Traditional Martial Arts Training
The study of Traditional Kung Fu dates back to the ancient warring periods when cold weapons were used prior to the development of firearm weapons to defend one’s country. This study included the eight stances, hand techniques, changing and adapting, trapping and locking, countering, combat forms, break falling, chi gong, conditioning, weapons, weightlifting, archery on horseback riding, and war combat tactics. Hand and weapon forms which originated from traditional martial arts have fascinating variations of forms.
After the cold weapons warring era, martial arts became a form of art for the purposes of being healthy. Its techniques, hand and weapon forms and chi gong also became very popular amongst people from all over the world. Our club focuses on teaching martial arts while not to deviate too much from their original style to keep it as traditional as possible. This is done through teaching the basics of proper stance, single moves, self defense hand techniques, all which are incorporated in our hand forms, weapon forms, combat techniques and the wooden dummy.
Before each practice, students are required to warm up through stretching, practicing kicks, doing the 8 basic stances, practicing single moves and practicing in pairs as this is what forms the “foundation” of all forms. These warm ups are done together as a group before students break off to practice their own individual forms.
Our club emphasizes on proper forms to teach students all moves in forms are all interchangeable within martial arts and students must learn to adapt to these changes. Since our club focuses on traditional kung fu, we do not make changes to the forms to simply enhance the forms’ entertainment value, we simply focus on the form being performed to its standard to keep its consistency passed on from generation to generation.
Our club focuses on teaching students one on one as this encourages every student to develop their own style in how they interpret the form and add their uniqueness to their style. This is particularly true for weapon forms. Weapons are chosen for students according to their stature, skill, strength and style. For example, we typically would not choose weapons that are big and heavy like the Guan Dou for a smaller female as the size of the student and the weapon are not proportionate which adversely affects the practice of the form. This is not to say the club uses gender as a sole determining factor on what a student learns but rather focuses on what is in the best interest of students to help them bring out their fullest potential within the form. After a student learns an entire form, it is crucial to correct the details of where the form can be improved and perfected to eliminate any bad habits. The students performance of the form will be evaluated on their speed, smoothness of transition from one move to another, their power and their stance throughout. In all, the student must be able to display the five important points: the coordination of the arms, legs, body, eyes and their mind in one form. In order for the student to truly have learned the form, is to be able to incorporate their own unique style in the form. Our club’s goal is to help each student reach this level in their practice.
The first step to learning self defense is to learn the basics of the technique through continuous repetition. The student then concentrates on the details to fine tune the hand technique to the point where it comes through muscle memory rather than the brain.
Prior to practicing the techniques, students must also practice intercepting moves. This is pertinent as students not only should be able to physically do the technique but also be able to anticipate the moves of their opponent and react accordingly.
There are several points to consider when anticipating moves:
- Contact should be made with the opponent prior to the attacker finishing his or her move; the reaction is considered too slow if the opponent is able to finish his or her move.
- The arms must be relaxed; tense arms wastes energy and are unable to “feel” the changes in the opponent’s movements.
- When an opponent attacks, we focus on transferring the force of the opponent or using their inertia to our advantage rather than blocking through blunt force.
When practicing self defense, we first practice according to the name of the move. All moves consists of taking one step forward and attacking the opponent forcing him or her to respond to the attack.
Self defense consists of; attacking while still in motion; carrying out any move in no particular order while calling out the move. Once perfected, the student should be able to naturally respond to any move used on them (without having the moves verbally labelled as this simulation would be closest to real life interceptions or combat).
Our Grand Master use to always say that as a child he practiced self defense for 10 years with no name for moves or hand and weapon forms; hence names for moves and forms did not serve a purpose. The goal is to naturally be able to respond to movements as they come.
Learning from a Master
Without the Master, there would be no martial arts, just as there is no water without its source, no tree without its roots. By becoming a disciple in a Master-Disciple relationship, one demonstrates one’s intention to succeed and pass on the particular skills of the adopted branch of martial art and to enhance the popularity of the art. It is also a recognition of the Master’s skill and work. It shows the Disciple’s sincerity to learn and the commitment to pass on the art, both in relation to the culture and the technical skills. Renowned masters of various schools of martial arts accept students so that the traditional skills and the cultural aspects can be passed on, from generation to generation. Bàishī, or discipleship, refers to the ritual that one becomes a disciple of a master, is more than the ritual itself. It carries the student’s yearning to learn and to specialise in the art, to be a part of the selected lineage in martial arts and, at the same time, fulfils the need of the master to find successors of his craft so it, in substance, is a gateway through which the lineage is extended. It is therefore the master’s responsibility to popularize the art and find successors of the art so that the precious cultural heritage is successfully preserved and passed on and the student’s responsibility and obligation to master, to pass on and to spread the art as well as to learn the art with rigor such that the greatness of the art is retained.
The Chinese phrase for Master is “師父” [Sifu or Shīfu] which is made up of two Chinese words which means teacher and father respectively. The relationship between the Master and his Disciple is akin to a father and child relationship and carries more weight than a teacher and a student in the western world. It is a lineage not bound by blood but by the trade and cultural traits of martial arts.
Before bàishī (拜師), the trainer and the trainee are in a simple teacher-student relationship and the trainer can be referred to as “teacher” 老師 [lǎoshī] or if their relationship is closer, as “master” 師傅 [shīfù]. After bàishī, the martial art lineage is established and the student can then refer to the teacher as Master (shīfu) and they are united as a family. The saying “one day as a teacher, father for life” refers to this relationship, together with other sayings like “one’s father and mother gives life, one’s Master gives knowledge” explain the importance of the Master-Disciple relationships. Teacher Hányù from Tang Dynasty wrote that “a teacher has to teach the fundamental relationship between oneself and the society, to share the knowledge and skills to build careers, and to help answer questions in the learning process”. The Master not only teaches the moves and skills in relation to his branch of martial art, but also covers the relevant cultural aspects to the art and build character, and thus the Master has an all-around influence on the student, on every aspects of life as well as on how the student deal with people. The Master treats his Disciples as family members and the relationships are similar to family relationships which continue even being separated. In fact, after the Master officially accepts the Disciple, the lineage is established and as such, potential concerns that could arise from teaching are resolved, enabling both the Master and the student to devote themselves to the training completely. The irreversibility of the linkage established between the Master and the student
Under traditional Chinese culture, relationship between the Master and the Disciple is like father and son and thus, is an important relationship. There are two major events in life, being marriage and bàishī, both of which transform the relationship between two individuals. Before deciding to bàishī, a student should train under the teacher for a period of time (or it might be that the intended student is not trained beforehand but follows certain respected masters out of passion for martial art), during which the student should learn attentively and observe the master’s skills, conducts and characters to decide whether the master is a real deal and whether his skills, conduct and behaviour are genuinely respectable and virtuous and live up to the student’s expectation of a Master. At the same time, the master will evaluate the student’s talent and character but usually, the master will wait for the student to initiate the request of bàishī, or he could be seen as inferior in skills and character if he invites the student to be his disciple and to establish a formal Master-Disciple relationship. The Master and Disciple relationship is established voluntarily by both parties. Each of the Master and the Disciple voluntarily chooses the other in the relationship. After bàishī, the Disciple should honour the Master and respect his teachings, as well as respect other senior and fellow students, practice diligently and be mindful of rules in tradition, etiquette, brotherhood, and integrity. The Master and the Disciple are like father and son and the Disciple should serve the Master for life. Bàishī is a major decision in life and the Disciple should not follow another Master of similar discipline. While there is a Chinese saying that “People who follows three teachers will excel in martial arts”, yet out of respect to the Master, the Disciple should ideally get a written referral from the Master, failing which a referral or a consent from the Master for becoming the Disciple of another Master will suffice, except in the case where the Disciple’s Master has passed away. The matter must be handled cautiously and not frivolously. Under Confucianism, the objects of worship are the “heaven, earth, king, parents and teachers”. Every traditional family has a reserved space for worship. At every solar term, incense is burnt respectfully as offering and ceremonious rituals, such as kneeling down and bowing such that the head is against the floor as an act of worship towards the “heaven, earth, king, parents and teachers”, are performed. As such, one should not kneel for other objects. The sayings “there are thousands of gold under the knees of a man” and “one would rather stand to die than to kneel to live” explain that one should be righteous and be proud of doing the right things. The action of kneeling down during the bàishī ritual seals the relationship that is unbreakable and cannot be changed. One who revokes such a relationship is despised by people who practises martial arts and will have bad reputation for life, as people will say that “this person went back on his word after kneeling which means that his character should be condemned and should not be trusted or engaged as a team”, so even if the Master makes mistakes, the Disciple should not reproach his Master, as son should not criticize his father’s mistakes. Therefore, it is necessary for one to reflect and consider carefully whether one’s intention to bàishī is genuine before doing it
A Famous teacher Vs Brilliant teacher
A teacher who is famous and gained lots of attention is not necessarily a good teacher as he could be influenced by the fame and the fortune at stake. A brilliant teacher is one who cares to understand, who has the superb skills and impeccable character. A brilliant teacher tailors the training to the situation of the student, pays great care in his teachings and is responsible towards the students’ learnings. A brilliant teacher will not talk in acronyms or try to make the lessons difficult to create an impression of advancement but rather explain the martial arts theory in great details and in a straightforward and simple manner in order that the students can understand and put the theory into practice, and become a practitioner. One should not look at the fame of a master but should consider his character and skills; unfortunately, there are plenty of famous teachers but brilliant teachers are rare. In reality, some famous teachers are too consumed with promoting themselves and building their image, make eloquent speeches about martial arts theory but performs poorly in practice. There are also some “great” masters who accept disciples too easily so they take in a great number of disciples but do not value the Master-Disciple relationship or violates the expectation of care to the extent that they may not even provide guidance to the disciple once a year. Some masters knowingly lure disciples of other Masters to switch to their school for the purpose of money or special talents of the students, by deceit or by having a middle man to make false claims about the ability of the master. The disciple might fall for the allurement, only to find that it is a mistake but have to live with his wrong decision miserably. And, there are ones who brag about the greatness of their predecessors all the time. While having a great ancestry in the martial arts lineage is a good thing, the importance of a master’s own learning and practice significantly outweighs those of the lineage. These are the ridiculous situations happening in the martial arts world. Ready students and enthusiasts who know little about martial arts should be careful of these situations. Ones who practise martial arts should adopt the virtues of martial art practitioners by respecting their Masters and be perseverant in their Master-Disciple relationship and should not breakup the relationship. They should exercise extreme care in choosing their Masters and should not make a decision hastily or let curiosity overshadow their reasonableness in the choice of Master or choose based on the fame of the master. They should decide after thorough observation, inquisition, comparison and testing/practicing of the skills to facilitate the choice of the most appropriate study.
Tuition and monetary gift
Confucius said that he will not refuse to teach a student who is only able to pay very little, so long as the student wants to learn. The tuition fee is a way for the student to pay tribute to the teacher in Chinese traditional culture so even if the student can only afford to pay minimal sum, the gesture is still valued, the meaning of the payment is more important than its real value.
Nowadays, taekwondo, judo, Muay Thai, yoga and other forms of martial art originated from overseas gained popularity in China and the tuition fees are comparatively high (of course, so long as the participants are willing to pay, their fee level is beyond reproach), yet many people still joins these classes. As one of the quintessence of traditional Chinese culture, martial arts enhances health, promotes healthy living and trains combat capability but yet has become a cheap form of exercise and some practitioners even offer free lessons (cases where trainers aim to gain popularity), so while martial arts gain popularity, the quality and depth of the arts suffered and created an impression that martial arts training should be provided free of charge. Some excellent martial arts skills and lineage were lost and terminated due to this reason. Furthermore, due to the laxity in attitude towards the art, the core and vital spirit of the art were missed and lost by the successors which results in lack of understanding of the nature of the art by the general public. It is indeed regrettable and sad.
Martial arts masters of this generation not only spent a lot of time and paid a lot of effort to acquire their skills, there are financial costs as well. They support their Masters and in order to concentrate on their training of the art, forfeit the opportunities to make more money during the past economic booms. Their achievements have come with a high price tag and are not easy. Therefore, it is reasonable for people who are interested to learn to pay for the lessons. Moreover, the tuition fee establishes an official status between the teacher and the student as well as serves as a recognition of the work of the teacher and thus incentivised the teacher to deliver a quality programme while the students will be motivated to learn and will not take the lessons for granted. It is thus important to recognise that the masters’ skills might have been acquired through overcoming serious hurdles and challenges that may involve significant financial cost and often represents the essence of the skills and knowledge that the masters have acquired, improvised and developed based on their experience over the years. The knowledge and skills of these masters are invaluable and matched only by the elites in that arena. It is important to change the mind-sets of those who felt that martial arts lessons should be free as the lessons are truly valuable and those of the teachers such that the teachers realise, respect and be confident in the value of the art that they have devoted themselves to.
It is customary for the disciple to present the Master with a monetary gift during the bàishī ceremony to express his appreciation of the Master’s effort and to demonstrate his sincerity (those who are well-off should not send a nominal gift simply to fulfil the duty, remember that the master is not a beggar!). Under normal circumstances, the Disciples should not discuss the amount of their monetary gift among themselves to avoid bad feelings or resentment or grudges among each other. Rather, those who are well off can give more while those in less favourable financial conditions should only prepare a gift that they can afford and there is no point to compare with others. Most of the masters cherish talent more than anything else and will not be engrossed with the financial reward but nevertheless will turn away people who are fictitious and pretend to be poor.
To this end, the students must absolutely abide by “respect for teachers” and not take that as an empty talk. Teachers and Masters should realise, respect and be confident in their value and at the same time, not brag or make the skills appear harder than they really are to mislead the students. Being a Master is a significant responsibility and the Masters should be mindful of their identity as a teacher and exercise self-discipline. They should teach in ways that empower students to learn by teaching in depth and yet explain clearly so that the students can understand. This way, Chinese martial arts and civilization will be displayed in real life and can then be passed on and gain popularity.
WengBanSen
文/翁邦森
拳術對敵進退歌訣 FIGHTING STRATEGY
| 進步捷如風 | When advancing, movements must be as quick as possible |
| 失機退宜快 | Miss or lost chance, then back up quickly |
| 乘敗側峰入 | Use left or right when pressured from the center line |
| 身稍向前邁 | When ready to strike, body leans slightly forward |
| 掌實即須吐 | Stay composed and relax when defending and commit when attacking |
| 發聲驚怪使 | Make sounds to distract |
| 變化如蛟龍 | Immediately change and adapt according to the opponent’s advances |
| 遲快分勝敗 | Win or lose depends on speed |
| 趨避須眼快 | Use the feeling and awareness to yield incoming attacks |
| 左右見機行 | Stay alert, and keep aware of chances both left and right |
| 趨從避中取 | Follow up and attack immediately while dodging or evading |
| 實自處處生 | Everywhere is your chance |
| 功力須制我 | Control and composure is dependent on your own fighting ability and level |
| 撩開進莫停 | Strike immediately after breaking open a defense or finding an opening |
| 雙猛君休懼 | Do not be afraid of other’s attacks, no matter how strong or intimidating |
| 四兩撥千斤 | A small force can have the ability to control a larger force |
拳術五要點 5 IMPORTANT POINTS
| 心要明－心不明，則神昏 | Mind must be clear; If not, you will be confused |
| 眼要清－眼不清，則意亂 | Eyes must be clear and alert; If not, you will be distracted |
| 手要速－手不快，則遲緩莫救 | Hands must be quick and reactive; If not, you cannot connect with your opponent and lose control |
| 身要下－身不下，則起落無方 | Body must flow; If not, the body cannot adapt and lose composure |
| 步要準－步不準，則進退失勢 | Footwork must be accurate; If not, you will lose timing and chances |
拳術之五法 及 對敵之五法 5 WAYS & 5 KEEPS OF FIGHTING
| 拳術之五法 | 5 WAYS |
| 心法 | Way of feeling, sensitivity and reaction |
| 眼法 | Way of looking |
| 手法 | Way of striking |
| 身法 | Way of moving |
| 步法 | Way of footwork |
| 拳術之五快 | 5 QUICK METHODS |
| 心快 | Feeling, sensitivity and reaction must be quick |
| 眼快 | Eyes must be quick |
| 手快 | Striking must be quick |
| 身快 | Body movement must be quick |
| 步快 | Footwork must be quick |
| 對敵之五法 | 5 KEEPS OF FIGHTING |
| 心中想著 | Keep alert |
| 眼裏看著 | Keep observing and looking |
| 手上動著 | Hands keep moving |
| 身子活著 | Body keep moving with the hands |
| 腳下走著 | Feet keep moving |
| 遇隙即攻 | Attack when you see an opening |
| 見空即捕 | Catch the critical moment |
| 隨機變化 | Change and adapt according to the situation |
| 令人莫測 | Confuse your opponent and do not telegraphing your intentions |
| 則為得矣 | Keep these principles during confrontation |
