Be The Technique

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?)