Wang shu jin taiwan high-speed
Cheng Ming System
The Tsun Nan Mountains in Shanxi Province are recognized in Chinese mythology and history as the place where many martial arts were born. Monks and religious wise men used to go to these mountains for solitary meditation. Sometimes they stayed there for many years, developing both their individual skills as martial artists and their personal worldview and philosophy of life.
The great masters were very modest, avoiding exposure, in part to avoid unwanted challenges and enemies who would be attracted by unnecessary publicity. Nevertheless, the names of some of these famous mountain hermits spread far and wide, as did their special abilities in the various martial arts.
The pursuit of good health and long life was an important element in the worldview of these monks and wise men. They included in their practice regimes elements of healing and meditation that turned their martial arts into a full and encompassing way of life, resting on deep philosophical premises and improving both physical and mental health.
There are stories about some of these masters who, even at the age of one hundred or more, were as supple, strong, and full of energy as young boys. To this day, when the Chinese want to bless someone close to them, they say: "May you live as long and be as strong as the Mountains of Tsun Nan" &#; meaning not the mountains themselves but their legendary inhabitants of bygone days.
Cheng Ming System
Cheng Ming System taught at the Israeli Tai Chi Center combines the three internal martial arts: Tai Chi, Xing Yi, and Ba Gua. The name Cheng Ming is the nickname of the founder Grand Master Wong Shu Jin, who studied and specialized in each style separately before combining them into one complete method.
The name Cheng Ming also indicates the spirit of the system as founded by Grand Master Wong Shu Jin, and as it has been taught ever since. ‘Cheng’ means transparency in study and training, ‘Ming’ means integrity and fairness to
Thread: chiba sensei vs Wang shu Jin!
tapping me lightly at will all over my body to demonstrate his easy circumvention of my defenses. Despite my best efforts and despite Wangs enormous girth, his ba gua chang enabled him to effortlessly evade all my blows and end up behind me at will.
To graphically show me there was much to learn, he allowed me, after several days of study with him, to strike him with full power anywhere on his body. I put all the force at my command into these strikes, but they might as well have been the blows of a three-year-old. I kicked him in the knees and groin without effect, hit him in the neck and elbowed his ribs. Like many ba gua masters, he had the ability to absorb blows without injury. When I kicked him in the shin, my foot hurt long afterward. When I drove my fist into his belly, it felt as if the blow had broken my wrist. Wang would often tap me on the head during sparring just to demonstrate how easy it would have been for him to demolish me. One time, in fact, he tapped me lightly on the head, dropping me to the ground instantly. I sat there in utter surprise, feeling as if I had just been jolted by a high-voltage electrical current.
After a while, I could tell he was getting bored with my low level of skill and my inability to hurt him. Sometimes, he would grab me with his arms and bounce me three or four times back and forth
There is a persistent myth that I've heard over the years that somehow training in the internal martial artsgives you a big belly.
I've never regarded this myth as anything other than an obvious, self-referential joke: ie. "I don't have a beer gut - it's just that my belly is full of qi/ki."
Recently however I have become aware that some people actually think there is such a syndrome. Just yesterday a correspondent on an internet forum said that practising internal arts had given him a "dropped diaphragm" that "stretched the fascia" giving him a "thick inflated core [which] is great for MA but definitely not a hit with the ladies".
Indeed, many famous internal martial arts masters were, shall we say, well endowed in the mid-section. Consider the picture at the top right of this article of Wang Shujin, a formidable street fighter and student of the famous internal arts teacher Chen Pan Ling (my teacher's father).
The forum correspondent also gave the example of Yang Chen Fu (on the left) - another famous taijiquan teacher.
Indeed there are so many taiji practitioners past and present who had a big stomach that one is spoiled for choice. Did/do these practitioners have a "dropped diaphragm" or are/were they just carrying fat?
I'll say at the outset that it is possible to have a very strong physique - with apparently little or no skin to pinch - and yet still have a big stomach. In fact the forum correspondent on the forum cited such an example: consider the picture on the right of UFC fighter Chuck Liddel (of whom the forum correspondent said there was a "bit of a Taiji belly going on there").
Even in my gym there is a rugby player (who is very likely one of the strongest people I've ever met) who has broad shoulders, muscled arms and legs - and a thickened torso to match. I doubt you could pinch any of skin on his stomach in a skinfold test. He doesn't look "fat" - he's just "big".
Is this evidence of the "dropped diaphragm" syndrome? The answer is, qu
Interview with Kent Howard, Translator of Wang Shujin’s Bagua Linked Palms
Recently, Kent Howard, the translator of Wang Shujin’s Bagua Linked Palms, was kind enough to answer some of our questions regarding his background and journey with Bagua. Howard is a nationally known writer, martial arts teacher, and former contributor to the esteemed Pa Kua Chang Journal. Read on to learn more about him and the martial art of Bagua.
How were you first introduced to Bagua?
I first read about Bagua Zhang in Robert W. Smith’s books. My first up close look at Bagua was when I was training in Hawaii back in the 70’s. A friend of mine, who was a student of T.Y. Pang, showed me the Swimming Body form from Xun Xiqun’s system. I had never seen a style that looked anything like it in any of the martial art curriculums I had been exposed to. I was really intrigued. The movements didn’t seem very martial in nature, at least not overtly, and I thought it to be more like a Chinese yoga or qigong form. It wasn’t until later, when I had a chance to learn the same form, that I began to realize the martial potential of those smoothly flowing exercises. By that time I was hooked.
What do you think is particularly special about Bagua to you?
What sets Bagua apart from all other martial arts is the seamless linking of individual elements into an organic form that has its own unique character. Bagua is system of techniques united by overarching body principles. One of the most distinctive, and least understood, features of Bagua is the ability of a practitioner to strike while in motion. That is something no other Chinese martial art prior to the development of Bagua ever taught.
Is there anything you would recommend a person know or do if he/she is interested in exploring the art of Bagua?
You should first determine if Bagua is really for you. You may observe Bagua in performance and think it looks quite interesting, but the proof is in the practice. Any martial art curricu