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Hi folks,
I was recently having lunch with Sifu and Marcus and we were all laughing and sharing stories and moments from our practice. Sifu then suggested that I start a thread on the forum for this and so .. here's the thread.
The thread is open to everyone to post, but this is not a thread for people to write about the experiences that they have in their daily practice (that's what the rest of the forum is for). It is more for moments that may have happenned on courses, in classes or as some form of demonstration. Many people may have heard these stories before, or they may have been there when they occurred, or they may have also experienced or wondered about such things.
As anyone who has attended a course will know, during the breaks there will usually be students practicing their Kungfu or Taijiquan. They may be practicing their stances, a particular set, combat sequences or just try and figure out how to pretend to fall over without making it look really obvious (application). It is during these moments that my story started.
A couple of years ago I was (with Sifu's approval) training with Ronan and trying to ascertain the applications of some of the Kungfu patterns I would move into during Chi flow (and then Ronan would counter them). One such pattern ends up with the victim being virtually helpless while his neck gets gnawed on (both arms and legs either trapped, pinned or wound up). Neither Ronan or myself could figure out a counter beyond 'don't let it happen', so we asked Sifu. He replied that he would show us later and then we went to lunch. After lunch, we came back and continued with the Chi Kung course. Sifu was talking about Kungfu and Force application when he called me to come out. When I got up to him, he told me to do Lifting The Sky a couple of times. When I started to, he said "Not yet, after" and I immediately though "Oh dear".
Sifu then asked me to demonstrate the earlier pattern (and his subtle movements showed me a couple of targets that I hadn't even realised were vulnerable) and then countered me. The counter involved me going from being standing and literally wrapped around Sifu to lying flat on my back with a feeling like I had just been kicked in the chest. I have no memory of the time inbetween and on standing, toddled off to one side and went straight into chi flow.
Sifu frequently talks of how great a difference there is between himself and past masters, saying that they would be able to treat him as a child, throwing him off without even needing to lift a finger. In the above instance, he openly said that his application of the technique was not perfect, as he had needed to turn slightly to one side to remove me. I went from being face to face (literally), to still facing him but lying flat on the ground. It is my most memorable 'Wow' moment of any martial art I have ever studied and because of it I can fully accept why there is so much disbelief when some of the stories and tales are told.
In summary, Sifu had pushed (or 'blasted') me right off him using his chi. I am no stranger to being thrown, pushed, struck or manipulated and I can happily say it was none of these things. After the class, I saw someone else walk over to Sifu and ask for it to be done to him as well. Sifu declined, explaining that he was not yet 'strong enough', so I count myself doubly fortunate in that I was healthy enough to be hit
.
I was recently having lunch with Sifu and Marcus and we were all laughing and sharing stories and moments from our practice. Sifu then suggested that I start a thread on the forum for this and so .. here's the thread.
The thread is open to everyone to post, but this is not a thread for people to write about the experiences that they have in their daily practice (that's what the rest of the forum is for). It is more for moments that may have happenned on courses, in classes or as some form of demonstration. Many people may have heard these stories before, or they may have been there when they occurred, or they may have also experienced or wondered about such things.
As anyone who has attended a course will know, during the breaks there will usually be students practicing their Kungfu or Taijiquan. They may be practicing their stances, a particular set, combat sequences or just try and figure out how to pretend to fall over without making it look really obvious (application). It is during these moments that my story started.
A couple of years ago I was (with Sifu's approval) training with Ronan and trying to ascertain the applications of some of the Kungfu patterns I would move into during Chi flow (and then Ronan would counter them). One such pattern ends up with the victim being virtually helpless while his neck gets gnawed on (both arms and legs either trapped, pinned or wound up). Neither Ronan or myself could figure out a counter beyond 'don't let it happen', so we asked Sifu. He replied that he would show us later and then we went to lunch. After lunch, we came back and continued with the Chi Kung course. Sifu was talking about Kungfu and Force application when he called me to come out. When I got up to him, he told me to do Lifting The Sky a couple of times. When I started to, he said "Not yet, after" and I immediately though "Oh dear".
Sifu then asked me to demonstrate the earlier pattern (and his subtle movements showed me a couple of targets that I hadn't even realised were vulnerable) and then countered me. The counter involved me going from being standing and literally wrapped around Sifu to lying flat on my back with a feeling like I had just been kicked in the chest. I have no memory of the time inbetween and on standing, toddled off to one side and went straight into chi flow.
Sifu frequently talks of how great a difference there is between himself and past masters, saying that they would be able to treat him as a child, throwing him off without even needing to lift a finger. In the above instance, he openly said that his application of the technique was not perfect, as he had needed to turn slightly to one side to remove me. I went from being face to face (literally), to still facing him but lying flat on the ground. It is my most memorable 'Wow' moment of any martial art I have ever studied and because of it I can fully accept why there is so much disbelief when some of the stories and tales are told.
In summary, Sifu had pushed (or 'blasted') me right off him using his chi. I am no stranger to being thrown, pushed, struck or manipulated and I can happily say it was none of these things. After the class, I saw someone else walk over to Sifu and ask for it to be done to him as well. Sifu declined, explaining that he was not yet 'strong enough', so I count myself doubly fortunate in that I was healthy enough to be hit
.
?? 
. Needless to say I declined 
from the ♥
It's so good to hear such a story. Do you know how many of us profit by reading that because they get a big Smile from heart ??
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