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SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS NOVEMBER 2015 PART 3 BY GRANDMASTER WONG KIEW KIT

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/answers/ans15b/nov15-3.html)

Genuine Taijiquan is an internal martial art

Question 1

Wong Sigung,

Because I have learned from Sifu Anthony Korahais, I believe that is the proper way to address you. If not, please forgive me.

— David, USA

Answer

Thank you for your kind thoughts and proper address. An even better way for you to address me is just “Sigung”, and not “Wong Sigung” or “Sigung Wong”.

Of course you don’t mean it, but it is helpful to know that prefixing or suffixing a person’s surname by his students, like “Lau Sifu” or “Sifu Lau” instead of just “Sifu”, distant them from him. The public would call him “Lau Sifu” or “Sifu Lau”, but his students call him “Sifu”.

Your case in this e-mail is different. You mentioned “Sifu Anthony Korahais” because you wanted to indicate which of our certified instructors in our school you meant. But when you talk to him, you just address him as “Sifu”, and not “Sifu Anthony” or “Sifu Korahais”.

Editorial Note

Because Grandmaster Wong has a long waiting list, these questions were received more than a year ago at a time when Sifu Anthony Korahais was still in Shaolin Wahnam. Sifu Anthony has since left the school, and by Sifu Anthony’s choice, Grandmaster Wong is no longer his sifu. Hence, those students who used to address Grandmaster Wong as “sigung” should now address him as “sifu” if they wish to continue learning from Grandmaster Wong. They would also continue to address Sifu Anthony as “sifu”.

Question 2

Thank you very much for generously sharing your very valuable art. I am also particularly thankful for your website titled Showing Respect to the Master and the years of questions and answers you have archived.

Answer

I am glad that many of our Shaolin Wahnam students have told me that our arts have greatly enriched their lives.

Showing respect to the master is mainly for the students’ benefit. Many other people may not know this, or believe it is so. Showing respect to the master gives the students an excellent mind-set to benefit most from the master’s teaching.

Many people, both inside and outside our school, have also told me that they have benefited much from my Question-Answer Series. As there is a long waiting list, these questions and answers are often posted for public reading about a year later.

I would take this opportunity to mention an interesting point from the many questions I have received. Before looking at the name of the enquirer, I can often tell whether he is a member of our Shaolin Wahnam Family by just looking at the way he asks his questions.

There are three characteristics that differentiate our family members from members of the public, namely mental clarity, courtesy and open-mindedness.

Our family members are clear in their writing. I can easily know what they write. On the other hand, although questions by members of the public are edited for grammar and spelling before they are being posted in my Question-Answer Series, you can differentiate them if you examine closely.

Clear writing shows mental clarity. I am glad our training has resulted in mental clarity demonstrated in the e-mails our students sent to me.

Our family members are polite. Your opening paragraph is a good example. Some members of the public do not even bother to address the person they send their e-mails to. They just start asking their questions.

And some do not state their names at the end of their e-mails. If I post their questions in my Question-Answer Series, I have to guess at their names form their e-mail addresses.

Courtesy to others is an indication of self-respect. Self-respect is very important for successful living.

Our family members are open-minded. They realize and accept that other people may not agree with their views which they cherish dearly. Open-mindedness is present in your questions regarding low-level Mao Shan, and regarding talking to other people about our chi kung.

Being open-minded certainly make our life happier. It also enables us to improve ourselves.

Circle Walking in Baguazhang

Question 3

Once you mentioned that the form of payment for low maoshan was to be either permanently deformed, forever poor, or without children. This disturbed me greatly. I can only imagine the payment and reward associated with high maoshan.

Why would anyone agree to any of those things? Is it black magic for unscrupulous people who desire quick and easy cultivation? I cannot imagine why someone would accept those terms when wonderful arts like Tai Chi Chuan and Shaolin Chuan exist.

Answer

There are three levels of Mao Shan, or Taoist magic, namely low level, middle level and high level, sometimes known as black Mao Shan, grey Mao Shan and white Mao Shan.

Low level Mao Shan practitioners are concerned mainly with acquiring magical powers overcoming others and causing difficulties for others, which generally result in dong harm. Middle level Mao Shan practitioners have abilities of low level Mao Shan as well as high level Mao Shan. High level Mao Shan practitioners have abilities of low and middle levels Mao Shan, and more, but are concerned with healing and helping people.

Hence, the division into low, middle and high levels Mao Shan is based mainly on the application of Taoist magic, and not on the attainment of practitioners, but the tradition and philosophy of respective schools focus on these specific levels.

A requirement for students to undergo training in low level Mao Shan is to choose one of the following three conditions — to be permanently deformed, to be unable to accumulate money, and to have no children. Normally people would not agree to any of these conditions, but some persons due to evil intention of various reasons may accept one of these conditions. A common condition chosen by these people is an inability to accumulate money or not to have children.

Someone who has no ability or desire to earn money honorably and honestly may choose the second condition. After successfully competed his training, he can invent money and use it lavishly, but the money cannot be used the following day. Someone who wants to avenge some great wrongs done to his family may sacrifice family life and choose the third condition to take revenge.

Low level Mao Shao is black magic, and can be very powerful. While many low level Mao Shan practitioners who use his magic to harm other people for no better reasons than earn money from those who pay them to do so, are unscrupulous, others are not, like those who want an easy carefree life, and those who want to avenge great wrongs. These practitioners, for example, would not use their magic on poor hawkers, or harm innocent people.

While it is true that wonderful arts like genuine Tai Chi Chuan and genuine Shaolin Chuan, or Shaolin Kungfu, exist, it is also true that these wonderful arts are very rare today. Those who have a chance to learn these arts, like students in our school, are indeed very lucky. Much of Tai Chi Chuan and Shaolin Kungfu practiced today are grossly debased.

It is also very rare today to practice Mao Shan, regardless of its level. Even when students have a chance, besides the conditions required by the teacher, the training is also very tough.

Question 4

Finally, do you have any advice on speaking with other people about qigong?

From reading your question and answer series, I know that many people respond unfavorably to your talking about it. I also have tried unsuccessfully to talk with people about it without results.

Oddly, the people who stand to benefit the most seem to be the least interested. However, most of them act as though they didn’t hear me or I am obviously deceived. I am sad to be unable to share the great benefits I’ve received with others.

Answer

My advice is that you may talk about the benefits of qigong in general to all people. If they do not show interest, you need not continue. Only for those who are interested to know more and gain benefits themselves, should you spend time elaborating.

Don’t waste your time on undeserving people. This may sound harsh, but it is good advice based on my many years of experience.

While many people respond unfavorably to my talking about qigong, many other people respond favorably to it. My website, for example, is one of the top 500 most visited websites in the world. Considering that only a small proportion of the world’s people are interested in qigong and kungfu or any martial art, this is a remarkable achievement. Moreover, many of our instructors and students learned from me after hearing me talking about qigong and kungfu in my websites or books.

If you talk to people interested in qigong or who want to benefit from qigong, you will have results. If you talk to people who are not interested or do not believe in the benefits qigong can bring, they think they are doing you a favour by listening to you.

People whom you think will benefit most from your telling them of our qigong and the benefits you have gained, are undeserving of your time and effort. You would spend your time more fruitfully by taking your girlfriend out or finding one if you do not have a girlfriend yet, or spending quality time with your parents.

On the other hand, it is their right not to be interested or to believe you, though it is not very wise of them considering the benefits you have derived from your qigong practice. You need not feel sad that you are unable to share the great benefits you have received with others. It is their choice. You should feel happy that you have the opportunities to enjoy these wonderful benefits.

The internal force in Wuzuquan is more flowing than condolidated

Question 5

I was curious about some of the Baguazhang training methods used in other schools, particularly the methods I learnt from my old Baguazhang sifu before learning Baguazhang from you.

His school’s fundamental set consists of Walking the Circle with the upper body held in different positions. My old sifu mentioned that doing so would train “different forms of jin” and condition the body’s strength and flexibility.

— Fredrick Chu, USA

Answer

Your old Baguazhang sifu was correct. Performing Walking the Circle using different positions will develop different forms of jin or internal force. For example when you use “Black Bear From Cave”, you develop “sinking force” at your palms. When you use “Great Roc Spreads Wings”, you develop “spreading force” at your arms.

Using these different positions for Walking the Circle is similar to the Eight Internal Palms which I mentioned in the webpage, Brief Descriptions of Baguazhang Classics and Comments on Songs of Baguazhang, when answering questions raised by you.

In the Walking the Circle we learned at the UK Summer Camp 2012, we used the Eight External Palms. We could develop internal force although we used an external method because we were skilful. Indeed, we could develop internal force no matter what external kungfu sets we used.

As you are now proficient in the Eight External Palm, you can progress to using the different positions taught in your old sifu’s set when practicing Circle Walking. You will find that the internal force developed is more powerful.

Question 6

I experimented a little with returning to my old sifu’s set and experimenting with Circle Walking while holding my upper body in postures from the Wahnam Baguazhang Eight Mother Palms and felt my energy flow going to different parts of the body, but didn’t know if such practice would be efficient or fruitful in the long run.

Answer

Yes, this practice will be efficient and fruitful. It is a development from using the Eight External Palms learned at the UK Summer Camp 2012 to using Eight Internal Palms of your old sifu’s set although the exact patterns may not be the same.

You should practice your old sifu’s set the way you practice Circle Walking learnt in Shaolin Wahnam though the hand and body positions may be different. Your mind must be free from thoughts and you must be relaxed. You don’t have to worry about how to develop different forms of jin. The different hand and body positions will do that.

When you use the Eight External Palms learned in our school, your energy flow goes to different parts of your body because you have generated flowing internal force. When you use the hand and body positions of your old sifu’s set, this flowing energy will consolidate into different types of internal force due to the various hand and body positions. You don’t have to worry how. The various hand and body positions will result in different types of force.

It is both safer and more effective to first develop flowing force, then consolidate the force, or just develop consolidated force. Starting with the method learnt in Shaolin Wahnam, and progressing to your old sifu’s set is an excellent approach.

The internal force in Choy-Li-Fatt Kungfu is more consolidated than flowing

Question 7

I would appreciate any insight you might have on the practice of Circle Walking with the upper body held in various postures and how it might compare to other methods of force training, such as simply holding the Green Dragon posture in circle walking, using the “secret” method of Walking the Circle for internal force by holding a posture for a period of time, then taking the next step along the circle to hold a posture for a period of time, and repeating until completing the circle, and the master’s method of Baguazhang force training that you taught us at the Summer Camp.

Answer

These are various methods to develop internal force. We are able to understand and benefit from these different methods because of our breadth and depth, which extend beyond Baguazhang, and from which we can draw inspiration and practice.

These different Baguazhang methods enable us to develop internal force that can have different proportion of flowing and consolidated force. The whole range of internal force in kungfu can extend from the soft, flowing force of Yang Style Taijiquan to the hard, consolidated force of Iron Wire.

Because both these styles as well as other styles of internal force, like Flower Set and Xingyiquan, are practiced in our school, we are able to draw from these styles to enrich our Baguazahgn in a way that other Baguazhang schools may not be able to. This positive transfer of skills is enhanced by my understanding and practice of Dragon Strength.

A rough guideline showing the ratios of flowing force to consolidated force in various kungfu styles are as follows:

Yang Style Taijiquan 90 – 10
Wuzuquan 80 – 20
Chen Style Taijiquan 70 – 30
Dragon Strength 60 – 40
Wudang Taijiquan 50 – 50
Flower Set 40 – 60
Baguazhang 40 – 60
Praying Mantis 40 – 60
Tantui 40 – 60
Triple Stretch 30 – 70
Wing Choon 20 – 80
Xingyiquan 20 – 80
Eagle Claw 20 – 80
Choy-Li-Fatt 10 – 90
Iron Wire 10 – 90

Please take not that the about listing is a rough guide, and there can be variation. Some Yang Style Taijiquan practitioners, for example, may have 20% or 30% of consolidated force instead of 10%. Generally only masters may have flowing force or consolidated force. Students may use physical momentum as in Aikido, or muscular strength as in Karate, and mistake it for flowing force and consolidated force.

By itself, i.e. without transference of learning from breadth and depth, Baguazhang force is about 40& flowing and 60% consolidated. A Baguazhang practitioner who has such force is probably a master or at an advanced level.

In our school, however, even students have internal force right at the start of their Baguazhang training, and due to the advantage of breadth and depth some may vary the proportion between flowing force and consolidated force.

A comparison of the various methods of Baguazhang force training using Circle Walking is as follows.

When the upper body is held in various postures, various types of consolidated force are developed according to the postures. When only the Green Dragon posture is used in Circle Walking, flowing force is developed, especially when various palm changes are performed at the end of a circle, like what you learned at the UK Summer Camp 2012.

As mentioned earlier, it is both safer and more effective to develop flowing force before consolidated force. If a practitioner starts straight away with consolidating force, the risk of causing energy blockage is higher. If he starts with flowing force, even when he makes a same mistake, energy flow will clear away the blockage.

Before energy can be consolidated, it must be flowing. This is a fact many people may not know. Hence, our students, who start with chi flow, can develop the same amount of internal force in a month whereas other students would need a year. Understandably, other people may be angry at this statement, and call us arrogant. That is their problem, not ours.

Another fact many people may not know is that consolidated force is also flowing, but at a slow pace. If a practitioner locks up his energy, it becomes stagnant and forms muscles.

When a Baguazhang practitioner uses the secret method of Circle Walking holding the Green Dragon posture for some time, then walk the next step and hold the posture for some time until he completes the circle, he focuses on developing consolidated force, but ensures that it is also flowing. This method should be practiced only after he has developed flowing force using the mobile Circle Walking.

The master’s method taught at the UK Summer Camp 2012 is a progression form this method of Stance Training in Circle Walking. It develops different types of internal force using various Eight Internal Palms, and at the same time ensures that force is flowing. It should be practice after Stance Training in Circle Waling.

Hence an effective progression of internal force training in Baguazhang is as follows:

Mobile Circle Walking holding the Green Dragon posture.
Stance Training using the Green Dragon posture in Circle Walking.
Circle Walking using the Eight Internal Palms.

The third level may be performed at two stages — mobile circle walking with the eight internal palms, and stance training in circle walking with the eight internal palms.

Question 8

In addition to developing the force for which Baguazhang is well-known, I want to sharpen the overall skill of getting to an opponent’s back to deliver a decisive strike for which Baguazhang is famous. I’ve lately been imagining an imaginary opponent coming at me with simple strikes (for example, Black Tiger Steals Heart) and then using my footwork to step to the imaginary opponent’s side and responding with one of the 64 application palms.

I’ve found in my imaginary opponent and with real sparring partners that it is very easy to get to the back of an opponent who gives me a lot of force and forward momentum, but it is more difficult with a cautious opponent. Would you be able to give me some advice on how to best train the skill of getting to an opponent’s back, especially such a cautious opponent?

Answer

You method of practicing with an imaginary opponent and then testing it on a teal opponent is excellent. It was the method past masters practiced to become combat efficient. This was the method I frequently practiced to remain unbeaten. It is also the method I ask our Shaolin Wahnam instructors and students to practice to win sparring competitions.

If you are very fluent in executing your combat sequence, which must take into account of safety first, your opponent just has no chance against you. He will be retreating trying to cover your strikes.

Occasionally, an opponent may be very skillful that he can neutralize your attack and counter attack. You make an instant modification, irrespective of whether you are attacking him from the front, side or back, and continue to subdue hum.

Of course, with a cautious opponent, it is relatively not as easy to get to his back, or to attack him from any direction. There are two effective tactics for this situation. One is called “false-false, real-real”, and the other “tricking an opponent to advance to futility”.

In “false-false, real-real”, which is pronounced in an impossible sound in Mandarin based on tonal values, “shi-shi, shi-shi”, you make one or two feint attacks, which can turn to be real if your opponent fails to respond. As he responds to your feint moves, you get to his back.

To make your victory doubly sure, you anticipate a few possible responses he is likely to make. You make the necessary modifications and subdue him. If his response is so out-landish that you have not prepared a suitable modification, let him go and wait for another opportunity.

In the tactic of “tricking an opponent to advance to futility”, which is “yin di le kong” in Mandarin Chinese, you trick you opponent to advance to attack you, but you space yourself that his attacks are futile. When he is the midst of his attacks, you slip to his side or back to strike him.

Again, to make victory doubly sure, you anticipate a few possible responses he will make in that situation, and use defeat him with appropriate modifications. If his rare response is outside your prepared modification, let him go and wait for another opportunity.

Question 9

A little bit ago, I experimented with “Through the Woods” for fun. I began Circle Walking through the obstacles and using the obstacles as placeholders for the position of imaginary opponents and just spontaneously delivering various strikes in free flow. It was a very eye-opening experience. I felt as though I were training the skill to really deliver decisive strikes on the move, especially since the idea arose from the training that I had to be able to use just one pattern to strike someone down in a situation with multiple opponents.

The patterns that came out most during my experiences with “Through the Woods” were Yellow Dragon Shoots Tongue (though from the Bagua stance, not the Bow Arrow stance), Yellow Dragon Plays With Water, Heavenly King Carries Umbrella, Golden Dragon Spirals Around Pillar, Cloud Dragon Spirals Around, and Wind Strikes Brain Gate, using the names of the patterns from 64 Patterns of Baguazhang.

Are there particular patterns in Baguazhang that are more suited for fighting in a situation with multiple attackers? I noticed I was using the Bagua stance almost the entire time, not the Bow Arrow or Horse Riding stances.

Answer

This was a secret training taught to me by my sifu, Sifu Ho Fatt Nam. It was extremely effective, and I once taught it at an advanced course for instructors.

There are no particular patterns that are specially suited for this situation. You can use any suitable patterns. But as you are on the move, you have to strike down an opponent with just one decisive pattern, and simultaneously cover yourself adequately from possible attacks from others.

You can let the patterns come out in chi flow as you go through the woods. Some suitable patterns are Yellow Dragon Shoots Tongue, Pure Blade Cuts Grass and Yellow Dragon Plays with Water.

If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at secretary@shaolin.org stating your name, country and e-mail address.

SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS NOVEMBER 2015 PART 2 BY GRANDMASTER WONG KIEW KIT

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/answers/ans15b/nov15-2.html)

Molly Sorensen

Question 1

I really should have written you earlier, as I owe you many thanks for the wonderful courses you taught in Hawaii. I returned from that week feeling not only revitalized, but also a deep sense of confidence I did not have previously regarding my abilities as a Chinese medical practitioner, teacher of qigong, and overall public figure and speaker.

As the months have gone by a voice inside of me which had been unable to express itself has gotten louder and clearer, and I am very excited to finally begin my career helping others. The way to go about doing that has also revealed itself very simply and straightforwardly.

Editorial Note

Molly’s e-mail was received soon after the Hawaii courses in July 2014, but because of a long waiting list, the questions and answers are only posted in the Question-Answer Series now. You can have a glimpse of the Hawaii courses here and here.

— Molly, USA

Answer

I am glad you have benefited much from and enjoyed the Hawaii courses. The Intensive Zen Course, the first of its kind, certainly gave participants a lot of confidence and mental clarity.

I was very impressed that every one could speak on the spot on any topic provided by the audience. This was indeed a remarkable achievement. It will certainly enable you to perform well as a Chinese medical practitioner, qigong teacher, public speaker and any other responsibilities.

Question 2

I have an opportunity to teach qigong at a local clinic which treats infertility. This is an area of particular interest to me and one that I will be specializing in in my private practice.

This particular clinic has never offered qigong and my intent is to start with a 12-week session and see what sort of response I get from the patients there. I believe it will be quite positive, and that all of these women will greatly benefit from our Cosmos Qigong.

Answer

Teaching qigong at a clinic that treats fertility is a meaningful job, helping to bring lives and joy to the world. Later you may start your own clinic for this worthy purpose.

Jean, the Chief Instructor of Canada whose husband is a world-top surgeon, told me that she had 100% success in her qigong class with women who were previously infertile and wanted to have children if they practice twice a day.

Lifting the Sky

Question 3

My plan for the session would be to transmit the basic skills for practice, as well as teach the basic pattern Lifting the Sky, as well as those more suitable for helping with fertility, such as Nourishing Kidneys and Carrying the Moon.

Of course I am aware that other patterns may be more suitable for some women depending upon their conditions, so I’m wondering if there are any other specific patterns you can recommend which might help with fertility.

Answer

Your teaching plan is excellent. Rotating Hips and Dancing Fairy are also useful, but these exercises need not be practiced, or only be practiced gently and occasionally, after women are pregnant.

Question 4

I was reviewing the instructions for Nourishing Kidneys that you wrote in the “Art of Chi Kung” and noticed some details in the book which you never mentioned in class when teaching this exercise.

When I teach this exercise, do I need to make any mention of a gentle focus of the Yongquan or Laogong points, or qi flowing up the spine, or is it best to simply pass this on as you have taught it to me in class, without those details?

Answer

The exercises, including Nourishing Kidneys, in my book, The Art of Chi Kung, were written for those who did not have the opportunity to learn from me personally. The book was also written when my teaching skills and methodology were far below my present levels. Those who have learned from me or from our certified instructors will get the best benefits practicing the exercises the way they have been taught.

Hence, in your teaching of Nourishing Kidneys it is not necessary to mention a focus at the Yongquan or Laogong points, or qi flowing up the spine. For other qigong patterns it is also not necessary to mention details described in my book.

Nourishing Kidneys

Question 5

My other question is regarding how to proceed if any of these women do become pregnant during the course of the class. I recall you saying in a Question and Answer series that a pregnant woman with sufficient skill may practice gently until the third month of the pregnancy. Would you say that is still the correct guideline?

Answer

For precaution purposes, when a woman is pregnant she does not need to practice the way qigong has been taught to her by you. But she can induce a gentle qi flow once a day with some gentle exercises. My advice that a woman with sufficient qigong skills may practice gently until the third month of the pregnancy is still a correct guideline.

There is, nevertheless, an excellent exercise as follows that she should perform whenever she likes except around noon.

Enter into a qigong state of mind. Gently think that her baby is developing beautifully and healthily, and when the time is right, the delivery will be safe and pleasant.

Question 6

If you feel I am missing any details that may be helpful for teaching a group like this, I would greatly appreciate any insight you might be willing to give.

Answer

Make your teaching and the students’ learning fun, and ensure that your teaching is beneficial to them, but without burdening them. The benefits the students get should be more than the fees they pay.

The Force Method in Triple Stretch

Question 7

As for myself, my life is hectic but good. Joshua and I are still practicing kungfu regularly, are making good progress.

I had spent five months from May until October studying two to eight hours a day for all of my national Chinese medicine exams. Thanks to my kungfu and qigong practice, I was able to do that, work two jobs, go to school, and find time for my boyfriend, all without getting sick where someone else surely would have.

My lovely boyfriend and I have been together for nearly a year. We plan to get married next year, and start a family a year after that. It seems as if I’m on the brink of a new chapter of my life and I’m looking forward to it with excitement and gratitude.

Answer

You are an inspiration to all other students. Not only you are not sick for the hard work you are doing, I am sure you enjoy your work too and perform better than most other people. Our training certainly enrich our life.

Congratulations for having a boyfriend and planning to get married. To be a wife and mother, as well as to be a husband and father, are some of the happiest things in life.

Question 8

In the book, “The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu”, Sigung explains that in performing One-Finger Shooting Zen, “as you move your hand out and in, tense it and visualize it as charged with internal force” and then “even though you tense your arm and finger, you must never be tensed, especially in your chest”

So how to tense without tensing? If tensing the muscles is one of the biggest mistakes, how to do One-finger Shooting Zen correctly? http://www.wongkiewkit.com/forum/showthread.php?12258-Questions-on-One-Finger-Shooting-Zen

— Karol, Norway

Editorial Note: This question was summarized from Post 5 of Questions on One-Finger Shooting Zen in the Shaolin Wahnam Institute Discussion Forum. As this and the subsequent question are topical, they are posted here ahead of a long waiting-list.

Answer

It is a good question.

Let us have some fun. In performing One-finger Shooting Zen, you should tense your arm, and not tense your arm. The confusion is due to the limitation of words. Words do not explain exactly what we want to explain.

The first “tense” in “you should tense your arm” is not the same as the second “tense” in “not tense your arm”. Although the meanings are different, I still used the same word “tense” when I wrote the book 20 years ago in 1995 because I could not find another better word.

After many years of teaching, now I use words that give a clearer meaning. Now I say, “Focus your energy at your index finger, but do not use muscular strength”, or “Consolidate your flowing energy at your arm without tensing any muscles”.

In other words, in “tense your arm”, I mean “focus or consolidate energy at your arm”. In “not tense your arm” I mean “not tense the muscles in your arm”.

When you focus or consolidate energy at your finger or arm, your energy is still flowing, but it is focused or consolidated. The consolidated energy is flowing, not locked up or stagnant. You do not tense your muscles when you let your energy flow. If you tense your muscles, the energy will be locked up and be stagnant.

Such limitation of words occurs quite frequently in chi kung and kungfu descriptions. For example, after a few repetitions of a Sinew Metamorphosis exercise, we tell students to breath out forcefully but without using force! In developing internal force, we advise students not to use strength and they will develop a lot of strength.

In the “breathing” example, breathing out forcefully means breathing out with a lot of energy going out of the mouth. Without using force means without breathing out in a forced manner.

In the “internal force” example, the first â€œstrengthâ€ means â€œmuscular strengthâ€, and the second â€œstrengthâ€ means â€œinternal forceâ€. If we use muscular strength, we have to tense our muscles. When we tense our muscles, we stop the flow of energy that constitutes internal force.

The uninitiated will not understand the meaning of the descriptions although they know the dictionary meaning of all the words used. The initiated will have no difficulty understanding the meaning because they have experience of the situations.

Question 9

What are the flow method and the force method?

Answer

The flow method and the force methods are two main categories of methods to develop internal force. These terms were coined by me.

I did not invent the various force-developing methods. These various methods were used in the past. I analysed the principles in the various methods and categorised them into two main types, and call them the flow method, or xing-fa in Chinese, and the force method, or jing-fa.

In the flow method, we perform the techniques to train force in picture-perfect forms.. Then we perform the forms in a smooth flow, without beginning and without ending to generate an energy flow. When the energy flow becomes vigorous, it produces internal force. The various styles of Taijiquan are good examples of the flow method.

In the force method, we also perform the techniques to train force in picture-perfect forms. Then we consolidate energy into internal force. The consolidated energy is still flowing, but more focused and concentrated. Iron Wire and Triple Stretch are good examples of the force methods.

In studying and analysing various methods of developing internal force, I discovered that chi flow was necessary. It was increasing the chi flow or consolidating the chi flow that resulted in the flow method or the force method. This discovery tremendously sped up the process of building internal force. It is incredible but true that our students can now develop internal force in a month what I would need a year during my studentâ€™s days!

The process in the flow method is form-flow-force, and the process in the force method is form-force-flow. It is helpful to note that the crucial part of the processes of both the flow method and the force method is the middle part, and not the end part. In the flow method, we let our energy flow vigorously to develop force. In the force method, we consolidate energy into force and let it flow smoothly.

Editorial Note: An excellent answer by Sifu Leonard Lackinger can be found here

If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at secretary@shaolin.org stating your name, country and e-mail address.

SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS NOVEMBER 2015 PART 1 BY GRANDMASTER WONG KIEW KIT

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/answers/ans15b/nov15-1.html)

It is a great joy to be a husband and father — an old picture showing Grandmaster Wong, his wife and their three eldest children in the garden of the house where they are still staying

Question 1

You said that becoming a wife/husband and mother/father is one of the most spiritually fulfilling things in this world. But spiritual fulfillment isn’t a given if I have to sacrifice so much and the man doesn’t. A relationship is made of two people, so both should strive to be the best they can be and sacrifice all they can. Not only the women, and not only the men either. How can a relationship be wholesome if that were so?

— Fabienne, Switzerland

Answer

Ask not what your husband and children can do for you. Ask what you can do for your husband and children. You and not they practice our elite arts.

Spiritual fulfillment is not a given attainment. You have to make effort and sacrifice to attain it.

While a relationship of husband and wife is made up of two people, and ideally both should strive for family happiness, you need not wait for the other person to make this come true. As an elite person who has practiced our Shaolin Wahnam arts, you take the lead.

If your thought, speech and action are appropriate, the other will follow, and both will contribute to the family happiness. It does not matter even when the other person does little work, or not at all, but you still need him to make a rewarding relationship.

Editorial Note

Fabienne’s other questions can be found at Questions-Answers October 2015 Part 2 and Questions-Answers October 2015 Part 3.

Question 2

While doing further research in Buddhism and its origins, I didn’t have to look far at all to find other offending examples of women being treated like lesser beings and/or being reduced to tools of convenience and satisfaction.

Can you please tell me what you think about these examples?

Answer

My main comment is that society and customs at the time of the Buddha were vastly different from those of ours. By the standard of Buddha’s time, what the Buddha did to women was extremely generous.

My other comments follow each of your examples.

Your Example (1) The most advanced Buddhist nuns had to sit behind the most novice monks simply because their body was deemed inferior. It is our body that is able to grow and give life.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhikkhuni#Discriminating_against_nuns

My Comment: At that time in India, no matter how accomplished women were, they were still considered inferior to males.

Your Example (2) The Buddha himself was against teaching women at first. He refused to teach his own aunt, the woman that nursed and raised him when he was but a small and defenceless child. If it weren’t for the Venerable Ananda, women probably never would’ve been taught by the Buddha himself, and I am forever grateful for that. If “not teaching women” was for the sake of monks not being distracted or tempted, then the monks were much more at fault than the nuns. Men should be able to control themselves, a sentiment which is blissfully ignored by many males in our society.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahapajapati_Gotami#Ordination_of_the_first_woman

My Comment: It was a custom at the time to teach only males. The Buddha’s teaching of women was unprecedented.

Not teaching women for the sake of the monks was only one of a few reasons. The main reason for not teaching women was due to culture and custom.

If a beautiful woman temptingly stripes in front of a man, it is not easy for him to resist the temptation even when he can otherwise has good control of his sexual desires.

Xi Shi, one of the four most beautiful women of China

Question 3

Past kings and emperors had multiple wives. What purpose did that serve except prestige? The beauty of women as a means of manipulation is even present in the 36 Strategies (“From Nothing is born Something”). Don’t you think that men who are easily manipulated by the beauty of women are disgraceful?

Answer

The purpose of having multiple wives was more than just prestige. A Chinese emperor was required by rites and customs to have more than a thousand wives, irrespective of whether he liked it or not, but it so happened that usually he liked it.

One important reason, besides the obvious variety of sexual pleasure an emperor could enjoy, was to ensure he had a male heir to succeed him.

There is nothing wrong to use the beauty of women in strategies. Some women, like the famous beauties of China, Xi Shi and Diao Chan, were proud to be able to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the country, and the people sincerely honoured them.

A well known strategy of the 36 Strategies is simply called “Beauty Strategy”. Many famous strategists used this strategy elegantly and successfully.

You may be pleased to know that there is a Chinese saying as follows. “Even heroes may not escape the temptations of beautiful women.” When heroes can fall to beauties, mere mortals stand little chance of survival.

I don’t think that men who are easily manipulated by the beauty of women are disgraceful. I think they are normal.

The great sage, Confucius, advises, “Food and sex are normal instincts.”

Question 4

While talking to a very close friend of mine, it occurred to us that certain monastic rules and explanations of Buddhist cosmology and reincarnation state that people are born a woman because of some bad karma. Is this true? If so, that’s heart-breaking.

I try hard to be the best I can be, so I try and look at this as a blessing in disguise. As a woman, I might be better suited to clear deep-rooted, emotional or even karmic problems. According to my friend, a senior instructor in our school mentioned that women tend to be more sensitive and able to pass certain “milestones” in Kung Fu and Qigong more quickly. But still, it sucks to be told that I might be inferior.

In any case, I feel torn between righteous fury because of this caveman-ish injustice being prevalent to this day (sometimes even in Shaolin Wahnam, of all places), and grief for all the oppression and lost potential that women had to deal with ever since known history. Will it boil down to the fact that, as a woman, I have to make a very hard choice? Either reach high achievements or become a wife and mother?

Answer

It was true that in the past at a time when women’s position was inferior to men’s, many people believed that to be born a woman was due to bad karma. But this was relative. It was bad karma compared to being born as gods, or even as men. But it was good karma compared to being born an animal, or even a very beautiful female titan. Yet the very same people would probably think that being born a woman in a noble family was due to better karma than being born a male slave.

But conditions are different today. Even when Chinese culture prefers sons to daughters, many Chinese families I know prefer to have daughters than to have sons. When they are married, daughters with their husbands stay with the parents; or at least return home frequently, whereas the sons when married together with their wives are lost to their in-laws.

Hence, you should not be heart-broken, but instead take being born a woman as a blessing.

Indeed, to be born human, male or female, is a great blessing. He or she must have accumulated a lot of good karma in the past. To be born wholesome is a greater blessing. The blessing to be born in a highly civilized society like yours is even greater. And the greatest blessing is to be born human, male or female, wholesome in a civilized society and be exposed to spiritual teaching like ours in Shaolin Wahnam. We have a lot to be grateful for.

Don’t just try to be the best person you can be, do it. Don’t strive but enjoy your cultivation. While whether women are better suited than men to clear emotional and karmic problems, and pass milestones in kungfu and qigong training is debatable, there is no doubt that women today, especially in Western societies, enjoy privileges men normally don’t, like having their heavy luggage carried by men, and their food served to them first while their man friends may still mouth-water, provided that these women don’t mistake women equality to be female chauvinism.

Your righteous fury, sense of caveman-ish injustice, and grief of oppression and lost potential of women, are all the result of your imagination. Since known history, women never had such opportunities and benefits as they have today. Women in the past did not go to school or even out of their house, had no opportunities of employment, and could not choose their own husbands. Now you can reach high achievements and at the same time become a wife and mother. You should celebrate instead of groan over your opportunities.

I love my wife for who she is, not what I want her to be

Question 5

Sigung, may I please know how you feel about this issue? Do you feel like females are worth less than male beings, be it animal or human? Or did I just misunderstand your intentions behind the article you wrote about becoming a good wife? Do you love your own wife so much because she manipulated you into doing what she wants (even if she did it sweetly), or because she was supportive, sincere, loving and strong?

Answer

My feeling about this issue is very clear — to myself as well as to others. Definitely I do not feel females are worth less than males, animal or human. I regard them as equal, but not the same.

During question time, for example, when both male and female students asked questions about the same time, I always practiced “lady’s first”.

During demonstration I usually chose male students or instructors. Some people mistook this gesture as my disregard for women. It was just the opposite. It was my regard for them that I chose male demonstrators. I did not want to take advantage of their feminine beauty, or let other people have this impression, especial in the West where many masters, unfortunately, exploit their female students.

These may be little gestures, but they demonstrate my high regards for women.

You misunderstood my intentions behind the article I wrote about becoming a good wife. My intentions are noble, and are aimed at helping women get the men they love. They are too many eligible, loveable but unmarried women, as well as too many unmarried men who are scared to get married, in the West.

I love my wife very much for what she is, including her many faults. She did not manipulate me into doing what she wants, even in a sweet way. If she did, I would have sufficient ways to counter it, also in a sweet way. She does not need to do so because she is appreciative, sincere, loving and strong.

She has to be very strong, bringing up five lovely children at a time when I was financially poor, not only without any complaints but also with love and devotion. Now I earn more money, I like spending it on her to make her happy, but she spends it on our children and grandchildren, and that wisely and not lavishly, and our children have to say, “Papa and mama, we have enough money to be comfortable.”

Question 6

While with Shaolin Wahnam, I learned that we are all part of the same universe and that our world is an illusion, influenced by our perception. Why can’t this simple principle be applied to such a natural, sacred and simple bond as marriage, for example? Shaolin Wahnam gets so many aspects about daily life perfectly right, yet misogyny is still observable. Shouldn’t we stand above this petty differentiation?

For example, we are making the difference between hard and soft chi for the sake of understanding. We can do that with the concept of men and women, too. But only for the sake of understanding and explanation. It should flow into each other and ultimately be one. Men and women can’t be without each other in the long run (for the simple sake of continuously populating this planet), so let’s make it an equal business. Based on love and respect, not on superiority and manipulation.

Answer

You have highlighted a very important point that can bring meaning and happiness to our daily life. Our phenomenal world, which is an illusion, is much influenced by our perception. My article on Perception and Reality illustrates this very important point.

Paradoxically, your problem in this issue is due to your perception. The reality is the same, that men and women can’t be without each other, and their mutual well-being should be based on love and respect, and not on superiority and manipulation. This is the theme in my article you mentioned, How to Trap a Good Husband and be a Good Wife, as well as in the teaching of Shaolin Wahnam.

However you interpreted my article from a different perspective. I advise that to get a husband whom she has found lovable and eligible, the woman should fulfil the qualities that he wants in his wife. He wants his wife to be attractive, feminine and yielding. But you thought, wrongly, that if a woman conforms to these qualities, she would make herself inferior as well as manipulate him to marry her.

Although you may not have explicitly said it, you imply that to demonstrate your superiority, or at least your equality, you need not confirm to his likings. If you are already attractive, feminine and yielding, that is fine. You already process qualities that he likes. But, for the sake of illustration here, if you were unattractive, dominating and demanding, you need not make yourself attractive, feminine and yielding to win him. He has to accept you for what you are.

You consider, again wrongly, that if you have to make yourself attractive, feminine and yielding to win him, you will be manipulative. This is your flawed perspective. A better perspective is that you make a sacrifice to attain a greater mutual goal.

An example will make this point clearer. Suppose you are a manufacturer producing red T-shirts. A customer orders blue T-shirts. This is his likes. But you think that if you conform to his likes, you are demeaning yourself and accepting your inferiority. But if you conform to his likes, you are manipulative to win his sale. You can choose to be stubborn and clinch onto your flawed perspective, but you will lose the sale or your man whom you feel will make a good husband. Your perspective is flawed because you confuse woman equality with being dog-headedness, and confuse sacrifice with manipulation.

This principle of fulfilling the needs of the other person and making sacrifice for greater mutual benefit can be applied to marriages as well as all other aspects of life. To implement this principle successfully, you have to be clear in your vision and direction, and noble in your perspective. Marrying any man that comes your way is not being clear in your vision and direction. Being stubborn even when your views are flawed and mistaking sacrifice to be manipulation is being unclear in your perspective.

Misogyry, or hating women, is definitely not a trait in Shaolin Wahnam. We have many perfect husbands in our school. Some men in our school may not be perfect husbands, but certainly they don’t hate women. If you feel that misogyny is observable in our school, for your own sake, you really have to examine your mind-set. Ironically, it is you who need to clear yourself from this mess of petty differentiation.

Besides better understanding, differentiating between hard and soft, or men and women, also enables us to be cost effective and bring us a lot of benefits. You are the one who can’t differentiate between men and women. Although you may differentiate them by sex, you fail to differentiate them by their roles and aspirations. You seem to treat women as men.

Men and women cannot ultimately be one. A man is a man, and a woman is a woman. It is utterly unnatural if anyone of them become a man-woman, or for the female chauvinists, a woman-man. Playing their roles and fulfilling their aspirations also cannot be equal business. Whether in love making, rearing children or any other aspects of family life, men perform their roles and fulfil their aspirations as men, and women as women. In love making, for example, by instinct, a man’s aspiration is his immediate pleasure, whereas a woman’s aspiration is to have love.

Five-Animal Play — the Monkey

Question 7

Sigung, you are the greatest person and teacher I have ever known and probably ever will. Your opinion matters a lot to me. This subject is very dear to my heart and highly important for my own future. I am terrified that you might push a very out-dated opinion of women and marriage onto students who won’t think twice about the wisdom you generously share and will simply accept it as fact.

I know at least three married couples in Wahnam where the wife does not adhere to your standard of what a “good wife” should be like. Yet they are all wonderfully happy. On the other hand, I see many Wahnam women with high achievements being unmarried to this day. I don’t know if that is their personal choice or simply their adapting to current circumstances.

They are all inspirations to me, yet I absolutely do wish to get married and have children one day. But not when things are still like this. The status quo scares me and makes me hold onto my personal freedom and joy and open way of expression even more.

I guess I just wish to know why these kinds of things are still happening the way they are. It breaks my heart to think that, no matter how high my achievements might be in the future, I’ll never be deemed “as good” as male students, simply because I’m a woman.

If that were the case, and knowing my passion and deep emotions, I might just become that bitter kind of “liberated” woman you said men are scared of. As of now, I am still very young, optimistic and eager to learn. I hope this issue can be resolved. If not in today’s society, then at least let it be resolved in my heart!

Thank you very much for your patience and I will be forever grateful (even more so than I already am) if you could help me break through this blockage. I also hope that my sincere, yet still somewhat critical inquiry won’t result in me not being welcome in Shaolin Wahnam anymore.

Answer

Thank you for your very kind words.

One of the proudest achievements of our school is that our teaching has enabled our family members, single or married, to enrich their daily lives. This achievement is more important than being extremely combat efficient, developing tremendous internal force, or even overcoming pain and illness and attaining good health, vitality and longevity.

Our teaching, including that of happy marriage, is successfully time-tested. You view the issue in a matter of 30 years; I view it over many centuries. Even in a short period of 30 years, your perspective has proven to be unsuccessful, resulting in many people remaining unmarried though they are eligible and lovable.

I do not push my teaching onto our students. I always encourage them to assess any teaching to the best of their understanding and experience.

You have misconceived my advice on what a good wife should be like. You wrongly think that a good wife should abandon her ability and wisdom and follow her husband blindly. I advise that a good wife should use her ability and wisdom to make her family happy.

Even if we presume that the three married couples you mentioned do not adhere to my advice on being a good wife, if they and their husbands and children are happy, I am happy for them. In fact I would advise them to carry on what they have been doing, and don’t follow what I mentioned in the article. The article is not for them. It is meant for women who want to but have not accomplished a happy family.

If those Shaolin Wahnam women with high achievements choose not to have a family they need not follow my advice in the article. If they wish to have a happy family, my advice will be very useful.

Getting married and having children is a woman’s instinct. It is also a wonderful thing to do. Never before in history have women this golden opportunity to be married and have children, and still have freedom, joy and open way of expression. You are living in this golden age but you don’t realize it.

Your problem and heart-breaking situation is the result of your own faulty imagination. Change your perspective from a negative way to the Shaolin Wahnam way and you may see the golden age you are in.

Why should you choose to be a bitter liberated woman whom men are scared of, when you can be a sweet liberated woman whom men adore? Becoming such a sweet, liberated and adorable woman is not by fancy. You have to put in a lot of hard work. Following my advice in the article you mentioned, after you have realized your previous faulty perspective, will provide a practical way to achieve your goal.

Of course you will be welcome in Shaolin Wahnam, more so after you have raised these interesting questions that will benefit many men and women.

Question 8

Can children practice the Five-Animal Play?

— Konchia, Spain

Answer

Yes, they can if they have competent teachers. Nowadays, competent teachers teaching Five-Animal Play or other types of chi kung are rare. Most teachers teach chi kung techniques as gentle physical exercise, and not as chi kung.

Gentle physical exercise works on the physical body, whereas chi kung works on energy. Gentle physical exercise cannot overcome pain and illness, and cannot enable practitioners to have more energy and mental clarity, but chi kung can.

If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at secretary@shaolin.org stating your name, country and e-mail address.

SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS OCTOBER 2015 PART 3 BY GRANDMASTER WONG KIEW KIT

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/answers/ans15b/oct15-3.html)

Women are women, men are men. Happy women and men at a marriage blessing in Hawaii

Question 1

I just wish to be myself, the person I am working hard to cultivate and to improve on every level. The person you called “of a high calibre”, the person you were kind enough to call talented and beautiful. The wonderful woman I’ll be in only a few years’ time. And once I find my future husband, we will hopefully create a wholesome and harmonious relationship together, based on awe, spirituality, respect and love.

— Fabienne, Switzerland

Answer

I am very happy that many students of our schools, male and female, have explicitly stated that our training has made them the best persons they can be.

You have all the potential to be this wonderful woman. The only hindrance I can see in you now is your concept of women equality. It is a fact that many male students who make excellent husbands have told me that they are scared to get married because they are scared that their future intelligent and liberated wives will argue with them on every thing. If your sense of women equality dictates that it is your right to argue with them and to you that is not oppressing them, and that they should not be scared of you, it is unlikely that you will meet these lovable men as a potential husband.

It is your choice. You can choose to believe that they should not be scared, although they have explicitly said they are scared, and choose to believe that even when you strongly express your views which oppose theirs, you can still have a happy marriage. As an analogy, in internal force training you can choose to believe that you can tense your muscles, though internal force masters have explicitly said that you should relax, and choose to believe that even when you use muscular strength which opposes the view of internal force masters, you can still develop internal force.

Actual experiences have repeatedly shown that wives who strongly express their views that oppose their husbands’ views, although the wives claim that it is their right, do not have happy marriages. Actual experiences also have repeatedly shown that students who tense their muscles, when internal force masters advise them to relax, although the students claim that it is their right to practice in a way they want to, do not develop internal force. If, knowing these facts, you still persist on doing what you think is right although actual experiences have shown that you will not have a happy marriage or develop internal force, you are not only unwise but also stubborn, despite your intelligence.

Editorial Note

Fabienne’s other questions can be found at Questions-Answers October 2015 Part 2 and Questions-Answers November 2015 Part 1.

Question 2

Or should I cast all that honour and potential aside once I marry? Should it really be my goal to hide my lively and talkative character? Turn doe-eyed and meek and become a master at manipulating and tricking the person I love into doing what I want, instead of being upfront, sincere and loving with him? And have my husband return that sentiment, out of respect and love.

Answer

You have jumped into conclusions that are irrelevant.

No one asks you to cast your honour and potential aside once you marry. You are advised to use your honour and potential in a way that will make your marriage happy and successful, and not to use them in a way that will confront your husband resulting in an unhappy and unsuccessful marriage.

No one asks you to hide your lively and talkative character. You are advised to use your lively and talkative character to make your marriage happy and successful, and not to use them in a way that may dominate your husband resulting in an unhappy and unsuccessful marriage.

No one asks you to turn doe-eyed and meek and become a master at manipulating and tricking the person you love into doing what you want. You are advised to be doe-eyed and meek or eagle-eyed and demanding or whatever is appropriate, and be sincere and loving in persuading the person you love into doing what you want for mutual happiness and benefit.

You should be upfront in all your dealings with your husband, and never deceive him. But your approach can be straight-forward or circular depending on the situation and his character. You should have your husband return that sentiment out of respect and love, and definitely not out of deceit, fear or cunningness.

Our training in Shaolin Wahnam makes us the best person we can be

Question 3

Why can’t women be equal to men? Why do women have to adhere to the sensibilities of men (them being scared of our opinions, strength or maybe even superior intelligence), whereas men have a horrifying sense of entitlement as soon as we dress attractively, smile or talk with them? Again, I speak from personal experience.

If men are scared of women having an opinion and being strong, shouldn’t they practice Kung Fu and grow a real spine instead?

Don’t you think that we women aren’t afraid of men, too? When men are scared of dominant women, then women like me are scared of having to submit and give up everything for men like them.

Answer

It seems that your concept of women being equal to men means women being the same as men. Women are women, and men are men. They are not the same. It would be a very dull world if they were the same.

It is also worthwhile for you to realize that women equality is a modern concept. In the past women were considered inferior to men. In the same way, all men are equal, meaning all men have equal rights, is a modern concept. In the past, even in Athens, the birthplace of democracy, men were not equal. Women and slaves had no rights.

Women adhere to the sensibilities of men, and men adhere to the sensitivities of women for mutual respect and benefit. You can choose not to adhere to men’s sensitivities, like not dressing prettily, but it will be to your disadvantage. Similarly, a man can choose not to adhere to women’s sensitivities, like being rough with them, but it will be to his disadvantage.

Your thinking that men are afraid of women who have their own opinions and are strong is again jumping into a wrong conclusion

I have noticed more men wanting women to have opinions on their own and be strong than men being afraid of women having opinions and are strong. Many men complain that women, rightly or wrongly, are flicker-minded, and no matter how strong women are, they are generally not as strong as men, physically or emotionally.

Only by practicing genuine kungfu can men and women develop mental clarity and internal force that enable them to be tolerant of others’ opinions and be strong physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, and figuratively have a real spine.

But genuine kungfu is very rare nowadays. Kungfu is so debased today that practitioners become dull and intolerant of others’ beliefs. Though they may be stronger physically, they are weak emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Question 4

Don’t you think that we women are afraid of men, too? When men are scared of dominant women, women like me are scared of having to submit and give up everything for men like them.

Answer

In the past women submitted themselves and willingly gave up everything for their husbands. Because of their submissive nature, they were happy. Divorce was unheard of, though some people argue that the absence of divorce was due not to happy marriages but to the unavailability of divorce opportunities.

The submissiveness of wives as well as their inferior position were a blessing in disguise. They became tolerant of their husbands’ shortcomings, and even if their marriages were not particularly happy, they were not particularly quarrelsome.

It was a sharp contrast to today’s marriages. Because women are liberated, they demand equal rights, which result in frequent quarrels or at least disagreement between husbands and wives.

Herein lies an interesting debate. Would you prefer wives to be submissive which results in a peaceful family, or wives to have equal rights which results in a quarrelsome family. Men’s preference is quite obvious. Usually choices have to be made by modern women.

Chi kung for health and vitality

Question 5

Let me make an example. Let’s say that, hypothetically, I found a boyfriend. Both he and I are dedicated martial artists, talented and spiritually advanced. Who do you think will have to make the bigger sacrifice in order to achieve this perfectly wholesome family life you were talking about?

Me. I would offer my body, stop practicing high level Kung Fu and Qigong for at least 9 months, bear the pain of childbirth and ideally submit to my husband to not “make him feel bad” by being my true self: intelligent, sharp, outspoken and kind-hearted.

Answer

This is your perspective as a wife who is unwilling to make sacrifice for a happy family. The perspective of your husband, who is also unwilling to make sacrifice for a happy family, will be different. It will be as follows.

Who do you think will have to make the bigger sacrifice? Me. I would offer both my body and my time, and work like mad with hardly any time to rest, and of course not to practice high level kungfu and qigong, especially during the 9 months when my wife is pregnant, bear the pain of anxiety and ideally submit to her whims and fancies to make her feel good, and not to be my true self: spending time with by buddies and bearing their cruel jokes as my wife’s handy man.

Both perspectives are unlikely to contribute to a happy family. If you value your family happiness more than your mis-conceived women rights, your perspective will be as follows.

I am grateful to be able to sacrifice for my family happiness. I shall gladly offer my body, and continue to practice high level kungfu and qigong. It will be a privilege to be pregnant, and to bring forth my children, who will be a joy to both my husband and myself. I shall willingly submit to my husband’s wishes, and make his life happy. I shall employ my intelligence, effort and kind-heartedness to be my true self as a loving wife and mother.

Your husband’s perspective if he values family happiness over male chauvinism will be as follows.

I am grateful to be able to sacrifice for my family happiness. I shall gladly offer my body and my time, continue to practice high level kungfu and chi kung, and to work hard to provide well for my wife and children. I shall willingly submit to my wife’s wishes, and make her life meaningful. I shall employ my intelligence, effort and time to be my true self as a loving husband and father

Question 6

All of this is worth it, but the man needs to be upright, smart, handsome and worthy, too. Not everybody is a husband who appreciates his wife and works extraordinarily hard like you do, Sigung.

What is the point of me practicing martial arts and thus developing elegance, grace, mental clarity, confidence, courage and tremendous strength if I shall have to submit all my ambitions and everything I’ve achieved to a man the moment I get married and wish to have children?

Answer

It is certainly worth it. You need to find the man who is upright, smart, handsome and worthy. As we practice elite arts in Shaolin Wahnam, we are the leaders. We take the initiate to build a happy family. We are not followers. We do not hope someone will take the lead and follow him.

Thinking that you have to forego all the benefits of your training for the man you will marry is a negative way of looking at your things. The Shaolin Wahnam was is as follows.

My practicing elite martial arts enables me to develop elegance, grace, mental clarity, confidence, courage and tremendous strength. With these benefits I can find a wonderful and appreciative man whom I will get married and have children. I shall continue to practice the elite arts to make my family happy and meaningful.

Martial art chi kung

Question 7

In contemplating your Intensive Chi Kung Course, I recalled you had said there was an intensive amount to learn, and something about remembering even a fraction of it would be invaluable.

I wonder if you have learning materials for class review that you supply with the class, like workbooks and/or DVDs. And if not, do you permit students to take notes?

— Elizabeth, USA

Answer

You can find a lot of my teaching material of the Intensive Chi Kung Course on my webpages, like the following

You can take notes during the course if you like, but are advised not to because

Taking notes will get you out of a chi kung state of mind, and it is in a chi kung state of mind that you get the best benefits of the course
A video recording of the course will be presented to you with compliments before you leave

You will probably find that what I teach during the course is very different from what you and most people have in mind about chi kung. It may sound ridiculous but you don’t have to remember anything if you can generate an energy flow.

You will learn and be successful in doing this in the first half an hour of the course, and you will practice doing this throughout the course, except when you sit down to listen to chi kung philosophy which will enhance your practice, and to my answers to students’ questions.

If one cannot generate an energy flow, he (or she) will not be performing chi kung even though the exercises he performs are genuine chi kung techniques. More than 80% of chi kung practitioners all over the world today are in this situation, i.e. they use genuine chi kung techniques to perform gentle physical exercise, and not an energy art, just like more than 90% of Taiji practitioners use genuine Taijiquan techniques to perform external dance-like movement and not an internal martial art.

If you can’t generate an energy flow by the end of the course, you should ask me for a full refund of the course fee, which will be refunded without question

Question 8

You have said the forms of qigong that I have done are not high-level qigong, but I have experienced the following:

I feel intensive energy flows.
I have led some very sick people in these exercises, and they feel much better immediately
People have healed many things like cancer, Lupus, etc.
It focuses on body, mind, soul, and spiritual development.

Would it be accurate to say that my current qigong is high-level because of the 4 things listed above, but Shaolin Wahnam qigong is a more advanced and of a higher level. I feel a bit sad thinking of my teacher’s as low level qigong.

But of course the question is why am I not well fully yet. I have healed a lot of other people but they have to do this qigong 2-3 hours a day, for a few years to be completely healed. I have not yet been able to sustain this level of practice for extended periods of time.

And I have some concern that the practice itself is too complex and not balanced. I am really excited to experience a vastly more powerful and succinct practice in the hopes of complete recovery soon!

Answer

Whether a certain type of qigong (chi kung), or any art, is high-level depends on various factors, and the assessment is often subjective. It is best that you compare different types of qigong and make an assessment yourself.

Many of my students honestly thought that the qigong or kungfu they previously practiced was high-level. When I later asked them about their assessment, after having practicing qigong or kungfu in our school for some time, without a single exception they told me it was incomparable.

I usually let their assessment stop at that. I did not persist further to ask which type was of such a higher level that they were incomparable. Their continuing to practice our qigong or kungfu, instead of their former types, clearly gave me the answer.

Before assessing whether a certain type of qigong or kungfu is of a high level, it is useful firstly to consider whether it is genuine. In other words, first we consider whether a certain type of qigong or kungfu is genuine. If it is not genuine, we need not proceed. If it is genuine, we assess whether it is high-level or low-level.

An excellent way to decide whether a certain type of qigong or kungfu is genuine is to examine whether it gives the benefits it is meant to give. A fundamental benefit of qigong is good health, and a fundamental benefit of kungfu is self-defence. If a practitioner after practicing his art for a reasonable period of time, like a year, is still sick or unable to defend himself, then the qigong or kungfu he practices is not genuine.

Please note that the issue here is whether the art he practices is genuine, and not his character. He may be a very kind and lovable person, but if he does not derive the benefit that his dedicated practice is meant to give him, his art cannot be said to be genuine.

Unfortunately, this is the situation of qigong and kungfu practitioners today, including world-known masters. Many qigong practitioners have to take medication on a routine basis. Most kungfu practitioners cannot defend themselves. If they need to fight or spar, they use Boxing or Kick-Boxing, and are still being punched and kicked by their opponents.

Qigong masters since classical times have classified qigong into the following five progressive levels, from the basic to the most advanced.

Medical qigong — to overcome pain and illness.
Health qigong — to promote good health, vitality and longevity.
Scholars’ qigong — to promote scholarly qualities, like mental clarity.
Martial art qigong — to develop internal force, like for peak performance.
Spiritual qigong — to attain the highest spiritual fulfillment, or at low levels to experience spiritual joys like being peaceful and happy.

Kungfu masters have classified kungfu into the following three levels:

For combat efficiency.
For good health, vitality and longevity.
For spiritual cultivation.

The knowledge above will help you to access the qigong your practice or any types of qigong you come across. This knowledge, however, is quite exclusive, and we in Shaolin Wahnam are happy to share it publicly, regardless of whether others believe in it or not. This knowledge has given us a lot of benefits.

If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at secretary@shaolin.org stating your name, country and e-mail address.

SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS OCTOBER 2015 PART 2 BY GRANDMASTER WONG KIEW KIT

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/answers/ans15b/oct15-2.html)

It is a joy to have children and grand-children

Question 1

I wish to thank you again for the wonderful teachings and deep impact you had on me and my emotional health at the Valentine’s Course in Ireland only a few months ago.. I was lucky enough to make a lot of progress during the past few years, especially in 2014. I did leave my job after you sent me the kind message and I am now working for a different and absolutely incredible new employer. I feel very blessed and grateful.

Nevertheless, there is an issue about women equality that has bothered me more than ever this year and that I feel is a major blockage.

Sigung, you are always very kind, generous and most important of all, objective and fair. I am also aware that there are still some cultural differences that make me so torn and conflicted about accepting some of your comments about women and marriage.

Whenever I think of finding a husband or having children, my thoughts and optimism grind to a halt. It wasn’t always like that, but my experiences in my professional life as well as in Shaolin Wahnam have somewhat disheartened me, so holding onto optimism and hope is difficult when thinking about marriage and children.

— Fabienne, Switzerland

Answer

I am very happy about your progress though it is expected as you are a very good student. With mental clarity you could easily see that your previous job was unsuitable for you. With courage from internal force, you were not afraid to leave a job that you did not like to look for another one. Mental clarity and internal force are developed in the training you practice in our school.

It is useful to understand more deeply the term “women equality”. To me, women equality means that women are not inferior to men, but it does not mean that they should be treated as if they were men.

For example, a woman can be as efficient as a man in her job as a manager, but in work where physical strength is required, like carrying heavy luggage, she should not be treated the same as a man. Let her husband or boyfriend do the job.

How the concept of women equality is interpreted in martial arts is interesting. Many Karate and Taekwondo masters boast that they want their female students to fight like men. “If a man throws a punch of 200 pound at you,” they tell their female students, “block it with 200 pounds.”

Our interpretation is different. We don’t want our female students to fight like men; they should fight as women — without losing their feminine charms. They are not men, but can be as combat efficient as men. They can, for example, deflect the powerful punch with minimum force, and elegantly drive a phoenix-eye fist into a male attacker’s ribs.

It is precisely failing to appreciate the deeper significance of women equality that brings suffering to both men and women. Many men have told me that they are afraid to be married for fear that their wives might quarrel with them like men. Many women like to be women, but are forced by a mistaken concept of women equality to act like men.

Your problem of being disheartened about marriage and children may be due to a mistaken concept of women equality, wrongly thinking that when you are married you have to be a husband instead of being a wife, and to be a father instead of being a mother. Such a mistaken concept will distort family roles and is unlikely to bring family happiness. You are likely to have family happiness when you let your husband be the husband of the family, and you remain to be the wife.

Question 2

I’m scared of being a loving wife and mother one day, because the kind of devotion you expect a woman to show towards her husband is not something many males nowadays are worthy of.

Sadly, not all men in Shaolin Wahnam are a shining example of honourable men one might think they are. I can speak as a female student who has had some unpleasant, non-consensual experiences. I heard some very demeaning things about myself and others. I didn’t want to list them at first, but I think I have to in order to make the situation clearer.

Answer

Your problem here is not being scared of becoming a loving wife and mother one day nor the kind of devotion expected of a woman toward her husband. Your problem is finding a husband worthy of your devotion.

There are two different approaches to train a school of honorable men and women.

One approach is to select people who are already honorable to train them. This will make the group exclusive.

Another approach is to open the school to those who want to be honorable, and train them.

Shaolin Wahnam employs the second approach. But we require that those who wish to be trained to be honorable must be deserving, like following the Ten Shaolin Laws.

Hence, it is understandable that there are some in our school who are still dishonorable. Either they have not successfully completed their training in our school, which means that in time they will be honorable, or they have failed in their training, which means they do not want to be honorable.

Comparing our school with other schools, we have done very well.

The examples you have listed will be commented on below.

Grandmaster Wong and Sifu Joan. Women equality does not mean women are the same as men. It means women are as capable as men.

Question 3

When a close Sije of mine went through a difficult time, I heard more than once that “She should find a strong man to have sex with her. She’ll calm down then.” That’s unacceptable!

I was propositioned for sex after a course. The man was ugly, ignorant and thought I’d sleep with him because “nobody else would find me attractive” due to my weight.

All these things stopped once I became more advanced and confident. They also disappeared because I aged and gained weight. But I wish to show that women are much more likely to be reduced to their beauty and features. Even in Buddhism, almost every description of female practitioners says something along the lines of “she was known for her beauty.”

This is so infuriating and unfair. It is a nice compliment when it comes from someone sincere and without ulterior motives, but I’m scared of being reduced to it in the future. But if I defend myself and talk to other people about this, I might be called a “feminist” and “attention seeker”. No man will approach me then, I’m sure.

Answer

Both asking a distressed woman to have sex to calm down, and asking a woman to have sex otherwise no one else would have sex with her were not only unacceptable, they were despicable. As mentioned earlier, there may still be dishonorable students in our school. Either they failed in the training to be honorable, or they do not want to he honorable.

They automatically eliminate themselves in any competition to be husbands of sensible women.

The insulting comments stopped because you had advanced in your kungfu training and had become more confident. The insulting males might be worried that you asked them to have free sparring instead.

You are still very young. With our training, you can remain young when you grow in chorological age. Our exercises can also help you to reduce weight. Exercises like “Drawing the Moon” and “Merry-Go-Round” are excellent. You have to practice these exercises regularly.

You should not feel infuriating or unfair when someone says you are or any woman is beautiful. I believe women, regardless of their age, will take it as a compliment.

There is no need to defend yourself when complimented to be beautiful. Accept the compliment graciously.

It is natural for women to want to be beautiful. She will indeed be very odd if a woman wants to be ugly, or tough and masculine like a man. This is what I mean by misconception of women equality. Women and men are equal but not the same. If a woman appears or behaves like a man, such as putting on man’s clothing or putting her legs on a table, most men I believe will find her ugly.

Question 4

I might adhere to what you called a “liberated” woman in a past article. But I don’t wish to oppress my husband with my intelligence, my wit or my knowledge. I don’t wish to confront and nag him unnecessarily, as you seem to think most “liberated” women are doing according to this article.

Truly liberated women are exactly that: liberated. They’re happy, independent and free to express themselves, not bitter and unpleasant and trying to oppose their partner at every step. I am truly sorry if you or other men have had unpleasant experiences with these kinds of women. I do not identify with these women.

Answer

A liberated woman can be feminine and gentle. She needs not act or behave like a man.

Oppressing her husband with her intelligence, wit or knowledge, and confronting and nagging him unnecessarily is not a matter of being liberated; it is a matter of being unwise.

You are mistaken that I think liberated women tend to oppress their husbands, nag or confront them unnecessarily. I advise that women, regardless of whether they are liberated or not, should not do such things. If they do, they may win arguments but lose their men.

Liberated women are independent and free to express themselves. But they are not necessarily happy, not bitter, unpleasant and trying to oppose their partners at every step. In other words, liberated women can be happy or depressed, sweet or bitter, pleasant or unpleasant, oppose their partners at every step or not at all. Being liberated or not liberated, and being happy, sweet, pleasant, opposing or otherwise are different issues.

Liberated women who are wise will be sweet, pleasant and accommodating to their husbands or partners, and as a result they are happy. Unwise liberated women will do the reverse and be depressed.

Editorial Note

Fabienne’s other questions can be found at Questions-Answers October 2015 Part 3 and Questions-Answers November 2015 Part 1.

A woman can be very combat efficient and still retains her femininity

Question 5

I don’t have any illness or problems. Is it necessary for me to practice Cosmic Breathing?

— Belinda, Germany

Answer

It is not necessary but it is very beneficial. In fact it is not necessary to practice chi kung, yet a person can live, but practicing chi kung will bring a lot of benefits. As an analogy, you don’t need to buy a car, but a car is certainly very useful. You can walk from Germany to France, or even cross the sea to reach England hugging a log — if you survive the journey. The Polynesian people, for example, crossed the Pacific before cars and ships were invented. But if you can afford it, having a car is very beneficial.

As you have successfully learned the skills and techniques of Cosmic Breathing, make full use of its benefits even when it is not necessary to practice it to carry on living.

When your boyfriend takes you to a date and you are tired, for example, practicing Cosmic Breathing for just about 5 minutes will energize you. When you study for an examination, and your mind just cannot take in any more knowledge, go for a short walk and practice Cosmic Breathing for about 5 minutes. You will be mentally fresh and study more effectively. When you want to play some games, practicing Cosmic Breathing for just 5 minutes will give you better mental focus and more energy for better performance.

Question 6

Can I combine Cosmic Breathing with Eighteen Lohan Hands?

Answer

Yes, you can. You can also combine with other chi kung exercises.

But it is not necessary because Cosmic Breathing is already very powerful by itself. Combining it with other exercises will dilute its power. But for fun or variety, you can combine Cosmic Breathing with any other exercises.

As an analogy, you already earn a lot of money working as a doctor. You are also good at cooking and gardening. Can you combine being a doctor with being a cook and a gardener? You can, but it is not necessary because working as a doctor alone will bring you more incomre than combining your job with cooking and gardening. But for fun or other appropriate reasons, you may combine being a doctor with cooking and gardening.

An Intensive Chi Kung Course in Penang in 2012

Question 7

I’ve been practicing chi-kung for some time, self learning out of necessity since there is no chi-kung master in my place. I’ve been learning from books, articles and videos, and I have received large benefits from my practice.

May be one of Sifu Wong’s advanced students may come to teach us. I would like to become a healer, though I need to learn first hand from a master.

Mexico is a country with a lot of problems, including very low wages. There are hardly people who can afford the fees of Master Wong Kiew Kit. But I know there should be a way I may learn form the master.

— Francisco, Mexico

Answer

I taught in Mexico a few years ago. It was a large class of about 100 students, and each paid about 1000 euros for my courses.

You are right to say than one must be a good chi kung student before he thinks of becoming a chi kung healer.

You are also right to say that if you wish to learn from me, there is a way. I would recommend that you attend my Intensive Chi Kung Course. You will find the chi kung practiced in our school, Shaolin Wahnam, very different from what you have learned from books, articles and videos, and also very different from the chi kung practiced in most other schools.

Editorial Note :

Francisco’s immediate reply:

“Thanks for your answer, I am going to travel to Malaysia to learn at your school. I don’t know when, but I will be there. When I’m ready I’ll check courses and details.”

Grandmaster Wong’s response:

I am very glad of your prompt and right decision. You will certainly find the Intensive Chi Kung Course worth many times your effort to learn it.

Apply the same principle, “When there is a will, there is a way”, to all worthy tasks, and you will soon find that your life will be richer and happier by manifold. A worthy task is one that is honorable and brings benefit to yourself or others or both.

Question 8

Sifu Wong mentioned that one should not masturbate too often. How often is too often? Is once a day too much?

— Jussi, USA

Answer

It depends on the age and vitality of the person who wants to masturbate.

The following verse in Chinese (Cantonese) would be a useful guideline:

Ye sap lien lien
Sam sap thien thien

Translated into English it is as follows.

At twenty, continuously
At thirty, every day

It means that at twenty of age a person, male, can have sex continuously, provided, of course, he has a willing partner who preferably enjoys it too. At thirty of age he can have sex everyday.

As masturbation consumes a similar amount of energy as having sex, perhaps with less pleasure and often with a tincture of frustration, a person who wishes to masturbate may use this verse as a guideline, provided he has vitality. If he lacks vitality, masturbating once a week is too much.

It should be note that the above verse is meant to show a person’s vitality in relation to sex, not to show his necessity or even desirability. In other words if a male youth of twenty can have sex continuously, it shows he has vitality. It is not necessary or desirable that he does it.

How does one know whether he has sufficient vitality to perform his chosen task, regardless of whether it is masturbation or meditation? It is simple. If he is twenty and can satisfactorily masturbate or meditate continuously, he has the vitality to accomplish his task, otherwise he lacks the vitality, in which case it is only wise of him to masturbate or meditate less or none at all even when he wants more.

A sure way to have vitality is to practice genuine, high-level chi kung. Nevertheless, when a person, old or young, male or female, has acquired a lot of vitality, he or she will find masturbation uninteresting. That person will find other activities more rewarding.

If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at secretary@shaolin.org stating your name, country and e-mail address.

SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS OCTOBER 2015 PART 1 BY GRANDMASTER WONG KIEW KIT

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/answers/ans15b/oct15-1.html)

Bone-Marrow Cleansing

Question 1

Past masters took many years to attain energy flowing at the five levels, but we can attain this in just four hours! How is it possible?

— Lukas, Germany

Answer

This is ridiculous but true.

There are two main reasons.

Past masters did not differentiate between techniques and skills, whereas we do. They practiced any techniques they were taught when they were students. When conditions were ideal, they developed the necessary skills, often without their conscious knowing. These ideal conditions happened infrequently even when they practice every day. Over a long period, like after many years, they accumulated enough results, which happened haphazardly, to feel energy flowing at these five levels.

Let us take an analogy. In this course, many students come from other countries, like from England, Austria and Holland. If they do not have the right techniques, like a car or a train, and do not have the right skills, like traveling along the correct routes, but just travel haphazardly even they travel everyday they will take many years to arrive at Frankfurt if they ever do. But they took only a few hours to arrive because they have the right techniques and the right skills, i.e. they drove a car or took a train, and travelled along the right routes.

Secondly, instead of developing the necessary skills on their own, which would take at least few months, I transmitted the skills to them so that they could get the benefits immediately.

Question 2

Is there any difference between Golden Bridge and Bone Marrow Cleansing at Muscle Level in developing internal force?

Answer

Yes, there is some difference. The force developed in Golden Bridge is colsolidated, whereas the force developed in Bone Marrow Cleansing at Muscle Level is relatively more flowing.

It is significant to note that the comparison is relative. Bone Marrow Cleansing at Muscle Level is more consolidated than many other methods of force training, but compared to Golden Bridge it is more flowing.

As a rough guide the proportions of consolidating and flowing are as follows in the following force training methods.

Golden Bridge 90-10
Bone Marrow Cleansing at Muscle Level 85-15
Iron Wire 80-20
Flower Set 50-50
108-Pattern Yang Style Taijiquan 10-90

This list is flexible and serves as a rough guide. It varies according to many factors, like the mood, knowledge and ability of a practitioner. In our chase, we can vary the proportion according to our wish. We may, for example, practice Iron Wire with a proportion of 20% consolidating and 80% flowing.

There is also a difference between the time needed between Golden Bridge and Bone Marrow Cleansing at Muscle Level to develop internal force.

If one takes 15 minutes to develop a certain amount of internal force in Golden Bridge, he takes only 10 minutes to develop the same amount in Bone Marrow Cleansing at Muscle Level. This again is only a rough guide, and may vary due to different factors.

Nevertheless, as revealed just now by practitioners who had trained in both methods (during a Bone Marrow Cleansing Course in Germany in Sept 2014) that although they found Bone Marrow Cleansing at Muscle Level more forceful, they still preferred Golden Bridge. The important lesson is that being better and preference are not necessary the same, and this important lesson is applicable in daily life.

Some men may find other women more beautiful than their wives, but they still prefer their wives. Some women know that other men earn more money than their husbands, but they still prefer their husbands.

Grandmaster Wong’s youngest son, Wong Chun Yian, performing the Golden Bridge

Question 3

Is our Bone Marrow Cleansing the same as Bone Marrow Cleansing taught by Bodhidharma?

Answer

It is not the same. But we still use the term “Bone Marrow Cleansing” in honour of Bodhidharma.

Bodhisharma’s Bone Marrow Cleansing referred to four levels of his teaching on spiritual development. Our Bone Marrow Cleansing refers to five levels of energy flow in energy development.

In other words, by following Bodhidharma’s teaching, practitioners developed their spirit at four levels, figuratively described as the levels of the skin, the flesh, the bone and the bone marrow. The legend of Hui Ke receiving Bodhidharma’s teaching describes this development. By following our teaching in the Bone Marrow Course, practitioners develop their energy flow at five levels, more literally described as the levels of the skin, the muscles, the meridians, the internal organs and the bone marrow.

Why do we use five levels of energy flow and not four or any other number? It is because past masters discovered through the ages that there were five levels of energy flow. When people practiced chi kung successfully — genuine chi kung and not gentle physical exercise as is mostly practiced nowadays — after some time, which might range from a year to a few years, they found energy flowing at their skin level. After Some time, the energy flowed at their muscle level, then at their meridian level. After some time the energy flowing at their meridian level entered their internal organs. Eventually the energy flowed at their bone marrow level.

Depending on various factors, from the time they started practicing chi kung to the time the energy flowed at their bone marrow level might ranged from five to twenty years. This happened only to those who succeeded in their training, and they formed a minority. Most practitioners would not have progressed this far, even when they practice genuine chi kung.

In our case, the term “Bone Marrow Cleansing at Muscle Level” can be misleading. It may be more exact to call it “Developing Internal Force at Muscle Level” as this actually describes the skill and the result. Or we may call it “Consolidating Energy at Muscle Level”, as a lot of energy is consolidated at the muscles though it is still flowing. Nevertheless, we call it “Bone Marrow Cleansing at Muscle Level” as it is the second level of our Bone Marrow Cleansing Course.

Question 4

Can we practice different levels in the same session of Bone Marrow Cleansing?

Answer

Yes, you can although generally you will get better results by practicing just one level per session.

If you practice more than one level, you need not repeat the techniques for the subsequent levels. You only need the gentle visualization. Secondly you can practice the various levels in any order, not necessary in ascending order.

Let’s say you wish to practice Bone Marrow Cleansing at the levels of the meridians and the skin. You can start with Pushing Mountain, and direct your energy to flow along the meridians. When you are satisfied with this level of energy flow, you just direct energy to flow along your skin. You need not perform Lifting the Sky to generate energy flow at the skin level, you just use your visualization when you are in a chi kung state of mind. If you wish to perform Lifting the Sky, you can also do do.

The nature of training is different in kungfu and chi kung. Hence, one may train longer in kungfu and not be over-trained though its training methods are more powerful

Question 5

You recommend only 15 minutes in chi kung training but an hour in kungfu training. Can you please elaborate?

Answer

The force training in kungfu is usually more powerful than the force training in chi kung. So, will you be over-training if you practice kungfu for an hour, whereas it is recommended that you practice only for 15 minutes in chi kung?

No, it is because the nature of kungfu training is different from that in chi kung training. In kungfu training, besides developing force you also perform a lot of mobile activities like set practice and combat application. These mobile activities spread your force so that you will not be over-trained, even when you have more energy at the end of the training session than before.

But if you just perform force training in kungfu for more than 15 minutes, like just practice zhan zhuang, One-finger Shooting Zen and Lifting Water, unless you have spent some time in the training to progress gradually so that you body can take the extra energy, you will be over-training.

In chi kung training, you only perform force development. Practicing more than 15 minutes of force development may be over-training as your physical body is not ready to take the extra energy.

Question 6

Can we practice the Three-Circle Stance in the Horse-Riding Stance instead of the Goat Stance, and practice the Golden Bridge in the Goat Stance instead of the Horse-Riding Stance?

— Oliver, France

Answer

Yes, you can.

Indeed, in the past many Taijiquan practitioners performed carrying the Cosmos, which was the hand form in the Three-Circle Stance, in the Horse-Riding Stance instead of the Goat Stance.

Some practitioners perform Golden Bridge in the Goat Stance instead of the Horse-Riding Stance.

The effects are different. Carrying the Cosmos in the Horse-Riding Stance produces more internal force than in the Goat Stance. Practicing Golden Bridge in the Goat Stance is more relaxing than in the Horse-Riding Stance.

Three-Circle Stance

Question 7

I am troubled by a neurosis. Whenever, for example, I’m about to sit down or settle somewhere, I always have to check that there are no visible life forms present, like bugs, so that I won’t crush them. I base this on the principle that all lives are equal. But is this the truth? Can I safely sit down without always checking, or do I have to try my best to avoid killing anything?

— Jussi, USA

Answer

No, it is not true that all lives are equal. The lifespan of a bug, for example, is only a few months, whereas the lifespan of a human is many years. A bug does not have the opportunity to practice chi kung, whereas a human has. If he practices chi kung, i.e. genuine chi kung, and not merely gentle physical exercise which many people mistake for chi kung, he will live longer, healthier and with more vitality.

It is also not necessary true that you will crush a bug when you sit down. I actually don’t know how bugs feel, but I reckon that a bug would feel warm and comfortable when the soft part of your body rests on it. So sit down comfortably whenever you want to.

Your problem is not just crushing a bug or warming it. Your problem is certainly more series. I would strongly recommend you to attend my Intensive Chi Kung Course. Please see my website at http://www.shaolin.org for more details, and apply to my secretary at secretary@shaolin.org for registration.

I usually asked people with such problems to practice genuine chi kung, but from experience I have found that many of them end up with gentle physical exercise that does not overcome their problems. To save you time and effort, I ask you straightaway to attend my Intensive Chi Kung Course. You will not only overcome your neurosis and other health problems if you have, you will also find life more joyful and meaningful.

Question 8

Do you recommend physical exercise or is Chi Kung enough for overcoming depression and anxiety? If so, what kind of exercise would be the best?

Answer

Just practicing high-level chi kung is enough for overcoming depression and anxiety. It is not necessary to practice physical exercise or take food supplement.

Please take note of two important points: it must be genuine chi kung, and it must be of a high level. Genuine high-level chi kung is of course very rare nowadays.

It is not what chi kung techniques one should practice, but how he practices them that is important. The same chi kung techniques can be practiced as low-level chi kung, or as gentle physical exercise which is not chi kung at all.

Not many people can actually understand the above two statements even when they understand the dictionary meaning of all the words. An analogy may make the two statements clearer.

It is not what swimming techniques or surgery techniques one performs, but how well or badly he performs them that is important. The same techniques can be performed as low-level swimming or surgery, or not swimming or surgery at all.

If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at secretary@shaolin.org stating your name, country and e-mail address.

SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SEPTEMBER 2015 PART 3 BY GRANDMASTER WONG KIEW KIT

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/answers/ans15b/sep15-3.html)

All my students are deserving. I do not want to waste my time on undeserving students

Question 1

I am re-sending this email since I haven’t heard from you, and I know you are likely very busy.

I could not find a Parkinson’s and/or Alzheimer’s testimonial per se on your website. Do you have anyone who healed who might be willing to talk to my dad about their healing with you? He would be moved I am sure by speaking with people who healed.

— Elizabeth, USA

Answer

I received your previous e-mail but I thought of not replying because you or your father would probably find my reply harsh, though in many cases I had to be harsh to be kind. Nevertheless, I would reply to your questions, implied or directly asked.

Here is the harsh answer.

I do not want to waste my time on people who themselves do not want to be healed. If they apply for my course, I would reject them as I consider them undeserving.

All the testimonials on my website are from grateful people who wrote to thank me on their own record. There are actually many more testimonials sent to me than I placed in my website.

If there are so many testimonials from people recovering from diseases more serious than Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease, a sensible sick person suffering from a so-called incurable disease would not want to miss this golden opportunity to be healed. If he does not want to risk being a fool for a few days but prefer to be a fool for life, that is his business. I am not foolish enough to waste my time finding someone to speak to him. Even if I did, he would say he didn’t believe.

Whether he believes in the many testimonials is his right, but to me it is insulting. I don’t need to invent testimonials to trick people to seek healing from me. In fact I don’t like healing, but I do so as a duty. That was one main reason why now I do not offer personalized healing course even some people offer to pay me a lot of money — much, much more, I believe, than what your father could dream to pay me.

Question 2

Do you keep track of people after they left your workshops, to know how many healed and kept up with practice?

Answer

No, I don’t keep such records. i expect them to be healed if they follow my simple instruction of practicing the lowest level of what they have learned in an Intensive Chi Kung Course for about 15 minutes twice a day, and in reality they were healed. Frankly I have lost count. There were literally thousands of them.

From the chi kung perspective, every illness can be overcome

Question 3

In my experience, for my dad to heal, he will have to do qi gong, work with his mental habits, diet, and exercise his hands, voice, body, as they are all deeply weakened. Or would the 30 minutes of qi gong a day be all he needed in terms of physical exercise too, for all of the atrophied areas? Or would he also need to do other physical activities, in your opinion?

Answer

What you think is also what many people think. That was one reason why I suspected that you have been practicing chi kung techniques not as chi kung but as gentle physical exercise.

Even more people believe that such diseases like Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease and Lyme’s Disease as incurable. Not many people have a chance to be exposed to high level chi kung that overcomes these diseases.

People suffering from Parkinson’s Disease or any disease needs to practice the lowest level of what he has learned from my Intensive Chi Kung Course about 15 minutes per session twice a day. They do not have to do anything else, like doing other exercises or taking other medication. In fact I would prefer them not to do other exercises or take other medication, because just practicing the chi kung exercise prescribed for them is sufficient.

They are also advised to practice the higher-level chi kung exercises only once a while to maintain their skills of practicing them. They should not practice them often as these exercises are too powerful.

Question 4

I have told my dad that really, given how ill he is, he might best view healing as a full or part time job so that he can hope to have a good quality of life again. But he followed the American dream of working at a job he disliked to make money to have savings in retirement, to then enjoy life, and then alas, he developed Parkinson’s right before retirement.

His mind is so bitter and he is so fused with his attitude that he deserves to do nothing because he worked so hard during his work life, that he is failing to see the truth that by doing nothing, he is actually losing everything, for he hasn’t the health to enjoy his retirement.

Answer

Your advice is wise, but your father is foolish. In the first place, he should not work on a job he did not like. And when he became ill, he should do something to get well. To be healthy is natural.

Practicing genuine chi kung gives you good health and fitness

Question 5

However, truly, the man is definitely capable and willing to do 30 minutes a day. He has been forlorn by everyone’s assertions around him that he must devote hours a day to his health including qi gong, diet, exercise, voice exercises, hand exercises, etc. Until now, I have made those assertions to him too. I am hoping that somehow miraculously he can be really well with just 30 minutes a day.

Answer

Whether your father will practice 30 minutes a day is his business, and I am not interested in his business. I am also not interested to teach undeserving students.

Have you and those who assert that your father must devote hours a day to chi kung, diet, exercise, voice exercises, hand exercises, etc healed anyone suffering from Parkinson’s Disease?

I have healed countless people suffering from so-called incurable illness, including Parkinson’s Disease, and I have said that practicing the chi kung taught by me without doing any other exercises or treatment is enough. It is your and your father’s right whether to follow my advice.

Question 6

I saw videos of one of your students who did heal back pain, but she looked rather overweight and unfit. I do not know how to gauge health with being unfit.

Answer

Obviously you know little about health and fitness, regardless of whether you admit it, or else you won’t be suffering from Lyme’s Disease for about 30 years.

Students at an Intensive Chi Kung Course in Sabah enjoying a Cosmic Shower

Question 7

In Parkinson’s and Lymes, and I would say all neuro-degenation, many things are at play including emotional traumas, genetic detox deficiencies, stealth infections, heavy metal toxicities, methylation issues, gut issues, etc. etc. etc. Do you think people can heal with the 30 minutes of qi gong a day if they are not doing other active things to heal their bodies like getting the heavy metals out, eating a gut-healing diet, addressing mineral deficits, etc. etc.?

Answer

You speak as if you were an expert on Parkinson’s Disease and Lyme’s Disease, though you and your father have suffered from these diseases for years. I have helped many people overcome these diseases, and have said that practicing my chi kung 15 minutes twice a day is sufficient, yet you continue asking me the same question.

Many people, including professionals, give advice on how to deal with problems when they are the ones who have been suffering from these problems, and a lot of people listen to them. It is notorious, for example, that psychologists are amongst the most who suffer from psychological problems, but a lot of people listen to their advice on psychology. A lot of people take advice from marriage counselors, regardless of how may times these marriage counselors were divorced.

Question 8

What is the difference between cleansing using Bone-Marrow Cleansing and using Cosmic Shower?

— Matt, England

Answer

Cleansing using Bone-Marrow Cleansing is specific, whereas using Cosmic Shower is holistic.

In the art of Bone-Marrow Cleansing practiced in our school, cleansing operates specifically at five levels, namely the levels of the skin, the flesh, the meridians, the internal organs and the bone marrow, which includes the nerves.

In Cosmic Shower, cosmic energy flows down the body from the head in all directions to the feet, clearing away physical, emotional, mental and spiritual blockage on the way.

Besides cleansing, these two arts can also be used for strengthening.

If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at secretary@shaolin.org stating your name, country and e-mail address.

SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SEPTEMBER 2015 PART 2 BY GRANDMASTER WONG KIEW KIT

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/answers/ans15b/sep15-2.html)

When you practice genuine chi kung you can eat whatever food you like

Question 1

Is it necessary to abstain from any food when practicing chi kung?

— Jochen, Germany

Answer

No, it is not necessary. Whatever you had been eating or doing without any harm to yourself and others before you started practicing chi kung, like cake and sugar, coke and coffee, yoga and lifting weight, making love and party-going, you can carry on eating or doing them with better satisfaction and result after you have started practicing chi kung. This is only logical, as practicing chi kung enhances our daily life.

However, some “masters” advise otherwise. Actually we call them “masters” out of respect. Strictly speaking they are not even genuine chi kung practitioners, as they teach only gentle physical exercise though they use genuine chi kung forms. These “masters” advise their students not to take sugar, considering it as white poison, and not to have sex, even for those who have willing partners and find it pleasurable. And the irony is that with these unnecessary limitations, the students are not healthier or happier.

When I first taught in Spain, many students were shocked to see me adding two or three sachets of sugar to my coffee, and enjoying jarmon. They taught, wrongly of course, that chi kung masters should drink only pure water and eat vegetable.

In fact, when you practice genuine chi kung which increases your energy and life performance, whatever you have been doing without harm to yourself and others, you can continue enjoying these activities with more satisfaction and better bre

Question 2

Do we practice chi kung before or after gym work?

Answer

You can practice chi kung before or after gym work. If you practice it before, you add energy to your gym work. If you practice it after, you replenish your energy.

It is even better if you perform your chi kung during gym work. This does not mean that you do your chi kung exercise while performing your gym workout. It means that employ chi kung skills, like being relaxed and not tensing your muscles, during gym work.

Practicing chi kung alone is sufficient for your needs for good health, vitality and longevity. It is not necessary to supplement chi kung with vitamins and physical exercise. But if you enjoy eating vitamin and performing physical exercise, like working in a gym, you can do so with better result

Golden Bridge

Question 3

An interesting question arose this morning after training from a senior Kung Fu student. He asked when doing Golden Bridge for about 30 minutes, “should I simply count the breaths gently or should I just be aware of the breathing”. I answered “for myself I just stay at my dan tian and gently count”. I would love to hear what your advise is.

— Sifu Mark, Ireland

Answer

All the three methods are correct.

The main purpose is to keep the mind one pointed. Of course it is also very important to be relaxed.

There are many methods to keep the mind one-pointed. The three methods mentioned by you are excellent examples.

Another method, which is more advanced, is to keep the mind free from all thoughts.

There are many methods, but all the methods can be generalized into two categories, attaining a one-pointed mind, or attaining no-mind which is all mind. In mathematical terms, it is arriving at one or at zero.

Arriving at zero is the most advanced. It brings the practitioner beyond the phenomenal realm. Arriving at one is still in the phenomenal realm.

Question 4

I am used to practicing 1-4 hours a day of the qi gong I was taught locally by a Chinese master, and I am still not well.

— Elizabeth, USA

Answer

Honestly without meaning to be disrespectful to the master, you have been practicing gentle physical exercise using genuine qigong forms. Gentle physical exercise cannot overcome any illness regardless of how long you have been practicing it. It also does not have the other wonderful benefits of qigong, like vitality, longevity, mental freshness and spiritual joys.

How is it that you have been practicing gentle physical exercise when you have been performing genuine qigong forms? It is because you lack qigong skills. It is the skills and not the techniques that enable practitioners to get the benefits of the art they practice. You can learn piano techniques or even surgery techniques from some good books or videos, but you can’t play the piano or perform surgery if you lack the necessary skills.

Thousands of thousands of practitioners of martial arts today are doing precisely this. Thousands of Taijiquan practitioners are doing Taiji dance, and not genuine Taijiquan as an internal martial art that it really is. Thousands of other martial artists are performing genuine martial art techniques as gymnastics and hurting themselves in generous exchange of blows in sparring. They cannot defend themselves, which is the first purpose of practicing any martial art.

You are, of course, not alone. More than 80% of qigong practitioners all over the world today are practicing qigong techniques as gentle physical exercise, and usually they are unaware of it.

You will find out the glaring difference in the first 15 minutes when you attend my Intensive Chi Kung Course. It is not for no good reasons that I charge 1000 euros for three days (it will be 1200 euros next year) when many qigong teachers charge only 50 euros for a month.

Editorial Note: The question was asked in 2014 when the fee for an Intensive Chi Kung Course was 1000 euros.

In Shaolin Wahnam chi kung, you need to practice only about 15 minutes a session

Question 5

Can my father do this even if he cannot stand or walk well? If he did not somehow receive immediate benefits in the workshop in mobility, arm movement, etc, because of his concentration issues, I do not think he could even do the exercises in his imagination. In fact, as of now, I know he could not. I want to be clear on his level of impairment. Do people with sever things like Alzheimer’s need someone to help them even remember to do the exercises?

Answer

Your father or anybody can still perform the qigong exercise even if he cannot stand or walk well, but he has to make some effort. I want to be very clear on this point. The student himself (or herself) must make a lot of effort if he wants to benefit from qigong practice. I won’t, and I can’t, do the exercises for him. I can only teach him the way that has helped many people like him overcome his problems.

In the past people with special problems like your father attended a personalized course, where I only taught that student. The fee, of course, was more expensive. But now I do not offer personalized courses. If you come for the Intensive Chi Kung Course in Penang and ask the staff of the hotel you will be staying, they may tell you that an elderly gentleman over 70 came to my last personalized course in a wheelchair with his wife, and they took a taxi to town, without the wheelchair, for shopping the next day!

I just give an offer to help your father to recover. He has to make the choice to attend the course or not. I would also like to mention that the course won’t be easy for him if he has difficulty standing and walking. He won’t be pampered. In fact he may find me a slave-driver, asking him to do things he may not want to, like swinging his arms about and running round the hall without others’ help.

Incidentally the wife of the gentleman mentioned above suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease a few years earlier. She could not remember the exercise I just taught her. Obviously she recovered. She could remember her husband, and accompanied him back from town to the hotel after shopping, although it was, I believe, the first time they were in Penang.

For your father, it would be recommended that you attend the course with him together. Not only you will learn how to overcome your Lyme Disease which you have suffered from for about 30 years, you can also remind your father of the qigong techniques that he has to practice.

But remember it is not the techniques that will help you and your father to regain good health. It is qigong skills which I shall transmit to you and your father during the course.

Question 6

I am wondering, given the high cost of studying with you, if I do wish to continue my qigong studies, would I be able to pursue studying with them in addition to doing your 30 minutes of practice per day? And could I keep practicing the past chi kung that feels good to me?

Answer

You can continue to pursue chi kung with me or other certified instructors in our school. Of course you can also continue to practice the chi kung you learned elsewhere before.

You will find that you can raise your former chi kung by one or more levels. Honestly, I don’t mean to be presumptuous or arrogant, I just state the truth of what many students like you who learned other types of chi kung elsewhere, have reported to me.

Better still, if you are permitted to teach other types of chi kung you have learned elsewhere, if you find the chi kung skills learned from me are useful, you can incorporate these skills into the other types of chi kung, without having to mention that you have learned these skills from me. If you face any difficulty concerning our chi kung skills, you can write to me in private.

We are sincere in wanting other chi kung practitioners benefit from their practice. We do not mind if they do not credit the skills to us.

I would like to mention two important points. It is strictly for your and other people’s benefit.

If you incorporate our chi kung skills into the chi kung techniques of other schools you teach, please do so discretely. Make very certain that this would not offend the teachers and the seniors of these other schools.

Secondly, teach only simple and basic skills, like being relaxed, not thinking of irrelevant thoughts, and generating an energy flow. For the sake of your students, don’t teach advanced skills, like directing energy to various parts of the body, building internal force, and expanding beyond your physical body. These advanced skills are taught during the Intensive Chi Kung Course. But an instructor teaching these advanced skills need to be trainied and such training is not provided at the course.

If you teach these advanced skills without proper training on how to teach the skills, even though you may have these skills, you are likely to cause harm to your students. As an analogy, a patient may undergo surgery himself, but this does not qualify him to perform surgery on others.

Depending on one’s perspective, my course fee can be considered very expensive or very cheap. Many students have told me they would gladly pay ten times the fee to learn from me.

The three golden rules of chi kung practice are not to worry, not to intellectualize, and to enjoy the practice

Question 7

I find it difficult to follow the Three Golden Rules consistently. For example, during training I will stop intellectualising, but then a moment later I will begin again, or I will intellectualise about saying to myself the Third Golden Rule, “just enjoy”.

— Chris, Australia

Answer

Our Three Golden Rules of Practice are actually simple. They are as follows.

Don’t worry
Don’t intellectualize
Enjoy your practice

There are not like asking you to do press-up a hundred times or climb up a high coconut tree.

If you wish to have good results, you have to follow the three golden rules, just like if you wish to be safe on a road, you have to follow safety rules. If you choose not to follow the rules, you do so at your own peril.

Although the rules are simple, they may not be easy for you and many other people. This is because you have been conditioned to worrying and intellectualizing. If you suddenly stop worrying or intellectualizing, it can be difficult due to your bad habit.

But it can be done, and many people with the same problem have done so successfully. You overcome your problem progressively. Suppose you worry 50 times in 5 minutes. You don’t stop worrying totally the very first day you start your programme to overcome your problem. You worry less. Suppose you are able to cut down your worrying by 3 times, which means that in 5 minutes you worry 47 times.

You practice this programme everyday. Suppose the second day you can further cut down your worrying by 2 more times, which means you worry 45 times. The third day could be worse. Suppose you cut down your worrying by only 4 times in total, which means you worry 46 times. So there may be up and down on individual days, but on the whole there should be gradual progress. Eventually you will be able to cut down your worrying from 50 times in 5 minutes to just 2 or 3 times, which will be good result.

How long you take to achieve this result depends on various factors, and may range from a week to a year. But most people can attain the result in a hundred days.

There are two important requirements. You must persevere. You have to practice everyday. The second requirement is gradual progress. You cut down your worrying a few times each day. Eventually you hardly worry at all.

The same method is used to cut down intellectualizing.

Question 8

I have also searched your Q & A series using the term “intellectualize” and read through many of your wonderful answers, which have helped immensely.

But still I would like to humbly ask for your advice. If I find that I can’t apply the Three Golden Rules before or during my practice, should I simply stop and wait to train again at a later time if possible?

Answer

Stop worrying and stop intellectualizing. Enjoy your practice. Just do it.

If you can’t follow these three golden rules, stop your practice and train at a later time.

Don’t do something is certainly easier than doing something. Don’t worry is certainly easier than to worry. Don’t intellectualize is certainly easier than to intellectualize.

Suppose you want to cross a road but a car is coming fast. Just don’t cross the road. It is certainly easier than crossing the road and be hit by the car.

Or suppose you are at a beach watching people swimming, but you can’t swim. Don’t go into the water. It is certainly easier than going into the water and be drown.

If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at secretary@shaolin.org stating your name, country and e-mail address.

SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SEPTEMBER 2015 PART 1 BY GRANDMASTER WONG KIEW KIT

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/answers/ans15b/sep15-1.html)

My job is my hobby, giving good health and happiness to people, and it enables me to travel all over the world

Question 1

May I ask you please if you have any advice for me in getting a good job? I’m always trying to improve and I would be grateful for any insight you can share.

— Sifu Michael Chow, Canada

Answer

Many people have kindly told me that my advice on getting a good job or on starting a business is better than what they studied at a prestigious university like Harvard, or from their MBA programme.

Many people grab the first job they can get. This does not usually bring good rewards, to himself or his boss. Others examine their qualifications and abilities, and get a job that .qualifies these requirements. This is more reasonable, but it is not what I advice you to do.

By the fact that you are not only a Shaolin Wahnam student but an instructor, you are elite, and elite people do elite things, not common things like looking for a job or business limited by their qualifications.

It is legitimate to ask how could one do a job well if he is not qualified to do it. I never suggest that you don’t qualify for a job. I say that you choose a job you like, and then qualify yourself to do the job well.

I had this concept long ago, at the time when I was running Shaolin Wahnam Association. I discussed a few proposals for the Association with the Chairman, who was (and still is) a very successful businessman and millionaire. The Chairman liked my proposals, but he pointed out a number of problems.

I told him that the question was whether the proposals were noble and rewarding, for the Association and other people, and if they were we would carry them out, irrespective of the problems, and overcome the problems as we come to them. The Chairman was very impressed with my concept, remarking that had I put it into business I would be very successful.

Here are some factors regarding your job that you should consider:

Whether it is noble. One may earn a lot of money stealing trade secrets from other companies, but I don’t consider the job noble.
Whether it will bring you the type of income you want. It is noble working as a volunteer in a hospital, but it does not bring me the income I want.
Whether you like the job. This is important. If you cannot do what you like, at least you must like what you do.
Whether you still have free time to spend with your parents, friends or hobbies. There are other enjoyable and important things in life besides doing a job well.
Whether it is necessary to invest a lot of time and money to learn the job. If you want to be a doctor, you need to spend many years studying in a university. To be a chi kung healer helping patients overcome so-called incurable diseases needs less time. When you are equally successful, you earn more money than a doctor and have more free time.
Whether there is leverage in your job. As a doctor or healer, you treat one patient at a time. As a teacher you can teach one hundred students at the same time.
Whether you are limited by location and clients. If you are a car mechanic, your area of operation and potential clients are localized. If you are a computer consultant, you area of operation and potential clients are world-wide.

So, instead of looking for a particular job, you look for jobs that fulfill these considerations well. When you get the job you want, qualify yourself to do the job well. It is well known that many successful people do not do the job they prepared themselves for at university. They learned doing the job well while doing it.

For elite people in Shaolin Wahnam like you, it really does not matter what job you do, yet you can do it well. You can be very successful and enjoy your job, for example, as a pencil salesman or scientific report writer even when you know little about pencils and science!

But you have to do your job well and enjoy it. You must also ensure that the money that goes to your company or your boss as a result of doing your job is more than the money it or he pays you for doing it. This is our honour, and it also contributes to our job satisfaction.

Question 2

Can an elderly person heal from Parkinson’s/Alzheimer’s/Lyme’s Disease by coming only once for the 3 days to Malaysia, and then continuing practice at home? Or does it involve having to return there for additional courses or treatments?

— Elizabeth, USA

Answer

Yes, any person, including an elderly one, can be healed from Parkinson’s/Alzheimer’s/Lyme’s Disease by coming only once for the 3-day Intensive Chi Kung Course in Malaysia and then continuing to practice at home.

It is unlikely that the patient will be healed during the course itself. He has to continue practicing at home for about 15 minutes in the morning and another about 15 minutes in the evening or at night.

It takes about 6 months of daily practice to be healed of the disease. There is no need to return for additional course or treatment. However, there is no guarantee that the patient will certainly be healed, as recovery depends on other factors too, like whether the patient continues to practice. Many people have been healed in this way.

Intensive Chi Kung Course

Question 3

Do you teach additional levels of qi gong to those interested?

Answer

Yes, there are additional courses taught by me for those who are interested.

But you and your father need not attend more courses if you do not want to. The Intensive Chi Kung Course will be more than enough. In fact, for overcoming pain and illness, just the first day of the course will be sufficient. The second day focuses on peak performance, and the third day on spiritual cultivation irrespective of religion.

It may be hard for some people to believe, but it is true that the Intensive Chi Kung Course ranges from beginners’ level to masters’ level in just three days. Many masters may not be able to perform some of the skills taught at the course, like directing energy to various parts of the body, and tapping energy from the Cosmos.

Question 4

For someone who wants to completely heal from such an intense disease, how many hours a day should he expects to practice?

Answer

He should practice for only about 15 minutes a session, and two sessions a day, once in the morning and another time in the evening or at night. The exercises are simple to perform, and students usually enjoy practicing them.

In fact it is not advisable for students to practice more than twice a day, about 15 minutes a session, because the energy produced is quite powerful.

A Bone Marrow Cleansing course in England

Question 5

Do you know of anyone in the United States trained by you who achieve the same results with Parkinsons/Alzheimers/Lyme Disease? I do not know that my father will travel. I hope he would, but I do not know. Travel is very hard on him.

Answer

We have some very good instructors and healers in the United States and many countries trained by me. These instructors and healers have produced good results. Please see our lists of Certifed Instructors and Chi Kung Healers for details.

If your father wants not only to be free from his illness but also to have good health and vitality, he has to travel to Malaysia to take my course or to consult our certified instructors or healers. It is his choice — to remain at home and suffer from a so-called incurable disease for life, or to make some effort and be healthy and have vitality and longevity.

Question 6

For myself, are there any scholarships available? I have been ill with Lyme disease from 18 to now 46, and have gone medically bankrupt, am on Medicare/disability for pain/cogitive issues/depression. I am getting better, and I still have a long way to go.

Answer

We do not provide scholarships.

I am sorry to hear of your health conditions.

I would strongly recommend you to attend my Intensive Chi Kung Course. You will be surprised at the good health and vitality you will get as a result. The testimonials at http://www.shaolin.org/general/table-comments.html may be an inspiration for you.

There is no need to learn from me for an extended period. Practicing energy flow learned from me at any course would enable you to overcome pain and illness.

Question 7

Because of this, I am wondering if I can train with you for a long period of time. Do you ever have students move there or stay residentially? If so, what is the cost?

Answer

It is not necessary for you to train with me for a long period of time. You just have to attend the Intensive Chi Kung Course for three days. But it is important that you need to continue to practice on your own.

For the purpose of good health and vitality, even if you can remember only one-tenth of what you will learn at the course, but you continue to practice it daily, it will be sufficient. Like many things in our school, it is incredible but true.

Question 8

Is there a way to go to the qi gong workshop myself, and then go to my father, and transmit qi to him/teach him, in case he will not come?

Answer

No, you should not do that. It may bring harm to you and your father. Worse of all, it debases qigong to some form of gentle physical exercise, which actually has happened. More than 80% of qigong practitioners today all over the world actually practice gentle physical exercise though they honestly think it is qigong.

One has to be properly trained to be a healer. It is not just to attend a course and then teach or heal others.

It is also not what types of exercises a person practices to heal himself. If this were true, there would not be so many sick people in the world today.

It is the skills of practicing the exercises that is important. Students can acquire the skills in three days because I transmit the skills to them. If they develop the skills on their own, it would take them a few years if they ever succeed.

If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at secretary@shaolin.org stating your name, country and e-mail address.

SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AUGUST 2015 PART 3 BY GRANDMASTER WONG KIEW KIT

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/answers/ans15b/aug15-3.html)

Cosmic Shower is an advanced chi kung art

Question 1

I did not realize that Cosmic Shower was more advanced than Bone Marrow Cleansing.

— Sifu Angel Perez Oliveras, Puerto Rico

Answer

There are five levels in Bone Marrow Cleansing, so it takes two courses, Part 1 and Part 2, to complete the programme. These five levels range from basic to advanced levels. I can adjust the level I want to teach.

When I first taught Bone Marrow Cleansing, I taught its highest level, the level of cleansing nerves, which was higher than Cosmic Shower when the latter was initially taught. I have since lowered the level of cleansing nerves.

Meanwhile, the level of Cosmic Shower, which initially was just cosmic energy showering down the body, has been raised due to improvement of my teaching methodology. Now I teach Cosmic Shower for strengthening too, strengthening at all levels, i.e. the physical,. emotional, mental and spiritual. As a result, in general Cosmic Shower is now of a higher level than Bone Marrow Cleansing.

Nevertheless, this is relative because we can vary the level on which to operate the art we are practicing. In other words, not only I myself can vary the level of the exercise we practice, I also teach students how to do so. This is a master’s ability. Actually even many masters cannot do so. These masters practice the art at the level when they first learned it from their teachers. They may become more skillful at their level, but they do not go beyond the level of the exercise they learned it.

As an analogy, if a student learns and relearns his secondary school material, he may be very good at his secondary school material, far better than other secondary school students, but he won’t be able to deal with university material.

But our students are different. They are taught how to use their secondary school level at university level. They not only learn that Puerto Rico is part of the United States, which secondary school students learn, but also how this relationship can benefit both Peurto Rico and continental United States, material that university students would discuss.

In Cosmic Shower, which actually is university material in chi kung as not many chi kung practitioners have a chance to learn such a skill even when they may have practiced for many years, our students not only learn how to let cosmic energy flow through their body, but also how and why the cosmic flow can clear their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual blockage to enrich their daily lives in all aspects.

Question 2

Is it alright for beginning students to take Bone Marrow Cleansing after Generating Energy Flow, and skip Cosmic Shower and Cosmic Breathing? Can they take all the chi kung courses offered if they want to?

Answer

Yes, students who are fresh beginners can take the Bone Marrow Cleansing course after taking the Generating Chi Flow course, and skip Cosmic Shower and Cosmic Breathing.

In fact they can take all the qigong courses as long as they have taken the Generating Energy Flow course. The Generating Energy Flow course is fundamental, which means not only basic but also very important.

It is basic because without generating an energy flow, one is not practicing chi kung even when he performs chi kung techniques. He performs the chi kung techniques as gentle physical exercise, and may not realize the fact. More than 80% of all chi kung practitioners in the world fall under this category.

Some people may be angry at this statement, and that is their business. But if those in this category take heed of the advice and do something about it, but not necessarily learning from us, they will start to get chi kung benefits which they have missed despite all those years of dedicated training.

Our chi kung programme where even fresh beginners can take all the chi kung courses offered is actually quite ridiculous — in a good sense. Students progress form a fresh beginners’ level to a masters’ level in just two days.

Even genuine masters, who are rare and have dedicated their lives to practicing chi kung for more than 20 years, may not have the skills of Bone Marrow Cleansing, Cosmic Shower or Cosmic Breathing. They are masters of the art they practice, which, honestly without being disrespectful to them, are relatively of a low level, consisting of repeating chi kung techniques many, many times to generate some energy flow.

Most other masters are, strictly speaking, not even genuine chi kung practitioners because they perform chi kung techniques not as energy exercise but as gentle physical exercise. They cannot generate an energy flow. But we still call them “masters” out of respect.

Isn’t it ridiculous that fresh beginners at our chi kung courses can learn not only techniques but more importantly skills that even masters may not learn? But our students do not become masters in two days. They still need time to practice their techniques and skills to master them.

But our students do not need 20 years to become masters, they need only 2 years. Why do our students need only one-tenth the time? It is because we understand the underlying philosophy and our training is systematic and progressive.

Generating Energy Flow is sufficient to fulfill the needs of most people

Question 3

What advice should I give the students?

Answer

Some good advice to tell beginning students is for them to focus on Generating Energy Flow, and to practice the more advanced exercises like Bone Marrow Cleansing, Cosmic Shower and Cosmic Breathing only occasionally to maintain the skills and techniques. They may practice these more advanced exercises later on when they have become more proficient in chi kung.

For people who want to overcome pain and illness and to maintain well-being, it is not necessary to learn the more advanced exercises. Generating Energy Flow is more than enough to fulfill the needs of most people.

But “not necessary” does not mean “not beneficial”. As an analogy, if one is prepared to walk, it is not necessary to own a bicycle, a car or take a flight on an aeroplane. If he is to see a friend on the next street, it would be easier to walk.

But he has to walk, if he remains in his house he would not see his friend. In the same way, if he wants to overcome pain and illness, he has to practice Generating Energy Flow. If he does not practice, he will not get well.

If he has to go to a faraway place, it would be faster and more comfortable to take a car or an aeroplane. The car and the plane are not necessary, though very beneficial. The Polynesian people, for example, reached the East Indies before cars and planes were invented, though their journey took much longer time and was less comfortable, besides being more risky.

So, although the more advanced chi kung courses are not necessary, they are very beneficial. Indeed, it would be unwise if beginning students do not make full use of this opportunity to learn these courses, as the present plan is that I visit Puerto Rico only once in two years to teach the techniques and transmit the skills of these courses. This will be good advice to them, i.e. don’t miss the opportunity when it is available.

Question 4

In the pattern, “Immortal Emerges from Cave”, which part of the hand should make contact with an opponent’s arm?

I normally use the outer edge of the palm and sometimes the base of the palm.

— Sifu Leonard Lackinger, Austria

Answer

In “Immortal Emerges from Cave” the outer edge of the palm should make contact with an opponent’s elbow or forearm. This may result in dislocating the opponent’s elbow or fracturing his forearm. It is a strike, and not a block.

However, if you wish to be merciful, you can use the base of your palm to stop his attack, instead of dislocating his elbow or fracturing his forearm.

Editorial Note: Sifu Leonard Lackinger’s other questions are found at August 2015 Part 2 issue of the Question-Answer Series.

A well executed “Immortal Emerges from Cave” can dislocate an opponent’s elbow or break his arm in just one move

Question 5

Would you regard this pattern as a direct counter or only as a floating defence movement?

Answer

This pattern can be used as a no-defence-direct-counter, or as a floating movement.

Question 6

The reason why I ask is because it is one of the hardest of the basic patterns, causing much damage on the opponent’s arm if done with some force.

Answer

The harder an opponent attacks you, the easier it will be for you to dislocate his elbow or break his arm. If you do not want to hurt him, you can float his attacking movement.

Grandmaster Wong demonstrating “Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws”

Question 7

Thank you for providing the ranking of chi kung techniques in your great 10 Questions Series on the Five-Animal Play.

As the art of Bone Marrow Cleansing consists of 5 levels, I tried to put them into the list separately.

18 Jewels
Self-Manifested Chi Movement
5 Animal Play
18 Lohan Hands
18 Shaolin Wahnam Chi Kung Techniques
Bone Marrow Cleansing – Skin Level
Grasping Sparrow’s Tail
Lifting Water
Abdominal Breathing
18 Lohan Art
Three-Circle Stance
Golden Bridge
Bone Marrow Cleansing – Flesh Level
One Finger Shooting Zen
Bone Marrow Cleansing – Meridian Level
Bone Marrow Cleansing – Organ Level
Bone Marrow Cleansing – Bone Marrow Level
Cosmic Shower
Sinew Metamorphosis
Small Universe
Phenomenal Big Universe
Cosmic Breathing (Transcendental Big Universe)
Merging with the Cosmos (Transcendental Big Universe)

Would you regard that list as correct?

Answer

The listing is subjective, and may vary according to some factors, like different practitioners, different times even for the same practitioner, state of mind, level of focus and relaxation, and developmental stage.

Generally your list is correct.

Question 8

Provided they suit to this list, where would you put Iron Wire, Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws and Forceful Big Windmill?

Answer

I would place Iron Wire after Golden Bridge, Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws after Bone Marrow Cleansing Organ Level, and Forceful Big Windmill after Bone Marrow Cleansing Flesh Level.

Question 9

I know that it’s mainly a mind play and that the true ranking depends on the skill and focus of the practitioner, but the list is a good guideline for selecting the program for current and future advanced chi kung classes.

Answer

You are right. The mind set, skill and focus of the practitioner are very important.

One main reason why we have remarkable result is because we operate at the mind level. This explains why past masters mentioned that the greatest kungfu was at the mind.

Operating at the mind level does not mean visualization, as some people wrongly imagine, though visualization is sometimes employed. In fact, one can obtain tremendous result by keeping the mind clear, i.e. without any visualization.

Operating at the mind level generally means how deeply a practitioner enters into a meditative state of mind while practicing his art.

Skill is of course very important too. It is another main reason why we can obtain remarkable result.

Most people, including many masters, think that by practicing the right technique they can get the desired result. In my earlier years, I thought in this way too.

But it is so clear that this is not so, though most people fail to realize it. But once we realize it, it can become quite shocking. More than 80% of chi kung practitioners do not derive chi kung benefits although the chi kung techniques they employ are correct. More than 90% of kungfu practitioners cannot use their kungfu for combat although their kungfu techniques are correct. The reason is that they do not have the required skills.

Focus is related to mind, though it is possible to be focused yet not in a meditative or chi kung state of mind. Of course, when one is in a chi kung state of mind, he is focused.

Being focused is not the same as being concentrated in a stressful manner. Due to the limitation of language, some people may have this misconception. That is why they wonder, wrongly, how one could be focused and relaxed at the same time.

If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at secretary@shaolin.org stating your name, country and e-mail address.

(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/answers/ans15b/nov15-3.html)

Genuine Taijiquan is an internal martial art

Question 1

Wong Sigung,

Because I have learned from Sifu Anthony Korahais, I believe that is the proper way to address you. If not, please forgive me.

— David, USA

Answer

Thank you for your kind thoughts and proper address. An even better way for you to address me is just “Sigung”, and not “Wong Sigung” or “Sigung Wong”.

Your case in this e-mail is different. You mentioned “Sifu Anthony Korahais” because you wanted to indicate which of our certified instructors in our school you meant. But when you talk to him, you just address him as “Sifu”, and not “Sifu Anthony” or “Sifu Korahais”.

Editorial Note

Question 2

Thank you very much for generously sharing your very valuable art. I am also particularly thankful for your website titled Showing Respect to the Master and the years of questions and answers you have archived.

Answer

I am glad that many of our Shaolin Wahnam students have told me that our arts have greatly enriched their lives.

Showing respect to the master is mainly for the students’ benefit. Many other people may not know this, or believe it is so. Showing respect to the master gives the students an excellent mind-set to benefit most from the master’s teaching.

Many people, both inside and outside our school, have also told me that they have benefited much from my Question-Answer Series. As there is a long waiting list, these questions and answers are often posted for public reading about a year later.

I would take this opportunity to mention an interesting point from the many questions I have received. Before looking at the name of the enquirer, I can often tell whether he is a member of our Shaolin Wahnam Family by just looking at the way he asks his questions.

There are three characteristics that differentiate our family members from members of the public, namely mental clarity, courtesy and open-mindedness.

Our family members are clear in their writing. I can easily know what they write. On the other hand, although questions by members of the public are edited for grammar and spelling before they are being posted in my Question-Answer Series, you can differentiate them if you examine closely.

Clear writing shows mental clarity. I am glad our training has resulted in mental clarity demonstrated in the e-mails our students sent to me.

Our family members are polite. Your opening paragraph is a good example. Some members of the public do not even bother to address the person they send their e-mails to. They just start asking their questions.

And some do not state their names at the end of their e-mails. If I post their questions in my Question-Answer Series, I have to guess at their names form their e-mail addresses.

Courtesy to others is an indication of self-respect. Self-respect is very important for successful living.

Our family members are open-minded. They realize and accept that other people may not agree with their views which they cherish dearly. Open-mindedness is present in your questions regarding low-level Mao Shan, and regarding talking to other people about our chi kung.

Being open-minded certainly make our life happier. It also enables us to improve ourselves.

Circle Walking in Baguazhang

Question 3

Once you mentioned that the form of payment for low maoshan was to be either permanently deformed, forever poor, or without children. This disturbed me greatly. I can only imagine the payment and reward associated with high maoshan.

Why would anyone agree to any of those things? Is it black magic for unscrupulous people who desire quick and easy cultivation? I cannot imagine why someone would accept those terms when wonderful arts like Tai Chi Chuan and Shaolin Chuan exist.

Answer

There are three levels of Mao Shan, or Taoist magic, namely low level, middle level and high level, sometimes known as black Mao Shan, grey Mao Shan and white Mao Shan.

Hence, the division into low, middle and high levels Mao Shan is based mainly on the application of Taoist magic, and not on the attainment of practitioners, but the tradition and philosophy of respective schools focus on these specific levels.

It is also very rare today to practice Mao Shan, regardless of its level. Even when students have a chance, besides the conditions required by the teacher, the training is also very tough.

Question 4

Finally, do you have any advice on speaking with other people about qigong?

From reading your question and answer series, I know that many people respond unfavorably to your talking about it. I also have tried unsuccessfully to talk with people about it without results.

Oddly, the people who stand to benefit the most seem to be the least interested. However, most of them act as though they didn’t hear me or I am obviously deceived. I am sad to be unable to share the great benefits I’ve received with others.

Answer

My advice is that you may talk about the benefits of qigong in general to all people. If they do not show interest, you need not continue. Only for those who are interested to know more and gain benefits themselves, should you spend time elaborating.

Don’t waste your time on undeserving people. This may sound harsh, but it is good advice based on my many years of experience.

If you talk to people interested in qigong or who want to benefit from qigong, you will have results. If you talk to people who are not interested or do not believe in the benefits qigong can bring, they think they are doing you a favour by listening to you.

The internal force in Wuzuquan is more flowing than condolidated

Question 5

I was curious about some of the Baguazhang training methods used in other schools, particularly the methods I learnt from my old Baguazhang sifu before learning Baguazhang from you.

His school’s fundamental set consists of Walking the Circle with the upper body held in different positions. My old sifu mentioned that doing so would train “different forms of jin” and condition the body’s strength and flexibility.

— Fredrick Chu, USA

Answer

Using these different positions for Walking the Circle is similar to the Eight Internal Palms which I mentioned in the webpage, Brief Descriptions of Baguazhang Classics and Comments on Songs of Baguazhang, when answering questions raised by you.

In the Walking the Circle we learned at the UK Summer Camp 2012, we used the Eight External Palms. We could develop internal force although we used an external method because we were skilful. Indeed, we could develop internal force no matter what external kungfu sets we used.

As you are now proficient in the Eight External Palm, you can progress to using the different positions taught in your old sifu’s set when practicing Circle Walking. You will find that the internal force developed is more powerful.

Question 6

Answer

Yes, this practice will be efficient and fruitful. It is a development from using the Eight External Palms learned at the UK Summer Camp 2012 to using Eight Internal Palms of your old sifu’s set although the exact patterns may not be the same.

It is both safer and more effective to first develop flowing force, then consolidate the force, or just develop consolidated force. Starting with the method learnt in Shaolin Wahnam, and progressing to your old sifu’s set is an excellent approach.

The internal force in Choy-Li-Fatt Kungfu is more consolidated than flowing

Question 7

Answer

These are various methods to develop internal force. We are able to understand and benefit from these different methods because of our breadth and depth, which extend beyond Baguazhang, and from which we can draw inspiration and practice.

These different Baguazhang methods enable us to develop internal force that can have different proportion of flowing and consolidated force. The whole range of internal force in kungfu can extend from the soft, flowing force of Yang Style Taijiquan to the hard, consolidated force of Iron Wire.

A rough guideline showing the ratios of flowing force to consolidated force in various kungfu styles are as follows:

Yang Style Taijiquan 90 – 10

Wuzuquan 80 – 20

Chen Style Taijiquan 70 – 30

Dragon Strength 60 – 40

Wudang Taijiquan 50 – 50

Flower Set 40 – 60

Baguazhang 40 – 60

Praying Mantis 40 – 60

Tantui 40 – 60

Triple Stretch 30 – 70

Wing Choon 20 – 80

Xingyiquan 20 – 80

Eagle Claw 20 – 80

Choy-Li-Fatt 10 – 90

Iron Wire 10 – 90

By itself, i.e. without transference of learning from breadth and depth, Baguazhang force is about 40& flowing and 60% consolidated. A Baguazhang practitioner who has such force is probably a master or at an advanced level.

In our school, however, even students have internal force right at the start of their Baguazhang training, and due to the advantage of breadth and depth some may vary the proportion between flowing force and consolidated force.

A comparison of the various methods of Baguazhang force training using Circle Walking is as follows.

Another fact many people may not know is that consolidated force is also flowing, but at a slow pace. If a practitioner locks up his energy, it becomes stagnant and forms muscles.

Hence an effective progression of internal force training in Baguazhang is as follows: