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**Andrea** · 16 January 2017, 03:31 PM

It sounds like a fantastic program and the Killarney region with its lakes and mystical landscapes is such beautiful location, not to mention the warm welcome from our Irish family. I hope many can benefit!

Best regards
Andrea

**Joan** · 17 January 2017, 09:40 AM

Dear Andrea,

Thank you for your lovely post and wishes.

We feel very honoured to be the country where Sifu begins his world tour and we wish Sifu and all the organisers in all of the other countries much fun, joy and benefit.

Personally I am looking forward to all the courses here, even the Generating Energy Flow which I must have taken over 26 times now (at least), but especially One Finger Shooting Zen which I haven't taken yet. If anybody reading this has had the transmission from Sifu on Shaolin Kungfu courses or as a stand alone course could share their experiences, I would love to hear them.

Smile from the Heart,
Joan

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**Joan** · 20 January 2017, 10:07 AM

Pushing hands-Life Skills

My Dear Family,

I guess I will have to wait to experience One Finger Shooting Zen for myself

, which is also good!

My students though, would like to share some of the benefits of Pushing hands with you, which Sifu is also generously teaching here for the Valentine's Festival. It would be good to have some experience in stances but it is open to other schools of Tai Chi Chuan also.

Stay tuned and have a lovely weekend,
Joan

**sancrica** · 21 January 2017, 07:29 PM

Dear Shaolin Wahnam Family,

I would like to share with you some of my experiences and daily life skills that "Pushing Hands" have given me.

I remember that I started practicing "Pushing Hands" under the guidance of Sije. For that, I feel very grateful as it has brought many benefits into my daily life.

I remember that "Pushing Hands" ended up being one of my most favorite practices. This was so because I learned a lot about myself, about others and about the way I interact with other people.

It is very interesting to perceive how different it can feel practicing "Pushing Hands" with different partners. One can really learn a lot about others when practicing "Pushing Hands".

"Pushing Hands" is an excellent way for training the skills of "Leading" and "Following". I believe that these skills are necessary for having a balance in life. This is because everyone of us, at some point, will have to follow and will have to lead.

Thanks to the "Pushing Hands" practice I discovered that I wasn't very good at Leading. I remember being very tense when I had to lead. I could feel how that tension was increasing, blocking my energy and taking away my focus.

If the practice partners were not good at following when I was leading it created a lot of frustration and we could not practice correctly.

When trying to lead I remember that, at some point, I started being affected by what the other person was doing. If the other person had the tendency to lead, I ended up following.

Being able to lead when I had to lead became very useful as I learned how to keep doing "my thing" irrespective of what the others were trying to do.

For example, when I knew that I had to lead, I learned how to do the leading without worrying if my practice partner was following me. It was his job to follow me. If he could not follow me, it was his problem, not mine. I didn't have to modify my speed or anything in order to accommodate to him.

This might seem easy for many, specially for the ones having the natural skill of Leading. But it wasn't easy for me. If the other wanted to lead I unconsciously let him do it. Knowing that this "Take Over" could be very subtle has taught me how to be aware of these subtle changes when interacting with other people in my daily life.

The practice of "Pushing Hands" is very interesting and greatly enriching. Every practice partner I practiced with had a tendency. Sometimes it was very subtle but I could clearly see how that was affecting the practice.

What is the greatest benefit that "Pushing Hands" has given me? Being able to lead and follow in a relaxed but firm way.

This is just a very little portion of what I have learned when practicing "Pushing Hands". I just shared the things that created the greatest impact on me in order to keep the post short. :-)

Needless to say that, if anyone wants to know more about other benefits that I got with the "Pushing Hands" practice, I can happily keep sharing some more.

With Love, Care and Shaolin Salute,

Santi

**drunken boxer** · 23 January 2017, 08:46 PM

Originally posted by Joan View Post

Personally I am looking forward to all the courses here, even the Generating Energy Flow which I must have taken over 26 times now (at least), but especially One Finger Shooting Zen which I haven't taken yet. If anybody reading this has had the transmission from Sifu on Shaolin Kungfu courses or as a stand alone course could share their experiences, I would love to hear them.

Dear Joan Sije,

I've not done it as a standalone course, but have done it as part of other courses. I particularly remember everyone commenting about when we learned it as part of the "advanced combined multiple attackers" course a few years ago in Malaysia - loads of people said it was amazing. If I remember correctly it was on the second day of the course, I had been in a bit of a funk on the first day, a kind of personal sadness, practise wasn't going great, health was feeling so-so, and then I had also taken a few bruises in sparring from hits and falls later in the day. That One Finger Zen session the next morning blew all that away! I was so charged up I could hardly sleep and the wonderful feelings stayed for the rest of the course.

I actually have a question about it, thinking about another course I did at the time, actually I have two questions I will put the next one in a separate post (maybe even separate thread). The next course I did after that was Wing Choon in Malaysia, which has Siu Lim Tao - an art with some similarities to One Finger Zen. On that course we learned how to practise at the form, chi or jing level (separately), and we also learned about hard force, all of which was amazing as well. Compared to Siu Lim Tao, I would say I practise One Finger Zen at the chi level. Is this the correct way? Should we ever practise One Finger Zen with any jing or hard force elements?

Hopefully I will get a chance to ask Sifu this question at the course!

**drunken boxer** · 23 January 2017, 08:56 PM

The other thing I want to talk about is Killarney and Co Kerry, and Joan Sije did not put me up to this, she did not need to! This is one of my favourite places in the world. Ireland has many beautiful counties and many fun towns, but I would be hard pressed to name a more beautiful county than Kerry nor a more fun town than Killarney. People drive 100s of miles from where I live to go to Kerry and Killarney, and that isn't even to do world class internal arts!

Also when I've been there in the summer many people are visiting from America, China, Germany and of course Scotland and England. The scenery is fantastic, and if you enjoy going to a good pub and listening to some good music, especially Irish music, its wonderful.

I am coming down on the saturday, but not taking any courses till sunday afternoon, so am hoping to go into Killarney town on saturday evening. If anyone wants to go to, or knows any good places etc that would be good, but as Joan Sije told me it is hard to go wrong there, I have just wondered in any place that looked fun before, and usually they all look fun and they are!

**Dominic Roche** · 24 January 2017, 08:11 PM

Dear Sifu,

Thank you for this great opportunity to attend many wonderful courses during this Valentines festival.

Thank you Sigung for coming back to Ireland to pass on many skills and life changing experiences.

I am really excited about the upcoming Pushing Hands course and the many lessons and life applicable skills that will appear over the three days. Every time I have been lucky enough to practice pushing hands I have always come away from it with many lessons and changes I need to make in my daily life to be happier and better at dealing with challenges and life in general.

One of the most important lessons I have learnt in the last few months is to keep my guard up and look after my space. This came about one weekend as I pushed hands with my training partner, an uneasy feeling welled up inside me and I was not enjoying the situation. What was I doing? I was leaving my training partner push hands too close to me for comfort and my guard hand was down and not alive.

Sifu made me aware of what I was doing wrong and when I applied the changes the situation was completely different. I felt more prepared and safe as I followed. I felt in control of the situation and aware to keep myself safe. A light bulb went off in my head, this is what I have been missing out of my life and my dealing with people especially at work.

I was not keeping my guard up and looking after my space, letting someone attack me so to speak in a situation and not do anything about it. Since I have become aware of this, working and dealing with my co workers has been made easier and I have been able to stand up for myself when needed.

This is what I love about our arts, our daily lives can be improved and enhanced so much as we practice.

Thank you Sigung, Sifu and the past Masters.

Best wishes,
Dominic.

**Joan** · 25 January 2017, 04:37 PM

Pushing hands- a little more info

Dear Santi and Dominic,

Thank you for your posts.

We learn a lot on a Pushing hands course, we learn to deepen many skills and experience some new ones. We also learn how to transfer these skills into daily life.

Some of the skills we deepen and learn:

Bow Arrow:
We practice Pushing hands in a Bow Arrow stance, so it is important to have a good stance, to be relaxed and to be focused. If the stance is not right, there is no stability nor energy flow. The six harmonies are already missing even before Pushing hands with a partner begins.

Being Relaxed:
It is important to remain relaxed and also to not allow our chi rise which often happens at the beginning. Many students tense their arm while pushing hands with a partner and tire easily. Most students feel it in the legs also, remember ‘relax, relax relax’!!

Hearing Force:
Internal force is built by being relaxed, focused as well as, in this case, practising a good stance.
A very important leasson is learning the skill of ‘hearing force’. Students become adept at being able to tune in to their partner’s movements and chi in a very deep way. This will enable you to ‘sense’ any change in movement, in the beginning the changes from perhaps fast to slow, big or small movements while pushing hands, but later when your opponent’s ‘chi ‘ changes as a strike comes in. Hearing force is also a wonderful skill to learn for daily life as some of my students have found out.

Waist Rotation:
We deepen our skill in waist rotation, a fundamental skill in Tai Chi Chuan.

Staying grounded:
We deepen our skill of staying at our Dan Tian and not letting the chi rise.

Deeper Awareness:
Our awareness is much more heightened.

Masterpiece movements:
Every movement is relaxed, elegant and mindful.

We learn spacing and as Santi mentioned we learn how to be a good leader and follower. We laugh a lot in class as we become aware of what we are doing in Pushing hands and in life too. For example, those who completely take control of Pushing hands even when they are meant to be following, one of my students suddenly realised this and made the connection on how domineering she was in life as well, especially at work. There are so many life skills in just Pushing hands even without going into the combat part, it never fails to amaze me.

As we progress, we learn how to push from the front, sides and back and defend these attacks.

Some of the important points here are:
Safety first
Cover well
Good Footwork
Movement from back leg, controlled at the waist.
Movement is elegant, the chi is stable and there is presence of mind.

Sifu often mentions:‘Defeat is what you hand to your opponent, Victory is what you acquire yourself’‘
This becomes very apparent if you push your opponent incorrectly with bad form and hand movement, you hand your defeat to him, and all he has to do is exploit the weakness.

It is no wonder students love Pushing hands!!

We are very blessed to be experiencing the direct transmission from Sifu in just a couple of weeks!
Many Blessings,
Joan

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**Joan** · 25 January 2017, 04:42 PM

Dear Paul,

Thank you so much for replying and it will be wonderful to have you here in Killarney with us in a few weeks. There is even an Irish music festival in the hotel next door for you!!!

That One Finger Zen session the next morning blew all that away! I was so charged up I could hardly sleep and the wonderful feelings stayed for the rest of the course.

Imagine 3 hours of One Finger Shooting Zen..............PHEW!!

Yes, I think it may be a good idea to ask Sifu when you are here. We will give you, and anybody else on the course who has a question, a special recording of Sifu's answer.

Many Blessings,
Joan

**Kevin_B** · 25 January 2017, 10:50 PM

Thank you Sifu for starting this thread and allowing us to the opportunity to discuss what promises to be another wonderful week of Shaolin training with Sigung. Can't believe Valentines 2017 is only a short few weeks away....

Pushing Hands is one of the many mysteries of Tai Chi Chuan. How can something that on the surface looks so straightforward allow us to develop such remarkable insights into ourselves and how we relate to people, circumstances and places? It is an Art of Self Knowing that is as much about understanding ourselves as it is an Art of developing skills for combat.

Another masterclass awaits us!

Thank you Sigung for again travelling all the way around the world to teach us such extraordinary arts. From the heart Sigung, thank you.

Only 30 days to go now!

All the best,

Kevin

**Karol** · 26 January 2017, 06:23 PM

Dear Sipak,

Answering Your question - my experience with One Finger Shooting Zen is short, I practice it only for about a year and a half.

I wished to attend this amazing course on Valentines 2017, but had to change my plans in reason of totally amazing event taking place in December this year (I am a simple plumber and have only couple of weeks off a year).

I hope this can help other students in the practice.

I remember that at the beginning I was very confused. My chi was weak and I could not feel internal force. I was trying to find the answer in the book (The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu) and confused tensing the muscles with consolidation.

Sigung kindly transmitted One Finger Shooting Zen to us during the Legacy of Ho Fatt Nam course in Zurich. Since then I practice it every day.

I have to honestly say that even if the techniques looks simple, this set has so much to offer, and I continously learn something new.

Sigung told us the first part of the set - One Finger Shooting Zen and Single Tiger Claw. I think the rest of the set is transmitted during the Intensive Kung Fu course only, but I am not sure.

Sigung told us how to flow, and then consolidate the energy. We did it first while standing in Two Character Stance, then in Horse Riding Stance.

At the beginning it was easier to feel the energy while standing still in chi flow. I think I was too tensed to feel anything in the Horse Riding Stance. With time, when my stance got more relaxed and level of chi increased I could feel it better.

Then, during the 72 Shaolin Arts course something happened. I realised the importance of good form (while still relaxed). It was the moment when my hand started to shake. Feeling of steel in the hand, and especially in the finger. And sound of cutting air while doing the Single Tiger Claw.

At the moment I start to feel the chi going from the kidneys while sending it to the finger. I still can`t feel the vibration in the lungs during the Tiger Claw. I guess it will come with time.

Sometimes I test the force by extinguish a candle. During the Christmas I managed it from about 40-45 cm (but it was a small candle and it happened only once). At home I use good, thick, Norwegian candles. Its way harder and distance is much shorter. I noticed that my two finger Zen (sword form?) is much stronger, hard to say why since I have never practiced it before.

What is my motivation? Sitaigung, Sigung and my Sifu practice it every day. I remember that during the very first dinner together with Sigung I asked Sigung about His impressive internal force. Sigung smiled and said - practice One Finger Shooting Zen. You will get the same in ten years!

It will be an amazing course. I hope one day I will get the chance to visit my Irish Family.

**drunken boxer** · 27 January 2017, 04:19 PM

Originally posted by Joan View Post

Thank you so much for replying and it will be wonderful to have you here in Killarney with us in a few weeks. There is even an Irish music festival in the hotel next door for you!!!

Ha ha, wow, I'm going to have to take having such luck as this as a sign of the manifestation of good chi flow! Or maybe it is the Xingyi Kungfu Sifu taught me, ie mind intention boxing, I pictured Irish music and I got it! Well this doesn't always happen me everytime so it must be the help from everyone else's chi who is attending, thank you all!

Originally posted by Joan View Post

Yes, I think it may be a good idea to ask Sifu when you are here. We will give you, and anybody else on the course who has a question, a special recording of Sifu's answer.

More good luck, thanks! I was thinking I might know the answer, ie if Sifu wanted us to practise One Finger Zen in a certain way he would tell us, but I was intellectualizing that I have seen him use this jing / hard / shaking kind of force more in recent years so perhaps One Finger Zen would be taught differently now than when I first learned it. There will be an answer in the doing of it at the course!

**veenie** · 27 January 2017, 09:04 PM

Greetings Shaolin Wahnam family and Happy Chinese New Year!!!

It is wonderful to be reminded of the many benefits of Pushing Hands. Thank you Joan Sije for your indepth explanation and thank you brothers for sharing your experiences.

What appeared to be simple hand forms unlocked innumerable benefits all which could only be learnt from a master.

I had the pleasure of learning Pushing Hands from Joan Sije a course I thoroughly enjoyed with my brothers and sisters and a course I recommend. I learnt many skills on this course including sensing my opponents using circular chi along with their intention, following and leading, having good stances, spacing and timing to attack and rotation of waist along with sinking to defend and most of all relaxing not using force. It is amazing how these skills allow you to know yourself and others. Applying the skills to daily life has not only benefited my Kung Fu practice but also my relationship with others along with having the confidence to follow my intuition and being more mindful.

One Finger Shooting Zen is one of my favourite practices. I learnt the art on the last day of the Intensive Kung Fu course and it was incredible! Learning the treasure of Shoalin Wahnam from Sifu has transformed my life for the better. The flow and force enables me to live life fully, do everything with zest as well as having good health, vitality, mental clarity and most of all peace. Three hours of One Finger Shooting Zen is going to be mind blowing!!! 😀 How lucky we are to get the rare opportunity to learn from Sifu only a hop skip and a jump away!

There is so much to learn from Pushing Hands and One Finger Shooting Zen I look forward to deepening my practice at this year's magical Valentine festival and sharing the experience with my beautiful Shaolin Wahnam family.

Thank you Sifu for teaching these incredible arts. Thank you Joan Sije and the Irish family for organising all the courses.

Hao Yun Qi

With Blessings,
Parveen

**Joan** · 30 January 2017, 11:41 AM

My Dear Family,

Only 26 days to go! It is always very exciting awaiting Sifu's presence in our beautiful country. We make plans and scrap them, we make more and scrap them too and then we realise.............Ah lets just got with the flow! The adventure is always much more exciting!

Dear Karol, thank you for replying to my request and sharing your experience with One Finger Shooting Zen

What is my motivation? Sitaigung, Sigung and my Sifu practice it every day. I remember that during the very first dinner together with Sigung I asked Sigung about His impressive internal force. Sigung smiled and said - practice One Finger Shooting Zen. You will get the same in ten years!

It will be an amazing course. I hope one day I will get the chance to visit my Irish Family.

We are certainly all looking forward to experiencing Sifu's transmission at the Valentine's Festival. We look forward to your visit at another time Karol.

Dear Parveen:

Thank you for your very kind words. Teaching Pushing hands was a whole new experience for me. I remember asking Sifu many years ago about the life skills of this beautiful art and Sifu replied along the lines of 'It will become more clear as you practice and teach'. At the time, I didn't really understand but I accepted Sifu's advice and some time later it was just there!

Now, when I teach Pushing hands, I can see exactly what people may be doing in their daily life that is not helpful for them. With some adjustments, it also becomes clear to the students and a lightbulb moment for them.

One student mentioned that I should teach it as 'couple's counselling' it was so effective!

I learnt many skills on this course including sensing my opponents using circular chi along with their intention, following and leading, having good stances, spacing and timing to attack and rotation of waist along with sinking to defend and most of all relaxing not using force. It is amazing how these skills allow you to know yourself and others. Applying the skills to daily life has not only benefited my Kung Fu practice but also my relationship with others along with having the confidence to follow my intuition and being more mindful.

One Finger Shooting Zen is one of my favourite practices. I learnt the art on the last day of the Intensive Kung Fu course and it was incredible! Learning the treasure of Shoalin Wahnam from Sifu has transformed my life for the better. The flow and force enables me to live life fully, do everything with zest as well as having good health, vitality, mental clarity and most of all peace. Three hours of One Finger Shooting Zen is going to be mind blowing!!! 😀 How lucky we are to get the rare opportunity to learn from Sifu only a hop skip and a jump away!

Thank you Parveen, a beautiful and inspiring post. We look forward to welcoming you and Joel back to Killarney in just a few weeks!

With deepest appreciation and respect to our Sifu, Sigung Lai and Sigung Ho and all past Masters,
Joan

Announcement

SIFU is in IRELAND - VALENTINE'!!

SIFU is in IRELAND - VALENTINE'!!

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