more from the FL courses

[Matt F.]

This was my first experience with Sifu or any of the Wahnam members, and it was awesome. First, a huge "thank you" to Sifu for openly sharing such wonderful skills with a total stranger. And another big "thank you" to everyone else for being warm and welcoming.

This was my first experience with real chi kung. In the past, it was all external movement and I wondered if chi was really real. Well, now I can speak from experience that it is without a doubt real, and high level chi kung is amazing!

Each course followed a similar schedule - learn/practice some chi kung, sit and discuss, learn/practice some chi kung, sit and discuss, repeat. Throughout the entire weekend, every time we practiced my sensations of chi/chi flow/etc got stronger and stronger. Just to list a couple of the things that I experienced - my hands and forearms charged with energy after stance training, feeling chi rushing around inside my body during standing meditation, feeling my knees, elbows, and dan tien all expand to several inches beyond my body during the Merging with the Cosmos course, and jumping around like a monkey and doing things I can't normally do during a very vigorous chi flow.

If someone had given me that list and told me I would experience all of that and more over the weekend, I would be blown away. But the funny thing is, when I was experiencing them, they just seemed so normal and natural. I can't really explain it better than that.

Thank you, again, to Sifu and everyone for opening your doors and letting me experience what Shaolin Wahnam is all about. I hope to train with you more in the future.

-Matt

[joko]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for expressing your experience. And congratulations for your results. Do you still practice Pai Lum Kung Fu, and do you still work as massage therapist? We would like very much to hear more of your experiences, regarding how your chikung skills that you now possess will improve both your Kung Fu and your profession as massage therapist.

I am sure that now, after learning directly from Sifu, you know the answer to your own previous question, regarding the difference between qigong exercise and internal force building exercises for use in kung fu. Please continue writing about your experiences, as it will keep your momentum of learning from Sifu and help keep your chi flowing.

Welcome to new world, and happy practicing!

Joko.

[Akemi]

Hi Matt,

It's good to see you again here on the forum I also got a lot out of the courses, and am glad to hear about your experiences. Congratulations!

Happy practicing,

[Matt F.]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for expressing your experience. And congratulations for your results. Do you still practice Pai Lum Kung Fu, and do you still work as massage therapist? We would like very much to hear more of your experiences, regarding how your chikung skills that you now possess will improve both your Kung Fu and your profession as massage therapist.

I am sure that now, after learning directly from Sifu, you know the answer to your own previous question, regarding the difference between qigong exercise and internal force building exercises for use in kung fu. Please continue writing about your experiences, as it will keep your momentum of learning from Sifu and help keep your chi flowing.

Welcome to new world, and happy practicing!

Joko.

Sorry it's taken me too long to respond to your questions. I was sick/cleansing. Thank you for your post in that thread as well. I'm feeling much better now. Perhaps I'll update that thread as well. Anyway...

Yes, I do still practice/teach Pai Lum Kung fu, but I am no longer a massage therapist. I have been working in light construction trades for the last 6 months.

It may be too early to write about how learning from Sifu has affected my kung fu, but then again, maybe not. Last Saturday, in class, I hit myself in the side of the jaw very lightly to domenstrate something (not a good idea now that I think about it), and while the surface contact was hardly felt my right ear was ringing and I felt slightly dazed. I can't say if this is already a sign of the internal force course improving my kung fu, or just a lucky hit. I'll have to keep observing how things change.

For 10 - 11 months before the courses I had been practicing Lifting the Sky and Carrying the Moon from Sifu's book. And I can say without a doubt that practice made my kung fu better. My stances were better, I was more accurate, and my knowledge of combat applications seemed to improve for no reason. Things just started to make a lot of sense. When students would ask me a how a movement was supposed to work, I was surprised that I was able to show them how having correct form enabled them to use the same exact movement for 5 or more combat applications. I also noticed that I was able to generate force in my strikes and body movements that I had a hard time explaining, and none of the students could replicate.

So, I'm very excited to see how learning directly from Sifu will change my kung fu! I'm also really looking forward to endless energy for construction work.

-Matt

[Antonius]

Hi Matt,

Glad to hear that you're feeling better. But I'm a pleasantly surprised to hear that you teach kung fu. Did you tell me that during our conversation in Florida? Am I getting senile already?

As you can probably tell, Sifu is not territorial with his secrets. He is happy to share with other schools, even if they never give Shaolin Wahnam credit. The mission is simple: to help restore the former glory of kung fu.

I don't know anything about Pai Lum kung fu, but I'm guessing from your feedback after the Florida courses that this is your first deep experience with internal force. In that regard, it is absolutely certain that these new skills will help your kung fu. I'm confident that, if you practice regularly, you will get more and more feedback from your students, especially since they won't be developing internal force. Eventually, you will really need to be gentle when working with them.

Learning Shaolin Kung Fu from Sifu is always a good idea, and I'm sure that it will help you with your Pai Lum Kung Fu. I don't know what kind of sparring your schools does, but if you don't use traditional patterns, then you will really benefit from learning our sparring methodology. Once you understand the methodology, you can start to apply it to Pai Lum Kung Fu.

Respectfully,

[Matt F.]

Hi Matt,

Glad to hear that you're feeling better. But I'm a pleasantly surprised to hear that you teach kung fu. Did you tell me that during our conversation in Florida? Am I getting senile already?

As you can probably tell, Sifu is not territorial with his secrets. He is happy to share with other schools, even if they never give Shaolin Wahnam credit. The mission is simple: to help restore the former glory of kung fu.

I don't know anything about Pai Lum kung fu, but I'm guessing from your feedback after the Florida courses that this is your first deep experience with internal force. In that regard, it is absolutely certain that these new skills will help your kung fu. I'm confident that, if you practice regularly, you will get more and more feedback from your students, especially since they won't be developing internal force. Eventually, you will really need to be gentle when working with them.

Learning Shaolin Kung Fu from Sifu is always a good idea, and I'm sure that it will help you with your Pai Lum Kung Fu. I don't know what kind of sparring your schools does, but if you don't use traditional patterns, then you will really benefit from learning our sparring methodology. Once you understand the methodology, you can start to apply it to Pai Lum Kung Fu.

Respectfully,

Great to hear from you again! I don't recall if I ever mentioned that I teach kung fu. Either way, it's not that important. But you are correct, this has been my first deep experience with internal force.

It wasn't until Monday morning, the day after the FL courses finished, while practicing Chi Kung that I really understood how freely Sifu shares what he knows. I actually got a little choked up just thinking about it in my hotel room. It was such a moment of pure gratitude. I was really blown away by the thought that a man who had never met me willing gave me such a special gift. And not only to me, but to everyone equally.

I also have already begun using your sparring methodology, or at least changing over to it. There are two other instructors at our school, so I don't have complete control, but I do know the students (and myself) will benefit from it, so I'm doing what I can. I've always thought it was odd that we didn't use the techniques from our forms/sets in our sparring. We have always done combat applications from the forms, but it seldomly got into the sparring realm. Thank you for showing the steps to get there on your own website.

-Matt