Tweet
The following questions are taken from one of the many e-mails I receive. I thought it would be nice to put my answers on the forum to share with others who are curious.
It's a good question, but it's also funny. Looking at the pictures (http://shaolin.org/review/dark2.html), I can see your confusion. I was the same way. I would stare at various pictures for hours trying to figure out applications.
What I eventually learned is that pictures just don't cut it. They may be worth a 1000 words, but these patterns are so profound that you'd need at least 100,000 words to describe them. Here's a few more words to whet your appetite for learning directly from Sifu:
In the pictures, Sifu opens with Fierce Tiger Crosses Valley. Goh Kok Hin Sihing responds with Single Tiger Emerges Cave, and then a Black Tiger Steals Heart. What you don't see in the picture is Sifu swallowing the Black Tiger and then smoothly circling back with Dark Dragon Draws Water, taming Goh's Black Tiger (just after it has been spent) with his right hand while simultaneously attacking Goh's now exposed ribs with his left Dragon Palm.
In the picture, you can almost (but not quite) grasp how Goh gets twisted over himself by Sifu's counter. This should give you some idea of the depth of this pattern, but let me assure you that it is much more profound in person. My description may make it seem clearer, but it will not be truly "clear" until you learn it from Sifu. And when it does become clear, you will probably say to yourself, "Wow!"
Goh's response is equally profound. Most people would not have a counter to Sifu's Dark Dragon. People might say, "I'd jump away" or "I'd hit him with the other hand" or "I'd kick," but this shows a lack of understanding. Despite having a 2nd degree black belt in Karate and many years of fighting experience when I learned this pattern, I was completely unable to uncover a counter. If Sifu had not shown me the counter, I could have spent years trying to figure it out.
One "secret" in that picture is that Goh is fully "tamed." His right arm is pressed against his chest, upsetting his balance. Sifu is controlling not only Goh's arm but his entire body from the elbow. Furthermore, Sifu's Dragon palm comes out immediately after Goh spends his attack, so just as you feel your arm being tamed and your balance being upset, BANG, you get hit with a Dragon Palm that you can hardly even see.
So what's the solution? Simple. Bar Big Boss! By pivoting to a solid horse stance, Goh removes his ribs from danger while simultaneously "taming two with one," i.e. taming both of Sifu's hands with just one of his own hands (Goh's left). Immediately after this, his hand, which is already in Sifu's face, attacks Sifu's throat with a rising dragon pierce (palm up).
The caption for the picture is wrong. In the picture, Sifu is using "Golden Star Hangs at Corner." But these days, Sifu usually teaches that pattern as Choping Hua Mountain instead, which is a chop to the opponent's temple, neck or collar bone. The response to Choping Hua Mountain is the same, i.e. Immortal Emerges from Cave.
Picture 2 depicts Fierce Tiger-Single Tiger. Now how does one get from there to the next pic that shows the application for Dark Dragon?
What I eventually learned is that pictures just don't cut it. They may be worth a 1000 words, but these patterns are so profound that you'd need at least 100,000 words to describe them. Here's a few more words to whet your appetite for learning directly from Sifu:
In the pictures, Sifu opens with Fierce Tiger Crosses Valley. Goh Kok Hin Sihing responds with Single Tiger Emerges Cave, and then a Black Tiger Steals Heart. What you don't see in the picture is Sifu swallowing the Black Tiger and then smoothly circling back with Dark Dragon Draws Water, taming Goh's Black Tiger (just after it has been spent) with his right hand while simultaneously attacking Goh's now exposed ribs with his left Dragon Palm.
In the picture, you can almost (but not quite) grasp how Goh gets twisted over himself by Sifu's counter. This should give you some idea of the depth of this pattern, but let me assure you that it is much more profound in person. My description may make it seem clearer, but it will not be truly "clear" until you learn it from Sifu. And when it does become clear, you will probably say to yourself, "Wow!"
Goh's response is equally profound. Most people would not have a counter to Sifu's Dark Dragon. People might say, "I'd jump away" or "I'd hit him with the other hand" or "I'd kick," but this shows a lack of understanding. Despite having a 2nd degree black belt in Karate and many years of fighting experience when I learned this pattern, I was completely unable to uncover a counter. If Sifu had not shown me the counter, I could have spent years trying to figure it out.
One "secret" in that picture is that Goh is fully "tamed." His right arm is pressed against his chest, upsetting his balance. Sifu is controlling not only Goh's arm but his entire body from the elbow. Furthermore, Sifu's Dragon palm comes out immediately after Goh spends his attack, so just as you feel your arm being tamed and your balance being upset, BANG, you get hit with a Dragon Palm that you can hardly even see.
So what's the solution? Simple. Bar Big Boss! By pivoting to a solid horse stance, Goh removes his ribs from danger while simultaneously "taming two with one," i.e. taming both of Sifu's hands with just one of his own hands (Goh's left). Immediately after this, his hand, which is already in Sifu's face, attacks Sifu's throat with a rising dragon pierce (palm up).
Chop Hua Mountain is depicted in pic 8 of the Dark Dragon Sequence. It looks very similar to Immortal Emerges From Cave (is that the right name?).
Comment