Interesting Southern Kung Fu Articles

[PM]

Hung Ga Story: First Time in Hon Chung Gym

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http://practicalhungkyun.com/2014/05/hung-ga-story-first-time-in-hon-chung-gym/

Enjoy!

[PM]

Book Review: Hung Ga Story – Me and Master Chan Hon Chung

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http://practicalhungkyun.com/2014/05/book-review-hung-ga-story-me-and-master-chan-hon-chung/

Enjoy!

[PM]

Hung Ga Story: Late Night Training with Cheung Yee Keung

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http://practicalhungkyun.com/2014/05/hung-ga-story-late-night-training-with-cheung-yee-keung/

Enjoy!

[PM]

Hung Ga Story: The Year of the Iron Wire

hung-ga-story-chan-hon-chung-iron-wire-set.jpg

http://practicalhungkyun.com/2014/05/hung-ga-story-the-year-of-the-iron-wire/

Enjoy!

[PM]

How to Unlock Your Martial Power

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http://practicalhungkyun.com/2014/06/how-to-unlock-your-martial-power/

Enjoy!

[PM]

Hung Ga Kyun Quiz! What Hung Ga Animal Are YOU?

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http://practicalhungkyun.com/2014/06/hung-ga-kyun-quiz-what-hung-ga-animal-are-you/

Have fun :-)

[PM]

Hung Ga Kyun Concepts: “Four Arrivals”, Part 3 – “Hand”

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http://practicalhungkyun.com/2014/06/hung-ga-kyun-concepts-four-arrivals-part-3-hand/

Enjoy!

[barrys]

Dear Sifu Pavel,

Thanks for all of your posts and sharing.

I am one of the lucky people to have been learning from Sifu for a number of years including Iron Wire. I have found it has taken my understanding of internal force to a new level - no muscular effort at all - in fact that is the secret .

In your school what is the approach to building muscular strength? Do you do external muscular training as well as Iron Wire?

With metta,

Barry

[PM]

Hello Barry,

check out this article:

http://practicalhungkyun.com/2013/05/strength-training-for-the-martial-arts/

I would say that our "external" training is much more internal that what people think, and out "internal" training is much more external than what people think (depends on your definition of the respective terms and methods). Hung Kyun is neither internal, nor external martial art. Important thing is - we have results, i.e. strength without getting bulky, iron forearms and fists without deformations, speed, stamina and good health.

And yes, we do use muscular effort in Tit Sin Kyun (there is nothing wrong with that), but of course not all the time. "Hardness" (Gong) is only one of the 12 Bridges, but - there is a reason why it is the first one (immediately followed by Yau, "Soft").

[barrys]

Dear Sifu Pavel,

Thank you to the link to the article. I don't have time to read it at the moment but I will get around to it.

Thanks also for your answer. What are your definitions of the terms when you use them?

I agree that the benefits are important. It seems so easy for many Martial Artists to get it wrong in this respect. Learning an art that is supposed to make them healthy and fit and getting lots of injuries. Also, in my experience, a lot of them being very angry or irritable, which I assume is not the outcome they were practising to achieve.

I noticed on one of the articles on your site (http://practicalhungkyun.com/2014/06...martial-power/) that one of the final lines by the author was "Have fun, and enjoy putting the hurt on your opponents!". That surprised me a bit. That is the last thing I want to enjoy .

And yes, we do use muscular effort in Tit Sin Kyun (there is nothing wrong with that), but of course not all the time. "Hardness" (Gong) is only one of the 12 Bridges, but - there is a reason why it is the first one (immediately followed by Yau, "Soft").

Obviously there is nothing "wrong" with that but it is the opposite of what Sifu was teaching at the Summer Camp. What do you find the benefits are of using muscular effort?

With best wishes,

Barry

[barrys]

Oh, I just had a chance to scan the article:

Note on the famous “Iron Thread Set” (Tit Sin Kyun): Works like magic when practiced properly, but – it works differently than most of the practitioners think. A lot of nonsense in the world of “Internal Exercises”.

Just checking what is meant by this.

With metta,

Barry

[PM]

Hello Barry,

definition of internal/external? That would require a lot of space to write - or 5 minutes demonstration :-) both are imho misunderstood. when talking about "external", people usually have in mind a picture of bulky bodybuilder. Trust me, strength training experts (eg. powerlifters) know a lot of about various breathing patterns, tension/relaxation etc., sometimes much more than many Qigong experts. West sometimes meets East much more that what people would expect.

Same goes for internal - most of the so called internal practitioners are just Hippie frauds, lying to themselves that they have any results. Relaxation and calm mind is certainly a huge benefit, but NOT a complete image, especially when talking about TSK, whose aims tremendous power for martial arts application.

Injuries - again, depends on the method. I am (thanks God) injury free, healthy and strong (2,5x bodyweight deadlift? One legged squats? One-arm one-leg squats? Anybody? I just lifted 44 kg with one hand, at 67 kg of bodyweight). And I owe these results to correct method, breathing, mind concentration, gradual progress and everyday practice. Transfer to martial arts is HUGE, I can assure you that.

Alekses's comment - cum grani salis, he is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.

Benefits of "muscular effort" - I would not say "muscular effort", but tension. Benefit is clear - Yin/Yang. Don't thing black and white - external wrong, internal correct. It is the interplay of both. Our TSK is not Taijiquan, but it is not an isometric exercise either, that is the reason why it is so marvelous.

Anyway, our TSK is orthodox Lam Sai Wing's teaching, which might be different form other TSKs. I have eg. see an old Wing Chun version, which was generally much softer than ours (which is already much softer than what you usually see out there), and I have no doubts that it works. Important is what is going on inside, not what you see outside. Sifu is one of the greatest Qigong experts I have ever met, I enjoyed his Eighteen Luo Han Hands tremendously, so follow his advice to the letter and you will certainly reap the benefits.

[barrys]

Dear Sifu Pavel,

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

I asked about how you defined the terms internal/external as you said in your previous post that your answer depended on the definition of terms/methods. So, I thought I would ask so I could understand your answer better.

Nice to hear he is a nice guy . Still a surprising turn of phrase .

So you use muscular tension in your Iron Wire training. Thank you for explaining.

Regarding the benefits of muscular tension in Iron Wire training I didn't fully understand. As you know Yin/Yang are not absolute terms but denotes balance/harmony between opposites. So, I was just checking what benefits you get from balancing what poles?

Glad to hear you are injury free. It surprises me how many people who practice an art that is supposed to lead to health are not healthy. In the end that must show a lack of mental clarity or not reviewing their objectives.

I have done a lot of strength conditioning work myself in the past. I was lucky enough to have trained for a number of years at Dave Prowes' gym (Darth Vader), with Dave Collins (the recent GB Olympic Athletics Perfomance Director) and a teacher who trained with Pavel Tsatsouline. Lots of pistol squats, handstand push-ups, hindu squats, kettle bells, indian clubs etc. I thoroughly enjoyed it.


With best wishes,

Barry

[PM]

Exactly - balance between A and B, and all between, complete toolbox with right tool for right purpose. If you have only B (be it "muscular tension only" or "no muscular tension at all"), there not much balance between X and nothing.

Benefits? Best of both worlds, and all worlds in between, as it is not "either-or", but a continuum. Morever, so called absolute strength has huge carry-over to speed and endurance, as well as mobility and flexibility not to mention general life. Lift a really heavy luggage overhead and tell me how not to use muscular strength :-) when I do lift it, I lift it using the concepts learned in TSK.

"Muscular strenght" is btw. not a good term - it does say anything about "muscles" like pelvic floor and diaphragm, bones alignment, sinews, breathing and brain. We do not care about muscles - we care about function.

[David Langford]

From my experiences Iron Wire and to a lesser degree other force training has given me a "Structural integrity" which has allowed me to lift heavy, hit hard, and if I fail in my defenses take a powerful hit without (much) injury.

Sipak Anthony Korahais has came out with an article recently that is brilliant.

http://flowingzen.com/9450/real-experiences-of-internal-strength-part-i/

He talks about how external martial artists use a lot of tension to have connectivity and power in their body as in this video of a famous Karate Grandmaster, and about how internal martial artists use relaxation, and internal force to achieve the same effect, with some added bonuses, such as the second video.

Sanchin by a Karate Grandmaster

San Zhan by Sitaigung Chee Kim Thong, Wuzuquan Grandmaster

When I for example again lift heavy things, I feel my body aligned, my muscles and sinews taut with internal force, and my breathing relaxed and controlled.