How can i phrase this i really want to know !

[Charles David]

Clarification?

What does MMA stand for?

[Jordan_LM]

What does MMA stand for?

Mixed martial arts.

[Andrew]

A great post KungFuJoe,

What I don't understand is why some aren't willing to try WahNam methods for a few months before posting negativity. They might find reason to switch.

Now there you have a great point too!

Andrew

[Emiko H]

Dear Andrew,


Thank you for that excellent article on Shaolin Kungfu Combat Philosophy. I think that it will go a long way to helping people to develop the "eyes" to appreciate what is being shown on the video clips, i.e. what constitute genuine speed and skill. For my part, I would just like to say that having the opportunity to spar with Taisiheng Kai was a genuine privilege and honour. I learnt a great deal from him.


Best wishes,

Emiko

[karasu]

Did Any ONe Say Paradigm Shift

Personally I sensed Kin Tama wanted to find out the truth. One thing I credit the MMA community for is that they will switch training to whatever they find works best.

The ill feelings of the MMA community are not reciprocated. What I don't understand is why some aren't willing to try WahNam methods for a few months before posting negativity. They might find reason to switch.

Hello Everyone

I just finished teaching new student his second class today and his experience can help us understand the answer to your question . He is strong powerful man, accustomeed to working out to stay in shape. He has pravious experience in wrestling and tae kown do. He has learned to rely physical force
in his training .
I asked him use his best wrestling move to restrain me and I was able to escape easily by relaxing and movign with the force being applied.
He tryed again and again I managed to escape his grasp quite easily and he was using every ounce of strength he had to hold on to me. He had seen me do this before with another student, but had thought it was some kind of trick because it looked so effortless and it just coudl not be that easy.
Now he expereinced what true relaxed whole body power and some internal force was like.

I gently pushed him from the side on his shoulder and aske d him to relax and resist the push. The physical push using just my arms he resisted easily and stayed roote to the ground. However pushing using relaxed whole body power sent him sideways and it took several steps for him to rehain his balance. The actual impact and amount of power he perceived being used by me in the second push seemed less than the first push, even though the second push was in reality more powerful. He also twisted hisback a little during the second push.

So the nest portion of lesson included lifting the sky / chi flow /standing meditation. During which time he was guided to and was able to become extremely relaxed and furtunately managed to heal his back discomfort


He expereinced a total paradigm shift. He learned first hand how real power is generated, and he has always relied on physical force.

It was not until he had expereinced it first hand directly from me that he grasped the true nature of martial arts power and started to have a glimpse

The rely on phyiscal force and our training relies on relaxed body power and internal force. This a pardigm shift that is difficult for those to grasp who have not expereinced our type of power first hand which includes relaxed whole body movment and internal force. A s one student just told me. If I had not let him grab me in his best wresting move and then effortless escape while he did his best to hang on to me in an effort to prevent me from escaping , he woud not have believed. Previoudly he had watched similar demonstration with another student who was almost winded himself from trying to hang to me and trying to prevent me from releaseing his hold on me. Yet it did not make sense to him until had direct experience himself.

Talking about it, seeing happen with another student 2 feet away was not enough because it requires a whole new way of thinking about generating power and the delivery of power as opposed to force. He needed to experience it himslef in oder to have it make sense to him

So we can imagine that MMA people are open to new ideas, but will struggle with many of the ideas expresssed here because it can be be understood within the realm of their results and expereince. These folks also no matter how nice folks they may be, are still looking a new technique to help them win a match, not a whole way of thinking and breathing

So we can thank them for this interesting conversation, but I would be surprised by thier responses or inability to shift paradigms

Take care

Gord
Sorry for the bad typing - I don't have time to edit

[steve]

Hi Kin Tama
I may be repeating what somebody else has already said, as I haven't read everybody's input.

Your question was, unquote, why do people do Wahnam kung fu... what makes them change from other styles to Wahnam? Speaking from my experience... I've been studying various martial arts since 1981, some for more than 10 years, including MMA. I've done the kung fu, chi kung and a little tai chi with Sifu Wong. When I did the kung fu course I was immediately baffled by what it was that if I did eg. "black tiger steals heart" pattern, which is very similar to a karate "front stance, reverse punch", why it had a chi kung effect and the karate version didn't?? What I found was that in all 3, the chi kung, kung fu and tai chi, there was this powerful chi kung effect. The sense of this effect was not mere sensation... at that time I was doing Wing Chun... from being beaten within 10 seconds by my instructor before I did the Wahnam course, to where my instructor battled to lay a finger on me for some weeks afterwards.

I can honestly say that practicing the Wahnam methods have given me a good feeling of vibrancy/aliveness and it has accelerated my progress in other styles, both in practicing the techniques/forms and in sparring. I've been doing a fair amount of Brazilian jujitsu lately... doing the circulating hands chi kung before grappling definitely increases my lightness, sensitivity and to move in a more subtle flowing way.

Don't ask me how it works, but there is something definitely gained by learning Wahnam chi kung/kung fu/tai chi, on a personal level and for any martial art/sport/physical/mental training!

And that is why I practice Wahnam

[Dr.Frank Loo]

Dear Barnett Sifu and Kin,

This is the longest thread ( 6290 views) I have ever read and I find it is most amusing amidst some fireworks. As Christmas is just around the corner I am taking this opportunity to send Peace, Love, Goodwill and Merriment to both of you. The objective of learning the art is not to fight. I have been studying the art for nearly 50 years and tell you quite honestly I have forgotten how to fight. Learning the art with the intention for fighting is the lowest level. Make no mistake,I surely know how to protect my family, myself, my friends and the defendless i.e. women and children. If I have to do it I will do it fast and I will make sure the attacker will not know what had happened to him and how he was hit.

Always remember when Bodhidharma introduced the art to Shaolin Monastery it was not used for fighting physically but it was intended to fight against the "devil inside you" In Cantonese we called it "Sum Mor". Fight by all means but your enermy is not your fellowmen but the Devil inside you (sum mor). If you can attain this you have reached another level in your training.

Let me do something for both of you. Send me your mailing address and I will send a small gift to both of you for Christmas. I very much hope this will end the misunderstanding between both of you. My private e-mail address is drfrankloo @ i-cable. com

Peace and Merriment,
Frank

[cnholmes]

Frank,

What wonderful inspiring words!

Make no mistake,I surely know how to protect my family, myself, my friends and the defendless i.e. women and children. If I have to do it I will do it fast and I will make sure the attacker will not know what had happened to him and how he was hit.

Your comment shows that effective combat skill is important to you. Its on your mind: you are thinking over what you would do.

My thought is that for someone to be healthy they have to be free from the fear that they or their family might be attacked, and they might be defenceless against that attack. Fear comes from within, but the subject of the fear comes from outside. Effective kungfu allows us to conquer our fear by clearing the blockages which stop us from coping with fear, but also by confirming to us that we can do something to prevent ourselves being harmed by the threat from outside. And the more advanced we become, the more compassionate we know we can be in response to an attack.

That you have certainty as to what you would do, suggests to me that you have conquered that fear. For you to conquer the fear, the fear must have existed.

Thank you for your open hearted response, it is a good example to us all. I wish you and your family the best of health, happiness and prosperity.

Many Regards,
Chris.

[Andrew]

Frank,

Thanks for your thoughtful post. I can assure you that there was no animosity as far as I was concerned. But if you would like to send me an email anyway I'd love to receive it.

You can email me via the forum or using:
wahnamGR @ bluewin.ch

Andrew

[Dr.Frank Loo]

Dear Chris,

Since you talked about fear I would like to tell you fear is one of the "sum
mor(s)".


Best Regards,
Frank

[cnholmes]

Since you talked about fear I would like to tell you fear is one of the "sum
mor(s)".

I don't know what that means. Please could you explain?

Regards,
Chris.

[Dr.Frank Loo]

Hi Chris,

If you read the second paragraph of my previous post you will know what I mean.

Best Regards,
Frank

[cnholmes]

Frank,

I have read it again now, and I understand. Thank you.

Chris

[Charles David]

Dear Frank

Dear Frank,

May I also thank you for this post and for your other contributions. You have been a very welcome and joyful addition to our forum.

I agree completely with what you have said about fighting. Sifu has made it very clear to us that if we are practicing kung fu only for fighting then we are making very poor use of our time since the liklihood of us ever getting in a fight is quite rare in our present societies. Personally I find that my Shaolin training has been tremendously beneficial in my moral development. As long as we do the right thing we have nothing to be afraid of, and so I am far more able to face up to my fears and demons than I was before.

For a piece of (pop?)wisdom that I picked up on TV yesterday:

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the ability to continue in the presence of fear.


May I also extend my warmest wishes to you and yours during the upcoming holiday season.

[joko]

Thank you Dr. Frank Loo

Dear Dr. Frank Loo.

Thank you for your wonderful posts.
And your care and kindness to us.

Please accept my respect.

Joko