SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
JUNE 2022 PART 1

Rafael and Diana

Grandmaster Wong blessing Sifu Rafael and Diana in Costa Rica

Question 1

Hope you're very well as well as your beloved wife and all your family. Here we are very well and I remember the very good old times when you blessed our marriage with Diana in Costa Rica in 2004.

I am very sorry that last year (February 2021) your seminar was cancelled as I was going to see you in Malaysia. Hope this year things are going to be different. Please receive my gratitude as always.

I've been working very hard and practicing in Chi Kung all days and remembering you. Otherwise I've been seeing a lot of your videos and webpages and they are been very nice for me.

(The webpage is only released now.)

— Sifu Rafael Castro, Shaolin Wahnam Costa Rica

Answer

It is great to receive your email. My family and I are getting on very well, though now because of the present lockdown I can't visit my grandchildren. We have been thinking of you often. I value your photo fondly.

I don't know when the lockdown will be over, but it will be soon. Then I shall offer some intensive courses in Malaysia.

It is very good of you to visit my webpages and videos very often. Chi kung should be practiced every day. It is one of the best things anybody can do.

Question 2

Might I ask why the Small Universe is so good for after life? I have read in your books that some advanced Zen-masters choose the moment of leaving this world to go to the place they want to go to.

— Sifu Roeland Dijkema, Shaolin Wahnam Netherlands

Answer

It is true that some advanced Zen masters can choose the moment of leaving this world and go to the place they want to go. It is best if you can practice both the Small Universe and Zen.

You are already practicing Zen very well. You eat when you eat, and sleep when you sleep.

Many chi kung practitioners express that the Small Universe, called the Micro-Obit in some other schools, is "the chi kung". This, of course, is not quite correct as they are many other types of chi kung, but it shows how important is the Small Universe.

The Small Universe also makes us very lucky, or "hou yun qi" which means "good circulation of energy".

Certainly we want to be healthy and lucky, as well as other good qualities, in this life. We will be well prepared when we go to the next life.

Small Universe

"Small Universe"

Question 3

Once in a while I may get a headache a day after performing the Forceful Small Universe. The exercise itself feels wonderful. Is this from doing it incorrectly or from a blockage in my head which the chi may be working on?

Answer

You may be performing wrongly when you perform the Forceful Small Universe, or there may be a blockage in your head. It is less likely there is a blockage as you have been performing the Small Universe for some time.

You can perform other chi kung exercises beside the Forceful Small Universe. You can start straight away with the Gentle Small Universe.

You can gradually approach the Forceful Small Universe. You can start with the Forceful Small Universe once or twice, and then practice other forms of chi kung. Gradually you can increase the number of times performing the Forceful Small Universe. Soon you will find that you won't get any headache.


Editorial Note

Sifu Roeland Dijkema's questions are continued from May 2022 Part 3.

Question 4

Wish you and your whole family a happy Chinese New Year of the Buffalo. I hope and wish you're are well!

I would like to know how you are and how things are going for you and your family.

— Sifu Adalia Iglesias, Shaolin Wahnam Barcelona

Answer

My family and I are getting on very well, except that in the present lockdown we can't visit my grandchildren.

Practicing genuine chi kung is the best guarantee against illness. It also gives good health, vitality, longevity, peak performance and spiritual joys irrespective of religion. Practicing kungfu is even better.

The world lockdown is indeed a nuisance, but we have to follow the order. It has changed many things and the world is not the same anymore. Many shops which did good business before are now closed.

But there will be an increase of genuine chi kung when the world is open. So prepare for bigger classes.

Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claw

"Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claw"

Question 5

I have been focusing more on practicing Smiling from the Heart. The technique itself is so simple. Smiling from the Heart has seemingly turned into Smiling from the Consciousness.

— Stephen, USA

Answer

Smiling from the Heart is one of the best exercises in Shaolin Wahnam. Many people consider it the best.

I did not perform this exercise when I first started teaching chi kung to the public about 40 years ago. Actually many things developed from my teaching.

Question 6

I read that Pak Mei knew Tong Zi Gong (the art of Being Child-like).

— Bala, India

Answer

Pak Mei was a kungfu genius. Not only he knew Tong Zi Gong, or the Art of Being Childlike, he also knew Golden Bell and Dim Mark or the Art of Dotting Energy Point.

He was the First Patriarch of Ermei Kungfu, Pak Mei Kungfu and Dragon Style Kungfu. "Ermei" is the name of a mountain in China. "Pak Mei", which was his name in Cantonese Chinese, means "White Eyebrow".

However Pak Mei was no match against Ng Mui, the Eldest of the Shaolin Elders and the teacher of Yim Wing Choon, the First Patriarch of Wing Choon Kungfu.

Nevertheless Pak Mei was killed by Hoong Man Ting and Chow Yein Kit, who avenged the death of Chee Seen, the First Patriarch of Southern Shaolin. Chee Seen was the teacher of Hoong Hei Koon, the First Patriarch of Hoong Family Kungfu.

Hoong Hei Koon also wanted to avenge the death of Chee Seen, He fought Pak Mei three times, but was unsuccessful. Hoong Hei Koon was the father of Hoong Man Ting and teacher of Chow Yein Kit.

Hoong Man Ting and Chow Yein Kit used Tiger-Crane to defeat Pak Mei. Hoong Man Ting used the Crane techniques and Chow Yein Kit used the Tiger techniques. It was reputed that Hoong Man Ting climbed up the shoulders of Pak Mei and used the Crane techniques to hit the "baihui" vital point (at the crown of the head) to defeat Pak Mei.

Question 7

I have noticed that there are two different modes of executing "Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws". Can I ask which one Sigung prefers most?

— Karol, Norway

Answer

There is only one mode of "Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws".

"Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws" is actually a secret technique. It produces a lot of internal force. It is the best exercise to train tiger-claw, much better than other methods like pulling poles, gripping jars and gripping iron balls.

"Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws" or any internal art exercise is best measured by its intensity than its number of repetitions. I remember that when I was training "Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws" with my sifu, Sifu Ho Fatt Nam, about half a century ago, I could only perform 3 times and I felt tired. If you can perform 10 times it would be very powerful.

You mentioned double tiger claws of the Iron Wire Set. "Double Tiger Claws" and "Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws" are quite different though both use tiger claws. The former uses double tiger claws, and the latter uses mainly single tigers though both claws are used at the same time.

Grandmaster Lam Sai Weng made a modern class entitled "Tit Sin Kuen" or "Iron Wire Set". When Hoong Hei Koon was about 80 he pointed out some fine points to Lam Fook Seng who was in his youth. Lam Fook Seng was the teacher of Wong Fei Hoong, and Wong Fei Hoong was the teacher of Lam Sai Weng. Hoong Hei Koon's teacher was the Venerable Chee Seen, the First Patriarch of Southern Shaolin Kungfu.

Please bear in mind that our set is quite different from the set by Grandmaster Lam Sai Weng. The "Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws" I like most is the one I taught at the Chin Na Course in Penang, Malaysia.

picture-perfect form

Picture-perfect form

Question 8

My focus is on the first 12 sequences and Ever Winning Sequence of Sitaigung Lai Chin Wah.

Answer

Sitaigung Lai Chin Wah, better known as Uncle Righteousness, and Sitaigung Ho Fatt Nam, the third generation-successor from the southern Shaolin Monastery, are the two sifus that contributed much of the material of Shaolin Wahnam.

Unlike what we practice at Shaolin Wahnam, there were actually not many kungfu sets I learned from Uncle Righteousness. These kungfu sets were "36-Pattern Tiger-Crane", "Dragon Strength Chi Circulation", "Big Flap Wave Staff", "Cross-Road Southern Knives", and "Double Continuous Daggers". I also stole "Triple Stretch", "Flower Set", and "Cross-Road Throat-Locking Spear" from him -- a kungfu terminology meaning that while another student or students perform the sets, a student learns from aside by watching.

I also practiced hitting a wooden dummy every night. What I remembered much was that Uncle Righteousness was very strict, though he often relaxed during his nightly meals after training sessions, and that he checked every student to make sure that he had picture-perfect form. My picture-perfect form owed much to Uncle Righteousness' checking.

Uncle Righteousness was obviously a very good fighter. I remember that one night he told his students that he had powerful fists to maintain righteousness. He was called Old Righteousness (the "Old" has nothing to do with age) when he was younger, and Uncle Righteousness when he was elderly.



If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at stating your name, country and e-mail address.

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