INTENSIVE COURSES AND UK SUMMER CAMP
Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course in Sabah
Question
How will this year's Summer Camp, with its diverse and profoundly deep array of courses, compare to taking a chi kung or kung fu intensive course with you in Malaysia in terms of impact on and through fundamental (core and vital) skills from the levels of beginners to masters operated in daily life situations?
What impact will these courses have on the aspect of spiritual cultivation and/or Zen cultivation, and what role does our being deserving students play in the full actualization of these central skills over the course of our practice and lifetime development and journey?
Kristian
Answer
There are three main differences between intensive courses and regional courses. Courses of the UK Summer Camp fall under the category of regional courses.
- Geographically, intensive courses are centralized. Practitioners come to me for intensive courses. Regional courses are spread out. I go to practitioners to teach regional courses.
- The level of attainment in intensive courses is generally higher than that in regional courses. Students spend more time at an intensive course, about 12 hours in chi kung and 28 hours in kungfu, than at a regional course, about 4 hours in chi kung and 15 hours in kungfu.
- Intensive courses deal with basic or core material that all relevant practitioners in our school practice, like generating energy flow in chi kung, and basic combat sequences in kungfu. Regional courses deal with selective material, like Five-Animal Play, Cosmic Shower, Bone-Marrow Cleansing in chi kung, and Tantui, Eagle Claw, Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, Yang Style Taijiquan and Wudang Taijiquan in kungfu.
Some people may think that there is a contradiction between a higher level in intensive courses where basic material is taught, and a lower level in regional courses where selective material is taught, especially when they think that basic material is rudimentary and selective material is more advanced.
But if they realize that in our school, basic material refers to material practiced by all concerned, and selective material refers to material selected by some practitioners, and both types of material can range from rudimentary to advanced, the apparent contradiction disappears.
The impact on and through fundamental skills from beginners to masters of both my regional and intensive courses in both their arts and daily life are are astounding.
Regarding impact, both my regional courses and intensive courses on both their arts and everyday life of both beginners and masters are life-changing. Beginners who suffered from so-called incurable diseases overcome their diseases and enjoy good health. Masters, as well as many students, who previously regarded their training as endurance suddenly find that every day is a joy.
Regarding fundamental skills, both my regional courses and intensive courses are eye-opening. Beginners who were used to performing external forms find that they can generate energy flow and develop internal force. Masters who were puzzled by the seemingly flowery kungfu movements now can tell combat application of sets which they may not have learnt before.
The impact of these courses on spiritual cultivation and Zen cultivation is also astounding. Beginners and masters not only understand what spiritual cultivation is, irrespective of religion, but also enjoy its practical benefits, from its basic level of being peaceful and happy to very advanced levels of expanding into the Cosmos.
From a vague and often confusing idea of Zen, beginners and masters now not only understand that Zen cultivation is training of mind or spirt, but also enjoy its practical benefits of being simple, direct and effective in their daily life.
As deserving students, Shaolin Wahnam members not only exhibit that they practice the arts correctly and enjoy the benefits, amidst the gross degradation the arts are now undergoing, but also preserve the arts for posterity and pass on the arts to other deserving students.
Kungfu Course in UK Summer Camp
The above article is reproduced from the thread Applying and Deepening the Fundamental Skills of Chi Kung in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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