Hello hello! (Just a quick prostration of "Don't judge me too severely for this" before things get underway here...)
It has been almost a full seven months since the Five Animals Set course in Vienna, Austria this past Spring, and since then my practice has grown and changed and developed in so many diverse and deep ways that there is simply too much to go over. My practice of the set, the partner set, and the combat applications and unique force and skill training methods was initially just wonderful and consistent and daily (if not multiple times a day) for several months. But, with the advent of the Cosmos Palm course announcement and a series of changes in my personal and work lives, I shifted my practice and focus and have for the past 2-3 months been somewhat slack in my progression of Five Animals Set, practicing just the set 3-4 days out of each week and the other aspects of the course 1-2 times each week. For some reason as well, though I am extremely in love with my Kung Fu practice, I have always been drawn to Chi Kung for the majority of my practice time and am only just now starting to effectively use the one to balance the other, rather than getting obsessed with the fun feelings and states of Chi Kung practice.
BUT!!!!!! About one or two months ago, I began to discover something very intriguing and wonderfully satisfying from even just focusing on the set alone. From time to time I would have the urge to just perform certain portions of the set and the 'spirit' and ability of that portion and its manifested animal essence and characteristic would overflow. Riding this wave of newly-unlocked ability and discovery, I began to find that I could perform the entirety of the set utilizing the essence of a particular animal/characteristic, often manifesting in speed or force or stillness/sharpness of movement execution and flow that I became almost a different exponent for that time.
It took me a little time before I realized that this was what Sifu had mentioned to us during the course and a relation to his answer to my dear Austrian brother Dimitri's question during lunch one day at the courses. He had asked Sifu about the art in our school's list of 72 Shaolin arts known as "Hei Sai' which translates as "Energy-Spirit" and is the art by which we express and manifest/become and embody the characteristic essence or attribute and 'spirit' of the thing we are performing (be it a forceful black tiger punch, a fluid poisonous snake shoots venom, and focus-imbued and penetrating-mind power filled swimming dragon, to even a relaxed execution of 5 lifting the sky patterns, etc). This art is the art of embodying and expressing the spirit or essence of whatever it is we are to be expressing. A perfect example is a Black Tiger punch not being an old addict reaches for opium pipe... the difference is inherent in the spirit of its execution and expression of the appropriate characteristic and essence. (A perfect skill, methinks, for any aspiring actor or expressive performer*)
Long story long, this all began to snowball into my being aware of and capable of controlling and deciding my focus of expression throughout my set practice, unlocking unique features of the force training methods of each animal 'spirit' as well as patterns or longer segments of the entire set, or the whole itself. Following the Cosmos Palm course a few weeks ago, there have been a number of insane and out-of-this-world augmentations of my practice, mind, awareness, ability, force, depth and ability to access profound things, and what Sifu had described on he course as the level of the "marvelous" in terms of a unique and profound energy and ...power... or... something just, so totally beyond what I've known or can comprehend that it is frankly making me marvel all the time now... I have attempted to incorporate this, alongside the unification of form, flow, force, and the five animal spirits, in my final performance of the set (below).
Soooo, today, while taking a brisk walk through the local bird sanctuary in my town, which has numerous forest trails, I found a nice isolated path in which to further explore and attempt to document this progression and development in my practice. I perform the set several times, focusing on a different aspect to manifest utilizing the Hei Sai skill (to whatever poor degree my feeble level of attainment will allow me to) each time I run through the set.
Below are the various sections and their respective appearance times in the video:
1) The first performance/execution of the set is focusing on expressing Form for each pattern (00:11)
2) Emphasis on Flow (01:51)
3) Emphasis on Force (02:53)
4) Expressing the mind/shen of the Dragon in the whole of the set (04:36)
5) Expressing the fluidity and continuity of the Snake, performing the set as one continuous and flowing piece (06:18)
6) Expressing the explosive force and ferocity of the Tiger, maintaining and spontaneously expressing a spirit of adroitness and stable power (07:22)
7) Expressing the speed, smooth agility, and spontaneous and relaxed pattern execution and progressive turn-over/transition of the Leopard, remaining loose and precise throughout while being elevated to what is to me a mind-blowing level of alacrity (08:46) *This footage has not been altered/sped up, etc. in any way... not that I'm moving unreasonably quickly, but, just in case it's at all cool-seeming (doubtful), I just wanted y'all to know this is me letting it take over about 60%.... there are days... I just doubt you'll believe it being here in person, what lame speed I even manage to muster by some people's standards haha
8) Expressing the stillness, form, grace, balance, precision, and full, statuesque essence of the Crane, which, for me, often erupts into very startling 'SUDDENNESS' and bursting movement whose origin and progressive build-up is untraceable, but just "POPS" into being/position (like executing two beaks and the kick, each just 'being' there right after the last, and in excellent balance, powerful release, and staccato, graceful instantaneous-ness* (perhaps the best word for the crane, coupled with its grace, stillness, and fullness of form) ***Footage obscured as the frayed log and sticks I had used to create a makeshift stand for my phone blew over from the winds. MANY apologies!*** (09:38)
9) Unifying and utilizing the combined spirits and aspects (Form, Flow, Force) to perform the set, while also expressing the 'new' and 'further' thing that is manifested when these all combine (more than just the "sum of the parts"), alongside my added developments from other arts and the Cosmos Palm force and mind (the "marvelous"), to perform the set in the best way that I personally am capable of, making it not just the Five Animal Set, but one possible expression of what my combined training and skills have allowed me to manifest, through the vehicle of the set, in my set practice ability. Though not the best I've done, a milestone for my being able to concretely map and express and control each of the things I have now spent some meager time training and developing. These skills, though still fledgling and beginner, are "mine", no longer slippery or out of my control, and I feel what level of progress I have made, I am now able to grasp and direct.... I could weep at the joy of being able to attain and have at my disposal some level of the gifts that Sifu has blessed me with! (10:57)
Link URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66zXRJWcw48
I feel it only just and proper to leave this post with a few messages of deep import:
What I have been able to grasp and intuit and progress into, in terms of awareness, realization, skill, attainment, understanding, etc. in this Five Animals set is probably less than 5% of 1% of what I have been transmitted... On top of this, my performance and ability to actualize and manifest that attainment is only at about 25-60% depending on many factors during each session of my practice. The WEIGHT and power of how unbelievably blessed we are by Sifu to have such incredible and majestic arts available to us is crippling... In this small progress of mine I have become aware of the idea that we, every time we receive a transmission from Sifu, have become vessels and STEWARDS of these priceless treasures; that, through us (and our dedicated and persistent training), they might be preserved and passed on to the future of this school and the people of the world. I feel so amazingly lucky and blessed to have the chance to diligently further my development in this set, and all the other skills and sets I have learned or will learn from Sifu, so that I might do justice to his efforts and mission, his kindness and selfless giving, the treasure trove of material I have been entrusted with keeping, maintaining, progressing, and furthering, and the realization that it is now a DUTY to not let any skill I have been given fall to the wayside or, let alone, rust even a little at allllll!
Thank you, forever and for everything, Sifu! In ten thousand years of training I may not have unlocked everything these skills you have blessed me with have to offer, but in however many years I do have, I will train to realize as much of their potential as I can and keep them available for who or what ever they might be useful to put into service for. Long live Shaolin, long live Wahnam, long live Five Animals Set, and long live all great arts and those who preserve, cherish, and pass them on!!!!
Et voila:
Infinite blessings to all, always!!!
Kristian
It has been almost a full seven months since the Five Animals Set course in Vienna, Austria this past Spring, and since then my practice has grown and changed and developed in so many diverse and deep ways that there is simply too much to go over. My practice of the set, the partner set, and the combat applications and unique force and skill training methods was initially just wonderful and consistent and daily (if not multiple times a day) for several months. But, with the advent of the Cosmos Palm course announcement and a series of changes in my personal and work lives, I shifted my practice and focus and have for the past 2-3 months been somewhat slack in my progression of Five Animals Set, practicing just the set 3-4 days out of each week and the other aspects of the course 1-2 times each week. For some reason as well, though I am extremely in love with my Kung Fu practice, I have always been drawn to Chi Kung for the majority of my practice time and am only just now starting to effectively use the one to balance the other, rather than getting obsessed with the fun feelings and states of Chi Kung practice.
BUT!!!!!! About one or two months ago, I began to discover something very intriguing and wonderfully satisfying from even just focusing on the set alone. From time to time I would have the urge to just perform certain portions of the set and the 'spirit' and ability of that portion and its manifested animal essence and characteristic would overflow. Riding this wave of newly-unlocked ability and discovery, I began to find that I could perform the entirety of the set utilizing the essence of a particular animal/characteristic, often manifesting in speed or force or stillness/sharpness of movement execution and flow that I became almost a different exponent for that time.
It took me a little time before I realized that this was what Sifu had mentioned to us during the course and a relation to his answer to my dear Austrian brother Dimitri's question during lunch one day at the courses. He had asked Sifu about the art in our school's list of 72 Shaolin arts known as "Hei Sai' which translates as "Energy-Spirit" and is the art by which we express and manifest/become and embody the characteristic essence or attribute and 'spirit' of the thing we are performing (be it a forceful black tiger punch, a fluid poisonous snake shoots venom, and focus-imbued and penetrating-mind power filled swimming dragon, to even a relaxed execution of 5 lifting the sky patterns, etc). This art is the art of embodying and expressing the spirit or essence of whatever it is we are to be expressing. A perfect example is a Black Tiger punch not being an old addict reaches for opium pipe... the difference is inherent in the spirit of its execution and expression of the appropriate characteristic and essence. (A perfect skill, methinks, for any aspiring actor or expressive performer*)
Long story long, this all began to snowball into my being aware of and capable of controlling and deciding my focus of expression throughout my set practice, unlocking unique features of the force training methods of each animal 'spirit' as well as patterns or longer segments of the entire set, or the whole itself. Following the Cosmos Palm course a few weeks ago, there have been a number of insane and out-of-this-world augmentations of my practice, mind, awareness, ability, force, depth and ability to access profound things, and what Sifu had described on he course as the level of the "marvelous" in terms of a unique and profound energy and ...power... or... something just, so totally beyond what I've known or can comprehend that it is frankly making me marvel all the time now... I have attempted to incorporate this, alongside the unification of form, flow, force, and the five animal spirits, in my final performance of the set (below).
Soooo, today, while taking a brisk walk through the local bird sanctuary in my town, which has numerous forest trails, I found a nice isolated path in which to further explore and attempt to document this progression and development in my practice. I perform the set several times, focusing on a different aspect to manifest utilizing the Hei Sai skill (to whatever poor degree my feeble level of attainment will allow me to) each time I run through the set.
Below are the various sections and their respective appearance times in the video:
1) The first performance/execution of the set is focusing on expressing Form for each pattern (00:11)
2) Emphasis on Flow (01:51)
3) Emphasis on Force (02:53)
4) Expressing the mind/shen of the Dragon in the whole of the set (04:36)
5) Expressing the fluidity and continuity of the Snake, performing the set as one continuous and flowing piece (06:18)
6) Expressing the explosive force and ferocity of the Tiger, maintaining and spontaneously expressing a spirit of adroitness and stable power (07:22)
7) Expressing the speed, smooth agility, and spontaneous and relaxed pattern execution and progressive turn-over/transition of the Leopard, remaining loose and precise throughout while being elevated to what is to me a mind-blowing level of alacrity (08:46) *This footage has not been altered/sped up, etc. in any way... not that I'm moving unreasonably quickly, but, just in case it's at all cool-seeming (doubtful), I just wanted y'all to know this is me letting it take over about 60%.... there are days... I just doubt you'll believe it being here in person, what lame speed I even manage to muster by some people's standards haha
8) Expressing the stillness, form, grace, balance, precision, and full, statuesque essence of the Crane, which, for me, often erupts into very startling 'SUDDENNESS' and bursting movement whose origin and progressive build-up is untraceable, but just "POPS" into being/position (like executing two beaks and the kick, each just 'being' there right after the last, and in excellent balance, powerful release, and staccato, graceful instantaneous-ness* (perhaps the best word for the crane, coupled with its grace, stillness, and fullness of form) ***Footage obscured as the frayed log and sticks I had used to create a makeshift stand for my phone blew over from the winds. MANY apologies!*** (09:38)
9) Unifying and utilizing the combined spirits and aspects (Form, Flow, Force) to perform the set, while also expressing the 'new' and 'further' thing that is manifested when these all combine (more than just the "sum of the parts"), alongside my added developments from other arts and the Cosmos Palm force and mind (the "marvelous"), to perform the set in the best way that I personally am capable of, making it not just the Five Animal Set, but one possible expression of what my combined training and skills have allowed me to manifest, through the vehicle of the set, in my set practice ability. Though not the best I've done, a milestone for my being able to concretely map and express and control each of the things I have now spent some meager time training and developing. These skills, though still fledgling and beginner, are "mine", no longer slippery or out of my control, and I feel what level of progress I have made, I am now able to grasp and direct.... I could weep at the joy of being able to attain and have at my disposal some level of the gifts that Sifu has blessed me with! (10:57)
Link URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66zXRJWcw48
I feel it only just and proper to leave this post with a few messages of deep import:
What I have been able to grasp and intuit and progress into, in terms of awareness, realization, skill, attainment, understanding, etc. in this Five Animals set is probably less than 5% of 1% of what I have been transmitted... On top of this, my performance and ability to actualize and manifest that attainment is only at about 25-60% depending on many factors during each session of my practice. The WEIGHT and power of how unbelievably blessed we are by Sifu to have such incredible and majestic arts available to us is crippling... In this small progress of mine I have become aware of the idea that we, every time we receive a transmission from Sifu, have become vessels and STEWARDS of these priceless treasures; that, through us (and our dedicated and persistent training), they might be preserved and passed on to the future of this school and the people of the world. I feel so amazingly lucky and blessed to have the chance to diligently further my development in this set, and all the other skills and sets I have learned or will learn from Sifu, so that I might do justice to his efforts and mission, his kindness and selfless giving, the treasure trove of material I have been entrusted with keeping, maintaining, progressing, and furthering, and the realization that it is now a DUTY to not let any skill I have been given fall to the wayside or, let alone, rust even a little at allllll!
Thank you, forever and for everything, Sifu! In ten thousand years of training I may not have unlocked everything these skills you have blessed me with have to offer, but in however many years I do have, I will train to realize as much of their potential as I can and keep them available for who or what ever they might be useful to put into service for. Long live Shaolin, long live Wahnam, long live Five Animals Set, and long live all great arts and those who preserve, cherish, and pass them on!!!!
Et voila:
Infinite blessings to all, always!!!
Kristian
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