Shaolin Mountain Retreat 2010 preparations

[namaste]

Dear family,

I am fortunate and honoured to have been accepted onto the second week of training at the Switzerland Mountain Retreat with Tai Sipak Kai this July.

I am really looking forward to the course for so many reasons! The second week is training the Staff and Plum Flower Knife. This will be the first weapons training I am to experience in the school and so I thought I would start a thread for discussion because I would like some advice.

1) What preparation training methods are useful for the course, including reading / review material from the forum / Q&A? (I have already found some but thought this would make interesting discussion)

2) I will need to purchase a staff and saber - what traditions and practicalities are important to consider when buying Shaolin weaponry?

I thought this would also be a good place to post any other questions about the mountain retreat; personally half my challenge at the moment is remaining at my dan tian every time I think about it!

All the best

Richard

[Mark CH]

Hi Richard

Don't worry you will learn the staff and sabre in fine detail from Tai Siheng Kai, if I recall correctly I did not know them before I went to the Mountain last year.

Good preperation is chi kung, stances and art of flexibility.

Best wishes
Mark

[drunken boxer]

Hi Richard,

I have a spare sabre that I bought last year, but didn't like it so much so I bought a better one. It would do for practising with etc I think, if you want it, its yours. If you don't want it, any other Shaolin Wahnam Student reading this is welcome to it.

Paul

[namaste]

wow - what a kind offer

Hi Paul - thanks for your kind offer and I will gladly take you up on it. I'll drop you a private message to make arrangements.

Mark, thank you for your advice. I had decided to work on stances and moving in stances rather than try and guess how to even hold or move with staff or sabre - I'm sure as you say, it's better to wait!

I'm still very interested to hear if there are traditions that should be respected around selection, purchase and maintaining respect of the weapons. I am currently revisiting The Complete Book of Shaolin section on weapons as some background scholar work.

Kindest regards
Richard

[Martin Do]

Hello Richard Si-heng,

1) What preparation training methods are useful for the course

I was very priviledged to have been there last year and hope to have this priviledge again in 2011. From my experience of last year, I would say the best training preparation you could do is to train good awareness, good timing and excellent flow.

This is good awareness of Taisipak Kai's wine glass, good timing to ensure Taisipak's glass is not empty and good flow in pouring the wine . You will learn many secrets from Taisipak Kai in this way .

This reminds me of an old Kung fu movie where the student keeps pouring wine for his master and learns all the secrets from the master .

Best wishes to the lucky students on the Mountain this year.

Martin

[Martin Do]

..... and of course good footwork so that you don't accidently drop the wine . Remain at the dantian at all times .

[Martin Do]

Richard Si-heng,

Now that I have stopped laughing so much I can offer an opinion on some of your questions more seriosly .

1) What preparation training methods are useful for the course, including reading / review material from the forum / Q&A? (I have already found some but thought this would make interesting discussion)

Myself I have always found it useful to learn a "rough sketch" of the set prior to the course, without paying too much attention on the details of the pattern. The reason for me is so that whilst on the course, I can absorb other finer details of the teaching more readily and spend less effort on remembering where the hands, feet, staff and sword goes during the course.

Best wishes

Martin

[Jimbeaux]

Hello Richard,

It looks like no one has answered your question about the staff yet. I've just begun staff training here at the regular classes in Frankfurt, so I was recently told how to choose a staff.

It should be long/short enough that you can stand it up in front of you, reach up your arm and rest your palm on top of it without stretching. Sifu Kai said it can also be longer, but this is a good length to start with.

It should be wide enough that when you grab it you can still touch your thumb to your fingers.

My staff is 1.9 meters long and 3.5 cm wide. It could've been a bit longer, but they didn't have a longer one at the DYI. I also considered getting one that's 4.0 cm wide. My fingers could still touch, but it was not so comfortable.

These are the measurements for a training staff as best I know. A fighting staff would be a bit different, but Sifu will tell you more in Switzerland.

Anyways, you might want to ask if Sifu and the students traveling from Frankfurt are bringing extra staffs. I can imagine it will be difficult to take on the plane.

I'd second the others on flexibility training. There's at least one stance (I don't know the whole set yet) on the ground for the staff that's difficult if you're not flexible (it's actually difficult even if you are flexible).

Have fun, I wish I could be there. I went about 2 years ago, and it was a fantastic experience. I can't go this year because I have a new job , and I'm getting married.

Here's a link to some pics from the retreat:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26340&id=501624258&l=2425e9656a

Best,
Jim

[Andrew]

There's at least one stance (I don't know the whole set yet) on the ground for the staff that's difficult if you're not flexible (it's actually difficult even if you are flexible).

Is there ?

[Jimbeaux]

Is there ?

My hat's off to you if you've never had problems with it!

For me (and a few people I'm training with), it's the one after the first pierce/jab where you have your right foot flat on the ground and your left knee and the side of your left foot also on the ground forming a triangle.

I just looked the stance up, I think it's called "Single Shield".

Is that the right name?

Best to you and your students in Switzerland,
Jim

[Jimbeaux]

Actually, maybe part of the difficulty is due to the fact that this set is the first time I have encountered stances where one knee is on the ground.

[Andrew]

Didn't you have the same issues in the Crossroads At Four Gates Set?

[Jimbeaux]

Hi again,

No, I've never done that set.

Best wishes!
Jim

[namaste]

Tame Tiger In Mountain

Hi brother Jim,

Thanks so much for your response and for passing on the wise instruction from TaiSiheng Kai.

I think the pattern you speak of with the knee on the floor is Tame Tiger At Mountain . I am currently learning and practicing this and agree that when first encountered it presents some challenges! It reminded me of the first time I tried to do Unicorn stance - it just felt really unnatural. Unicorn now feels like one of the most natural positions to be in for me. I am sure with time this pattern will feel the same but for now I am far from picture perfect form and even further from achieving skill and combat efficiency with it.

Practice Practice Practice!

All the best

[Shaolinfist]

Hi Sidai Richard,

I hope that your training is going well. I have been toying with the Plum Flower Kinfe set for the past few months but did not notice this thread before! I actually started a thread on it HERE where Siheng Roland gave me some very nice tips on the flying and whirlwind kicks. There are some great video clips HERE of Sifu teaching the set which I have been learning the form from. From my experience I found the kicks to be the most demanding aspect, but with practice practice and more practice I am finally feeling a lot more comfortable with them.
I must say it is no easy task to learn the form, and feel that it would be a huge advantage if you knew it beforehand. As Sidai Martin said, that way you can focus more on learning the finer aspects of the set from Siheng Kai.

Best of luck,
Phil