Monday, August 23, 2010

Returning from a long time away...

Well I'm back after much research and hard work. I have spent 23 years studying the Internal Martial Arts and I've come to a singular interesting conclusion recently. The problem with the state of the Internal arts and martial arts in general is that everyone has become obsessed with having more and more forms, more and more techniques. I'm guilty of it myself.
So in the spirit of trying new things I went back to the first form of Taijiquan I ever learned. That is the Yang style 37 of Cheng Man-ching. I modified it some to suit my own ideas and discoveries. (the most obvious one is the Roll Back posture I find that I prefer Yang Cheng-Fu's larger movement to Professor Cheng's smaller more understated move, and I find that for me in application, the larger movement works better.
Another aspect of my research and work has been that Taijiquan players do not spend enough time with basic movements or Ji Ben Gong. These days we do some standing and vaguely hope to develop some internal force. We need to be clear that internal force means energy or qi manifested as strength, stamina, and vitality. And to practice internal arts we must work with this invisible energy. Fajin is not "body mechanics", it is not physics as we understand it. It is an explosion of energy guided by the mind and breath. If you disagree with me, then find a qigong master who can show you precisely what I mean.
Too often in the martial arts world, especially on the internet, you hear people say that something is impossible. Some masters claim t0 disperse clouds and cure incurable diseases. Most martial artists say "That's impossible." Without ever directly experiencing these things for themselves. Many Qigong masters are charlatans. But does this mean that all qigong healing and extraordinary abilities are fake? Many medical doctors are incompetent. Does this mean that all doctors are fakes? Heavens no.
So before we say something is impossible let's give the method a try and see if we don't get the benefits.
Back to the topic at hand. I'm focusing on one Taijiquan form, and one weapon the Straight Sword. Add in Fajin practice, qigong, and extensive stretching and my basic Baguazhang exercises and you have a full training schedule.
So basically I have time to practice two forms. I have learned literally dozens over the years. So find a small section of the huge corpus of material and really focus. This is the key to becoming truly outstanding in Chinese martial arts.

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