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  • Attaining the Marvelous

    Hello all!

    After returning from the Essence of Shaolin course last week, I have been placing much energy into analyzing what it is that makes a sequence or pattern "marvelous".

    Sifu himself has commented upon this and it is very clear that every pattern in the set is itself intrinsically "capable of" or "qualified for" being used in a marvelous way (as opposed to a hypothetical pattern that, given its innate technical limitations or problems, would not be so).

    While this may be the case, it was very interesting for me to see many patterns that I had learned before, some whose secret applications I have been shown in courses with Sifu, used here again.

    The major one, for me, was butterfly palms. At the Cosmos Palm course last year, we were all shown the 'secret' of these wondrous palms in their application against any attack or situation.

    At Essence, we were once again shown the use of these palms and, while the use was similar, it was the WAY in which Sifu utilized that "option" of application in a marvelous response or initiatory action that opened a new door to my understanding. Some techniques, while wondrous, can be taken to a truly 'marvelous' height if that wondrous capacity is applied at that level of skill.

    It would be very very VERY interesting to explore and investigate what, if any, other techniques or styles could also qualify for such heightened use and what, at a finer level, would constitute marvel, vs, say, wonderful or powerful or universally-applicable, use.

    Just a curiosity that I hope perhaps some other one or two might lend some commentary to and, if anyone from the courses is interested, what patterns that you may have previously learned that were shown again opened new doors of perception to your understanding and perspective of the patterns you use and used to use.

    Infinite blessings to all, always,

    Kristian

  • #2
    Hey there, Kristian! I'm very glad you were able to attend Essence of Shaolin. Just from the set itself and the public videos, it looks like it was a great time! I unfortunately wasn't at the course, but the discussion in The Complete Book of Shaolin always rang in my ears, that the marvelous could defeat strength, techniques, force, and speed, and that the marvelous could come in the form of any one (or more) of those four qualities being used in combat. Other things that ring in my ears are exhortations to train One Finger Shooting Zen daily, to train everyday, and other silliness like getting enough sleep, not over training, and all that other "human stuff."

    It's interesting that you mention the different levels of skill inherent in various patterns, including the Double Butterfly Palms. In the basic Shaolin kung fu syllabus, we learn to use a transitional Unicorn step, followed by the Double Butterfly Palms to brush away an attempt to fell us to the ground and to use striking or release force to deal with our opponent. At the Cosmos Palm course, we learnt to use Double Butterfly Palms against the four categories of attack. One of the hallmarks of Sifu's teaching is how systematic he is; he did not just jump straight into the highest level of usage in Double Butterfly Palms, but built us up from the most basic way of defending ourselves with Four Fingers to Sky before applying the palm strike, then having our defense smoothly transition into our counter, and finally just directly counter-attacking with the double palm strike. I was very surprised at how many component parts were required to "just go in" at the highest level of Double Butterfly Palms, and believe me, I have a long way to go before I can safely and assuredly use that simple looking pattern against any incoming attack, haha. But we all start with "first defend, then counter," "defense becomes counter" and finally "direct counter attack." I think that sounds familiar! (psst, page 73 of The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu, 2002 edition).

    Being something of the local Baguazhang nut, I might have a few things to say about how it may become marvelous. There are a few tactics that are talked about quite a bit in Baguazhang literature and stories, namely the repeated Piercing Palms (simply put, just chaining repeated Snake and reverse Snake thrusts to the face). Some folks even say that Piercing Palms are as characteristic of a Baguazhang tactic as circling to an opponent's side or back, claiming that the first patriarch himself, Dong Hai Chuan, stating, "Even gods and spirits fear the Three Piercing Palms" and how often they are mentioned in the Songs and Methods of Baguazhang.

    The Piercing Palms tactic is nothing new to us in Shaolin Wahnam; it is essentially using the tactic of Continuous Cannons (similar to Black Tiger Chases Wind, as seen in this other clip) to overwhelm our opponent with a chosen sequence, even if that sequence is just one pattern performed over and over again, making sure that we are well covered. Naturally, we have to make sure that our form is correct to take advantage of the defensive and offensive principles inherent in the pattern itself (the stance protecting our groin and keeping our joints safe, the footwork trapping our opponent and limiting their movements, waist rotation to better use our internal force, and appropriate alignments, timing, and spacing to successfully hit our opponent at all, and all the other wonderful things we train in the basic Shaolin Kung Fu syllabus), having an unbroken flow to overwhelm our opponent, and having decisive force to end the present conflict in a timely manner. Form, flow, force, sounds familiar. Sounds at least ten years sort of familiar.

    How does such a technique become marvelous? After all, sitting in the Bow Arrow or Bagua stance and delivering a finger thrust to the face with whichever hand sounds simple enough. Any component or combination of components might elevate a simple eye poke to a higher level technique. You might stamp your front foot on the opponent's ankle or lock their leg to prevent them from stepping away. You could train your internal force to be able to explode force from the shoulder instead of spending a longer amount of time rotating the waist and extending the back leg. You might refine that even further to deliver force from the wrist instead after sending out a seemingly "empty" and flaccid arm that exhibits no threat until the last moment before you send your force out and into your target. You could line up your strike in such a way that the path your striking arm takes cuts off any avenues by which your opponent may deliver a reasonably successful counter-strike. You could do the same as the responder, shooting out your own Piercing Palm to brush away an opponent's incoming strike to strike them just as they think they have struck you, and follow through with another two or three Piercing Palms to assure your opponent that you have seized the initiative and to remind them that they will likely need a new glasses prescription if they are able to escape from you. You could even train your chosen pattern to be a Swiss Army Knife that enables you to to turn a strike into a qin na pattern, or to be able to fell an opponent with that same pattern if the situation demands.

    Or you could just train to do all of those things simultaneously. Why not? We have more than enough tools to turn our simple techniques into advanced techniques, and those who attended the Essence of Shaolin course can turn any simple or advanced technique into a marvelous one.

    I'll leave it to someone who actually attended Essence of Shaolin to offer their commentary here. I'm sure there's a whole world of application that I missed from not attending that course.
    I like making silly videos (including kung fu ones!) every so often on YouTube and taking pictures of weird things on Instagram.

    Comment


    • #3
      Hi Kristian,

      It's worth mentioning that The Marvelous is relative. By definition, it leaves an exponent marveling at the response used against him/her, whether due to speed, pattern selection/technique, or force. During the course, The Marvelous generally referred to applications that even another master would regard as marvelous.

      Let's consider a couple of examples at different levels.

      1) You cover a beginner student well when coming in for a technique, pinning his arm to his body. He struggles trying to apply the counter because he tries to force his way through your taming. You show him that if he takes a small step back, he relieves the pressure of the tame and can easily apply his counter. Is this Marvelous?

      2) In the Glory of Kung Fu course discussion thread, Nessa shared a story of an Ng Mui Kungfu master attacking Sifu with his flying kicks attack that no one had previously been able to defend. Sifu was familiar with the technique and not only defended it well, but had the presence of mind to switch from driving a phoenix eye into the master's solar plexus to brushing his chest with his palm. Is this Marvelous?


      My own answers are as follows:

      1) is marvelous to the beginner and may or may not be marvelous to you. Interestingly, even though this response is incredibly basic, when I first show it to a student, I marvel all over again at how tiny corrections completely change things in Shaolin Kungfu. However, I don't personally consider this a marvelous response.

      2) is marvelous to the other master and may or may not be marvelous to Sifu. From the other master's perspective, he had a marvelous, unbeatable attack. He was surely surprised by Sifu's counter and no doubt considered it marvelous. From Sifu's perspective, I suspect he did not consider either the master's attack or his own counter marvelous. I'm speculating based on him not only countering but having time to change his counter to be more merciful. If the other master's skill was such that Sifu was surprised by the attack even though he was familiar with it, and he was barely able to use the first counter that came out (or even unable to counter, forced to just defend or retreat) he would surely consider it marvelous. Or if the other master's skill was significantly better than most people he had sparred with, Sifu might consider his response marvelous even though it was comfortable for him. Or he might realize from the other master's reaction that what he did was marvelous. For me, I consider it a marvelous response to a marvelous attack even just reading about the exchange and not witnessing it.


      What do you think?
      Chris Didyk
      Shaolin Wahnam USA


      Thank You.

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