January 2005Vol. 55

Combat &Healing

Lead Story

TaiChiClassics————Qigong————OutOnTheirOwn————SearchingForThe Internal————TheBeginner’sMind————TheMasterClass————MacularDegeneration

PLUS

WTBANEWS

PUBLISHED BY MOONTAGU BOOKS WALES, UK

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TOTHE INTERNAL MARTIAL/HEALING ARTS

Ben & Eli Montaigue training Large San-Sau (See Article This Issue)

January 2005

Everything You Want To Know About the Internal Martial/Healing Arts

CONTENTS

Page 1........................................Tai Chi ClassicsPaul Brecher

Page 2....................Qigong to Speed Up Progresss.Sherif Abdelbnaser

Page 5..Ben & Eli Montaigue, Out On Their Own.Sandra Montaigue

Page 6.........................Searching For The Inernal.Michael Babin

Page 8....................................The Beginner’s MindSteve Cooling

Page 9........................................The Master ClassesErle Montaigue

Page 11...............................Macular Degeneration:Erle Montaigue

Page 12 ...................Insights Into The Taiji ClassicsJohn Scott petty

Page 16..........The Mind And The Martial Arts V. 6Anthony Court.

Page 20 .The Hidden Qigong methods from BaguaErle Montaigue

Page 25............................................Get ConnectedAnthony Court

Page B.. ...............WTBA Stuff, instructor List Etc.

Combat &Healing

Editor in ChiefErle Montaigue

Executive EditorSandra Montaigue

Managing EditorsBen MontaigueEli Montaigue

Senior WritersMichael BabinErle Montaigue

Senior Copy EditorKathleen Montaigue

Copy EditorBonnie Montaigue

Research EditorBlue Montaigue

Research AssociatesShula, Fula, Rula, and Koola.

Art DirectorGoanna Blursnog

Senior Copy EditorJack Black

Copy EditorSputz Narget

Research EditorLINDA Garnish

Research AssociatesSplitz, Splotz & Splatz

Research AssociatesCurley, Moe, Shemp

All of the articles published in this magazineare protected by International Copyrightlaws. Please contact the publisher for permis-sions.

We take no responsibility for articles writtenby other people and published in this maga-zine.

Moontagu BooksPO Box 35Gwynfe, Llangadog SA19 9WRWales UKhttp://www.taijiworld.com

The World Taiji Boxing Association

Instructor ' s Worldwide l i s t .

Since settling in the UK, I have de-cided to make a concerted effort to fi-nally produce a list of all of ourWTBA instructors world-wide andpublish it on our web site.

However, in order to do this I willneed your help. Due to our moving14,000 mile to the UK and having toupgrade our computers etc., I havelost much of our database and onlyhave those instructors who are in mym ind because they have frequentcontact with me. Those who do not,I will be able to remember.

So I need your help in compiling thislist. If you are a WTBA instructorand have a signed certificate frommyself (Erle Montaigue), or fromone of our main Country Representa-tives, please be in touch with yourdetails of name, contact phone, emailand area in the world and if you doteach, when and where.

If you are a student of a WTBA in-structor you should let he or sheknow about this and to contact usimmediately, as the list is now beingcompiled.

There are two reasons for this. Themain one is so that students can sim-ply look up our web site and see if wehave an instructor nearby and sec-ondly so that we can prevent the hun-dreds of bogus instructors from usingthe WTBA name. It has come to myattention over the years that there aremany out there who study by video

and think that they are entitled then to teach underthe WTBA banner. This is running rampant and Ihear from students all the time that their instructoris a WTBA instructor level 591.5! However, when-ever I go to his area to teach, he never appears ofcourse.

Hence this request form all of our legitimateWTBA instructors to be in touch.

Combat & healing has been off the air since Sep-tember 2003. However, now that we are settled inthe UK, it will be back, bigger and better than ever.however, I need your help as we need articles fromyou, no matter what. I cannot write all of the con-tent myself, nor can Michael Babin or AnthonyCourt, so take up pen and get something over tome so that I can make you famous! At last countthe last issue of C&H had 12,500 downloads! Andthat it only counting those that go out from ourweb site and not the other web sites who also makeit available. Nor is it counting those copies thatpeople make for others etc.

We now have good WTBA representation in manycountries, including India, Sri-Lanka, France, italy,Norway, Sweden, South Africa, Cuba, USA, UK,wales, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany,Switzerland, Holland, Malta, Belgium, Spain,Croatia, Slovenia, Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba,Canada, Egypt, Singapore. And let me know if Ihave left any country out as I am relying upon mymemory.

I will publish an issue of C&H when I gatherenough articles to fill it.

Erle Montaigue

January 2005

An Article About The Taiji Classics

By Paul Brecher

The Taiji (Tai Chi) Classics arethe historical writings of the oldmasters. They are the technicalmanuals which let us know what weshould have within our art so thatwe can practice it correctly.

What the c las s i c s sayabout Qi Gong (Chi

Kung):

The elixir of life lies in the body,regulate the Qi and the body willbe well. Develop the body andmind, cultivate ones essence, Qiand spirit. Train the martial andthe spiritual, for self cultivation inTaiji balance yin and yang to reju-venate. The whole body is filledwith Qi, the changes of yin andyang move the Qi. The Qi spiralsin the body like the coils of asnake. The hips, waist and bellyare like a dragon twisting its body.Be like a swimming dragon. In-hale the Qi to the dan dien, exhaleto fa jing.

What the c las s i c s sayabout sens i t iv i ty train-

ing:

Remain internally reserved, con-tain hardness without expressingit, meet the opponent with soft-ness causing him to know nothingof you. With the opponent riseand drop, speed up and slowdown, evade and return, provokeand cease. Use adhering, connect-ing and following to attain thisskill. Learn to interpret Qi, use theeyes correctly, listen with the skin

and remain balanced at all times.Increase your Qi and keep yourmind strong, drain the opponentsQi and drain his strength. We arevictorious, the opponent fails. Youmust understand the life and deathhand techniques, you must under-stand the life and death acupunc-ture points. Attack the points solife is no more.

What the c las s i c s sayabout f ight ing:

Stick, connect and adhere to theopponent, draw the opponent in,attack with great force. Use spiralmovements attack the opponentsneck. Always maintain close con-tact but never grapple, use fa jing.

Be like a speeding horse destroy-ing all in its path. Attack the op-ponents acupuncture points withthe hand techniques of break,bend, beat and pound, pressdown, rub, push and grab, openand close, rise and fall. Applica-tions for palm are strike down andforwards, applications for fingersare seek and stab the acupuncturepoints, applications for wholehand are break and drain oppo-nents Qi, applications for fist is topunch. Among punches there are,down and parry punch, below el-bow punch, turn the body punch,upside down punch, open moun-tain punch, under leaf punch, re-verse punch, power portion punchand rolling break punch. Remem-ber the footwork follows the body.Every move is an attack, destroyall in your path. Use elbow to takehis life. Leave your opponent noroom to escape, strike withoutmercy. The hand like a swiftsword, slicing across the forehead

or throat, send the opponentstraight to hell. Use an attackno opponent can withstandmaking sure not to give theopponent an opportunity. Likea tiger pouncing on sheep, likea speeding horse destroying allin its path.

What the classics say aboutmoving with the opponent:

Strike the opponent when hisattack is imminent but has notyet issued forth. The wholebody must fa jing when at-tacked, this is an internal skill.To defeat the opponent onemust be able to interpret hisQi. Relate to the opponentwith turn and exchange, ad-vance and retreat. Know hishands forwards and backwardsintention by gaze left but lookright. Attacking the opponentsblood vessels and acupuncturepoints and he will faint, force-ful attacks on the death pointsterminate the opponents life.

What the c las s i c s sayabout ones own body

movement:

Spine straight and vertical, sinkthe Qi to the dan dien. Raiseones spirit and turn thewaist/hips/belly continuously.Be like a swimming dragontwisting its body be flexibleand soft, the body follows theQi, the Qi follows the spirit.

Paul Brecher is the Senior Lon-don Instructor for The WorldTai Chi Boxing Association.

1 January 2005

If you would like more informa-tion please call Paul on 020 82648074 or visit www.taiji.net

Qi gong, a way to speed up your progress

Sherif Abdelnaser: Egypt

We all here about jing and innerpower but not much people reallytalk about it as in how to direct itand stuff. Not much say exactlywhat to do. How ever thanks to alot of research and help from Allah,I was able to lay my hand one some-thing that worked and is ideal forinternal martial artists as well as ex-ternal, without having to practiceyour form for years. of course prac-ticing your form and REAL Qigong for some time is better thatwhat’s here, because for one thing,after doing that your internal en-ergy will work for you sub-con-sciously with out even thinkingabout it. but not all of us have thetime for that so this is like a smallhelper until you can find, GOODTaichi and Qi gong training, for ex-ample don’t attempt to think that abook written by"____" will actuallyget you some were. I tried it all butin the end the only thing thatproved excellent and really THEreal thing is found in the Montaiguesystem. It just proved to be a VERYpractical system from a man willingto teach, and not just claim to bechang san feng’s son!

But any way I hope any one read-ing this will find it easy to followand serving the purpose.

A simple qigong course

Every one possesses Qi since he orshe began to live, all we do inqigong is try to strengthen thatflow and clear any possible block-ages in its flow, so we can havebetter health and in this article

we’ll also cover how to turn thatinto martial power “jing”.

First method

first thing a man must do is tore-discover his one Qi and start tofeel it and therefore exercise it toenhance its flow before eventhinking about the martial artsuses, so, we start with a simplemeditation.

“Before s tart ing you mustknow some s imple bas ic

rule s”

1. The neck and head and spinemust be straight and relaxed andleveled meaning that if some oneran his hand from head to tail bonehe must find the way down smoothand straight.

After some time you will startto feel something building upin the dantien point, that’s theQi

2. The whole back must besmooth, and to do that you mustslightly round the shoulders and thesides of your back so you feel yourback like relaxed and leveled andsmooth.In this you’ll fid that the chest willnaturally be dropped and it will beeasier to breathe from the Dantianarea which is the lower stomacharea starting from the naval down

3. The breathing must be in thedantian area and not the chest.

4. You must be tranquil and likeyou’re in your own world with noproblems and no worries

5. Only focus on the total re-laxation of your mind and bodyand your breath, the deeper thebreath the better.

6. The tongue must stick likeyour saying the letter “L”

The f ir s t method:

1. Take a sitting or standing orlying position but any way, ifyou going to stand keep yourknees bent and there must be afist distance between the armsand the body.

2. Relax the body and mindtotally

3. Calm your whole systemand concentrate on your bodyand self listening and sensing itsbreath and sensing its pulse andso on until you get a hold ofyour body’s natural rhythm4.bring your spirit up by push-ing up the crown point and atthe same time start breathingdirectly into the dantian point“in the middle of your bodyfrom the inside, in the middleof the area between the navaland the sex organ” concentrat-ing the breath in that pointmore and more on each inhale

After some time you will startto feel something building upin the dantien point, that’s theQi

You must know that the Qiand its flow follows the feeling

2 January 2005

of breath “think of the Qi as con-centrated air built up in thedantian” so that’s what we willcultivate in the previous methodwhich is to train the Qi to followthe breath and this is the most im-portant method that will alwaysstay with you.

And the better you get at this themore effective the rest of themethods will be.

Second method: bui ldingup your awarenes s

in this section all we want to do isto build up our awareness and ourconcentration so all you have todo here is to do the first methoduntil you feel the Qi and do thefollowing, all you do is think ofthat feeling and train your self tosend it along certain paths to in-crease your ability to use it.

each of these are separate exercisesbut you can however, when youadvance and control it well, com-bine these and do them togetherrandomly and at different speedsuntil you can completely controlthat feeling, that Qi.

1. On the inhale it’s like your ab-sorbing it from out side all the wayto the dantien and on exhale likeyour taking it from the dantien andout the nose.

2.on the inhale its like your tak-ing it from out side to your dantienand on your exhale its like your tak-ing it from your dantien, up yourspine thru your spine, up yourhead, down your forehead and itcomes at the third eye” a point be-tween your eye’s” and splits to twoone going down on the right sideand one going on the left sideavoiding your nose, into yourmouth and at the point were your

tongue is touching. Now, from hereon it’s from that point on inhale tothe dantian and on the exhale itgoes from the dantien and thru thesame way as explained to the pointin the mouth.

3. Now this one is to train ex-panding your Qi to fill an area, in-hale and think of the Qi filling thewhole area from the naval under ofQi in like a ball shape in all direc-tions and exhale and think that it’sshrinking back to the dantien point.

4. Now this is to train sendingthe Qi to your arms, on the inhalethink of the Qi forming that ballagain from no.3, then on the exhalethink of all of that Qi entering thespine and at the point between theshoulder blades it splits to two andfills your arms. bring the Qi back tothe dantien by inhaling and draw-ing the Qi from the arms to thespine and down to the dantien, andexhale to send the Qi back to thearms as described above.” youmight sense tingling, that's ok"

5. Now this is to train sendingthe Qi to the legs, on the inhalethink of the Qi forming the ballagain from no3, on the exhale thinkof it going up thru the tongue, thruthe point the tongue touches, thruthe two routs to going at the thirdeye position, up the head, thru thecrown point, until it enters thespine, thru the spine, and to the legsto fill them to the soles. Now on in-hale think of the Qi going form thelegs, to the spine, up the head, thruthe third eye, thru the two routs,thru the point were the tonguetouches, thru the tongue, all theway down to the dantien. Then ex-hale and repeat the process.

6. Now this to train complete cir-culation, inhale thinking thedantien forming the ball like no.3.

Exhale and think of the Qi go-ing to the upward route fromno.5, and the down ward routfrom no.4, filling the spine fromthe two directions and not com-pleting those circulations to thearms and legs. Now inhale andsend the Qi thru the both routsat the same time, but completethem to the arms and legs. Nowexhale and reverse those flowsall the way back to the dantienpoint.These last exercises were madeto help one to increase his Qiawareness and his control overit completely, as I said beforeyou just don’t start your medi-tation and do all of the 6 meth-ods! But progress slowly andcompletely, the better you areat the first the better you willbe at the last. So just progresson each step until perfectionthen do the next when youcompletely prefect the first.

As a simple suggestion here’sthe stances for the last meth-ods:

1. for the forth exercise, standfeet parallel and shoulder width,a fist distance between the armsockets and the body, palms fac-ing in front of you with thebacks of the palms facing youwith the fingers pointing toeach other, the elbows must bebent like slightly more than 90degrees, chin pulled in, the headpulled up, back straight, but-tocks pulled in.

2. For the fifth and sixth exer-cise the only difference here isthat the arms are down palmsfacing the floor, fingers pointingin front, knees slightly bent.Other than those you can doany posture in the rest of the

January 2005 3

exercises, but you must have thebasic principles.

Ok, this is the last Phase, in whichwe gain the fruit. Now its time todevelop your internal power.These next exercises are calledcondensing breathing techniques.they depend on your progress inthe basic exercises, so in order toget real results you must developyour Qi greatly and a lot from thevery first exercise, an also developyour control over it from the pre-vious exercises.

Internal power “jing” feels likestrong pulsing waves of electricitycoming from inside the bones,eventually getting stronger, sodon’t expect to break bones in aday! It comes step by step ok.

The bas ic exerc i se :

In these exercises your stance isshoulder width apart, feet parallel,back as explained in the basic prin-ciples, fist distance under theshoulders, arms are held at a 30degree angle from the body, veryloose, palms face backwards, chinpulled in, you breath a reversebreath in these meaning that winyou inhale its like your emptyingthe Dan tien point and when youexhale its like your filling it,” bythe way its like your concentratingall that air into that point".

1.meditate a little to start to feelthe qi, then concentrate on yourarms, like its only the skeletonthere, forget all the surroundingmuscles around it, imagine that theQi just forces the bone to condenseright to the bone marrow everytime you inhale.This is the basic principle of con-densing breathing, you must for-get the muscles around the boneyou’re going to work on, and then

imagine that on the inhale the Qilike squeezes the bone from allaround it toward the bone mar-row. Do this to both sides at oncemeaning that you for instancewere working on the right fore-arm then you should also at thesame time be doing the left?

You can apply this exercise to anybone in your body, in fact youshould apply it to all the bones tostore in them jing, even the ribcage for instance, this exercise alsostrengthens the bone physically.

Note:" DO THE SPINE ALSO,they say it’s the source of yourjing and it’s your center, and it’struly like a freaking battery!

The advanced exerc i se :

Same stance as above, start by in-haling and doing the condensingbreathing to your whole body andat the same time squeeze the mus-cles around it to even squeeze theQi and the bone more in towardthe very center of the bone mar-row. Exhale and relax. The breath-ing in this exercise is also reversebreathing. NEVER forget the ba-sic principle of not really havingyour mind on other than thedantian breathing your using, onlylike 40% is on the actual exercise.NEVER to this until you start go-ing out of breath, hey take it easy,it’s like weaving silk out of co-coon!

You’ll feel waves of current likeelectricity coming from inside thebone, this is jing. It will get stron-ger every time you practice sohave fun.

How to expres s j ing?

Truly there are many ways; thefirst is to let it lead your body

from legs to waist to spine thruhands to opponent! Anotherway is that the jing will start tobe very sensitive as Qi goesinto the bone so you can sendthe Qi from the dantian thruthe legs to form your root thensend it up your leg bones up-setting the jing in that way,then direct that with the waistthru the spine and to the armbones thru them and into theopponent. So the rule is whenyou progress to the advancedlevel the Qi will flow inside thebone as jing in the directionyou want it to go. So just sendthe Qi to support your will butsend it thru the bone so it canbe jing.

Well the bottom line is that allof these an new methods notexactly your three circle qigongtypes, so this means its not ex-actly the kind that will advanceyour Taichi training naturallybut it will enable you to dowhat you need to do to de-velop awesome power for yourpunches and kicks. No matterwhat style of Taichi you do youwill develop jing thru practiceso you don’t even have to doall this but it’s just a means ofspeeding up stuff.

NOTE: this will not in anyway enable you to strikedimmak points, you have totrain in the old yang style to dothat, and my recommendationis this site:TAIJIWORLD.COM. Thisguy is the only one you can getthe good oil from, trust me Ihave read almost every bookand style out there”. Internalpower for pushing is cool, butdimmak rule"

Ok I hope this one helps.

4 January 2005

OUT ON THEIR OWN

Ben and Eli Montaigue havebeen studying in the traditionalway, Taijiquan, Bagua, Qigong andDim-mak since they were 5 yearsold with their Dad, ErleMontaigue. At first it was just thateverything that surrounded thechildren was linked to Taijiquan andthe self defence/healing arts. All ofour friends who came to our vari-ous houses as the children grew upwere in some way touched by thearts. So it was just a natural part oftheir lives and not something thathad to be learnt. They would play asTaijiquan was being performed ortaught to the students who wouldcome to the house and it would allgo in as a part of their natural learn-ing.

Then came the day when Ben (the el-dest) wanted to learn more so he cameto Erle and asked to be taught for-mally. In addition he would go intohis caravan on the farm and put Erle’svideos on to supplement his learning.Without asking, Ben would rise earlyin order to practice his form andQigong. Then came Eli’s turn as heturned 9 years of age and he too askedto be taught formally and would alsoput on the videos (which both stilldo).

The children’s learning processwas never forced, it just happenedas a natural part of their lives andof course being home schooledhad a large part of this progres-sion.

Now that Ben is 21 and Eli is 18,both have begun teaching all bythemselves after many years as ap-prentice to their Father. Thrownin at the deep end so to speak,they began a small class at their lo-cal village, teaching a group withan average age of 55. I say thrownin at the deep end as this is proba-

bly the most difficult of all classesto teach; people who have neverhad any type of movement train-ing and who aren’t ‘new dogs’anymore. Erle would go alongonce in a while to see how it wasall going and to help out so thatthe boys could listen and learn thefiner details of teaching fromscratch.

The boys learnt that they had toreally break each tiny movementdown into its smaller parts so thatpeople could learn and they learntthat in order to help people tolearn correctly, they had to makeuse of anecdotes and anything elsethat would help. Over the 30years that Erle Montaigue hasbeen teaching, he has learnt all ofthe tricks of the trade and haspassed these on to the boys (andhopefully Kathleen as she getsolder).

Fa-jing is one of the most difficultthings to learn and although Erlehas developed way to teach thisimportant area, it still takes sometime with only the few ever reallygetting it. However, although Erlehas never actually taught the boysfa-jing, only talked about it andperformed it many times withthem, this too has been a naturallearning and one day both boyssimply had it.

Erle has always stressed that theworld does not go around onTaijiquan alone however, so all ofhis children have many other in-terests, like their music with all be-ing accomplished musicians. Thisis important as so many martialartists rely solely upon their mar-tial arts to get them through life.

This is nor good as it all be-comes too serious with bowingand wearing the suit etc. If youhave something else to fallback on and to occupy yourmind, you will always remainhappy and not take on the‘genre’ of the martial arts as somany do, trying to be Chineseand pretending that they areliving in 17th Century Chinaor Japan!

Recently, Eli Montaigue visitedthe USA for 3 weeks and whilethere took a small class inMichigan and from the replieswe have received, it was re-ceived very well with everyonewho attended taking in morethan they could ever havehoped to have learnt. Eli cov-ered Yang Lu-ch’an correctionsas well as the Phoenix BaguaAnimal Qi Awaking form andsome self defence stuff.

Erle Said: “It’s a sad statewhen children no longer re-spect nor wish to take aftertheir parents. This has mainlyto do with the way schools arerun nowadays, taking that re-sponsibility away from the par-ents and giving it to strangersat such a young age. This iswhy ours have never been toschool. They have been edu-cated very well but not atschool. Those who arehome-schooled take after whattheir parents really are and notwhat they, either knowingly orsub-consciously, pretend to be.So am I am really happy thatmy children have an interest inboth martial arts, healing andmusic.”

January 2005 5

Searching for the “Internal” in the Internal Arts

by Michael A. Babin, copyright © 2004

Those few modern experts thatyou meet who actually have somelegitimate claim to practising theirmartial art in an internal manner (asopposed to the many who gothrough the motions of doing a taijislow form or walking woodenlyaround a bagua circle) will tell youthat their doing so is the product oflong years of difficult training. Thebetter ones rarely make fun of theirexternal arts peers or think thatwhat they are practising and/orteaching is innately superior.

Better teachers than I have writtenabout this subject, but you can saythat the styles commonly referredto as internal (Taiji, Bagua,Hsing-i, Liu He Ba Fa and theWu-dang arts) are based primarilyon understanding the principles ofnot applying force directly againstforce as well as using the power ofthe body as a co-ordinated wholeto exploit the weaknesses of anopponent’s technique and/or pos-ture. By contrast, the Externalstyles will often rely on over con-ditioning parts of the body andwill base their defence on theirtechnical ability to attack regard-less of the punishment that theyabsorb while doing so.

A popular source of discussion onthe various internal and externalmartial arts boards is whether ornot such a distinction is too artifi-cial. I think that there is sometruth to this contention as it is im-portant to remember that prior tothe 20th Century all systems,when written about, were referred

to simply as martial or fightingarts. The stylistic distinction be-tween internal and external waspopularized by a few martial art-ists/writers, notably Sun Lu-tang,in the late 19th and early 20thcenturies for a variety of ideologi-cal and social reasons; i.e. , want-ing to differentiate between artsthat were native to China (Taoist)from those that were foreign(Buddhist) in origin.

There is also another way to ap-proach being “internal’ whichcrosses into more subjective areas.I tell those who ask me that learn-ing a martial art in this way is likeapproaching any discipline thathas both a mental and a physicalaspect (for example, making mu-sic, dancing, sports,woodworking, painting, potteryor any hands-on trade).

There is also another way toapproach being “internal’which crosses into more sub-jective areas

In the beginning you crudely copythe movements of whoever youare learning from to the best ofyour ability; after a few years, ifyou have any ability, you stopcopying your mentor to the sameextent and start to put yourself,both mind and body, into what-ever you are doing.

With good instruction, time andpatience, the particular theoriesand practices that you study be-come ingrained to the point thatsuch a master crafts person doeshis or her “thing” so well that a

casual observer is fooling intobelieving that the activity is aseasy as he or she makes it look.Until the observer takes theirfirst lesson ... .

The difference between themaster and the apprentice alsolies in the time spent at the ac-tivity in question; the qualityof the effort and the innateability (or relative lack of suchability) of each. The same ap-plies to the study of an internalmartial art. If I can continuethe artistic metaphor: anyonecan learn to paint or draw to acertain extent but few will evergo on to produce a master-piece. It is also true that thereare comparatively few goodpainters around who offer les-sons.

Using this kind of definitionreally does make the division ofindividual skill and under-standing on an internal or ex-ternal basis as rathermeaningless. Of course, formany modern practitioners,being “internal” is more of anintellectual label that they wraparound their pretentiousness,and not a particular set ofphysical abilities that can beapplied both in solo practiseand with others. In addition,each stylistic variation of theinternal arts will identify thosephysical abilities in slightly orgreatly different ways.

One way to develop internalmartial skill is to cross train ina variety of systems that com-pliment each other. However,cross training is a funny thing

6 January 2005

— it’s essential for the seriouslong-term, martial artist and it canalso be counter-productive in thatmany such students become dab-blers at the various arts; never re-ally understanding even onesystem to any depth.

In this regards, it is essential toremember that there is little po-tential benefit from simply learn-ing one form from one style andthen thinking that you have some-how understood the entire systemof which that form may only be avery small part! Learning the ba-sics of a system is not as good aslearning and practising an entiresystem; but, is always preferableto learning any individual formsuperficially!

if you spend a year in one sys-tem and move on to anotheror try to learn several systemsat the same time, or dabble inworkshops with an endless listof instructors, you can gain asuperficial veneer of skill butmay never actually havelearned anything in depth.

If you study one art deeply youwill learn a great deal but you alsolimit your potential for growth bynot studying how other systemsdo the same thing slightly (orgreatly differently); conversely, ifyou spend a year in one systemand move on to another or try tolearn several systems at the sametime, or dabble in workshops withan endless list of instructors, youcan gain a superficial veneer ofskill but may never actually havelearned anything in depth.

After many years of training, Inow have some understanding of

the words of one of my formerteachers. He had said that you hadto learn everything you could getyour hands on to be an expertpractitioner and then, at somepoint, let most of it go to focus onone approach if you wanted to be-come a master practitioner. Trueexperiential learning of anymind/body discipline is first a pro-cess of accumulation and then aprocess of de-cluttering and sim-plification.

In the end; learning the truemeaning of being “internal” is upto you and I recommend thewords (taken from The ABC ofReading) of the late Ezra Poundwho wrote: “Real education mustultimately be limited to men whoinsist on knowing: the rest is meresheep-herding.”

January 2005 7

The Beginner’s Mind

Steve Cooling

Iwas once told to ‘keep the begin-ners mind’ (or words to that effect).At that time I just though it meantthat there was more to learn thanjust remembering a set of moves,which of course there is. Over thelast couple of years this has taken onmore meaning. Not only should Iapproach each days training to seewhat I can learn from it, rather thandoing it the same way year afteryear because I know it, I should alsosee other instructors and learn ofthem.

When I started teaching (1 ½ yearsago) I realized how I could getdrawn down a road of believing someof the praise you get from some ofthe people attending classes. I havealways had instructors who are of ahigh standard and there fore feel Ihave a strong grip on the reality ofwhere I’m at (more muppet thanmaster).

To keep me progressing I attendclasses and workshops here in theU.K. These are a great way to meetother practitioners and teachers. Onthis point I know Pete Smith hasspoke about getting a camp togetherwhere there are a few different in-structors teaching different aspects. Iwould love for this to happen butthere needs to be more interest beforePete can take things further so if in-terested contact Pete 01303 278188(daytime) or Christinachristinalyth@aol.com.

Meanwhile, and this is the basis forme writing this waffle, if you want tolearn and progress you have to findsomeone who is better than you togive a bit of guidance. This is where

that old yin-yang theory pops up be-cause as much as there is a danger ofliving in a bubble thinking we are asamazing as our students tell us, thereis also the flip side of training withhigh level instructors and thinking weare crap.

This is at least my experience. Istarted teaching and felt really happyabout it, starting attending coursesby different people and this causedme to question weather I should beteaching at all. Having spent sometime thinking about this and meetingdifferent people from other systemsand styles I have come full circle.The shake to my confidence changedsomething I only thought to some-thing I now know.

I started teaching and felt re-ally happy about it, starting at-tending courses by differentpeople and this caused me toquestion weather I should beteaching at all.

‘I’m just a person who loves whatthey do and wants to show othershow to do it, there are people whounderstand more about this than I doand if you want to come with mewe’ll learn of them together’.

This challenge has made me realizethe important thing is not whetherwe are worse or better (and that’s an-other issue) than somebody else butconcentrate on our selves and behappy with where we are and wherewe’re going.

For me this is the beginner’s mind -always learning, always open.

I have run the basis of this articlepast a few people who (I was sur-prised) said they have felt thesame. I had even made one per-son feel like that!! This really gotme thinking and it reminded meof a theory I have about progres-sion. When we start taiji we learnsome of the form and think weunderstand it. As we progress werealize what the movement is sup-posed to feel like, however, wecan’t actually do it.

The hard thing is to make a posi-tive out of a negative, so if we aretrying to advance in our Taijipractice we will always see roomfor improvement. This wouldalso seem to apply to those whoteach, it is worth rememberingwhere you have come from aswell as focusing on the roadahead.

8 January 2005

The Master Classes:

By Erle Montaigue

It’s not enough to know themovements of Taijiquan and thengo out and begin teaching.Knowing the set of movementsdoes not mean that you can actuallymove!

A ballet dancer for instance cannotsimply learn Swan Lake and thensay that they can move or claim tobe a ballerina. They must firstspend many hours doing exercisesto turn themselves into a ballerinawho can move.

And it’s exactly the same withTaijiquan where so many studentssimply learn the postures of TaiChi and then practise the wholeset thinking that they can thenmove. It takes a special set of exer-cises to learn how to move cor-rectly for the self defence art ofTaijiquan.

Many students tell me that theydo not need to learn how to movein this manner as they only wishto teach it for health etc. Howwrong they are as you cannot evenbegin to teach Taijiquan until youhave learnt the martial side of it asboth are inextricably linked toform a well balanced set of move-ments which when combined areexcellent for health. Even if oneonly ever wishes to teach a lunchtime class for the local CWAwhere the average might be 60and blue rinses abound, it is im-portant to be able to show themthe martial applications.

As an instructor you have to beable to impress students and evenold ladies and old men are im-pressed with the martial knowl-edge that you should possess. Andit is very important to be able toshow the applications and moreimportantly be able to use them ina realistic situation, as this gives allstudents a much better under-standing of what they are tryingto achieve. You must however beable to explain exactly why you areshowing the applications, in thatthe Qi is activated along certainmeridians when these are knowetc.,

Knowing the set of move-ments does not mean that youcan actually move!

So when I teach one of my ‘Mas-ter Teaching Classes’, I always be-gin with movement and almostalways even seasoned Taijiquanpractitioners have difficulty witheven the simplest of the WudangMovement Exercises. Basically,these exercises embody the veryessence of Taijiquan but in a muchsimpler way. They will teach youhow to activate ‘Spine Force’, thatgreat power that comes directlyfrom the accumulative additive ef-fect of each vertebra being joinedin power to release when neces-sary. They will also give you greatcalmness and stillness in all situa-tions, physical or mental.

When someone first begins tolearn these exercises, they oftenthink that they are too easy, how-ever, when they are corrected, theysoon realize that they are not as

easy as they seem and indeedthey find that it is very difficultto even take one step in theTaijiquan martial manner. It’sall the internal stuff that makesit difficult, however, onceachieved; one wonders how itwas so difficult.

You can do these Wudang step-ping exercises at any time ofthe day in any situation, evenso that people looking on can-not notice that you are doingsomething weird, as they arejust moving steps.

A huge amount of energy isgenerated while performingthe steps in the way and a greatcalmness comes over the bodyso they are excellent for anystressful situation. And moreimportantly, they teach youhow to move the body and al-ways maintain balance and togain great power, always main-taining the upper hand in anysituation.

It is very important for theprospective teacher to knowhow to move as it is impossibleto teach others correctly with-out knowing it yourself. Like aguitar teacher who cannot playthe guitar, you cannot teachTaijiquan without knowing thevery basics of movement.

The next thing that I teach inmy Master Classes is not theform and how to teach it butrather how to punch! This maysound strange, however, if youcannot punch, then you cannotteach Taijiquan because al-though you may never in your

January 2005 9

life need to punch, knowing ex-actly how to punch with greatpower from a very short distance,teaches us how to use the Qi andhow to move the body to gain thegreatest healing effect or self de-fence. Without fa-jing, you knownothing. That is a saying told tome by Chang Yiu-chun and he al-ways taught fa-jing even before hetaught form.

The mechanics of correct punch-ing or striking with any portion ofthe body is so complex but at thesame time simple that not manyhave ever achieved true fa-jing.And whether you like it or not,you must seem as if you knowwhat you are talking about whenteaching and you have to impressthe students. Fa-jing punching is away of not only getting their at-tention, but also to keep their at-tention up and giving themsomething to strive for. And this iswhy I teach these areas first up inmy Master Teacher’s Classes. Itnot only gives the new or oldteacher ammunition, it also showsthem that perhaps they did notknow it all after all.

10 January 2005

The Black Stuff:

By Erle Montaigue

Many years ago, I published a lit-tle book called “Food For Spirit”.It is now available free to down-load from our web site. In thatbook I said that all margarine wasnot good and even went so far asto say that if you MUST putsomething on your bread, or ifyou must eat bread at all, use but-ter. If you ever saw what marga-rine looked like after it has beenhydrogenated, you would nevereat it again as it looks just like axlegrease! It is black.

Now, in the 21st century we haveinformation about this ‘axlegrease’ which is coloured andadded to to make it look like but-ter, from an unlikely source. Col-leen McCulloch, the famousAussie Author (Thorn Birds), isgoing blind. She has macular de-generation and many scientistsnow say outright that it is causednot only by genetics but alsothrough eating hydrogenated veg-etable oils; in other words, marga-rine.

Many people who first got ontomargarine in the 50’s and 60’s inorder cut down on animal fat alsohave this condition which eventu-ally leads to blindness. I can re-member when margarine firstcame onto the market as the newhealth aid which was going tomake us all healthy and my par-ents bought copious amounts of itin preference to butter.

An article on Colleen in the Aus-tralian Women’s Weekly tells ofher struggle to get as many bookswritten before she goes blind and

her crusade to help others to notfall into the same health trap. Itreads:

Macular Degeneration is thoughtto be caused by a combination ofgeneric and environmental factors.Early detection is important inavoiding blindness later, with spe-cial zinc and anti-oxidant supple-ments, eliminating vegetable oilsand margarine from the diet, in-creasing the intake of fish andnuts, maintaining a good exerciseregime and a healthy weight andstopping smoking all being vitalsteps in halting the progress of theillness.

Colleen, a heavy smoker all herlife, has cut back on cigarettes(Why the hell doesn’t she givethem up altogether? … Editor). Inaddition, she has agreed to be apatron of - and spokesperson for -The Macular Degeneration Foun-dation of Australia.

Dr. Paul Beaumont, the founda-tions’s chair, says Colleen’s cour-age is inspiring. “Colleen is sittingon the edge of losing her sight justwhen she is in her most produc-tive years”. He says.

“It’s a terrible thing, a modern ep-idemic. We are seeing a five-foldincrease in patients and I thinkthat the main culprit has to bevegetable oil”.

The problem is that the processingof vegetable oils produces transfatty acids and these hydrogenatedfats tend to raise total blood cho-lesterol levels and “bad” choles-terol and lower “good”cholesterol, when used.

They are deposited in thoseparts of the cell membranesthat are supposed to have ei-ther saturated fatty acids or un-saturated fatty acids andessentially foul up the retinalpigment cell’s machinery.

Professor Kerryn Phelps saysthat “on epidemiologicalgrounds, the case against vege-table oils is proven”.

----------------------

For those of you who are vegetarians, youshould take flax seed crushed each morning asyou cannot eat fish of course. And for anti-oxi-dants, I do not believe in taking any supple-ments at all nowadays but prefer to get themfrom natural sources such as green leafy vegeta-bles and fruit such as in “Erle’s Power Break-fast”.

Good Health does require somechanges to life-style and a little willpower! Much bad health and diseaseis often caused by an imbalance ofacid and alkaline in your body, (yinand yang). This can be reversed byfollowing a strict regime as follows.Begin by hydrating the body with al-kaline substance. Each morning andlate afternoon, drink at least one pintof 'green drink'. You juice the leavesof any green vegetables such as let-tuce, celery and cucumber (the wholevegetable in this case) and if you cangrow some wheat grass, even better.To grow wheat grass just get some or-ganic wheat or spelt grain and put itin a tray on top of some organic pot-ting mixture and water it every day.one week and you can begin to har-vest and juice it. Give up all coffeeand tea, give up all meat products anddairy, give up all salt and sugar. Donot eat anything else other than coldclimate fruit until at least lunch time.Give up ALL fermented productssuch as wine all spirits and vinegaretc. And all yeast products such asbread, give up all gluten products,those that contain wheat, rye, barleyand oats. If you follow this yourproblem will not have an environmentwhich to live.

January 2005 11

Insights into ‘The Tai Chi Chuan Classics’

John Scott Petty

“Exercise internal power- likerefining metal into pureststeel”-Master Wu Yu-Hsiang circa 1800s-

“Steel wrapped in Cotton”{abbreviated}Master Yang Cheng Fu -1930s-

Interpretat ion.

‘Steel’ read-’condensed, strong but pliable,density but alive, building layer upon layerfrom gross substance to finer and purer,malleable to the minds forge, etc’.

‘Cotton’ read- ‘soft, encapsulating, expan-sive, permeating, light, virtually transpar-ent, etc’

As with all the contents of the available lit-erature of the Internal Arts, these princi-ples manifest on a overt and covert level.

‘Refining metal into purest steel’.

In the Internal Arts the ideas of ‘refining’,‘smelting’ ‘forging’ and even ‘folding’{thefrequent ‘folding’ many hundreds of timesof steel while making a sword} and moreterms of an alchemic nature are often used.The process of forging is lengthy and hard,so is training.

Liken it to training once a week only, whileyour instructor is ‘bearing down on youbellows in hand’, its frankly a waste of timeand resources if you don’t work at the‘smithy’ day and night. If you cant moti-vate yourself to train, ‘ forging’ alone, thefrustration will be counterproductive andyou might as well leave the work to others.

The ore will never be separated, the steelwill never be forged, the sword nevermade. Too many students I ve seen com-plain about ‘difficulty’ but do little or noth-ing about ‘persisting’. I was lazy as ateenage novice and I was not a ‘natural’, soI had to train harder than the others. I toowas often put off. We all have good ex-cuses, some brilliant and justifiable. Withhundreds of children dying a day fromthirst, starvation and disease, without achoice of a different life, yet we can changeours. What’s your excuse? If you haveenough to eat and drink, and a roof overyour head that’s enough. Its all you need totrain.

Creation

We are life forms with sensation. We can bymeasure and with time and effort createand /or notice different latent degrees offeelings and abilities using our minds andbodies. Much like layers revealed one afteranother. To describe them is often mostdifficult. Language is limited. One word inChinese, especially in the Energetic Doc-trines may contain a whole repertoire ofunderstanding. It can denote a whole dis-tinct and total method of cultivation. Itmay only reveal itself or be reserved for theinitiated or long term student. REGU-LAR TRAINING AND ENTERINGINTO A RELATIONSHIP WITHYOUR SELF AND YOUR FEELINGSIS THE FIRST KEY TO UNDER-STANDING AND GAINING MAS-TERY. Success is even possible without aregular Teacher with REGULAR effort.This supreme effort in seeking the fruits oftraining is likened to the ‘mind set’ of ‘Steelin Cotton’. ‘Cotton in Cotton’ is too softand indicates laziness and physical flaccid-ity and is as useless as ‘steel in steel’ which istoo hard, indicating a bound inflexibilitybody and bull headiness.’ Steel in Cotton’is the right combination of hard and soft.Yin and Yang.

What to do

Consider your physical and energetic,emotional ‘substance’ while performingthe forms, both hand and weapon. Whatdifferent feelings manifest with differentpostures and actions? Even Times of day?Seasons? When do you become calmer or

more energised while practicing.Moving postures and still postures.What do you feel?

Always consider your internal energy {its lack or abundance} and its abilities.If you cant ‘feel’, it doesn’t meansomething doesn’t exist or could intime exist. Train the right way untilyou can. I will write about differentpossible sensations to watch out for infuture articles.

Even easier is to consider your physicaland energetic, emotional ‘substance’while performing daily tasks. Trainingnever ceases once you learn the knack.Sweeping the floor I use ‘snake creepsdown’ and ‘needle at sea bottom’.Washing up I use ‘Golden RoosterStands on one leg’. Cleaning my teeth Ido ‘Boneless Arts’ such as the KidneyStretch. Be creative. Be imaginative.‘Listen’ to your body and mind

‘Pay attention and wake up’ is a good‘mantra’ for all Internal Arts students. Ihave purposely written it back to front.

What is the energetic difference be-tween feeling well and vibrant, andsick and listless? Tired and refreshed?Angry or happy? Sober and Drunk,and then hung over? Bored or moti-vated? These predominantly grossmanifestations of Chi or Life force areavailable to most of us on a regular ba-sis until we have a SOUGHT ANDTRAINED in a viable alternative. Of-ten people find they can not even re-member what it is to feel well wheneven a little sick, happy when angry orsad. Why?

So consider, ponder, experiment. Ask‘why’ and ‘how’ of all your processes.Look for your energy.

Meditate on the above principlesceaselessly in every waking moment.

12 January 2005

Look to eliminate anything that obstructsthese principles from occurring.

All my Masters have manifested this abilityof ‘Steel wrapped in Cotton’ to less orgreater degrees. In its most obvious exhibi-tion it manifests during push hands as verysoft skin with underlying flesh that canchange from soft to hard without muscletension. In their manner in performingskills or engaged in sparring , one momentquiet and demur the next they can energiseappearing even terrifying in their intensityand power. They can seamlessly movefrom hard to soft and back again.

In time the The ‘cotton body’ hide, nuturesand secures the ‘Steel Body’ physically andenergetically. Without one to balance theother the practitioner has only limited ex-pertise and may suffer from the conse-quences of energetic imbalance.

It has to be pointed out that all this infor-mation I ‘m sharing here will be nothing atbest but a carrot on a stick, or a pipe dream,without regular systematic training in thebasic to advanced ‘formulas’ as taught byMantak Chia and/or Bruce Frantzis, andErle Montaigues Methods.

This briefly put requires that there is a con-scious and scientific approach in the gener-ation of ‘Jing’ leading to a surplus torequirements. Then its daily conversionand refinement into viable and useable‘Chi’.

The energy and vitality of youth isretainable. Ageing can be slowed.

Please see the Masters mentioned in thisnews letter, and Dr Yang Jwing Mings pub-lications for further information onJing{ching} Chi and Shen.

copyright J. Petty -August 2003

‘Sacri f i ce ’

Soul { Spirit} prosperity or material pros-perity.

What do we most value?

Ask your selves. What is truly of value toour continuing existence. Are we partici-pating in life to increase our understandingof ourselves and our evolution within theworld?A first hand experience of the Lifeprocess? Or simply seeking distraction,isolation from ourselves and everything

around us? Does our present life style existas mere distancing from the possibilities ofa genuinely more rewarding life?"

Are we ‘watchers’ or ‘doers.’ The ‘Audi-ence’ or the ‘Show.’ Do we need to leavethat theatre?

I invite you to consider sacrifice in terms ofthe time and effort we need to put in to ourcultivation practices. The life that we areleading here and now. How did we get tothis point, where will it lead? What shouldwe change, what should we sacrifice.Where do we want to be.

This has many impl ica-t ions .

Lets consider that ULTIMATELY we allcreate the possibility or not of receivingand instigating life changing situationswith our present mind set.

A student can choose whether to regularlycome to a class, to pay attention and listen,follow directives, they chose whether totrain seriously when alone. They choosewhether to sacrifice time, energy, and evencomfort for the learning process. They cre-ate the lasting results of ‘instruction’; hard-wired into their bodies and in their mindsfrom the elements or parts of instructionimparted, and their own efforts. This is aform of sacrifice . Giving yourself up to thelearning process.

I was a Personal Fitness Trainer in the late80’s and I once had a client who was genu-inely surprised that he was required to dophysical work and change His Diet, tochange his body. Many people hope someform of osmosis will happen, as if by magicfitness or competence will materialise sim-ply by being with an instructor or at a classand/or by paying for that service. At worsethese people if students can often becomevirtual leeches and make time and ener-getic demands on everyone around themwhile they take no responsibility for theirown health.

In some traditions information is impartedby a form of ‘osmosis’- this is called oftencalled a ‘Transmission.’ This does not oc-cur though with a novice Chi kung practi-tioner who moans and complains anddoesn't train alone, or even someone try-ing to build up their muscles unable toeven put up with doing a few press ups!

We can directly choose to participateor not, to attempt to fathom or not. Toexperience or not, follow or not. Thedirectives of a teacher can only do somuch without ‘sacrifice’.

By natural extension it can be said stu-dents individually or on mass ‘create’the teacher and the teachingenviroment, for ill or for good. Thecompound ramifications of receivingand giving tuition are suspended or ne-gated if this creation is incomplete orconstantly undermined, even damagedby the students conduct. Poor studentsreflect badly in more ways than oneupon a teacher. Genuine honourableand courteous behaviour is virtuallydead in our society. Self respect anddignity through effort, slowly erodingin the same direction. Intent is thegreat key. We can not do a thing, evenlifting a finger, without intent.

A Teacher - Student relationship shriv-els without the growth of students,their balance of sacrifice of their time,money and efforts to the Instructorssacrifice of time and energy. This iswhy it is traditionally expected in allgreat Arts that there is a 100% com-mitment, with all the rules of etiquetteand behaviour, to a Teacher. Correctlyperformed it serves to keep the teacherand relationship between the student/s‘alive’ so that the teacher can fully servethe student/s by ‘imparting’ all that heknows. I have experienced this and Ifind it more liberating and productivethan the laissez faire attitude that pre-vails in many classes and many minds.This can often be no more than

‘Im your pal lets be lazy together- Imtoo insecure to have you as a stu-dent/teacher demanding a matureTeacher/ student’

or

‘I’ll pamper you because that’s whatyou want but not what you need. Togive you what you need would be toomuch of an effort’

Many people are justifiably seekingcomfort or social contact throughclasses because of a great lack, a need tofind from external sources personalstrength, self worth and will. Work andall the ramifications of modern lifehave left many people ‘blunted’, feel-

January 2005 13

ing isolated and exhausted. Many are ‘ad-dicted’ to more than the obvious drugs andalcohol ride, but food and TV, even ‘con-suming’ murder and rape as entertainmentnot jus the empty fix of a game show! Vir-tually unable to perform more than basicdaily tasks life becomes a slow unpleasantslide into oblivion. Sickness in middle orold age is now a virtual guarantee. Realgood health is more than most people caneven begin to understand.

The sacrifice of training in the InternalArts can in time give more pleasure andmeaning to life than the best Drug or‘Murder Mystery’ show. It is not distrac-tion but complete involvement in ones life.As the Taoists say’ Once what was real be-comes false, what was false becomes real"Drawing energy from the earth, its naturalenvironments, and even the stars, to in-crease ones vitality for ones tasks ,is greaterthan that exclusive designer bangle, newsports car, face lift or the chance of an Os-car{ I once regularly counseled an Oscarnominee friend, who was also a seriousFood Addict.}.

‘Comfort’ and what ever that may mean toan individual is only part of the reason oneshould seek a life times training in the mys-teries of these Arts..

Who is able to Sacri f i ce?

In Indian yogic terms the word ‘adhikara’denotes ‘qualification’. The students ‘qual-ification’ to receive direct transmission ofspiritual knowledge and power or thetraining to accomplish the means. The un-qualified person was/is excluded as itwould not only damage him or her but alsothe teacher. The karmic consequences orgiving up your training, Guru or worsewere and are not to be taken lightly.

Traditionally the ‘qualifications’ werestated as a number of requirements. Sim-ple accounts of these, which also havestrong similarities with the oriental martialand spiritual conditions are; a positiveframe of mind; faithful application; vener-ation of the teacher; impartiality { whetheryou are approved of or not, your training ishard or not, successful or not- you carryon. In Chinese circles this is the ability to‘eat bitter’}; sense restraint; moderate diet

There are also attributes of the student andtheir suitable types of training that arel isted, from the fickle, rude andunenergetic student to the exceptional andextraordinary.

I like many teachers have broken withmany Initiation practices, and teach openlywith all that this demands. I personally pre-fer the ‘Self Initiation’ process as practicedby my Yoga Teachers and Gurus.

I also have experimented with going evenfurther, even teaching for free and impart-ing knowledge and skills in the most un-suitable environment. Now Im morecautious.

Even Master Rupert Shonaike my teacherand mentor of 10 years { I became his onlyStudent Instructor in the UK in the 90’s,out of 25 teacher trainers, and ran his classfor nearly adecade in his absence.} whowas fairly open with me, held back foryears to test my sincerity. His and my firstteacher Lineage Master Chu repeatedlyemphasised not teaching, or cloaking, cer-tain aspects. Chu was notorious for leadingunworthy students away from the materialhe seemed to reserved for his best.

Shiv Charan Singh my Yoga Instructor,mentor { I became his first Student In-structor in the 90’s and ran his class in hisabsence before he handed it over to mewith his blessing.} and guru since the late80’s wouldn’t even touch any one until hewas certain of their commitment and char-acter, from a very real and justified fear ofspiritual contamination. From a simplehand shake after a couple of years with him{ which filled me with joy} to a hug 8 yearslater, meant more than words.

In pre-communist China with in the Chi-nese Opera, parents had to consent to thefact that instruction might kill their child ifhe or she entered into training with the op-era troupe. This could be from the trainingitself or severe beatings if the child did notfollow instruction to the letter. Living withthe troupe a bed would perhaps be at firstno more than a small box or a floor space.Training was incessant. Terrible, but theend results were and still are amazing. It issaid that this ‘consent’ is still understoodtoday if not officially stated.

In India you might be expected to give allyour worldly possessions for instructionwhile prostrated at the feet of the guru any

number of years without any guaran-tee of success.

I’m obviously not suggesting contractsof death, nor that any one should giveall ones worldly goods to a teacherhow ever good. Many have takenadvantae of these sacrifices. I only sug-gest that students seek to follow direc-tives, respect themselves and theirTeacher for their efforts, while deter-mined to carry on whatever the situa-tion. Paying a proportionate fee to thevalue of the information taught is nec-essary because no one can live in thissociety without money. Also it is theway our society and ourselves affordvalue. Many things we pay dearly forare claerly not even worth the pricetag. Consider cigarettes- the oddestself sacrifice going. As even my { ex-pensive but excellent}dentist says-‘you get what you pay for’. That saysmore than it seems.

I am fortunate to practice arts, nowmore widely available and accessible inthe last decade, that even in the 1980swould cost a student in Hong Kong$10,000 for 14 hours instruction andan oath of secrecy. I gained them bygrace, commitment, sacrifice and purehard devotion, sweat and slog.

What el se have I sacr i -f i ced you should ask?

Beyond the physical and psychologicalpain, frustration, hunger, sleep depri-vation, loneliness, loss of friends, sta-tus and position?

We could calculate the time I spenttraining alone and in classes and gymsagainst the successful careers and in-toxicating social life I gave up. In turnas my training intensified; first my ArtCollege studies suffered but I eventu-ally passed by a whisker. Then later Igave up careers as an InternationalModel/ Actor, then a photographic As-sistant, then Jewellery Designer withcontracts with department stores. In-stead, because of the wages I sacrificed,instruction and books were paid forby taking menial and low paid, lowskilled and often demeaning and dan-gerous work. All this because it wouldallow me the time and mental space to

14 January 2005

train. At 36 I was lifting fire places of up toa 1/4 of a ton between two of us, and inhal-ing all manner of poisonous fumes anddusts renovating other fire places. Morethe job of an unskilled 18 old, and my workmate was even younger. Tai Chi and ChiKung mended my back on more than oneoccasion and saved my knees and lungs.There where fireplaces accidentallydropped on my knees, fire bricks too{ 25kg+} I would train before and after workto compensate for the demands on mybody. Ive trained in toilet cubicles at officejobs, even grave yards and car parks. Allthis to pay for more books, instruction,and of course food and necessities. I didn’tbuy my first CD until the mid 90’s. I have-n’t owned a car since the 80’s. I’ve drivenjags, ridden in Lamborginis. I’ve beenchauffeured in Mercedes. All sacrificed. If Icouldn’t pay for a class Id practice what Idlearnt the week before at home over andover. That way Id progress. As a studentsometimes I’d walk 20 miles home becauseI had no money. You really get to see Lon-don and its characters that way. With notenough money to even get a bus years laterto teach at Charlton, Id walk, earningenough to get home, have the first meal ofthe day and just about pay rent. I refused togo on the dole as a teacher. I lost a lot ofweight when there wasn't enough food.

Looking at my peers { one of which ownsthe fire place business} who followed ex-otic and ‘glamorous’ careers you’d arrive ata sobering equation.

If only the money is considered, 20 years ofa even basic wage lost of say £10,000 perannum is a hefty sum. If you then considerthat a number of my peers are now million-aires, or all at least own thriving busi-nesses, their own homes, cars, and havefamilies, savings and regular holidays etc,the sum becomes staggering. I own virtu-ally nothing, beyond clothes, a few bits andpieces. My prize possessions are my books,my mind and the abilities of my body.

Yet the value and ‘life style’ of what I havereceived from my life endeavour is price-less. What I and my teachers have to offer isultimately incalculable. So at this junctureeven though Im receiving a un-propor-tionate fee for the instruction I can offer, Istill Teach.

My life has had, like everyone’s, its ups anddowns, what many would consider mak-ing an exciting read, good fiction, a filmeven. Romantic and titillating for joe pub-

lic perhaps, but ‘Living it’ though has notalways been as entertaining nor as pleasant.From dyslexic, hearing impaired, shortsighted, asthmatic bullied child Art Prod-igy, to failed School boy, druggy Punk ArtStudent, and unemployed lay about. Thenfrom Gym bore to Fashion Model, Pho-tographer, Jewellery Designer, to VanDriver ‘delivery boy’ and skivvy. Now Art-ist, Film Maker, Recluse and Instructor,and a student through it all. At school Ionly ever won one athletic event. The eggand spoon race. I say If I can do all this andsurvive with the cards I was dealt, anyonecan.

I must say I periodically became a recluse,even since I was 17 when I first studiedZen- earning the nickname the UrbanMonk in the 90’s. I don’t know if its possi-ble to really cultivate successfully without asimilar sacrifice.

I was once a fashion model, an ideal to sella product. I ve appeared in my Teachersand my Videos doing Tai Chi, a new kindof product -as a sickly child this would haveseemed unimaginable. After being a modelI vowed to never step back in front of acamera. Now I’ve come full circle. Now itcould be said I try to model/ mould stu-dents , lifting and hopefully inspiring themtowards their ideals, at least to their poten-tials. My motivation is to inspire. To open astudents eyes fully to what is of real value.Perhaps Im still a model of a kind. Sacri-ficing much, striving to be an ideal. That isno easy responsibility for any body.

So I ask-

What is instruction and training worth toyou? What will you sacrifice? What willyou do? How far will you take it?

copyright J. Petty -August 2003

January 2005 15

Mind in the Martial Arts

Part Six-The Relationship ofThe Internal Arts to the TaoTe Ching.

By Anthony Court

It is almost impossible to read abook about the “internal arts” with-out coming across quoteafter quote from LaoTzu’s Tao Te Ching, forexample I have lost counthow many times we havebeen advised especially re-garding Taiji, that “thejourney of a thousandmiles starts with the firststep” So is there anythingfor the martial artist to begained from the study ofthis well known and enig-matic book called the TaoTe Ching or the Lao Tzu.

The Tao Te Ching (TheClassic of the Way andIt’s Power) was suppos-edly written down byLao Tzu, who held a minor postas a government official, an archi-vist for the State of Zhou (Chou).At some point Lao Tzu decided toleave China due to growing disil-lusionment with the decline of thesociety. According to legend hetravelled westward, where onreaching the border, a guard re-fused to let him pass until he hadcommitted his wisdom to writing.Within a short time Lao Tzuhanded over his text of the Tao TeChing, eighty-one short chaptersof less than 5,000 Chinese charac-ters. And although scholars havequestioned this account, (and in-

deed whether Lao Tzu ever ex-isted) and many similar versionsover the centuries, there is no de-nying the profound influence thatthis enigmatic work has had onChinese thought and philosophy.The Tao Te Ching also became thecorner stone of a more formallystructured Taoism, which up untilthen was more an infinite number

of strands of thought and practicebased loosely on the observationof nature that had developed fromthe Wayfarers, Sages and Shamansof ancient China. It is said thatthe Tao Te Ching has been trans-lated more times than any otherbook except the Bible, not only“translated” but also “interpreted”.For example the Chi Ko HsüanLao Tzu Chieh Chieh, an editedtext of Ko Hsüan’s commentary ofthe Lao Tzu interpret it as a man-ual filled with allusions to Qigong(breathing exercises), Tao-yin(Chinese Yoga) Alchemy (NeiDan), visualizations and medita-tive practices, so that those who

study the work become real-ized spiritual practitioners.

Today things are more confus-ing, we have all sorts of NewAge, Therapy and BusinessOrientated versions and inter-pretations. So to look at chap-ters of the Tao Te Ching asthey may or may not relate to

the “Internal Arts” isnot to regard thiswork as specificallyhaving connections,but to examine thebackground and cul-ture from whichboth developed, andto try and relatemore to the princi-ples held within thestructure of the LaoTzu and the “Inter-nal Systems”.

In this examination ofthe Tao Te Ching wecannot ignore theopening statement by

Lao Tzu and race on to later chap-ters that may seem more obvi-ously to have some “InternalPractice” references, rather it isthis very opening statement thatmay hold the key to whole of ourunderstanding and possible befit(if any).

The Tao that can be told isnot the eternal Tao.

The name that can be named is notthe eternal name.The nameless is the beginning ofheaven and earth.The named is the mother of tenthousand things.

16 January 2005

Photo By Anthony Court

Ever desire less, one can see the mys-tery.Ever desiring one can see the mani-festations.These two spring from the samesource but differ in name; these ap-pear as darkness.Darkness within darkness.The gate to all mystery.

Translation Gia-Fu and Jane Eng-lish (Vintage Books-Random House)

Here Lao Tzu makes one on themost lucid and amazing state-ments ever to appear in the worldof spiritual, philosophical and sci-entific literature, and in some re-spects renders the rest of his workirrelevant.

The first line “The Tao thatcan be told is not the eternal Tao”This statement points directly tothe beginning of all confusion,suffering and the loss of our natu-ral inheritance into the chaos ofthe “told” or the “named” Itpoints out that the whole, the one,the natural and the intercon-nected, cannot be made into aconcept. He says that the Tao isbeyond all name and form, be-yond all knowing, YET IT IS theineffable, unknowable, indefinableground of all being, that whichgives birth to all things, but whichitself is beyond birth and death.“The name that can be named isnot the eternal name” Lao Tzusays directly, if your mind tries toconceptualise it, you will lose it, infact he says that it cannot begrasped. This is the ultimate un-derstanding of all schools ofBuddhist and Taoist thought.

However without usingwords, how can this ultimate viewof Lao Tzu be discussed? Theshort answer is of course it can’t

be. According to these traditions,the ultimate is beyond all form,beyond the thinking, and there-fore beyond the intellect, it canonly be grasped (if at all possible)by non-thought or a state of real-ization where there is no subjectand object, this state is normallythe goal of meditation found inthe many Buddhist and TaoistSchools such as Zen, Chan,Dzogchen, Hua-Yen and theVajrayana in fact any spiritual sys-tem that does not “name” as LaoTzu puts it. In other words it(The Tao) can only be pointedout, or introduced to a seeker, therealization of which, has to comefrom the seeker them selves.Monotheistic religions of course“name” or “conceptualise” a cre-ator or godhead, and as soon asthis is in place, there is separa-tion…duality, which is inevitablyfollowed be conflict. World his-tory, and the present world crisisare witness to the confusioncaused by dualistic thinking.

Taoist always talk of returning tothe ONE, the original, primordialstate of being, Dzogchen masters(considered by many to be thehighest vehicle of realization inthe Tibetan Buddhist and AncientBön Tradition) speak of the “Na-ture of Mind” the original,unfabricated, essential, essence ofeverything, which has no form,centre, or circumference, it is no“thing” and has no substance, butlike empty space, pervades thewhole of existence. And althoughempty, has the quality of aware-ness or natural wisdom, but thiswisdom and emptiness are nottwo things. The Chinese called itthe Tao. This view brings us closeto the current understanding ofquantum physics. The “Heart Su-tra” for examples points out this

out with the well known state-ment “Form is Emptiness,Emptiness is Form”

In the Tao of Physics, FrithjofCapra says:

The phenomenal manifesta-tions of the mystical Void(emptiness), like the subatomicparticles, are not static and per-manent, but dynamic and tran-sitory, coming into beingvanishing in one ceaselessdance of movement and en-ergy. Like the subatomic worldof the physicist, the phenome-nal world of the Eastern mysticis a world of samsara…of con-tinuous birth and death. Beingtransient manifestations of theVoid, the things in this worlddo not have any fundamentalidentity. This is especially em-phasized in Buddhist philoso-phy which denies the existenceof any material substance andalso holds that the idea of aconstant “self ’ undergoing suc-cessive experiences is an illu-sion.

So it is this phenomenal world,the “named” as Lao Tzu callsit, is what we take for the real,denying the underlyingnon-phenomenal essential na-ture of all things, the Tao. Oras he puts it: “The nameless isthe beginning of heaven andearth” Sages and mysticthroughout the centuries havetried to point this dynamicprocess out to us. As soon aswe no longer see ourselves aspart of the natural world, thendisaster and suffering soon ap-pear. Through thousands of

January 2005 17

years of condition exis-tence, which has sepa-rated us from ournatural being, ourminds have becomeconfused, bewilderedand unconnected withour original nature. SoDzochen states that our“original mind” is al-ready enlightened, thereis no enlightened stateto find, reach orachieve. They say thatour original enlightenedmind is like the sun, al-ways shining, but ourconditioned mind(ego/thinking mind) are like theclouds they cover the sun, and ob-scure our natural enlightenedstate.

Lao Tzu then goes on to say “Thenamed is the mother of ten thou-sand things” In Eastern Literature“ten thousand things” are sym-bolic of every manifestation. Theconditioned mind has “named”and produced what the Buddhistcall the “Three Poisons” which areAttachment, Aversion and Indif-ference, (sometimes called “igno-rance” this refers to spiritual“ignorance” or the spiritual impli-cation). We either want some-thing, we do not want something,or we are totally uninterested. Soif we do not get that which we de-sire-we suffer. If we get thatwhich we do not want-we suffer,and if we are indifferent to the un-derlying nature of our situation,this can also lead to suffering. Thismyriad of possibilities for endlessdifficulties, stem from loosing ouroriginal connection with the Tao,because we no longer feel anysense of relationship with theworld. We have now become the“named” our conditioned mind

has fixated us into being some-thing.

A colour, a race, a nationality, atribe, a religion, an idealism, aphilosophy, whatever the list isendless, and so are the conflicts.The very “seeing” of this will setyou free to stop looking for an-swers “out there” as the greatDzogchen Yogi

Longchenpa said:

Don’t analyse! Don’t analyse!

Don’t analyse your mind!Don’t grasp! Don’t grasp!Don’t grasp your mind!

Don’t correct! Don’t correct!

Trying to correct or modify justmakes your mind contrived.The fab-ricating mind obscures your essentialnature.

The founder of the Complete Re-ality School of Taoism, LüTung-pin says “Once fundamentalreality is lost sight of, then emo-

tions run wild”.People are naturallyconnected with theTao, (our originalnature), but aremostly unaware of it.He goes on to saythat, although thereis the primordial,there is also thatwhich is acquired,and since there isthat which is ac-quired, there are sixorgans of sense.These sense organsproduce the six con-sciousness. What are

the six organs? One is the eye;this eye organ looks at colourand form and leads us awayfrom the Tao. Another is theear; this organ listens tosounds, which in turn pro-duces various states of distrac-tion. Next is the mouth, whichexpounds judgements and the-ories, which obscures the pri-mordial. Similarly the nosesmells odours and producesvarious states of confusion.The tongue, tastes flavours andproduces various states ofmind that obscure the primor-dial. Lastly the body, this expe-riences situations and producesvarious states of mind that ob-scure the Tao. In Taoism andBuddhism these six organs arecalled the six robbers orthieves. So it is advised, that ifyou wish to study The GreatPerfection, Great Completionor Lao Tzu’s Great Way, firstsee how these various states ofperceived reality begin to sepa-rate subject and object, bring-ing confusion andunawareness. Lü Tung-pi wenton to say that by the very ob-serving of this process, one cansee how the three poisons of

18 January 2005

Photo: Anthony Court

attachment; aversion and indiffer-ence come into being. For exam-ple if we look at a beautiful sunset,for a moment there is no separa-tion between subject and object.The eye conciseness now becomesthe seed of emotion (a emotionalreaction) so attachment begins.The conditioned mind now say “Iwish I had a camera” or “I mustring my friends to tell them aboutit” or “When can I repeat thispleasant experience”? The verymoment that this occurs our origi-nal non-separated, whole, naturalexperience is lost. So both theschools of Buddhism and Taoismsay: “If you do not crave anything, you do not want anything;if you do not want anything, howcan you be attracted to anything?

If you are not attracted to any-thing, you are not repulsed byanything; if you have neither at-traction nor repulsion, what angercan there be? When there is no an-ger, fear does not occur; withoutfear sadness disappears.

If we remain in touch with outnatural, primordial mind, we willrecognise that the root of undesir-able emotional and mental statescan be instantly cut through. In-terestingly the iconography ofEastern Wisdom Deities are oftendepicted holding a sword. LüTung-pin also carries a sword onhis back, to cut through thenegativity of conditionedexistence.

Before continuing it may be worthasking if any of this is has any rele-vance to the Internal Martial Arts.That depends entirely on the onesoutlook, interest and understand-ing. Lao Tzu is pointing directlyto the separation of the individualand his or her natural primordialstate, we could also say to a higher

way of being, more refined, natu-ral and developed. We could alsosay that this way of seeing can mir-ror our internal practice. Ratherthan remaining at the purely phys-ical (denser) level, we could by re-fining our breath, energycirculation, vitality, intelligenceand sensitivity, move into a sphereof a higher quality of personalpower. Remember the Chinese ad-age “Physical strength is limited,energy is infinite” WangCheng-nan a 16th century martialarts master said “Nowadays peo-ple feel that the internal arts lackdazzle (his words not mine), andso they adulterate it with the ex-ternal. For this reason the art isdoomed to decline” Refinementof the internal arts is not limitedto just the physical plane. Thereading of Lao Tzu’s Tao TeChing contains many valuablepointers for the intelligent andprogressive martial artist. (To becontinued next issue)

Bibliography:Tao Te Ching translated by Gia-FuFeng and Jane English published byRandom HouseThe Tao of Physics by Fritjof Caprapublished by Flamingo BooksThe Spirit of Tao translated and ed-ited by Thomas Cleary published byShambhalaTai Chi Ancestors by Douglas Wilepublished by Sweet Ch’i Press

January 2005 19

TheHiddenHealingQigongMethodsFromtheBaguazhangPostures

By Erle Montaigue

Baguazhang is truly an amazingart once you get past the basics. It,like Tai Chi, was invented by peopleof genius to incorporate healing aswell as deadly self defence methods.

Each of the major postures fromBagua have a hidden meaning, ei-ther for the healing benefits or forgaining of power for the fa-jingand fighting system. And the hid-den meanings are hidden in thevery names of each posture. Thisinformation was only ever givenout to very advanced students af-ter they became proficient in thefighting side of the art as whenonce was proficient in self defence,one could then understand aboutthe healing and Qigong side.

By knowing the names of eachposture, we are able to find thehidden way to perform each pos-ture as well as to find the hiddenhealing meaning or Qigong togain power etc. For instance, theposture called ‘Leaning On theHorse & Ask The Way‘ works uponthe energy system of the bodywhich is stored in the backbone.When we ‘Lean On The Horse’, welean on his backbone, and as thebackbone is so easily seen in ahorse, this gives us a hiddenmeaning of this posture. The wayto real power in Baguazhang is toaccess the combined power ofeach vertebra when it is connectedto all of the other vertebra. Eachseparate vertebra is like a small ca-pacitor which stores electricity(Qi). If we know how to set the

backbone up correctly, and thendrop each vertebra on top of eachother, we are able to not onlystore Qi in the backbone, but alsoto issue it when needed. So whenwe hold this posture as a standingQigong method, we learn how togain access to our hidden reservoirof energy.

1st Palm Change:

SINGLE PALMCHANGE

1/. Flower Hides Under Leaf ” rep-resents the Qigong that is respon-sible for taking that power that wedevelop through the backboneand issuing it to the forearms.

The Flower represents the roots,(Earth Qi) while the Leaf) repre-sents the forearms. So we canagain take this posture and use itas a static Qigong method to gaingreat power in the forearms andpalms and of course this is neces-sary for Bagua.

2/. Flock Of Wild Geese Flies(Bursts) Out, represents the Qiwhen it is issued forth. so we takethis posture and use it not only asa static Qigong method but alsoas a moving Qigong. The actionof the waist opposing the hipscauses the Qi to be sort ofsqueezed out like stomping on atube of toothpaste. In doing thiswe also heal ourselves by this ac-tion of the Qi being sent outthrough our own body thus heal-ing our internal organs and re-bal-ancing internally. This also worksupon the Lungs.

3/. Purple Lady Throws Fan:This represents the waist (thefan) and the way that the waistcontrols the action of the Qi. Italso works upon the colon.The fa-jing of this movementis generated as always by thewaist, so when we get this pos-ture correct, we learn to usethe waist in the most powerfulmanner. We can also use it as astatic Qigong method to healthe colon.

4/. Close The Door & Push TheMoon: This refers to the Moonas the heart and the the door asthe lock on that organ. Welearn to lock out own Qi sothat it will not float aroundaimlessly, we learn to controlour emotions and Qi.

2nd Palm Change:DOUBLE PALM

CHANGE:

1/. Fierce Tiger Jumps Out:This refers to tiger bones. Weuse this posture to send the Qiinto the marrow of the bonesin order to generate very pow-erful and strong bones (like atiger).

2/. Colourful Rooster StretchesWings: This posture is used asa Qigong method for thelungs. ‘Wings’ are always asso-ciated with the air and wind,hence the air we breathe intothe lungs.

3/. Pierce The Armour: Thisposture means that we learnhow to send the Qi from theTantien to all parts of the bodyand into the attacker to dam-

20 January 2005

age him. We ‘pierce’ not only HISarmour but our own blockages.

4/. Take Flower Connect to Wood:This represents transplanting a dif-ferent plant into another. Here wetake the ROOTS of the flowerand connect them to the WOOD,(Legs), so that we have a balancedflow of Qi. It also loosens up theground Qi through the legs togive an over-all quality flow of Qi.Makes for a very stable stance.

5/. Take His Head and Put It OnYour Own: This refers not only tothe fact that the martial applica-tion does this, but also we learnhow to take someone’s else’s en-ergy (the head) and use it for ourown gain and against the attacker.We use this as a moving as well asstatic Qigong method.

6/. Hold The Moon In YourBreast: The ‘Moon’ is often repre-sentative of the ‘Heart’, so we takethe radiance of the moon into ourheart to heal deep emotional scarsand to get rid of unwanted deepemotions etc. We hold this pos-ture as a static Qigong method.

3rd Palm Change:STRAIGHT PALM

CHANGE

1/. White Snake Coils Around:The snake represents the innerspirit but it still has a purely physi-cal attachment. So when we areattacked, it is the tantien that firstsubconsciously reacts. SO thisposture allows us to use it as aqigong to get the inner and outerconnected so that WE reacts phys-ically as soon as the tantien reacts.It also works upon the kidneysand Gall Bladder.

2/. Pigeon Flies To Heaven: Repre-sents the ability to get in touchwith the Spirit as all birds havethat connection with the ‘sky’ orspirit. So holding this posture al-lows us to get in touch with ourinner spirit. It also works uponthe lungs.

3/. Nun Offers Food: This repre-sents the Nun being shy so she ison her back leg, it tell sus how todo the posture in other words. italso represents the Spleen as it isthe nourished of the body, hence‘offers food’.

4/. Walk To The Mountain: Thisrepresents a connection betweenearth and heaven. We walk on theearth but climb the mountain tobe closer to God. There is a slightbreak in the movement here as itis like a relaxed walk, slow andeasy. It works upon the brain andthe stomach.

5/. Black Bear Looks Back: Repre-sents Earth and the stomach. theway we do it is written in thename, very strong and stable witha look of no fear. Rooted into theground. It is also good for theLungs and things like TB.

6/. Hawk Swoops On Fowl: This isdone very swiftly and withoutbreaks as a hawk would do this.Works upon the heart.

7/. Monkey Takes the Fruit: Thisindicates how the monkey takeshis food just in case there is anydanger around. his other hand willwave as he takes the fruit. The tak-ing hand is smooth and cautious.Works upon the Small Intestineand Spleen.

8/. Monkey Eats the Fruit: Everwatchful and crouched down so as

not to be seen. Works upon hebody’s energy system andboosts the way the body usesenergy.

9/. Monkey Spits (vomits) theFruit: This indicates asub-conscious reaction tosomething that has happened.It is done with fa-jing and aleap upward. It works uponthe elimination organs, Colonand Lungs.

10/. Duck Lands On Water:This posture indicates comingback to earth, coming home.In other words, it is a way ofbringing the body into a stateof balance as far as Heaven andEarth are concerned. if we aretoo ‘heaven’ then we are alwaysup in the air so to speak andcannot do the normal thingsthat humans of the earth haveto. If we are too ‘earth’, we aretoo much like the animals withno heaven. This posture worksupon the life force meridians ofkidneys, spleen, liver and in-deed all meridians.

4th Palm Change:BACK FACING

PALM CHANGE

1/. Part The Clouds To See TheWay: This posture representswhat its name is. We areclouded by extraneous thought(the clouds) which is stoppingus from relaxing and from lis-tening to our spirit guide. Sowe use this for parting that ex-traneous thought and seeingright through it. It works uponthe brain to calm it.

2/. DRAGON TWISTSWAIST: This posture used asQigong will help you to

January 2005 21

change the Qi into Jing. The waistis a very important part of one’shealth training and is thereforealso good for keeping a youthfulappearance and for boosting theKidney Qi. it is also good for thelungs. This one will also help inthe internal understanding offa-jing in that it teaches how thebody releases and re-loads in-stantly.

3/. Grab Opponent From Horse:This posture is good for gettingrid of invading pathogens such asvirus and bacteria. A horse was al-ways considered to be a part ofthe owner’s body, they were one.So taking an attacker from thehorse is self explanatory. It tonesup the immune system. However,it is my belief that this should alsobe used in conjunction with a totalchange of diet and life-style!

4/. Lifting The Clothes To Walk:Indicates the old style ‘dress’ thatthe Chinese used to wear. theyhad to lift it in order to move!Works upon the colon. The colonmust be clear and working cor-rectly in order to move correctly.It helps to take the shit out of thebody, both physical and emo-tional.

5/. Push Mountain Into Sea: Thisis a carry on from the previousposture and is often used with it.The mountain refers to the moun-tain of shit that most people carryaround inside of us, both emo-tional and physical. So this pos-ture will help also to ‘push’ thatmountain into the sea. However,it comes with a warning. The ‘sea’is the kidneys and so all of the poi-sons that are built up in the bodywill be forced out through the kid-neys! So if you are not very cleaninternally through eating rubbish

for years, then it is advisable notto perform this Qigong! Youshould do a couple of short fastsprior and only eat apples for acouple of days. Then go onto agreen drink made from all greenleaves, such as spinach, lettuce,celery, kale etc. Then perhaps trythis qigong after the previous onefor only a few minutes at a timeuntil you do not feel any sickness!

6/. Bat Drops To Earth: This oneis also not recommended for nor-mal western people who perhapseat junk food etc., as it worksupon the kidneys and liver andcleanses them both. It will alsohelp to cleanse the blood. The Batfalling to earth is all of the junkthat is within falling from thebody and out. It is also not goodfor sick or older people to try as itis quite strenuous when done foranything more than a couple ofminutes.

5th Palm Change: Re-versing Palm.

1/. Monkey Builds Nest: This pos-ture used as Qigong represents thebody and how it relates to sleep.During sleep, all of your experi-ences are backed up and on aphysical level, your body is re-paired by the production of HGHand others. So this posture willhelp your body to heal itself dur-ing sleep. It gets your ‘bed’ readyfor sleep in other words.

2/. Monkey Offers Food: Repre-sents the ‘Monkey’ something thatis inside of us always active, tellingus what to do. When the Monkeyoffers the food, it is helping us todigest our food correctly. So thisposture works upon the stomach,small and large intestine.

3/. Phoenix Spreads Wings:This posture works upon thelungs. Held as a Qigong itwill help to give the body moreinternal power.

4/. Embrace The Universe: Thisposture used as Qigong worksupon the Heart and Lung me-ridians. It also helps communi-cation with the Shen or Spirit.

5/. Follow The Motion of One’sClothes: Meaning that if we areto turn suddenly, the line thatour clothing makes (ChineseDress) dictates the physicalmovement that we make. Asort of counter clockwise circlelike and omega sign. ThisQigong method is a balancingQigong. It helps to give usmore Yin Qi if we are Yin defi-cient. In other words if we areto Yang.

6/. Sweep the Thousand Enemy:This works upon the GallBladder, Liver, Kidneys Lungsand Spleen when held asQigong.

7/. Pigeon Rights Itself: Tells ushow the hands and arms work,like a pigeon rolling over in theair to evade attack from above.This Qigong involves doingthe whole thing and then hold-ing the last posture. It helps usto get back on track after wehave fallen off the pathso-to-speak. Also works uponthe Triple Heater Meridian.

8/. Cockerel Fighting: This setof postures when done andheld at the end posture of HoldThe Moon In Your Breast, worksupon the fighting spirit. Therooster is selfless and has nofear, he will fight to the end. It

22 January 2005

will work on one’s self esteem andhelp with depression.

6th PALM CHANGE:Scraping Palm.

1/. Rhinoceros Looks At TheMoon: The moon represents theheart. When holding this postureas a static qigong method, youwill be taking a look at your heartand fixing any minor problemsthat are beginning to arise. In theself defense area we are strikingjust under the nose (the horn) andalso to the heart, (the moon).

2/. Tin Wong Holds The Statue:This one is s little more difficult aswe in the West have usually noidea what ‘Tim-Wong’ is. Thisposture is good when held as astatic Qigong method, for liftingthings up in the same way that theSpleen meridian is also. So itworks upon the Spleen as well aswhen we have problems withprolapsed anything. it is also goodfor lifting the Qi when we arefeeling a little drained or downetc.

3/. Snake Spits the Venom: Repre-sents that we are getting rid of ourown poisons when held as aqigong method. So this one isgood for when we are perhaps ona cleansing diet or a ‘liver’ diet etc.It also tells us how we must per-form this posture in the applica-tion sense. Firstly we break hiselbow using both hands indicatingthat the right hand (or left) willcome in an arc close to the left andthen ‘spit’ outward for the finalstrike to the lower rib area.

4/. Hawk Posture: This posture iswonderful as it represents the eyesand the reflexes when held as astatic Qigong. It is also good for

regaining one’s natural balanceand for re-balancing left and rightsides of the brain.

7th PALM CHANGE:Thrice Penetrating

Palm.

1/. Lion Embraces The Ball: TheLion is the most violent of all theBagua animals. He is solemn, ex-plosive and aggressive. His poweris awesome and his organ is thehead/mind. He represents‘Heaven’. His family member isthe ‘Father’. So this posture worksupon the head/mind. ‘Embracesthe ball’ means that you accept theQi that is generated from this pos-ture for the fighting art. It is use-ful just before an exam forinstance, or when going for a jobinterview. it creates Yang Qi, so isnot one to do if you are very an-gry, red in the face etc.

2/. Lion Rolls The Ball: The Pre-vious posture creates Yang Qiwhile this one creates Yin Qi. So itis good to do them one after theother to get a balance. This groupof two postures works upon thelower abdomen area. It teaches usto make good use of the Qi gener-ated in the previous posture, (roll-ing the ball).

3/. Lion Pounces on Ball: Thisposture is used to store or ‘pack’the gathered Qi from the two pre-vious postures. We use it to storethe excess Qi from the previoustwo postures. It is also good forthe digestion in that it helps to getthe nutrients to where they shouldbe,

4/. Lion Opens Mouth: This pos-ture takes any bad Qi or hiddensub-conscious emotional stuff, outof the body. It is good to use

when fasting or if you justneed to get rid of emotionaljunk from years ago. Take iteasy with this one though as itcan cause some mental pain! ifit is just too much and you no-tice that you are crying all thetime etc., then do the aboveposture of Lion Embraces TheBall.

5/. Lion Rolls Over To Get Up:This is used as a movingQigong method, so you mustperform the whole set of pos-tures and only hold the finalposture. Very good for the cen-tral nervous system. It is alsogood for balancing the rightand left parts of the brain. It isgood to do just after wakingup in the morning as it gives alift to begin the day.

8th PALM CHANGE:Turn The Body

Around.

1/. Shoot Bow From Horseback:The backbone must be linearnot bent. The body must looklike an arrow with the posi-tioning of the hands to thebody. You must perform the“Nun Throws Fan” posture be-fore doing this Qigong. Worksupon the Colon, Spleen, Liverand Kidneys. It is used an ageneral tonic for the wholebody. ‘Shoot Bow’ not only in-dicates the physical shape ofthe posture, but also that theMonks would ride a horse inthe night by the moonlight toshoot an arrow with a red tieon the end, into the earth justnear a ready Ginseng plant. Inthe morning they would comeback to pick it. Indicating thatthis posture is a Yang Tonicand usually used by males.

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However, I have found nothingwrong with women doing it alsoas it gives them a bit more YangQi.

2/. Golden Serpent Twists AroundWillow Tree: This indicates thatthe body is twisted. It works uponthe whole body especially thewaist/hip area. It also indicatesthat if we become too ‘heavenly’or spiritual and are unable to per-form our daily mundane physicaltasks, we are able to use thisqigong to get some grounding(willow tree). The snake (spirit) iswould up on the tree so cannotfloat away. The willow tree is alsoa healing tree as it is from whereaspirin comes, (salicylic acid). Soit is a general body healing pos-ture.

3/. Acting Like A Wild Horse:The backbone must be vertical.The Qi is stored in the backboneready for use. Each vertebra linkto each other adding their individ-ual power together. This posturewill give great Yang Qi, however,it must be contained for fear of itexploding. so this posture notonly creates this energy but alsocontains it and allows the body touse it when necessary.

4/. Fish Splashing in the Water:Here we have both and animal ofthe water and water together. In-dicating that this posture is greatfor the kidneys and bladder. How-ever, if one has for instance kidneystones, they could be passed! Andthat is not pleasant especially ifthey are large! It is good for tak-ing poisons out of the body aswell.

5/. Wild Horse Kicks: Indicationthat arms and legs are thrust out-ward and upward, like a wild

horse leaping up and then kickingout. You cannot hold this posture,you can however, perform it tentimes on both sides to build up‘Spine Force’, the power that co-mes directly from the spine. it isalso used for people who are tooYin and perhaps introverted. Ihave seen some amazing changesin people once they have been do-ing this Qigong morning and eve-ning for two weeks only.

7/. Serpent Tries to Coil Up: Isused for when someone is toomuch of the ‘earth’ and notenough ‘Shen’ or spirit. Problem isthat someone who is, would knowknow it anyway. Stomach prob-lems, elimination problems are allhelped by this Qigong.

I have completed the definitive se-ries on the above on DVD in FourVolumes.

24 January 2005

GetConnected

by Anthony Court

The following practice is useful forintroducing newcomers to the “In-ternal Arts” to the idea of briningthe mind, body and energy intoharmony.

Connecting PracticeOne- The Steel Ring1.

Join the index finger and thumb to-gether creating a circular ringshape.

2. Try to stop partner pulling thefinger and thumb apart by resist-ing using physical strength

3. It should be relatively easy to pullboth finger and thumb apart

4. At this stage the person holdingthe finger and thumb togetherimagines that it is a steel ring thathas no break in it, then they try tofeel or imagine their energy cir-cling around the ring. Once this isset up mentally and energetically, itshould be impossible to pull the fin-

ger and thumb

apart. Your partner should tryand feel the different qualitythat appears in the hand.

January 2005 25

One

Two

Three

Four

The Importance of Pauchui

By Erle Montaigue

Pauchui and Large San-Sau areprobably the most important partof one's Taiji martial training. How-ever, of these, it is the solo Pauchuior 'canon fist' form that is the mostimportant.

Many like to hurry their trainingalong going straight into the twoperson training even though theyhave not trained in the solo formfor long enough to have it go 'in-ternal'. This is a mistake as youmust build the solid foundationbefore laying the rest of the build-ing on top.

And it is the same with the soloform itself; one must not go on tothe more advanced method ofpractice unless the basic form hasbeen mastered to its 'fa-jing' level.

The reason that the solo form is soimportant is that we could neverdo the two person sets at fullfa-jing power because our partnerwould never be able to stop theattacks as they are just too explo-sive and each would be damagedduring practice.

So in the solo form, we learnabout fa-jing in all situations,moving from each corner to attackfrom any direction using fa-jing.

This must of course be takenslowly by building up the speedvery slowly and always being hardon yourself, making sure that ev-ery posture and application is per-

fect and not out of balance. It isoften easy to rush through theform, thinking that we are doingeach movement, when we are re-ally only half doing them and notbalanced. if for instance you are tohave someone say 'STOP' at anytime during the solo form, youshould be able to stop dead with-out swaying or falling over orcontinuing with the movementetc.

Each movement of the solo formteaches us about body movementfor self defence. How to hold thebody, how to gain the best posi-tion, how to gain power from alldirections and from any distanceand how to continue with the at-tacks until the opponent is done.It teaches us about balance andtiming and how to release explo-sive Qi into the opponent, thenre-gather that Qi for a re-attackand so on.

We cannot get these things in thetwo person sets as it is impossibleto train with a partner withouthurting each other.

So it is important to take the twoperson sets also slowly and onlygo at a pace that is suitable toboth partner's level of expertiseand training.

My teacher used to always tell mewhen I was practicing the twoperson sets with him. "Feel it",meaning that I often would sim-ply do the applications automati-cally when I should have beenfeeling what the opponent wasdoing with each touch. KNowwhere the weight is coming fromand how to move your body in

order to take care of thatweight on your own body.

In two person sets we learn toturn our body in exactly thecorrect manner in order to gainthe most power and correct di-rection. I remember spendinghours and hours on the firstmovement of the two personset (san-sau) and my teacherwould just keep going overand over it until I was exasper-ated and asked him why wewere doing this. he simply sid"keep doing"! Until I discov-ered that my head was movingback and forth! once I learnt topull my chin in slightly thusstopping this head movement,we immediately went on to thenext movement. He said "See"and I nodded "Yes". And itwent on like that throughoutthe whole form.

Nowadays, I do not needpauchui form, however, I stilllove to train in it as it is a totalrelease of energy and is a greatway to relax at the end of ahard day.

26 January 2005

The mind of a true fighter: to be or no to be

Gunther Vanwesmael

Struggling again. This time, I’mpredestined to lose. Movement inrehearsal, only thoughts, nowwords to be read. No teachings,only acceptance. My weakness,your strength. The path, a glance atwhat is behind. But, what is next?What is behind? What is the nextstep? To be or not to be...

One question? One answer? Theother day, I was wondering aboutthe mind of a fighter, say a true

fighter. His or her mind is all

about live or die, as in surviving.

In fact, the mind of a true fighter

is no mind at all. No losing, no

winning.

Off course, I’m no true fighter. Iwander. That, I do realise and un-fortunately I am always thinkingabout winning. Even life is aboutwinning. Being healthy seems tobe - simply - conquering illness. Ilike people to see me as a “win-ning” man, healthy, wise, and suc-cessful.

But then again, I’m only bluffing(and let’s face it: aren’t we all?).Always pretending to be what weare not. Isn’t that (often, if not al-ways) the source of aggression?Society only demands for perfectpeople, perfect manufactures, etc.We just can’t cope with it and webecome frustrated,... True, “thou-sands of repetitions and out ofone’s true self perfectionemerges”. Yes, everybody lovesRaymond and yes I’m always calm

(except for my wife and sheknows...). And yes, I do meditate,I do practise Yoga and Taiji. That’swhy the saying stands on themakiwara! That’s why you prac-tise! But it is not, it can not be:true fighting, because there ismind involved.

Free from indulges in pretend-ing. As long as there is inten-tion in the mind – which hasnothing to do with cause andmotive – true fighting doesnot and can not exist.

Free from indulges in pretending.As long as there is intention in themind – which has nothing to dowith cause and motive – truefighting does not and can not ex-ist. Having a choice implicates ac-tion with an intent: to do x or notto do x with a conscious mind.Hence, there are two types ofmind: conscious and unconscious(let’s forget Freud and subcon-sciousness). This supposes the nomind as an unconscious mind. Sofighting is not about winning acompetition and breaking boneson a tatami.

It is not about having a choice or

being free, which arises and per-

ishes (partial momentariness),

fighting is about being alive and

staying alive: survival, healthy

and happily: in an unconscious

state. Simply there in every fibre,

every sinew: to be is the answer

(total momentariness). “I do not

know the way to defeat others,

but the way to defeat myself”. Id

est the Buddhist rejection of the

self.

How it can be achieved (!)?

Never without form and un-

derlying principles. Beware of

obsessively sticking to the

form and neglecting the other

part, eating habits and mov-

ing habits in general!

Nowadays, everybody seems tobe concerned about his or herhealth, especially the externalpart: the looks (you know: topretend...). The better youlook, the slimmer for females,the most muscular for men,the better your health will be.All conscious acts. The crite-rion for health – good health –seems to be how one looks. Orthat’s what they (the mediaand other firms, pharmaceuti-cal industries as well, willing togain as much money as theycan – economical benefits in-stead of health benefits) wantus to believe. Hence, swallow afew pills, shake some proteins,run like hell and join the localfitness club and you’ll get whatyou want (i.e. what theywant). Individualism at itsbest.

Everybody and everything isconcerned about and cries forthe mind (read the outerlooks). If something is wrong,check your head. Fighting isdone by using the head too of-ten (figuratively speaking!).The treatment for this disease,and a disease it is indeed (con-sider the amount of healthproblems), is to get rid of thehomunculus, that little 12inches tall big-headed (liter-

January 2005 27

ally) creature inside all of us. Thehomunculus symbolizes the dual-ism of western thinking: mindand body. “I think therefore I am.”

It makes us believe that the con-scious mind dictates everythingwhich evokes an unnatural way ofliving. We must learn (again) howto eat, how to walk, how to livean everyday life.

So, “you have to learn how topush the rock where it wants togo”. In other words, you have tohave sung (naturally relaxed) ormushin (empty minded). Then,you definitely are a true fighter.

On a walking path, before is themind and next the no mind. Youneed the mind, the consciousness,the self to achieve (!) the no

mind. However, the no mind is

not a goal, it may not be an in-

tention. It may never be individ-

ual, but always universal and still

total momentariness. One ques-

tion: what is behind or what is

next? One answer: be!

Street sel f -defence: Theparadigms of coping

with street encounters

If one day you will be confrontedwith an aggressive situation or aperson who creates an aggressivesituation, you should always re-member in street self-defence, orstreet fighting if you like, there isno such thing as a free lunch. Youhave only one chance, so neverever be indecisive or hesitate. Inorder to gain that preoccupation,use whatever you consider usefulto knock out your opponent.Thus, in street fighting there areno rules at all.

Psychologically, in the street ani-mal behaviourism reigns, peopleprefer to behave using certain (an-imal) rituals, for it is much moreconvenient (in society for normalpeople or in a peer group forcriminals). Hence, understandingthe fundamentals of human be-haviour you are entering theworld of dealing more easily withstreet encounters. Moreover, youwill survive!

Most important, as animals,people do not like to be hurt.The aggressor, acting alone orin a group, will not immedi-ately attack, but will use hisperception of the person, i.e. apotential victim; the aggressoris looking for signals of weak-ness.

Most important, as animals, peo-ple do not like to be hurt. The ag-gressor, acting alone or in a group,will not immediately attack, butwill use his perception of the per-son, i.e. a potential victim; the ag-gressor is looking for signals ofweakness. Even a fight in the cafédoes not occur without an inci-dent, a causal reaction which canstart with eyeballing: ritual behav-iour.

Additionally, your behaviour andhis behaviour or reaction upon asituation is function of the personand the environment. In otherwords, if you act or even look likea (potential) victim you yourselfare creating an opportunity formobsters to take (rob) you as avictim. For instance, if you like todrink, never walk down the streetbeing drunk: that is creating anopportunity – you’re easy prey.

As a matter of fact, street en-counters are quite uncompli-cated; they are mainly basedupon stimulus and response.And they should be simple, forhumans behave and think sim-ply as well, it’s much easier.

I would like to consider threeparadigms which ought to al-low you for not becoming preyor a victim. Consideration atany time doesn’t mean declin-ing personal happiness. In fact,it increases the well-being andsafety of your life.

The first paradigm when youget out “minding your ownbusiness” is to be aware, espe-cially of the environment(which includes persons).Look around you and askyourself what do I see – lookfor potential danger. Seeing isknowing: if you see a group ofyoungsters in a dark alley andyou feel a little awkward thenleave. Don’t hesitate and won-der about how beautiful andpeaceful life is. Reality is thatdeath might watch you. Reedthe newspapers and don’t gowalking in dangerous areas.You can have all the trainingyou want, you never match abullet flying towards you.Maybe you can fight similar toJohn L. Sullivan or JackDempsey, but you’d better nottry your luck in the street,where there are no rules at alland no referee ringing a bell.Being aware complements withknowing yourself: your limita-tions and your strength. Noneed for telling you to trainthe mind as well as the body.The goal of your training mustalways be balance in mind and

28 January 2005

body. Remind the old yin andyang principle in taiji.

When the (your) surroundingshave been determined and you arenow at least prepared, the next re-flection is to have an intention.This intention is the willingnessto kill, i.e. to defend your life andthe life of your beloved ones. Will-ingness signifies controlling thesituation. In other words, it is acoping strategy and amplifies apositive outcome. This willingnessreflects not only a mental or inter-nal state of the person (a mentalset); it also appears in the physicalappearance. And, I don’t mean tobuild muscles (as in pumpingiron); I mean to look confidentand to let the eyes speak.

Obviously, the aggressor also hasan intention: to rob you or evenworse. That’s why you don’t wantto give him an opportunity.

If you did foresee the aggressiveact and you still couldn’t prevent itfrom happening, you only haveone option left: to strike, withouthesitation. You need to be ready ina split second and strike as hard asyou can (be efficient) and strikecontinuous until the aggressor isout of action (be effective). Effi-cient striking depicts moving theentire body – not just strikingwith the hand, use your full body.Effective striking illustrates thegoal of finishing the aggressor.

In his mind (or mind-set), the ag-gressor does not anticipates thatyou re-act physically (striking).He expects you to freeze (physi-cally and emotionally). Nonethe-

less, you will be stressed, as adren-aline will occur and you must dealwith it. You must understand theramifications of adrenaline and itsreactions on the body: if you reacttoo slowly, you will freeze. There-fore: don’t hesitate at all. Youmight additionally determine theincrease of adrenaline as fear(trembling of the legs), which isquite normal (cf. fight or flight re-sponse), so, again: no hesitation isallowed. Use your knowledge toyour benefit!

Conclusion: in daily life all youever need is awareness, willingnessand readiness. These paradigmsare interdependent and cause youto have the power and the knowl-edge to make things happen ornot instead of letting things hap-pen to you.

Vanwesemael GuntherLaw Enforcement OfficerAnti-Aggression TeamBrussels Police Force - Belgium

January 2005 29