). he demonstrated the movement, which was just the opening tai chi step out into the basic standing posture. as we followed along, he instructed us to hold our elbows slightly forward (just a few centimeters forward of the vertical line through the body's center of gravity), and to keep our spines straight. he said to just wait a few minutes and we'd feel the qi.
i have to admit i was a little skeptical (i have been this entire time). but after a few minutes of just standing still in the posture, i started feeling a warming sensation in my hands.
this corresponded to the descriptions of qi that i've heard other people describe. Phunsak nodded, and asked if there was a tingling sensation with the warmth, akin to the feeling of a carbonated drink. i said there was, and so did everybody else. when i looked at my hands, i found them a darkening red, with a sensation like they'd been sitting in a warm steam bath, except that the tingling sensation was going inside through my palms and out my fingers. Phunsak and Art said this was qi.
this was probably (actually, definitely) the first time i've sensed anything resembling what others consider qi. there are probably scientific ways to describe it (i.e., increased blood flow, stimulated nerve endings, etc.) but they would only describe the symptoms (i.e., the warm, tingly sensations) and not the cause--which i'm guessing is what everyone in TCMA and TCM identifies as qi.
this makes me wonder why it took so long for me to get these sensations. and why it was so much quicker for me with tai chi qi-gong than it was for bagua qi-gong. it also make me wonder why something so simple (standing still in the basic tai chi posture) can get these kinds of results, but all the more complex movements (like the bagua qi-gong) don't (or at least, no yet).
i have to say that the feeling didn't go away--in fact, it not only lasted through class but continued for the rest of the day. i couldn't shut it off. it was like Viagra (although...i wouldn't know anything about that...). when i got home i actually experimented with the sensation to see if i could move it around to differing parts of my body, and sure enough i found i could get it into my arms. it also lasted long enough that it made sleeping a little difficult (i felt hot flashes while snoozing...although i don't know if this was simply because it was a hot day).
this makes me curious if i could get it into my legs and the rest of my body (particularly anything related to swimming, cycling, or running really hard really fast for a really really really really really really long time). it also makes me curious if it would make any difference (in terms of performance).
yeah, my Western science mind tells me to remain skeptical. but all i can say is: there's something, and it's curious, and it's quite different from anything i've experienced.
2-person form, palm change 6
after this, we began with a review of side A & side B for palm change 6. this was pretty straightforward, and wasn't anything new. we did 8 repetitions of each side, and then went to work trying to integrate them into a 2-person form.
unfortunately, this turned out to be quite a bit more difficult than expected. i kind of had suspected this, since Kieun, John, and i had attempted to put sides A & B together on our own during our Wednesday practice, and had found that it didn't work. in particular, there was confusion as to the opening and the second half of the form.
Phunsak said Sifu had taught different versions of this form in the past, but that he had forgotten parts of them, and so was trying to reconstruct the 2-person form. he and Kieun ended up in a debate as to what the missing parts were.
the discussion went on for quite awhile. we managed to settle on a version of the 2-person form that Phunsak and Kieun demonstrated to Sifu when he returned. Sifu didn't seem too satisfied, and ended up continuing the conversation about the form for quite some time longer. he appeared to want more chin na techniques incorporated in the form, and considered the version that Phunsak showed as missing several elements.
class actually ended up going on longer (to about 12:30) while we worked on trying to resolve the issues with the 2-person form. we settled on 1 version, but Phunsak and Sifu didn't seem entirely happy with it--it turns out that later they ended up talking and decided to redesign the form for next week, making it pointless to post any videos of the 2-person set.
we finished the day with a reminder about the days Sifu and Phunsak were going to be gone in September. Sifu announced that he was in the process of moving to Hawaii, and that he'd be gone on 2 separate weekends in September to help his wife move to the new house. he asked us for any spare boxes we might have. Phunsak announced he was going for his customary annual 1-month trip to Thailand, and so would be gone from early September to October.
of course, this means that there will be no formal class for 2 weekends in September (since both Sifu and Phunsak will be gone)--although people are still free to meet on their own. the timing works for me (sort of), since i will be gone for the 1st 2 weekends in September on a family vacation, meaning i'll only miss 1 class (instead of the 2 that i'd feared, since they're going to be important, because they're going to cover the last 2-person forms in 64 palms).
No comments:
Post a Comment