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Slow Time Perception Can Be Learned

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  • #16
    Originally posted by everyone thus far
    (cool and informative stuff)
    Completely agree with the notion of staying relaxed and calm. Against folks who may lack as much experience as I do, or at the very least aren't able to spar while relaxed, it's very easy for me to conserve my own energy and remain calm (which feeds directly into conserving my own energy, which keeps me calm, which gives me more energy, which keeps me calm...you get where I'm going with this). Against folks with significant skills and force, though, suddenly the equation of "me versus the opponent" turns into "me versus my feelings of inadequacy + the opponent's own legitimate skills." The calm goes crashing right out of the window.

    Luckily, we don't have to just jump right into the sparring ring (or squared circle, or octagon, or nine palace formation, or whatever other geometric formation of doom) without preparation; we have the seeds of calm planted with our very first lesson of relaxing, first while standing upright, then while in a stance, then while striking, and later on remaining calm even after you've been picked up and hurled ten feet through the air as your inner ear screams to you, "Wait, what happened to gravity?!" On a side note, our qigong is very, very good for healing acute injuries.

    Even better, Sifu has taught, not only in the past, but also in recent times, courses that emphasized exactly what you need to fight, and fight very well, at that. The fact that Sifu taught a very cool selective set just last year at the fundamentals course was just the cherry on the top. Easy to stay calm (and likewise move, fight, and perceive at a higher level) when you have an algorithm to follow and a tried and true training method that aims to give you exactly those skills.

    On a side note, the underlying skills of calm and energy flow which tie together all of our arts and inform our abilities in health, combat, and spiritual cultivation give us a wonderful tool to tackle any task or goal. In fact, I'm sure that once the seeds are planted, one who practices the way they've been taught will be able to work on many goals simultaneously, even at an unconscious level. It's how members of our school can develop protective force without specific Golden Bell exercises, mental focus without having to pursue sitting meditation, the Small Universe without having to learn a handful (lung-ful? belly-ful?) of breathing methods, and so forth. I've heard stories of even crazier abilities unlocked as well. All from just pursuing our foundational skills and techniques from Lifting the Sky, Horse Riding stance, One Finger Shooting Zen, and the combat sequences. Sure, specific techniques for specific skills exist, but likewise, specific skills can also manifest from general training.

    I haven't been to too many courses with Sifu, but having watched more Shaolin Wahnam course videos than most people watch television or movies, I've picked up here and there where Sifu or someone else mentions briefly a very important principle for some other art that is not being explicitly taught at that course. To use a mildly distant example, at Baguazhang in 2012, Sifu shared some "extras" about Dragon Strength as well as Xingyiquan. At Cosmos Palm, as one might expect, he shared some important principles about Striking a Buffalo Behind a Hill, but unexpectedly also shared some information about the Eighteen Lohan Hands as well as Cotton Palm.

    I guess what I'm getting at here is that in Shaolin Wahnam, there's more than meets the eye.

    And now if you'll excuse me, I should probably leave before everyone starts throwing rotten tomatoes at me.
    I like making silly videos (including kung fu ones!) every so often on YouTube and taking pictures of weird things on Instagram.

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