Taiji learning

My training session with Master Chong yesterday was fun, though humbling!

The main lessons I’ve brought away:

• Sink my weight – always lower than I think I can.
• Stand upright – which for me means apparently leaning backwards a little! I have a tendency to stand leaning slightly forward; probably a legacy of years humping heavy backpacks through Welsh mountains every weekend…
• soften the Kua – ie the hip and groin joints
• positioning is vital – in terms of foot and hand positioning, there’s very little room for error; either the position is just so and correct, or it’s not.
• don’t let the knees collapse inwards – another fault of mine. If the knee isn’t opened outward, I can’t get power behind the pushing movements.

I need to work hard on my strength training too! As I’ve mentioned before, the way I’ve been trained in taiji before now really hasn’t focussed on the oh-so-vital small details – which means that my practice causes Master Chong a lot of amusement. Yesterday, we were practising some kicking techniques. I’m flexible enough to do roundhouse kicks, but I really need to practise against resistance: I find it hard to use force when I’m kicking against air, for some reason. Master Chong picked up a cushion from his sofa so that I could kick against that; unfortunately, the case was quite loose and saggy, and with my first front-kick, I got my foot tangled up in a fold and was hopping around trying to disengage it. Master Chong laughed so hard he had to lie down for a moment…

So, lots of room for improvement, let’s put it that way. Still, my past training is still beneficial: Master Chong thinks he can train me up to a reasonable level of ability, ie understanding Taiji as an effective martial art, in about two years, compared to five years for a complete beginner. After that, I might be able to become an assistant instructor, which will help my own development to progress further.

First exposure to Korean Zen

I mentioned before that I hoped to go along to a Dharma talk in Lavender on Thursday night.

Well, I went along. Luckily, I went a bit early, because the centre wasn’t all that easy to find!

The talk was given by a visiting American Zen master, Dae Kwan. It was about the basics of Buddhism – and zen in particular – which I’ve read a lot about, so it was nothing new to me – and yet, I must say, the talk brought it home to me, and I left feeling I had gained some valuable insights. One thing that struck me was that he used a lot of Christian analogies to explain Buddhist concepts like ‘detachment’; I can see that maybe that would be useful in the States, but I’m not sure how well it comes across in Singapore – apart from me, the audience all seemed to be Chinese, and I’m guessing that most of them are from a Buddhist background anyway. Well, everybody seemed to enjoy the talk, and there were a lot of questions afterwards.

The Zen master was accompanied by a nun, Kwan Mi, who gave an introductory talk. She’s originally from Wroclaw, in Poland, though she said she’d been in Korea since the 80s. We talked for a short while after the meeting, which I enjoyed. She and the zenmaster were leaving for Malaysia the following morning, to lead a long meditation retreat.

There was also another nun – Sister Sujatin – in the audience, a young Singaporean woman who is now a member of a Theravada community in Myanmar, and we spoke briefly. I was a little surprised that foreigners could go to live in Myanmar, but she said that the government is very supportive of the Buddhist community, and if you have an invitation from a local monastery then there are no problems with visas, or with staying pretty much indefinitely. Of course, you have to agree to avoid any involvement with politics.

The two nuns spoke about meditation retreats in the jungle – the Polish nun was interested in doing one, but was worried about snakes! The Singaporean said not to worry, there are snakes around, but they weren’t too much of a problem.

It was an enjoyable introduction to the Korean tradition of Zen, or Seon. They will be running a six-session course beginning in September; this will cover zen meditation, and an introduction to “no-mind” thought. It will also include interviews and discussion with the local zen master, which will be challenging, I suspect. I’ve signed up, anyway, though September seems a long way off just now! I’ve brought away a couple of free vcds and cds about zen, which I’ll watch soon…

No pain, no gain?

Just back from taiji again; this is the big, group class at Toa Payoh.

I’ve missed a couple of these Monday night sessions, which is a pity. I’ve been put in the advanced class – that is, they’ve finished the form, and are now beginning to work on the finer points. My practice over the last week means that I’m able to keep up, and I know the form to the end – although, the way I’ve learned the moves is a bit different in places, so I still get a bit confused from time to time!

I’m definitely learning that I have never practised taiji properly before now: the way we’re being taught conforms to everything I’ve read, about how taiji should be practised, but it’s the first time that I’ve been taught this way.

As I wrote before, I’m sinking my stance much lower than I’m used to. I’m also discovering that my weight distribution has been completely wrong, so I have to think about every movement – which is a good thing in taiji anyway! My foot placements have also been sloppy, so I also need to work hard at correcting those. In addition, the instructors are teaching us how the movements should be used, which is more to bear in mind.

The lessons start with a long warm-up – in fact, this probably takes about half the evening. We do this all together, lined up in four or so long lines. Master Chong faces the middle of the front row, with the instructors flanking on either side, so that we can all see at least one of them clearly.

After the warm-up, we split into our groups. Each has one regular instructor, with usually one or two others wandering between the groups and helping where needed. We practise the full form two or three times in succession, and then focus on one move, or set of moves, to work on in detail. Tonight my group was looking at the set from single whip, through fair lady weaves shuttles, to ward off. We did that sequence about 15 times in a row, with individual corrections, comments from the instructor, and a lot of concentration. I learned a lot about moving my weight to the front foot, kou bu, opening the gua, and footwork.

As a result, my ankles, calves, knees and thighs are all throbbing as I type – I’ll probably feel this in the morning!

Finding a meditation class

I forgot to add in my last post: I’d been wondering what to do about meditation classes.

So far, I’ve been attending the New Kadampa meditation classes on Friday nights at Odiyana, run by my fellow Welshman, the monk Wangchog.

However: if I do start going to capoeira classes at Bantus Singapore, I’ll be going on Tuesday and Friday nights – so there’s a clash, and I’d been wondering where else I might be able to go. Lo and behold, I opened up the Straits Times yesterday, and there’s an advert for Saturday night Zen meditation sessions at Kwan Yin Chan Lin Zen Centre.

It’s probably “meant to be”, because it not only provides a meditation class in what will be a free spot as ‘The Project’ warms up, it’s also held in the Lavender area of Singapore. I was thinking about this area recently, and musing that I should make an effort to get down there sometime. It’s where I originally started going for Taiji lessons when I first came to Singapore. As I’ve written elsewhere, I wound up leaving that school to go to Nam Wah Pai, but I liked going to that area: it’s kind of off the beaten track, and it’s a great place for observing life and people. OTOH, it’s not a area I go to without a specific reason, just because it’s not on the way anywhere for me. Hmm, maybe I have a reason now.

“That’s impossible!”

That’s not exactly an unusual quote from the movies! The instance I’m thinking of is from the first sequence of The Matrix, when Trinity leaps between buildings, leaving the cops slackfaced as they stare at the chasm she has effortlessly crossed.

Not longer afterwards, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon came out; like lots of wuxia stories, the heroes were flying about, and doing “impossible” movements.

Of course, there was a lot of scoffing, particularly in the Western press. These things were “impossible”! There was a fair bit of reply along the lines of a) this was a traditional aspect of the genre, one unfamiliar to Western audiences but nevertheless internally consistent, and b) why was it that these same critics had never complained that Superman flying around like a canary on speed was “impossible” and “unrealistic”.

I think both of these replies missed the point. Now, I hasten to say that I’ve never been particularly good at martial arts! Still, in the past I’ve been better than I am now, and at times have been training for three hours a night, four nights a week – and when you are fit, trained, and in the “flow” of it all, well, you do find you can do things that you wouldn’t have thought possible. It also helps that I used to do a lot of rock-climbing, so I know that fitness, nerve, a firm belief in friction, and an indifference to gravity can let someone do things that seem beyond belief to most people! I think it’s probable that the Chinese martial artists of old, who not only trained far more intensively than almost anyone today, but were probably also familiar with Chinese acrobatic techniques and Chinese opera skills, could do things that we today find beyond belief – which reflects only upon our poverty of imagination, not on what really is possible!

Why is this on my mind today? Kathy Sierra posted a piece on the power of inspiration. One thing she linked to was a video a Russian playing at Parkour: an art form of human movement, focusing on uninterrupted, efficient forward motion over, under, around and through obstacles.

So: first watch an excerpt from Crouching Tiger – this starts with one of the “impossible” sequences.

Then watch Parkour. I think that someone practised in kung fu and parkour could surprise a heck of a lot of people

So, I’m inspired: I’m out of shape (like, really out of shape!), but I’m now really motivated to spend the next year or so spending as much free time as I can on studying a variety of martial arts. (Speaking of which, capoeira got a write-up in the Straits Times today. Huh, synchronicity).

Parkour, of course, being all about using space in unconvential ways, is totally un-Singaporean, so there won’t be much of it here….

… or so you would think! In fact, it seems there’s quite a scene here.

Hmmm, someone who practised taiji/bagua, capoeira, and parkour together might have a very good time!

Thanks for the link, Kathy – it really has inspired me!

CMC Taijiquan basics

I had another lesson with Rennie Chong yesterday. It’s settling down into two lessons per week.

One is on a weeknight at a community centre (currently Mondays at Toa Payoh); this is a very large class that the runs with the help of assistants. It’s at this class that we go through the form.

The other class is on Saturdays, at his home. This is individual tuition. Like last time, he had us myself and a Singaporean Malay guy are the only students) going through the very, very basics – posture, stance, stretching. It’s very valuable – although the Milun School in Beijing were very particular about stretching when I was studying bagua with them, their exercises missed a few areas which were important – namely, my ankles and lower calves, which are important for sinking down into low stances. These are now getting a thorough workout! He also pays a lot of attention to doing things just right: for example, when going down into a low stance, he’ll emphasise opening the gua (the inside of the hip joint) and turning the body, to make sure that the knees are protected – it’s easy to rotate the knee if you’re not careful, which can damage it, and this is something not all of my previous teachers have highlighted.

Master Chong is very clear in relating all of the exercises we’re doing to their practical, martial application; in the weeknight classes he isn’t able to do this, so people who are really serious about studying Cheng Man Ching taijiquan as a martial art need to come to these classes! As I mentioned before, these classes are quite expensive, compared to a lot of other martial arts classes, but so far I’m certainly convinced it’s value for money.

Update:
I forgot to mention one takeaway from this class. One of the exercises is swinging the hands up to chest height. As one hand rises palm-up, the other is sinking, palm-down. Feet are shoulder-width apart, knees bent, body weight sunk down. The momentum for the rising arm comes from the opposing foot. The move is a blocking action; the hand makes contact just below the base of the thumb. The hand being upright makes it difficult for an attacker to twist or lock the arm – if contact was made with the back of the hand (which was my first instinct)an attacker could fold the arm back at the elbow, and push your hand back into your own face!

You know you’re on the right track…

…when reminders and opportunities start appearing around you!

I turned on the TV last night to have something to watch while I was exercsing; I’ve been working on basic stretching and strength exercises most evenings for the past week. Lo and behold, what did I see but an advert for Starhub (I think) featuring… parkour! That reminded me to check online, and YouTube has quite a few files on parkour in Singapore. Heh, I need to be a lot fitter before I try it myself, though!

Yesterday afternoon was my third saturday afternoon taiji session with Rennie Chong. The other student didn’t show, so I had 1-1 tuition this time. We started with the warm ups, and corrected some things I’d been doing incorrectly. The main point I’m learning with the warmups is always to sink my weight lower, and to improve my posture – I’m always tending to lean forward, rather than stand upright. I think is due to a tightness and lack of flexibility in my lower back; my trainers in Beijing would point out the same thing.

After that, we moved onto the form. We only looked at the first movement, but already can see that I’m basically going to have to unlearn everything I’ve done before: we covered the stance, weight distribution, movements, and the practical application in some depth. After that, it was just repetition, repetition, repetition, until I was doing at least a reasonable approximation of what he wanted! It’s great – at this rate, it will take some time to get the whole form done, but when I do, I will know it inside out. That’s what I wanted, and why I wanted to study with Master Chong.

Update – it isn’t for Starhub, it’s for TV-Mobile, Mediacorps’ HDTV service. I can’t find the ad on either YouTube or Google Video, though.