Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Hi

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Hi

    Hello everyone,

    My name is Dan and I am from Luxembourg.

    I am 25 years old (soon 26) and have been practicing meditation for five years and northern shaolin for about three months now.

    I really like my Kung Fu practice, however the problem is that my Knees often hurt, depending on which pose I do. Particularly I find that the horse stance, cat stance, resting/twisting and bear pose make my knees kurt. When I brought it to the attention of three of my seniors, two told me it was normal in the beginning while the other (who is considered one of the most accomplished students) said that 'it would strengthen the knee'. At around the same time I had read what Sifu Wong had said about Knee pain, moreover I personnaly found in my practice that depending on how I do the pose my knees don't hurt at all. However it's very hard for me to correct the posture on my own...

    Moreover, at the end of th eyear I am going to Asia for a year to stay at a buddhist monastery for a year and I am not willing to give up my practice then, rather I want to take that year to practice my basics exclusively. For that matter I need to be able to do all the basic postures without mistake or at the least the horse stance so I will be able to practice on my own. Hence why I am now looking for someone to teach me the basics correctly.In this regard I have contacted Sifu Hendrik Dennemeyer (through facebook), unfortunately he hasn't gotten back to me yet.

    So I thought I had write on here and see what advice people have for me here...

    Yours sincerely,

    Dan

  • #2
    Welcome to the forum, Dan. The stances we teach may be different from those you have learned / are learning. If you are happy with the school you are learning from, ask your Sifu what you should do.

    As far as we are concerned, our Arts should help remove knee pain rather than create it. However, if there is an injury or weakness (even old injuries), some discomfort can result whilst the blockages are removed. If the training itself is causing the knee pain, though, something would seem to be wrong.

    There is a quite (in)famous statistic regarding the high percentage of Tai Chi practitioners who develop knee problems from their training. Thankfully, this doesn't happen in our training -- neither in Shaolin Kung Fu nor Taijiquan.

    So, if you want to practice great basics that will give you great health and vitality (amongst other things), I would suggest getting to this year's UK Summer Camp. Grandmaster Wong will personally be teaching exactly what you need.
    Last edited by Andrew; 13 February 2016, 02:32 PM. Reason: typo
    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
      Originally posted by Andrew View Post
      Welcome to the forum, Dan. The stances we teach may be different from those you have learned / are learning. If you are happy with the school you are learning from, ask your Sifu what you should do.

      As far as we are concerned, our Arts should help remove knee pain rather than create it. However, if there is an injury or weakness (even old injuries), some discomfort can result whilst the blockages are removed. If the training itself is causing the knee pain, though, something would seem to be wrong.

      There is a quite (in)famous statistic regarding the high percentage of Tai Chi practitioners how develop knee problems from their training. Thankfully, this doesn't happen in our training -- neither in Shaolin Kung Fu nor Taijiquan.

      So, if you want to practice great basics that will give you great health and vitality (amongst other things), I would suggest getting to this year's UK Summer Camp. Grandmaster Wong will personally be teaching exactly what you need.
      Hey Andrew thanks for the reply

      It's not that I am unhappy with the school, I like the people and I do like the Art, but I don't really trust the instruction or the master of the school. Not that I mistrust him, but I don't have faith in him. With faith I mean absolute trust that he is looking out for you and what is best for you and that you are getting somewhere.

      Actually, I already saw the UK summer camp and really wanted to participate in it. However, I assumed that this Kung Fu course was only open to students with experience and not beginners? If you tell me now that this is not the case, well then I will go straight ahead and book

      Comment


      • #4
        Knees and Shaolin... they go together!

        Hi Dan,

        Welcome

        Before I came to our school I suffered quite a lot from painful knees. It was challenging to just squat, let alone stand in a stance. Fortunately all of that is in the past. Once I had learnt the exercises as Chi Kung the stances helped clear any blockages and stuckness I had in this area.

        In this years UK Summer Camp Sifu Wong will be teaching the fundamentals of Kung Fu from beginner to master. So it is open to all, regardless of the school you come from or the experience you have. Unlike previous years the material is less to learn in preparation, which means more time can be spent developing skills that in turn are useful for combat and everyday life.

        We will be adding more information to the website soon regarding the course. In the meantime you can look at it here: www.shaolin-training.com

        If you would like to know anymore just let us know.

        All the best
        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
          Originally posted by Tim View Post
          Hi Dan,

          Welcome

          Before I came to our school I suffered quite a lot from painful knees. It was challenging to just squat, let alone stand in a stance. Fortunately all of that is in the past. Once I had learnt the exercises as Chi Kung the stances helped clear any blockages and stuckness I had in this area.

          In this years UK Summer Camp Sifu Wong will be teaching the fundamentals of Kung Fu from beginner to master. So it is open to all, regardless of the school you come from or the experience you have. Unlike previous years the material is less to learn in preparation, which means more time can be spent developing skills that in turn are useful for combat and everyday life.

          We will be adding more information to the website soon regarding the course. In the meantime you can look at it here: www.shaolin-training.com

          If you would like to know anymore just let us know.

          All the best
          Hi Tim, nice to meet you. Well, I am pretty sure that I don't have any knee problems. My knees usually never hurt, even when not when I am doing sports, just when I bump into something. (this happens quite a lot ) They hurt because of the training, particularly because I like to take my stance training seriously with wide and deep stances. However, I found that the deeper the stance, the easier it is to hurt the knee.

          I looked through the sequences. I assume that to do them before the camp is merely to memorize the sequence? Also, another question is stance training part of the Chi Kung or the Kung Fu course?

          Comment


          • #6
            Hi, Dan from Luxemburg!

            Greetings from Borneo! It looks like my European brothers have sorted things out for you, so I won't add any more, other than a question:

            Where in Asia are you planning to stay?

            Yours,

            Charles
            Charles David Chalmers
            Brunei Darussalam

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Charles David View Post
              Hi, Dan from Luxemburg!Greetings from Borneo! It looks like my European brothers have sorted things out for you, so I won't add any more, other than a question:Where in Asia are you planning to stay?Yours,Charles
              I will either go to Taiwan or Thailand. I want to go to Taiwan since they are all Pure Land Tradition over there which is the tradition I am following, however it seems that won't be possible as I need a recommendation or fortune and I don't have either at the moment, so it will probably be Thailan

              Comment


              • #8
                Welcome to the forum Dan!

                The summer camp always has fantastic courses! I am sure you would enjoy them!
                I can imagine it is not easy to find a monastery that accepts foreigners. Are you considering learning the language (Thai or Chinese)?

                Best regards from Switzerland
                Andrea
                Enjoy some Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan & Qi Gong!

                Evening Classes in Zürich
                Weekend Classes in other Swiss locations


                Website: www.taichichuan-wahnam.ch
                Facebook: www.facebook.com/Taichichuan.Wahnam.ch

                Comment


                • #9
                  Hi Dan,

                  I looked through the sequences. I assume that to do them before the camp is merely to memorize the sequence?
                  You don’t need to memorise all 4 sequence, just choose one and practice that everyday for at least 30 times. As a suggestion, you might try out all 4 and see what one suits you best. Then you would practice that at the form level only for the first week. Don’t try and go fast but get picture perfect form. Then you can practice on smoothing it out. For example, rather than performing each pattern individually, like 1.1.1.1.1 you would link together the movements. So it would be 1.2-1.2-1.2. When this is smooth then perform it as 1.2.3-1.2.3. As you progress you can link all the movements together in one flowing sequence. You'll already be moving quite fast by now.

                  Here’s a link to our website page with a training video on of some students trying out and training combat sequence 1. It is filmed over one session. However, the same training can be spread out over weeks. http://shaolin-training.com/kung-fu-course/

                  Also, another question is stance training part of the Chi Kung or the Kung Fu course?
                  All Kung Fu, practiced as an internal art, is Chi Kung. Stance training, as a way of building internal force will definitely feature more in the Kung Fu course, but could also be part of the Chi Kung courses as well.

                  Hope that helps.

                  All the best
                  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
                    Hey guys, sorry for the late reply, I was quite busy

                    @Andrea : it depends on the country e.g culture and the monastery itself. In Thailand there is actually a monastery called international forest monastery and there are only foreigners there. In general in thailand though it's very easy to get ordained because the Thai people have a very open culture. Also, in Thailand it's considered good fortune to ordain a westerner. It's the same in Burma, Myanmar, Laos, and India. It's harder in China and particularly japan because in most cases you would need to speak chinese or japanese.

                    @Tim : I sent you message over on the site for registration/bank account details. I am glad that stance training is part of the Kung FU course and not the Chi Kung, just as I was hoping. I know it's more part of Kung FU, but I asked because some people only practice Zhan Zhuang as Chi Kung, without any martial arts.

                    I just hope that I will be able to do these moves , it looks kinda complicated at first sight, I must admit (but not impossible )

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Dan D'Angelo View Post

                      @Andrea : it depends on the country e.g culture and the monastery itself. In Thailand there is actually a monastery called international forest monastery and there are only foreigners there. In general in thailand though it's very easy to get ordained because the Thai people have a very open culture. Also, in Thailand it's considered good fortune to ordain a westerner. It's the same in Burma, Myanmar, Laos, and India. It's harder in China and particularly japan because in most cases you would need to speak chinese or japanese.
                      Interesting information thank you for providing it. I knew about the forest monasteries founded by Ven. Ajahn Chah, but I didn't know there was an English speaking branch monastery.
                      Wishing you a blessed and joyful journey wherever it may take you!

                      Andrea
                      Enjoy some Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan & Qi Gong!

                      Evening Classes in Zürich
                      Weekend Classes in other Swiss locations


                      Website: www.taichichuan-wahnam.ch
                      Facebook: www.facebook.com/Taichichuan.Wahnam.ch

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X