Wu Dao Students Blog

Featured Student of the Month - Tabea

2011-08-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

September 2011

Tabea studied Kung Fu at Wu Dao for one year. During that time, Tabea was promoted to Level 2 (Yellow Belt) in Adult Kung Fu. Having just completed a year-long internship at Novartis in Cambridge, she recently returned to her native Switzerland. Wu Dao staff followed up with Tabea to learn about what she thought of her one year’s time spent in Boston and training at Wu Dao:

Wu Dao: Where are you from and what brought you to Boston?

Tabea: I am from the Swiss-German speaking part of Switzerland. After an apprenticeship as a lab technician, I got the opportunity for a one-year internship at Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge.

Wu Dao: What initially attracted you to Kung Fu? How long had you been training in Kung Fu before you came to Boston?

Tabea: From my youth I was interested in martial arts: I did judo for a short period of time as a child, and later I was playing with the thought of starting karate. I found shaolin Kung Fu two and a half years ago, and I was impressed. There was something about it. I loved going to Kung Fu classes. During the lesson, I would not think about anything else. I had been training in Shaolin Kung Fu for one and a half years before I came to Boston.

Wu Dao: Why did you decide to train at

Wu Dao versus other schools?

Tabea: In my first week in Boston I did a lot of research on the internet and found a couple schools. Some of them promised to teach traditional Kung Fu. I decided to try Wu Dao first because it was pretty convenient to get there. Wu Dao was the first and only school I visited for a free lesson. The school looked well organized and I felt welcome, so I signed up for the whole year.

Wu Dao: What was your perception of Kung Fu before you started at Wu Dao? What was your expectation when you came to Wu Dao?

Tabea: Kung Fu meant to me: hard training or hard work and great moves. To be honest I was a little disappointed in my first two months, when I just did the hard work, meaning only basics, but no great moves. But that changed after I started having fun learning the basics because I could actually feel the progress I was making. And Shifu told me around that time that my basics got a lot better than in the beginning.

Wu Dao: Has training at Wu Dao changed any of your perceptions of Kung Fu? What have you learned through training at Wu Dao?

Tabea: That’s how I realized that there is no good Kung Fu with poor and sloppy basics. I also learned to question the background of every move, so that I could understand what is important about each move. You can only be great if you break down every single move and actually study and practice it.

Wu Dao: What is your favorite thing in your Kung Fu training? What is your least favorite?

Tabea: My favorite thing is to practice a floor drill or self-defense move till I get the A-Ha effect, which means I start understanding and feeling better and better about doing this particular move. My least favorite thing is the opposite, practicing something that Shifu maybe considers as easy, and me having the feeling that I would never get it.

Wu Dao: What is the most memorable event or anecdote from your training at Wu Dao?

Tabea: One of them is when I attended a class with Shifu Shi De Cheng: we were only four students and I was the only white belt. It was great to meet such an interesting, wise and happy person.

Wu Dao: Do you plan to continue to train in Kung Fu when you return home? What are some elements from your Wu Dao training that you plan to keep with you for your future training?

Tabea: Yes, I am planning on continuing my Kung Fu training. I will go back to my old school and I might try to get our school here in Basel a little more organized. I will talk about the classes with my Shifu and hope that he will pay more attention to correcting moves and basics. I will try to keep as much of what I have learned at Wu Dao in mind.

Wu Dao: What are some parting thoughts that you wish to share with the community?

Tabea: I just wanted to thank everyone I met during this year. It was a pleasure to train and suffer with you during classes. It was hard for me to leave the school behind. I wanted to thank Shifu, Sissi, Melvin and Julius for teaching me and believing in me. ☺ Keep it up, you have a great school! And finally I want thank Robyn, because we spent so many hours training together during this year. We motivated each other over and over again. And I am really impressed about her progress during this year. I am going to miss you all!

Kung Fu Haiku

2011-08-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

By David Mandeix
Dave is a Level 4(Green) student at Wu Dao

One for each of the Ji Ben Gong:

1)Oh! So many forms
My limbs will not stop aching
We must go again

2)Classes every night
Floor Drills, Forms, and Self Defense
These make up my life

3)Kungfu means hard work
Repetition is the key
We refine ourselves

4)Kungfu on the brain
What did I do before this?
Probably ached less

5)No Kungfu tonight
Instead- dinner and laundry
Life gets in the way

6)I can kick the bag
But I can not re-chamber
Bad habits die hard

7)Yesterday I ate
A heaping plate of bitter
Same again today

8) Shi-fu grunts “Not bad”
It’s the highest form of praise
Don’t get used to it

9)I am dripping sweat
And the warm-up is not done
Its one of those nights

10)My hips do not stretch
As far as I’d like them to
What’s a guy to do?

11)I have bruises from
Star blocking with a partner
Curse my tender bones

12)Eighteen Ji-Ben-Gong
The monk makes them look easy
We still stumble through

13) How does the form go?
What’s that move for anyway?
These things escape me

14) I must learn the staff
I thought it would be easy
Now it makes me weep

15) Kicking high is fun
Sometimes we overreach, though
Then we pay the price

16) Sitting in horse stance
The way it makes my legs feel-
How much longer now?

17) Muscles sore again-
A feeling that has become
Like a dear old friend

18) At the end of class
Some water and a lie down
What more could you want?

No Greater Excuse

2011-03-09T07:01:00.000-08:00

By Sissi Liu

Sissi Liu is the Yoga instructor and a Level 5 (Blue) student at Wu Dao

For my practice in asana-oriented yoga, primarily Ashtanga Yoga, I have taken classes at different studios and with various teachers. While I find inspiration in regular practice, through reading, and learning from my teachers, sometimes other students of a variety of types (see my categorization of the Western, modern "yogis" at the end of the blog) have served as my inspiration as well. When I hit a plateau in my practice, watching others with fascinated admiration helps me to believe that one day, with practice, I could do “that,” too.

One such moment came recently during a Mysore style Ashtanga Yoga class (practitioners do their own practice with the teacher coming around to make individual adjustments). While focused in the performance of a Sun Salutation, I heard the footsteps of someone passing in front of me—soft steps interrupted by low thump

s. I wondered if the person had a bad hip issue. Noticing my thoughts wandering, I tried to concentrate. The woman laid down her mat next to mine, near the corner of the studio room and proceeded to begin her practice.

It did not take me long to realize with unfeigned shock that a prosthetic foot peaked out of one of her pant legs, the foot flexing with her movements into upward dog and downward dog. Again, I tried to concentrate, but I could not help peering over from time to time. During some portions of the practice, she unbound the entire leg just so she could perform the postures. Each vinyasa (the flows that connect each posture) was performed by jumping back from a posture and then jumping through from downward dog into the next posture, without shortcuts. Towards the end of the series, she practiced her backbends just as the series prescribed. With the aid of the instructor who treated her no differently than any other student, she reached back to the floor from standing and came back up to standing again. She was by no means young or a natural. She did not have the typical yogi physique. And she did not use practice straps, blocks, or training implements.

Witnessing this and reflecting afterwards, I felt ashamed of my lack of consistency over the years. For a couple of years at a time since I began exploring yoga, I allowed myself to skip practice with excuses such as I’ve got too much to do, I’m tired, or my back’s sore, etc. My progress therefore suffered. If someone with only one leg could achieve what she has with the potential of achieving much more in the future, what better excuse could I come up with for not practicing?

We all tend to find rationale to let go of our training—in yoga, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, or fill in the blank—and blame the pressures of life, family, or work. We watch with awe at someone else's advancement and lament that given our lack of natural ability or hours in the day that we could never get there. Ultimately, for whatever reason we choose a practice, there is only one thing that will stop our progress—lack of consistency. We make a choice when we start something new and we have to commit to making the choice to stay with it. So, the formula is simple: to be good at anything, you just need to have faith in yourself and not let the next great excuse, even if you only have one leg, stop you!

Be The Technique

2011-02-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

By Julius Anastasio

Julius is a Level 5 (Blue) student at Wu Dao

I used to have this one Aikido teacher - a really insightful guy - who threw out all the superfluous moves and had me practicing only a few essential, blatantly practical moves and throws. His theory behind stripping everything bare was that you shouldn't have to train for 20 years to finally have a style’s effective techniques revealed and taught to you. Why read War and Peace when you can just skim the CliffsNotes?

At the time it made sense, and it's a very tempting approach, but it forgets to consider the concept that, as Shi-fu (and Kung Fu Panda) says, in martial arts "there are no secrets."

Lately, a lot of us have been attempting to apply some of the Shaolin techniques into sparring (while simultaneously tweaking them to avoid the limb-braking parts). One of the main problems I've come across is that it's just so darn hard. It’s very tempting to consider trashing all but a choice few Shaolin techniques that obviously show promise in the ring. You know, like the straight punch.

This is a terrible idea.

Having only a few moves at your disposal would have an extremely negative impact on how much of a style you actually internalize. Like many styles, Shaolin is explicitly made up of movements and forms that are designed to train your body to optimally execute effective fighting techniques. There’s not a single wasted movement in what we learn. The trick is figuring out what each (seemingly) superfluous section of a technique actually does. If you don't DO those sections, then you run the risk of severely limiting that technique's range of application. But, how do we figure out what those sections and techniques do?

We’ve all heard it a thousand times: "Do a technique 1,000 times, you know the technique. Do it 10,000 times, you ARE the technique."

While I might feel like I "know" how to do many of the techniques in Shaolin (at least passably), I certainly have not gotten to the stage where I feel like they're internalized.

I better go get training.

My First Tournament

2011-01-02T10:20:00.001-08:00

By Hana C.
Hana is Youth Level 3 (Orange) student at Wu Dao and won first place in her division

About a month ago, I attended my first Kung Fu tournament, which took place in Boston, on a Saturday. I was signed up to compete in the forms division, and was working on Xiao Hong Quan at the time. The day of the tournament, I woke up at 9AM, which for me is an extremely early time to get up on a Saturday morning. After having a filling breakfast, I spent about an hour or so practicing the form on the porch, along with Shira, who was also entered in the same division. There were still a few moves that were far from perfect, and which I tended to trip up on. However, we didn't spend too much time going over the form that morning, because we had already been working on it for at least half a year, had already tested for the next belt, and did not want to get too tired of it before the actual tournament. After a quick lunch, we were lucky enough to get a ride to Boston.

The facility where the tournament held was surprisingly small. It was the first Kung Fu studio I had been in other than Wu Dao, and the small space emphasized how big and accommodating Wu Dao's training area is. I had been warned before hand that my form might move me outside the boundaries that had been set, and was prepared to have to take an awkward step back if that was the case. After filling out the required paperwork, we had a good amount of time before the teens were scheduled to perform the forms for the judges, and so we watched the two ongoing events, which at the time were push hands and the forms of the younger students. Many of the students there were from Wu Dao, and although I might be biased, I honestly thought that their forms and their performance were amazing. Our uniform also seemed to be the most "official", as a lot of other schools had the same pants, but required only a T-shirt. I was also proud to see Rom win his entire division with a very martial performance.

I had expected there not to be many people in our division, but it turned out that there were enough to split us into a boys group, and two girls groups based on experience. Three boys from other schools went first. Their forms were very sharp and quick, and I was impressed by their power and clean performance. Next, the three girls who had been training the longest went first. One of them performed a Karate-style form that involved a lot of hissing and not very much movement, as opposed to many of the other forms I had observed.

In my division, Shira and I were both performing the same form, and she went first. In my opinion, her form was almost perfect: it was executed cleanly and with more power than usual. Luckily, when I performed the form, there was enough room that I did not have to shuffle. I did mess up in a few places, but the momentum of the form made it easy to play off the mistakes and keep going with relative fluidity.

Overall, I learned a lot from this first tournament. It definitely confirmed that repetition is key; because of how many times I had done the form before, I wasn't completely thrown off when I made a mistake. I also felt that if I had practiced just a bit more, those mistakes could have been avoided. Hopefully, this experience will help me in future tournaments, which I definitely plan on attending.

My Experience at Wu Dao

2010-11-05T10:43:00.001-07:00

By Omer Bartov
Omer Bartov is a Level 3 (Orange) Student at Wu Dao

I joined the Wu Dao School about two-and-a-half years ago. At the time I felt that although I was in pretty good physical shape for my age I was loosing flexibility, suffering from occasional backaches, and had at best deteriorating posture. Since walking through the doors of the school I have frankly become hooked. I cannot say that my progress was as rapid as some of my younger classmates. But I can say that the school has become a major part of my life, part of a routine that I do my best to maintain and a tremendous physical and mental addition to what is by all accounts a rather crowded schedule.

I have been training regularly, several times a week most of year. Initially I trained also in tai-chi, but for reasons of time I now focus on yoga and kung fu. Although I do yoga with Sissi only an hour per week, her careful guidance has been of considerable benefit. I have taken to doing yoga every morning at home, and now begin my long days much better prepared. My back pains have greatly diminished, my posture has improved, and I have regained flexibility that I have not enjoyed since my youth. In kung fu, shifu Tim has been an extraordinary teacher, combining strict discipline and insistence on detail with a sense of humor and a feeling of teamwork and camaraderie. Working hard, I have gradually advanced from white to yellow, and recently from yellow to orange belt. I will admit that I take pride in being (most of the time at least) the oldest member of our group of students but still keeping up. But beyond the sense of accomplishment, which is at least as satisfying and very different from anything in my own profession, I find the intense training sessions psychologically absolutely fantastic and for that reason also quite addictive. When I go to class, for the next 90 minutes I think of nothing else but kung fu (or yoga). I am entirely liberated from the pressures and worries of my work, and come out physically exhausted perhaps but also completely refreshed and mentally recharged. I am now 56 and feel better than I have in years. I hope that Wu Dao and I will continue working together for many years to come!

Fall Workshops with Shi De Cheng

2010-11-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Liesbeth is Level 2 (Yellow) Student at Wu Dao Kung Fu and Tai Chi

Anyone who has read up on the life and reputation of Shifu Shi de Cheng could surely understand the excitement I felt hearing that he would be back for the second time this year to teach us.

Before registering for the workshops, I fondly reminisced about Shifu's Chin Na (joint locking) workshop in spring—with ease, I was able to free myself from powerful grips of shovel-sized hands. Even though it was tempting to do only that one session again, I made a mental comparison with learning to paint—to be a good abstract painter, you would still need to study and master the basics of anatomy and perspective first. The decision to take the Ji ben Gong workshop was thus made. For dessert, I signed up for the Chin Na and Shui Jiao (throwing and falling) workshops as well.

As a quite flexible and somewhat "floppy" person, I felt very self-conscious about displaying myself to the graceful and skillful Shifu Shi De Cheng. When the moment came during the Ji Ben Gong class, that same grace was applied to painstakingly adjust and tweak my stances, posture, arms, or usually all of the aforementioned plus more. The Shuai Jiao class was a blast! The techniques were quite complicated. Through practice, I found my momentum and structure, and really enjoyed the apparent ease with which I could apply the throwing techniques on my more experienced, bigger and stronger opponent. In fact, I found falling and controlling my partner's fall to be the hardest part.

Not wanting him to miss out on the experience, I signed up my 6-year old son for the children's class with Shifu, too. I had been telling him a little bit about Shifu's background and had shown him some inspirational videos of Shifu performing forms on YouTube.
Logically, he felt somewhat intimidated at first, but Shifu's easygoing manner and perhaps the twinkle in his eyes made for a very fun session. As a spectator, I found myself paying very close attention to the slow-paced, step-by-step instructions the kids received, wondering if maybe I could try and sign myself up for the kids' classes next time. On asking my son for his opinion on the class afterwards, he answered, almost surprised, "He is just such a very, very nice person!"

My husband, lucky to be a native Mandarin speaker, found inspiration in talking to Shifu Shi De Cheng about the history of the Shaolin monastery and the hardships it went through during and after the Cultural Revolution. When asked about his impression of Shifu and the workshops, he made a surprising announcement: He is planning to visit Shifu's school in Deng Feng and enroll our son in classes there! In the meantime, he would explore the area and do some soul searching.

Martial Root

2010-09-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 18th, 2010
Walther Chen is a Level 3 (Orange) Student at Wu Dao Kung Fu and Tai Chi

Martial arts practitioners often talk about root. In particular, root is one of the foundations of internal martial arts like tai chi. At Wu Dao, I practice both tai chi and kung fu. During tai chi, we often participate in partner exercises in order to find our root while being pushed. (Imagine a less intense version of a dozen men trying to topple a single rooted tai chi master). So, I thought that I had a decent idea of what root was, and how to use it. For example, in push hands practice, I tried to make sure that my opponent's push would be redirected back into my root.

However, recently I had an experience which caused me to revise my theory/practice of root. During the tai chi movement "part the wild horse's mane," Shifu pushed against my shoulder right as I was beginning the movement. I was somewhat perplexed as I was unable to move forward at all, even though I had started out balanced and fairly structured. Shifu showed me that with more intent forward, and something of an expansion during the movement, he was able to defeat the resistance. When I tried to imitate Shifu, I realized that what I was trying to do was root from my shoulder to my back foot. Even though I had been balanced during tai chi, I was not rooted, and I would not have been able to execute a technique against resistance. During the rest of my tai chi practice, I tried to stay rooted during every moment, and as a result, I felt more connected and smoother. This was a lot more difficult than maintaining the static root that I try to keep during push hands.

I was pretty happy with the improvement in my tai chi, but I forgot about rooting until my next class, kung fu, when Shifu did the same resistance to me during my short xiao hong quan form. Somehow, I had never applied the concept of root to my kung fu, but it made complete sense. Any technique that transmits force through the body to the ground would be much more effective when completely rooted, whether receiving a push or giving a punch.

And, it's not just an issue of being rooted at the completion of technique so the impact can be routed to the earth. The root is used to generate force from the very beginning of the technique. Starting and maintaining a root is also much more efficient, since otherwise the body wastes energy and force bringing its structure from unrooted to rooted. While trying to keep always rooted, I could feel much more clearly the power being transmitted from my feet all the way up my body and into my fists. I think that before, I was only partially rooted, and so I couldn't put full force from my body into the ground.

Anyways, I feel like I made some small breakthrough in my tai chi and kung fu, and hopefully some of my ideas may be interesting to you too.

Shi-Shong Orlando's Shaolin Diary - 2010 - Part 6

2010-04-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

Thursday, April 22, 2010
Orlando Cela is an instructor at Wu Dao Kung Fu and Tai Chi

Today was a total “Tiger head, snake tail” kind of day. First, a fabulous 6 am run with the whole group to the Immortals Park; a crisp climb with almost everyone to the top, then back down to the half way landing; two races to the top! Back down to rejoin the rest of the group. On our way back we alternated between some walking and some sprinting – remember that the way back to the school is up hill! We arrived at the school and saw couple of inflatable arches with banners on them. I asked Li Xiang what they were. He told me there was a grand opening for a hotel across the road from the school. That’s another thing about the Chinese I’m amazed about: banners. There are banners, mostly red with white characters, everywhere. I think some of them might say “I’m required to post this banner even when I have nothing to say,” because you see them in the most unlikely places. After breakfast, 9 am class. We started with our usual short run. Immediately after our return from the run, we went on to do a sort of “capture the tree” game of strategy, running, guarding... Very cool! But when it was time for me to be guard, trying to keep a member of the opposing team I kicked too hard and pulled something on my left leg. Really badly! I tried to tough it out until stretching time, when I tried to stretch, massage, you name it. Then the stretching kicks and the 18 Ji Ben Gong showed me that some movements really would be very painful. I did stick to the rest of the training, which was particularly nice because I got to do the forms I know, including Mei Hua Dao, with different groups of students. That was very, very inspiring! The experience of doing the forms you learn at home with the most advanced students and trying to keep up, whilst hearing the others scream “jia you!” (“let’s go!”) and “good!” is indescribable! It was also nice to see Lily use me as example for the younger students once or twice! As a closing for the morning session, we went through the most grueling core session yet. I thought I was in good shape until then. One leg and two leg jack-knives, their variations of sit-ups, jumping push-ups, spinning jumps, Ma Bu squats, and more, more... Needless to say, the afternoon session was a bit challenging, and by the end of the second half of the afternoon class I was absolutely spent, in utter pain and extremely frustrated because my injuries wouldn’t let me do decent stances. At least nobody here can say I didn’t give it my all.

Shi-Shong Orlando's Shaolin Diary - 2010 - Part 5

2010-04-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Orlando Cela is an instructor at Wu Dao Kung Fu and Tai Chi

Today it rained the whole day. Early in the morning at 6 am, there was just a lot of fog, but then it started to pick up. Li Xiang and I were the only ones awake at 6 am, so we went running. We ran for a long time until we arrived at a place called Ying Xian Park. There is a huge pagoda at the top of a very, very, VERY steep hill, with stairs going up. It is Dengfeng’s stairmaster! I could see from afar the uniforms of at least three other martial arts schools. I couldn’t resist the challenge: I was wearing the Shi De Cheng’s school workout jacket, and I am white... this was going to be cool. I went upstairs by myself since Li Xiang was recovering from a calf injury. So I mustered all my energy and ran all the way to... half way there, and then panted the rest of the way up. Too bad the weather was so foggy, because the view must have been amazing. I looked around a little bit, and then I ran downstairs. As I was taking my first steps, I hear from behind “Welcome to China!” When I made it down stairs, one of the students from the other schools, came to me, shook my hand and said in English “Hello! Nice to meet you!” To which I replied, in Chinese “Nice to meet you too!” I bowed to the rest of his group saying in Chinese “Good Morning!” and someone from their replied in English “Good Morning!” Li Xiang and I ran back a little bit, but he was too tired. He told me his story: he had been an art student in college for a year and had just returned to Dengfeng, and he was still trying to gain his stamina back. He also happens to be the caretaker when Ma Hong is not there: he pays for the suppliers, makes phone calls, etc. So I ran back to school where I found out that coach Lily had taken the rest of the students for a run elsewhere a few minutes later. She had me join the class, which obviously was much more torturous than yesterday’s because she was running it. Thank goodness it’s just one hour. Breakfast. Then morning class, when Lily took her short stick, and ran us through some pretty intense “corrections.” After lunch I went to my room to see that it leaking a little bit. Since I saw there was some water damage from the night before, I decided that it was probably a common occurrence, so I didn’t tell anyone. Afternoon class was a little disappointing: I thought I was doing so well, when my leg really started to hurt. A little at first, but then at the end, it really was getting bad. So I decided to just force my way through the pain. I had survived revisions of tong bei quan, xiao hong quan and zhen shan gun, I was now learning new mei hua dao material, I just had to put up with it. It finally gave up! At a gong bu, my leg cramped up so bad that I fell to the ground. I started to rub my leg, and coach Lily sayd “Pain?” I say “A little.” She says “The first day, no problem; second day, no problem; third day, a little pain; fourth day, very difficult. Get up. Again.” Form again. “Again. This time, lower xu bu.” Form again. “Again.” Again. “Again. And hand over the head in this move.” Again. “Again!” And so it went for what seemed quite a long while. Finally the class ended, and I went to massage my thigh for a while. But after a few minutes, the other students – who were doing math at the time of my second class – came down to work out with Di Guo Bo, the other Shifu at the school and friend of Shi De Cheng. Di Guo Bo is always, always, dressed semi casual, with jacket, nice shirt, nice pants, nice shoes, and he demonstrates better than any of the students there with workout clothes. The next hour I saw a class on another staff form that was quite impressive. Di Guo Bo really pushed these guys, but he would demonstrate, with his nice clothes, the most amazing techniques at the most incredible speed. It was extremely inspiring. We talked for a while about the students: he wants them to try for the touring Shaolin monk troupe, but he said they are not good enough. I also asked him about his clothes, and he said that yes, his shoes are not the best for landing after a jump. After dinner, I went to my room, to find out water had spread all over the floor, under my suitcase. Luckily, nothing got wet. But Li Xiang did come to my room after I told him during dinner that there was a leak, and he panicked when he saw it! We brought buckets in, he mopped the floor, he wanted to change my room. But I decided to stay: the water hasn’t gotten to the bed... yet... (Chinese test: what does “ben dan” mean in English?)

Shi-Shong Orlando's Shaolin Diary - 2010 - Part 4

2010-04-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 19, 2010
Orlando Cela is an instructor at Wu Dao Kung Fu and Tai Chi

Today started at 6 am with the early class. Luckily enough is only one hour long. Starts with a long run around one of the huge city blocks, goes uphill the mountain then downhill, then flat, then all the way uphill to the school. Pretty grueling! Thank goodness we haven’t had any breakfast yet! Running for me has never been a problem, so I always tried to remain with the leader, which would change – some of the students would walk, others would keep running, then switch roles, etc., but there was always someone running ahead. We made it back to school, and then the fun begin. I was able to keep my own, and even do something unexpected that made some very surprised, and one say “see? ji ben gong! ji ben gong!” (In order to keep the legendary perception of the early class, I shall say no more.) Breakfast, then 9 am class. Jiao Liang (coach) Lily was there after dropping her kid off at school. (FYI: they give ID cards to the parents with their kids photos for them to be able to retrieve them later without taking some other kid!) The class, as usual, started with a run, but this was a race. So we race uphill, and some lag behind, but I manage to keep always ahead of he group, with another student. The last section, which is downhill, was a pretty fast sprint between one student and I. We arrived at the school first together. Then we did the usual warm-ups, and stretching, etc., but we did some new stance work besides the usual ma bu - gong bu: pu bu – ma bu – gong bu, pu bu – pu bu (swinging arms and slapping the floor in between); straight punch, dan tui, straight punch; palm strike, deng tui, palm strike; and then some extraordinary stationary variations on the 18 ji ben gong. Each of them has their own “yibai.” The only ji ben gong we didn’t do stationary, but all single count and together, were xuan feng jiao and wai bai lien. Rest. Coach Lily started me on the form mei hua dao (“you are getting the sword ji ben gong quickly. More practice, but let’s begin the form”). Lunch time. Ever since they found out that I love spicy food, they keep bringing all sort of different homemade concoctions. I consider this as much part of my training as the gong fu itself, so I take all. Nothing has burned me yet. Yet... But this one was close: a reddish paste (in a bottle that once was liquid yogurt) that watered my eyes after smelling it. They put it in my rice. I eat two bowls with the usual side dishes. Not good. After a short nap I had such heartburn I thought I was going to vomit trying the no-handed cartwheels (note: at 2 pm, the students do academics, so it was just Lily and me). And the fact that my muscles were absolutely sore by now didn’t help. I think I did overdid it in the morning because the afternoon was excruciatingly difficult, but it was this morning that told me that I am not so far behind the locals. I should mention that one of the students asked me to go in front of him today during warm ups because he had a cramp! (hee, hee...)

Shi-Shong Orlando's Shaolin Diary - 2010 - Part 3

2010-04-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 18, 2010
Orlando Cela is an instructor at Wu Dao Kung Fu and Tai Chi

Today was a really tough day! Two sessions with Lily all by myself, almost killed me. She really has a way with words, not only she says “kuai!” and”jia you!” but she also says them with that very rough Chinese female voice that could scare anyone. She really can drive you! She wants the forms faster, and faster, no stopping at all. Every time I finish a form, I am virtually spent! So far, we have done a lot of review on Tong Bei Quan (which she has completely taken appart), Xiao Hong Quan, and Zhen Shan Gun. Still working on some very difficult sword ji ben gong. Today, I just didn’t have the juice, especially in the second session. So, at the end of the second session, Lily says: “After dinner, practice more sword ji ben gong; tomorrow morning, you go with the class at 6 am, so you won’t get tired doing your forms. li Xiang will go get you.” I’ll write about the early class tomorrow, if I survive it...

Shi-Shong Orlando's Shaolin Diary - 2010 - Part 2

2010-04-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 17, 2010
Orlando Cela is an instructor at Wu Dao Kung Fu and Tai Chi

I’m awake at 6:45 am, looking for a functional bathroom (the one in the fifth floor doesn’t work) and everything is super quiet, like nobody is in the building. Then at 7 pm I hear a woman screaming “chi fan!” (“eat!”) so I guess breakfast is ready. They have made me a western breakfast: four fried eggs, white sliced bread (the one for toast), milk and some sweets. Class starts at 9 am, and I meet Julien, a French man who has been studying already here for two months. But nobody prepared me for Lily, the coach/teacher. She is a sweetie when she hangs out, but when she is teaching she is tougher than nails. She keeps screaming “kuai, kuai!” (“fast, fast”) for everything we do. She keeps yelling instructions as students go by. There are 10 students all together, and we went through the run, the warm-ups, the stretching, and all the ji ben gong in about an hour and a half. Then rest. Then, Julien had to do his test: he is leaving tomorrow. Not only he performs, but other students are asked to do the same. I was asked to do tong bei quan. After a few students perform, Lily takes Julien and I, and an older man, another coach, remains with the Chinese students – he has been around the whole morning, giving minimal corrections. Julien was asked to go practice, and Lily took apart my tong bei quan, and almost killed me in the process. She pushes very, very hard. After a half hour of misery, lunch, and a nap. After nap, everyone gets the afternoon free... everyone except me! It’s Lily and I. Since it’s just me, we go through warm-ups, run, warm-ups, stretching and all ji ben gong in 45 min. By now I’m exhausted! Rest, then reconvene, and she worked in more Tong Bei Quan, Xiao Hong Quan, Zhen Shan Gun, and we began with the sword Ji Ben Gong. After two hours alone with Lily, I’m pretty much done for. Thank goodness tomorrow is Sunday and everyone gets a free day... Oh, wait! Everyone but me! When not training, I sit around talking to the students, watching Lily’s son play, and just resting, and drinking all the water possible.

Shi-Shong Orlando's Shaolin Diary - 2010 - Part 1

2010-04-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

Friday, April 16, 2010
Orlando Cela is an instructor at Wu Dao Kung Fu and Tai Chi

After a 29 hour trip with three planes and one car, I finally arrived at Shifu’s school at about 11 pm. I live in the fifth floor of the school – no elevator, which is going to be interesting after a few days of training – in a very large room. The mattress is a little softer than the floor: it is in fact, mats they use for fall practice (like the ones at Wu Dao, but not the nice soft ones). It’s spring in the mountains, so it is a little cold. A student called Li Xiang picked me up at the airport in Zheng Zhou, and he was the one to tell me about the itinerary: breakfast at 7 am, first class at 9 am, “and I’ll tell you more tomorrow.”

Speculations on Form: A Musculoskeletal Perspective

2009-09-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

By Jessica Kern

Jessica is a Certified Neuromuscular Therapist and a Level 2 (Yellow) student at Wu Dao

A few months ago a question came up during a Kung Fu class:

When throwing punches in training, why is it so important to bring the fists all the way back to the waist? As Shi-fu Tim demonstrates, in a sparring or fighting situation you would virtually never bring the fists back that far because it would leave the body open and vulnerable to attack; he shows that it is generally best to keep the fists out in front of the body for protection and availability.

It may seem at first glance that we are looking at a conflicting set of ideas between training and fighting, but things are not always as they seem.

As a person who studies bodies and movement patterns for a living, I was intrigued by the question, and it got me thinking.

Perhaps it would be easiest to think of the body as a slingshot and the muscles as the elastic bands. If you're firing a slingshot, the more tension you put on the elastic band (without breaking it), the more power you get when you let it go. The mechanism for throwing a punch is much the same.

To translate this back to the human body, our muscles are a complex network of elastic bands that work together with the skeleton to create movement. In training, when we bring the fists back to the waist to prepare to throw a punch, we bring the muscles to their end range - pulling them back as far as they can go.

Technically this position activates shoulder and spinal stabilizing muscles (the "sling" of the slingshot), and puts the arm in a position so that when released forward for a punch, gives maximum potential for contraction of Serratus Anterior and Pectoralis Major, and Subscapularis (the "shot" of the slingshot).

The cool thing about the body is that the more we train our maximum range of movement, the more we can affect strength at any range. A muscle becomes strongest and healthiest only when we can take it through its full potential range of movement - because we challenge all the muscles fibers maximally. Strength through the full range means two key things for all muscles: better protection against injury and more power.

Training is about being prepared.

So even though we do not frequently use full range of motion in sparring or fighting situations, we are wise to be equipped with more than we need.

Martial Biking

2009-08-13T20:10:00.001-07:00

By Julius Anastasio

Julius is a Level 3 (Orange) student at Wu Dao

Anyone who has navigated the streets of Boston by bike can recount how harrowing an experience it can be. A few days ago I was biking home from Kung Fu class during rush hour. Zipping by the adjacent gridlocked cars, a passenger-side door opened into the bike lane, catching my handlebars and sending me into the air.

The next thing I knew, I found myself kneeling on the ground, about 10 feet in front of my bike. After being thrown from my bike, I had unconsciously tucked into a dive roll, and had landed unscathed, sunglasses still on, the take-home container of leftovers in my backpack unopened.

I got up immediately and brushed myself off. Being the martial arts nerd I am, I was actually disappointed in how I had reacted (hitting the ground in stride would have looked SO much cooler). The passenger who had opened the door asked if I was alright, glancing over at my bent, sorry-looking bike. “I’m fine,” I said as I tried to bang the handlebars of my bike into some ride-able state. A woman who has witnessed the accident from the sidewalk asked me “Are you alright? That was quite a display of acrobatics.”

I replied with another quick “I’m fine, thanks,” as I got back onto my crooked bike seat just in time to catch the next green light. I rode the rest of the way home contemplating the events that had just occurred, particularly how useless the tune-up I had just gotten the day before was at this point.

Reflecting on the accident made me appreciate how lucky I am to have practiced martial arts for the majority of my life. Living in our current society, the chances that I will have to fight for my life aren’t very great. Accidents and falls, however, are much more likely. My years of martial arts training have conditioned me to internalize many movements, allowing my body to react unconsciously and automatically to protect myself in unexpected dangerous situations such as a bicycle accident.

We don’t always consider the beneficial side-effects of our Kung Fu training. We have a tendency to focus on the height of our sidekicks, the deepness of our horse stances, or the fluidity of a form. While Kung Fu does give way to these more concrete accomplishments, it also allows you to internalize those movements and become a part of you. Sometimes it takes real-life situations to make us to understand the true extent of what we are accomplishing in the countless hours we devote to training.

Iron Palm Kung Fu

2009-08-13T20:09:00.001-07:00

Retold by Sissi Liu

The following is a folk tale told by Shifu Shi De Cheng during his Summer 2008 trip to Wu Dao. It is stories like these that inspired him to train in Kung Fu as a child.

Long long ago, there was a young man who was weak and thin. He was constantly being picked on by other young men of his village. One day, after hearing stories about the mystical Kung Fu warrior monk in the mountain, he decided to set out to learn Kung Fu from the monk. With few belongings, he hiked far far away and into the mountain where the monks lived.

Upon arriving at the temple, he discovered the old monk. After several days, he got up the courage to approach the monk, and asked, "Shifu, will you accept me as your disciple?" The monk rejected.

The young man did not give up. Over the course of months, he voluntarily performed chores and begged the monk to accept him. The monk finally did.

The young man was ecstatic. He asked the monk, " Shifu, what will you teach me today? The other young men in the village are constantly hassling me. I need skills to protect myself."

The monk replied, "You see that boulder by the tree? Just gently pat it with the front and back of the hands."

The young man was in utter disbelief. However, he accepted Shifu's instructions and began patting the boulder.

The young man persisted day after day to pat the boulder. A month went by, he became impatient, and reasoned to himself, "I came all this way just to pat a boulder?"

He went to the monk and urged, "Shifu, I have been patting the boulder for a month. When are you going to teach me some real Kung Fu?"

Shifu said, "Be patient. You need to pat the boulder."

The young man went back to his boulder.

A year passed, the young man got up the courage to ask Shifu again, "Shifu, don't you think I'm ready to learn Kung Fu?"

Shifu replied, "You have to go pat the boulder some more."

Another two years went by, the young man decided that it was time to press his case again. He pleaded with the monk, "Shifu, please, teach me some Kung Fu."

Shifu turned to him and said, "It's time for you to leave now. You better go."

Confounded by the response, the young man, despaired. He wrapped up his belongings and descended the mountain.

Upon returning to the village, the villagers came to meet the returning "Kung Fu master." They said, "You have returned! We heard you found a great Kung Fu monk as your master. You must show us some of your skills!"

The young man, feeling total embarrassment, replied, "In all honesty, I did find a master but I didn't learn anything."

The villagers were incredulous. "You were gone for years. How can you say that you didn't learn anything? You are just being modest. You must be hiding your Kung Fu skills."

All the villagers became convinced that the young man had acquired Kung Fu secrets. The news spread. More and more people came from near and far to meet this young Kung Fu master whose skills were inconceivably powerful that they certainly could not be demonstrated.

Being hassled by such constant inquiries, the young man became truly frustrated with his utter lack of skills and others' impression of him. One day, he returned home, pursued by a mob of villagers and visitors. He sat down at the dining room table, surrounded by the crowd of people, pressing him to show them his skills. No longer able to contain his frustration, he stood up and exclaimed, "I really didn't learn anything!" and slammed his palms down on the thick solid wood table. There was a loud "crash" as the table broke in half and fell to the floor.

Everyone was silent. The young man had in fact conditioned his palms into iron weapons.

Form Over Substance?

2009-07-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

By Sissi Liu
Sissi Liu is the Yoga instructor and a Level 5 (Green) student at Wu Dao

Many students of traditional martial arts either adore or despise the study and practice of forms (Tao-Lu in Chinese). There are also those who feel that forms are simply a part of traditional martial arts practice and are therefore resigned to learning them. The rationale for the learning forms is unclear to many. To make the matter worse, it seems that forms have been relegated to the status of a performing art, accompanied by flashy costuming, flimsy weapons, musical accompaniments, with acrobatic moves and sometimes even stage effects to entertain the audience. One is therefore forced to question, “Is there perhaps too much form over substance when it comes to forms training in traditional martial arts?”

To address this question, it is helpful to examine the origin of forms. Chinese martial arts extend greatly in terms of style. Each style was created with an embedded philosophy on gaining the advantage in a fight. Through hands-on practice and real-life battles, discoveries about body mechanics and strategies were made, and specializations were thus formed. Contrast Praying Mantis and Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu, which are both taught at Wu Dao: Praying Mantis exhibits quick strikes and hook grabs, with the intent to turn defense into offense; Choy Lay Fut features aggressive and powerful techniques that are better suited for continuous offensive attacks. Contrast these with Yang Style Tai Chi, which is founded on the idea of redirection of force and energy. Shui-jiao, or throwing, represents yet another ancient branch of Chinese martial arts that may be unfamiliar to most Americans. Expand this further, Chinese martial arts is also comprised of Chin-Na techniques, weapons use, internal styles, and beyond.

Forms most likely became a common way for creators and practitioners of each style to anthologize the essential techniques of their system for the ease of memorization, practice, and documentation. While many Shaolin forms were documented in text, in the absence of literacy, forms, transmitted as an oral tradition, became the means for passing down coveted martial arts knowledge. It was also a method for protecting intellectual property of a particular martial artist or lineage. For example, from Chinese mnemonic rhymes, we get vivid technique names such as "monkey grabs the peaches." These rhymes enabled generations of idea accumulation and refinement to survive through the millennia, carrying with them the wisdom of the teachers who came before us.

The process of learning through forms may therefore seem counter-intuitive. Traditional teaching methods put much of the burden on the student. Instead of being taught the applications of techniques within a form, one studies the form over a long period of time. Through many iterations of practice, combined with personal trials and analysis, one begins to appreciate the effectiveness and the variety of applications of each technique and combination as well as the overall structure of a form. Just as one gains profound insight through the rereading of a great classic, one's understanding of techniques and the advantages and disadvantages of a particular style may change and deepen with the knowledge and growth of the practitioner. The goal is to extract the essence of the style from a form and be able to comfortably and sometimes creatively apply the techniques in a physical conflict.

During his visit to Wu Dao last summer, I asked Shifu Shi De Cheng, a Shaolin Warrior Monk, how many forms his Shaolin master knew. He named a few but emphasized that his master was particularly skilled at two forms, one of which was Xiao Hong Quan (Little Hong Style Fist) a form typically taught to beginners but one that encompasses many fundamental Shaolin techniques and a plethora of applications.

Ultimately, forms training is a means to an end. It has an important place in traditional martial arts practice but its place must be well understood and not corrupted by an enthusiasm for its entertainment value. As a martial arts student, the objective of learning forms should not be to collect them, but to perfect and internalize the skills and techniques that they seek to teach. With this in mind, consistent training in forms can yield intellectual stimulation and personal growth.

Application of Kung Fu in Peru

2009-07-28T09:37:00.001-07:00

By Chris Greci
Chris Greci is a Level 3 (Orange) student at Wu Dao

On my recent trip to Peru, I had my first experience with applying Kung Fu training in a real life situation. No physical contact resulted. However, I found that Kung Fu training gave me the confidence to act, and therefore helping to avoid a potentially problematic outcome.

After a day tour in Cusco, Peru, I decided to eat dinner with a friend I met, and little did I know at the time, maybe practice some Kung Fu, too. We were eating at a fast food place called "Brembos." The seating was tight at a small table for two with some seats facing back to back with adjacent tables. About half way through the "hamburguesa con queso," there came a shriek. After the second of confusion, I realized there was a hand in my friend's purse from a man sitting at an adjacent table.

A few seconds went by as I analyzed my environment and options. (Necessary as the local police are not known to protect tourists; only the tourist police have this interest.) The man was in his mid twenties, a few inches shorter and heavier than me, and looked like a Peruvian. I got up, walked around the table, looked directly at him and in a firm Spanish tongue, said, "What are you doing?" I then instructed my friend to search her purse to make sure that she had all her belongings.

Meanwhile, I held my ground and blocked any escape he may have had in this narrow hall-like room as I waited. While she was checking her purse, he became impatient and got up. I backed away a half step, rooted my stance, and confirmed with my body language that I still was not going to let him leave. He remained standing, but regressed into a frightened state, like a cornered, helpless animal. A few moments later, she confirmed that she had everything and I let him pass without any physical confrontation, remembering how Shi-fu always said that a martial artist tries to win a fight mentally first, before having to use force. This was a wise and preferred approach given the uncertainty of public and police response should a confrontation ensue. Later, I realized that the physical confidence gained from Kung Fu training provided the support for the mental aspect of the confrontation; the physical and mental aspects are symbiotic pairs.

In the end, a potentially awful situation was avoided; a girl was grateful for having her belongings saved by an acquaintance. I sat back down and we finished our meal. It was interesting to note the reaction of the locals in the restaurant. The incident was interesting enough for them to raise their heads. One asked if everything was okay. But that was all. In America, an on-looker would have called the police. Here, it was just the typical ambiance of a typical fast food restaurant. In a small city of a third world country, you are on your own and you must maintain full awareness of your surroundings.