JANUARY 2007 (PART 2)

Most kungfu students, for example, spend most of their time practicing only form, with little or no force training and combat application, and know little or no kungfu philosophy. From our perspective in Shaolin Wahnam, we do not call that kungfu, we call that kungfu forms. In the past this was referred to as "flowery fists embroidery kicks".

JANUARY 2007 (PART 3)

There were five versions of Shaolin Kungfu, namely Henan Shaolin Kungfu from the northern Shaolin Monastery in Henan, Fujian Shaolin Kungfu from the southern Shaolin Monastery at Quanzhou in Fujian, Guangdong Shaolin Kungfu from disciples of the Venerable Chee Seen (who taught at the southern Shaolin Monastery at Nine-Lotus Mountain also in Fujian) who spread the art to Guangdong, Ermei Shaolin Kungfu from Pak Mei who taught on Ermei Mountain in Szechuan, and Wudang Shaolin Kungfu from Foong Tou Tak who taught on Wudang Mountain in Hubei.

FEBRUARY 2007 (PART 1)

Like my sifu, I thought beliefs in spirits were superstitious, though somehow inside me I had great respect for higher gods. When I first went to my sifu’s house, which also acted as a temple, for Shaolin training, I was concerned to see statues of gods and Buddhas on the altar. I clearly remember I said to myself that I went there to practice kungfu, not learn religion.

FEBRUARY 2007 (PART 2)

Your expansion beyond your physical body was a satori, a spiritual awakening. You directly experienced what great masters in the past had said, that we are spirit and our physical body is actually an illusion. This does not mean that we imagine our physical body to be there when it is not there. Given our normal conditions, our physical body is real. But when conditions change, like when you were in a heightened state of consciousness in that experience, you perceive reality differently and you may find your physical body not there because at that heightened level there is no physical body, only energy. Many of our Shaolin Wahnam family members have such wonderful experiences during their kungfu or chi kung sessions.

FEBRUARY 2007 (PART 3)

In our school "Lifting the Sky" is known as a wondrous exercise. It has a whole range of benefits from beginners to masters. It is easy to practice, and the benefits are quickly realized. When one follows the instructions respectively but still practices wrongly due to carelessness or forgetfulness, the side-effects are normally not serious. This is not the case in some exercise where side-effects can be very harmful.

MARCH 2007 (PART 1)

Both Sigung Ho and Sigung Lai taught Southern Shaolin Kungfu, but that of Sigung Ho came from the southern Shaolin Temple at Quanzhou, a city in the southern province of Fujian, whereas that of Sigung Lai came from the southern Shaolin Temple at Jiulianshan, or Nine-Lotus Mountain, which is also located in Fujian but near the boarder with Guangdong. The style of Southern Shaolin from Sigung Ho is Fujian Shaolin transmitted from the Venerable Jiang Nan, whereas that from Sigung Lai is Guangdong Shaolin transmitted from the Venerable Chee Seen. While there are a lot of similarities between these two styles of Southern Shaolin, there are also discernable differences.

MARCH 2007 (PART 2)

When we were upstairs I would demand going downstairs, and as soon as my mother carried me in her arms downstairs, I would demand to go up again. This would go on for hours. But a mother is never tired of caring for her child. My mother would caress me, sing to me and hold me close to her heart. I was too small then to remember much, but I can clearly remember this was, is and will be the most beautiful thing in my life.

MARCH 2007 (PART 3)

We would not have any Shaolin Wahnam today if not for an incidental remark which actually proved to be of paramount significance. Yong told my friend that he was planning to leave Taekwondo for Shaolin Kungfu. Everybody was surprised. Why did Yong want to leave Taekwondo and miss a rare opportunity of heading Taekwondo in Malaysia, and choose Shaolin Kungfu which many people thought could not be effective in sparring? Yong remarked in earnest, “I can handle any Taekwondo exponents comfortably, except the Korean masters.” After a short pause, Yong continued, “Even the Korean masters. If I can’t beat them, I won’t be far behind.” If a top Taekwondo practitioner made such a remark, I would be a fool not to find out the truth or otherwise from direct experience.

APRIL 2007 (PART 1)

Training the Butterfly Knives gives me agility and flexibility as well as calmness and confidence, which certainly will enrich our life and the lives of other people. The sword was the choice weapon of the kungfu knights, or scholar-warriors, in the past. It requires great skills to use the sword adroitly, skills that can be rewardingly transferred to our daily life. The Kwan Tou, or Crescent-Moon Knife, was the weapon of the great warrior, Kwan Yu, who was deified as a god of righteousness. He was also known for his great courage. The Crescent-Moon Knife not just symbolizes but actually manifests these-qualities.

APRIL 2007 (PART 2)

Wahnam Taijiquan evolved quite naturally. As I could not find a good Taijiquan teacher, I decided to learn Taijquan by myself. I bought whatever Taijiquan books I could. A small book by the great master Yang Deng Fu formed the source of Wahnam Taijiquan. Years later, some of my chi kung students who were Taiji instructors asked me to teach them Taijiquan. Initially I used the 24-Pattern Simplified Set. Later I chose the Chen Style fundamental set, made some changes to suit our particular needs, and used it as our basic set. Soon there were much adverse criticism accusing us of not having a proper Taijiquan lineage. Sifu Javier suggested that we used the term “Wahnam Taijiquan”, and Sifu Jeffrey of Australia formally proposed it. Zhang Wuji rightly said that by adopting this term “Wahnam Taijiquan”, we took responsibility for our own development.

APRIL 2007 (PART 3)

Attaining a one-pointed mind is one of the first skills students learn and acquire in my Intensive Chi Kung Course. It then enables them to tap energy from the Cosmos, generate an internal chi flow, and direct chi to wherever they wish inside their body. Having a one-pointed mind is a special skill. When you have acquired this skill, you can use it whenever you wish and for however long you like provided you can maintain the skill. If you are working on a scientific project, for example, you can, and should, remain in a one-pointed mind for the whole length of the project. You can produce better result in much shorter time than other people with distracted mind working on the same project.

MAY 2007 (PART 1)

It is because of this natural characteristic of chi flow that helps to overcome so-called incurable diseases. Some diseases, like diabetes and allergies, are regarded as "incurable" because Western doctors do not know their causes. So they resort to relieving their symptoms. Chi kung masters also do not know the causes, but so long as they can help their students generate a sufficiently powerful chi flow regularly, the chi flow will clear the energy blockage where it is, and restore the natural functioning of the student's body systems, which will result in him regaining good health.

MAY 2007 (PART 2)

"Thit Seen Khuen" is an advanced kungfu set to train internal force, not just for combat efficiency but also for health, vitality and longevity. It also makes the body tough (but not massive or muscular), and the mind sharp and clear. I practiced this set daily for some time in my young days, and can testify from my own experience that the internal force generated was tremendous. I would like to warn that it must be practiced correctly, preferably under the supervision of a master. Wrong practice can cause much harm, and it is easy to practice it wrongly.

MAY 2007 (PART 3)

If you analyze your feelings more deeply, you would find that actually you were not in love with any of the girls; you were in love with love itself. In love with love is not a bad thing, but you need to find the right girl to place your love in. You will have your own choice of qualities to look for in the right girl. But I shall mention one important quality. She must also love you. This may or may not be the first or second most important quality you want in your right girl, but it is an essential quality. In other words, no matter how wonderful she may be, if she does not also love you, then she is not your right girl. You should not waste your time on her. There are literally thousands of other eligible girls elsewhere.

JUNE 2007 (PART 1)

First of all, it will be very helpful to realize that yin and yang do not refer to absolute objects, processes or concepts. There are symbols referring to the two opposing yet complementary aspects of reality. Once you have understood this point, you can avoid many mis-understands many people have about yin and ang. Hence, designating certain food, like vegetable and meat, as unchangeable yin or yang is a mistake. Vegetable or meat may be yin in some situations and yang in others.

JUNE 2007 (PART 2)

Why are most kungfu practitioners today unable to use their kungfu for combat? It is because they have not been taught to do so. Why haven’t their schools or systems taught them kungfu combat? It is because somewhere in their generation line they have lost their sparring methodology? Hence, the majority of kungfu practitioners today – students as well as masters – either do not spar at all, or if they ever spar they use other martial art techniques.

JUNE 2007 (PART 3)

What I am happier is that your practice is helping you to achieve your goals and dreams. We emphasize this aspect of our teaching, which makes us quite different from many other schools and which many other students may not realize. In most other schools, students merely learn chi kung or kungfu. There is not much relationship between what they learn in their chi kung or kungfu and in their daily life. But in Shaolin Wahnam we do not merely learn chi kung or kungfu. We relate what we have learn in our chi kung and kungfu to our daily life, making it more rewarding for ourselves and for other people.

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