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  • Silliest Question You Could Ask from Sifu Wong

    Hi folks!

    Last June the Fully Alive guys presented us a prize challenge in Guildford: who would come up with the silliest question for Sigung? Unfortunately the initiative didn't quite catch fire. Now I recalled the challenge again, so maybe we all could have a bit of light hearted fun.

    Honorable Sigung,

    What type of Chi Kung exercise and Kungfu set would you recommend for the following circus professionals: clown, mime, ventrilonquist, magician, strongman, human cannonball, acrobat, juggler, trapeze artist, animal trainer, ringmaster, and the bearded lady?

    Do you think animals could learn some type of Chi Kung? What would it be like for sparrows and dogs, for example, and how would it change our world (or theirs)?

    With sincere respect,
    Olli

  • #2
    Nice idea

    Here are a couple of questions:
    - Why do you have to practice to get benefits?
    - Can you sell me some chi kung pills so I don't have to practice?
    - Chi Kung? Isn't that the same as aerobics in slow motion?
    - If you weren't you, who would you be?
    - Can you make me a Master by tomorrow as I have a job interview and it would be cool to be a Master?
    - Could you please do my practice for me?
    - I work at a zoo. We have tigers, leopards, cranes and snakes (sorry, no dragons). Could you please teach them 5 animal kung fu?


    I have more, but let's let some others have some fun too
    Sifu Andrew Barnett
    Shaolin Wahnam Switzerland - www.shaolin-wahnam.ch

    Flowing Health GmbH www.flowing-health.ch (Facebook: www.facebook.com/sifuandrew)
    Healing Sessions with Sifu Andrew Barnett - in Switzerland and internationally
    Heilbehandlungen mit Sifu Andrew Barnett - in der Schweiz und International

    Comment


    • #3
      Sigh’s answers to the silliest questions

      A few summer camps ago we were having ice-cream with Sifu at a swish cafe. After a while a few silly questions were being asked, and as usual Sifu answered them. It did get very silly, so we attempted to ask the silliest question. Having now seen the silly questions on this thread the floor is again open to ‘very silly questions’.

      As usual Sifu has taken his time to answer some questions posed by Olli:

      Question 1:

      What type of Chi Kung exercise and Kungfu set would you recommend for the following circus professionals: clown, mime, ventrilonquist, magician, strongman, human cannonball, acrobat, juggler, trapeze artist, animal trainer, ringmaster, and the bearded lady?

      Answer

      Any of our chi kung exercises and any of our kungfu sets are suitable for any one of the circus professionals you have mentioned. This is because any of our chi kung or kungfu will give any one of them good health, vitality, longevity,. mental clarity and spiritual joys, as well as combat efficiency if he or she practices kungfu.

      Question 2

      Do you think animals could learn some type of Chi Kung? What would it be like for sparrows and dogs, for example, and how would it change our world (or theirs)?

      Yes, I think animals could learn some type of chi kung provided it is taught by a competent teacher, like one of our instructors. For sparrows and dogs, or any animals, the teacher could let the animals run for a short distance, then let them relax, which corresponds to chi flow in case of humans. This is a modification of Thousand Steps. This exercise will give the animals good health, vitality and longevity. The chi kung teaching and learning will make us and them happy.

      Best regards,
      Sifu.
      As you can see they have some practical benefits
      Tim Franklin

      http://www.theguardianlions.co.uk
      A story of finding Courage and Wisdom

      www.zenarts.co.uk Classes and Courses for Shaolin Kung Fu, Taijiquan and Qigong in Bognor Regis, Chichester, West Sussex

      Fully Alive on Facebook Energy Flow for Health and Happiness

      UK Summer Camp Qigong, Taijiquan, Shaolin Kung Fu, Spiritual Cultivation with Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

      sigpic

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      • #4
        It’s not even Christmas, yet I have more gifts!

        More silly questions, but not so silly answers. Silly is just a matter of perspective anyway as the answers still bring benefit.

        Here’s Sifu Andrew’s questions and the answers from our Grandmaster:

        1. Why do you have to practice to get benefits?

        This is the nature of things.

        Past masters advised, "A minute of practice, a minute of benefit". This is certainly better than "a minute of practice, a minute of harm", which seems to be the case of many kungfu practitioners today.

        In our case, it is a minute of practice, 10 minutes of benefit.

        2. Can you sell me some chi kung pills so I don't have to practice?

        I.m sorry I don't have such pills. Our chi kung follows the tradition of masters, i.e. a minute of practice, a minute of benefit.

        In fact, we have improved the saying to "a minute of practice, 10 minutes of benefits."

        3. Chi Kung? Isn't that the same as aerobics in slow motion?

        Yes, that is what "chi kung" is to most chi kung practitioners. Often, they call it Tai Chi.

        4. If you weren't you, who would you be?

        Honestly, I don't want to be anyone else. It is so much fun being myself.

        I was thinking of Zhang San Feng, who lived to a few hundred years. But, then, Zhang San Feng did not have a beautiful wife, 5 beautiful children, and more than 60,000 beautiful students. I am sure that everyone of our Shaolin Wahnam Family member, having enjoyed the wonderful benefits of our arts, want to be himself or herself.

        5. Can you make me a Master by tomorrow as I have a job interview and it would be cool to be a Master?

        No, I can't make you (certainly not Andrew) a master by tomorrow, irrespective of whether you have a job interview. Masters are made from practice. I or any one of our certified instructors, including Andrew, can show you the practice, but you have to do the practice yourself.

        If you follow our advice, you may become a master one day. Certainly it is cool to be a master. Not only you will do better in your job interview, you will do better in anything in your daily life.

        6. Could you please do my practice for me?

        Interestingly, I can do your practice for you, but I prefer you to do your practice yourself. You will get much, much more benefit.

        Actually, any one of our certified instructors can do your practice for you, but, like me, they prefer you to do it yourself.

        7. I work at a zoo. We have tigers, leopards, cranes and snakes (sorry, no dragons). Could you please teach them 5 animal kung fu?

        I or any one of our certified instructors can teach the animals, including dragons, 5-Animal kungfu,but whether they will learn the way we want them to, is another matter.

        Dragons are real, though they exist in another dimension. Andrew saw one some years ago.

        Best regards,
        Sifu
        Tim Franklin

        http://www.theguardianlions.co.uk
        A story of finding Courage and Wisdom

        www.zenarts.co.uk Classes and Courses for Shaolin Kung Fu, Taijiquan and Qigong in Bognor Regis, Chichester, West Sussex

        Fully Alive on Facebook Energy Flow for Health and Happiness

        UK Summer Camp Qigong, Taijiquan, Shaolin Kung Fu, Spiritual Cultivation with Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

        sigpic

        Comment


        • #5
          Oh my.

          Thank you Sigung for answering my silly questions! Eagerly waiting to see what other people may come up with.

          With sincere respect,
          Olli

          Comment


          • #6
            Isn't it amazing that Sifu can make even apparently silly questions into great learning opportunities? Wonderful
            Sifu Andrew Barnett
            Shaolin Wahnam Switzerland - www.shaolin-wahnam.ch

            Flowing Health GmbH www.flowing-health.ch (Facebook: www.facebook.com/sifuandrew)
            Healing Sessions with Sifu Andrew Barnett - in Switzerland and internationally
            Heilbehandlungen mit Sifu Andrew Barnett - in der Schweiz und International

            Comment


            • #7
              Attacked in bed!

              I know, I still chuckle at the advice and response Sifu gave when Barry asked him “So Sifu, what would you do if we crept into your room at night with masks on a attacked you?"
              Tim Franklin

              http://www.theguardianlions.co.uk
              A story of finding Courage and Wisdom

              www.zenarts.co.uk Classes and Courses for Shaolin Kung Fu, Taijiquan and Qigong in Bognor Regis, Chichester, West Sussex

              Fully Alive on Facebook Energy Flow for Health and Happiness

              UK Summer Camp Qigong, Taijiquan, Shaolin Kung Fu, Spiritual Cultivation with Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

              sigpic

              Comment


              • #8
                If we are going to get silly about this, we need to discuss tickling. Can tickling be a more powerful weapon than anything that kung fu has to offer?

                Comment


                • #9
                  The secret ultimate weapon...

                  I am glad you asked this one Michael. I have notice that over the years of training in Shaolin I have built up a resistance to what once left me vulnerable. Whilst I have built up whole body resistance there is still the area of the feet that have alluded me from such protection. So if you can catch my foot you now know my weakness. I must warn you though... I am working on it.

                  Here is your excellent question and the brilliant answer:

                  Question

                  If we are going to get silly about this, we need to discuss tickling. Can tickling be a more powerful weapon than anything that kung fu has to offer?

                  Sifu Michael Agar


                  Answer

                  It depends on the individual.

                  For some practitioners, especially silly ones, tickling can be a more powerful weapon.

                  For most practitioners, kungfu offers more powerful weapons than tickling. If an opponent is skillful, an opponent has no change to tickle him -- unless he wants to be tickled.

                  Sifu.
                  Tim Franklin

                  http://www.theguardianlions.co.uk
                  A story of finding Courage and Wisdom

                  www.zenarts.co.uk Classes and Courses for Shaolin Kung Fu, Taijiquan and Qigong in Bognor Regis, Chichester, West Sussex

                  Fully Alive on Facebook Energy Flow for Health and Happiness

                  UK Summer Camp Qigong, Taijiquan, Shaolin Kung Fu, Spiritual Cultivation with Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

                  sigpic

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Andrew's my name and silly is my game; initiate silly sequence.

                    1) If Sigung could be an ice cream flavor, what ice cream flavor would he be?

                    2) What is Sigung's favorite style of mustache? What style of mustache will most help us to develop internal force?

                    3) Which of the following animals is most likely to inspire a new style of kung fu: prawn, panda or penguin?

                    Andrew (R)
                    Love, and do what you will.

                    - St. Augustine

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Ice scream, you scream...

                      Good silly questions Andrew,

                      Questions

                      I. If Sigung could be an ice cream flavor, what ice cream flavor would he be?

                      2.What is Sigung's favorite style of mustache? What style of mustache will most help us to develop internal force?

                      3. Which of the following animals is most likely to inspire a new style of kung fu: prawn, panda or penguin?


                      Answers

                      1. To continue the silliness, if I could be an ice-cream favor, it would be vanilla because I love “afogardo”, which is vanilla ice-cream in expresso.. You should not miss “afogardo” when you are in Italy, as it offers the two best things of Italian cuisine, ice-cream and coffee.

                      To come back to sanity, I eat “afogardo”, not become an ince-cream favor.

                      2. I don’t have a favorite style of mustache as it would spoil my youthfulness.

                      I don’t know which style of mustache will help to develop internal force, but personally I don’t think it matters.

                      However, bases on past kungfu masters who had internal force, a well-kept mustache with a long bear at the chin, both black in color, was favorable. Zhang San Feng had this style of mustache, and he certainly had a lot of internal force.

                      Pak Mei, who lived many centuries later, also had this style of mustache, though his mustache and bead as well as his eye-brows were white in color. However, Ng Mui, a famous Shaolin nun who lived at the same time as Pak Mei, did not have any mustache. Both Ng Mui and Pak Mei had a lot of internal force.

                      3. Actually we already have prawn kungfu and panda kungfu.

                      During my Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course or Intensive Taijiquan Course, when participants did not perform their stances correctly, they often did prawn kungfu. The saying, “Don’t be a prawn but be a tiger or a bear”, must have sound familiar to those at the course. Fortunately, prawn kungfu performers were rare.

                      The above saying was inspired from the kungfu saying, “fu poi hoong yew” (Cantonese) which means “Tiger’s back, bear’s waist”. It advised kungfu practitioners to have their back like a tiger’s, and their waist like a bear’s.

                      Panda kungfu is found in the famous cartoon series of the same name. But I doubt in real life, practitioners using panda kuagfu would be as proficient as the panda in the cartoon series.

                      To answer the question, but not because prawn kungfu and panda kungfu are already in existence, I think of the three animals, the penguin is most likely to inspire a new style of kungfu.

                      The penguin always stand upright, demonstrating a strong spine, which is very important in kungfu. The prawn never stands upright. The panda may sometimes stand upright, but most of the time it goes on four.

                      There is a kungfu saying, “chee par yew lou, pat par yein lou” which means “Be afraid of the spine getting old, not afraid of the age getting old”, demonstrating the importance of a strong, upright spine.

                      There is also another kungfu saying, “pai ma pat pai yew”, which means “Rather sacrifice your stance, but don’t sacrifice your waist”. If you have to go low, you may lower your stance and bend your body, but keeping your spine straight. Don’t bend your spine.

                      Sifu.
                      Tim Franklin

                      http://www.theguardianlions.co.uk
                      A story of finding Courage and Wisdom

                      www.zenarts.co.uk Classes and Courses for Shaolin Kung Fu, Taijiquan and Qigong in Bognor Regis, Chichester, West Sussex

                      Fully Alive on Facebook Energy Flow for Health and Happiness

                      UK Summer Camp Qigong, Taijiquan, Shaolin Kung Fu, Spiritual Cultivation with Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

                      sigpic

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Dear Oli, thank you very much for starting this thread.
                        Dear Tim, thank you very much for your comments and the communication with Sitaigung.
                        Dear Sitaigung, thank you so much for your teachings, the school and your answers.

                        My questions may not be silly at all, but thought it may still fit in here because of the background:

                        We have so much benefits that it is sometimes called ‘almost ridiculous’ and it’s definitely fun and funny many times but it is not silly.

                        Reading though Sitaigungs website sometimes about some of the best past masters I’ve read things that were not funny but seemed very silly: some killed themselves as different parties for emperors or even in private vendettas, where once even Ng Mui could only stop them by threatening them to personally kill them should they continue their vendetta.

                        Now I understand, that ‘we come from a lineage’ that seemed to not engage in such silly things and that stayed alive, at least until they’ve died and moved on naturally.

                        Is this a case of ‘goodness will always result in goodness’? That we have such good karma to be in your school and classes and learn the kind of Kung Fu of those past masters who were not so silly, will this create more good karma for us and others?

                        Thank you very much,
                        With Shaolin Salute,
                        Michael

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          It's not silly!

                          Thank you Michael for this question

                          Question

                          Is this a case of goodness will always result in goodness? That we have such good karma to be in your school and classes and learn the kind of Kung Fu of those past masters who were not so silly, will this create more good karma for us and others?

                          Michael

                          Answer

                          Yes, it is a case of goodness will always result in goodness.

                          Others may not believe it, but it is actually good karma to learn in our school.

                          What is so good about learning in our school?

                          Here are some random answers.

                          Our students will learn genuine arts.

                          How do we know that our arts are genuine?

                          We derive the results that practicing the arts will give. For those who practice chi kung, they will overcome their illness, if any, have good health, vitality, longevity, mental freshness and spiritual joys. For those who practice kungfu, besides these chi kung benefits, they have internal force and are able to use their arts for combat.

                          Not only the arts are genuine, they are also of a very high-level.

                          How do we know our arts are of a very high-level?

                          We derive the benefits in a short time. Instead of getting the results in years, which is normal for most other people who are lucky to practice genuine arts, we get the results in months.

                          All those who learn in our school must have done a lot of good deeds – in this life or in past lives.

                          Those who lack good karma will not have the opportunity to learn in our school.

                          Firstly, they would not have heard of our school. Even if they know about our school, they may not believe in what we say. Even when they believe in we say, they may not make the effort to learn from us. Even if they learn from us, they may not stay long.

                          We are grateful for our good karma. Our good karma, resulting in us learning in our school, will generate more good karma.

                          There are many ways to generate more good karma. An excellent way is to practice our Ten Shaolin Laws, which is a prerequisite for learning in our school.

                          Every time we practice, we smile from our heart. This is another excellent way to generate more good karma. It is a sure step of spiritual cultivation. Smiling from our heart opens our heart, setting our spirit free and happy.

                          When our spirit is free and happy, we intrinsically become kind and generous to other people.

                          Sifu/Sigung/Sitaigung.
                          Tim Franklin

                          http://www.theguardianlions.co.uk
                          A story of finding Courage and Wisdom

                          www.zenarts.co.uk Classes and Courses for Shaolin Kung Fu, Taijiquan and Qigong in Bognor Regis, Chichester, West Sussex

                          Fully Alive on Facebook Energy Flow for Health and Happiness

                          UK Summer Camp Qigong, Taijiquan, Shaolin Kung Fu, Spiritual Cultivation with Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

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                          • #14
                            Thank you so much, Sitaigung, for answering my questions and for how you answered them, it’s a real pleasure and inspiration to read it.

                            Thank you very much, Tim, for the communication.

                            Wow, it only took 1 hour and 24 minutes from my post to when the answer from Sitaigung got posted by Tim…Switzerland – Malaysia – England…and for me this time included my lunchbreak…

                            With Shaolin Salute,
                            Thank you,
                            Michael

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Fabulous! Fantastic! Formidable! Fanciful and Free-spirited!

                              Thank you, Sifu! Thank you brothers and sisters!
                              Charles David Chalmers
                              Brunei Darussalam

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