SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
MAY 2018 PART 3
If you can use your kungfu for combat, it is genuine kungfu
Question 1
How do I know the kungfu I practice is genuine?
— Ecuador, Spain
Answer
An excellent way is to find out your result according to the benefits training kungfu should give.
There are three levels of benefits. Basic kungfu should enable you to use it for combat. Good kungfu enables you to use it for combat as well as give your good health. Great kungfu gives you combat efficiency, good health as well as spiritual cultivation.
If you can use your kungfu for combat, your kungfu is at the basic level. You may not win in the combat, but at least you know how to use your kungfu to depend yourself. If you cannot even use your kungfu for combat, yours is not kungfu. It is probably external kungfu forms for demonstration, or kungfu forms for practice but Boxing or other martial arts for combat. Unfortunately, most of the kungfu practiced today cannot be used for combat. It cannot be genuinely called kungfu.
If you can use your kungfu for combat, you can then decide whether it is good kungfu. Besides being used for combat, good kungfu also contributes to good health. If an art contributes to good health but it cannot be used for combat, it is not kungfu in the first place. To be kungfu, firstly it must be able to be used for combat. Then if it also contributes to good health, it is good kungfu. If it does not contribute to good health, but can be used for combat, it is just basic kungfu/
If yours is good kungfu, you can decide whether it is great kungfu. Great kungfu can be used for comat, contributes to good health, and promotes spiritual cultivation. Great kungfu, of course, is very rare today. If you find a master who teaches great kungfu, treasure him dearly.
Question 2
How often do I practice Bone Marrow Cleansing at the Muscle Level so that I don’t over-train?
— Javier, Spain
Answer
Those who performed Bone Marrow Cleansing at the Muscle Level at my regional course would appreciate how powerful this exercise was. The more powerful an exercise is, the greater the need to guard against over-training.
Whether a person over-trains depends much on how he trains as well as his level of attainment. But generally speaking, practicing Bone Marrow Cleansing at the Muscle Level once a week is sufficient.
Even for those who have attained a high level of attainment, and those who have deep understanding of force development, i.e., those who are unlikely to over-train, practicing Bone-Marrow Cleansing at the Muscle Level once a week will provide more than enough energy for his daily needs. We practice our arts to enrich our and other people’s lives, not just to increase our internal force.
Those who are less advanced, should train less, like once in 2 weeks. Those who are relatively new, should train Bone-Marrow Cleansing at the Muscle Level only once a month. At other times, they can train other less powerful chi kung exercises, like exercises from 16 Jewels or from 5-Animal Play.
Bone Marrow Cleansing
Question 3
What are the benefits of entering into a chi kung state of mind?
— Verina, Germany
Answer
There are many levels in the chi kung state of mind, but the most fundamental, which also means the most important, is to be relaxed and focused at the same time.
When a person is relaxed, he has better result no matter what he does than when he is tensed. When he is focused, he bas better result than when he is distracted.
Because of exponential progression, when you are relaxed and focused at the same time, you are not only twice but four times better in whatever you do! Entering into a chi kung state of mind is essential for performing chi kung, otherwise you may be performing chi kung techniques as gentle physical exercise.
If you have practiced chi kung regularly for a year, being relaxed and focused will have become habitual to you. In other words, no matter what you do, you will do better by 4 times.
While entering a chi kung state of mind is an essential condition for performing chi kung, one may not necessarily practice chi kung when in a chi kung state of mind. He may be doing other things, like enjoying his meal, taling to a friend, or planning a marketing project. Whatever he does, he will have better result.
Indeed, all the great things achieved by men (and of course by women) were done in a chi kung state of mind. When Leonardo da Vinci painted his Mona Lisa, when Newton discovered his Laws of Motion, when Cervantes wrote his Don Quixote, they were in a chi kung state of mind. They probably had not heard of the term “chi kung state of mind”, but they were relaxed and focused at the same time.In Western terms, they were in a heightened state of consciousness.
Question 4
Is having a chi flow the same as entering into a chi kung state of mind?
Answer
No, they are different. But one must be in a chi kung state of mind to have a chi flow.
If he is not in a chi kung state of mind, he might have performed chi kung techniques, like Lifting the Sky and Carrying the Moon, but he performed them as gentle physical exercise, and not as chi kung or energy exercise.
Similarly, many people perform genuine Taijiquan techniques as an external dance and not as an internal martial art.
Indeed, I believe that more than 80% of chi kung practitioners today perform chi kung techniques as gentle physical exercise, and they are unaware of it. They may be angry at my statement, but acutally it is meant to help them. Of course, whether they will learn to enter into a chi kung state of mind so as to practice chi kung, is their business, not mine.
Chi flow
Question 5
To prepare for the Small Universe course, how can I most safely and effectively add in Abdominal Breathing to this practice regimen? I would like to know your recommended frequency, and duration.
— Jarol, Norway
Answer
You need not prepare for the Small and Big Universe Course, as you are qualified, having attended an Intensive Chi Kung Course. Just come.
Question 6
Is it safe to do Abdominal Breathing at the conclusion of my extended stance training/One-Finger Shooting Zen session? Or should it be kept quite separate of this?
Answer
It is safe to perform Abdominal Breathing or any chi kung exercise if you do not over-train.
Over-training does not depend on what exercises you practice. Even if you practice just one exercise, any exercise, but the benefits are more than you body can take, you over-train. On the other hand, you may practice 10 exercises, any exercises, and your body can take the benefits, you do not over-train.
Abdominal Breathing
Question 7
Over-practicing is still a challenge for me, as I love the exercises and go deep a lot despite my best intention.
Answer
Over-training, or over-practicing, does not depend on best intention or any intention. It depends on whether your body can cope with the benefits you get. If your body cannot cope, you over-train. If your body can cope, you don't over=train.
Question 8
I have been doing small amounts of Abdominal Breathing sometimes at the end of chi kung practice — maybe 1 minute, before meditation. It feels very calming to me.
Answer
If what you do, Abdominal Breathing before meditation or any other activity, brings benefit, carry on.
If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at stating your name, country and e-mail address.
LINKS
Selected Reading
- What is Zen
- Courage and Confidence in Teaching and Healing
- Learning from a Master has No Comparison
- Dragon in Zen
- Colorful Sunset