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Those of you reading this years, or decades, centuries, or millennia from now, know these: it is now possible to use the internet to send a forum post from an airplane (thanks, Tim Siheng!) and also: it is possible to transmit energy into an opponent to disrupt their energy field without touching them (thanks, Sifu, and Past Masters, and classmates!) using one finger shooting zen.
What a wonderful course!
Humbly,
Charles
Last edited by Charles David; 16 December 2014, 10:46 AM.
26.08.17-28.08.17: Qi Gong Festival with 6 courses in Bern:
Qiflow-Triple Stretch Method-12 Sinewmetamorphisis-Bone Marrow Cleansing-Zen Mind in Qi Gong
While waiting for my taxi at the hotel, I write this post to share my take-always from this course.
Last night during the graduation dinner, I had a few things to say but I was suffering from chest pains that kept me coughing throughout. So, I figured this was a sign for me to save my sharing for later. The odd thing was that I don't recall any injury sustained around my chest, although there was an old injury from the sparring workshop in KL in 2011. All the heavy cleansing during the course must have triggered it. After the dinner, Sifu gave me instant healing on our way to the bus. A large lump was already forming at the chest area and only got larger (it's still here as I write this and sore to the touch). But I feel great and peaceful.
Having slept a full 6 hours (I didn't need any more), and finished all the check out procedures, I can take my time to write.
.
I took several pages of notes during this course but I am not going to write about the Kungfu aspects. Instead, I would like to briefly share the benefits of the course on my family life.
I came for the course with my son (the rest of the family is touring somewhere else, but I just had to attend this course). My son is a freshly minted teenager with all the attendant issues of one. So, this trip was meant to be a bonding session. To my surprise, he was obedient and helpful. Course participants would have noticed him recording the sessions on his iPad. (Incidentally, I needed the sessions recorded on my own device for immediate revision, plus with my iMac, I often have problems viewing the DVDs).
I have always been the authority figure at home but because I had invested much time and effort in his development (from academic studies to sports and others), he is willing to listen to me and trusts me when I tell him to do or not to do something, though like any teenager, he will question why. What delighted me was how he was also listening to Sifu, perhaps not with rapt attention as he was busy with his iPad but someone he could recite to me what Sifu had taught ("you cannot have a qi flow unless you are in a qigong state of mind"). I actually object to his using the ipad but I guess if such lessons are getting through, I have to let go a little.
Throughout the course, Sifu would teach using amusing analogies. One of my favourites was how we should use our time fruitfully and efficiently. For example, even a hot blooded young man cannot spend the whole day kissing his girlfriend - neither of them can do anything else. For much of the course, I must confess I spent more time working out how to apply the principles of Dragon Strength to my personal life than on the Kungfu aspects. But I think that was also one of the objectives of the course too. I was puzzled too - rather than the trinity of "Dragon force, lightning (Dragon) speed and dim mak", I found myself more fascinated at how the course would help my personal relationships. And to this end, it succeeded admirably.
Just a final comment, this time about my son's experience. He has always respected Sifu because he knows that I do (a classic case of how crucial it is for a father to lead by example). But it was during this course that he experienced directly what he only had vicariously through me. After Sifu demonstrated exploding force with Pushing Mountains, he came up to me and said "Shigong's "herit" is louder than all of yours combined. Amazing." I was delighted at his hero worship of Sifu, including his admiration of Sifu's booming voice and how Sifu accomplishes so much in a single day, a single year. He was asking how Sifu "does all these things" (replying to queries, monitoring the forum, teaching, travelling, etc).
And so to end this post, I will conclude with 4 short Chinese phrases which succinctly sum up my experiences in this course:
龙力运气
神龙降福
虎啸龙吟
望子成龙
Last edited by Zhang Wuji; 18 December 2014, 04:13 AM.
Dear Wuji
It is wonderful to read about your father-son experience at the Dragon Strength course. Last week, Charles attended with his 15 y.o. son Julian as well, and as you recall I went to Saba last year for the Taijiquan Intensive with my then 13 y.o. son Dash. For us the benefits of this time together have been immense, particularly at this transformative age. In that one trip, despite him not being a committed martial artist, he did one day of training under Sifu's tutelage and understood the level of passion, dedication and close family spirit shared by us students who travelled there from around the world.
As for your Chinese quote at the end of the post, it is truly an injustice to leave us non-Chinese readers to the perils of Google Translate, without a more poetic personal translation. Congratulations on some excellent father-son bonding.
Best wishes
As for your Chinese quote at the end of the post, it is truly an injustice to leave us non-Chinese readers to the perils of Google Translate, without a more poetic personal translation.
Alas, I have been wronged. I wanted to let the quote percolate for a day because the 4 lines just sort of came to me, in those few minutes I was typing on my iPad at the hotel. It is a bit like how I feel about Dragon Strength - I got the full transmission but slivers of understanding are only beginning to emerge.
I think the last line popped into my head first, and the rest just kind of fell into place. I initially wanted to compose a poem, but one after another, familiar 4-word idioms came to mind. It was quite inspired, and effortlessly so.
And so, here's my translation. But first, notice the word 龙 (Dragon). I would have used the traditional Chinese character but I thought I would be consistent and use simplified Chinese throughout. Even for those who don't know Chinese would notice that the word 龙 appears 4 times in the 4 lines, and it moves from left to right (it would have been right to left, top to bottom in a traditional manuscript).
龙力运气 Dragon-Strength Circulating Qi
Deeper meaning: This is of course the name of the set/course/skill (all three apply), and also a reference to the metaphorical (or real) dragon present during the course.
神龙降福 Divine Dragon Showering Blessings
Deeper meaning: No prizes for getting this one. Also, the term "spiritual dragon" or "divine" or "heavenly" was used by Sifu during the course, as well as calls for blessing others.
虎啸龙吟 Tiger and Dragon Roar
Deeper meaning: this is a famous line not only in kungfu (for example, it's a pattern name in the Iron Wire set) but also Chinese literature (including Journey to the West). The order here, where the word Tiger appears first, is not the original, since the Dragon, being the superior, should appear first, but it just sounds nicer in Mandarin Chinese to have this order.
It also describes the techniques and methods learnt during the course, and the type of qi flow and sounds made by the participants.
望子成龙 (Hoping that the son will become a dragon)
Deeper meaning: Among Chinese-speaking parents, this is like a mantra. Every father wants his son to become a dragon, not literally, but to be a success in life. I also used this as a metaphor for Sifu transmitting the skills to us, his selected students, to become dragons. The word 子 which, in this idiom, refers to a son, can also be 弟子 (disciples).
Last edited by Zhang Wuji; 19 December 2014, 02:14 AM.
Reason: typos
Deeper meaning: Among Chinese-speaking parents, this is like a mantra. Every father wants his son to become a dragon, not literally, but to be a success in life. I also used this as a metaphor for Sifu transmitting the skills to us, his selected students, to become dragons. The word 子 which, in this idiom, refers to a son, can also be 弟子 (disciples).
I read this and a huge smile blossomed from my heart.
As Sifu has told us, and we have noted, many of the best teachings happen over dinner or tea. I will share this now since it is apropos.
After the first day of training at the second Dragon Strength course, a number of us had the good fortune to have dinner with Sifu at a wonderful restaurant. Chris Sijat asked the question, "Sigung, can you tell us about character development in kungfu?"
Sifu's response was profound and trenchant. To paraphrase:
"The first stage of kungfu development is amazement. The second and third stages are also amazement. In these stages the student feels gratitude.
The next stage is disappointment.
After that comes arrogance; and this is where the student usually falls."
#$%
After Sifu shared this teaching with us, we were all very sobered and inward-looking. What stage was I in? How many times had I been amazed? Had I stopped being amazed? Had I already been disappointed? Have I been arrogant and gotten past that? Or is that challenge still to come?
A short thought, or meditation: let me be humble; let my arrogance be short-lived and swiftly lept over, kicked aside, or dispersed.
Hi Charles, my dear Siheng
It is great that you share this particular Q&A with Sifu as it was one of the most poignant moments for me during the Dragon Strength course. Like you, I questioned how arrogant I might be, to think that I know better than others and then presume to judge them. Maybe this humility, gratitude and I would add forgiveness, are necessary ingredients for the development of Dragon Strength.
Early in this life, when I was very hurt by a betrayal from someone I cared deeply for, I asked myself a question for the future, would I rather be the "betrayer" or the "betrayed"? Feeling such extremes of hurt and pain as the betrayed and yet when weighing that against the well-justified position of the betrayer, I opted to be the betrayed every time. Why? Was this some victim mentality I was playing out? The hurt and pain that is experienced at this time is felt with an open heart and I was not prepared to close my heart for the sake of short-term protection. For me, this is the essence of true and deep loyalty, as opposed to say, blind loyalty (maybe that is something for another post one day).
I struggle with the issue of humility and lesser so with gratitude and forgiveness, but I find that with loving compassion and non-judgement, it is easier to avoid becoming arrogant. I still feel the pain of betrayal, but I also rejoice in it as a badge of human frailty and then like everything else, it too passes. There are many complex moral issues along the path of character development. They are not there to be avoided or simplified, just revelled in for what they are.
On a serendipitous note for Tim, as this post started writing itself, I chose to put some music on in the background. Of the thousands of songs that could have randomly popped-up on my iTunes player came "Message to Michael". I hope that I've been listening...
Thank you Charles for sharing your talk with Sifu.
Especially at this time, with things unravelling in good and bad(?), it is good advice to stay humble and clear minded.
Amazing words from Sifu on the kungfu stages, thank you for sharing Charles!
I wonder what the stage after arrogance (for those who manage to push through it) is!
I also wonder if this is something that can be cyclical, ie after a student has fallen via disappointment or arrogance or both, can he then be amazed again, and then later be disappointed or arrogant again, and then amazed again etc.
My first thought speaking personally was "Well I recognise the disappointment (after getting destroyed by a boxer in sparring for example) but I don't think I have been arrogant, how could I be after that?"
But then at a deeper level, just as someone who thinks they are following the instructions may not be (me again at times), someone who does not think they are arrogant in the traditional sense, ie swaggering about, thinking they are great, telling others they are great, may be arrogant in other ways, for example if Sifu says "Spar with sequences" and you think consciously or subconsciously "I can't see how that would work?" so you don't practise like that, then you are being arrogant in a different way, by thinking your way is better than the Master's.
At dinner tonight, my wife also wondered what the stage after arrogance would be. My suspicion is that if one submits to arrogance then the development stops. On the other hand, if one can overcome the arrogance and become humble, then one will be amazed again, but on a higher level. That is my guess.
As Sifu has told us, and we have noted, many of the best teachings happen over dinner or tea. I will share this now since it is apropos.
After the first day of training at the second Dragon Strength course, a number of us had the good fortune to have dinner with Sifu at a wonderful restaurant. Chris Sijat asked the question, "Sigung, can you tell us about character development in kungfu?"
Sifu's response was profound and trenchant. To paraphrase:
"The first stage of kungfu development is amazement. The second and third stages are also amazement. In these stages the student feels gratitude.
The next stage is disappointment.
After that comes arrogance; and this is where the student usually falls."
#$%
After Sifu shared this teaching with us, we were all very sobered and inward-looking. What stage was I in? How many times had I been amazed? Had I stopped being amazed? Had I already been disappointed? Have I been arrogant and gotten past that? Or is that challenge still to come?
A short thought, or meditation: let me be humble; let my arrogance be short-lived and swiftly lept over, kicked aside, or dispersed.
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