SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
DECEMBER 2012 PART 2
Just learning the outward form of a kungfu pattern correctly from a book is not easy
Question 1
For students like me who have difficulty learning it would be very beautiful if techniques are step by step filmed and these are put on CDs which can be sold with the books.
— Francois, Netherlands
Answer
Many people have requested me to put my teaching on videos, but I have refused doing so for some good reasons.
Many people do not realize that it is the skills not the techniques that are crucial in giving the benefits of the practice. In other words even if you practice the techniques correctly, but you lack the required skills, you will not get the benefits the practice is meant to give.
Examples are plentiful but most people do not see them. Millions of people all over the world practice chi kung techniques but only very few overcome their pain and illness, and attain good health and mental freshness due to their practice. Millions of people practice kungfu (including Taijiquan) techniques correctly, but only very few can use their kungfu for effective combat.
Most of these chi kung and kungfu practitioners learn from living instructors. Why don't they get the benefits of chi kung and kungfu? It is because they lack the necessary skills, and most of them don't even realize it. It would be worse for those who learn from books or videos.
Further, not only those who learn from videos would not get the benefits their practice is purported to give, they may get harmful side-effects.
Editorial Note : Francois' other questions are found in the December 2012 Part 1 of the Question-Answer Series.
Question 2
My dream has always been to be allowed to practice with the monks of Shaolin Monastery in China.
Answer
What modern Shaolin monks teach is very different from what we teach. The philosophy, the methods and the results are all different.
A chi kung class in Portugal
Question 3
I want to practice Kung Fu again but in the Netherlands there are no really good schools suitable. They are rather bad.
Answer
Two of our certified Shaolin Wahnam instructors, Sifu Darryl Collett and Sifu Roeland Dijkema teach in the Netherlands. Please see our List of Certified Instructors for their contact particulars.
Question 4
A teacher who is good but not really wants to transfers his knowledge I have already had are not many. Now I think in the holidays I can go to Malaysia and take lessons for some weeks in the first place if it is possible.
Answer
It is a norm that kungfu and chi kung masters are conservative. They do not pass on their knowledge and skills easily.
We in Shaolin Wahnam are freaks. Many people have expressed shock at our generosity.
If you want to learn from me, apply for my Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course. You should familiarize yourself with the Shaolin Basic 16 Combat Sequences before the course.
Genuine high-level Taijiquan is one of the best arts to practice
Question 5
Is there any place I can go that you may know that I could practice the art of Qi-Gong or Bing-Fa?
— Armando, USA
Answer
You can learn qigong from any of my Certified Shaolin Wahnam Instructors or from me in my regional courses or in my Intensive Chi Kung Course.
My son, Wong Chun Yian, sometimes offer courses on The Art of War, where you can learn bing-fa or military strategies. You can check up available dates on my website.
Question 6
There are many arts offered to the public today, like yoga, kendo, karate and taekwondo. How do we know which art is best for us?
— Scott, New Zealand
Answer
The art that best fulfils our needs and aspirations is the best for us. Needs take priority over aspirations. Hence, we fulfil our needs before we fulfil our aspirations.
Suppose you are sick, but you also want to work hard to earn more money to provide well for your family. While providing well for your family is a noble aspiration, you should overcome your sickness first.
In this case, the examples you have mentioned, namely yoga, kendo, karate and taekwondo, will not be useful. You should practice the art of consulting the right doctor, not just the routine of seeing any doctor, to overcome your sickness.
If you happen to suffer from an sickness considered incurable by Western medicine, you would have to consult a chi kung healer or practice chi kung. The art of chi kung would then be the best for this purpose.
Here we presume all other things were equal. In real life this presumption is not true. You would have to consider other factors, like resource availability, teacher's skills and opportunity-cost.
An art may fulfil your needs and aspirations, but if the teacher is mediocre he may be unable to help you derive the desired benefits. Or the training may require you to be away from your family for a long time, which you may not want to sacrifice.
Considering various factors, it can be generally said that practicing Shaolin Kungfu or Taijiquan from our school, Shaolin Wahnam, is the best. Naturally other people may disagree, or become angry, but we have good reasons for our claim. It fulfils the needs and aspirations people generally have.
If a person is sick, he should first consult a doctor. But if the sickness is considered incurable by doctors, practicing Shaolin Kungfu or Taijiquan from Shaolin Wahnam will help him to overcome it.
If he wants to earn more money to provide well for his family, he has to find the right job or business to do so, but practicing our arts will give him the mental clarity and energy to achieve this purpose.
If he wants good health, vitality, longevity, combat efficiency, to experience energy flow, internal force, mental freshness, spiritual joys, peak performance, spend quality time with friends, find a wife or just enjoy life, practicing Shaolin Kungfu or Taijiquan from our school will enable him to do so.
He should practice Shaolin Kungfu or Taijiquan from our school. If he learns these arts elsewhere, he just learns Shaolin Kungfu or Taijquan. But in our school he learns how to apply these arts to enrich his life and the lives of other people.
"Golden Dragon Taps on Ground" from Sinew Metamorphosis
Question 7
I have recently puchased your fine book, "The Art of Shaolin Chi Kung". I like it tremendously. It does not contain, however, some of the chi kung exercises that I have great interest in such as Plucking Stars, Pushing Mountains, Merry-Go-Round, Presenting Claws, Big Windmill and Drawing Knife. Are they to be found in another one of your books?
What I really would like is if you could e-mail all the details of these great exercises to me, being that I have already bought your book. I would greatly appreciate this!
— Dan, USA
Answer
The other chi kung exercises you mentioned are found in my chi kung books, "The Art of Chi Kung" and "Chi Kung for Health and Vitality".
I did not write "The Art of Shaolin Chi Kung". Perhaps you were refering to "The Art of Chi Kung".
If you have not done so, you should visit my website. You will find a lot of useful information.
If you have read my Question-Answer series on my website, you would have noticed that I emphasize the great difference between learning from books and learning personally from competent teachers.
I would recommend that you attend my Intensive Chi Kung Course. Many students who attended my Intensive Chi Kung Course after having read my books reported there was simply no comparison in benefits between learning from books and learning personally from me. You can also learn from me at regiona courses or from our Certified Instructors.
Question 8
Also have you written any books that contain Bone Marrow Cleansing, Sinew Metamorphosis and Tendon Washing Nei Kung. Thank-you for all your help.
Answer
Bone Marrow Cleansing, Sinew Metamorphosis and other nei kung or internal arts should be learnt not just from any teachers but from competent teachers, i.e. teachers who themselves practice these arts and are able to teach their students correctly so that their students derive the benefits these arts are meant to give.
If you learn from books, videos or incompetent teachers, you would only learn the outward forms of the arts and practice them as physical exercises. Worse, you may derive harmful side-effects.
LINKS
Selected Reading
- Wisdom and Cultivation in Budidharma's Teaching
- Iron Wire and Golden Bridge
- Angry Bull Charges at Fence
- The World's Most Popular Tai Chi Form
- There are No Words to Express the Magic, Love, Peace and Calm You and Your Instructors Have Brought to My Life