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Post Category: Application
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by admin on 2011/03/07
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
To be honest, I find this type of thing hard to comprehend and difficult to believe. I have to think the assistants are being compliant. If this type of skill could be applied as effortlessly in any situation it could revolutionize sports such as wrestling, football, judo, mma, … Why is it that you never see this happening or being used by these skilled practitioners outside these somewhat controlled environments.
Master Chen and others, what is your opinion? Maybe I just need to feel and experience this, I don’t know.
In 1991 when I went back to China to visit my master, I asked Hong Junsheng a question. I told him that I accidentally issued an American football player up into the school dinning hall ceiling. Even myself was taken aback! Hong said that it was not a matte of whether that was possible. It was a matter of the ability to replicate the skill. Gongfu is the ability to replicate the act in any place and at any time. Any human being will achieve one or two amazing act. That is not the demonstration of true Gongfu. You only achieved it once in 10 years. You need to achieve this type of act several times a year, then several times a month. When issuing opponent becomes normal occurrences, and you can issue at any time, any place, and with any person, you have gained taiji Gonfu. Hong specially advised me not to push hands with people that are easy to issue, saying that most people like to only work with “cooperative students” and thus not gaining real gongfu.
Shifu, the dilemma is that when should you push with people outside of our school? On one hand we should avoid pushing people outside of our school without sufficient training; on the other hand, and especially with me lately, where I am recruiting more students, it is inevitable to give some sort of demo to potential students. Often the potential students are the most difficult to push, and most uncooperative. I am happy to report, that although I am not able to replicate it to a high degree, I am able to impress them with what little gongfu I have.
Fake Gongfu does as much damage as fake Chinese medicine.
We should know by now what is real, what is not. (I don’t judge the above video. The only way to tell is to experience.) Some of Master Chen’s videos, to other people haven’t trained in the Practical Method, are hard to believe. But we all know they are real. We all have direct experience with Master Chen. As he pointed out in his comment, these skills or Gongfu are reproducible. Not only reproducible, but also teachable, and learn-able.
People can build their fame, or authority, so nobody ever dare to question them. Be he a master or an instructor. I pushed hand with a Yang style Tai Chi teacher in China. So, he instructed me to “relax.” Then, demonstrated some Tai Chi push hand principles, and moved me around pretty easily. (I was cooperative.) Then, I asked him, what if I resist, and push harder, he simply said that he would never push hand with someone with “bad intention.”
You can push hand with Master Chen as hard as you can. You know you will be on the floor in a split second. You know you are not pretending. When he explains what just happened, you know it’s not mystery, and you know you can learn that.
There is also a master here in Melbourne, Australia (where I live). His name is Master Peter Wu Shi-zeng.
He is also a student of GM Hong Jun Shen and I can tell you, the air he gets on some people is incredible to watch, seeing people get uprooted who couldn’t even jump as high as they get thrown π
Here are some links of his Fajin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA2l8vghWfs
Here is also Master Peter Wu teaching one of his students Wu (Hao) style Taiji
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhgiYzL3BTg
and here he is demonstrating one of Master Hong’s forms I believe π
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkQ-bUA5NE0
Best wishes to everyone.