Rainy Season and Break falls

It's finally getting into Rainy Season out here and after a mini draught it is a joyous noise to hear the rain pounding on the roof of the Accommodation Block.

Being British my natural adversity to rain (as it seem to rain continuously back home) has actually been overcome. The rain here is not often that nasty drizzly, damp, bone achingly horrible precipitation we get in the UK. As it is warm almost all the time, it is actually quite pleasant. In fact it cools down the temperature quite nicely making it a good time to train.

Well unless you are on the bike and going over 60k of course when the rain actually starts to hurt!

The rain however, would not be such a good thing if we didn't have a particularly excellent covered training area in which to retreat to. It is fully matted as well, so yesterday we had a very good session on take downs and break-falls.  It took me a while to get the hang of falling sideways and not banging my hip (men are lucky in that their hips do not protrude so much) but we all managed to get this important concept.  I remember from my horse riding years that learning to fall correctly is essential to prevent broken collar bones and joints and this is equally important in Martial Arts.  The end result was a thoroughly enjoyable session where no doubt we all looked ridiculous, throwing ourselves repeatedly onto the mats!

Well hurray for the covered area and the rain, as at the Mountain Training Centre, it really is not a case of "rain stopping play"!

What Animal are you?

Just an aside on the Feng Shui Course. I found out something really interesting as a result of training with Rena Tan.

The Chinese Solar Year starts on Febuary the 4th so when working out your year chart for your house or even yourself check the date if you are born in Feb or Jan as it will effect the outcome. Many books will go by the Chinese Lunar Year (this is when you often see Chinese New Year Celebrations) which can change every year. This often leads to the wrong outcome as it is the Solar year that is important and this stays the same. For example for many years I thought I was a Goat in Chinese Astrology as I was basing it on the Lunar Calendar, (being born on the 14th of Feb 1980 and the Lunar Year ending on the 15th of Feb that year) in fact I am a Monkey!

Rena  (or most Feng Shui practitioners) can do a chart called the Four Pillars of Destiny for individuals based on your Birth Hour, Day, Month and Year.  For example I may well think I am a Metal Monkey as I am born in 1980. However although I am born in the year of the Monkey it is the Day that I was born in that effects my element so I am actually a Fire element.  Apparently in its most basic form the hour of your birth represents your children, the day yourself, the month your parents and the year your grandparents. So although I have Metal in my chart, I like it because it represents my grandparents but being a Wood, Fire Water person it is not good for me.

She didn't have the book to do the hour, but hopefully she will be kind enough to look mine up for me. Interestingly me and Chris had almost exactly the same outcome in terms of what is good and bad for us elementally. Chris however was a Tiger!

Perhaps I should start learning Monkey Style!!!

Feng Shui Course - Part 2

The course itself had a fantastic ambient atmosphere, with traditional "Kung Fu" Tea all round. Rena started by explaining what Feng Shui was and giving us some examples of it working. 

Rena then explained the cycles of the elements, in the Cycle of Birth Metal creates Water creates Wood creates Fire creates Earth Creates Metal, and so on. If you reverse it you have the exhaustive cycle Ie Wood exhausts Metal and there is also a destructive cycle where Fire destroys Metal destroys Wood, destroys Earth destroys Water destroys Fire destroys Metal. Rena said that often having the wrong elements around us or in the wrong area of the land or house can activate less positive stars or cause problems in health and relations. She emphasised that it is not always good to destroy a too strong element and it is better to exhaust it if at all possible.

Rena explained Land Form Feng Shui, which relates to how buildings are situated on the land, more relevent perhaps if you are lucky enough to be building from scratch or from plan.  Important though is to locate your facing door and understand that to the left (when you are facing out) is the Dragon Side and the Right is your Tiger Side. The Dragon Side should be higher than the Tiger. Another important point to consider is having a large open space outside your house to collect the positive engergies. 

We then moved on to the importance of different directions and the elements and colours that relate to them. For example in the 8 Aspirations Kung Fu (Ba Zai) SE is Green, is element Small Wood, represents the Eldest Daughter, and controls your Wealth and luck. Its good to enhance the energy in the SE by putting things like a 6 tier water fountain in this area. It's very important that your toilet bowl is not in this area. Toilet bowls are very bad as they represent the flushing away of whatever force is in that area. The SE being your wealth is a particularly bad place, so if your Toilet is in the SE of your house, Rena absolutely recommends moving it. This is a static Feng Shui and unlike Flying Star does not change.

Flying Star Feng Shui, perhaps was the most mind boggling and really helped me understand why doing Feng Shui for your business and family could easily turn into a full time job.  For this you have to work out the birth chart for your house, based on its year of construction, work out your facing and then "fly the stars" to work out what needs to be done on a monthly and yearly basis. The current year determines what numbers are particular auspicious ( this year have 8 , 9 and 1) and we need to use a detailed floor plan and a compass to work out what areas each part of the house is in. From flying the stars you can work out where your Mountain Stars and Water Stars are and put cures / enhancers accordingly.  It sounds quite complicated because it was and hats of to Rena for explaining it so beautifully so that we eventually got the hang of it.  

All in all it was a fantastic course, and I highly recommend Rena and Feng Shui to anyone who has an interest in energies and harnessing them to your advantage. As I discussed in my last post on Feng Shui, it is still widely used in China by major blue chip companies, and Rena was replete with examples of how people have had improved success or bankruptcy depending on how they did their Feng Shui. Although I now feel I could do the basics I think I would be very tempted to get a proper consultation on returning home or building anything new and then maintain it myself.

Thanks Rena, I look forward to any other courses you run in the future.

Grading on Tuesday

This Tuesday we are all (well most of us Max, Sasha, Me and Chris) are grading on our next form. For me and Chris it is the See Mun Dow Dway , Max is on the Sip Ji (3rd Grading) and Sasha is on his first Grading for the Sum Chien.

Normal feeling of nerves and feeling that my forms are just not ready. Bit concerned about the Staff form in particular. Getting the engery out to the end of the staff but somehow keep forgetting where I am half way through the form. 

All those sqauts are exhausting, need to get them sound before Tuesday though. 

Wish us luck!

 

Good Training Session- Grinding and kicks

Had a really good training session led by Iain today, on arm and leg grinding and kicking techniques.

We've recently had a Thai lady Pi Jet start with us and it is fantastic to have someone a bit more my size to train with. Training with the men is all very well and teaches me to really have to use my strength, stance and body to achieve my goals, but having someone my size means that I can concentrate more on technique.

Teaching and pairing off with a beginner is useful for anyone of any level. Not only does it help me practice teaching technique, it makes me really look at myself and how I am performing a move.  Am I leaning instead of twisting into a block, is my stance correct, feet turned in etc?

The session started with the basic grinding exercises that help build up strength as well as conditioning the arms and drilling in the basic blocking techniques. We also did the leg grinding exercises which are good especially as although I often condition my arms, I often forget to do my shins and if they ever make contact with something, it will probably hurt!

We then did some work on the groin kick (my favourite, wonder why?). Iain stressed the importance of holding the focus pad's correctly to prevent injury, which is something I hadn't thought of before.  He also made a valid point that if someone is high on coke and alcohol (most of the people at the waterfront in Bristol then), kicking them in the balls won't work as they will not feel the pain. 

The session told me that I have to do some more leg flexibility work as my legs are embarrassingly stiff and also some cardio. A lot of what we do is tiring but not in a cardiovascular way, and although I am fairly fit, my stamina is not as good as it could be. Skipping for me then...I wonder if I can remember any of those songs from school... 

Feng Shui part 1- what is Feng Shui?

We had the rare opportunity to attend a course by Master Tan's daughter Rena an expert on Feng Shui. Rena herself is a fantastic example of how potentially effective Feng Shui can be. She is responsible for looking after their family and business Feng Shui and may well have played a key part in the huge success of her husbands business.

So what is Feng Shui? Rena explained that the term literally means "wind and water" and is an ancient Chinese art founded on knowledge about the environment and how it can effect us and our well being in terms of prosperity and harmony. 

According to Raymond Lo's book, it is estimated that the knowledge originated at least 600 years ago "as accumulated experience and observation of primitive people in finding a good dwelling location, where it is safe from severe weather, fierce animals as well as convenient in finding a source of food and water". (Raymond Lo, Feng Shui Essentials, 2009).

This developed into a deeper knowledge about the configuration of geographical elements of the landscape and later included more abstract ideas such as cosmology, the influence of the stars and various invisible natural forces that effect our well being and prosperity. (Raymond Lo, Feng Shui Essentials 2009) 

Around 250 AD a scholar Kwok Po wrote a book called " The book for burial" in which he mentions the wind and water as two key factors that determine an auspicious landscape. This then led to the knowledge being refereed to as "Feng Shu" "wind and water".

Feng Shui is still considered very important in the East, with many leading blue chip companies and banks taking careful consultation on their Feng Shui to ensure their business prospers. To someone like me it would means looking at my own house and land surrounding it to ensure the proper placement of items that activate the right energies and subdue the wrong ones. It also can be applied to my person so that I can watch out for times that are going to be unfavourable for me.

In my next post I will talk more about the fantastic 2 day course Rena put on for us at the Mountain Training Centre without going into much of the content as Rena is the expert and I do not want to mislead anyone. Rena did recommend the book, I have quoted from substantially in this blog and I would also like to highly recommend it: Feng Shui Essentials, by Raymond Lo, published 2009 by Feng Shui Lo. Raymond's website is also worth checking out http://www.raymond-lo.com.

The Masters' Visit

Master Tan Soh Tin the Master of Nam Yang Pugilistic Association from Singapore, has just returned home after spending a month at the Mountain Training Centre.

This was a really valuable time for all the residents here, as it gave us the opportunity to get advice on our Kung Fu, right from the top and get more of an insight into the art.

We had the opportunity to show Master Tan our Sum Chien's and to comment on this the most fundamental and essential of our forms. To be honest, I probably did the worst rendition ever as I am not used to having anyone but Iain and Chris take a look. 

Master Tan reminded us of the importance of the basics; getting the fundamentals of the art correct. Simple things (well in theory not in practice) such as remembering to turn in the front foot in stance, sinking, keeping the back straight etc. He also went through the Four Points of Gold and had some interesting discussions about generating power from the  Tan Tien.

Particularly valuable was the time we could  spend individually talking to the Master. He gave me and Chris some very good individually tailored advice, that would be hard to get out of a one day seminar. He showed immense understanding and patience and has given us all something to work on, which will significantly improve our Kung Fu, and (without trying to sound cheesy), our outlook on life.

Spending "down time" with Master Tan was also a rewarding experience. Outside the training arena, just sitting drinking Kung Fu Tea, eating dinner or just relaxing, opened up opportunity to find out more about Master Tan's life and experiences and discuss more abstract yet related matters. 

Along with Master Tan also came Master Tey (sometimes also referred to as "Uncle" as he is not technically a Master of the association). This is the first time I have met this energetic and charismatic Master. He was full of fun and energy for the whole 2 weeks he was with us. Again he has a fascinating life story (by all accounts a bit of a rouge!) and trained under Master Ang in Singapore. He now has a passion for dancing, as well as teaching his Kung Fu. Training with Master Tey really helped with my Suang Yung and gave me some solid techniques to focus on for sticking hands.

It was truly an honour to have the opportunity to stay here while the Masters were visiting. The amount you can learn by just being around them is astonishing and as a result I am hoping to visit Singapore some time in the future and am really looking forward to their next visit here at the Mountain Training Centre.

If you get the chance to meet your Masters definitely do everything you can to do so, as I will guarantee you won't regret it.

(Photo from right to left: Maria Colom-Moreno, Chris Pass, Master Tey, Chief Instructor UK Iain Armstrong, Master Tan, Sasha and Chet Olafson)

 

Respect- what actually is it?

Master Tan Soh Tin has just gone back to Singapore from the Mountain Training Centre this morning.

When I was first told, back when I was first learning Kung Fu at Holmbury St Mary, that the Master of the association was visiting us, I was terrified.  Having watched many films in the Chinese and Kung Fu genre I was constantly worried that I would do something disrespectful without even realising it and that the Master would be very stern and unapproachable. 

I even went as far as looking up how to act and behave. I spoke to my friend who is half Chinese for her opinion but this did little to still the butterflies in my stomach. Naturally I also asked our Chief Instructor Iain Armstrong on etiquette issues and he assure us that we would be fine as long as we didn't do anything obviously disrespectful.

It seems to me that the concept of "respect" today is not a clear one. I realised that I had little internal guidance on how to show respect to someone. Is it about getting up from the floor in a certain way? Is it about bowing and saluting? Is it letting the Master eat first? 

The code of conduct mentions all these things but do they alone show respect? I like to think I respect my parents, but have no idea how I show them this. Children today are often said to have "no respect for anything", again what do we actually mean?

Well Master Tan turned out not to be the ogre I had somehow imagined. He is a modern day Master, both approachable and friendly with a truly phenomenal wealth of knowledge about Kung Fu along with a fantastic sense of humour. He loves his art and loves teaching it to people and this really shines through in everything he does. He has  deep understanding of people and a well of patience to help them reach their full potential. His stay with us was an awesome experience and I only wish he could have stayed longer. 

Through meeting Master Tan and being part of Nam Yang, I have, I hope, come closer to understanding the concept of respect. It is indeed about the little matters of etiquette, but this is not the main thing. The main this is to listen, take on board and act on the what the person is saying, understand their cultural integrity, generally engage with them, never talk about their private matters in public and taking the time to think about what they say and do rather than just judging or assuming.

Respect is more about actions, it's almost a feeling, perhaps even a humbleness saying that you are ready to learn from that person, you are actually ready to think and consider what they represent and honour that.

 

Effective Take Downs - Training Pai Police

We are currently running a course of Pai Police on effective strategies for restraining and taking down trouble makers, with huge success.

It was a bit of shock yesterday when 40 of them turned up, but they really got into it and it was a fantastic opportunity to practice teaching a large group. They proved to be really quick learners and commented that this will really help them both in their work environment and when they are off duty.

The beauty of these techniques is they are really simple and effective and do not cause much if any physical damage to the offender, so they can be restrained and the situation resolved safely and easily for all concerned.

Iain has posted some of the techniques we have been teaching on the learnshaolinkungfu channel on youtube (see the sidebar to the left) and I definitely recommend checking them out. What really struck me was that, I  a relatively small and not strong girl, could quickly take down someone twice my size. I have found in the past that self defence techniques either do not work when faced with someone stronger (often the case in a real scenario) or are to complicated to remember when the situation occurs. These application techniques  have proved really easy to memorise and simple to pull off. Bottom line is that they work and work well enough for the police to be impressed.

Then again there is something special about taking down a policeman and him then thanking you for the experience...

Who am I and why am I here?

Good afternoon all,

The title of this first blog entry is not meant to be a fluffy spiritual question, but a serious introduction to my blog. Although I feel that “who am I and why am I here” in the metaphorical sense is probably a question that went through my mind many times and probably one of the answers people claim to be seeking when they justify their travels.

Well allow me to introduce myself. In brief I am a girl (I haven't hit 30 yet so I am still a girl!)   who currently lives in the mountains north of Chaing Mai, Thailand, with the sole intention of improving my skills as a martial artist and serious Kung Fu practitioner. This is my blog which I intend to keep as a record of my time out here, along with anything I learn that I think I should share, and random musing.

I am an ex big earner (although I have played many roles from copywriter, teacher to salesperson in my time) who was sick and tired of feeling tired and sick. I earnt very good money but also lived “the lifestyle” and mostly spent it all and got into debt. 

I used to train with Nam Yang’s Chief Instructor Iain Armstrong at his residential training course (once a month) at Holmbury St Mary. Here I met some outstanding people and developed a love of Martial Arts in general and Kung Fu in particular.

I stopped training as the residential courses finished and I had a serious health issue that stopped both the Kung Fu and my Teacher Training Course ( a blessing in disguise as now I am not a teacher in a chaotic secondary school). However I have always wanted to get back into it (Kung Fu that is). Though I didn’t due to those pride based assertions that we all suffer from such as everyone would laugh at me as I had got so bad, or that all my friends would be miles ahead of me and somehow  resent me for not coming back sooner etc....

Well I decided to make a complete change and spend my time doing something I love rather than “living for the weekend”. As a result I am now a full time student of Kung Fu, at the Nam Yang Mountain Training Centre in Northern Thailand, a fantastic martial arts retreat, purpose build specially by martial artists for martial artists.

Now every morning (almost) I wake up to the sun rising over the mountains, breathe in the fresh mountain air, practice my Chi Kung, and Suang Yung ( an soft art ) and only have to worry about improving my Kung Fu, and maybe writing the odd essay on learning methodologies. The whole area is full of hot springs, waterfalls, temples, markets and beautiful mountains and lakes. 

Did I make the right decision? Well we shall see, but I am a lot happier out here than my friends back home are, worrying about statistics and this and  that client.  I am living that martial artists dream of retreating to the mountains and concentrating on the art, so yes, I think I have made the right decision. I intend to post regularly so come back often and see if I was right.