10 questions on the 72 Shaolin Arts

[Markus Kahila]

Dear family & visitors,


In preparation to the special course held in Helsinki in August 2016, Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit has kindly offered to answer 10 questions on the 72 Shaolin Arts!

At the forum we've had discussion before on the 72 Shaolin arts, so before posting your question you'd might want to catch up at this thread.

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Looking forward to your questions - post them here!


All the best,

[understanding]

Thank you Sigung and Sipak for making this Q&A possible.

1. We have a valuable heritage, but it might not always be so easy to see all the beautiful utilities in them. Which of the 72 Shaolin Arts would you rate the highest in terms of daily application, health, combat application, spiritual cultivation, and just plain fun? Are there some arts that carry more benefit than most even realize? For example, the oft spoken and adored Art of Lightness allows the exponent to reach incredible heights by jumping, but shouldn't it also allow the exponent to escape dangerous falls, even dropping off from an airplane, without harm?

2. What are the hardest Arts to master if the minimum requirements for each are satisfied before training? Which Arts have the most demanding requirements of them all? How much do you see room for improving our current teaching methodology in Shaolin Wahnam: can we still push the bar higher smarter without overtraining? For example, are there Shaolin Arts that contribute more holistically to learning the remaining Arts, and thus should preferrably be learnt first?

With sincere respect,
Olli

[Nessa]

Sifu,

you have generously offered to teach Marvellous Fist, Golden Bell and the Art of 1000 Steps in Helsinki this summer.

Could you please elaborate how participants in the 72 Shaolin Arts course will benefit from practicing these arts in their kungfu practice, as well as in their daily life?


Best regards,

Nessa

[Matt F.]

Dear Sifu,

Thank you very much for agreeing to teach this amazing course! And thank you to Shaolin Nordic for coming up with the idea and hosting!

These three arts (Marvelous Fist, Golden Bell, and Art of 1000 Steps/Art of Lightness) are legendary, and often portrayed in films and spoken of in stories. Because of that, the results from training these arts, as depicted in the films, seems (to me) to be tipping into the realm of fantasy. For instance -

Marvelous Fist - striking someone across a courtyard, leaving a fist-shaped purple bruise on their chest, and causing massive internal injury or instant death

Golden Bell - the practitioner can withstand thrusts from a spear, or be kicked through a brick wall, and sustain zero injury/damage

Art of 1000 Steps/Art of Lightness - the practitioner can run across water and barely disturb the surface, jump to a roof top and run from building to building, or jump to a high tree limb and stand on the thinnest of branches

For those lucky enough to attend this course, what results (or even "wow" moments) can participants expect during the course itself? And also after 1 year of training? and 3 years of training?

Additionally, how would these results compare to the results of training the Shaolin Wahnam syllabus? For instance, I have heard that students/instructors have developed some degree of Golden Bell by training Horse Riding Stance or Golden Bridge. And I personally have experienced some degree of the Art of 1000 Steps/Lightness by directing my flowing Chi to my legs to run and jump.

Thank you, Sifu!

-Matt

[Markus Kahila]

Sifu,


This Summer in Helsinki you will generously share the methods for three fantastic picks from the 72 Shaolin Arts.

The training descriptions for the 72 Shaolin Arts as recorded in classics often depict extremely hard and demanding training. Occasionally you've mentioned that the norm for kungfu training in the past was "bitter training", ie. hard and often punishing training with benefits sometimes accumulating only slowly over time.

However, in Shaolin Wahnam we emphasize cost-effectiveness and always enjoy our training.


Could you describe to us how the systematic training of these three arts was in the past, and how it will be under your teaching for us in Shaolin Wahnam? What are the differences for these different ways of training in terms of our daily practice, progress and attainment?


With gratitude,

[Davy]

Amazing opportunity, thank you Sigung and thank you Markus Sisook.

Dear Sigung,

Sigung has always amazing and inspiring stories to tell. Can Sigung please tell us some stories (personal or from some famous Kung Fu masters of the past) related to Marvelous Fist, Golden Bell and The Art of 1000 Steps? Can Sigung also tell us some personal experiences about how he learned these arts from Sitaigung?

Shaolin Salute
Davy

[Leo Shaolin]

Dear Sifu,
Dear Markus Siheng,

My "double-question" is related to techniques and skills.

In martial arts there is no ultimate technique by itself, except if someone has mastered a technique to an ultimate level. Is this pre-condition for techniques also valid for skills like the 72 Shaolin Arts and how much effort does a practitioner need to acquire such a high level?

There is always a nemesis to every technique. What is the nemesis to the Shaolin Arts taught at the 72 Shaolin Arts course in Finland?

Thank you to Sifu for answering our questions and to Markus Siheng for providing us the opportunity!

Best wishes,

Leo

[Nessa]

There is still room for 4 more questions!
Feel free to ask about these amazing arts.

[Claudien S]

Dear Sifu,

Thank you for providing us with the opportunity of learning these incredible skills. I am so looking forward for this course. Also thank you for being so kind to answer our questions. My question is the following:

How would attaining a high level of skill and proficiency in the Marvelous Fist, Golden Bell and Art of Lightness improve the work and results of an energy healer when working with their clients?

Thank you Marcus Siheng and Nessa Sije for taking care of this thread

Kind regards,
Claude

[Kristian S.]

72 Priceless Arts

Thank you to the Shaolin Nordic team for this thread and the organization of courses I am sure will go down in history for those who attend!

Dear Sifu,

thank you for this wonderful opportunity to ask questions regarding such legendary arts and skills! Even for the theoretical knowledge and revealed answers here, I imagine, people of the past would have waged wars and gone to the ends of the earth.

If I may, I would like to ask about the procedural impact/s of training the skills necessary to attain these arts and their comparative relevance to other arts.

What are the unique thematic and holistic effects of the training of the exercises that result in the development of the Art of 1000 Steps, perhaps the specific use of Abdominal Breathing toward this aim, for example, and how does this art compare with the other arts under the umbrella of the “Art of Lightness” (jumping really high, running on water, leaping horizontally, running up walls, etc.)?

What are the unique thematic and holistic effects of the training of the exercises that result in the development of Golden Bell, perhaps Golden bridge and “Iron Plank Bridge”, for example, and how does this art compare with other arts such as “Thiew Hang Kungh” from Ngok Ka Kung Fu or Iron Body arts and their training methods (“Art of Suspended Training”, hitting oneself daily, etc.)?

What are the unique thematic and holistic effects of the training of the exercises that result in the development of Marvelous Fist, perhaps 30 punches, for example, and how does this art compare with other arts such as Cosmos or Diamond Palm, Strike-Across-Space-Palm, One Finger Shooting Zen, and Iron Fist?

Thank you again for every opportunity to train genuine Shaolin arts and the chance to receive knowledge about so many arts that are unfortunately considered secretive or even fantastical by today's martial artists, and for the incredible benefits I am sure the course participants are set to receive.

Kristian

[Kevin_B]

Dear Sigung,

The list of 72 Arts of Shaolin practiced in Shaolin Wahnam (http://shaolin.org/shaolin/72-arts.html) makes for quite extraordinarily reading. Thank you for very much for kindly posting it.

My question relates to one of the arts listed: The Art of Hei Sa (energy spirit):

What is the relationship between the Art of Hei Sa and Shen training?

How has the Art of Hei Sa evolved in the very long history of Shaolin in terms of (a) methods of training the art, and (b) the attainment of, and benefits to, practitioners of the Art?

Thank you Sigung for another fabulous Q& A opportunity.

And thank you to Sisook Markus for facilitating the thread.

All the best,

Kevin

[JasD]

I wrote a lot of questions, I hope Sifu can pick 1 or 2 that he finds interesting and beneficial. Apologies if that was inappropriate.
( I know some of the questions are a bit silly and I don't plan on doing them but I think it give some scope)


1.I did some one-off running a while back for about 30 minutes. I did no running for many years before that. I didn't get tired at all, I just ran in a bit of a chi flow without regulating breath. I think I only ran 10-20 steps per breath though(didn't count). Not regulating breath allowed me to release much volume of energy from the mouth. I tried 1 abdominal breath for many steps for a few minutes but it didn't feel as good, i couldnt let go as much, generate as much flow and release as much waste. Why could it have been that abdominal breathing wasn't as effective. How will learning the method properly benefit me?

2. Does art of 1000 steps concern speed of running? How do you increase speed? Usain bolt ran 100 m in 9.5s. You hear of masters doing crazy things, is it possible to run it in 7 or maybe 5 seconds. What training and other factors would be necessary to do that?

3. What about running on water? How can you train art of 1000 steps for that?

4. Given 3 years after course, how would one train goldenbell to withstand punches from a top pro boxer without harm. Is it realistic or even possible.

5. If one trains marvelous fist intensively after the course for 3 years and throws some punches at an opponent from 5 steps away what would happen to the opponent?

6. In the use of Golden bell how much is passive and how much is active(energetically and mentally). For example, in my experience if I get hit and I think/feel before that i'll be unhurt, it doesn't hurt as much. If I think it's going to hurt or am worried then it hurts a lot. This leads me to believe that the active mental part in that moment is important.
I only have very small sample size and it can be coincidental. What is the reality?

7. How does golden bell compare to other protections like the chikung shield, or just being in a chiflow in terms of strength, ease of use for physical and energetic purposes.

8. Will practicing these cause overtraing or will it be that converting excess internal energy into external skills (using and spreading energy) cause more balance and reduce overtraining or somewhere inbetween depending on how you train them. For example I think if you just do 30 mins golden bridge alone it will likely be overtraining. But then add on 10 mins of marvelous fist and 10 mins of running and you overtrain less even though its double the time. Is this true or false or something else depending on different types of person?

Thank you Sifu, and Markus Siheng,

Looking forward to the course,

Jas

[Markus Kahila]

10 questions completed

And we have our ten! Thanks for the great questions, very much looking forward to the answers!


Best wishes,

[Markus Kahila]

Answer 1, part 1

Ok, let's get started! Here's Sifu's first answer on the 72 Shaolin Arts in preparation to the Helsinki courses.

Question 1: (Olli, Finland)

We have a valuable heritage, but it might not always be so easy to see all
the beautiful utilities in them. Which of the 72 Shaolin Arts would you rate the
highest in terms of daily application, health, combat application, spiritual
cultivation, and just plain fun? Are there some arts that carry more benefit than most even realized? For example, the oft spoken and adored Art of Lightness allows the exponent to reach incredible heights by jumping, but shouldn't it also allow the exponent to escape dangerous falls, even dropping off from an airplane, without harm?

What are the hardest Arts to master if the minimum requirements for each
are satisfied before training? Which Arts have the most demanding
requirements of them all? How much do you see room for improving our current teaching methodology in Shaolin Wahnam: can we still push the bar higher without overtraining? For example, are there Shaolin Arts that contribute more holistically to learning the remaining Arts, and thus should preferably be learnt first?

Answer 1, part 1

As it is often the case, the answers to your questions depend on many variables, like personal preferences, the skills of the teacher, the developmental stage of the student, needs and aspirations, and availability of resources.

Indeed, we have a valuable heritage, and it is not always possible to see the beautiful utilities of the 72 Shaolin arts, or of the heritage.

Twenty years ago I would rate Golden Bell, One-Finger Shooting Zen and Tiger-Claw as the highest of our Shaolin Wahnam version of the 72 Shaolin Arts. It was because these three arts represented the “ultimates” of kungfu or any martial art, namely an invincibility ability to take attacks, dim mark and chin-na.

However, now faced with the same question, I would rate Smiling from the Heart, Entering Silence, and Chi Flow, because these three arts give happiness spiritual joys, good health, vitality and longevity – qualities any person would like to have in this phenomenal world.

If we wish to break down the benefits into categories instead of referring to the arts as a whole, I would now rate as the best Smiling from the Heart for daily application, Chi Flow for health, One-Finger Shooting Zen for combat application, Entering Silence for spiritual cultivation, and the Monkey Play of the Five-Animal Play for just plain fun.

Yes, there are some arts that carry more benefits than others even when realized. Eagle Claw, for example, is excellent for gripping, but its combat application is mainly a supportive role. In other words, an exponent grips an opponent with Eagle Claw, then delivers the coup de grace on the opponent. On the other hand, Tiger Claw is combat ending. When an exponent applies Tiger Claw on an opponent, the Tiger Claw itself is the coup de grace, there is no need to apply another coup de grace. On health aspects, Point Massage activates energy flow on the face, but Chi flow activates energy flow over the whole body.

(Part 2 follows)

[Emiko H]

Dear Markus, dear family and friends,

Thank you for facilitating this fascinating thread.

It is wonderful how the three 'ultimates' of kungfu or any martial art are authentically taught in Shaolin Wahnam:

Twenty years ago I would rate Golden Bell, One-Finger Shooting Zen and Tiger-Claw as the highest of our Shaolin Wahnam version of the 72 Shaolin Arts. It was because these three arts represented the “ultimates” of kungfu or any martial art, namely an invincibility ability to take attacks, dim mark and chin-na.

...while the actual spectrum of the Shaolin arts in Shaolin Wahnam goes even farther than the combat of kungfu to:

However, now faced with the same question, I would rate Smiling from the Heart, Entering Silence, and Chi Flow, because these three arts give happiness spiritual joys, good health, vitality and longevity – qualities any person would like to have in this phenomenal world.

If we wish to break down the benefits into categories instead of referring to the arts as a whole, I would now rate as the best Smiling from the Heart for daily application, Chi Flow for health, One-Finger Shooting Zen for combat application, Entering Silence for spiritual cultivation, and the Monkey Play of the Five-Animal Play for just plain fun.

How endless is the gratitude to Sifu for his living example. Thank you, Sifu! (Thank you, past masters!)

Shaolin salute,

Emiko