I COULDN'T HAVE ASKED FOR A MORE WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE

Sifu Wong

"Make every movement a masterpiece." The beauty and power of Shaolin Kungfu is clearly revealed in this pattern demonstrated by Sifu Wong

The following discussion is reproduced from the thread 2006 Intensive Kungfu Course - Live (Almost) started in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum on 2nd February 2006.

Chris
Shaolin Wahnam Australia
19th February 2006

Just want to say 'Hi' to all my fellow Shaolin collegues who shared with me the amazing experience that was the Feb 2006 Intensive Shaolin Course. To clarify my identity, there were two Chris's at the course, and I am the smaller of the two, and also from Brisbane.

I think George has done an absolutely amazing job crystallizing what happened at the course, especially since he wrote these notes virtually straight after the evening session. To have been able to just get your head together to even type something down is just truly amazing.

George mentioned that he hit the mental wall on Day 4 and especially on Day 5, and I remember the look on his face during that time, because it was the same face that stared back at me in the mirror after the evening session of Day 4!!! I don't know how many others reached that stage, but I also sensed the feeling of everyone supporting each other spiritually and emotionally, and that was one of the things that helped me to break through that wall, and I again want to thank everyone at the course for their support.

So thanks again George for this amazing report and keep smiling!!! (Smile)

Molly Molly
Shaolin Wahnam USA
19th February 2006

Hey Chris!

Good to hear from you! I'm still on the road and I've really wanted to sit down and write out the highlights of my experiences, but I've little time thus far, and it's the final, best morsel that I'm saving for last. But I did want to send out some thank yous to everyone in the course, because I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful experience.

Extra special thanks to Mark, Ronan, and Hubert for all being as helpful as you were, especially once I started to hit the wall. But Hubert, Maxime, you guys need to put some meat on those leg bones -- my shins are still hurting! Most of all I wanted to thank George for keeping up this fantastic thread, when I was so braindead I forgot how to type! George, I was bummed I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to you and your lovely ladyfriend. But rest assured, you'll be the first to know when I get my pictures online. Take care of yourselves everyone, wherever you are.

Kind Regards,

Molly

Jordan
Shaolin Wahnam England
21th February 2006

More monkey details

Quote: Originally posted by Kryds

“Monkey details.
I tried to give the monkey the naughty monkey
but in the end his teeth were bigger and my feet faster.
ps. DONT feed the wildlife.
Peace”


Hehe, I feel the need to expand here.

So, here's the deal.

Adam, Nick and me were in Langkawi and visited the seven-well waterfall. When we were up at the top of the waterfall there were a few monkeys around... and they seemed friendly enough to me. I like monkeys.

Anyway, we walked back down to the bottom of the hill and bought a few bags of nuts from the shop. We were then sitting in a pagoda eating them when another monkey appeared. As I said, I like monkeys, so decided to offer one a cashew nut, which it took from my hand and then ate.

It obviously quite enjoyed it because a few moments later it was maneuvering itself to try to grab the bag. As I moved away it started to become a bit nasty, and opened its mouth bearing some rather nasty big pointy teeth. I kicked out at it, and then stuffed my food into my pocket. By this point I think it had sent out a monkey signal to its monkey friends, because a few more appeared.

As we walked away the monkeys turned their attention to Adam (my food was now hidden). What followed was a rather amusing exchange The monkeys were getting rather exited, and heading towards Adam as if to bite him. He would then kick out at them, and they would briefly back off before coming back with more intent.

Eventually Adam could stand his ground no more and fled, and the monkeys gave chase. Quite an amusing sight seeing him sprint down the road followed by a group of snarling monkeys.

Take care,
Jordan

One-Finger Shooting Zen

Molly and other course participants practicing One-Finger Shooting Zen, which is a treasure of Shaolin Wahnam

Jordan, LM
Shaolin Wahnam England
21th February 2006

Quote: Originally Posted by George
The day ended a bit down for me. I almost caused Jordan some serious injury, if it were not for Sifu healing the damage. Thank you Sifu for being (in addition to everything else) the safety blanket for my incompetence.


Hey George,

I hope it's still not bothering you...... I'm ok!

I think this was an example of how things can turn up in an intensive course that test you in ways you don't expect. It did knock my confidence a bit at the time... but certainly a good lesson in the importance of keeping focus during training.

It certainly was great having Sifu there... I made sure I thanked him again at the graduation dinner.

I haven't started my extensive training of “Golden Dragon Plays with Water” yet


Quote: Originally Posted by George
"She then hacked open the coconut for us to eat the jucy insides - it tasted nothing like the dry coconuts we get in English supermarkets."


Oh the fruit juice. Just not the same back in England.

take care,
Jordan

Nick
Shaolin Wahnam England
21th February 2006

I saw a Hawk.

Hello Everybody!

I thought I might give a short account of the Intensive Kung Fu Course as experienced by yours truly.

Firstly though I would like to thank George for his Herculean efforts in documenting the course, and for his slightly disconcerting grin.

Unfortunately I was in such a general state of mental meltdown that a day by account is beyond me. However this has already been done with great competence and so I will just get on with noting some of my most memorable experiences in general chronological order...

I think the moment when I realized what the word 'Intensive' in the title meant was when Sigung said "Stand and relax" and I went straight into a manic chi flow before he had even finished speaking. I can remember wondering “woops I don't think I'm meant to go into chi flow.” Then i realized that there was very little i could do about it and let go and enjoyed it immensely.

The Afternoon of day one was amongst the toughest parts of the course for me. I had a lot of pain in my lower back and in my stomach and a not insignificant urge to go to the toilet. This was my biggest physical frying point without a doubt! I did have an amazing chi flow here though.

I was one of those people singing and I was singing one note. The note was coming from my stomach and it took on an almost physical nature. It then expanded becoming my entire body, then the entire room. Then there was nothing except this one note, though I noticed it was made up of small vibrations all moving in harmony to create this one universal note. It was truly, truly amazing and the words here will never do it justice! Thank you Sigung!

The evening of day one saw me feeling very delicate. At the welcoming meal I threw up a few times. Without all the gory details, let's just say this was not your conventional sickness (i.e. solid and black with no carrots anywhere to be seen). OK so maybe some of the gory details!! I felt in huge emotional turmoil for the rest of the evening.

On waking the next day I felt “lighter” like I had discarded some sort of guilt and shame that I had been carrying with me for my entire life. This feeling is still apparent as I write this and is quite amazing! I am free from myself now. (Smile)

Another experience worthy of note is the noting itself of a small amount of force that I had collected in only 6 months of daily stance training under the guidance of a competent Sifu Jordan (Thank you!) It was wonderful to have a verification such as this of my short practice thus far and I urge anyone who is considering training with a Wahnam instructor to just do it!!

I think my biggest mental frying point was when learning the Felling sequences (12-16). I had Sifu Ronan as a sparring partner for a little while here and owe him many, many thanks for coaxing me back into the world of coherence. It really is difficult to describe this feeling of being “fried” but you can tell if someone else is; they respond to you with nothing other than a blank stare from misted eyes.

I think one of the most beautiful aspects of the course was the positive attitude and respect shown by everyone to Sigung, the material itself, and to each other! This course is amazing! I loved meeting everyone and sharing the experience with you all! Thank you!

My final experience I would like to share is one I had in the standing meditation after One Finger Shooting Zen. Akin to the singing chi flow, only it is much, much more powerful. Again this feeling of calm and humility, I realized I had an ability to unconditionally love others more than i could possibly imagine (note subtle starwars refernce) Once again words fail to convey the experience.

I had my first class post-course last night and I have already noticed many, many things I had missed or foolishly disregarded before. My shen is substantially better than before the course. My execution of patterns like “Black Tiger” and “White Snake” is much better, but more than this I have realized there is depth to every pattern that is there for me to explore as I wish. I have made my horse stance slightly narrower and it feels great! I understand to much greater depth the concept of differentiating yin and yang... the list could go on but i imagine anyone who has read this far is probably getting bored by now..

So I will adjourn this with a final thanks to Sigung, to Sifu (Jordan) and to all my course mates, especially Mark, Ronan, and Hubert whose help was invaluable!! Practicing with Wahnam is truly a great honour!!

With Love
Nick (Smile)

2006 Intensive Kungfu Course -- Life (Almost)

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