Category Archives: Shaolin Wahnam

LEGENDS OF SOUTHERN SHAOLIN — OVERVIEW

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/general/legends-of-southern-shaolin/overview.html)

Legends of Southern Shaolin

The modern Southern Shaolin Monastery, picture taken from Google

The following legends, which are based on historical facts, are translated from the book, “Legends from Southern Shaolin” 南少林傳奇, written by Chiew Sek (Cantonese Chinese) in 1993, which Grandmaster Wong bought more than 20 years ago in 1995.

There are some differences between the legends here and those that Grandmaster Wong heard from his father more than 70 years ago in the late 1940s from a Chinese magazine entitled “Legends from Kungfu Knights” 武俠小說王. In reproducing the legends here, Grandmaster Wong made some modifications according to what kungfu masters knew. Some Chinese terms are in figurative language, and their meanings are explained in parenthesis, thus adding to the fun and beauty of the language.

These legends happened after the first burning of the first southern Shaolin Monastery at the City of Quanzhou in Fujian Province, where our patriarch, the Venerable Jiang Nan, escaped. Little is known of the Venerable Jiang Nan because he ran out of China, thus missing the legends that many kungfu exponents were fond of, and passed the Shaolin arts to Sifu Yang Fatt Khuen, who then passed to Sifu Ho Fatt Nam. Grandmaster Wong learned from Sifu Ho Fatt Nam in the 1970s.

Another of our patriarch, the Venerable Chi Seen, also escaped from the first burning of the southern Shaolin Monastery at Quanzhou. He established a second southern Shaolin Monastery on Jiu Lian shan, or the Nine-Lotus Mountain, also in Fujian Province. These legends, which were popular among many Chinese-reading public who were interested in kungfu, occurred after the first burning of the southern Shaolin Monastery at Quanzhou and before the second burning of the southern Shaolin Monastery on the Nine-Lotus Mountain by the Qing army led by Pak Mei.

The northern Shaolin Monastery at Henan was still intact. It was razed to the ground by warlords in 1927, and its burning had nothing to do with kungfu. Before that, an emperor of the Ming Dynasty, which preceded the Qing Dynasty, moved the imperial status of the Shaolin Monastery from Henan to Quanzhou.

These legends from Southern Shaolin were well known among kungfu exponents, especially old masters, of the 20th century. It is highly recommended that our Shaolin Wahnam family members also know of these legends.

Wong Kiew Kit,
8th January 2018, Sungai Petani

Fong Sai Yuk Fighting on Lei-Tai

  1. Lei-Tai, or Stage for Deadly Kungfu Combat

  2. Kungfu Masters were Courteous Even in Deadly Combat

  3. Life-Death Combat on Lei-Tai

  4. Lei-Tai Match between Looi Hoong and Li Foong San

  5. A Capable Challenger for the Tiger

  6. The Deadly Techniques of Yin-Yang Kicks

  7. If it was Not Rare, it must be Something Odd

  8. Fong Sai Yuk Broke Out from his Room

  9. Fong Sai Yuk Killing Tiger Looi

  10. A Lei-Tai Challenge from a Young Woman

  11. Excellent Kungfu in Combat

  12. Duel After Duel, When Will this End?

  13. The Invincible Ng Mui

To be Continued

FRAGRANT FOX — A NOVELETTE ON SHAOLIN KUNGFU PART 3

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/general/fragrant-fox/fragrant-fox03.html)

This novelette, still unpublished, was written about 40 years ago by Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit in the 1980s. Those attending the Valentine Kungfu Courses 2018 on the Shaolin Pakua Set will find the novelette particularly interesting as there are accounts of combat sequences from the Pakua Set.

AN OPALESCENT PEARL IN A DARK NIGHT

Traditional Chinese Woman

A traditional Chinese woman from https://www.ancienthistorylists.com/china-history/top-10-ancient-chinese-clothing-popular-in-ancient-china/

As Yang looked round, Miss Hu sailed in from the door like a blossoming flower drifting in the air, with a delicate waft of jasmine scent floating in with her. Hiss Hu, the only daughter of the Prime Minister, was as beautiful as she was demure. Some admirers des¬cribed her as the autumn moon at its brightest, some as an opalescent pearl in a dark night, others as poetry and music in their best combination.

And all agreed that no one could refuse doing her favours — not because she was the Prime Minister’s daughter, but because whenever she requested help (and this only on very rare occasions) her eyes spoke in such a pitiful but captivating manner that never failed to bring out the chivalry in man. Indeed, there were countless people ready to line up in the street, waiting to bang their heads against the wall, if only Miss Hu asked them to.

In Miss Hu, Yang Shao Ming saw the first girl he ever loved, the girl who was equally demure, who would blush at his mere presence. But was it love or a pass¬ing affection, a passing fancy common to all excitable, hot-blooded youths. Whatever it was, this demure girl had remained vividly in his memory. But she was only a dream, a vision whom he could only relive fondly in reminisc¬ence, for he did not even know her, did not even know her name, and now there was no where he could find her.

“I hope you can help me, Sifu Yang,” Miss Hu pleaded in her bewitching, appealing way.

“How am I to help you?” Yang asked. He noticed a film of tears at Miss Hu’s sparkling eyes.

“My jade-plum is stolen!” she replied demurely.

“The jade-plum!” Yang exclaimed, jerking himself up to the present reality. “The jade-plum that your father gave you as your twentieth birthday present! The jade-plum that is as big as a real plum and is worth the treasure of the whole city?”

“When I woke up this morning, I found my closet forced open. I was shocked, as my jade-plum was kept inside. True enough, when I checked the contents, I found everything intact, except my most treasured jade-plum.” Miss Hu began to sob.

Since time immemorial men have suspected the most deadly weapon of a woman is her tears. There is also a Chinese saying that the most valiant of heroes could not escape the wiles of a beautiful lady. There was no doubt about Miss Hu’s beauty. Now she employed her tears. So even a quick-minded kungfu expert like Yang could not tell whether her tears were due to wiles or genuine affliction.

“I would be very thankful if you can recover my jade-plum, Sifu Yang. You know how much that jade-plum means to me.”

“How are you going to thank me?” Yang inquired rather intelligently.

Miss Hu blinked her eyes and thought for a moment. “I’ll buy you three barrels of the best wine.” She suddenly cheered up. “I’m sure that’s what a man wants.”

Yang wondered whether she knew what a man wanted. Poor girl. How innocent, how naive!

“Perhaps you’ll like to come to my chamber,” she continued shyly, “to examine the situation yourselves.”

This time Yang Shao Ming was shocked. Even Commissioner Chin, who had been quiet all this while, looked surprised. A lady’s chamber was her very private place. But now she was asking them to visit her chamber.

I’d better don’t harbour imaginative ideas, Yang reminded himself. Of course we had to visit her chamber. How else could we examine the environment where the crime occurred?

LINKS

Fragrant Fox — Overview

PERCEPTION IS OFTEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN REALITY

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 (reproduced from http://shaolin.org/general/perception.html)

A New Year Gift from Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

Many problems or misunderstanding arise because of confusion between facts and opinions. Logically, if you can differentiate between facts and opinions, you will be able to avoid or overcome many of these problems and misunderstanding.

What is even more important is that often opinion, or perception, is more influential than fact, or reality, in shaping our future. This does not mean we can ignore facts, but we must realize that a person’s perception of reality rather than the reality itself is more potent in determining the outcome of an event. Failure to appreciate this often results in problems and misunderstandings which can be avoided or overcome if we have clear perception.

Let us start with a story. A sifu asked a student to practice “One-Finger Shooting Zen”. A week passed, a month passed, two years passed, and the student was still practicing “One-Finger Shooting Zen” daily, while his sifu hardly taught him anything else.

This was a real story, the story of my sifu, Ho Fatt Nam, when he learned from my sigung, Yeong Fatt Khun. The daily practice of “One-Finger Shooting Zen” enabled my sifu to develop tremendous force not only for Dim Mak (an advanced kungfu art of dotting vital points) but also to heal people.

My sifu had a good perception. He promised himself that if he met a great master, he would do exactly what the master taught. Most other students would drop out. They had different perceptions. They probably thought that the master was fooling them. The reality was the same, a sifu asking his student to practice “One-Finger Shooting Zen” and hardly teaching him anything else, but due to different perceptions the results could be vastly different.

You can see the same principle operating in daily life though many people may not realize it. You are given a difficult job by your boss. Because you are a Shaolin Wahnam student and view everything the Shaolin Wahnam way (instead of the negative way), you perceive your difficult job as an interesting challenge and do your best. As a result you later gain a promotion – by your boss or by yourself becoming your own boss after having gone through challenging training.

Most other people in the same situation would have different perceptions. Some would try to pass the job to someone else, like you, knowing that they would still get the same pay. Others might do the job grudgingly and produce mediocre or poor result. The reality is the same – a difficult job to be done – but due to different perceptions of the same reality, the outcome can be very different.

Can the perception be always positive? Can there be any events, persons or beliefs that are so negative that you can’t have any positive perception of them?

Kung fu sparring

One-Finger Shooting Zen is a treasure of Shaolin Wahnam

Yes, perception can always be positive if you choose to. It is your choice.

No, there are no events, persons or beliefs which are by themselves so negative that you can’t have a positive perception of. We are talking about perception, not the reality itself. In reality the event, person or belief can be negative, but you still can have a positive perception of it.

Suppose you have lost a lot of money in a bad investment. This is reality. No matter how you perceive it, you cannot change the fact that you have lost a lot of money. But your perception of this negative event will certainly and strongly affect what and how your future will enfold.

We may broadly generalize your possible perceptions into three categories: negative, neutral and positive.

You may perceive yourself as stupid, and you become depressed. You may perceive that the fault actually lies with your wife, who nags you, and you become angry. These are negative perceptions. And it is not difficult to see how miserable these negative perceptions will make you.

You may perceive it as a way of life, sometimes you lose, sometimes you gain. Or you may perceive that losing money is a price everyone pays to learn about investment. These are neutral perceptions. You may be down for awhile, but eventually you can get over it.

You may perceive it philosophically, regarding it a blessing in disguise. It is a wake-up call: you lose money in investment, not in drugs or gambling, which may make you addicted and is far worse. Or you may perceive it as a drastic learning opportunity. You promise yourself that eventually you will make back many times that money in an honest, wholesome way. These are positive perceptions that will lead to eventual success. Indeed, many people owe their success, spiritual or financial, to some initial setbacks.

If we just think of good things, are we just dreaming? No, we are not just dreaming. We dare to dream, but we are ready and capable of putting in effort to make our dreams come true. Our Shaolin Wahnam training gives us mental clarity that enables us to have noble perceptions, and tremendous energy that enables us to put in the necessary effort.

Thoughts create reality. This is a great cosmic truth taught by ancient masters and confirmed by modern scientists. An electron is a particle or a wave depending on how the investigating scientist thinks about it. The Buddha teaches that karma, which means cause and effect, is the result of thoughts, speech and deeds in that order of importance.

So, whatever events, persons, beliefs, problems or difficulties you interact with, always have positive perceptions of them. Try it out for a month, and examine the result yourself. If you find it beneficial use this New Year gift for this year and every year.

FRAGRANT FOX — A NOVELETTE ON SHAOLIN KUNGFU PART 2

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/general/fragrant-fox/fragrant-fox02.html)

This novelette, still unpublished, was written about 40 years ago by Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit in the 1980s. Those attending the Valentine Kungfu Courses 2018 on the Shaolin Pakua Set will find the novelette particularly interesting as there are accounts of combat sequences from the Pakua Set.

THE PERFECT DETECTIVE

Kungfu Knights

The swordsmen, picture taken from https://croppedanddubbed.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/swordsman-of-all-swordsmen-pre-kung-fu-joseph-kuo-classic-from-1968/

Commissioner Chin’s career in the Imperial Bureau of Criminal Investigation had been so outstandingly successful that people called him the Perfect Detective. Like Yang Shao Ming, he was also good at kungfu.

Any police officer, if he wanted to survive, had to be proficient in the martial arts, for although this period of Chinese history during the Ming Dynasty was comparatively peaceful and prosperous, big time criminals were generally skillful fighters. Indeed to a great extent it was because of his kungfu excellence as much as his efficiency in preventing and solving crimes that the public enjoyed peaceful times.

Nevertheless, the Commissioner was even better known for his fine taste. Everything about him was the best: he wore the best clothes, ate the best food, drank the best wine, had the best-looking women, and mixed with the best friends. Even his officers and his investigation methods were the best. In fact people were convinced that Commissioner Chin was the personification of success.

What can worry Commissioner Chin? Yang wondered to himself. Just what on earth can worry this man whose support includes the highest ministers of the Emperor, whose friends comprise of the best kungfu experts in China, and whose efficiency spells fear as well as reverence throughout the whole underworld of crime?

Yang hoped Chin would reveal his worries, but the more he hoped, the more Chin seemed to have forgotten about this irresistible curiosity which he appeared to have accidentally caused Yang to suffer.

Yang looked across the table at the Police Commissioner. His earlier sulky look had disappeared from his face. Commissioner Chin even seemed to be smiling to himself, being oblivious to the troubled thoughts in Yang’s head, and oblivious to everything around him. He took a sip of his fragrant wine, sat back and rinsed the wine gently and artfully in his mouth, and with eyes closed, obviously enjoying its lingering aroma.

Can the cause of his worries be Fragrant Fox? Yang reasoned to himself. He realized he could stand it no longer.

“Have you any news of Fragrant Fox?” he eventually asked, almost foolishly.

“She has given me enough trouble, this Fox,” Chin replied wrathfully. It was amazing how quickly his earlier complacent disposition turned into anger. “I’ll soon have her caught.” But in a moment, the Commissioner reverted to his nonchalant mood, as if totally involved in the appreciation of his wine.

Yang could understand Chin’s exasperation, even for a moment. Although this Fragrant Fox was actually not a criminal — she never robbed nor killed — yet she must have caused this Chief Investigator of the Empire more trouble than the most notorious criminals. Since the widely-talked-about appearance of this highly amorous Fox some months ago, many people had begun to doubt the validity of the Perfect Detective’s reputation.

“It’s just incredible,” Yang said, “that even those whom she made love to, and who enjoyed her love so much, could not know who she actually is!”

“Fragrant Fox is not only a kungfu expert, she is also excellent in make-up techniques,” Chin explained, still in his leisurely mood. “Her variety of disguises is such that even if she were your neighbour, you might not know it!”

“Perhaps she is a very ugly woman. She has to wear different masks to hide her face,” Yang jested.

“She is extremely beautiful and charming,” Chin objected, then sighed, as if regretting that had she been a less insatiable lover, he might have married her.

“How do you know? Have you seen her actual face?”

Yang’s abrupt questions aroused the Commissioner from his dreamy state, but he managed to reply calmly, “I have sufficient evidence at present to pin-point a certain suspect.”

“Who is this suspect?”

“I won’t tell you now so as not to prejudice your investigation.”

“My investigation? So you are again asking me to do your investigation!” Yang protested.

“I hope you won’t refuse to help,” came a melodious, timely reply from behind.

LINKS

Fragrant Fox — Overview

FRAGRANT FOX — A NOVELETTE ON SHAOLIN KUNGFU PART 1

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/general/fragrant-fox/fragrant-fox01.html)

This novelette, still unpublished, was written about 40 years ago by Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit in the 1980s. Those attending the Valentine Kungfu Courses 2018 on the Shaolin Pakua Set will find the novelette particularly interesting as there are accounts of combat sequences from the Pakua Set.

PERSIAN SCARLET

Chinese wine

Chinese wine

As Yang Shao Ming entered the reception chamber, Commissioner Chin was already waiting. The room was spacious and luxurious, with expensive paintings on walls and precious porcelains vases on artistically carved selves. Everything about the room was delicate and exquisite, just like the Commissioner himself.

The Commissioner, in his early thirties, was comfortably seated at a table, laid over with a fine, red silk table-cloth, and on the table were delicious food and excellent wine. Yang Shao Ming could easily tell the superb quality of the wine by its gentle, fragrant aroma.

Commissioner Chin was alone. Even his bodyguards and the pretty maidens who habitually surrounded and pampered him were conspicuously absent.

“My dear Yang,” the Commissioner said as his young friend entered, “fine food and wine wait on our appetite.”

“I suppose you’re going to ask favours from me again.” Yang smiled but was straight to the point without any pretensions, as he eyed the delicious food and excellent wine on the table. “They say the best way to a person’s favour is through his stomach!”

“Let’s enjoy this Persian Scarlet,” Chin replied as he poured a cupful of the best quality wine for his friend. “You can’t buy such wine with any amount of money. The King of Persia sent three barrels to our Emperor as tribute, and His Majesty is so graceful and generous to give me one.”

“And you’re so graceful and generous to let me share it.”

“What is a barrel of wine compared with the company of good friends. I must say that even if I had achieved nothing in this short life, I would leave this world without any regrets because I have you as a good friend.”

That was quite true. Any one of Yang’s friends would agree that was true. Yang Shao Ming was only in his late twenties, but he was so skillful in martial arts that many people considered him one of the best kungfu exponents the famous Shaolin Monastery had ever produced. But, of course, it was not merely because of his Shaolin kungfu that his friends adored him.

“You certainly have achieved a lot in life, my dear Commissioner, and you certainly understand the pleasures of life.”

“Unfortunately I am not drinking for my own pleasure this very moment!” The Commissioner frowned. And he said this so naturally and spontaneously that his friend was not sure whether he was joking.

But Yang Shao Ming retorted in jest, “Ha, ha! As if you’re drinking for my pleasure then!”

“Three cupfuls to drown my worries,” Chin sighed as he gobbled down his first cupful of scarlet wine.

Yang almost burst out laughing.

“You should know my worries, my two pertinent worries,” Chin said with half closed eyes.

Yang could not laugh now. He wanted to know the two pertinent worries, yet he dared not ask. He knew too well that as soon as he foolishly opened his mouth, Chin would talk him into doing favours again. He had done enough favours for the Commissioner in solving crimes, and this time Yang was determined not to be used again. He sat back, like his friend, half closing his eyes, and tried to enjoy the succulent Persian wine.

Wine, Songs and Women: these were the pleasures of men – at least of most men. But now Yang did not find the wine pleasurable. Two pertinent worries? Yang thought.

LINKS

Fragrant Fox — Overview

SHAOLIN WAHNAM KUNGFU — COMBAT SEQUENCE 5 “FIERCE TIGER SPEEDS THROUGH VALLEY”

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SHAOLIN WAHNAM KUNGFU — COMBAT SEQUENCE 5
“FIERCE TIGER SPEEDS THROUGH VALLEY”

(reproduced from http://www.shaolin.org/review/fierce.html)

Fierce Tiger Speeds Through Valley

Fierce Tiger Speeds Through Valley

Progressing to the Right Leg Mode for Combat

Combat Sequences 1 to 4 which have been posted in previous webpages constitute one stage of combat training, and they form the kungfu set “Black Tiger Steals Heart” in the Shaolin Kungfu programme of our school. The main objective of this stage is to develop fundamental combat skills as follows:

  1. right timing

  2. right spacing

  3. flowing movement and force

  4. right judgement

  5. fast decision

  6. instantaneous change

  7. footwork adjustment

  8. safe coverage

  9. flowing attack

  10. pressing attack

The first two skills, right timing and right spacing, are the most fundamental. Without them the other skills, as well as all techniques and force, lose their significance. An exponent, for example, may have some fantastic techniques and tremendous force, but if his attack or defence cannot reach its target on time, all his techniques and force are quite useless.

Combat Application

Combat Application

Poise Patterns

Fierce Tiger

All the principles you learn in combat training can be, and should be, transferred to our daily work and play to make our life more rewarding. This is a main reason why we devote our time and effort to kungfu training. The principles of right timing and right spacing are of utmost importance in life. You may be the best computer programmer in the world or have the most advanced marketing skills, but if these skills are not used at the right time and at the right place, they are as good as being useless.

Some people, who may actually have many talents or much knowledge, constantly complain that society or Mother Luck never gives them an opportunity to use their talents and knowledge. What they need is to develop the skills of right timing and right spacing like what we do in our combat training, and transfer these fundamental skills to daily life.

Combat Application

Combat Application

Single Tiger

Golden Dragon

In the previous set of four combat sequences, besides the fundamental skills you also learned the basic techniques for hand attacks and defence. You should practise these four sequences in stages, as follows:

  1. pre-choice

  2. self-choice

  3. end-point continuation

  4. mid-point continuation

  5. end-point addition

At the pre-choice stage, the initiator begins with a pre-chosen sequence, and the responder responds accordingly to complete the sequence. At the self-choice stage, the initiator may start with any sequence he likes, but the releasing of control must be gradual so that the responder can respond accordingly too and both partners can complete the sequence smoothly.

At the end-point continuation stage, after completing one sequence the initiator (or sometimes the responder) starts another sequence without retreating to poise patterns. For example, after completing Combat Sequence 1, instead of returning to poise patterns, the initiator continues by repeating Combat Sequence 1 or starting Combat Sequence 2. You should continue to the next sequence at the start of the next sequence, but later you may continue at any suitable point of the next sequence. Hence, at this stage an encounter will consist of five or six exchanges instead of three.

Combat Application

Combat Application

Fierce Tiger

Golden Dragon

At the mid-point continuation stage, either one of the partner may continue with another sequence at the mid-point of the first sequence. For example, you may start with Combat Sequence 2, but at any suitable point during the sequence you or your partner may continue to Combat Sequence 3. You may enter Combat Sequence 3 at its beginning or at any suitable point of Sequence 3. Hence the exchanges are less although this stage is a progression from the previous stage. But later you may have three instead of two sequences in one encounter.

At the end-point addition stage, you or your partner may add a suitable hand-attack pattern and the other person will respond accordingly. The additional attack pattern need not be any of the patterns found in the four sequences, but it must be a hand attack. For example, instead of a level punch of the “Black Tiger”, you may use a palm strike or a phoenix-fist. You are to add only one pattern, and after the respond both will return to poise patterns.

Combat Application

Combat Application

Precious Duck

Golden Star

Once you have practised these four combat sequences well, you can defend against all hand attacks — although at this level the range of techniques is limited. Hence, you will soon find that neither you nor your sparring partner can beat the other. No matter what hand attack or counter- attack one uses, the other can defend against it effectively. None has an advantage over the other because now both have the same level of skills and techniques.

To overcome this impasse, you have to find at least one advantage over your partner (or opponent in real fighting). This can be achieved by either improving your skills or expanding your techniques. In other words, although you and your partner are at the same level of techniques, if you are faster or more powerful than him, you can still beat him. Alternatively, although you and your partner are at the same level of skills, if you can use techniques which he is unfamiliar with, you will also beat him. A main objective of the next set of four combat sequences, Sequences 5 to 8, is to expand your hand techniques.

Combat Application

Combat Application

Green Dragon

Poise Patterns

This sequence, “Fierce Tiger Speeds Through Valley”, introduces the right leg mode in attack. So far, from Combat Sequences 1 to 4 with the exception of the “Precious Duck” pattern, the left leg mode is used. The left leg mode and the right leg mode have their own strong points and weaknesses. Some martial artists, often without their own awareness, favour one mode to the other. Later when you are more skilfull and know more techniques, you can maneuver your opponent to his unaccustomed leg mode, often without him knowing, thus gaining a tactical advantage.

In the previous four combat sequences, continuing from one sequence to another was easy when you were executing Sequences 1 and 2, but you probably experienced some difficulty if you were executing Sequences 3 or 4. This was because of your leg mode. After completing Sequences 3 and 4, your right leg was in front, and you might not know how to continue your attack as your attack patterns in the right leg mode were limited.

Now this limitation can readily be overcome. For example, after defending against your partner’s Black Tiger or Green Dragon with your right Single Tiger in Sequences 3 or 4, you can “thread” with your left Golden Dragon and continue with your right Fierce Tiger as in Sequence 5. You will find a lot of attack patterns in the right leg mode in subsequent sequences.

OVERVIEW

Combat Application

Combat Application

Combat Application

Poise Patterns

Fierce Tiger

Single Tiger

Combat Application

Combat Application

Combat Application

Golden Dragon

Fierce Tiger

Golden Dragon

Combat Application

Combat Application

Combat Application

Combat Application

Precious Duck

Golden Star

Green Dragon

Poise Patterns

HOW TO OVERCOME OR PREVENT OVER-TRAINING

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(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/discussion-2/nessa01.html)

Shaolin neigong

A simple chi kung exercise, but performed in a deep chi kung state of mind, can be very powerful

We have become so cost-effective that students and instructors do not have to do their best to practice as I have taught. If they practice daily and attain only 30% of what they attained during the courses I taught them, they would have done well.

This is almost a joke. “Ku lian”, which means “bitter training”, is the hallmark of all kungfu training, including my own kungfu training when I was a student. But now we tell our students, “Don’t worry! Don’t intellectualize! Enjoy your practice! If you just attain 30% you would have done well. If you try to do your best, you will be over-training.”

Hence, it is no surprise that many of our students and some instructors over-train.

What are the signs we can use to say that we over-train?

Over-training is the result of getting more benefits than our physcial body can cope. The signs are unpleasantlness, nausiousness, tiredness, pain and over-cleansing.

Over-cleansing, which is a result of over-training, is a process where we clear away rubbish faster than what our physical body can cope. Rubbish includes bad cells, pain, sickness, negative emotions and perverted views.

The signs of over-cleansing are similar to those of over-training, thus the confusion, such as unpleasantness, nausiousness, tiredness and pain, and may also include rashes, pimples, heavy breadth and body ordour.

The obvious action to overcome or prevent over-training is to slow down the training. Slowing down the training can be achieved in time or intensity.

If a student practices an hour a session, he can slow down by prcticing just 15 minutes a session. If he practices two sessions a day, he can now practice one session a day. If he practices everyday, now he can practice once in two days or three days.

In this connection, it is helpful to remind himself that practicing kungfu or chi kung is to enrich his life and the lives of other people, and never to enslave himself to the art. By reducing the time of his training, he now has more time for other worthy activities, which previously he may mistakenly thought he had no time for, like spending more time with his parents or friends, or just watching clouds passing by in the sky.

As many of our students and instructors enjoy our training, and also our training time is much shorter than what most other practitioners spend in their training, a more suitable alternative is to reduce the intensity of training to overcome or prevent over-training.

To make our training less powerful so that we do not over-train, we do not go too deeply into a chi kung state of mind. Instead of spending a minute, for example, to enter into a chi kung state of mind, we just spend a few seconds.

Or we can just go straight to our exercise without first spending time, even a short one, entering into a chi kung state of mind. Even when we do not purposely enter into a chi kung state of mind, we are still in a chi kung state of mind due to our habit, so we are still practicing genuine chi kung or good kungfu.

I tried this method at a chi kung course in Madrid recently, and it worked very well. All students, including some fresh beginners, enjoyed an energy flow. It was not as powerful as in other courses, but it was still powerful, and more importantly it best suited the needs of the students. The students were still fresh and energetic at the end of the course, not tired and worn out as in some other courses.

For some students and instructors in our school, even not purposely entering into a chi kung state of mind at the start of the exercise may still be too powerful. The next step, in a descending order of steps described here, is to purposely perform the exercise at a physcial level.

This is akin to but not the same as the step described previous to this one. At the previous step, we did not purposely enter into a chi kung state of mind, but might perform the exercise in a chi kung state of mind due to habit.

At this step we purposely do not enter into a chi kung state of mind, and purposely perform our chi kung or kungfu exercise at a form level. This indeed is what most people who practice genuine chi kung and genuine kungfu do.

But this is not what most people who say they practice chi kung and kungfu do. They perform genuine chi kung and genuine kungfu forms as gentle physcial exercise and as kungfu gymnastics. That constitutes more than 80% of chi kung and kungfu practitioners. Less than 20% perform genuine chi kung and genuine kungfu but at a form level. That was also what I did when I took more than a year to generate an energy flow or to develop internal force.

When you perform chi kung or kungfu exercise at a form level, you are still performing genuine chi kung and genuine kungfu, and therefore still in a chi kung state of mind — at lease some of the time and not too deeply. Our students and instructors would have no difficulty in understanding what I explain here. But many other people may not understand though they know the dictionary meaning of all the words I have used.

Do you know why? It is because they do not have the experience of what I explain, whereas our students and instructors have. Another way is to say that the problem is due to the limitation of words.

If a practitioner still finds himself over-training even when he performs the art or exercise at the form level, a remedy is to take negative action. He purposely intellectualizes or purposely tenses his muscles — not all the time but some of the time. When he intellectualizes or tenses his muscles, he brings himself out of the chi kung state of mind. When he is not in the chi kung state of mind, he will not get the benefits of chi kung or internal force which causes over-cleansing in kungfu. At the end of his practice, he must have a short remedial exercise to relax his mind and muscles.

Besides reducing the level of training so as not to over-train, which is described above in descending order, one can also spend his excess energy in wholesome activiites. He can performs kungfu sets or combat sequences at a form level. He can also spend his time enjoying with his friends, family or with himself, like hiking, swimming, partying, traveling, socializing, reading and writing. He can also spend his excess energy on his work, like moving goods around in a shop or planning a marketing progreamme for his company.

Deviating is getting harmful effects instead of benefits from one’s training. In a mild form it is not getting the result practicing the art or exercise is meant to give, but not suffering from harmful effects.

Shaolin neigong

An effective way to expand extra energy is to practice combat sequences at a physical level

The above article reproduced from Grandmaster Wong’s long answer on Essence of Spiritual Cultivation: Question-Answer 6 bere is quoted by Sifu Nessa Kahila of Shaolin Wahnam Finland on 26th June 2015 in the thread Over-Training and Over-Cleansing in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.

TELL US ONE OR TWO SECRETS

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Grandmaster Wong Kiew KitThe Way of the Master, written by my Sifu, Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit, is now officially launched.

You can order the book through Amazon or write a review.

You can also read more delightful stories, or order the special edition directly.

Please enjoy one of the memorable stories from my Sifu’s book below:

TELL US ONE OR TWO SECRETS

(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/general-2/way-of-master/way15.html)

famous staff

Six-and-Half-Point Staff

One night, at Sifu Choe Hoong Choy’s house where he taught Wing Choon Kungfu in the garden at the back of his house, Uncle Cheong, a senior disciple of Sifu Choe Hoong Choy and well-respected kungfu master in his own right, visited the school. Some senior students were practising a staff set called Thirteen-Techniques Spear. Despite its name, it was a staff set, and a long tapering staff was used.

The students asked Uncle Cheong, who was an expert of the staff, about the combat application of a pattern called “High Mountain Flows Water”, where a staff was held slantingly away from the practitioner’s body with the head of the staff above the practitioner’s head, and the tapering tail of the staff slanting away almost touching the floor.

Uncle Cheong said, “It can be used to block a low sweeping attack.”

He then asked the student to sweep his legs and he blocked the attack using this pattern, “High Mountain Flows Water”.

Uncle Cheong then turned to me. “Kit Chye,” he said, “How would you use this pattern to block a low sweeping attack?”

“Kit Chye” (杰仔) was the name they called me. Other students would call me “Kit Kor” (杰哥), which means Elder Brother Kit. “Kit Chye” is an endearing term, often used by parents to call their children or elders to call their loved ones. It means “Kit, my lovely boy”.

“Uncle Cheong is an expert of the staff,” I replied indirectly.

“I know you are also an expert of the staff. Tell us one or two secrets.”

“I’m not sure whether I can tell one or two secrets.”

“Let’s ask our sifu.”

Uncle Cheong then turned to Sifu Choe Hoong Choy. “Sifu, would you let Kit Chye to reveal one or two secrets?”

“They are senior students. There’s no harm telling them one or two secrets,” Sifu Choe Hoong Choy said.

I took over the staff from Uncle Cheong, and asked the senior student to attack me with a low sweep.

As he did so, I blocked the attack as Uncle Cheong did earlier, but with the end of the staff gently hitting the attacker’s lower leg.

I asked him to attack again. I performed the same pattern blocking his attack, but this time with the tip of the staff pointing just an inch above a vital point between his lower leg and his foot.

Sifu Choe Hoong Choy and Uncle Cheong smiled noddingly.

“In a real fight,” Uncle Cheong told the student, “Your lower leg would be fractured as soon as you make the attack, or you would not be able to walk as your vital point at the foot would be dotted.”

famous staff set

Fifth Brother Octagonal Staff

 

You can read more stories at our Discussion Forum. Here are details to order the special and limited edition. This edition will not be reprinted once it is sold out.

A CHILD WHO COMPOSED HIS OWN SONGS AND LANGUAGE

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Grandmaster Wong Kiew KitThe Way of the Master, written by my Sifu, Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit, is now officially launched.

You can order the book through Amazon or write a review.

You can also read more delightful stories, or order the special edition directly.

Please enjoy one of the memorable stories from my Sifu’s book below:

A CHILD WHO COMPOSED HIS OWN SONGS AND LANGUAGE

(reproduced from http://shaolin.org/general-2/way-of-master/way25.html)

Wong Chun Yian

My youngest son, Wong Chun Yian, when small

1989 was a very important year that I proved distant chi transmission was real. But the most important event of the year was the birth of my youngest child, Wong Chun Yian (黄俊贤), who brought love and happiness to the family. “Chun Yian” means “Handsome and Wise”.

I honestly believe that my youngest daughter, Wong Siew Foong born in 1987, and my youngest son, Wong Chun Yian, born in 1989, were our children sent to my wife and me from the Divine for the good deeds we had done. They brought to our family, including my parents and my three elder children, a lot of joy and love.

We did not hope for any rewards when we were blessed to perform some good deeds, but it is a universal truth that goodness always brings goodness. I dearly remember my mother telling me once that it is a greater blessing to give than to receive. Indeed, we are very blessed.

When my wife was carrying Chun Yian, she was a bit apprehensive because she was already over forty years of age. It was said that women giving birth after forty may result in children who were not so intelligent. But Chun Yian, I believe, is a divine-sent child, and he was, and still is, very intelligent.

When my wife and I took our two youngest children for car rides, which we often did, and our other three elder children were at an age when they would prefer to spend time with their friends, Chun Yian would compose songs of his own which he would sing to entertain us.

One of the songs he often sang was as follows:

Grilled chicken wings, grilled chicken wings We shall have something to eat Get two or three cups of fragrant wine To go along with the feast

Sometimes, he would compose words for our private use. For example, instead of saying, “Please pass me some tissue paper to wipe my hands”, he would say, “Please pass me some ti-boys”.

“Why do you call tissue paper ti-boys?” Once I asked him.

“Ti is a short form for tissue. As the tissue paper is small, I call it ti-boy,” he explained.

We certainly had a lot of fun.

I attributed his high intelligence to his practice of chi kung, but he attributed it to his secretion of “brain-juice” by sleeping before ten o’clock every night.

So, while other parents might have difficulty coaxing their children to go to bed early, my wife and I did not have this problem with Chun Yian.

In fact, on occasions when we were out late at night, by Chun Yian’s standard, he would say, “Papa, can we go back early? I want to produce brain-juice.”

Wong Chun Yian

Siew Foong, my wife, Chun Yian and me at Chun Yian’s graduation

You can read more stories at our Discussion Forum. Here are details to order the special and limited edition. This edition will not be reprinted once it is sold out.