The Three Levels of Consciousness and Humanity
by Philip Holder, Ph.D. Grandmaster: North American Wing Chun Association Copyright by Philip Holder
GREAT DEEDS
The past is gone and unchangeable. The future has yet to be revealed. The present is a means of developing our future. Great things are rarely accomplished in one explosive moment in our lives. Each deed that we do, whether positive or negative, constructive or destructive will, in the final analysis, represent who we are. Each small deed we do is a link in the chain of our existence on this plain. If our deeds are positive and generous, we will exist in a positive light. If the deeds we do are negative, we will exist as petty creatures. This is an evolutionary process and not something that happens by design or in an instant. By attempting to be great, a person will become infamous rather than famous. If you seek to do positive things and have a generous heart, you will be viewed as being a great person. This is due primarily to the motivation that drives these two very different types of minds. Adolph Hitler sought to be great. Although powerful for a short time on the cosmic clock, he is viewed as infamous. Dr. Salk sought to help humanity. He gave away his polio vaccine as a way of contributing to the benefit of others…Dr. Salk is viewed as a great man. These lives are both products of the chain of deeds that each man created during his lifetime.
LEVELS OF HUMANITY
In the philosophy of the Kung Fu system that I teach, we believe that there are three levels of human consciousness and behavior. These levels are the spontaneous, the calculated, and the imposed. They each have unique characteristics.
Spontaneous – Represents the highest form of consciousness because it dwells in the here and now. This mind can respond to life as it unfolds. It asks for nothing, harbors no ill for events of the past, and does not record or expect the repayment of debt. Because it expects nothing from others it is not disappointed. It does not seek to posses and is therefore never owned. From this non-possessiveness comes freedom, love and demonstrates a receptive nature.
Calculated – Represents the second level of consciousness. It is lower that the first because it requires manipulation. This mind attempts to steer events relative to it’s perception of right and wrong. It is focused on achieving the end that it thinks should happen. This results in a constant contention between what would be, and what this mind thinks should be. This mind’s creative energy is confined by it’s need to direct others.
Imposed – Represents the third and lowest level of consciousness because it requires force. It insists that all proceed in accordance with it’s plan. This methodology is both calculated and manipulative. As well, it addresses any opposition with punishment. This is rarely successful in the short term and never successful in the long term. A person of this mind becomes both jailer and prisoner. This mind is too focused on the control of events and people to experience life’s wonders in the slightest way. It is a task oriented mentality that sheds no light on what is really occurring.
FREEDOM
From where does freedom come? It comes, ironically, from adherence to the natural order. Manipulation and imposed force are a direct contradiction to this principle. Freedom comes from being one with the energy of the universe. It comes from being part of the process of living. This can only be achieved by first knowing ourselves. People will spend 2, 4, 6, 8 or more years in college learning a subject but often spend little or no time getting to know who they are or what, they themselves, truly think and feel. Some can go through their entire life and never have an original thought. A whole life can be spent vicariously living only second hand thoughts and experiencing little. It is said that, knowing others is wisdom and knowing ourselves is enlightenment. It is also said in the philosophy that I follow that, mastering others requires force and that mastering ourselves requires strength.
THE PATH
True strength results in a giving and compassionate spirit. The need to exhibit force is a sure sign of insecurity. When we have truly overcome our own demons, we feel no need to control, condemn or punish others. If others attempt to oppress you, you can chose not to take part. You can chose to lead your life outside of the control of another. In Wing Chun we say…”If I do not resist you can not push”. We all have the ability to chose our own path. No one can take that empowerment away from us. We only give it up by choice. Don’t strive for greatness. Live a chain of positive deeds and you will find peace. If greatness comes from this, it is deserved.
Sincerely,
Grandmaster Philip Holder
Courtesy of Grandmaster Holder (WingChunCenter.com)
What I Have Learned Through Beimo
by Sifu Wong Shun Leung
It is this aspect of Wing Tsun training that makes it especially well suited for women who need to learn to fight back. Women are often more intuitive than men in their approach to problem solving. In the end, Wing Tsun is nothing more than a “new” way of problem solving. You learn to solve the problem of (usually male) violence. Developing the confidence, and the natural fighting spirit that goes along with that greater confidence is a natural part of Wing Tsun training. Wing Tsun builds upon the student’s existing strengths to produce a more well-rounded, secure, and aware person. Everything depends on how much you put into your training. But Wing Tsun can literally set you free! (from fear of violence, from your own bad mental and physical habits, and from restrictive, counter-productive beliefs and attitudes)
The following article is a personal account of what Wing Chun master, sifu Wong Shun Leung feels are the main lessons he has learned about combat through his experiences of “beimo” or skill comparison, a somewhat subtle way of naming the many full-on fights he had with practitioners of literally dozens of Chinese and other fighting systems during his forty plus years as a Wing Chun devotee. The “beimo” is a long established tradition in the Chinese martial arts and in the Hong Kong of the 1950′s and 1960′s, one name shone out like a beacon when “beimo” was the topic of discussion. That name was Wong Shun Leung, student of Wing Chun patriarch Yip Man, classmate and trainer of Bruce Lee, and the man who became known in martial art circles as “Gong Sau Wong”, the “King of Talking with the Hands”. During these celebrated “contests”, which took place on rooftops, in back alleys, behind closed doors, in the countryside and anywhere else that was found to be convenient, sifu Wong is said to have never lost a fight, and most witnesses claim that the majority of exchanges took no more than three techniques to determine his victory. Quite a few of these “contests” were arranged by a journalist who was keen to conduct these “tests of skill” so as to obtain exclusive articles for his newspaper, “The Star”. Unlike the tournaments of today, these were real fights where rules and protective clothing were unknown, where serious injuries could and, occasionally, did take place, and where there was absolutely no room for “martial magic”. The “beimo” sorted out the martial artists from the bullshit artists.
From these experiences, and with much discussion with his teacher, grandmaster Yip Man, Sifu Wong developed his skills to what can only be described as an incredible level, and in doing so, brought the Wing Chun system to the attention of the Hong Kong martial arts community. He is even credited with modernizing the way in which the system is taught, even to the point of convincing Yip Man himself to rethink some concepts or techniques and actually change them or delete them from the Wing Chun forms and drills. To put it simply, Wong Shun Leung helped revolutionize what was already a highly effective fighting form and raised it to an even higher level of efficiency. He has influenced many people over the years, the late Bruce Lee being an obvious example (his art of Jeet Kune Do utilizing many of the concepts Wong put forward during the time that the two were training together and then later corresponding), and he continues to “spread the word” about his very practical approach to developing combat proficiency. This article has been translated from the original Chinese by his Australian student, David Peterson, a speaker of both Mandarin and Cantonese dialects, and a teacher of the “Wong Shun Leung Way” at the ‘Melbourne Chinese Martial Arts Club’ which he founded in 1983 following his “discovery” of sifu Wong’s method after more than 10 years of less efficient Wing Chun training.
The kind of fighting that I am referring to in this article is not that which one might see in the boxing ring because this kind of fight has been restricted by all kinds of rules and regulations, turning it into a game or sport which is far removed from real combat. What I am referring to here is the “real fight”, free of rules and restrictions whether it be as the result of a conflict, or by mutual agreement. Because fighting is relative, the opponents’ build and strength can and will directly affect the result of the conflict, therefore it is difficult to assume to know the outcome. The classic Chinese ‘Art of War’ by Sun Zi states, “In warfare, first lay plans which will ensure victory, and then lead your army to battle; if you will not begin with stratagem but rely on brute strength alone, victory will no longer be assured”. Each of these approaches can affect its counterpart in terms of cause and effect. Indeed, when it comes to the business of fighting, I fear that in an article of this size there is still much that cannot be adequately dealt with. But now I would like to discuss the most common mistakes made by Wing Chun practitioners in order that we can learn to avoid them.
1. CHI SAU
The Chi Sau (“sticky hands”) exercise is a reflex training drill that must be practiced repeatedly in order to develop skillful, quick and alert responses so as to satisfy the basic, essential requirements of the Wing Chun system, ie. “Intercept what comes; pursue what departs; when the hands are freed of obstructions, attack instinctively”. These are basic but profound principles which, when properly understood and drilled through Chi Sau, prepare the Wing Chun practitioner both mentally as well as physically for what should take place when one engages with the enemy and so, one gets into the contact condition from the very start. If detailed explanations are not given to the novice student, he or she will tend to over indulge the skill of Chi Sau, inventing their own interpretations until they end up following a totally incorrect form of Chi Sau which leads them straying from the intended path. For example, too much emphasis on the idea of “sticking to the hands” will cause such bad habits as “chasing the hands” of the opponent and thus totally contradict one of Wing Chun’s most basic fighting principles.
At the beginning of the “Young Idea” (Siu Nim Tau) form, one is taught the concept of “Chiu Ying”, or facing the opponent square-on, to facilitate favorable positioning even before the fight has commenced, allowing punches to be thrown along the shortest possible line with the most direct attack being able to be made on the opponent prior to contact being made with each other. Never is one asked in the basic form to consider doing “sticky hands” with the enemy as the range of motion possible by the hands is so wide that if one goes about “chasing the hands” the result is like a children’s game; you go left because he makes a sudden turn left, then you go right as he does, and so on. The result is that you always allow your enemy to dictate your actions, ending up in a passive position and unable to attack your intended target. By chasing the hands of the opponent in this way, like the man who puts the cart in front of the horse, you will end up at the mercy of the opponent. So, when fighting, one should fix one’s eyes firmly on the target with only one idea in mind, that of attacking the enemy most simply and directly. It is only if your attack meets with an obstruction that you have to change to attain your goal and this is where “sticky hands” comes into play, as a means to an end, that end being the winning of the fight.
2. GIVING THE ENEMY THE OPPORTUNITY TO STRIKE FIRST
To win or lose a fight often depends on who watches for his chance to attack the enemy first when both sides are fighting. As Sun Zi said, “When an invading force crosses a river in its onward march, it is best to let half the army get across, and then deliver your attack”. You will reap twice the result with half the effort if the attack is launched with such favorable timing as the opponent’s intention, developments and movements can all be readily determined. Should this strategy be applied, the opponent will find it especially difficult to co-ordinate his body, making advance or retreat virtually impossible and the loss of the fight by him inevitable. A common error made by inexperienced Wing Chun practitioners is to throw their punches from too far away, leaving a lot of distance between their opponent and themselves. Such a clumsy and rash move gives the enemy the opportunity to attack first.
Therefore, when engaged in combat with an opponent, never be impatient. Do not launch an attack until there’s a distance of one step between you and your enemy, then launch a sudden attack so as to force the enemy to be caught totally unprepared. Launching a sudden attack in this way, one gains the advantage of an extra step towards the enemy, making it extremely difficult for him to react in time, the result normally being a feeble attempt to move half a step to the right or left, or else retreat straight backwards. This makes it very easy to remain in contact with the enemy, maintaining control of the situation by affecting the enemy’s balance and positioning. You therefore avoid giving him the chance to attack first and take away his opportunity to manage the situation.
3. GIVE UP EXCESSIVE IDEALS
Having excessive ideals with regard to fighting will cause one to be far too nervous. Wing Chun theory is flawless indeed if one can accomplish it absolutely, but a theory is only just a theory, never can a person reach such a state of perfection, human beings are all apt to make mistakes at some time or another. In normal combat situations, most opponents are of more or less equal size and strength. Everyone has two hands and two feet, strengths and weaknesses, and so on. Each is subject to the same conditions and so each has to fight hard. The most determining factor overall is the level of skill each fighter possesses.
If the possibility of your winning is 70%, there is still a 30% possibility of being attacked. If we look at World Championship boxing contests, even the winner of the match has to take many blows from his opponent in order to finalize the competition. Nowadays, however, many Wing Chun coaches make exaggerated boasts and purposely turn simple things into mysteries, misleading their students with “fairy tales”. They deceive others and themselves. This is the height of shame. It would be a far better idea to prepare the student both mentally and physically before fighting, informing them of the realities of fighting, especially that it is expected that one may have to in fact take one or more blows upon one’s own body in the course of the fight. Thus, when engaged in fighting, you will not be full of misgivings and be at a loss as to what to do.
4. AVOID HESITATION AT ALL COSTS
In order to fight, both parties must be within the distance whereby they can attack each other. Both have equal opportunity to attack, yet there is no time to think of the fight in terms of punches and kicks. The skills and experiences brought about by routine training will be brought into full play at this time. The question of victory or defeat is more or less an open one, to be determined by what one has within. No matter what happens, one must never hesitate once the engagement has begun. To do so will bring about many unnecessary troubles. The high kicks that one often sees in the movies that are performed continuously with consummate ease are, in reality, without foundation. If applied in a real fight, it is difficult, if not impossible, to land a second such kick should the first one be successful.
Whether the enemy falls down or not, he will be out of position for any follow up kicking technique to be effective. Perhaps, if the enemy is hit by a side kick and retreats backwards in a straight line, you may have the opportunity to kick continuously, but the Laws of Physics make such a situation highly unlikely. If the enemy is fearful of the fight, he will draw back quickly and your second kick will surely fail since your first kick would have also failed to find its mark, the timing rhythm being all wrong, just as in dance and music. Only those who hesitate will be punched. One must retreat or advance as the situation dictates, or else the chance to control the situation will disappear in the twinkle of an eye.
The above points will not teach you how to win, but will enable you to decrease your mistakes as much as possible. In fact, if you want to win, it will depend on whether or not you practice hard and persistently, your will to win the fight, perseverance, the development of physical power, confidence, and so on. As for the supreme state of “calm heart and refined breathing” (ie. the ability to fight calmly and with total control of mind & body), attaining that will be on the basis of all the above conditions.
Psychological Aspects of Martial Arts
by Ah Loong
All martial arts systems have sets of movements, (Katas, Forms, etc.,) as well as various drills, to develop physical strength, various techniques, ease of movement/agility and to develop the mind.
According to the cultural, historical and philosophical background of the individual martial arts styles different aspects of the art are emphasized. The movements/ techniques in some systems are more circular, others choose a straight line principle and some fall somewhere in the middle. In some systems development of a strong striking force is emphasized and some choose to concentrate in trapping and grappling techniques. Some systems endeavor to keep the opponent at a distance and others prefer a much closer proximity. And so the list goes on! Any approach has its advantages as well as its disadvantages. Thus, unless one can develop extra arms and legs, one cannot claim to have developed “the prefect martial arts system”.
Martial arts systems also emphasize, to various degrees, the need to develop the mental aspects of the art. The techniques range from carrying out the forms using an imaginary foe to maintaining an attitude of battle readiness (intent) whilst practicing with your sparing partner, to sparing full contact, to sitting meditation, Qi Gong, etc.
One can write forever about the various aspects of the art. However, I am going to restrict the rest of this article to the mental aspects of martial arts.
Personally, I have benefited greatly from practicing Qi Gong and sitting meditation. I found them extremely useful in developing internal strength, a strong stable stance, and calmness of mind. However, maintaining an attitude of battle readiness, using an imaginary opponent or imagining your sparing session is for real, although they help to develop your mind, they do not go far enough to prepare you for a real combat situation.
Normally, in my experience, what happens is that a martial arts student either never experiences real combat or he/she is eventually considered advanced enough to enter full contact sparing. Most full contact sparing sessions are supervised and have rules. However, more often than not, what happens to someone facing a full contact fight is that they become very concerned with hitting their opponent, everything they have learnt flies out of the window and the whole thing becomes a mess. If you fight full contact long enough you may eventually begin to get used to it and finally learn to stop panicking. On the streets there are no rules, no one stops to see if you are hurt and if you do get hurt the fight still carries on. It is entirely different when someone tries to hit you for real, they do not wait for you to do your counter, do not behave in a prearranged predictable manner and do not follow any rules. In western boxing sparing full contact is the only way used to train fighters. It is also common practice in most other martial art systems. Whereas some people are naturally able to face adverse situations such as this and some others may eventually normalize to real combat through such exercises, there are still students who may be demoralized at the prospects of “loosing it all” in a full contact fight. The feeling of being faced with someone coming at you is not pleasant to say the least. I know of many martial arts practitioners who were either so demoralized that they gave up martial arts or decided to ignore the facts and concern themselves with doing the forms/katas, etc.
However, it need not be like that! The techniques and exercises which already exit can be utilized and further adapted to overcome this difficulty in a much more efficient way. In Chen Tai Ji the forms are performed with the emphasis put upon an awareness of the posture as well as the Qi flow. In Wing Chun when the forms are performed more advanced students are expected to develop an awareness of the whole body. Sometimes, in Wing Chun boxing, the forms are performed slow as if they are Qi Gung forms in order to develop this awareness as well as to develop the Qi flow. Sparing or performing the forms with intent and conviction is important and so are all the other methods described above. One must not lose sight of the reasons and intentions behind all these training methods. They were created in order to develop the mind and prepare it for battle. Without a calm clear mind, no matter how good your techniques, you will have little chance of success in a real combat situation.
You may have a good stance, a powerful punch, the aggression but not the ability to keep a cool head and keep calm. Without that calmness of mind (the spirit) you will be in big trouble. When the mind is not calm the Qi moves up, the mind clutters up, your stance will weaken. It is not easy to floor a moving, thinking target that hits you back even if you have solid punch. Your mind needs to stay sharp and clear in order to outmaneuver your opponent.
What happens in most combat situations is that your mind becomes fixated on your opponent. You watch his moves and try to guess what he is going to do, etc. In short you lose the awareness of your own body and psyche. You also give up the initiative to your opponent by waiting for him to do something so you can react to it. You must learn to respond and not react, to be aware of your own Qi, body, posture, etc. The main point of Chi Sao in Wing Chun is about developing that kind of awareness and sensitivity, not developing hands sensitive to touch as some practitioners seem to think.
Try this out! Find a partner and ask him to spar with you. Ask him to try to actually strike you and you just defend yourself by blocking the attacks. Concentrate on him and his moves; react to his attacks and movements. I can confidently say you will not feel very comfortable. You will find yourself constantly on the defensive, psychologically as well as physically, and eventually you will be hit quite a bit.
Now do the same thing again, but this time, before you start, take some time to relax your mind, then start to raise your awareness of your own movements, body posture, Qi and psyche. Maintain this state of mind whilst your sparing partner attacks you. Provided you can maintain this state of mind I am positive you will find yourself responding to the attacks with confidence. Your Qi will remain low, your stance strong and psychologically you will have the upper hand. You will also find yourself parrying most, if not all, the attacks as well as putting your sparing partner on the defensive.
You can only feel, sense and experience your environment through your own senses. By concentrating on your opponent your mind becomes disconnected and you are no longer “centred”. As I mentioned earlier, all that I have said already exists in all martial art systems. All it takes is to look for them through eyes and minds not clouded by the limitations we put upon them.
There is also an exercise you can do to help you develop this awareness. Find a quite place and sit yourself down comfortably. Close your eyes and begin by feeling your left toes. Become aware of them and all the feelings in them. Extend your awareness to your left foot, (toes, ankle) then your left calf muscles up to your thigh and hip till you are aware of the feelings in the whole of your left leg. Then extend your awareness to your back, belly, chest, up the back of your neck and throat, back of your head to the crown of your head and down your face, and ears. Then you extend your awareness to your left shoulder, down your left arm to your wrist, palm and fingers.
Go on to extend your awareness further to your right shoulder, down your right arm, wrist, palm and fingers. Continue to extend your awareness to your right thigh, calf muscles, ankle and toes. You should now be aware of your whole body. This does not mean concentrating on a particular point, all you need to be is to be aware of the feelings and sensations in your body. Now extend your awareness to the sounds reaching you from your surroundings. No matter how faint, just become aware of them, but do not attempt to listen to them. After having done that, slowly open your eyes and, in the same way, become aware of what is in your visual field. You can then look around whilst maintaining this state. Practice this for ten minutes at first and then extend the duration to thirty minutes.
This exercise will help you develop a feeling of awareness that you need to have in combat. Then you can try to access and maintain this state in your sparing sessions and when performing your forms. Although most people do report to feel relaxed after this exercise, this is not a relaxation drill. Neither it is self hypnosis. The process in hypnosis relies entirely on different mechanisms.
As I mentioned again and again, this is nothing new. Sitting meditation and the way forms are performed in Tai Ji follow the same rationale. I can go into long winded details as to how and why this is important and how it works. The theoretical discussions to do with such exercises are perhaps more suitable for a separate article. Besides, “If it works, don’t fix it!” Just try this method and note the difference. With practice I am sure everyone would be able to enhance their martial arts performance.
You can visit Ah Loong at the Fatshan Wing Chun Association, Great Britain