9-15-04
Question: The relentlessness that we use to apply our art, for example, how we are taught to "follow-up," is this not related to the single-mindedness that Buddhist use to overcome "worldly illusions and excessive ambition?"
Answer: Sure, in the long run martial arts is all about developing oneself to his or hers highest potential. As for excessiveness, Jimmy used to say, "How many cigars can one man smoke" or "how many new cars can one man drive." So yeah, Jimmy made the point about excessive ambition all the time.
Phil's comment: When student use to follow-up excessively, I remember Jimmy saying, "You don't need to drop more than one atom bomb to do the job."
Answer: As for the single-minded relentless approach we use in fighting, it is because the monks devised the art based on the concepts of; Right View, Right Thought, Right Action, Right Effort, and Right Attention, which they integrated into the art in a philosophical and psychological manner. Let me break this down to make it easier to understand.
A. Right View: This requires that we ask ourselves as we practice, "Why I am doing what I'm doing?" This means we must examine our actions, reasons and desired goals behind each motion, be it body or mind. As Jimmy (Chan Duk) would say, "You cannot just do anything you like because it feels good to you, or because you want to, there must be a reason behind it." Here "right view" as it relates to relentlessly pursuing our opponent means if I give my opponent a chance, he will most likely do me great bodily harm. But, if I can immediately control him, I may be able to save my life and his. Therefore, always know why you act and what that act produces in the long run.
Phil's comment: This relates to attacking first, to initiate control. Once the opponent is controlled we can chose what to do with him. I remember Jimmy said, "You don't gouge your friend in the eye because he made a comment about your girl friend that you didn't like." Right view would include being judicious.
B. Right Thought (attitude and character): Another reason we pursue our adversary is to teach our body to feel and our mind to think with confidence (attitude). However, "right thought" also applies to correct judgment (character) by dropping bad mental habits such as, I'm weak, or I can't do this. Also, by pursuing the opponent until he is controlled, you know you can do it, which builds confidence.
C. Right Action: This means, once you decide to commit to an action, is your action well planned, or is it an aimless procedure. If you want to become a Doctor, you must execute each step along to the best of your ability. You cannot work at Mc Donald's one day and decide to be a Surgeon the next. You must take the appropriate actions, the ones that advance you to your goal. Thus, when you follow-up on your opponent, you have taken the necessary steps to ensure that if you happen to miss the target, you will connect with it on the following moves. In addition, this follow-up motion teaches the mind to be ready, just in case.
D. Right Effort: This means, once you start your pursuit, are you giving it a 100%, or is it halfhearted. Jimmy used to say; "You can't be out there on the floor thinking about something you want to watch on TV while you are practicing." "If you want to be the best, or get ahead in life, you have to give 100%."
E. Right Attention: This is where the phrase "single-mindedness" really comes into play. It relates to being aware of what your feeling, thinking and doing. This refers to concentrating on our every movement, and the opponent's every movement. For example, how we hit and how he reacts - is he still standing, has he fallen etc. Concentration is of the utmost importance.
In addition, all these things boil down to the four basic concepts of fighting. These concepts are seen in most martial arts that are related to Buddhism. They are:
For every strike, a target.
For every target, a reason.
For every reason, a purpose.
Let there be no wasted motion.
Phil's comment: So you could some up it by saying that these four concepts lead the practitioner to be relentless, effective and efficient. Ultimately, isn't relentless effective efficiency the base character trait of well-educated kung fu san soo artists? And using it keeps Kung fu San Soo alive and practical in our activities and integrates it into daily life.
Yes, the first three concepts address effectiveness and the last concept addresses efficiency. San Soo does develop relentlessness and its techniques are designed to be not only effective, but efficient - economy of motion.
Question 1) Does competition have a place in kung fu San Soo?
Answer: No, the art was designed by the monks to be offensive, immediately gaining advantage. San Soo is not defensive. Even when the opponent strikes first, we attack the attack - always on the offense. That is why we are taught not to argue with a man, get into a ring with him, push or shove him back and forth, or wait for him to attack first. The art uses attacking technique so we can control the outcome from the very start and not have to worry about what our adversary is going to do, or have to fight a man that is full of adrenaline, which would require expending ten times the amount of energy to get the job done.
Tsai Li Fo san soo people have trouble with tournament competition because the art is being taken out of the purpose it was designed for, the element of surprise. Once you add even one rule to fighting, it becomes a game. Even announcing your intention to fight goes against the purpose of Tsai Li Fo san soo. Secondly, the monks did not design the art so they could punch everyone out. Attacking first, they could quickly control the opponent and inflect only the damage needed to neutralize the situation and prevent further damage to the opponent and themselves. In this way, attacking is humane. Tournament fighting is out of character with ancient Buddhist authentic's.
And Lastly, many Tsai Li Fo san soo stylists are not training properly for such things. Many techniques such as; Tui Shou (pushing hands), Chi Sao (sticky hands), and Chi Fa (sticky power) are either not taught, or not practiced. These techniques are extremely necessary to know in the event one is grabbed, or finds him/herself in a clinch. This is, because they teach the stylist how to follow and redirect the opponent's power and technique back against himself automatically. This is especially true if the stylists technique has been stopped. In addition, without this knowledge, one is totally dependent on his eyesight, which some times cannot see quick enough, see at all, or is tricked into seeing something that is not there. Whereas, sticky and pushing hand theories rely only on sensing (feeling) and reflexes which are based on a subconscious reaction. Only when these are learned and applied properly, can one actually execute the san soo (free hand) technique correctly.
Question 2; Being Yourself) Many are still fascinated by the man who brought Choi li ho fut hung kung fu in a san soo style (San Soo) to America. What did he say to you that influenced you to change your character?
Answer: Yeah...Be yourself, be who you are and do not go against what is natural to you.
Question 3; Dignity) Is there any one personal incident that you could share from which we could benefit or learn; do you remember a moment, situation or something Jimmy said or illustrated that inspired you to better yourself in a humanistic way or gave you a sense of responsibility or maturity?
Answer: Well there are so many, but once he told me, "Always take care of your dignity, inner soul and spirit." I asked Jimmy what he meant and he replied, "In order to have dignity and pride in yourself, do not allow others to put you down or belittle your character, otherwise your soul and spirit will become covered over with dirt causing you to lose it. Once this happens, life will seem hopeless and dark." This does not mean you punch out, or threaten everyone that says something to you that you do not like, It just means you set boundaries with people. I've always followed those words.
Question 4; Slowness) On the mat, to what would you like to see kung fu students pay more attention?
Answer: Students should practice slowly. A calm rhythm in practice reveals errors and inefficiency in your performance and builds natural speed when you need it.
Question 5; Speed) Jimmy once said to me that speed and strength was like salt and sugar in cooking, it hides bad technique. Is there a time for speed and strength while training?
Answer: Once in a while, but for the most part No!. This question really takes us back to slowness for two reasons; 1. Hard and fast workouts burns a persons body out before its time. 2. You cannot improve yourself. Even if you think you improving, it is only by a small amount. For instance, if you write your name on the palm of your hand and pass it across the in front of someone's face very fast, they could not tell you what it said. This is because, the mind cannot read it, its just one big blur to the eyes and mind. But, if you move the same hand slowly, the mind see what's there, including every detail on the hand. Working out is the same. That is, when going fast, everything is just a blur to the mind. It can improve what it cannot see, thus, one can never reach his/hers highest point of perfect.
Question 6; Workouts) At times during a workout, my co-practitioner would try to enter my attack area and gain the advantage by leading the attack. It seems that he is trying to dictate the rhythm of the workout. What I do, is make sure that after the technique is complete, I leave plenty of space between him and I by clearing the area before the next attack. Do you have any other suggestions on how to maintain calm and slow training?
Answer: Tsai li fo san soo is a very involved art. If you or your teacher do not have all the information you need when learning, you will feel poor inside. This is what's happening here. In order to keep you confidence intact when working out with someone, there is a predetermined amount of power that you must hit your partner with on the very first strike in order to shock and freeze up his mind, as well as, produce the correct body reaction in him/her. This allows you to control and lead him where ever you want throughout the entire technique. If this is not done, you will be struggling with him from start to finish time after time.
Question 7; Techniques) Which is more important, having a larger variety of techniques or better execution of fewer techniques?
Answer: Both, if you have a large variety of technique but can't properly execute them, then they are worthless. But if you have only a small amount of techniques, even though you can do them perfectly, your ability will still be lacking when it comes to getting the job done. That is, if you know 30 or 40 words, even if you know them really well, you will still not be able to communicate very well with others. Fighting is the same.
Question 8; Fighting Arts) Fighting arts seem to be concerned with technique only. Oriental martial arts appear to have cultural protocol inside the experience which have a history that includes spirituality. Do you see a difference between fighting arts, and martial arts?
Answer: Very much so!. Fighting arts for the most part emphasize getting in the ring with someone and beating the pee out of them. They do not care much about respect for their teacher, or fellow students. At this level, the teacher is a more like a coach. Martial arts such as Karate, Aikido and Kung fu requires one to take the teacher and his teaching to heart, literally and figuratively. It is a way of bettering your mind, body and spirit, although that might not have been your original intention.
However, spirituality seems to have been lost in all but a few arts. A kung fu school that develops complete warriors has the Mo Duk (Wu Te) code of ethics that Jimmy and some other martial arts schools (outside kung fu san soo) uphold.
Question 9; Ethics) In the Warrior's Code, it says:
Use your martial skills for the good of humanity
Preserve this Chinese art and its Rules of Conduct
Pass on the tradition
Be conservative, cultured and gentle in your manners
Limit your desires and pursuit of bodily pleasures
Do you see tournament fighting as contrary to the above-mentioned code?
Answer: Yes, this goes back again to the answer, I gave in the very first question.
Question 10; Ethics) Does this code separate oriental martial artists and fighting artists?
Answer: Yes, if the others do not have a code. That is, all fighting systems must have a code of rules to live by, if they do not, the rules of man and society begin to break down and we become like animals, and lose our humanity and civility toward each other. That is why all true Buddhist base martial arts follow such a code. It is also why most civilization have a code called the "Geneva Conventions".
Question 11; Rules) You mean society begins to lose its overall character.
Answer: Yes, this is the base reason. But overall things must follow rules or they will not survive. That is, a tree has tree rules; it does not grow or look like a carrot bush. A face has face rules; the nose is not on the chin, and the eyes are not on the forehead. If things do not follow their natural rules, they will die or become twisted and distorted.
Phil's Follow Up Remarks: This happens to man if he does not develop natural character, which I believe man's natural character is goodness. I have seen people change because they lose confidence in their natural character. They put ambition and gain too far in front of their responsibility to their natural character, which is to be good and kind, follow the ways of the Warrior's Code.
Question 12; Code) Should the Warrior's Code be taught in kung fu schools?
Answer: Yes, if it is not, then what you create is a person without love and compassion for themselves or other human beings. In addition, fighting arts alone are not good for one's mind, heart and soul. They must be tempered with humanity or the heart becomes hardened and character suffers.
Question 13) Do you consider the Warrior's Code spiritual, in the sense of a man's spirit being how he conducts himself (non-religious)?
Answer: Yes, this goes back to what I was saying about humanity. The whole idea of practicing martial arts is to preserve our mind and body, and that of one's adversary. Anyone can hurt another person there is no merit in that. If all you want to do is hurt others, buy a baseball bat.
Question 14) I was once told by a fighting artist, "I buy my milk at the market, not the library. If I want character development, I will go to a specialist. If I want fighting technique, I will go to someone who specializes in fighting technique."
Answer: This is a very funny statement. It is like saying, I can read, I don't need to know how to write or spell. However, what it comes down to is the yin/yang, being balanced and a whole person, which is the proper goal of kung fu and martial arts. To be complete and whole requires one to learn more than just fighting. Anyone can fight or hurt another person. Kung fu taught in the context of the Warrior's Code teaches not to hurt other needlessly, it also teaches that the more things you know how to do in life the better you can deal with yourself, others and life in general. The world is not black and white and life is not just about fighting technique. If you want to be happy, healthy and live well you have to have a black belt in living, fighting alone is not going to nourish and enrich your soul. Also, this goes back to question/answer # 10.
Phil's Follow Up Remarks: Ask him when he gets thirsty at the library what he puts first, his thirst or gaining more knowledge. He can live without more knowledge but if he does not quench his thirst, he will suffer and eventually die a horrible death. This is putting what is less important in front of what is more important. Just like putting fighting technique in front of personal development. What is less important should not be put in front of what is more important.
Question 15; Rules) Do students need character development?
Answer: Again, this just goes back to what we have been discussing. Rules must be followed in order to develop your fullest potential. I can plant an apple tree in the ground, but if I don't water it, pull the weeds around it and fertilize it, it will die or not produce fruit you can eat. Building character is the same.
Question 16) We have established that a kung fu teacher is more than a fighting arts coach. So, is it the teacher's responsibility to prepare his students to use their newfound power for humanistic purposes or is a kung fu teacher unconcerned with how the students wield their fighting power?
Answer: Absolutely, it is a teacher's job to influence his students to be the best version of themselves they can be, not just to be proficient fighters. To do this you must be able to read each student's initial character then mold them according to their own elements, their own natural way - not to the teacher's way or elements. You can't make an apple tree a pear tree. There is a whole set of precise rules and regulations that have been passed down from the monks on how to do this. In addition, as a teacher, you must decide what you can and cannot teach certain students. You cannot just hand a child a loaded gun and then say, "Go Play."