A LESSON ON MENTAL CLARITY AND COHERENT PRESENTATION

What is meant by mental clarity? It means the mind is clear. Clear of what? Clear of irrelevant thoughts. When we practice chi kung, we have to clear our mind of irrelevant thoughts. Hence, if we have practiced chi kung, say, for three years, we have trained mental clarity for three years. The picture above shows a chi kung class in Portugal where students clear their mind of all thoughts to practice dan tian breathing.

The following discussion is reproduced from the thread Dispelling Ignorance and Untruths: A Case Study of Baguamonk's Posts started in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum on 25th September 2006.

Hopefully, by now you may realize that who wins the debate is far less important than deriving benefits of mental clarity and coherent presentation from its participation. This is actually one of the objectives of our discussion forum.

Jordan Francis

Baguamonk1
USA
11th October 2006

Well you clearly missed the point.

It is possible to bounce about, (not like is shown in your videos, for no purpose) if you are trying to establish a pace or some sort of evasive footwork. bouncing about, as if in jumping up and down for no reason is stupid. You missed the point, you can still hit rooted, and become rooted whenever you wish to strike or defend. Wether you believe it or not, it takes alot of skill in being able to move quickly, and evasively, with quick footwork, and remain rooted when striking/defending. If a boxer was not rooted, he would have no power, and no mobility. When I'm on the ground, I use the core taiji (such as tingjing and structure) and it helps a great deal. There is nothing wrong with using basic jujitsu if the situation calls for it.

As for taiji, all I was saying is that you could use Taiji's core principles in changing a tire, or even boxing. Yet somebody replied "when demonstrating taiji you are going to change a tire, hahaha" I never said anything about demonstrating...If you take all of the Chen style punches out of the forms (including cannon fist form), and box someone else at a high speed, in some cases, it will not look too different from regular boxing to the UNTRAINED eye. The method of application and body structure, as well as the method of using body mechanics will obviously be different.

I totally agree that claiming you fight with "taiji" and then reduce to standard sloppy boxing/kick boxing is lame. I have seen Zhabao guys who claim they "fight" but in reality they train them with Boxing drills! Not even the punches are taiji punches! That is lame.

Why is this called Dispelling ignorance and Untruths? This is OPINION, not fact.
The thread should be called "My opinion, twisting words, and case study on baguamonk's words." You say I act like I'm authorative, well so do you. Trying to pass of mere opinions as fact.

I can say you are Ignorant and spreading Untruths for thinking that sitting in a gong bu stance, waving your arms in front of your face is all you have to do to stop and agressive and powerful boxer who "bounces about" But then that would be OPINION wouldn't it? And wether is true or not, is completely unknown to me, or anyone else who does not train at wahnam. Until proof is shown against a professional boxer, or at least amateur, then nobody will know for sure.
The body follows the movement of the hands . The waist and the stance move together. Complement the hands with posture to make good use of the
centerline."

It is funny that you mention this quote, because Bruce Lee said something almost Identical in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do book out there. If I had it, I would quote it. Guess its off to Barns and Noble. But in Tao of kung fu he illustrates alot of things to do with tradtional kung fu. Also most of what is said on that website goes hand in hand to what Bruce advocates. He was only against becoming a mechcanical machine, limited by it. Clearly some people have different experiences, he just simply built from the base/core that he had.

Also I find it funny that you think they contradict eachother. That principle above are basic fighting principles, I can fight "freely" and still do all the stuff you mention above . What is your idea of fighting freely? Putting your hands down, slouching your back, and laying on the ground? So using some sort of posture automatically contradicts "fighting freely'? If you take certain things to heart such as: power comes from waist, use your hand and body together, have good posture, and make use of angles, you can fight freely..What do you think all the MMA guys do? Lay on the ground or flail their arms? We are physical beings, not air or a gas. Perhaps if you illustrated the Wing Chung classic fighting posture with words, rather than those general principles, it would have made your point clearer.

You claim my Bruce Lee comments are wild and unsupported? Then What are YOUR comments? Factual information.?
This topic is useless, continue.

And I do think using stances in combat efficiently is a great thing. It is not that I don't believe this, it is the fact that your idea of using stances, differs from mine .

Daniel Perez Sifu Daniel Perez
Instructor, Shaolin Wahnam Spain
11th October 2006

And I do think using stances in combat efficiently is a great thing. It is not that I don't believe this, it is the fact that your idea of using stances, differs from mine.

Yes, basically your idea of using stances is not using them and ours is using them.

There´s nothing wrong in not using stances, most martial arts and combat sports today are like this, and some people can be good fighters without stances (Like Bruce Lee). But if we are talking about kungfu, then if you don´t use stances it is not kungfu!

__________________
Daniel Perez
Shaolin Wahnam Barcelona
www.shaolinbcn.com

Mental clarity is very important in martial arts -- more important than in scholarly studies. If a scholar lacks mental clarity, he becomes a bad scholar. If a warrior lacks mental clarity, he may become a dead warrior.

Jordan Francis

Sifu Jordan Francis
Instructor, Shaolin Wahnam England
11th October 2006

A Lesson on Mental Clarity and Coherent Presentation

Baguamonk1,

I am glad you responded, but rather disappointed that your post still showed a lack of mental clarity despite some earlier signs of improvement.

Let me help you. Imagine that you are not Baguamonk1, but a third person. Read my post on “Stances and Mental Clarity” ( Post 50) again. Pay particular attention to the following two paragraphs:

Originally Posted by Jordan

One major issue in this Tai Chi Chuan debate concerned stances. Kaitain was of the opinion that using Tai Chi Chaun stances in combat was less effective than bouncing about as in Boxing. We in Shaolin Wahnam are of the opinion that using stances is crucial in Tai Chi Chuan as well as all other styles of kung fu.

It is quite clear to anyone with mental clarity to see that in this context and basing on what you have written in this and other threads, you are of the opinion that stances are not effective in fighting, irrespective of whether your opponent is more or less skilled than you. Using the analogy mentioned earlier, if the debate was whether eating cake was healthy, it is quite clear to anyone with mental clarity that Tom was against eating cake, even though he might not have said this in exact words.

If you find it difficult to understand these two paragraphs, it doesn’t matter. I shall further help you by summarizing the gist of the two paragraphs into the following one sentence:

“Baguamonk1 believes that in combat, using Tai Chi Chuan stances is less effective than bouncing about as in Boxing.”

Now re-read Post 51, just above, by Baguamonk1.

Can you see that this post (Post 51) is out of point?

If you can’t see the irrelevancy of Post 51 because you are not sure what this post is about, let me summarize the whole post into a few sentences as follows:

1. It is possible to bounce about.
2. If a Boxer was not rooted, he would have no power or mobility.
3. One could use Tai Chi core principles in changing a tire.
4. If a Chen Style practitioner punches speedily like a Boxer, his art will look like Boxing.
5. If you claim to use Tai Chi Chuan for combat but actually use Boxing or Kick-Boxing, then you are lame.
6. This thread should not be called “Dispelling Ignorance and Untruths” because what are discussed are opinions and not facts.
7. I can say you are ignorant if you merely sit at a Bow-Arrow Stance and wave your arms about while defending against a Boxer who bounces about.
8. Bruce Lee said something similar to the quote about the body following the hand movements, etc.
9. I can follow the quote and still fight freely.
10. It is not that Baguamonk1 does not believe in stances, but that his ideas of using stances are different from those of Shaolin Wahnam.

Now it becomes easier for you to see that the 10 points above, which form the substance of Post 51, do not address the topic mentioned in Post 50, which is “Baguamonk1 believes that in combat, using Tai Chi Chuan stances is less effective than bouncing about as in Boxing”.

Having seen this, you can now return to be Baguamonk1 and see what you should have done. Here are a few effective alternatives:

1. Prove that the statement I have made is wrong . In other words, prove that I have come to a wrong conclusion from the available background information.
2. Prove that your belief is right , i.e. using Tai Chi Chuan stances in combat is actually less effective than bouncing about as in Boxing.
3. Accept your previous mistake and thank me for pointing it out. You will most likely earn more respect this way.

Whichever approach you adopt, you must substantiate with evidence, such as with quotes from me and other forum members. Without substantiation, not only your words carry no weight, you may be regarded as irresponsible for making unfounded allegations.

Hopefully, by now you may realize that who wins the debate is far less important than deriving benefits of mental clarity and coherent presentation from its participation . This is actually one of the objectives of our discussion forum.

I shall touch on a few of your above 10 points before continuing with my planned posts with my comments on your previous Post 47 as promised.

__________________
Jordan Francis
Shaolin Wahnam Bristol / Bournemouth
http://wahnam.blog.com/

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Dispelling Ignorance and Untruths: A Case Study of Baguamonk1's Posts

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