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     Dan (Nartarn) (wwwgate161.motorola.com - 62.172.156.90) Rating: N/A |
Thought you might like this one ! Again taken from my Sifus website question and answers... Question 8 You mentioned in your book, "The Art of Chi Kung", a method of training to enable the exponent to jump very high. This sounds like an incredible skill, which would be very helpful when facing a large opponent. Christian, USA Answer 8 I believe qinggong (or "hangkung" in Cantonese pronunciation), which means the art of lightness, was real. Qinggong enables the practitioner to jump very high and run very fast. My master, Sifu Ho Fatt Nam, told me the following story which happened to him. When he was young, he trained with an old master, whose name he did not mention. Every morning the old master and my sifu would enter a forest and run around a circle of marked trees. They started together, but the old master would soon be ahead and then disappear. Next, the old master, having completed the circle, would come up from behind, overtake my sifu, and hit him as he passed, shouting "Hi, young man, why are you so slow?". This happened everyday for months. One day, annoyed that he had been constantly hit, my sifu refused to train further. "You said you would teach me kungfu, but all you do is to hit me everyday," my sifu complained. "Yes, I'm teaching you kungfu, and very good kungfu indeed," the old master replied. My sifu explained to me that due to his ignorance then, his idea of kungfu was just kungfu forms, which is what most people today conceptualize too. So that morning he refused to run with the old master in the forest. The old master asked him again, and again, and my sifu also noticed his simu, the wife of the old master, silently indicated to him from behind that he should continue his training. But my sifu refused. "Right, follow me and I'll show you what kungfu I am teaching you." The old master, with his long pipe in his hand, led my sifu to the back of the house. The surrounding wall was about ten feet high, lined with pieces of glass on top to deter thieves climbing over. The old master tugged the end of his long robe under his waist slash. "Now, don't blink you eyes," the old man said. He lowered his shoulders and in the next instant he was up in the air, did a somersault above the wall, scraped some pieces of glass away with his pipe, and landed elegantly on one foot on the wall above in the pattern "Golden Cockerel Stands Solitarily." Then the old master jumped down from the wall and landed on the ground without a sound. My sifu suddenly realized that the old master had been teaching him qinggong. He quickly knelt down and asked for forgiveness for his rudeness, begging the old master to continue teaching him. But the old master rejected, believing in an old tradition that if a student refused after being given three chances, he was not destined to learn the art. Pitying my sifu, his simu taught him a kungfu set called "Seven Stars", which was excellent for a small sized person against a big sized opponent. It was when my sifu taught me this kungfu set, that he told me this story. Qinggong has many other benefits besides fighting a large opponent. On the other hand, there are many other ways, which are much easier to learn than qinggong, to fight large opponents. All kungfu styles incorporate some of these ways, and some kungfu styles, like Taijiquan, Wing Choon Kungfu and Monkey Style, are particularly noted for this aspect. Question 9 Is there enough proof of this skill for me to consider training in it, or is it merely legendary? Answer 9 You sound as if it was easy for anyone to learn qinggong if he wanted to learn it. Today it is rare to find a master who knows qinggong, and even if you find him it is rare that he wants to teach you. My sifu did not teach me qinggong directly, but he described to me the methods for training. Basically there are three levels of progress -- the physical, the energetical and the mental. I practised daily for a few months and was able to spring up on the spot for about four feet. However one day I slipped and fell, and hurt myself. It was a pity that after recovery from the injury, I did not continue the training. I was only at the initial stage of my training; I had not even progressed to the stage of strapping weights to my legs. One reason I discontinued was because I thought I could spend the time more profitably in other training. Sometimes I wonder whether I made a right decision to discontinue my qinggong training. Although I am idealistic by nature, my Zen training has made me practical. I reasoned that while being able to jump elegantly from branch to branch was a novelty, its practical usefulness was limited. On the other hand, my training in qigong has enabled me to help literally thousands of people, including saving many lives. Nevertheless, years later my wife told me it was great to know qinggong. Had I known her wish earlier, I might have continue my qinggong training just for her. Question 10 It sounds like it would require a lot of time. How much time should I allocate to each section of training? And is there any alternative to strapping weights to your legs in the first stage? If not, around how much weight should be used? Answer 10 All kungfu training requires time. It took me a few months to practise the first part of the physical level, which enabled me to spring up a few feet on the spot. To spring up a ten-foot wall would require at least a few years of dedicated training. Strapping weights to one's legs is not the first stage. Weights are not essential, but very helpful. How much weight should be used, depends on your ability and mode of training. But if you are uninformed about qinggong training, it is inadvisable for you to strap weights, or even attempt qinggong training on your own -- unless you do not mind risking injury to your sexual organs. From Dan with Chi |