train more, train more, train more...
Here is the announcement of a recent seminar I went to last december:
"Special Workshop
Qin Na Techniques and Practical Use
Presented by Master Gu Xin Fa, retired Chinese Military trainer and Police Academy coach.
He lives in Tianjin, China now has short visit in USA - Master Gu Xin Fa has taught Qin Na, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and other skills used in catching criminals over his long career in military and police training.
He will present a special routine for practicing Qin Na, and Qin Na techniques and teach students how use Qin Na skill for practical use. Students will practice with partners.
Students will learn new skills for effective fighting, deflecting, and winning in a fighting situation.
Date: December 15, 2012: 11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
Location: Chinese Medicine for Health, 1564A Washington St. Holliston, MA"
Ok, he taught us one of his forms, which at my point in my training, helped to address a few things, so I'm glad I learned it and still drill it. The chin na was useful also, especially moving out of a chin na lock. When I did some BASIC push hands with this master, he said in chinese that if i didnt change my postural alignment he would continue to take advantage of me- that to me is one of the golden nuggets I can take away from push hands- checking my postural alignments, keep rotating, etc. Definitly not the say all/ end all, especially relative to combat, but a useful training tool no doubt.
Master Gu Xin Fa was sponsored by one of my teacher's, Dr. Aihan Kuhn, a chinese doctor who also promotes qigong/ tai ji. Chinese martial art and chinese medicine grew together, havent you ever seen iron monkey?. I also train traditional longfist, Hua Quan (Glorious Boxing/ China Fist), at another school location, and consider myself a serious strudent as far as that is concerned. Yes, I started my training in 2009 so I am a newbie, but hey I am also still young/ training daily. In sparring our teachers want us using our arms/legs/ etc in sets and the philosophy is "defend, disrupt and destroy." I enjoy the kickboxing energy at times, but also using throws/ takedowns, joint locks and yes, applying some of my push hands lessons into it. The "external" stance training from this style has also helped my rooting alot.
Hmm. One time I worked in a Thai restaurant before, and have been exposed to a little muay thai, at least seen the way they work some of the techniques, by an old man who has trained muay thai since he was a boy. I have gotten a thai massage before too, and was blown away that the way a thai boxer and a thai messeuer look at the body as a system IS THE SAME. It is the same way with the chinese and their arts, or at least was (in some cases still IS) traditionally. Some of the qigong sets I have learned from Dr. Aihan include sets performing reverse punches in slow motion being pulled back into chamber, a clear with a knee raise, raising the legs into various hooking/trapping/pulling postures, etc. I tell you true those qigong techniques can be martially applied- also- how about rotating the neck and upper body to avoid, say, a spear thrust? I trained qigong/ tai ji for 1 year and a half before breaking into longfist and other styles. Essentially i consider it a good foundation, at least i am not prone to do something stupid and hurt myself in training. in one of the first hua quan classes i took a few years ago, a student (who is no longer there) tried to kick me but i hooked his leg instead, and threw him down, using a technique straight out of the qigong routine I had been training. Anyway as they say, I dont put as much emphasis on my qigong anymore, what was appropriate for me to do at one point in time does not always stay consistent- I pretty much have a few qigong moves I keep that addresses what I need, and the hua quan training (a true internal/external style) can address the rest, whether its striking power, stance work, etc. also cross training in other styles, like developing a mean "beng quan" from hsing yi quan- even if it means thats what i have to do to get a real good vertical punch- hey, i'll take it!!! I am new to this forum, I hope know one minds me ranting about what insights i've come across in my training so far. Later,
-Matt.