Note
Welcome to Volume 25 of Lift Hands Magazine — the first issue of 2023!
Spring is almost upon us, the days are perking up and getting brighter! I hope that everyone had great holidays in December and the New Year!
Once again we begin the year with a jam packed issue full of goodies.
Especially noteworthy in this issue is the start of my dear friend Dr. Gregory Lawton’s Asian Medicine Series. Not only is this series going to be an excellent guide to Traditional Chinese Medicine, but those who wish to enhance their knowledge and skills are being given the opportunity to do so.
Greg has set up a certification programme for the readers of Lift Hands. He founded the Blue Heron Academy of Healing Arts and Sciences in 1980. The Academy offers the only state approved training programs in acupuncture and Asian medicine in Michigan.
If you are interested, at the end of the article is a link. You can use the link to enter into a learning program — read the source material provided, watch the video and then simply go and answer the test questions. If you pass you will receive a certificate confirming your achievement. I have attached a copy of my certificate below after completing the training material.
I cannot thank Greg enough for providing this wonderful opportunity for our readers and friends from around the globe.
We also have an excellent extended 20 Questions with Walter ‘Wally’ Simpson — a long time friend and student of Erle Montaigue — who helped co-author parts of the seminal Encyclopedia of Dim-mak. My thanks to Wally for his ‘rave’ — it’s a riveting read!
Lift Hands is truly becoming family, and into this family we welcome Monika Hipsch and Robert Göslbauer — two of Katherine Loukopoulos Sensei’s students who have contributed with two excellent articles.
Talking of Katherine Sensei, I love reading her articles. They are at times like ‘The Rough Guide,’ her travels and adventures around the world take you on an immersive journey!
My thanks to everyone who has contributed to this issue. As always, it would be impossible to publish without all your kind contributions.
Further, a huge thank you to everyone who has donated to the 2023 appeal to keep Lift Hands free online for another year! You all have my heartfelt gratitude.
In Lift Hands Volume 23, I had announced that Gavin Mulholland Sensei [DKK] had been diagnosed with a serious illness. Thankfully, after undergoing intense treatment, he appears to be on the mend and no doubt will soon be knocking folk over — business as usual. The Lift Hands family wishes Gavin Sensei a full speedy recovery and despite his health scare, he has managed to pen a short article.
Finally, with Volume 25, we have hit the quarter of a century mark! An amazing achievement!
Again, I am humbled and once again thank you all who have helped achieve this landmark. Here’s to the next 25…
See you in June!
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Image Source : Adobe Stock. Images by: Okea (top); willyam (bottom left); Sergey Nivens (bottom right)
Karate – Ha! You can’t learn to punch in the air!
No, that’s right. You can’t. But here’s the thing; you are not meant to. And you never were.
Too much air-punching simply demonstrates a misunderstanding of the purpose of air punching.
In fact, it is a really useful training tool and one that serves two key functions. The second one (Kage Genkotsu) is more akin to shadow boxing, utilising movement, angles, combinations, fluidity and footwork (as opposed to stances), and is essential to remove some of that stiffness that basic kihon can develop in Karateka if you are not careful. This stiffness does not enhance people's ability to fight effectively, but actually robs them of it. However, given that so few people seem to do it these days (or even know about it for that matter) I am going to ignore that one for now (maybe an article for another day) and keep things simple.
Kihon: Punching into thin air. Why would you do that?
If punching into thin air cannot teach you to punch — and it can’t — what the hell is it doing there and why do we do it?
To understand, you need to understand the ethos behind the way that much of karate is taught. The Japanese way is to strip everything down to its component parts, polish every one of them, and then — and this is where it goes wrong for so many — you are supposed to put it all back together. Too many these days get stuck at the polishing stage resulting in karateka with beautiful technique, but no ability to fight. Put back together again properly, the end result should be a technically proficient fighter, who has speed, power, and most importantly, fluidity. There is no decent fighting system that is not based on fluidity. There has never been a world-class fighter, who was not fluid in his movements. The static kihon stuff is stage one; a key and integral part, but not the end-point, and not the whole picture by any means.
So, Karate seeks to break the punch down into its component parts — three to be exact:
1. The trigger — the initial release of the shot
2. Free flight — the time from the trigger to impact
3. Impact — the connection of knuckles on target
And to hit properly, you need all three to be in place.
1. The trigger needs to fire the shot out with speed (and mass depending on the shot)
2. The free-flight must be as relaxed and devoid of tension as possible to allow maximum speed (once fired there is nothing ‘pushing’ a bullet)
3. The impact must be on target, penetrate deep, and cause the correct amount of disruption or damage (depending on the situation)
What people (wrongly) think of as a ‘Karate Punch’ (there is no such thing) — is really a training mechanism, designed to build and train the trigger. And the trigger is the mytetic reflex at the joint between your shoulder and your pectoral muscles. In layman’s terms this is a stretch reflex — basically an involuntary contraction of muscles induced by a fast stretch of the muscle. Your body will not allow itself to be injured so once it feels the muscle being overstretched or stretched too quickly, it contracts violently and this is the trigger that will fire out your punch with speed.
In the line-up we create this stretch by pulling the hand back while the hips twist forward on the same side to create potential energy and torque. However, this leaves you with no guard as you are pulling your hands back to your sides — of course you are not meant to do this in a fight! It is a training mechanism. On the outside, rather than pulling your hands back (and exposing your head) the mytetic reflex is generated by dropping the shoulder driving forward and piling into your opponent. Just watch Mike Tyson punching if you want to see world class use of the stretch reflex in generating punching power.
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That is what ‘air-punching’ is primarily teaching; the trigger. Not the whole punch, the trigger. The next two phases both need to connect with something in order to work — and complete the punch.
As already mentioned, your body will not wilfully allow you to damage it so it will not allow freeflight without something in place to arrest its movement. If there is nothing there, your punch will be decelerating throughout its travel, when it is meant to be accelerating. Your body will only allow this if there is something in the way. Which brings us to the third and final phase — the impact.
In order to learn to punch, you must be hitting things. Despite what it might look like these days (probably from the proliferation of teaching children), this is Karate 101. You must be hitting things — in karate terms, makiwara, bags, pads, boards, and people. All of which are used slightly differently and teach different lessons.
Is this the only way to learn to punch? No, of course not! But it is the karate way. And if you are doing air-punching in the line-up (which you should be by the way), you need to have the other phases in place, otherwise you are only utilising one-third of the formula, and only training one-third of the punch.
So, in sum: Hit stuff. Hit stuff hard!
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About the Author: Shihan Gavin Mulholland (7th Dan Goju Ryu) is Chief Instructor for the London branch of Daigaku Karate Kai. DKK can be contacted, via the OMAA or directly on Facebook.
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Photo Credit: Roy Kamen; Design: Nasser Butt
“One has to do one’s duty, Let the body split in half. Do, do not hesitate, do not doubt.”
1984 — Mario
Some people are born and go through life in the service of humanity; and, when they do leave this world, they have made an impact to those who came in contact with them. They did this selflessly, without the search for fame and notoriety. Mario Philip Kalloo was such a person.
In 1981, Mario and I met during the Pan American Championships in Curacao, and 1982, at the VI WUKO World Championships in Taiwan. About these meetings, there was nothing documented in my diaries as I was solely focused on my competition. However, I did find an entry that I was invited to Trinidad sometime in the future.
1983 – From my diaries…
March 25 – Landing at the Piarco International Airport I found a really tall man, Anthony Walcott, who quickly ushered me through customs. Once outside, there was Mario Kalloo, Yogi Ananda, Yogi’s wife Peggi and a female athlete, Ingrid Joseph, who I already had met in a prior Caribbean karate tournament. For the duration of my visit I would be a guest in Yogi Ananda’s and Peggi’s Ashram which was located on top of a mountain.
From the airport we stopped by a road market and bought vegetables for tonight’s dinner. We bought fruits, and filled huge containers with water as the Ashram did not have running water, or electricity. We drove around and around up the winding mountain road; we stopped half way up the mountain where there was a makeshift parking place. We unloaded luggage, training equipment brought with me from New York City, huge containers with water, all the shopping, and proceeded to
My first work VISA outside of United States...
Above: ”Welcome Kathy" was posted on the Ashram's front door…
Below: Yogi Ananda made sure that everyday we had water at the Ashram.
Huffing and puffing we got there. There was a full moon, so the view was magnificent. I was shown to my hut which was close to the main building, and we sat to wait for Peggi’s cooking while Yogi Ananda spoke words of wisdom. This is when I learned that Mario loved to eat and that he was especially fond of sweets. For the next 19 days, Mario and I trained hard and ate much!
My hut was small, made of wood with a tin roof. There was a single size cot with what approximated a mattress. There were long nails spaced out on the walls to hang towels and clothes. There were metal screens on the windows. I had a somewhat stable stool and a small handmade table. The floor was covered with various colorful rug pieces. My room was lit by candles and a kerosene lamp. There were coils to keep the mosquitoes at bay. And then, there was an earthquake. Since the earthquake did not raise a commotion on the main house, I sucked it in and played brave.
This became my home not only on this trip but on the subsequent ones also. I got to love the smell of the air, and the sounds of birds, chickens, roosters, and insects. I sat in kneeling position and bathed in a huge bucket with cold water; I did not dare to scream. Peggi consoled me that I would be used to all of that. Indeed, as the days went by, my initial shock started to yield.
In essence, while in Trinidad, I led two different lives. One life on the Ashram where Yogi Ananda introduced me to Yoga practice and philosophy, and The Bhagavad Gita which was (and still is) considered to be one of the holy scriptures for Hinduism. Peggi on the other hand, introduced me to the world of holistic medicines and good vegetarian cuisine. To top all that, the Ashram provided a training hall for Yoga practice and lectures; this hall became our personal training area and preparation for my work with the Trinidad karate students. The other life, completely different, I lived it once I came down from the Ashram and into the ‘regular’ world. Regardless, Mario Kalloo was there with me on every step of the way.
March 26 — Training in the Yoga hall was fantastic! There was even an excellent quality wooden floor. Two karate girls from Tobago came to observe my training; other days Mario Kalloo and others used the training hall for the many demonstration preparations.
It was my first experience eating ‘Indian style’ with my fingers. I can’t say enough about how delicious was the food. Mario and I always competed for the last piece; it had become almost a game.
Next, I was taken to meet an 80 year old Yogi named Gofin, but everyone called him ‘DaDa’. He practiced healing via holistic medicine and massage. DaDa’s concoctions were his personal innovations, and they did work! Ms. Peggi insisted that I ‘be treated’ and so I received the first of the many massages from DaDa. He was my doctor each time I came to Trinidad.
After eating well, and having a super massage, it is only common sense to rest and/or to sleep. No, from DaDa we went straight to Presentation College Auditorium where the Annual Inter Dojo Tournament took place. I would never eat and have a massage before a tournament! But no regrets! I officiated during the tournament, and demonstrated karate and weapons kata. It was 3 AM when we returned to the Ashram and carried everything up to the top of the hill. It was 4 AM when we finally went to our huts only to sleep for a few hours and start all over again intensely.
March 27 — It was a real treat. This time with Mario Kalloo, Ingrid Joseph, and Anthony Peters drove to Las Cuevas Beach where I instructed them Hakusho no Kun and Bo Kumite. We swam and ate watermelon. At the Ashram Yogi Ananda taught us Eastern Philosophy while we hungrily ate Peggi’s delicious meals.
Each one of us went to their little huts. It was raining, and I could hear it magnified on my tin metal roof. Occasionally a lizard would fall from the ceiling; sometimes on me. The first time was scary, but sooner or later I had to get used to lizards. It was a good training because when I went to live on Okinawa lizards occupied the homes. No one killed lizards as they were considered good luck.
We settled in a training schedule that consisted of three and four classes per day for several hours. Mario Kalloo was in charge of my itinerary and he participated in all the classes that I taught; therefore, he must have been as tired but he never showed it. I expected Anthony Peters and Ingrid Joseph to also participate in all the classes. They also moved up to the Ashram for the duration of my stay in Trinidad.
Steve Parish Sensei was in charge of the TASK Dojo. We visited him at his home where he offered that I stay in a hotel in the city, but I would not change the Ashram for a hotel.
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March 29 — We spent many hours training in Maqueripe beach where we had lots of fun throwing Sai to designated targets. In the afternoon we rushed up the Ashram in order to get cleaned and ready for a visit to the President’s home.
The President, Sir Ellis Emmanuel Innocent Clarke, spent much of the evening entertaining his guests. His mansion was spectacular with polished wooden floors. He showed genuine interest in his country’s sports and we spoke much about the progress of Trinidad and Tobago’s karate athletes. I told him in order to perform a better kata, his karate athletes needed to have wooden floors much like what the President had in his house. Perhaps, a sports hall which would also provide a wooded floor area would not be too difficult to construct.
Regardless of how late we returned to the Ashram, Peggi’s cooking was waiting for us, and Yogi Ananda’s stories were feeding our brains. Although we went to sleep at 5 AM in a few hours we were up and ready to attack the next day.
March 30 — First we had a lengthy demonstration at the Holy Name Convent for approximately 100 high school girls. And afterwards, I was introduced to delicious Indian street food Roti and a drink called Mauby. There was a quick tour of the city, and off we went to the TASK Dojo for four hours of teaching.
March 31 — Another lengthy karate and kobudo demonstration was held at the Saint Joseph’s Convent for High School Girls. That was a fiasco. We arrived two hours late and most of the girls were sent home. Nevertheless, we performed our prearranged rehearsed program, and spent a lot of time apologizing to the teachers and administrators.
There was not much time for remorse; we drove like mad to be on time to the Malick Youth Center. Here we had a mixture of ages and classes went well. The demonstrations were also well received. Always we looked forward to Peggi and Yogi Ananda. Regardless of what time we would arrive, there would be food, and Yogi Ananda’s stories.
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With The President - Sir Ellis Emmanuel Innocent Clarke
April 1 — It was the first day of our training camp. All participants were separated into committees in order to share all of the work. I was in the Teachers Committee, but actually I wanted to be in the Cooking Committee. I often escaped my duties to visit the Cooking Committee members. After all, we needed to pay attention to those who would cook for us.
The next four days went like this:
4:30 – Mario blew his whistle and we all got up.
5:00 – We made double lines in front of the Civic Center. We ran to the beach and trained in the sand for one and one half hours, and ran back.
7 to 8:30 - Cleaning Squad
8:30 to 9 – Breakfast
11 to 12 – Weapons Training
1 to 1:45 – Lunch
1:45 to 2 – Cleaning Squad
5 to 7 – Outdoors Weapons Training
7:30 to 8 – Dinner
8 to 8:15 – Cleaning Squad
9 – Children to sleep
10:30 – Adults to sleep
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Developing future female karate athletes — Saint Joseph Convent for High School Girls, 1984
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Training on the beach - The photo is not good but can you notice the tree leaves? The wind was so strong...
These four photos with the Stick Fighters explaining how they used the sticks to fight... one of the persons showed interest on the Sai... I am sorry, I do not have their names...
The icing on the cake was when we finished with the training camp and we went up to the Ashram. There was a visitor who spoke about Trinidad’s Stick Fighting art. Stick fighters competed during carnivals. The art was brought by the West African slaves and was influenced by their mystical religions. Mr. Hugh Bruce gave us much historical information about Stick Fighting development and traditions. For example, in Trinidad, two sticks were used for blocking and fighting as opposed to other islands where a shield was used for defense and a single stick for offense.
Until the conclusion of my trip the teaching program continued as described; we practiced at the Ashram’s training hall, drove to various parts of Trinidad in order to teach numerous hours, performed demonstrations, and returned to the Ashram always happy and hungry. August 17 to 26 — Mario and I met again; this time in New York City. For the next few days our program was filled with long hours of training which always ended with our
favorite pastime that was, eating. Mario and I took classes from the giant Toyotaro Miyazaki Sensei. After Miyazaki Sensei’s teaching program, we spent several hours training with the Tunfa for the next day’s Tunfa demonstration. Mario was very happy because he had an opportunity to compete in Ying Yee’s Open Karate Tournament held in New York City.
1984 and 1985 — Our Trinidad trainings resemble the 1983 description with a single exception. One day, we were waiting for Mario to come to the Ashram, but he was nowhere in sight. Since there was no telephone we just had to wait. After several hours of waiting Mario appeared beaming with joy. He had the perfect excuse: Susan, his beautiful wife, gave birth to their son. Now, that was a very good reason to be late! After teaching classes, we rushed to welcome the new born baby!
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1985 — Mid Day Break at the Training Camp
Going to Trinidad opened another wide world for me that pushed me up yet another step towards my development. If I had chosen a hotel instead of the Ashram, I would have missed Yogi Ananda’s lectures, and Peggi’s wealth of knowledge about holistic medicine and natural diet. I would have lost the chance to live modestly on a mountain without the necessities that we are so used to and take for granted. I would not have learned about stick fighting. I would not have learned about Caribbean history and traditions. I would not have met Mrs. MacFarland, Joan Collins family, and I would not have met DaDa and his healing hands. I would not have made so many friendships that endured into the far future. It all happened because one man called Mario invited me to Trinidad.
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Katherine Loukopoulos Bubishi Team Austria, 28 February 2023
1985 — One of the many demonstrations...
Mario Philip Kalloo; Credit Roy Kamen
The origin of the traditional martial arts is shrouded in mystery and myth. At the fountainhead of the history of martial arts, and in the majority of martial art systems, is the story of a great teacher. This great teacher, or sifu, is the martial arts warrior, or sage, who is credited with creating the body of knowledge that late, becomes a martial art system to be passed down through oral tradition and rigorous training to successive generations of students. Occasionally, written materials such as a master training manual were also passed down through traditional lineages. In addition, when the lineages were broken, the knowledge of that martial art system was lost. For individual martial art students, the sifu likely served as a father, teacher, trainer, priest, and role model.
This article investigates the traditional lineage system for the transmission of martial arts knowledge through the sifu, and addresses the question of whether or not the role played by the traditional sifu still serves the needs of individuals who are training in contemporary martial arts.
Every nation and cultural group in history has had their heroes and all cultures have romanticised and exaggerated the abilities and exploits of these heroes. From the heroic stories of Greek mythology, we have heroes like Hercules, Achilles, Jason, Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus, and the Amazons. In the recorded chronicles of their lives and exploits, there is found a history of civilization, war, love, philosophy, myth, whether fact or fiction, interwoven within the fabric of a single story. In more contemporary times, we have grown up with stories about heroes like Robin Hood, Davy Crockett, and Daniel Boone.
In Asian historical literature, we find a similar blending of fact and fiction, perhaps to an even greater degree. Western readers usually expect that the books they read are classified as either fiction or non-fiction. In Asian literature; however, this distinction is usually not made, especially in works of ancient and modern literature that pertains to the martial arts. Just as Western historians blended fact with fiction in the stories of great civilizations and heroes, Asian historians and writers have done similarly throughout recorded history and, in particular, over the past two or three centuries.
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Before the Tang dynasty (617-907) the Chinese literary tradition made no clear distinction between the modern categories of fiction and non-fiction, although elements of what we would call fiction were present.1
To say that the traditional martial arts were confused by the merging of fact and fiction would be an understatement as the written manuscripts and oral traditions led to major disagreements among the martial artists. To understand the scope of the problem, different people reading the same material would draw different conclusions depending on whether they felt the information was fact or fiction.
The combining of fact, myth, and superstition within the martial art literature was further confounded by the general lack of written historical information. Detailed information about key historical figures in the Asian martial arts was missing, which led some historians to “fill in the blanks” on their own. Many of the “historians” of the martial arts were also martial artists, studying with a “sifu” and this makes their accounts and conclusions less objective. Their research was likely biased and frequently lacking in scientific rigor. In addition, poor verbal and written Asian language skills, a lack of knowledge about Asian history, and a lack of awareness about the cultural and social milieu of Asian nations, especially the caste system, were complicating factors.
Another major issue that plagued the validity of the existing body of knowledge and prevailing opinions derived from the Asian martial art literature was the falsification of records, and the premeditated destruction of the historical records for political and financial gain.
Noted contemporary martial artist and author Harvey Kurland commented that:
The senior students of Yang Shao-Hou, who did not become disciples of (Yang) Cheng-Fu, were written out of the Yang family lineage after the death of (Yang) Shao-Hou and for that reason are not as well known.2
So far, the discussion has been focused on the issue of an overall unreliability of the Asian martial arts historical literature. Since much of the contemporary Asian martial arts literature is based on historical accounts, both written and oral, its reliability is equally suspect. Numerous examples from modern martial arts literature illustrate how the same fiction and mythologies are passed along from earlier historical accounts.
From a practical point of view, one might ask how the continued transmission of fiction and myth adversely affects training in the martial arts? If a student begins studying the martial arts as a purely recreational or leisure activity, without intending to use its martial applications, one could argue that it is unimportant that the student is learning baseless skills and information. In fact, some students seem to relish this kind of knowledge and practice. If, however, other students are soldiers or law enforcement professionals who might need to apply their skills in defense of their life or the lives of others, then what they learn and how they apply that knowledge becomes crucial for the protection and preservation of life.
At the center of all martial arts learning and for the continued transmission of knowledge, is the sifu, who is usually the primary source of information and training. Because of the nature of the student/teacher relationship, students trust that the information they receive is true and effective. In the traditional Asian martial arts; however, this may not be the case. Although the purpose of this article is not to disparage any teacher or system of martial arts, the facts reveal several common failures of the traditional sifu system of training:
1. The “curriculum” of traditional Asian martial arts is based on fiction, myth, and superstition and the sifu often perpetuates this false information and training.
2. A sifu’s claim to rank and lineage is often fraudulent or misrepresents the sifu’s training and ability.
3. Some sifus attempt to inculcate a relationship of dependency and control over the lives and affairs of their students.
4. The traditional Asian martial arts are composed of many different systems of martial arts that have different techniques and training methods. No universally agreed upon standardized training technique or method of practice exists to ensure the safety of students. Thus, students are at increased and unnecessary risk of injury due to poor or improper training methods.
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Some sifus make greatly exaggerated claims about their abilities and promote psychic and metaphysical beliefs to impress and manipulate their students. As a result, a sifu may achieve personal recognition and fame and benefit financially. Due to modern information sharing, that is both rapid and transparent, the credentials and claims of some ranking martial artists have been shown to be fraudulent. Such fraudulent claims commonly include false claims about studying with noted teachers, claiming to have an unearned rank or lineage, and exaggerations about the number of years studying with a particular teacher, or within a system or style of martial arts.
Some of the fantastic and exaggerated claims made by martial arts teachers have included: the ability to render opponents unconscious without physically touching them; the ability to psychically transport a body from one location to another; the ability to levitate; and the ability to dodge bullets or to become impervious to gun fire. Numerous examples of these claims have been produced by past and current martial artists. Indeed, many modern students of the martial arts believe that a goal of their training is to be able to perform these supernatural feats.3 From the perspective of diagnostic psychology and psychiatry, individual martial artists who have made such exaggerated claims would appear to be suffering from various forms and degrees of narcissism, paranoia, and delusion.
In the article, “Dangers of self-proclaimed masters,” martial artist and author Don Cunningham, a debunker of supernatural, fraudulent, and delusional claims made by martial artists, refers to the psychiatrist Dr. Mariam Cohen who stated: “It’s possible they feel powerless, weak and frightened in most other areas of their lives, and therefore are attracted to the image of power.” Dr. Cohen further states: “There is also the image of the ‘master’ who is capable of defeating all enemies and has incredible wisdom. If you’re struggling with ‘inner demons’ and fears of your own weakness, this is an incredible image to connect to, to hope to be perhaps.”4
Within the lineage system, myth, superstition, metaphysical and occult practices are inculcated and transmitted via an unhealthy system of dogmatic “blind faith”. After all, the lineage student is charged with retaining the system’s “knowledge” intact from the masters who preceded him. Certainly, if the body of knowledge is based on scientific principles of training and conditioning, and proven methods of combat, then retaining this knowledge is valuable, but if the system is permeated with superstition, metaphysical beliefs, and occult practices, the system will be without merit.
A cult of personality is defined as extreme devotion to an individual person, and while similar to general “hero worship,” this extreme form of devotion is the adulation of a specific personage. Margaret T. Singer. Ph.D., former Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley stated: “Historically, the power of certain persons to dramatically influence others was considered supernatural, i.e., the influencer was a magician or witch with secret potions and arcane knowledge, or had godlike qualities. Some people have attained compliance from and influence over others through coercion, brutality, or the wielding of religious, political, or financial powers.”5 The martial arts community has always had numerous examples of individuals or lineage students who contribute to the creation or maintenance of a cult of personality around a living or deceased “grandmaster”. In a number of ways, the promoters of a cult of personality gain from this activity. In the martial arts community, knowledge is equated to power and money. Any claims to a direct lineage, or to exclusive secrets and superior abilities and styles are the “keys to the kingdom” for recognition and reward.
The traditional martial arts are in an area of human knowledge where knowledge of the past is felt to be more important that modern discovery or innovation. At the beginning of the 20th century, martial art reformers, such as Chen Pan Ling, attempted to “modernize” the Chinese martial arts. Chen Pan Ling, in the preface of his original book (Tai Chi Chuan Chiao Tsai), states: “If we can but standardize nomenclature, theory, postures, and movements, our martial arts will rapidly increase in popularity, not solely in China, but throughout the world.”6 Chen Pan Ling was only marginally successful in attracting the martial arts communities to his call for reform. In all fairness, Chen Pan Ling was attempting to reform not only the martial arts, but the stubbornly inculcated religious beliefs that were based on concepts like “ancestor worship” and “filial piety”. Richard C. Bush, author and historian of ancestor worship, wrote:
The veneration of ancestors by royal families and common people alike reveals several reasons for ancestor worship. People wanted their ancestors to be able to live beyond the grave in a manner similar to their life-style on earth; hence the living attempted to provide whatever would be necessary. A secondary motive lurks in the background: if not provided with the food and weapons and utensils needed to survive in the life beyond, those ancestors might return as ghosts and cause trouble for the living.7
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Another concept commonly seen in Asian culture is filial piety, which is the devotion and obedience by younger members of a family to their elders. Although this concept existed in Asian cultures, prior to Confucius, it is often identified with his teachings, and in The Analects, Confucius said, "A young man should be a good son at home and an obedient young man abroad…” In The Classic of Filial Piety, we find, "The services of love and reverence to parents when alive, and those of grief and sorrow to them when dead – these completely discharge the fundamental duty of living men."8
Within the lineage descendents of teachers of the traditional martial arts, we still see evidence of behaviors and beliefs associated with “ancestor worship” and “filial piety”. These behaviors and beliefs exist because the teachers of the traditional martial arts also taught varying degrees of Asian philosophy and religion. Some contemporary Western students of Asian martial arts have personally adopted Asian philosophies and religions, blending them into their study and application of the traditional martial arts. The adoption of Asian philosophy and religion by traditional martial artists, in combination with the acceptance of aspects of ancestor worship and filial piety, contributes to the manifestation of a cult of personality within the traditional martial arts.
The hierarchy of the lineage system in the Asian martial arts raises several additional questions:
1. Is the lineage student the best of the master’s, or the best student in the system? The history of certain martial arts suggests that this was often not the case.
2. Is the “master” of a system (the person from where the lineage originated) necessarily the best practitioner or teacher of that system?
3. Are all the great martial artists known?
4. Were some martial artists unconcerned about being famous?
5. Did some great martial artists choose not to teach or publish their work and thus remain unknown?
6. Is the lineage system the best method for transmitting knowledge to future martial artists?
Chinese martial artist Tang Hao (1897-1959) addressed some of these questions and called for reform. From his published opinions he was attacked for his ‘heresy’ and several attempts were made to arrest and imprison him.9 Many familial and societal pressures were placed on students of the martial arts that restrained them from being free of dogma and superstition. Even among the few who broke from the dogmatic traditions of the prevailing martial arts and created new and innovative approaches, some created new “lineages” or mythologies to explain the origins of their knowledge and abilities. For example, in the martial art baqua, its founder Dong Hai Chuan is claimed to have related the origin of this martial art to a mythical Taoist immortal.
Every style of martial arts has its fountainhead and some claim that their martial art began with a mystical figure or perhaps a Taoist immortal in the Wudang Mountains. In an essay by Gu Lieu Xing (In Memory of Tang Hao), Gu states, “In the 1930s, people in the martial art circles of our nation clung too much to the idea and the importance of lineage, and this caused major disputes…” Rigorous research by scholars and historians, such as Tang Hao, have shown that at the fountainhead of every martial art is a common man who, through hard work and effort (kung fu), and by building on the work of predecessors, he was able to achieve innovation, and contribute to the evolution of knowledge and advancement of the martial arts.
www.hk01.com
In 1844, the invention of the telegraph by Samuel Morse brought the arrival of a new era in global human communication, and along with it came the death of the sifu. The first message sent via telegraph was, “What hath God wrought?” Indeed, over the course of several centuries, the sifu had been the singular source of knowledge for the marital arts. With modern communications and the multitude of communication devices which have appeared in the last 150 years, historical records and documents, copies of original manuscripts, translated words of the founders of martial arts systems, are available through rapid large-scale global data searches. With the introduction of film, video, digital media, and other online media techniques, most forms and systems of martial arts are available to students of the martial arts in an unprecedented abundance in the new era of information access.
Knowledge is essential for so many human activities and values, including freedom, the exercise of political power, and economic, social and personal development.10
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Tang Hao (1897-1959)
Image: Shaolin Wudang Test
Was the role of the traditional sifu supplanted by the availability of information in the age of technology and communication? Certainly, the technological advances have enhanced the ability of martial arts students to access information and to communicate directly with teachers and other students online. Web and video conferencing can even allow students and teachers to communicate verbally and visually through webcams, so that training sessions can be conducted online. Moreover, this high level of access and communication has facilitated the investigation of teacher claims about their work, publications, rank, lineage, and history, etc.
If we strip away the esoteric, psychic, metaphysical, occult, superstitious, and fictitious elements of the traditional Asian martial arts, what is left? In most cases, the central theory, which allows for advancement and the evolution of a particular martial arts system, is the remaining element. In baqua, for example, the central idea was to use continually changing postures and positions, accompanied by moving behind the opponent, which led to the system’s fighting concept as seen today.
Why are the contemporary innovators and creators in the martial arts community denigrated and criticized? The answer seems to stem from the ignorance about the unsubstantiated, conflicted, and shaky history of the martial arts. Over time, falsities and facts have become blurred in the minds of the ignorant or gullible. The abilities of teachers became exaggerated or were moved into the realm of the supernatural. As a consequence, these kinds of beliefs make it impossible for living breathing men and women to live up to the fiction.
Another evolutionary step occurring in the martial arts is taking place in two areas. First, the emerging and developing mixed martial arts are quickly adapting modern scientific methods of human performance conditioning, as derived from exercise physiology, biomechanics, and sports science. Second, knowledge and skills are expanding in relation to the combat martial arts. Because of the high degree of athleticism and risk involved, these areas rely on no nonsense pragmatic approaches in the martial training and fighting applications. Of course, some limitations are used in the rules of engagement for sports martial arts, in comparison to combat martial arts, where the objective is to maim or kill an enemy, but today’s mixed martial artist is generally a wellconditioned, multi-skilled athlete.11
Mixed martial art trainers are often athletic coaches and seasoned fighters, with backgrounds in boxing, wrestling, and the Asian fighting arts. The fighters are commonly trained by “teams” comprised of athletic coaches and martial artists. Trainers often have credentials in one or more of the following areas: coaching, sports science, sports medicine, human performance testing, personal training, and exercise physiology. The traditional martial arts use of rank and lineage, while possessed by some fighters, may be of little importance in the new system. In the ring, on the platform, or in the cage, when combatants are on equal footing, and in one-on-one combat, spectators pay little attention to the color of a belt or the lineage of a fighter, but tend to focus only on the substance and ability of the martial artist.
The modern fighting arts are now evolving into the kind of scientific martial art that was envisioned by Tang Hao in the 1930s. Nevertheless, continuing to promote false information and superstition in the martial arts community and especially among martial arts teachers is counter-productive to the advancement of the marital arts.
About the author:
Dr. Gregory T. Lawton is a health science writer with over 100 publications to this credit. Dr. Lawton has enjoyed a lifetime of training in the martial arts, including boxing, wrestling, kenpo, and the Chinese internal martial arts. He served in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1968. In the mid-1970’s, his instructor in Yang Tai Chi Chuan was the highly regarded Professor Huo Chi Kwang. Dr. Gregory Lawton is a licensed chiropractor, naprapath, and a certified acupuncturist.
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Definitions of Terms:
Baqua (Pakua): is considered one of the three great internal martial art systems of China along with Tai Chi Chuan and Hsing Yi. Baqua incorporates principles of continuous movement, and the changing of postures and hand positions along with the intent of moving into the weakest areas of an opponent’s defense, including to the rear of the opponent. The baqua are also the eight trigrams described in the I Ching; the combinations of whole and broken lines represent the ever-fluctuating elemental forces of the universe.
Mixed Martial Arts: are a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques, from a mixture of martial arts traditions, to be used in competitions. The rules allow for striking and grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground.
Modern Martial Arts: are those which have been largely developed over the last 100 years and include combat and tactical fighting arts, as well as contemporary sports martial arts such as mixed martial arts.
Traditional Martial Arts: are those having both an internal and an external system, that date back to the earliest history of martial arts, or martial arts that reflect the same formal structure of master and lineage transmission, but may only be two or three centuries old. Examples include Chinese Kempo, Tai Chi Chuan, and baqua.
References:
1. Holcombe, Charles. (1990). Theater of combat: A critical look at the Chinese martial arts. Vol. 52 May 3. pp. 411-431. Michigan State University Press.
2. Kurland, Harvey. (1998). Article. May T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Wellness Newsletter.
3. Friedman, Harris. (2005). Problems of Romanticism in Transpersonal Psychology: A Case Study of Aikido. The Humanistic Psychologist, Vol. 33 No. 1. pp. 3-24.
4. Cunningham, Don. (2002). Dangers of self-proclaimed masters. Furyu: The Budo Journal of Classical Japanese Martial Arts and Culture. Vol. 10 No. 7 (Summer-Fall).
5. Singer, M. T. (1987). Group psychodynamics. In: R. Berkow (Ed.), Merck Manual, 15th ed. Rahway, NJ: Merck, Sharp, & Dohme.
6. Chen, Pan-Ling. Chen Pan-Ling’s Original Tai Chi Chuan Textbook (Tai Chi Chuan Chiao Tsai). (1998). Transliterated by Y.W. Chang, Translated by Ann Carruthers, Ed.D. Page xxiii, Blitz Design, New Orleans, LA.
7. Bush, Richard C. (1977). The Story of Religion in China, p.2. Argus Communications, Niles, IL.
8. Mueller, Max, ed., (1879-1910) Vol. III, p. 448. Sacred Books of the East, Krishna Press (50 Volumes), London, England.
9. Kennedy, Brian and Elizabeth Guo. (2005). Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals, a Historical Survey. pp. 39-53, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA.
10. A2K (Access to Knowledge) Treaty, Consumer Project on Technology. (May 9 2005), Available online at: http://www.cptech.org/a2k/
11. Rooney, Martin. (2008). Training for Warriors, The Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts Workout. pp. 7-17, HarperCollins Books, New York, NY.
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Introduction
The Fa-jing Ch’uan Dim-mak Training Methods are an integral component of The Erle Montaigue System. These training methods were designed to teach a student the foundations of fa-jing, combined with dim-mak at both a theoretical and practical level. Further, they helped develop mind-body coordination, timing, the point of coordination, as well as attacking targets at a reflexive level.
There are 10 of these training methods in total. Each method increases in complexity and skill. Usually, students were only given a single method to practice and only after successful execution and understanding was the next one given. Each method is practiced on both sides. Some of the methods are trained 4* ways, whilst others only 2.** All the methods have a solo component, followed by a two-person method.
Each method requires that the body be totally loose — this does not mean that you hold it like a limp noodle, you must have internal tension in order to hold structure.
It is, of course, impossible to show the explosive nature of these methods using still photography since they literally take a split second to do and would simply be a blur. For those who are interested in learning these methods, it is best to seek out a teacher who is well-versed with them and can execute them as they are intended.
The students should not view these as techniques! They are training methods, which when understood will lead the student on to higher things. However, it is important that students don’t kid themselves! Evaluate your progression correctly. Don’t rush through these methods, because just when you think that you have understood one, to the diligent student, it will offer more!
The purpose here is to simply introduce these methods to the beginner, as well as to provide a reference point for those students who are already training under The Guild with either myself or Peter Jones.
A word of warning… the areas being targeted are extremely dangerous and can be fatal or cause serious injury! At no point should any of the primary target actually be struck [especially those located on the neck, eyes, the back of the head and the face in general]. Pull your strike in training! Power can be executed in the solo drill and or upon mitts with a partner.
All the images are shown statically for illustration purposes only with movements exaggerated for visual clarity! ———————————————-
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* Right foot, right hand lead; Right foot, left hand lead; Left foot, left hand lead; left foot, right hand lead. ** Right and left side.
Method Four — A closed-side method
Solo
Starting with a reverse bow stance, simply allow your hands to hang in front of you in p’eng/hinge [Figure 1]. As the waist turns to your left, your right foot moves slightly forward and across to the left as the right hand loads [Figure 2]. The waist now turns to the right, with the right back fist striking to the right [Figure 3]. Finally, as the waist starts to turns back to the left, the left foot naturally drags up behind as the left palm strikes [Figure 4], and the right palm comes through and strikes as the waist turns fully to the left [Figure 5] — giving us a left, right, left fa-jing shake. The waist finishes by turning back to the centre. The movement itself dictates the weight positioning as we finish slightly forward of 50/50 in favour of the front leg, ie, we are not double-weighted.
The solo drill is practiced explosively marching up and down the hall on both sides 4 ways.
Two-Person Method
Points struck are CO10 and CO12 [Large Intestine] and ST11 [Stomach].
Stomach [ST] 11
Colon/Large Intestine [CO/LI] 10, 12
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Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 5
Figure 4
Your partner stands in front of you holding a guard [Figure 6]. They should be just outside your reach at a realistic distance! Your waist turns explosively to the left and right as your right foot moves slightly across to the left, and the right back fist strikes his right CO10 [Figure 7]. Immediately your waist starts to turn to the left, as your left foot drags up with the left palm striking just above his elbow [CO12 ], while you right palm shoots diagonally across, striking down onto the clavicle notch [ST11] using the pisiform bone [Figure 8].
All the strikes must happen on the count of one! Waist movements are left, right, left and centring back to right.
Method Five — An open to closed side method
Solo
This is where we begin to develop a double fa-jing shake, compared to the previous methods which only involve a
single shake.
Stand in a normal stance, with your right foot forward and right hand on top [Figure 9]. Your waist is going to carry out a violent right, left, right shake. The hands will simply follow each other, as you turn right, the right palm strikes to your right and low, followed by the left [Figures 10, 11], as the waist continues to shake and straightens itself back into the original position [ As shown in Figure 9]. The waist must lead the hands! This completes the first shake.
You immediately step forward with your left foot [Figure 12], place the heel on the ground and spin towards the rear on both heels, this loads the left palm and begins the next shake — right, left, right — as the waist turns right the left palm strikes [Figure 13] and as the waist turns left, the ‘tiger paw’ fist strikes [Figure 14] and the waist settles as it turns back to the right.
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Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9 Figure 10
Figure 12
Figure 13
Figure 14
Figure 11
Two-Person Method
Points struck are Gallbladder [GB19], [GB20], Neurological Shutdown Point 2 [NS2], and Triple Heater [TH17].
Your partner shoots to attempt a take-down to your right. Your waist immediately turns to the right as the entirety of your right palm hammers down on the back of the head at GB19, followed by the left hand knife-edge strike down on his right-side NS2, located near the centre of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, [Figure 15]. You immediately step through with your left leg and pivot on your heels* — taking you to the closed side, as well as closing the gap and destabilising your opponent in the process — to the rear as the left palm loads and strikes GB20 at the back of the head [Figure 16], followed by a ‘tiger paw’ single knuckle strike to the back of the ear [Figure 17 and Figure 18 alternative view] at TH17!
* The pivot will depend on your stride and the distance you are covering — If it is large, than in order to maintain correct foot spacing and balance, you will pivot on the left heel and the right ball of the foot! These skills should be automatic and have already developed from one’s training. Your body and centre will dictate the positioning.
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Figure 18
Figure 17
Figure 15
Figure 16
Gallbladder [GB] 19, 20
Triple Heater [TH] 17
NS2 located near the centre of the sternocleidomastoid muscle
Tiger paw’ Fist
Method Six — An open-side method
Solo
Start in a reverse bow stance with the right foot and right hand forward [Figure 19]. This time we are working on and staying on the open side. Again we are working on developing a double fa-jing shake.
This method’s movements are, again, based on two right, left, right shakes and starts pretty much in a similar way to the previous method, since we are again dealing with a similar attack, albeit the distance now is closer.
Your waist is going to carry out a violent right, left, right shake. The hands will simply follow each other a split second apart, as you turn right, the right knee rises, and the right palm strikes down onto the knee*, followed by the left [Figures 20, 21]. The force of the palms striking the knee in turn force the leg back downwards. The waist continues its shake and straightens itself back into the original position [Figure 22]. The waist must lead the hands! This completes the first shake.
The waist immediately starts turning to the right again as the right hand scoops clockwise, also loading the left hand [Figures 23-24]. The waist continues its shake left right as the fingers** of the right hand scoop upwards whilst the left hand strikes downwards Figure 26], thus completing the second shake.
* It is advisory for beginners that when they strike the knee, they do not do so too hard as it can lead to severe bruising, and/or hurt the palms since they are being held very loose and heavy. Build up the power gradually.
** The fingers must be held naturally apart, pointing straight upwards — very similar to the posture of ‘pigeon flies to heaven’ from the old Yang style.
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Figure 19 Figure 20
Figure 21 Figure 22
Figure 23 Figure 24
Figure 25
Figure 26
Two-Person Method
The points struck are Gallbladder [GB19], Neurological Shutdown Point 2 [NS2], and the eyes — see previous method for illustrations.
Your partner shoots to attempt a take-down. This time, you hold the central ground as your waist immediately shakes right, left, right — the right knee rises, your right palm hammers down on the back of the head at GB19, followed by the left hand knife-edge strike down on the right-side NS2 — causing the face to smash into the knee. This is important to understand — the damage is being done by the violence of the hands, you are not grabbing the head and pulling it down onto the knees [Figure 27]!
Immediately your waist begins its second shake right, left, right — as a direct result of the rebound of the first fajing shake — causing the right hand to scoop with the fingers pointing upwards going straight up into his eyes, as the left hand knife edge once again strikes NS2 downwards — essentially leaving his head behind whilst clawing and lifting the eyes upwards [Figures 28-30]!
As already stated above, the images here are for illustrative purposes only to show what is happening during the shake from a static perspective. It is not possible to show the method at full pace.
We will continue with the next three methods in Lift Hands Volume 26, available in June 2023.
My thanks to Ramakrishna Pillay for being my ‘wooden man’ in the compilation of these images.
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Figure 27
Figure 28
Figure 30
Figure 29
Image Source : Adobe Stock. Image by: Csaba Peterdi
Knowing that depression is, although well treatable, the most common mental illness today, affecting over 280 million people worldwide, this potential might be more relevant to the field of health care than ever. While the pandemic has generated interest in and concern for the subject, it has also revealed historical under-investment in mental health services. As the WHO is claiming, the gaps in care for those who need it most are huge (1). In Germany patients currently wait five months in average for a prescribed psychotherapy spot (2). How about the large parts of the world which economically are not so well off?
Therefore, we are in need of effective self-help-strategies, in prevention as well as, in supportive treatment.
How do depressed persons feel?
First of all, depression is an illness like any other. It is not trivial, or, worse, a sign of weakness. If symptoms like continuous sadness, hopelessness, loss of motivation and interest in things you used to enjoy, anxiety, possibly also changes in appetite, lack of energy or disturbed sleeping persist for weeks or months, and have impact on your daily life; your doctor’s diagnosis will be a form of depression.
The problem is just that many people don’t see a doctor or seek other forms of help for a long time (3). They rather attempt to ignore and to hide their trouble from their surroundings, what inevitably makes things worse and worse. So, what we strongly have to take into account is the vulnerability of people that have already invested most of their energy in a long-time struggle and feel cut off from all sorts of feelings, except from being tired and exhausted.
In this situation, the idea of taking up any new activity or meeting other people appears frightening, and future benefits seem vague and out of reach. Well-meant-advice, like self-help-strategies already proposed by governmental health services (4), often comes too late and is likely to reinforce a vicious circle of self-doubt and self-accusation: “There is no hope - I even can’t do such a simple thing…!”
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Behind a wall of glass: Depression expressed in art therapy
Roots and causes
How does this unfortunate process start? Whereas we all understand the major external triggers like work-life stress, existential fears, and emotional burdens like grief or loneliness - why do some people successfully cope with mental stress and others develop depressive symptoms? For many years, the answers of science have been quite unclear, speaking of biochemical, genetic and mysteriously “endogenous” factors (5).
Recently, trauma research has proven how stressful events can cause depressive symptoms as a long-term consequence. If possible, individuals will react to a substantially threatening situation — they fight or flee. If not, the human brain has only three strategies left to save the self from complete dissolution: Freeze, flag or fragment. These processes can leave their marks in our souls: As we know today, one-third of all people experiencing an extremely stressful event will develop long-term mental issues, with depression being estimated one of the most common (6). Thus, old coping strategies that were designed to successfully put up with difficulties and threats long ago, mostly in childhood, can, over the years, grow into obstacles on our way to a happy and self-determined life.
Approaches in therapy
Change can only happen in the present – so this is where therapeutic assistance usually focuses to. In order to set out for a happier and healthier life, the important questions are: Where are we standing now – and where do we want to go? This is a crucial point, as depression tends to narrow our field of vision.
In my field of work, art therapy, it has proven useful to facilitate awareness of present resources first - various positive aspects of your life that you have lost sight of but that are still there: Maybe physical health, supportive friends or family members, a home, a job, interests and activities you used to enjoy, abilities and strengths – at least there have been enough of them to endure up to now and to make a first step towards improvement by seeking help. From here, the most powerful resource is within reach; that is, your vision of how you wish your life to become.
Valuing our resources provides us with the courage to honestly face the present problem. “My depression is a thick wall of glass, and I am behind it, feeling nothing”, “a thick wet blanket I am wrapped in”, “a huge, petrified mountain, unable to move” – many examples of how people express inner images of their depressive symptoms clearly indicate a relation to traumatic response, like feeling cut off from feelings (fragment), paralyzed (freeze) or weary (flag).
Getting closer, the nature of our symptoms will not only reveal their sources but at the same time show the way to positive change. In the view of psychosomatics, they tell us that something about the way we live does not reflect our personal truth. A simple example, known to most of us: If we ignore our need for recreation long enough, our body will force us into a break by catching some infection and getting sick.
Life issues to deal with
In case of depression, the German psychosomatics expert Ruediger Dahlke encourages patients to think about what vital parts of themselves they are repressing in their lives. The answers usually relate to the life issues of both finding a beneficial way to handle aggressive energy and overcoming the fear of responsibility.
If aggression, as vital life energy, is blocked instead of being expressed in a healthy, socially accepted form, it redirects inward and causes depression. So, points to think about are: Am I scared of the aggressive parts of myself, maybe even of aggressive thoughts, am I trying to hide them? Another useful question can be: Feeling not capable of taking action, might I be anxious to take personal responsibility — in what situation, in which part of my life? An active life involves responsibility and guilt — am I too scared to take it? Sometimes, a loss of a beloved person or a divorce can trigger depression, apart from grieving, by revealing the fear to face life responsibility alone (7). Though it may be a painful process to honestly face our innermost fears, what we can gain is truth.
Starting a change
But how can we find a point to start to make a change towards a long-time avoided life issue that seems scary and frightful to us, at least unfamiliar? Creating individual symbols, a method of art therapy, can help again. Trying to establish a change in our lives, a useful inner image may be a delicate little seedling that needs to be nurtured, protected and cared for to grow stronger. Expanding the concept by imagining your life as a garden — where will you make space to plant your little seedling of change? How often will you water it? Is there enough light? How can you protect it from being trampled down or overgrown by weed? And will you continue all that until it has grown
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big and strong?
The “enemies” threatening your small plant are obvious: Everyday life will remain challenging, and depressive symptoms, low mood, self-doubts and fears will stay around for a while. So, to establish a safe, nurturing space to grow, we need find two things: First, a place to regularly take some time for yourself — just for you and for your own personal development. Second, some type of support in order to learn the idea and skill of self protection, and your vulnerable little seedling of positive change. Both in one you will find in a martial arts dojo.
Point 1: A safe space to grow
Different from regular gyms, traditional martial arts dojos are places dedicated exclusively to learning and growing, both as an individual and as a group. When taking off your shoes before entering the Dojo, you leave your entire everyday life outside. From the moment you bow into the Dojo to the moment you bow when leaving, it becomes a sanctuary — a safe place for you to regularly spend time cultivating and nurturing your little seedling. By choosing a type of traditional martial arts training rather than a highly competitive combat sport, we can make sure that people who feel anxious or awkward about any form of aggression have all the time and space they need to approach the matter at their own speed without pressure.
In the beginning, one of the most valuable things to gain will be body awareness: Starting with Karate Kihon (basic movement), for example, will help to become aware of how even a small changes in your posture can affect your mood, or how satisfying the flow of endorphins can feel after having worked out. Regaining natural breathing, which is often flat and reduced in depression, can be a great achievement.
Besides that, in a world dominated by abstract thinking, lessons learnt by using your body can be surprisingly clear and simple. In my very first few classes at Zen Tai Ryu HAK St. Pölten Dojo, I already made a remarkable discovery: Whatever advice my Sensei gave in Karate practice, it would also directly apply to other aspects of my life. Have a solid position! Feel the ground! Stay relaxed! Soon I noticed that this effect would also work the other way round. Any issue or conflict I was struggling with in everyday life, would show in my training — by unmistakable signals like balance problems, too much tension or else. By working on the physical aspect in the dojo I would reliably find answers for real life as well.
Point 2: Supportive environments
Being in an emotionally vulnerable state and lacking self-confidence, people in depression may worry that they are not in good enough shape to start training, that they are too old, or that they will not learn quickly enough. To make successful first steps, the supportive culture of martial arts is the ideal ground.
Especially in a traditional dojo, beginners will right away have a community of teachers and training partners on their side who respect them as they are, help to motivate them and provide additional positive energy for their development. Dojo etiquette, as practised in many martial arts schools, goes far beyond common rules of behaviour; they systematically cultivate strong, supportive relationships.
So, as a part of Budo culture, martial artists usually feel highly invested in the progress and success of every new training partner. They value all the support they have received on their path themselves and feel obliged to pass it on to their less-experienced classmates. Apart from that, people engaged in martial arts usually know what it’s like to feel weak and to be striving for their own strength.
Point 3: Small, but continuous steps
Visiting the dojo regularly, you will not only find time, space, and nice company for your development, but also a suitable plan, structure and helpful guidance. All the small, but continuous steps that nurture your little plant of change to grow stronger will happen naturally as long as you simply keep going. Good martial arts teachers will always help you build your confidence by giving you challenges in your individual size — just big enough to push you out of your own personal safety zone with proper difficulties to face and to overcome, but small enough to be within reach.
Even if self-confidence still needs more time to grow, after a few classes you might be able to trust the path that you are on and, hopefully, start to enjoy it. Surrounded by people who constantly strive for improvement, everyone on his own level of experience, everyone at his own speed, the unlucky habit of comparing ourselves to others becomes obsolete. Instead, martial artists share a culture of continuous development with an attitude of patience, modesty and
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calm, focussing on the process rather than the result. Or, in the words of my highly esteemed Kobudo teacher Katherine Loukopoulos Sensei: “Water your fields and don’t worry about the harvest.” In the long run, many small changes will make a big difference.
Point 4: The idea of facing the fight
No matter which of the numerous paths in martial art we choose, no matter if we practice for self-protection, sports competition or as a leisure time activity - the idea of facing a fight is always around. Even when you just practise stances, you think about your stability for blocking or attacking.
In case of depression, when this very inner attitude needs to be nurtured and strengthened, martial arts training offer to us the chance to safely become familiar with the idea and develop our skills within the protected environment of the dojo. Consequently, our ability to take action and take responsibility in life will grow as well: The principles of martial arts don’t change, no matter if we think of a real opponent on the mat, a challenging situation in our everyday life or even an inner conflict.
Getting into touch with our own aggressive potential and learning to control and channel it productively will reduce fears and help us regard it as a source of energy in our lives rather than a threat. As soon as this energy is no longer blocked, spirits will rise automatically, and periods of low mood and exhaustion will decline.
Applying the language of trauma therapy, martial arts training is designed to build physical and mental skills in order to remain focussed and capable of action in highly stressful situations; we prepare to be able to fight or to flee instead of freezing. Inevitably, these skills will emerge into everyday life helping us to regulate our emotions and better cope with any sort of stress.
Point 5: Being a part of something greater than yourself
As human beings we are longing for a meaningful life. Lack of meaning, targets, values or ideals seems to create a lot of pain and distress in our current neoliberal world order designed around individualism, competition and profits, which has possibly an impact on the rising prevalence of depression (8).
Budo philosophy offers, as an alternative cultural concept, a consistent system of values like respectful relationships, integrity, and self-responsibility. As we cultivate it, it will also reflect in our daily lives.
When we share this path with other people, value the legacy of our predecessors, and contribute to its future by helping those who follow, we become part of something greater than ourselves, taking our role and responsibility in the flow of time. Recovering from depression, this might be the strongest anchor of stability that can be found.
Having overcome the paralysis of depressive symptoms, having faced our fears and built new skills and habits, our little seedling of hope has grown into a tree with strong roots, which our experiences of anxiety or depression are now a part of - we can now regard them as stages in our personal process of development and maturation. And as we begin to find meaning and purpose in dedicating ourselves to something bigger than our individual goals, our life, like our symbolic tree, is ready to bear rich fruit.
References:
1. https://www.who.int/news/item/02-03-2022-covid-19-pandemic-triggers-25-increase-in-prevalence-of-anxietyand-depression-worldwide
2. https://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/psychotherapie-platzsuche-tipps-100.html
3. https://healthpolicy-watch.news/depression-overlooked-underfunded-global/
4. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/guides-tools-and-activities/exercise-for-depression/
5. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-causes-depression
6. Michaela Huber: Trauma und die Folgen, Junfermann Verlag, Paderborn, 2020 (30, 56ff)
7. Thorwald Dethlefsen/Rüdiger Dahlke: Krankheit als Weg, C. Bertelsmann Verlag GmbH, München 1989
8. Irvin D. Yalom, Existencial Psychotherapy, Basic Books Inc. Publ., New York, 1980, p.488
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About the Author:
Monika Hipsch, works as art therapist in St. Pölten, Austria, and is practising Goju Ryu Karate at Zen Tai Ryu HAK St. Pölten and Ryukyu Kobudo as a student of Katherine Loukopoulos Sensei.
Photo Credits: Monika Hipsch
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It was Erle.
“Hey mate, you free this evening to come join us for a meal?”
“What time and what’s the occasion?” I enquired.
“Can you get here for early evening? Wally’s visiting and I’d like you two to meet.”
“Wally’s here?”
“Yes.”
“Crap! I’m working at the moment and won’t finish until 7pm and even if I leave a bit earlier, I won’t get to Llangadog until 9-9.30pm! How long is he staying? I can make arrangements and drive to Wales tomorrow.”
“Nah mate, it’ll be too late! It’s only a flying visit, he’ll be gone! Sh*t… I really wanted you to meet him! Never mind, another time hopefully.”
It was in early part of 2010, if my memory serves me, and that was the closest I got to meet Wally Simpson in the flesh!
For those who had trained with Erle, Wally is an iconic figure — one of the rare few whom Erle considered a personal close friend and student. He has not only appeared in countless videos with Erle, often ending up on the wrong side of an accidental strike — he also co-authored part of the seminal work The Encyclopedia of Dim-Mak, which became a standard on the subject for martial artists upon its publication in 1997.
I had been wanting to interview Wally for the magazine for some time now, however, he has never been the easiest person to pin down, and as he told me, his old computer “has a mind of its own and does strange things”!
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I finally managed to get hold of Wally in January, almost coinciding with the date of Erle’s 12 year anniversary since his passing. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence — perhaps it was meant to be at this time.
Anyhow, I emailed Wally and he was happy to do an extended interview with Lift Hands. I prepared the questions and sent them off to him — it took several attempts to get all the answers back since his screen kept randomly turning “purple”!
Upon receipt of the answers, I sat down to read them. Wally’s accompanying note read:
“I have written a rave for you, if nothing else you might get a laugh or at least crack a smile.”
Indeed, I not only laughed and smiled, in parts I also sat in awe at what he had achieved under the circumstances.
What I love about Wally’s answers are that he simply states them matter of factly. No fanfare!
Usually, I would sit and edit the responses, however, Wally’s story deserves to be heard in full as he tells it. It’s a journey through the years and you feel like you are walking alongside him — an observer looking on.
The interview is in two parts. Part One covers general questions followed by Part Two — the traditional 20 Questions.
Part One
LH: Welcome to Lift Hands Magazine Wally! It is an honour to have you here and share your valuable time with our readership. Please give us a brief introduction about yourself and your background.
WS: I was born in Brisbane Australia in 1947 – Grew up in Mt Isa in North West Queensland. We travelled around a bit.
Early memories include my parents on a motor bike and us kids in the side car.
My parents sold newspapers on the street corners of Brisbane while I spent much of my days in the movies watching the same 2 movies all day until they came and picked me up. Just before we moved to Mt Isa some friends of my parents dropped their 3 children off to live with us as they were breaking up and didn’t want any of the children. A little later they came back and picked up the 2 youngest children and put them in a home for abandoned children. We visited them every weekend until the person in charge of the home told us not to come and see the children again as they were too distressed when we left.
My mother was quite upset about them being taken off of us.
We moved to Mt Isa in far North Queensland — I was in grade 3 at school when we arrived. Primary school was good, it was when I went to High School that I started to dislike it all.
My first ever fight was at high school. The kid who was the teacher’s pet picked a fight with me, I was not keen to go there, but he and other kids gave me a hard time about not fighting so I ended up in the fight. He didn’t come out on top, he came out with a black eye and a bleeding nose. So then I got a hard time from the teacher of course, it was all my fault suddenly.
I left school at 14 and went to work on a cattle station until the boss man rang my father and asked him to come and pick me up because I spent my spare time talking and mixing with the Aboriginals.
Determined to work on a cattle station, I got another job on a cattle and sheep station. The boss was going on holidays so he took me out to an outpost where there was a cranky old guy who seemed to take a dislike to me immediately as I had a .22 rifle (I used to go shooting scrub turkeys with my father from the age of 13).
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Wally visiting Erle in Wales; Photo courtesy of Wally Simpson
On the first day we rode around the fences of the property looking out for holes in the fence where dingoes could get through and kill the sheep. On the second day we went in different directions so we could finish earlier. As soon as the other horse was out of sight, my horse took off at a gallop and I couldn’t pull him up as it was scrub country and we might have both ended up with broken bones or neck.
So, I let him have his head and he galloped all the way around the fence back to the station house. The older guy got back about half an hour after me and was furious because he said he should have been back long before me.
He threatened to chase me around the fence the next day wiping me with barbed wire and when he got me back to the station he told me he would have sex with me!
Just after dark that night I decided to leave and so I walked out to the gate.
I remembered that on the way in we turned right, so when I went out I turned left. I was walking in the middle of the road, I didn’t have a torch, I only had the clothes on my back and it was very dark. I was only walking for about 10 minutes when a van pulled up beside me and asked where I was going and offered me a lift. There were 3 woman and a couple of guys in the back and 3 guys in the front.
Just as well they had pulled up, because about 100 meters up the road, they pulled up again and one of the guys in the back, got out of the van and walked around the front of the car where he saw some snakes all coiled around each other and apparently striking out at each other — “Probably having sex,” he said when he got back in the car.
If these people had not picked me up, I would have walked straight into them!
They took me to a Town called Cloncurry, it was a very old town and had once been the main rail head for the cattle industry in that region of Queensland.
I slept on the platform of the rail station for 3 days, eventually a railway worker came up to me and asked what I was doing there? I told him my story and he took me to a café and brought me breakfast and then he brought me a ticket back home to Mt Isa.
I stayed home for a couple of weeks and then my dad got me a ride with a friend who was driving a semi-trailer to Brisbane. He figured that I would be able to find a better job down there and stay with my sister. That never worked as she and her husband were living in a very small house with her husband’s mother.
So, she got me a place in a boarding house not far from where we lived before moving to Mt Isa, so it was familiar to me. She also found me some work in a grocery store about 3 suburbs away.
Sometime later I got a job as a Telegram boy at the Mater Hill Post office. I was delivering telegrams to all the places south of the river.
My worst moment in this job was getting my bike tyre stuck in a tram track with traffic screeching to a stop! I had worked for a brief time in Mt Isa as a Telegram boy and delivered Telegrams all over the whole city.
Mt Isa was made a city while I was going to school and to become a city it had to include a small town 118 miles north of the Isa.
My parents moved back to Brisbane and I moved back in with them.
My next Job was a 5 years apprenticeship as a House Painter — only lasted 4 yrs and moved to Coolangatta on the Gold Coast, so I could learn how to surf (I got very addicted to surfing).
I got Married far too young, at 21 and my wife was 18. That was a major saga that I won’t venture into too far.
Her Farther asked if I knew what I was doing and said that she was exactly like her mother. At 21, I thought I knew everything, and my thoughts were “What would you know, her mother is neurotic.”
I could go on and on here but that is probably enough about me.
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LH: Wow! That’s some story! You are regarded as a close friend and student of Erle Montaigue, how and when did you come to meet and eventually train with him and what made you want to train in Taijiquan?
WS: Sometime later I went to Uni in Brisbane and studied Acupuncture and touched on herbs, my full on herb study came later.
After I graduated I decided that I should find something Chinese to do, so, I stopped doing yoga and I became a student with Stuart and did personal training with him after he stopped teaching classes over the border in Kingscliff, not that far from where I lived.
By this time, I had an Acupuncture clinic in Burleigh Heads and was becoming very busy with clients but still found time to train with Stu.
Stuart took me down to one of Erle’s weekend classes. Eventually Rob Eaglen, myself and Tim Koelewwyn, and Big Steve McDermot would go down and train with Erle on a Tuesday.
After some time, I think Mause (Rob’s wife), Vicki and Eddie and maybe a couple of others also joined in — life gets so full of things, places and people, it gets harder to remember everyone and everything as time goes by.
I stopped training with Stuart because he came to Erle’s place one Sunday and announced he was leaving the WTBA and anyone who wanted to join him should leave right then with him. I liked Stuart and had learnt a lot from him, but I was learning more from Erle and I couldn’t understand why he was making a big show of leaving. I think only 1 other person left as a result. Not straight away, but he didn’t come back, which was a shame because he was a nice guy and very competent in the skills he had acquired.
LH: You are a highly regarded TCM practitioner and if I am not wrong, one of the pioneers in helping develop a national body for TCM in Australia, did training in martial Taijiquan add any insights to, or further enhance your TCM skills?
WS: I don’t know about being a highly regarded TCM practitioner, I was on the Board of the AACMA and at different times I was President, Treasurer & Secretary. I also found myself in the Executive Committee of the World Federation of Acupuncture Societies.
This is probably how some of my reputation in that field developed. I am not on any of them anymore though this year I was elected as an adviser to WFAS — whatever that means? I constantly did workshops to upgrade my skills in Chinese Medicine and still do.
I know for sure that Qigong has brought a whole new dimension to my treatments. For instance, when I am using a moxa stick on a client, I use my other hand to either hold over a point or to wave over the channel. On a couple of clients, I was doing a Qigong near the sole of their feet and they asked me what I was doing because they could feel some sort of sensation on the sole. Both Bagua & Taiji have brought a myriad of improvements to my reflexes. In instances where I either drop or knock something over I manage to grab them before they hit the ground… things like that. I don’t recall doing that sort of thing before I learnt Taiji or Bagua. Aren’t we supposed to get a bit slower as we age?
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A framed photo on Wally’s wall sent to him by Erle after he moved to the UK.
LH: What was it like training with Erle?
WS: Training with Erle was one of the best things that I did during that period of my life, he went out of his way to ensure that you got things right. I think, but am not sure, that in part, I became close friends with Erle because I had some skills in understanding where the individual meridians and points were. It is also possible because I didn’t make suggestions to him about which direction he should go in to increase membership. At that time there were at least 1 or 2 students who often made suggestions to Erle on how the WTBA should progress.
LH: In 1997, you helped Erle co-author the seminal work, ‘The Encyclopaedia of Dim-mak’ [The Main Meridians] and its companion volume, ‘The Encyclopaedia of Dim-mak: The Extra Meridians, Points and More’ — What was your main role in the creation of the two volumes?
WS: My role in The Encyclopedia of Dim-mak was only in the main book. I did this at my clinic while waiting for clients. I wrote the Channel pathways and the names of the points in Pinyin & English. I also wrote the location of the points the actions of the points and the connections to other channels.
Erle wrote the book on “The Extraordinary Vessels and Points” on his own.
LH: Both volumes are extensive in detail to say the least — how long did the project take to complete and what, if any, difficulties did you have to overcome to complete it?
WS: [I have] no idea how long it took to write the Encyclopaedias, it was in breaks between clients, so it is hard to reconcile actual time spent. Life was very full at that time and it flew by.
LH: ‘The Encyclopaedia of Dim-mak’ became an instant cult classic and landmark on the topic of Dim-mak as well as causing controversy on its publication. This was perhaps the first time such an in-depth book had appeared on the subject which influenced many martial artists around the world [some of whom acknowledged it openly and others who plagiarised from it, but claimed their knowledge came from secret trainings], as well as many later publications which included translations of The Bubishi. What are your views surrounding this?
WS: I am tucked away in the beautiful Currumbin Valley and I don’t teach anymore, except for the occasional client who wants to learn some of the arts, and my reading time is spent on exploring the history of the Chinese Classical herbs, not martial art mags — so I have no idea what is going on in that world or who’s plagiarising what?
At 75 yrs old, I mostly do Qigong these days, it is an amazing experience. You can do it anywhere, standing sitting, lying down. My wife and I travelled through China with a Daoist lady learning Daoist Qigong from her. It was quite different. For instance the stances could be a fair bit narrower and it included sitting, lying down on the back or the side. The intent was mainly relaxation and improving wellbeing. Not that the qigongs that Erle taught did not include these things if you wanted to go in that direction.
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LH: There were many critics of the books, claiming things like… The human body has a hundred and eight acupoints, seventy-two of which are non-lethal and thirty-six of which can be lethal [based on earlier published writings] — the two volumes combined contain far more than that — and how do the authors know that they would work? Did they test them out? Etc… How do you respond to that, both as an expert TCM practitioner as well as having trained in the martial aspects?
WS: All Acupuncture points can possibly have adverse effects of some sort on our bodies, if treated the wrong way or in adverse way. It is most often dependant on the direction of the strike and these are not that well known.
There are approximately 2000 points on the body some of these are off channel points, called extra points. These are not on the extraordinary channels. It is very difficult to get either a person to try out these kinds of strikes on people and an equally deficiency of subjects who will let you try them out — fortunately.
LH: Any favourite memories or anecdotes from your time with Erle?
WS: Training with Erle was always great and the camaraderie in the group will probably stay in my memory forever.
Photo Credit: Brian Udall
LH: How do you spend your time when you are not training Taijiquan or practicing TCM? Still spending days surfing?
WS: The population of the Gold Coast has grown very big since I moved here.
Unfortunately, when I go to have a surf, it is often a problem just to find a park close by, and when I look out at the surf I very often think, what do I want to go out into that crowded surf for? [I] still get out on rare occasions.
I spend a fair bit of time still studying Classical Chinese Herbs and attending workshops to keep up to the number of points I need to stay in practice. I also get to spend a bit of time with some of my grandchildren and
lots of time with my wife — life is GOOD!
LH: If you could go back in time and do it all over again — would you change anything?
WS: If I went back in time I probably wouldn’t change anything except that I would probably want to learn Taiji and Ba Gua earlier, and I probably would have given my childhood dream to work on a cattle station a miss. Also move to Coolangatta much sooner [For the surf].
LH: Any tips or advice for our readers around the world who are at the beginning of their journey in the martial and healing arts?
WS: Advise for people beginning this journey… it is what you make of it — Enjoy the moments.
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Part Two
LH: Thank you so much for your answers Wally. In this second part, we ask some fun questions to find out a bit more about the person. You can be as detailed as you like.
If you could have personally witnessed anything, what would you want to have seen?
WS: It would have been great to have seen the monstrous waves in Hawaii in person (I got invited to go on numerous occasions — just never found the time.) Even better to have had the skills to ride them.
LH: What would you do if you were invisible for a day?
WS: What would I do if I was invisible for a day? Obviously whatever I wanted to!
LH: As a child, what did you wish to become when you grew up?
WS: I wanted to work on a Cattle Station so I could be around horses.
LH: What animal best represents you and why?
WS: An animal that best represents me is probably a dolphin.
LH: What is your greatest strength or weakness?
WS: My wife reckons my greatest weakness is my generosity with my time to others in my clinic. Probably my greatest strength, I don’t give up easily — this is also a weakness!
LH: What is your favourite memory of any one of your grandparents?
WS: Unfortunately, my only memory of my grandparents is not a good one. My mother left on some kind of journey and left us with my grandparents. My dad was working what seemed like a lot and my grandparents compared to my parents, were intolerable of many things that we did or wouldn’t do.
There was an Aunty that lived behind my grandparents’ place and she often wanted to have a chat with me but she had such a strong English accent that I couldn’t understand anything she said!
LH: How do you want to be remembered?
How do I want to be remembered? As a good practitioner of Chinese medicine and perhaps a competent martial artist in my day — especially in the linear Bagua Form! I did get very fast and competent with that before I plunged myself back into Classical Herbs, which now takes up much
I would hope my children remember me as
LH: What have you always wanted and did you ever get it?
After 2 broken relationships that produced 3 children — I found my 3rd partner, she is the love of my life and it’s a shame she didn’t come along first! We are older now and “still running against the wind” — we laugh a lot.
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She had a daughter and I had 3 sons when we met. We have 1 child from our relationship and life is wonderful. This is probably what I always wanted.
LH: Do you know your heritage?
WS: Both my parents were from the UK. My mother’s family emigrated to Australia in the middle 1800s, so she was Born in Australia. My Father was born on the ship coming out from the UK!
LH: Are you still learning who you are?
WS: My first 2 relationships were a hell of a learning curve. No, I know who I am! I’m a father to my sons from 3 different relationships & a stepfather to my wife’s beautiful daughter.
I am an occasional surfer, a Chinese Medicine practitioner and a husband to my gorgeous wife. A Qigong teacher and ex Taiji & Bagua teacher!
LH: What, if anything, are you afraid of and why?
WS: I am afraid that the surf is only going to get more and more crowded and I will end up not surfing at all!
LH: What is the most memorable class you have ever taken?
WS: Most memorable class I ever had was probably getting married to my first wife! I should have listened to her dad when he told me that she was just like her mother (neurotic) and at 21, I obviously knew everything, so I didn’t believe him.
Hard to pick a favourite class with Erle, they were all great!
LH: What book has influenced you the most?
WS: What book has influenced me the most? ‘The First and Last Freedom’ — a book by 20th century Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986)! Originally published in 1954 with a comprehensive foreword by Aldous Huxley. I read this book just after my first marriage break up and it helped me deal with the loss of my child and my first wife. It also opened my eyes to an amazing world that I could explore.
LH: What ridiculous thing has someone tricked you into doing or believing?
WS: Superman led me to believe that if I put on a cape I could fly, so as a child I would sometimes jump off of my bed in an attempt to fly. I think I did for half a second1
LH: Who or what has been the greatest influence in your life?
WS: Marrying my present wife and training with Erle!
This was taken on my 50th birthday, it was an ad for Hemp clothing that Fiona, the lass with the hat on, was going to market on Erle's website. Erle's birthday was 2 days after mine. Even though it is not a clear shot, I have always liked it because Erle has this cheeky mischievous little smile that was so typical of him when he was in a playful mood.
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LH: What is the craziest thing one of your teachers has done or made you do?
WS: My first teacher in the WTBA came along to a weekend class at Erle’s place and said he was leaving the WTBA and invited everyone there to join him in the exodus. If he wanted to leave he could just have told Erle that he was leaving and why? There was no need to make a big seen out of it.
LH: When did you screw everything up, but no one ever found out it was you?
WS: Not sure I had a screw up that nobody found out about. If I screwed up, generally everybody somehow became aware of it!
My most memorable screw up was my first day as an Apprentice House Painter. I had been sanding windows on the outside of a Cardinal’s house, my boss was of Dutch descent and appeared to have lots of connections in the religious world. He was also a Choir master. So we got lots of work from that quarter.
My boss sent me inside to pick up a drop sheet and without looking if there was anything on it, I grabbed an end and pulled it towards me. A freshly opened 4 litre tin of enamel paint went flying all over what looked a brand new expensive rug. I went out side and told my boss, expecting to be out of a job.
He leapt into action and we both carried the rug outside and laid it on the grass and he had me shovel a lot of soil from the garden over the paint. Then I got to sweep it off and pour turps all over the rug. Then did the shovelling soil again and sweeping it off. More turps and shovelling sand this time. Then we washed it with warm soapy water, then fresh water and hung it on the line to dry.
It looked like nothing had ever happened to it by the time it was dry and I never lost my job!
I reckon he had experienced this some time before. He was far too calm when we were cleaning it up.
LH: If someone made a movie of your life would it be a drama, a comedy, a romantic-comedy, action film or science fiction?
WS: A movie about my life would have to be either a Romantic Comedy or a Drama — both of them would probably be good.
LH: If you could select one person from history and ask them one question — who would you select and what would the question be?
WS: A question for someone from history? Captain Cook — I would ask him, how the bloody hell he got a picture of there being no inhabitants in Australia?
LH: How would you describe your art in ten words or less?
WS: Taiji & Bagua are very dynamic life changing arts.
LH: Thank you so much for your generosity of time and detailed answers to the questions Wally. I have enjoyed each and every one of them. You appear to have lived many lives indeed! I hope that we get to see you in future issues of Lift Hands. Meanwhile, I hope the surf doesn’t get too crowded and that you and your good lady may long continue to run “against the wind”!
WS: Thank you! Stay well and may life bring you many good things!
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All images in this article appear either courtesy of Wally Simpson or have been taken from his social media with permission. Further images are from archives from previously published content.
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Ihanded down from Master to the Students over decades. The problem that we have today is, that we have the Kata, but we don’t know what the founder of the Kata was thinking when he created the Form. We don’t know what were the real meanings of the Kata, and for which Self-defense situation the Kata was made; and, we also don’t know how the creator of the Kata moves and combinations were intended for the fighting.
If we are lucky, we have a Master who knows a lot about the Kata, and he can show us some meanings of the Form, but we will never know if it is the same meaning, like the founder gave to the Kata. So, what we can do?
We have different choices how to handle this problem:
1. We can ignore the Kata. Other Martial Arts like modern Boxing, MMA, and Krav Maga, just to name a few, also don’t practice Kata. On the other hand, the Kata is a treasure of knowledge. If we ignore it, our traditional Martial Art will not be the same, and a lot of knowledge will be lost forever.
2. We can ignore the old Kata and create our own Kata with our own explanations. This just makes sense, if you are very experienced and if you are already a high ranking master. If you create your Kata too early, you always have to change the Form, when you make some new experiences. There are so many Kata already on this planet, which I think in most cases it is not necessary to create another kata.
3. We can study the traditional Kata. The Kata is our only connection to the masters of the past and if we are practicing a traditional Martial Art like Karate, we should keep this connection as good as we can.
My personal choice is to study about the history of the Martial Arts, about the Culture of the Martial Arts, and to find out as much as I can about the Kata and the founder. This is our only chance to get a deeper understanding of the Martial Art that we practice and to keep our Art alive.
Of course nothing is wrong to be open to new things, and/or other explanations. Also in Martial Arts there is an evolution and things are changing from time to time. However, we should never forget the old forms and the spirit of the past Masters. The best is to make research in both directions, into the old, to get a better understanding of what we have, and into the new, to be a part of the evolution.
There is an old saying in the art of Karate:
“ON
KO CHI SHIN”
“To search for the old is to understand the new”
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If you are already an experienced Martial Artist you should make a lot of research about your Art, in order to get a better and deeper understanding of what you are doing. You can find out so many things about the old Karate and your style and this will help you to grow in your own practical way. Learn about the History, the culture, the Styles, the Masters, and the different Kata. You can learn about the Fighting Techniques, the Ki (Chi) exercises, about the Mindset, and other Vital and related points to your particular martial art. There are so many ways in which you can make your research.
During the research you learn the things from the past and you bring it with your daily practice into the present. But another aspect is also very important. You also need to write down your own experiences in order to bring your knowledge into the future. And maybe one day you are the master of the past who transferred your knowledge into the future generations.
So the life exists of the past, the present and the future. The only thing where we can do something is in the present. We can do research and we can write down our experiences and knowledge, and so, we become connected to the past and to the future.
In the nature there is nothing what is standing still. Everything in the nature is growing or is going to die. We as humans are a part of the nature. In this case we have also just these two choices. We can grow, by training and learning, or we can start to die in our Martial Art if we stop training and learning. It is not possible to keep your level. We will get worse automatically because it is a law of nature if we don’t strive to excel.
One of my Sensei always said, “If you want to be a teacher, you have to be a researcher too," and I absolutely agree with him.
We will never reach our goal in Martial Art. We will never be the perfect ultimate Master of the universe. But that doesn’t matter. Our aim is to get better and better with our own possibilities. And we can become better by training, researching, learning, and writing. For me this is one very important aspect on the way of Budo.
The way is the goal!
Hachi Dan Kyusho-jitsu
Roku Dan Shito-ryu Karate-do San Dan RyuKyu-Kobudo Birkfeld, Austria
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Robert Göslbauer
Sprinklings of the Cloud of Unknowing
Dr Gregory T. Lawton
This day, I am swimming through the clouds of a limitless sky Surrendering to unconditional love and resisting the falsity of manmade knowledge.
This day, my heart has emptied itself to the vaporous mist of the sky And offered itself as a receptacle for the solemn prayers of clouds.
This day, I am following the slowly drifting tendrils of clouds And giving myself in ritual sacrifice to the Nephelai.
This day, I have no use for the ways of men or their beliefs, For I have become vapor floating in an infinite ocean of air.
This day, I have taken holy communion with clouds And I have risen above the earthly rites of men.
This day, I have discovered the exalted pathway to God In complete surrender, unknowing, and nothingness.
This day, I have ascended to the throne room of the thunder gods And stood trembling, mute, and submissive behind the veil of clouds.
This day, I am receiving unto myself the liquid baptism Of the sprinklings of the cloud of unknowing.
About the author-
Dr. Gregory T. Lawton is an author of many books, most of them in the area of health science, but also in the genre of Asian martial arts, philosophy, poetry, and prose. Dr. Lawton is a passionate award winning artist and photographer who finds his artistic and creative inspiration in nature, and who frequently attributes the source of his images and writing to the 19th century Persian Prophet, Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Baha’i Faith, and the 13th century Persian poet and Sufi Mystic Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī. Dr. Lawton has been a member of the Baha’i Faith since 1970 and embraces the Faith’s principles related to the promotion of world unity and peace.
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with
from: The Silence Between Words 2016, Revised 2019 Dr. Gregory T. Lawton 2040 Raybrook Street, SE Suite 104 Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546 616-285-9999
Kindly reprinted
permission
Lift Hands would like to thank Katherine Loukopoulos Sensei for providing this exclusive book free of charge to our readers. To get your download link please visit and join our group page on FaceBook: Lift Hands: The Internal Arts Magazine
‘ Long Har Ch’uan is a training method — that is all it is!
Many people make the mistake of thinking that it is a technique to be used whilst fighting — well, it isn’t! It must always be regarded as a training method. It is a training method to train the mind to get back to the mind of a child — a no mind state [innateness] when you are fighting. That’s the ideal… that when you are attacked, you just go bang, bang, bang and not have to think about what you are doing. That’s what these four training methods give us. Although, within each training method of course, there are excellent self-defence methods and you can take each one and say, “Ok, let’s train in the selfdefence method,” but you must not say, “let’s train Long Har Ch’uan and change it,” in any way so that it becomes more of a self-defence method because it is not a self-defence method — it is a training method! It’s a very important training method — It teaches us the principles of Taiji! A lot of people get this wrong because they simply move the body incorrectly when they do it.
I have people who have been studying with me for a long time and they still haven’t grasped the correct way to do Long Har Ch’uan!’
Erle Montaigue, circa 1996
‘From birth, our eyes can see, ears can hear, nose can smell, mouth can taste. Sights and sounds, smells and tastes — all innate senses. Dance of hands, prance of feet — the abilities of our limbs are all innate forms of movement. Pondering upon this, we find it is our random experience — “Our natures make us the same, but our experiences make us unique.” [Lun Yu, 17.2] — that makes us lose touch with what is innate. If we want to return to our innate qualities, there will be no martial aspect unless we seek the source of movement, and there will be no civil aspect unless we grasp the basis of awareness. With these things, then there will be moving with awareness.’
Yang Ban-hou, circa 1875
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Introduction
Before continuing, I’d like the reader to go back to the quote on the previous page by Erle Montaigue, and read it several times.
Almost 30 years have elapsed — the quote is still valid today [perhaps even more so] as it was back then!
This subject will be covered briefly in a four part series, representing the four methods themselves and some of their peripherals. However, before delving into the subject matter itself, I’d like to highlight a few points immediately to ensure that upon completion, the diligent student has understood the following unequivocally:
Long Har Ch’uan is a training method!
Long Har Ch’uan is not a technique or a series of techniques, nor should it be taught as a technique!
Long Har Ch’uan is not a self-defence or fighting method [although concepts will emerge from within it]!
Long Har Ch’uan must not be changed — The method changes you, you don’t change it! It is an important training method and must remain a training method!
Long Har Ch’uan teaches us the Principles of Taiji.
Long Har Ch’uan teaches us the correct body mechanics for both combat and healing upon a reflexive [innate] level.
Long Har Ch’uan trains the mind in developing a ‘no mind state’ — the mind of a child — returning us back to our innate nature!
Long Har Ch’uan personifies the principle — the centre moves the peripherals. Repeat the mantra — ‘Maximum body, minimum hands!’
There is NO small circle* Long Har Ch’uan!
And finally, just to make sure that you have understood:
Long Har Ch’uan is a training method!
There! Now we can get on with the principles and concepts of Long Har Ch’uan.
Long Har Ch’uan [LHC], also referred to as ‘Dragon Prawn Boxing,’ consists of four primary training methods, with each method having its own set of peripheral methods as well. The four primary methods are:
The Vertical Method
The Lateral/Horizontal Method
The Willow Tree Method
The Step Forward Parry and Punch Method
Whilst each method is based upon certain specific movements from within the Taiji Form — all the methods are based upon the concepts found within the group of movements generally referred to as, ‘Seize the sparrow by the tail’.
The purpose of understanding and developing Long Har Ch’uan is manifold and is something which the student is meant to discover through training. It is not something which is meant to be intellectualised — that is not to say that the concepts of the Taiji Classics are meant to be dismissed, rather that the training reinforces those very ideals on an innate level.
I have already listed the primary functions of LHC above and technically speaking I should not have to add any more further, however, I will simply list a few more fore reference. The reason for this is simple — I know from experience that some folk will try to change the training method and/or turn it into a technique. This change does not come from experience or understanding, in fact it’s quite the contrary — it stems from a lack of understanding of the training method itself, along with the fundamentals of Taiji!
*Whilst the circles in LHC vary in size, there is no small circle component of the training method itself! The method must and is always trained in the same manner. This confusion arises from not knowing the difference between a form, a training method and self-defence.
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Identify
Neutralize Drawing in Seize Issue Rolling Sealing Releasing Seizing Sneaking Concluding Folding Adding Subtracting Change through weight shift Change through stepping… and so on.
The list is endless, however, just the few things mentioned should set the alarm bells ringing! In other words, there is more to the method than meets the eye.
All the methods include circles or curves based upon the five circles of Taijiquan.
The notion is simple:
1. Connect the brain with the body.
2. Connect the centre with the limbs
3. Connect heaven/sky [upper] with earth/ground [lower].
4. Develop timing [this can be further broken down into various subsets which are critical in combat].
5. Develop connectivity.
6. Understand the point of coordination.
7. Understand the source of power.
8. Deal with the present!
Further, do not focus on power. The act of thinking will hinder the release of power. The more unconscious you are of the power the heavier it will be received. If the release of power is not smooth or fluid, then this is most likely due to the error of ‘triple pausing.’
The three points of pausing are:
The Arms - consisting of the shoulder, elbow and heel of palm. The Torso - consisting of chest, belly and tan-tien. The Legs - consisting of hips, knees and heel of foot.
Method 1 — The Vertical Method
The first method of LHC is called the Vertical Method. The name arises from the simple fact that the limbs move vertically and is directly based upon the component of Ji from the opening sequence of the Taiji form — ‘Seize the sparrow by the tail.’
Its peripheral method is sometimes referred to as the ‘pseudo-horizontal’ or ‘pseudo-lateral’ method. However, it is not a true lateral method since only of the strikes moves horizontally.
This method consists of two primary components:
The open-side
The closed-side
The open and closed sides in this case reference the practitioner and not the opponent or training partner. This is another important notion as it involves the understanding of torques. However, this does not mean that we don’t practice the methods on the open and closed side of our partner.
76 Active Passive
Expansion Contraction Reeling Stick Adhere Connect Follow Listen
Yield
Below, I will begin to illustrate the fundamentals of the method at its basic level — breaking down each component. As always, the reader needs to be aware that we are using static images to demonstrate an otherwise fluid motion. The images do not wholly reflect that actual power, fluidity or timing, since the images would simply be a blur!
Weight Shift
We start in a reverse bow or ‘power stance,’ with the right foot forward [Figure 1A]. The waist turns to the left shifting the weight to the rear leg [Figure 1B]. As the waist turns back to the right and centre, sixty [60] percent of the weight shifts back to the right leg, so that you are weighted forward [Figure 1C]. The weight shift movement backward is similar to that of Lu or Rollback in the Taiji form.
The Arms/Hands
The movement of the arms and the hands are a result of the movement of the waist and the weight shift to the left. In other words, the centre moves the peripherals. In Figure 2 below, A, B and C represent double weightedness and incorrect timing — the hands move together at the same time without any separation. This is
wrong! D & E, also represents incorrect timing as well as the hands moving independently from the waist, resulting in the left hand moving ahead of the right.
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A B C
Figure 1. [Left to Right] A, B & C.
A B C E D
Figure 2. [Left to Right] A, B, C, D & E
Figure 3A above shows the correct movement of the hands. The natural arc of the right hand is just past the leftside of the nose. As the waist turns and the weight shifts towards the rear, the arc is slightly amplified, thus creating the distance between the hand and face [B&C]. Now, when we move with correct timing and weight shift, the right hand leads and the left follows, briefly appearing to join just in front and to the left.
The open-side method
The method can be started from either a p’eng/hinge position or from your hands down by your side [Figure 4A] — it doesn’t really matter. The waist leads all the movements. The weight sits slightly forward at the start with the right foot leading. For the sake of simplicity, [else it would require many more photos] only the main state changes of the hands will be shown.
As the waist turns to the left, the right hand leads and rises in a natural arc, the left hand follows immediately from below, turning slightly in a counter-clockwise direction with the wrist bending outwards, [Figure 4B/C], as your weight shifts slightly to the back. Whilst, your head turns with your natural body movement, the eyes remaining looking towards the front [in other words, you are looking out of the corner of your eyes]. Your waist continues to turn as your weight shifts fully to the back, the hands separate with the right hand sliding down and moving towards the front of the right hip, whilst the left hand continues it journey upwards level with the face. The right hand finishes yang and the left yin. This is important! Note how the fingers of the left hand are pointing almost forwards [Figure 4D].
In summation, with the one turn to the left, you have carried out 3 hand movements — right, left, right — all in a single flowing motion… ‘hands like feathers’ as per the Classics. This is critical to understand — a common error is that folk only carry out two movements to the left and add the third movement to the fourth!
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A B C E D
Figure 3. [Left to Right] A, B, C, D & E
A B C E D
Figure 4. [Left to Right] A, B, C, D & E
For the final movement, utilising the power of the waist turning back to right, you strike with the left knife-edge of your palm , as your weight finishes forward [Figure 4E]. So, in total, we have 3 strikes to the left and only 1 to the right, giving us four.
The closed-side method
For the closed-side method, continue immediately from the end of the movement shown in Figure 4E and reverse the hand movements to the right, keeping the feet as they were [Figure 5 A & B]. This time the left hand will lead and the right will follow from under and roll slightly clockwise whilst bending at the wrist as the
weight shifts backwards and the waist turns to the right. The left hand now slides down towards the front of the left hip. The hands have now reversed state. Finally, the waist turns back to the left as the weight shifts forward and the right hand knife-edge strikes.
Reversing the feet
From the end of movement Figure 5C above, the hands once again reverse back towards the original side — left. As the right hand leads and the left follows, you carry out a change step by bringing the right foot back parallel to the left [Figure 6A] and bringing the left foot forward [Figure 6B] — the left side has now become the closed-side. The hands continue to separate as you sit back towards the left [Figure 6C], finally finishing by bring your weight forward and striking with the left hand knife-edge [Figure 6D].
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Figure 5. [Left to Right] A, B, & C
A B C
Figure 6. [Left to Right] A, B, C & D
A B C D
From the previous closed-side, we once again reverse the hands and perform the entire drill on the right side — which has now become the open-side.
The method has now been performed four ways — open/closed, right foot forward; open/closed, left foot forward.
The entire method must be carried out fluidly with no interruptions whilst switching between the four ways. The peripheral method [pseudo-horizontal]
We perform the peripheral method exactly like the main method with the only difference being that, when we sit back to the left or right, the final or third strike is performed higher instead of in front of the hip. Figure 8 above illustrates this on both the open [8A] and closed-side [8B] with the left foot forward.
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Figure 7. [Left to Right] A, B, C & D
A B C D
A B
Figure 8. [Left to Right] A & B
The two-person method
The two-person method is no different to the solo method, however, we are now working with another energy, so the skills obtained and developed in the solo method must not be altered! Again, it is important that the students don’t turn this into a competition or see this as some kind of technique — it is not! Go back and read the points raised at the start of this article!
For the sake of simplicity, only the open and closed side will be illustrated without the change step, since it is no different to how it is performed in the solo version.
The two-person open-side method
You stand with your right foot leading [Figure 9A]. Your partner throws a straight punch with their right hand. Immediately, your waist begins to turn to your left and the weight begins to shift towards the left leg, as your right hand arcs up and strikes his forearm in neigwan [Figure 9B], changing state from yin to yang. Your left hand is following immediately — a split second apart — and arcs up from below the right hand, overtakes it, as the back of the wrist and part of the palm combine to strike neigwan a second time whilst dragging along the forearm towards the wrist [Figure 9C], changing state from yin, yang and back to yin. This subtly shifts your opponent’s centre slightly forward, who immediately follows up with a left hook to the body. Your right hand slides downward, as your body continues to turn left, and the knife-edge of the hand strikes in the crease of the elbow [Figure 9D], changing state from yang to yin and back to yang.
All three strikes must happen on the left turn, producing three sounds of an equal beat! This represents the reality of a rapid one two strike, teaching us the skills of specific timing — in other words not turning to the right whilst striking with the right hand! These are strikes — not parries or blocks and all three MUST happen!
Finally, your waist turns to the right, your weight shifting forward, as the knife-edge of the left hand strikes his neck across the vagal triangle at ST9 [Figure 9E] as the hand changes state from yin to yang! A word of warning — DO NOT STRIKE ST9 in training with a partner! This is a very dangerous point as are any strikes around the neck.
The training method develops very heavy hands and powerful centrifugal forces, it is advisable that the attacker does not throw his shots too hard, as the method is designed to respond reflexively and this can cause severe damage at the points of contact. Train your power in the solo method, develop your other skills in the twoperson method.
In the training method, you repeat this sequence 5 times!
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Figure 10, on the next page, shows the strikes from Figure 9 C, D and E from a reverse angle for clarity.
Figure 9. [Left to Right] A, B, C D & E
A B C D E
The two-person closed-side method
Figure 11, below, shows the same sequence from the previous illustration for the closed-side. From the end of Figure 9E, your partner reloads and attacks with a straight left followed by a right body hook. You instantly reverse your hands, still keeping your right leg forward [the position of the leg is what makes it the closed-side], this time turning and sitting back to the right with the left hand leading and the right following. Again all strikes, Figure 11 A, B and C must happen whilst turning right, and have equal beats. Finally, the waist turns left and the
weight shifts forward as the right knife-edge strikes the neck [Figure 1D].
Again the sequence is repeated 5 times.
Your partner immediately switches back to a right straight and a left body hook, this time you carry out a foot change [see images solo method Reversing feet] as your right foot moves back and your left foot moves forward, [thereby now making the left the closed-side], without breaking rhythm as the hands carry out their initial two strikes, with the right hand leading, as the feet are changing and third strike as the weight is sitting back to the left. Again all three strikes happen to the left with an equal beat without break in rhythm, followed by a single strike turning to the right and the weight shifting forward.
As before, the right left combination strike is repeated 5 times with the left foot forward.
Finally, your partner switches once again to a left right combination. Again your hands switch sides, keeping the left foot forward and repeat the entire sequence to the right which has now become the open side.
You have now completed the exercise 4 ways!
Immediately, your partner reverses sides again, causing you to switch your feet and hands back to the original side as he throws the right left combination but this time only 4 times.
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A B C D
Figure 11. [Left to Right] A, B, C & D
Figure 10
The entire routine [4 ways] is repeated. This, then is repeated in its entirety with 3 combinations and then 2 combinations on each side.
Finally, the drill is repeated with your partner throwing a single combination from either side with you defending on the open and closed-side alternately and reversing feet without breaking rhythm or fluidity!
Throughout the drill, randomly, your partner will not throw the follow-up hook, you must complete the sequence of strikes left right or right left irrespectively! This is a very important factor. It helps the brain to understand and see subconsciously where possible dangers lie, as well as negate the power of an impeding strike in its infancy!
The two-person peripheral method
The methodology for this is identical to the main method, only this time the follow-up hook is thrown higher at the face instead of the body — that is the only difference! See Figure 12 below [top to bottom], for the openside right foot forward.
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Figure 12, top to bottom.
Self-defence
Whilst within Long Har Ch’uan there are many practical self-defence methods and these can be taken out and practiced as such, they must however, never be taught as Long Har Ch’uan!
Long Har Ch’uan is the name of the training method. It is not associated with any specific technique — it is a collective of Taiji Principles and concepts disguised in the training method. It is a way of giving meaning to abstract forms and subconsciously developing the brain to see certain things and to connect the brain with the
body and the centre with the limbs.
In Figure 13 above we see a ‘technique’ taken directly from within Long Har Ch’uan, where a straight left is dealt with an attack on the arm and another strike into the neck. Whilst this is sound in practice, it cannot be incorporated into the method itself and taught as a part of Long Har Ch’uan.
In the above illustration the concepts of p’eng, lu, ji and arn are being exhibited along with a few others. I’ll let you figure the rest. During an attack, you don’t have the luxury to stop and think, you must react instinctively and reflexively on an innate level. It is the training method which develops those skills and teaches you how to use what!
If you ever come across an instructor teaching Long Har Ch’uan as a technique or changing the method by incorporating techniques into it — walk out of that class immediately because they haven’t got a clue what this training method is about!
We will continue with the second training method in Long Har Ch’uan — the Lateral Method — in Volume 26, available in June 2023.
My thanks, once again, to Ramakrishna Pillay for being my ‘wooden man’ in the compilation of these images.
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Figure 13
The Poetry of Chi - The Mystery and Majesty of Energy in the Human Body
Introduction
This article “The Poetry of Chi” is not an article on poetry about the Asian concept of energy in the human body or chi, it is rather the first in a planned series of articles to be published in Lift Hands Magazine on Asian healing arts and sciences. Not only, we hope, will this series of articles be informative for the martial art student, but the articles will attempt to provide a path to certification in acupressure and tuina therapy for students who are interested in going beyond simply reading the articles.
As each article is published you will have the opportunity to register for an acupressure and Chinese massage certification program and complete the assignments and quizzes that are part of the certification program and curriculum. At the end of this article a link will be provided where interested students may register for part one of this acupressure and Chinese massage training and certification program.
In this introductory article, “The Poetry of Chi” we will look at the history, basic concepts, and language of traditional Asian medicine.
The Poetry of Chi, My Singular Path
I cannot begin this journey with you without first expressing that I am deeply indebted to the many instructors, teachers, and mentors that I have had over the last several decades and thanking them for their generosity and willingness to accept me as a student, and to share their knowledge and experience with me. My teacher Professor Huo Chi Kwang, founder of the Chinese Cultural Academy, has been described by friends and critics as the “reincarnation” of Confucius and as being “too Chinese.” If Professor Huo was the highest example of an educated Chinese gentleman and scholar, then his life was marked by two singular traits; extreme personal sacrifice in the pursuit of knowledge leading to personal refinement, and a fierce and determined search for intellectual truth and the elimination of falsity.
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Professor Huo Chi Kwang from a book on his life
Professor Huo’s presence in my life, as my first example of a Chinese teacher and intellectual, set a high standard. The Professor was a 16th generation calligrapher who while serving as Taiwan’s ambassador to France, met and befriended Picasso with whom he exchanged paintings. When the communist government in China needed a scholar to translate ancient calligraphic writings containing obscure scripts they asked for and received his assistance.
I am still attempting to live up to the Professor’s example, and it is an impossible task. I can never hope to equal his accomplishments and capabilities within his own Asian culture, but I can attempt to emulate and follow the concepts he taught regarding the pursuit of excellence through the study of the five excellences. The five excellences include the study of the creative arts, the literary arts, the healing arts, the martial arts, and the art of being a true human being. These concepts included diligent effort, personal sacrifice, the pursuit of excellence, and adherence to truth. The Professor will always be the Professor to me. For those who resist truth and change, change cannot be stopped, and truth will always prevail.
My personal journey as a student of the Asian healing and martial arts began in the early 1960s and has included training in dao yin, chi kung, tai chi chuan, kempo, acupressure, acupuncture, tuina, Asian herbal medicine, naturopathy, naprapathy, and chiropractic. As a result of this training and experience I bring a unique perspective to the pursuit of knowledge of the healing arts and to a style of manual medicine that I call AcuMyoTherapy®. In this article and others to follow I am going to introduce you to the art and science of AcuMyoTherapy®.
The History of Chinese Acupressure and Massage (Tuina)
Chinese massage therapy, or tuina, is both an ancient and modern practice of manual therapy and medicine. Most historians recognize that massage has been practiced among the indigenous peoples of the world for 5,000 years or longer and tuina is generally recognized as one of the oldest organized forms of manual therapy on earth. My personal opinion is that massage therapy is as old as the history of humankind. I note that the first recorded reference pertaining to the use of herbal medicine dates back 11,000 years. I suspect that indigenous forms of massage therapy are at least that old.
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Professor Huo Chi Kwang art and calligraphy
From the evidence and records available, Tuina is thought to have originated in the Shang Dynasty of China, 1700 BC Records found in the form of oracle bones show that tuina was used to treat children's diseases and digestive complaints in adults. Tuina flourished throughout China until the Qing Dynasty where it was outlawed and suppressed along with other Chinese cultural, healing, and martial arts. During more recent Chinese history and after the Communist revolution, tuina has been re-established along with other traditional Chinese medical practices and is routinely practiced in Chinese hospitals alongside of western medicine.
Tuina is a holistic approach to health care that attempts to optimize the self-healing and self-regulating aspects of the human body through the mobilization and harmony of chi understood as the body’s energy system. Tuina attempts to move and balance chi through the familiar processes that are similar to techniques and procedures used in its close cousin acupuncture.
These processes include:
1. Balancing yin and yang
2. Promoting chi
3. Removing excesses
4. Balancing chi in channels and collaterals
5. Regulating jing and wei
6. Promoting the circulation of chi and blood
7. Coordinating the zang and fu organs
8. Harmonizing the breath
For modern purposes and uses in various medical facilities tuina is employed as corrective and restorative patient care to provide a reduction in joint inflammation and pain and to increase joint range of motion. As we advance further into the AcuMyoTherapy® course, we will look at many of the known and medically established physiological effects that acupressure and tuina have on the human body which include:
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One of several training manuals for the AcuMyoTherapy® program.
1. Stimulates mechanoreceptors in the skin.
2. Stimulates the immune system and white blood cell activity.
3. Increases blood flow to treated areas.
4. Promotes endorphin release.
5. Decreases motor neuron activity in muscles.
6. Employs the counter-irritation theory of healing.
7. Promotes fluid flow and fluid dynamics in tissue.
8. Promotes connective tissue growth and repair processes.
The concepts listed above will be covered when we address the contemporary practices of acupressure and tuina practiced as evidence-based health care in clinics and medical facilities.
Traditional tuina utilizes the same fourteen channels of acupuncture as well as many additional acupuncture point locations and reference areas of the human body. The word channel is used to refer to the route or conduit that chi is thought to move through within the body. Channels and the collateral pathways comprise the interwoven matrix of a conceptual network of energy in the body. The channels known as jing mai or jing are the primary conduit of the body’s meridian system. The collaterals known as luo mai or luo are the smaller diverging branches of that system and emerge from the main channels. Channels, collaterals, and acupressure or acupuncture points were once characterized in a somewhat simplistic map of the energy system of the human body, but that system and its representation has now expanded conceptually to the point that many traditional acupuncture schools teach that acupressure or acupuncture points reside on every square centimeter of the body.
The word channel is probably a better choice than the French translation, meridian. The word channel better describes a three-dimensional vessel or conduit through which chi flows like water in a river or stream. These channels, jing mai or luo mai, are simply approximate representations of lines that link a certain number of points on the body surface that are thought to have related therapeutic and diagnostic properties. These onedimensional lined maps are poor representations of the three-dimensional structures that make up the connective tissues of the human body. When you use a flat paper map to plot a course across country from point A to point B the map looks nothing like the vibrant countryside that you drive through.
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Old Chinese Acupuncture Chart
The twelve regular acupressure channels include:
Lung Channel (LU) – 11 points
Large Intestine Channel (LI) – 20 points
Stomach Channel (ST) – 45 points
Spleen Channel (SP) – 21 points
Heart Channel (HT) – 9 points
Small Intestine Channel (SI) – 19 points
Bladder Channel (BL) – 67 points
Kidney Channel (KI) – 27 points
Pericardium Channel (P) – 9 points
San Jiao Channel (SJ) – 23 points
Gall Bladder Channel (GB) – 44 points
Liver Channel (LV) – 14 points
The two extra vessels (channels) include:
Du Mai Channel (Du) – 28 points
Ren Mai Channel (Ren) – 24 points
Tuina is usually the treatment of choice (as opposed to needling) when applying therapeutic applications to acute somatic conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. When treating these conditions, tuina therapy includes techniques that work with and through the more superficial tendinomuscular channels. The chi within the tendinomuscular channels is protective or defensive chi (Wei chi). Tuina manual therapy techniques, Asian medicated oils and liniments, and specific techniques such as gua sha are effective for treating common musculoskeletal problems and are commonly used as such in Asian hospitals and clinical treatment centers.
Traditional tuina defines somatic pathology as primarily chi and/or blood stagnation or blockage, as being located either externally or internally, as full or empty, and as either hot or cold. Once the pathological characteristics of a condition have been determined then the correct techniques and sequence of therapeutic procedures can be determined and applied for the treatment of the patient.
My approach to tuina is partially based upon the historical art and science of traditional tuina but has evolved to adopt the modern concepts of neurology, pathology, and physiology. Recent discoveries in medical science now offer a much more detailed explanation of body function and dysfunction and specific information regarding the physiological composition of acupuncture channels and their function. I call my contemporary evidence-based study and practice of acupressure and tuina “AcuMyoTherapy®” which is a registered trademark.
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AcuMyoTherapy Logo
Early Acupuncture Chart
Traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, acupressure, and tuina all contain and share several classical theories that attempt to describe and to define how the body works in health and disease. These basic theories or ideas of energy pathology include:
1. Yin and Yang
2. Five Element
3. Vital Substances
4. Zang Fu Organs
5. Internal and External Causes of Disease
6. The Eight Principles
The two primary theories used in AcuMyoTherapy® are yin and yang and the eight principles. In this introduction to Asian medicine and AcuMyoTherapy® we will briefly look at yin and yang theory and then expand upon this theory in subsequent articles. When we utilize yin and yang theory diagnostically and for treatment, we need to understand the four states or conditions of yin and yang imbalance which include:
7. Excess of Yin
8. Excess of Yang
9. Deficiency of Yin
10. Deficiency of Yang
The body’s energy or chi, as further described as yin or yang, is in a constant state of movement and change. If either yin or yang becomes unbalanced or excessive or deficient in the body, a state of disease with symptoms of illness presents. The symptoms that occur depend upon which expression of chi (yin or yang) is either in excess or is deficient. For example, symptoms of yin deficiency in a patient may include:
Dizziness, tinnitus, forgetfulness
Osteoporosis, back, and bone pain
Dry mouth
Dehydration
Mild fever
Low blood pressure
Heart palpations
Headaches
Weak pulse
Bruising
Poor healing
Night sweats
Hot flashes
Dysmenorrhea
Restless leg syndrome
Nervousness and anxiety
Chronic fatigue
Fibromyalgia
Vaginal dryness
Dry cough
Poor appetite
Digestive bloating
Loose stools
Emaciation
Wasting diseases like diabetes
Overwork, mental
Overwork, physical
Sexual addiction
This concept will be covered in more detail in the AcuMyoTherapy® certification program and in the training module on Yin Deficiency Disorders.
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Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, acupressure, and tuina should have a firm working knowledge of the central theories of Chinese or Asian medicine. Practitioners of medical tuina also need to understand western sciences related to anatomy and physiology, pathology, biochemistry, endocrinology, and neurology. This author’s pioneering book from the 1990s on medical acupuncture entitled, “Medical Acupuncture, A Rational and Scientific Approach” reviews both approaches to Asian health care and specifically outlines the latest discoveries regarding how traditional and modern acupuncture techniques affect human physiological responses.
Traditional Chinese medicine is an energetic system of health care. This means that traditional Chinese medicine views the body as an organized system of energy in flux. Traditionalists view western medicine as “mechanistic” and not holistic, but recent changes and discoveries in western medicine have revealed deeply profound organic concepts of body function that equal or exceed the ancient concepts of traditional Chinese medicine.
Traditional theories regarding disease include concepts such as the idea that if energy is not moving normally in the body, it is “stagnant” or blocked and that the practitioner needs to restore the normal flow of this energy. Other traditional concepts include the idea that forces such as “dampness,” “cold,” “heat,” and “wind” can invade the body and produce symptoms of disease. It is helpful to accept these ancient concepts of the cause of disease as models of understanding or paradigms that help us to define, diagnose, and treat our patients.
Traditional Asian Concepts of Health and Disease
“It (The Tao) is always present within you. You can use it any way you want.”
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
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Magnified image of Living fascia from the research of Dr. Jean Claude Guimberteau, Strolling Under the Skin, video presentation.
Yin and Yang Theory
Yin and Yang theory is the primary theory and concept of traditional Asian medicine and as such it is extremely important to understand. One way of viewing this traditional Taoist concept of yin and yang is as a basic and simple model of how environmental and physical forces in nature and in our body works. The following statements help us to understand and define the concepts of yin and yang:
1. Yin and Yang are relative opposites.
2. Yin and Yang are infinitely divisible.
3. Yin and Yang are independent.
4. Yin and Yang consume and support each other.
5. Yin and Yang transform into each other.
Traditional Chinese medicine views all diseases as an imbalance in the yin and yang energies of the body, and therefore all diseases are partially diagnosed as being either yin or yang in nature. This diagnostic theory gets more complicated however by the idea that various levels of yin and yang exist like the differences in degrees of cold and heat that would be measured by a thermometer. Heat and cold are both relative in terms of the fact that 38 degrees Celsius is warmer than 26 degrees Celsius. If a person’s yang energy becomes deficient, that person will begin to exhibit the signs and symptoms of yin including weakness and coldness, if on the other hand a person’s yin energy becomes deficient, they will begin to manifest the signs and symptoms of excessive yang including restlessness and feeling hot. Excessive heat or fever (yang) will burn up or evaporate fluids in the body (yin), and two much dampness (fluid) (yin) will smother the heat (yang) in the body. This is how we understand how these two opposite, but interdependent energy forces affect the physiological aspects of the body. Yin and yang are actually a very simple, but profound and helpful tool for the basic diagnosis of human sickness and disease.
The Four Vital Substances
In traditional Asian medicine the four vital substances include:
Chi Blood
Jing (Essence)
Jin Ye (Body Fluids)
In traditional Chinese medicine it is believed that these four vital substances “form” the body and the mind and that they maintain balance within the body and the mind. The internal organs, channels, cells, tissues, bones and sinew, and sense organs are vitally dependent upon the proper balance and availability of the four vital substances. Of course, the reverse is also true. The four vital substances are dependent upon the balanced function of the energy organs and channels for their production, storage, and movement throughout the body.
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Yin Yang Diagram
Know that what you wish to be you can be by acting now as if you are that way. Be it. Feel the energy of the universe around you. Join with it. Do not allow yourself to be turned from the goal. Stay with it. Divine awareness will infuse you. Listen to it.
From the authors book, Scent of a Forgotten Flower
Chi is the origin of all the vital substances which are actually just different manifestations of chi. The tuina practitioner considers chi and blood the two most important substances that affect the body. Chi is the vital energy that permeates every aspect of the human body and vitalizes it. Chi as indicated above changes into different forms such as blood and body fluids.
What are the conceptual models of the functions of chi in the body? Chi is thought to control all the growth, maintenance, and defensive functions of the body and these functions include cellular metabolism, the generation of body heat and internal temperature regulation, providing the energy or vital force needed to animate the cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems of the body, defending against external pathogens, providing for the movement and flow of the body’s fluid substances including blood, lymph, and water in the bodies interstitial spaces also known as cou li.
So how do we acquire and maintain chi in our body? First, of all we are born with chi, and this chi is called original or source chi. The concept of chi itself can be defined as energy, blood, and breath. We derive chi from the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the liquids that we consume. Our chi can be further subdivided in to other categories based upon yin and yang and the energy organs and channels in which it is stored or through which it moves and acts.
For example, our original chi is thought to be stored in the energy organ and channels of the kidney’s. Another form of chi is called defensive yang chi and many martial artists are familiar with defensive yang chi and train in practices such as martial and iron shirt chi kung to increase this manifestation of chi on the surface of the body, to strengthen the outer layers of connective tissue and to make the body more resistant to physical and environmental trauma.
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How do we define abnormal chi in the body and channels? There are several descriptions of abnormal chi that are used in Asian medicine.
1. Rebellious chi is chi that moves in the opposite direction of its normal channel flow.
2. Deficient chi is chi that is diminished or lacking.
3. Stagnant chi is chi movement that is blocked.
4. Collapsed chi is chi that is too weak to move or raise.
Chi is recognized as the creative energy and substance of life and its harmony and balance is essential to our happiness, health, and wellbeing.
Conclusion:
The poetry of chi is in motion in our bodies from birth until death. It is the rhythm and flow of life’s innate energy that moves like a stream, a river, and a sea within us. Our birth, our growth, and our healing are all dependent upon this vital energy which is partly of this world and partly from the next as well as partly physical and spiritually animated.
The ebb and flow of chi
Is like the movement of the sea. Sometimes it is calm and serene. Other times it is a rebellious teen. Dark waves knock us to and fro. Rough winds do fiercely blow. Chi is our most innate force And in our body finds its course. Storms may beat upon our shores But the light of chi is our healing balm Restoring our deep peace and calm.
The Author
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Dr. Lawton Demonstrating Acupressure
If you are interested in enrolling in the AcuMyoTherapy® study course please go to the link below, register for the course, follow the instructions provided, and complete the course quiz. If you pass the quiz you will receive your first certificate.
Register at this link — https://www.flexiquiz.com/SC/N/3c65042f-3aae-426a-94e2-ecc37eecdcb5
References:
Lawton, Gregory T. AcuMyoTherapy® Students Self-Study Workbook, American Health Source Publications, Grand Rapids, MI Published 2019
Lawton, Gregory T. Acupressure and Chinese Massage, American Health Source Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, Published 2007
Duc Hiep Nguyen. The Dictionary of Acupuncture & Moxibustion: A Practical Guide to Traditional Chinese Medicine Published by HarperCollins, 1987
About the Author and Course Instructor:
Gregory T. Lawton D.N., D.C., D.Ac., has spent sixty years studying the healing arts and martial arts, including the internal Chinese martial arts of dao yin, chi kung, Tai chi chuan, Hsing Yi Chuan, and Pakua Chang. Dr. Lawton is a licensed naprapath in Illinois, a licensed chiropractor in Michigan, a certified naturopath in Kentucky, and a certified acupuncturist in Idaho. Dr. Lawton is nationally board certified in acupuncture, chiropractic, physical therapy, and radiology. He is the founding board member of the American Manual Medicine Association, the author of dozens of published articles, and has written over one hundred books and training manuals related to health care and martial arts. Dr. Lawton is also a certified fellow and diplomat of the International Medical Acupuncture Academy. Dr. Lawton is a graduate of the National University of Health Sciences and completed a postgraduate course in TCM based acupuncture at the National University of Health Sciences and the New York Chiropractic College. Dr. Lawton has been teaching Asian martial and healing arts for fifty years. He founded the Blue Heron Academy of Healing Arts and Sciences in 1980. The Academy offers the only state approved training programs in acupuncture and Asian medicine in Michigan.
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Fa-jing Ch'uan Internal Chinese Boxing
Schools are pleased to announce our return to Italy in April 2023
We will be meeting in Bari in the scenic region of Puglia in Southern Italy
would simply like to brush up on the foundations, or have ever wondered how the art is used as a system of selfdefence — then this will be the perfect way to get a great insight into T'ai chi Ch’uan (Taijiquan).
Date: Friday - Sunday 28-30 APRIL 2021
Venue: Edian Danza A.S.D. Via Marcello Celentano, 17/21
70121 Bari BA
Accommodation: Please contact Monica Mitoli for advice on local accommodation, meals and transportation too and from Bari.
The camp includes:
Qigong
Old Yang Style T'ai Chi
Practical Training
Methods For Health/ Martial Arts
Self-Defence
Training will begin at 3pm Friday.
Cost of training: 210 Euros for those registering by Friday 24 February 2023. (The cost will rise to 250 Euros for those registering after this date.) A 50% deposit is required to book your place.
Participants will be expected to arrive on site by Friday (28 April) morning latest and can leave after the final training session on Sunday, unless they have extended their stay in advance and are departing later depending upon flights.
Please contact Nasser Butt in the UK for further information and registration:
Visit our website for further information on what we teach:
www.fajingchuan.co.uk
Whether you are a novice or already have some experience and
(PLEASE NOTE ALL DEPOSITS AND PAYMENTS ARE NONREFUNDABLE SINCE WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THE VENUE IN ADVANCE REGARDLESS.)
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Ammanford Scouts Hall Monday 7.30 - 9.15pm Wednesday 7.00 - 9.00pm Sunday Full Day (Monthly) Peter Jones Chief Instructor Taiji Pa-Kua Internal Fighting Arts taijipakua@gmail.com
The Oldest Established School of The Erle Montaigue System In The UK
Gaku Shi Juku Kendo Kai www.leicesterkendo.com
Within martial arts there exist only 2 fighting methods — the large man’s method and the small man’s method. Everything else is essentially a peripheral of one of these two methods or a combination.
Taken from Methods of Applying Taiji Boxing1 [Taijiquan Shiyong Fa], coauthored by Yang cheng-fu and Dong Yingjie [1931]:
DISCOURSES ON TAIJI — WAYS OF EXAMINING OPPONENTS
‘When facing an opponent, the first thing to notice is whether his build is large or small. If large, he is surely very strong, and so I will use skill as the appropriate answer to it. If small, he is surely skilful, and so I will vigorously attack. This is the defeating of weakness by way of strength and the defeating of strength by way of strategy. Whether he is large or small, when his posture is high I should use a low posture, and when his posture is low I should use a high posture. This is the way of high and low, of passive and active.
If you want to see what the opponent is up to, look first at what is going on in his eyes and then at his body and hands. If he wants to use his fists to strike, you will first see his shoulder stick up or see him cock his punch. If he wants to use his foot to kick, his body will first lean to the side. The signs are there with which to be sure of the situation. If you can know ahead of time what he is going to do, how can you lose?
If the opponent crosses hands with me in a pleasant manner, I use softness and neutralize him. But if he glares at me angrily and suddenly charges, his heart is not kind and I will apply power to strike him full on. This is the situation of tit for tat. Looking upon the opponent with no enmity, one who practices Taiji is polite at first and is martial only as a second line of defense.
When dealing with opponents, some opponents are fast and others are slow. If he is slow, I am caused to stick to him and go along with his movement. If he is fast and throws out a flurry of blows, I should stay calm and keep my courage up. Watching for his decisive attack to get near, I focus along one direction or neutralize to either side, then strike back. It is often said: “Be not flustered or hasty, for it is the gentle hand that guides the goat.” It is this Taiji principle: “If he moves fast, I quickly respond, and if his movement is slow, I leisurely follow”.
When dealing with opponents, the methods of opponents will vary. When the opponent comes in, bring your hand up to cross him above and step forward to crowd him below, yielding by sticking and sticking by yielding. If the opponent jumps away and is too wary to come back right away, I switch to a different posture from the solo set and wait for him. I should not pursue his retreat but instead be like a tiger waiting for its chance to pounce on a deer. While he walks at circle’s edge, I am at the center. I hold to steadiness while he holds to restlessness. When his restlessness increases until he wears himself out, I attack him with full stability. He has thus generated the means for me to overcome him, and he now presents no difficulty and I enter through his guard. This is the Grand Polarity [tai ji] generating its two polarities which exponentiate into the four manifestations and the eight trigrams while itself remaining stable and immovable.
The Taiji training method has three levels: sky, mankind, ground. The first step is to practice it until it is smooth, the next step to practice it until it is powerful, the final step to practice it until it is skilful. Begin with the gross movement, then later, the finer details. If you train in this way, you will then be able to apply it.’
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1. Brennan Transaltion — https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com
