Shaolin Flower Set and Asking Bridges course discussion

[foxinsocks74]

Flights to Finland

All,

I just booked my flight to Finland and thought I should alert those who haven't already done so that the cheapo tickets on Finnair from Heathrow are rapidly evaporating.

Sunday flights are now quite expensive and according to the information on the Opodo website I got one of the last available discount economy seats on Finnair for the Saturday.

I used Opodo because they had a good price -- about the same as booking Finnair direct -- and also I received a £20 discount from them. You can try using the same discount code and I see no reason why it won't work:

TRYUSAGAIN (just enter this in the discount code field on the payment page)

I paid £242 in total which I think is pretty good!

We had a great day at the Wing Choon project yesterday which has only whetted my appetite for Winter Camp!

[mping]

Hello all,

Just wanted to say that I've confirmed my flights, I'll be arriving at Ivalo on sunday, after a 12h transfer time in Heathrow :\

Is it possible for me to leave Heathrow airport on saturday evening and come back at sunday early morning? I would like to see at least a little bit of the city, since I've never been to London.

Thanks & hope to see you all soon,
Miguel

[MaxP]

Brother Miguel,

If you do decide to transfer overnight at Heathrow, then you're more than welcome to come visit me in North London. I could provide some free lodgings for you also, and perhaps a very short tour!

Best,

Max

Namo Amitabha Buddha

[Martin Do]

Hey Miguel ,

That's absolutely fantastic news. I am so happy for you that you will be learning the legendary Flower set directly from Sigung. Awesome hehe.

Brother Miguel,

I believe thats Miguel "Sisook" to you Max hehe. Just kidding. A private joke between me and Miguel when we spoke about you in Frankfurt.

Miguel, I am going to make your situation into one where you'd be spoilt for choice. You are also welcome to stay at my place too if you wish. I am sure which ever place you choose, myself and Max won't be offended .

You can get the London Underground from Heathrow to where me and Max live which is about £6 (one way) and about one hour and fourty five minutes to where I live or about an hour to Max's place I think.

It is possible for you to leave Heathrow Saturday night and get back to Heathrow on Sunday morning. However, London underground trains don't start until about 6 am on Sunday morning I think so it depends on exactly what time you have to be at Heathrow for.

Alternatively, if you want, I can spend the night driving you around London and doing some sightseeing from the car, stopping off from time to time to walk and see things a bit more, to get some food or coffee, to do a bit of chi kung or a bit of sparring , then a couple of hours sleep (or not) in the car before your flight. Max, you're more than welcome to join us for this too.

However, I don't want you to be exhausted before you even start the course so bare this in mind .

With my best wishes

Martin

[Grimlock]

Siheng Nick, it will be great to see you again, as well!

@Danateske I guess there's a lot to be thankful for

See you all in a month!

[mping]

Brothers Max and Martin,
I'm very happy to know that you both have offered me a tour. I'ts always heartening to see such hospitality from you guys.

Hey Miguel ,
You can get the London Underground from Heathrow to where me and Max live which is about £6 (one way) and about one hour and fourty five minutes to where I live or about an hour to Max's place I think.

It is possible for you to leave Heathrow Saturday night and get back to Heathrow on Sunday morning. However, London underground trains don't start until about 6 am on Sunday morning I think so it depends on exactly what time you have to be at Heathrow for.

I'll be arriving at Heathrow at 21h25 Friday (not Saturday) , and my flight is at 10:20 am at Saturday (not Sunday). One day earlier.

I'm sure we can see some sights and do some practice and then I can come back to catch my flight. We can have a late night snack (I heard that in England diner is around 6pm hehe), maybe some other brothers can join in, and then we can choose what we want to do. I wasn't planning on sleeping in London, I prefer to have a good rest when arriving at the training grounds. This way I'm also sure I don't miss my flight.

For all other guys attending the course, I'm looking forward to meet you. I'm also interested in sharing an apartment, so count me in if you want my company.

And for George Sihing, I can still remember your big grin haha hoping to see you soon too.

Now enough of typing, time to do some practice

[Martin Do]

Hey Miguel

[QUOTE=mping;99886](I heard that in England diner is around 6pm hehe),[QUOTE]

In a snobbish tone:

Oh yah. In England we have tea and biscuit at three o'clock then supper at six o’clock. After this, there are plenty of places where one can get some top kebabs, curries and beer .

I'll send you an email later today and we can chat more there .

With my best wishes

Martin

[drunken boxer]

Hi Miguel, good to hear you're coming to London, and I'm very jealous of you and everyone else who is doing the Flower Set course!

This is Friday 7th Jan right? In which case I'll be in London, I can meet you at Heathrow airport then we can get the train in to central London and meet up with Martin and Max. I can confirm that late night snacks are definitely available in UK

Paul

[mping]

Hi Paul,

That would be great! I hope I can someday repay the English hospitality
I'm sending you a private message with my contacts so we can later make the arrangements.

Thank you all for your kindness,
Miguel

[Omar]

I heard the Romans only managed to conquer England after they learned the time of day when the Brits would lay down their arms to have tea and biscuits.

Anyone intersting in sharing an appartment in Finland? I will be staying for the whole course.

Drop me a pm

[Markus Kahila]

Men Kiu - Asking Bridge

Dear family and visitors,


In case you haven't noticed, Sifu has posted an excellent article about Men Kiu, the Shaolin art of "Asking Bridge" on his website.


The article can be found here.


For all of you still contemplating whether or not take the course, better choose fast - although there are still some vacancies, time is running out...and this is sure to be one of the life-changing courses by Sifu!


Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and see you soon in Lapland!!!



Best wishes,

[Tim]

I can tell you it's a great course so far. By practicing the foundation stances we learn on other courses the material for the flower set came naturally, but by using the flow method taught on this and other specialized courses we were able to experiences the basics at a deeper level. The two go hand in hand, without the foundation and internal force the flower set would just be great patterns. With the flow method the patterns and stances become great.

More soon.

[Mark CH]

To everyone at the course, have a wonderful time. Look forward to hearing all the joyful experiences.

Best wishes
Mark

[Tim]

Thanks Mark, you are missed!

The searching bridges this afternoon was something else, we went from tiger style to dragon with the same combat sequence then onto chi sau. Chi sau led us back into the combat sequences using dragon form. The Wing Choon course helped with this area but I am pleased to say that as a result of practicing the flower set and searching bridges has enhanced my chi sau. I have to appologise in advance if the odd bong sau or leak hand creeps in as well!

It's been a great first day and I am looking forward to eating the beef curry Mark T and I have whipped up.

Great people on the course as well, always great yo reconnect with the family and make new friends as well.

[Mark Blohm]

Take it!

Dear Family,

Both of these courses are stupendous.

For me, and I'm sure most other people, we had a great moment when we practiced Ng Mui's specialty pattern with the flow method. As Sifu noted, gently powerful, to fit the beautiful ladies and the elegant gentlemen

And as Sifu Tim has alluded to, the Dragon and Tiger approaches to Asking Bridges feel super special and are really fun. What Sifu Tim said about his Chi Sau is inspiring, as Sifu has illuminated for us. Not only will practicing Asking Bridges improve our chi sau and vice versa, practicing Asking Bridges and Flower Set will improve Sifu Markus' Iron Wire, Sifu Roland's Monkey Style and Praying Mantis, and Sifu Tim's Wing Choon. When we add breadth to our Kung Fu repertoire, it adds as much quality as when we go deeper into a particular style. As Sifu has written:

Yang Lu Chan reached top excellence in Taijiquan, while Yim Wing Choon, Thiet Kiew Sam, Wang Lang and Fong Sai Yoke reached top excellence in Wing Choon Kungfu, Iron Wire, Praying Mantis and Flower Set. On the other hand Zhang San Feng, Ng Mui, Pak Mei and Chee Seen were all-rounders.

Although we now often refer to Zhang San Feng as the First Patriarch of Taijiquan, during his time he was never known as a Taijiquan grandmaster. (The term "Taijiquan" was not coined yet.) But the best of Yang Lu Chan's Taijiquan was still far off from the general internal arts of Zhang San Feng.