2009 Advanced Combined Shaolin-Taijiquan course

[Molly]

Much thanks to everyone for your accounts, and especially to Wuji for your always eloquent, detail-oriented recap. It's really really so fantastic to read. Congratulations to all of you!

[AlexBaranosky]

Yep, I love reading detailed posts about courses. I learn something even from the little shared within them

[Zhang Wuji]

Day 2 - PM

Ah Steve, you gave away 2 big secrets there No fear, I shall continue with them in my very next post.

Thanks for all the encouragement, guys. And Alex, look carefully - there may be more than initially perceived.

Concluding Day 2.....

We continued with our review of the 16 Basic sequences into the afternoon, where we revised the 4 felling sequences. It was obviously more difficult than usual to throw people who had very solid stances and agile footwork. We also practised unbalancing the opponent before throwing him, and it never ceases to amuse me when Shaolin practitioners see the contrast between Fell Tree with Roots and Wahnam Taijiquan's Black Bear SInk Hips, which only requires a seemingly effortless sinking down once your stance is in place (I confess though, I was not able to pull this off against sparring partners with far superior force).

Next, we went on to dealing with boxers, and we practically spent the whole session on this part alone. The material covered, i think, was less than what was covered in some other regional and intensive courses, but Sifu's meticulous attention to skill-development made this one session stand out. We first went through the basic repertoire of boxing techniques, and Sifu once again reminded us that while a boxer's techniques are relatively limited and simple, a good boxer with better skills can beat a kungfu exponent with better techniques. We were fortunate to have among us many excellent former boxers, although when they demonstrated their techniques, the Shaolin influence was apparent. You can take the man out of the Shaolin Temple.........

For this session, the "defensive" counter against jabs and crosses was, interestingly, a Taijiquan technique taken from Lifting Hands / Play Pipa; against a hook, Jade Girl (Double Bows) and Fan Through Back (White Horse Returns Head); against an uppercut, various qin-na techniques. There was much emphasis on ensuring our own safety when both defending and attacking, whether in covering or simply taming the opponent. Incidentally, I should point out one point that Sifu never fails to drum into our heads in every single course I have attended - correct footwork and weight-shifting when moving into an attack. Shaolin Wahnam students are familiar with this - move from the back leg, and be able to move back into another stance. I practice this religiously but I found I had so much room for improvement. This one fundamental ability has multiple layers of progression.

We went through a few sequences formulated for dealing with a boxer. As Sifu has explained in his video clips pages, one might ask how this can be applicable to real fighting against a boxer who will not fight in a fixed sequence against us. The answer to that is found in how we train our basic combat sequences - systematic progression by gradual release of control. Throw a student in the deep end, to deal with a flurry of ferocious attacks, all he will learn is to hap- hazardly apply his kungfu techniques in a scattered manner. He will never build a foundation for his kungfu skills because he never gets a chance to practice his techniques properly. And emotionally and mentally, he will know only fear. Instead, Sifu's methodology builds not just skills, but also confidence.

A boxer bounces around you, right? Sifu reminded us not to lose the spirit of our art, and follow him in his bouncing-dancing. We remained in our stances, staying at our dan tian while observing the boxer darting around, adjusting our footwork when necessary. Sifu also taught us to anticipate or move ahead of the boxer, and to make a split-second adjustment if he does not react as we had planned.

Finally, Sifu demonstrated what it is meant by "when there is form, strike the form. When there is a shadow, follow the shadow." This was one of the best highlights of the course for me. I am still assimilating the full import of that lesson, but if you would like details, Sifu's "The Complete Book of Shaolin" has some nice expositions of this principle.

And we were off with Sifu for dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant, where we had a most illuminating dinner conversation (illuminating partly because we were without lights most of the time, and whenever the conversation resumed, the lights usually came back on). Sifu shared quite a bit of his personal experiences, but I am sorry that that is not really appropriate to relate here.

P.S. Steve (and anyone else?) - thanks for the meal!

PPS Over lunch (yummy porridge), Sifu regaled us with stories of a treacherous Chinese emperor and the kungfu warriors he betrayed.

[Charles David]

Good Morning, Wuji Siheng! (Nice to be sharing a time zone with you.)
Let me also thank you for taking the time to share with us. Your dedication is inspiring.

Happy practice, everyone!

Yours,

Chas.

[Zhang Wuji]

Day 3 - morning

Hello everyone

Now for Day 3, and this was when the “new” material and secrets started to be unveiled. I use the word “new” in quotation marks because I personally don’t think these secrets are on a higher plane than the basics. As I am writing this series of posts, I find myself taking several steps back in my daily training and practicing what I had started with a few years ago, from stances, to footwork and Sequences 1 to 4. I remain firmly convinced that most if not all the essential secrets are given by Sifu in a so-called beginner intensive course – whether or not we are enlightened enough to see them is another matter. If I found myself floundering during the Advanced course, the primary reason was that my basics were not as sound as they should have been. In this, I am reminded of what I learnt years ago when I started Taijiquan, the higher the tree grows, the deeper its roots must sink.

Right, enough of my long-winded introduction.

In the morning, we were told not to assemble at our training area but at the terrace facing the beach. I thought this was because Sifu wanted us to do some force training in the best environment. This was one of the reasons of course, but as we came closer to the training area, the choice of venue became obvious. A few of the instructors had helped Wei Foong unload some weapons the day before, but there were some items which were surprising. That morning, we discovered the purpose for these items. Without giving too much away, I can say that Wing Chun practitioners aren’t the only ones who have dummies to play with.

As our new friends were not quite ready to play, Sifu led us through a beautiful session of Lifting Water. I practise this exercise all the time, but it is amazing to do this in front of and in sync with the crashing waves of the sea. As Steve later said, it was as if it was the sea lifting our hands for us, rather than us lifting the water.

We gave our silent friends a pat and went back to the training hall, where we revised the 16 Taijiquan sequences. Actually, it was more like a demonstration by Robin and we all simply tagged along for the ride. And as my fellow participants have already said, we were treated to a performance of Cloud Hands by Sifu. That morning was certainly one of the most “flowing” training sessions I had.

We did not have a sparring session that morning as only a few of us were familiar with the Taijiquan sequences, but I think the Shaolinquan exponents experienced the nature of Wahnam Taijiquan and were able to appreciate the intrinsic differences between our two arts.

[Zhang Wuji]

Day 3 - Pm (one against many)

Hello everyone again

I am back after a short break. This post will be about single against multiple attackers. It is difficult to convey in words the feeling of facing such an attack, so use your imagination, or get some friends to try this with you at home.

Sifu had us start with two attackers who would each attack with a Black Tiger. What do you do? Well, you can step back into a stance and use two Single Tigers. Are any of you thinking this is an inferior counter? After the initial simplistic attack, the two of them can follow up with a flurry of kicks and strikes and one guy simply cannot deal with twin attacks at the same time.

Anyone who knows Sifu's method will recognise that this is a case of experiencing the lesson before the theoretical explanation. Sifu then pointed out the weaknesses of this defence / counter, as it violates the principle of "two hands cannot beat four hands". He then taught us to deal with one attacker at a time.

However, just the day before, I had used the two Single Tigers during sparring. When Steve was launching a middle attack at me, someone almost knocked into me from the side by accident, and I used this exact counter - so to me, it certainly is a useful pattern to have.

We first learnt how to deal with multiple attack scenarios with our backs to the wall, and when there is space to move around. One thing we learnt from direct experience is that increasing the number of attackers is not just a numerical change, but a sea change in how we should deal with the situation. We went to a maximum of 5 attackers, and along the way, we were often overcome by only 3 or 4 attackers. I learnt that great timing and flowing are essential to surviving such an encounter. Hesitate when a counter-strike should be made and you will never get a second chance.

Sifu's The Complete Book of Shaolin contains many of the lessons we learnt that day, but reading about principles and tactics in a book, and being personally taught by Sifu among very skilled exponents is a world apart.

[Martin Do]

Thank you

Dear Zhang Wuji Sisook,

Thank you for your continual posting on this thread. I very much enjoy them and appreciate your effort in posting them. I sense weapons is just around the corner by now .

Best wishes

Martin

[Jonny Say]

Many thanks again brother, very interesting reading.

[Mark CH]

Thanks again Wuji for posting the daily accounts and also for bringing back much happy memories from the course.

Interestingly during the course and also when I read over your thread, no matter what level a student has reached, be it weapons, multiple opponents, armed against unarmed and unarmed against multiple armed the basic principles apply. Stances, moving in stances and flow with the momentum to name just a few are so vital. These are true secrets of Shaolin and Sifu has so kindly shared these with everyone.

It was not until I got to multiple opponent attacks that I realised the true nature of moving in stances. The whole world opens up when the moving in stances is fluid with correct spacing and timing. Like Sifu always says the basic dont necessarily mean easy but certainly the most important.

Happy training brothers and sisters

Best wishes
Mark

[Zhang Wuji]

Day 4

Hi Martin (Em goi anh Wuji la duoc roi)

I am sorry to disappoint you, if you expect loads of details for the weapons portion of the course. I think it was on this day that Sifu told us something to the effect that "as you are instructors, I will not spoon-feed you. There will be less material being taught and more chances for you to think through." I will bet that the weapons course in the UK's Summer Camp went into far more detail on form, techniques and even training methods. We were expected to know the form or revise the sets later on. For the same reason, this post will be shorter than the previous ones, because much of the session was not verbal teaching of material but transmission and correction.

And Sifu made it a truly interactive course. He left us alone in pairs to work on counters, and then gave comments when we demonstrated our suggestions before the whole class. So to avoid looking stupid, we had to work out er, workable counters. Some of these attempts are shown in Sifu's video series on the "Glimpses of the Advanced Combined Course".

In the morning, we went through the Shaolin and Taiji Sabre sets, and practised using a sabre against a Guan Dao and a spear. Later in the afternoon, we practised the Taiji staff and if my memory serves me correctly, the Ho Family staff too. Of all the weapons, I was most looking forward to the staff, as I had never learnt it before. And here I was, with the privilege to learn both Shaolin and Taiji versions. And I was even more pleasantly surprised when Sifu told us that the Taiji staff set also incorporated principles and techniques from the Wu Lang Ba Gua Gun (Fifth Brother/Son Eight Directional Staff), which I have heard so much about and always wanted to know (As a side issue, when I was at Wei Foong's wedding a few years ago, a wedding guest pulled me to one side and told me that if I ever had the chance, I should witness Sifu's performance of the Wu Lang staff set. Now, I get to learn the essence of the set itself!)

I will have to share more about the lessons of Day 4 another time, as I am still slowly assimilating the lessons of the first 3 days. In fact, my daily practice now is going back to basics, including checking my stances and footwork. When I have reviewed the DVDs again, I will write more. Alternatively, another participant can contribute?

One principle I want to share and which Sifu never stopped reminding us was this: Don't let your guard down in a multiple attackers scenario. This seems so self-evident but we forgot it in the heat of battle. After taking down the first few opponents, we would either rush in or get careless with the last bad guy standing, and get zapped. Ironic, isn't it?

And in the last hour of training, we were introduced to more new friends (or foes) - whom Steve describes as the Army of Brick Warriors. For more details, read Sifu's book referred to above. What I can share is that fighting against this army forced us to pay attention to our footwork and all-round awareness, as well as how to strike and counter on the move. We also learnt how important it was to have a "plan" when initiating or even reacting to attacks. As for me, the session made the whole concept of "imaginary opponents" all the more tangible.

[Martin Do]

Dear Wuji Sisook,

Thank you again for another great post which I read with great interest as usual .

Hi Martin (Em goi anh Wuji la duoc roi)

This brought a big smile to my face. Its beautiful . Thank you for your effort and thank you for your humbleness. It is much appreciated but I will continue to adhere to this little tradition if it is okay with you.

Best wishes

Martin

[Zhang Wuji]

And here we are on the last day. And a busy day it was.

We began with a session with our sparring opponents at the beach terrace, and adjourned to the training hall where Jamie demonstrated the Asking Bridges used in Hoong Ka. It was very much like Push Hands in Taijiquan, inasmuch as it required maintaining contact and keeping an opponent at bay.

We then went on to another treasure of Shaolin - the Four Gates set. I think everyone present already knew the set fairly well, so we went through the form quickly. Unfortunately, we had no time to learn the combination set (sequences), but Sifu did tell us that we would be able to compose our own sequences if we had attended a Special Course which included sessions on just how to do this.

Next, Robin demonstrated the Wahnam Taijiquan Floating Clouds and Flowing Water set. Again, due to a lack of time, we did not have time to learn or revise the set there and then. I already knew all the patterns in the set from my Yang and Chen forms, but before the course, I was not able to memorise the sequence in which they appear in our Wahnam set.

We spent the rest of the morning practising how to use a weapon to defend against armed attackers. We began with 2 against 1, followed by 3 against 1 and progressively to 4 against 1. The fun part was that the attackers could use any weapon they liked, so there was this poor hapless prey up against a Guan Dao, a spear, a big sabre or two, and some other big weapon, while he was only carrying a sabre or staff.

Sifu taught us a few special tactics (techniques) to deal with multiple attackers. The first would be to carry the attack to them, or if one were using the staff, sabre or sword, use the "windmill" or "Shower of Plum Blossums" technique. Someone using the staff would have an additional tactic of sweeping his staff around in a protective circle.

In the afternoon, we learnt how to defend against armed and multiple attackers when we are unarmed. Sifu took us through a plethora of sequences, each dealing with one manner of attack. This is not unlike our basic sequences, in which an attack is classified as middle, high, low and side. And when you consider the four weapons - dagger, sabre, spear and staff - that was quite a lot to handle in 2 hours.

Sifu went through the sequences very quickly, almost cursorily, and just as I was wondering why, he said that there are many techniques to deal with each attack, and the ones we were practising were examples. Indeed, it occured to me then that I could substitute any of the counters with patterns from the specialised sets. Again, this highlighted the nature of the course, where we were expected to develop our own disarming counters.

We spent the next 2 hours on using weapons to deal with multiple unarmed attackers, and this was another fun session. Like the previous day, we would practice as a pair, or in groups and then each group would demonstrate. Someone watching us may have been left with the impression that were just clowning around. When anyone was "symbolically" stabbed or slashed, he was to drop and play dead, so there was a bit of dramatic playacting from the vanquished attackers. But having fun as we were let us learn more than if everyone was going at full force and without control. We were able to work out counters in a fun-filled session without hurting anyone. If we were just thrown into the deep end, we were likely to thrash out wildly with our weapons and hurt our partners (and I thought this almost happened in one or two cases).

That concludes my account of the course. There were some personal take-aways from the course. One thing I learnt was to always make sure my basics are sound, and to this end, a few weeks after the course, I have been reviewing my first 4 sequences again from scratch. Another important lesson was facing and dealing with feelings of my own inadequacy. Perhaps the most important of all is the re-affirmation that noble and exemplary moral values are the pre-requisite for progress in our arts. The course was for me as much a course in character awakening as it was a kungfu one.

[Nick Jones]

Dear Wuji,

Thank you so much for sharing your beautifully written account with us. It seems like you had a really special time!

Best wishes for your progress and practice, post-course.

All the best,
Nick

[Martin Do]

Thank you very much

Dear Wuji Sisook,

Thank you for your concluding post above on the course. I have very much enjoyed reading and learning from what you have shared with us in this thread. Thank you again for your time and endevour to share notes from this wonderful course with everyone.

Best wishes

Martin

[Josh]

Some late thoughts on the course...

Howdy, All....

Oh my goodness, I finally have a little time to sit down and post. It's maybe a little late, but I wanted to add just a little to Wuji Sihing's excellent synopsis of the course.

Since Wuji did such a fine job of covering everything, I thought I'd just add a couple of my personal highlights. Before the course I assumed that the more advanced material was going to be what stood out for me. And while that was true, reviewing and enhancing the basics turned out to be one of my favorite aspects! For instance, we spent quite a bit of time working on properly covering our opponents while moving in, moving really well in stances, not rushing in haphazardly to strike, etc. Before the course, I'd spent quite a while focusing on this in my sparring practice and was really happy with the progress I'd made. I felt more in control and calm and dealing with surprise counters became much easier and more natural. Nonetheless, after just a couple sessions with Sifu's guidance I felt I'd improved more than in a couple months of my own practice! I think after a little sparring, Molly would agree with me! By the way, Sifu's first Q and A from last month touches on these topics as well as a whole smorgasbord of kungfu topics...it's well worth re-reading!

One other aspect that really wowed me was Sifu's manner of teaching the more advanced material, especially fighting multiple opponents. When we started , and each time we'd move to a new level of difficulty (as in adding another opponent), Sifu would put us in groups and let us try to work things out on our own, then we'd demonstrate in front of everyone. Usually this entailed demonstrating our lack of ability to fight off a horde of kungfu exponents coming after us! Then Sifu would explain, very simply, the various tactics to be used, demonstrate once or twice and then put us back in our groups to work on it. After just a few minutes we'd be called up to demonstrate again, and the difference was incredible. I really enjoyed this method of teaching, not just for its effectiveness, but also because trying it on our own first showed us just how difficult it really is to deal with even 2 or 3 people. In turn, we could then much better appreciate the how understanding the tactics and a few minutes of practice improved things drastically. And besides that, it was so much fun!

And though it's been mentioned repeatedly, it bears repeating that the people at this course really made it fantastic. Thank you, everyone for the wonderful practice and comraderie. It was truly a great pleasure and privilege. And Sifu, my thanks again and again. This course really made a significant change, not just in my practice, but in my heart and in my life. Thank you!

My best to all,
Josh