THE INTEGRATION OF KUNGFU, CHI KUNG AND MEDITATION
To develop internal force, I had to practice force-training method separately, like One-finger Shooting Zen
Question 6
Doing some research in Sifu's website he mentions that "before Zhang San Feng, kungfu in its physical form, chi kung and meditation were practiced separately. Zhang San Feng was a martial art genius. In his training he integrated physical kungfu, chi kung and meditation into one unity, bringing kungfu development to an unprecedented height. The result was what we now call Wudang Taijiquan".
The way Zhang San Feng integrate these 3 aspects into one unity seems very similar to the way we train in Shaolin Wahnam as we train form, energy and mind at the very start and in all our practices.
Did Shaolin Kungfu masters integrate these 3 aspects into one unity once Zhang San Feng developed Wudang Taijiquan or they kept training them separately?
Did Sigung Ho or any of your Sifus have these 3 aspects integrated into one unity or merging them came later through your own progress and development and as a result of an aha experience like for example practicing Taijiquan?
Might this be the reason why we are so cost effective?
Santiago
Answer
Zhang San Feng was a genius. He integrated kungfu, chi kung and meditation into one unity.
This is how we train in Shaolin Wahnam. We owe this to Zhang San Feng. We are very grateful to him.
This triple training in one not only saves us a lot of time, it gives us a lot of benefits. If we were to train kungfu, chi kung and meditation separately, we would need a longer time. As a rough estimate, we would need three years instead of one year when we train all the three in one unity.
Not only we save time, we also get more benefits. In other words, training our arts in an integrated way of triple cultivation for one year gives us more benefit than training the arts separately as kungfu, chi kung and meditation for three years. As a rough estimate again, we get 5 times more benefits!
I would also add that my two estimates are conservative. It is more likely that our saving in time and gaining in benefits will be more than estimated.
Some random comparison will give us an idea of the gain in time and benefits we get.
Our students can spar for hours in intensive courses and are not tired or panting for breadths, whereas even other masters would be tired and short of breadth after sparring for 30 minutes. This is a gain in benefit.
Our students can develop internal force after a few hours of my regional courses whereas even other masters chased after internal force for years but to no avail. This is a gain of time and benefit.
Our students can have a spiritual awakening, like their spirit expanding beyond their physical body, after a few hours of my regional courses, whereas even monks cultivating in a monastery would take years. This is a gain in time.
Even after Zhang San Feng had integrated these three aspects into one and had developed Wudang Taijiquan, other Shaolin kungfu masters as well as masters of other styles did not have this great benefit. They still trained kungfu, chi kung and meditation separately.
If a master was injured, for example, he would not know how to generate an energy flow to clear his injury. He would have to take medication.
Very few kungfu practitioners, including masters, had a chance to learn meditation. Meditation was the prerogative of Buddhist monks, Taoist priests and a few high-level Taijiquan masters. Not many of them had spiritual awakenings.
One main reason was that such teaching was kept as a top secret. If past masters knew of the Legacy of Zhang San Feng course at the UK Summer Camp, they would think it was a big, crazy joke.
Although I learned excellent kungfu, chi kung and meditation from my four sifus, they did not integrate these three aspects into one unity like what we now do in Shaolin Wahnam. I had to learn kungfu, chi kung and meditation separately.
When I learned Four Gates, for example, it was kungfu. Practicing Four Gates did not give me internal force nor spiritual cultivation.
To develop internal force, I had to practice One-finger Shooting Zen. For spiritual cultivation, which was taught exclusively to only selected disciples, I had to practice sitting meditation.
My training was unlike what a typical Shaolin Wahnam student does today, where kungfu, chi kung and meditation are integrated. When a Shaolin Wahnam student practices Four Gates, for example, he will also develop internal force and train spiritual cultivation. He does not have to practice One-Finger Shooting Zen separately for internal force, or sitting meditation for spiritual cultivation.
In other words, by practicing just any kungfu sets, like Floating Water Floating Clouds or the Shaolin Flower Set, without performing separate chi kung and meditation training, a student now can develop internal force and experience spiritual cultivation.
Merging the three aspects of kungfu, chi kung and meditation into one unity came later through my own progress and development. It is a result of a aha experience and inspiration from Zhang San Feng, especially after my practice of Taijiquan.
This integration of the three arts is one of the main reasons why we are so cost-effective. Another main reason is my heart-to-heart transmission. Students in my courses do not have to practice the techniques for months to acquire the skills. They acquire the skills immediately from my transmission.
Another main reason is that I am sincere and generous in passing our arts to deserving students. If a teacher does not want to pass on the secrets, even when he himself is a great master, students may not learn.
To practice spiritual cultivation, I had to practice spiritual cultivation exercise separately, like Sitting Meditation
The questions and answers are reproduced from the thread Legacy of Zhang San Feng: 10 Questions to the Grandmaster in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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