JULY 1998 (PART 1)
The crucial point that differentiates chi kung from gentle exercise is that in chi kung the practitioner actively, consciously works on his vital energy. In fact, the term chi kung literally means "energy work". And the most fundamental aspect of energy work is to be able to generate your internal energy flow. Once you can do that, you may channel your energy flow to your lungs to clear away toxic waste in your air sacs, to increase your energy level for kungfu or soccer, and to do many other useful things. You do all these things actively, consciously -- otherwise what you practice cannot be called chi kung.
Asking why opening the heart meridian will lead to a feeling of inner peace and happiness, is like asking why gastric juices digest food in the stomach, or why the lungs take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. The answer is all these processes are natural. The West in general does not know about this relationship between the heart meridian and happiness because in the history of western philosophy and science, westerners have paid little attention (so far) to internal energy flow.
If I have to pay, I would never have paid enough. This is not an exaggeration. They taught me not just the best Shaolin kungfu, chi kung and Zen, but how to lead a rewarding life for myself, my family and other people, according to the highest ideals in the Shaolin philosophy. To put in a nutshell, I have learnt and practiced righteousness from Uncle Righteousness, and impeccable morality from Sifu Ho Fatt Nam.
You would probably like to know that Taoist magic is real, and very powerful. The most famous school of Taoist magic is Maoshan. There are three major types of Maoshan magic: high, middle and low, or in western terms white, grey and black. High or white Maoshan is used only for good, low or black Maoshan often for evil, and middle or grey Maoshan is in between. Magical abilities like telling where lost property is, or making someone fall madly in love with you -- considered by some people in the West as fantastic, are actually elementary in Maoshan magic.
As if to rub salt to injury, many people do not even practice Tai Chi dance; they "play" it. The expression "playing Tai Chi" is not only used in the West, but also among many Chinese in the East. The crucial difference is that when you practice Tai Chi you go over and over again the dancelike movements you have learnt so as to become a good Tai Chi dancer, whereas when you play Tai Chi you nonchalantly perform dancelike Tai Chi movements to while away your time. On the other hand, when you practice Tai Chi Chuan, you train hard, and sometimes enduringly, martial Tai Chi Chuan movements, paying attention to energy and mind, to gain good health, combat efficiency and spiritual joy.
Not only Zen, but all meditation enables the meditator find solutions that others deem impossible. All the great creations or discoveries in arts, science, philosophy and religion were made when the artists, scientists, philosophers and religious teachers were in a meditative state of mind distinctly differently from everyday consciousness. This was because in their meditation, they tapped into universal consciousness. Great artists, scientists, philosophers and religious teachers, like Michelangelo, Edison, Plato and Mohammed, explicitly said that their findings came from the cosmos, called God by some peoples.
While there may be some culturaldifferences between the East and the West, and between the time of our forefathers and now, the fundamental teachings of kungfu, such as courage and righteousness, steadfastness in our ideals and developing the strength to realize them, are applicable universally and timelessly. Combat efficiency in kungfu is not an end by itself, but a means to actualize these fundamentals. If, for example, we do not even know how to release ourselves from somebody's hold, it is difficult to be courageous and righteous. Strength is necessary, not only to uphold our ideals but also to live our everyday lives rewardingly, and chi kung, the art of energy maangement, is excellent for this purpose.
Contrary to what many people believe, Hoong Hei Khoon did not invent Hoong Family Kungfu (or Hung Gar Kungfu) in the way Yim Wing Choon invented Wing Choon Kungfu, or Chen Harng invented Choy-Li-Fatt Kungfu. Hoong Hei Khoon might have modified some of the kungfu he had learnt at the southern Shaolin Monastery, but generally he taught what he had learnt from the Venerable Chee Seen (whose name means "Extreme Kindness").
There is no doubt at all that kungfu is effective for fighting, but that does not mean if you practice kungfu you will necessarily be the best fighter. Even if the art is excellent, if you do not train well you will be a poor fighter. Or even if you are a very good fighter, you may still lose to a better one. Even real kungfu masters may lose -- to other kungfu masters or better masters of other martial arts. There is a saying in kungfu culture as folloows: when you have climbed a high mountain, don't think it is the highest mountain, there may be another mountain higher than this one; when you are a good fighter, don't imagine you are the best fighter, there may be another fighter better than you.
There are many reasons why Tai Chi Chuan has degenerated into Tai Chi dance. One reason is that there are very few genuine Tai Chi Chuan masters today. Secondly, students are not willing to undergo the tough training that genuine Tai Chi Chuan demands. Thirdly, Tai Chi dancing schools are quite plentiful everywhere. It is quite easy to become a Tai Chi dance student or even a Tai Chi dance instructor. If you know some external Tai Chi movements, even if you have just learnt them for three weeks, and especially if you are Chinese, you can easily start your own Tai Chi class.
In fact aerobic exercises, such as vigorous sports, can be detrimental to health! They force the partitioners to overwork their vital organs, especially the heart, lungs and kidneys, without sufficiently strengthening the organs first. These harmful effects often surface when the athletes reach middle age, which is a time when their vital organs break down due to previous overworking. It is a little known fact that many former world class champions have serious health problems.
In the teaching of the Small Universe, for example, students must first have accumulated sufficient vital energy at their abdominal energy field at qihai, before their master will teach them the next stage of directing this energy to the lower energy field at huiyin. If the students are not ready, jumping to the next step may not only spoil their chance of acquiring the real effect of the art (although they may know the technique) but may sometimes be harmful. Many students do not realize this fundamental fact, and think that their teacher hiolds back the secret of the art when actually they themselves have not followed their teacher's instruction to practice adequately.
times since 1st January 2005
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