Iron Wire and Taming the Tiger sets taught by Sifu in Helsinki, Jan 2010

[Jani]

Hello to all!

First of all I would like to thank Sifu and Sihing Markus from the bottom of my heart. This has been such an amazing week that I am not able to describe it with words. I believe that I don't even realize what has happened. It takes some time to melt all of this

But one thing and feeling is sure now just after the course and Winter Camp: This has shown how beautiful (martial) art our Shaolin Kungfu is taught by Sifu. I believe I am better person and a kungfu practioner than a week or two ago. Sifu has done his part by teaching and sharing these amazing and indescribable arts with us. Now is our part to be good students and keep these arts alive by practising wholeheartedly (which I believe wont be a problem to any of us

Iron Wire and Taming the Tiger set will keep me busy for the rest of my life I can't believe that we are now practising the very same arts that famous Masters Wong Fei Hung and Lam Sai Wing practised... just amazing.

I also like to thank all of our foreign brothers. It was an honor to practise with all of you. And regards to my tiger taming friend Max. It was such a fun to practise the sparring set with you!

I'll post more feelings when I find some life from my head

With warmest regards,
Jani

[Markus Kahila]

Some more highlights from the course:

• Jani's girlish scream as Sifu responded with a surprise groin counter punch
  
  
• Max's chi flow monkey toying with the idea of snatching my iPhone
  
  
• Seeing students from both Finland and abroad really go for it when applying Taming the Tiger against other styles
  
  
• The entire graduation dinner with participants sharing their experiences

...and this one just speaks for itself.



Best wishes,

[drunken boxer]

Wow... this is officially the most jealous I have been regarding any course I have not attended.
For pieces of the Dragon Strength set and Taming the Tiger to be included as well, its amazing.
I shall remember this feeling in case another golden opportunity ever arises to learn any of these arts.

[LeeWeiJoo]

Indeed, this is a very special course. I definitely won't want to miss another golden opportunity in the future.

With Shaolin Salute,
Lee Wei Joo

[Luo Lang]

Great stuff, thanks for sharing!

We are indeed very lucky for Sifu's generousity!

[Cymon]

Amazing

Thank you all for your accounts and inspiring posts.

I am truly gutted and sorry for not having attended this course. It is indeed a wake up call to make the most of all opportunities when they present themselves.

It is my focus and goal to absolutely 100% be in attendance for the Wing Chun and Small Universe course, should I be invited.

Salutation, gratitude and utmost respect,

Cymon.

[Luo Lang]

I agree with Cymon, for those who could not make it to Finland, there is luckily another chance to attend great courses in Malaysia!

The Wing Choon course is for sure a Great opportunity!

I am glad that at least One of the Swiss family will take part!

[Markus Kahila]

Hard force, soft force - same internal force

There's a valuable point Sifu kindly shared with us I'd like to repeat here, which for me as well as many other participants was a revelation.


Many of you might know that the force developed from the Iron Wire is generally considered hard, although it can be soft as well. Initially before the course my understanding of this point was not very deep, so I was somewhat concerned that practicing the "hard" Iron Wire set might detract from my practising the Dragon, which is generally more "soft", thus in my training be replaced more by the Tiger.


As we quickly learned, in our school this is not the case.


As the course progressed we learned from Sifu - as well as through direct experience - that both "hard" and "soft" internal force training are actually developing the same force - the difference is in application of internal force.

This would be similar as in earning and spending: Once a person stores some money on his bank account, it can be used for many different purposes such as food, rent and electricity. Developing internal force is the same - once you have significant force, you can apply it in "hard" or "soft" manner, and in numerous other ways of your own choosing, dictated by your ability.


I now know that my Dragon practice will benefit immensely from practising the Iron Wire, because first and foremost, the set builds tremendous internal force. I don't have to worry or intellectualize about the nature of the internal force; I just apply in the way that best suits the Dragon.


However, bears to mention that the above guidelines only apply for genuine internal force training - external kungfu force training such as three-star hitting and punching sandbags are of course a different matter.


(Follow the below link for Taming the Tiger combination set from the course: )

http://shaolin.org/video-clips-5/taming-tiger/comb-set.html

Best wishes,

[PM]

actually, our tit sin kyun is also comparatively "soft" compared what other people expect of it. my sigung, grandmaster Lam Jou (now 100 years old) has given me a valuable advice: "use soft, internal power, not hard, external tension".

all the best, lucky you who have learned this treasure from Sifu!

[Anthony S]

Hello Sifu PM,

Almost 10 years ago I used to visit Sifu Vernon Rieta (taking some introductory lessons) in Griffith Park in Los Angeles on weekends. I seem to remember that perhaps your Sigung Lam Jo is his as well? I really respected Sifu Vernon (as he liked to be called). I'm told he moved back to his native Hawaii a few years ago.

To all,

In discussing the Iron Wire set and it's force, it came to me this morning that the set is essentially a "forceful" Big Universe.

Earlier in the tread I had mentioned that everyone had been going to bed early during the course and some had mentioned that they thought it was from a lot of cleansing. I should clarify that Sifu explained that whenever the energy that we have doesn't match the energy that our bodies can handle it typically results in one feeling a need to sleep. The sleep helps us balance the energy. Thus, if one has too little or too much energy the result can be a need to sleep.

[Anthony S]

Another comment-

Sifu PM mentioned that his Sigung Lam Jou is now 100 years old. This is interesting and inspiring because my first impression from practicing the Iron Wire as I recorded earlier in the thread is that it will result in a long life.

[Luo Lang]

Thanks again Anthony S for the most interessting contributions!

Thinking of you last comment, that's basically a very good reminder, that the aim of all genuine Shaolinarts is to get healthy, full of vitality and to promote a happy long life!

It's very inspiring that we are able to observe Great Masters representing this still nowadays!

Thanks again for pointing that out!

[Markus Kahila]

Dear Pavel,


The words by your Sigung Lam Jou are very inspiring. You are very lucky to be a part of such a prestigious lineage.


With Shaolin greetings,

[Daniel]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences.
Iron Wire set was always fascinating for me!

[Nick_R]

Many many Thanks.

Greetings from London.

Its been two weeks since the wonderfull Iron Wire course in Helsinki and high time I posted on the forum to extend my gratitude and discuss my experience.

Firstly, I am still absolutely dumb founded and overwhelmed at my good fortune in attending the course. And at the complete profoundity of the material covered.

I am a new student within our school, and as such, feel exceptionally privaledged that I was exposed to the weeks teachings.

I feel incredibly gratefull to Sigung for his wholehearted teaching and infinite patience, and to the Past Masters for whom we owe so much.

Thankyou, with all my heart.

It was a truely unforgettable few days, and the experience will remain very dear to me. I feel truely blessed.

Thankyou to Markus Sisook for all the organisation and hard work in making the course happen.

It was a pleasure to meet you and your wonderfull students. You were exceptional hosts, warm, open hearted and very welcoming.

I am honoured to have meet you all, and look forward to the next time.

I found the course very intense and a lot of hard work. But fun!..

Following the daily training and force building, i have found myself craving rest and sleep. For the first week back, I cut my training down to Chi Flow and light hearted, unstructured pattern practise.

The course for me, involved an awfull lot of cleansing, and that seems to be continuing. Im enjoying some very odd chi flows.

The week just gone, I practised a little more. I managed 3 days of regular stance training- which felt really nice. Considerably more flowing and relaxed. And two days of Iron wire- currently i am only practising the first two parts of the set as chi kung. I find the force generated from these two parts to be more than enough, and will continue to train in this fashion for the next few weeks.

I wonder how everyone else is fitting the Iron Wire set into their training schedule, and was wondering if anyone would like to comment on any experiences or noticable post course benifits?

I personally have found that Im sleeping a lot! about 3 hours more a night than usual.

I feel that my body is stronger and more upright- noticably around my upper back, rib cage, shoulders and abdomin.. yet physically
ive been a little tired.

I feel that my legs and arms are heavier..
My legs and arms seemed to have gained a little physical mass too.

My skin feels very smooth, yet it has a sort of tougher feeling to it also..

I feel there is a bit more flesh under the skin on my face, hands and body generally.
Im eating loads and loads and loads!.. and really enjoying that.

I feel more open hearted and confident..

I have experienced moments of exceptional (relative to my own level) clarity, concentration and peace.

I trust as the cleansing continues that these moments will become more frequent, and look forward to continued practise and enjoyment from these wonderfull arts.

I hope everyone is good, and enjoying the weekend.

Kindest regards and warm wishes to all.

Nick