my visit with hendrik

[theo]

Hey all,

Recently I was visiting some family and along the way made the journey up to visit Hendrik and wanted to share about the experience with all of us WCners. It was a great experience and I thank him for taking the time to share with me. All credit and respect to Hendrik, GM CHC and the ancestors.

The first day, I did a short demo of my SLT and the first thing mentioned was that my lower body was not connected. I theoretically knew the description and meaning of it but it wasn't until Hendrik pointed this out that I realized I was actually guilty of it! From there, we discussed the six direction force. All three-dimensional motion can be described as a combination of these pairs. Each pair must be balanced to maintain a neutral body. When all forces are balanced, then the net force on the body should be zero.

I also saw the first section of the Yik Kam SLT. Hendrik was very soft and fluid in his movements, and when observed closely, the entire body is alive in the stance with balanced 6 direction force. What good is the training of a dynamic sensing art if our bodies are locked down and rigid? We are only stuck dead, bolted to the ground. But a live SLT is in dynamic balance, the movement in the details...

A great Hendrik quote is: The 6 directional force is the ticket to enter the movie theater.

We then discussed a little about what is hua jing and peng jing. For peng jing, I placed both hands on Hendrik's arm and he generated a ward-off type of force that when I pressed, was like pushing against a wall. For hua jing, Hendrik allowed me to find his center of gravity and then easily adjusted so that I could not find it again.

Also, let me also say that Hendrik was able to generate some impressive force even though he was just showing some concepts. So, even though I ain't seen nothing yet, it was pretty cool!

[CFT]

Thanks for sharing your experience Theo. Sounds similar to visits by other people to Hendrik. He has many detractors on the forum but his real life persona seems much different to the online one.

[Hendrik]

I have shown you these in the real world
http://wingchunkuen.com/modules.php?...&p=13374#13374

The rest is your journey and your own karma.

[theo]

Glad you liked it CFT.

During my visit, we went over some simple walking exercises that are easy to do and will have great benefit in loosening up the body. The first one is forward backward movement and the second one involves twisting spine movements. Each of them open up different energy channels and should be performed naturally, loosely. You should not feel tired after doing this simple exercise but light and refreshed.

1. With hands on the hips starting from a neutral stance, first take a step with the left foot, stepping out with the left heel. There is a slight bend at the waist before finishing the step (only heel was touching before, now the whole foot is) and then slide the dan tien area forward, letting most of the body weight rest on the leg in front. Then repeat on the other side.

2. The next walking exercise. Starting from neutral stance, we take a step forward and place the foot at almost a 90 degree angle to our front facing direction. The back foot is in natural forward facing direction. We then do the same thing on the opposite side.

Whether or not you believe in energy channels, qi, these are simple exercises that can benefit your health with daily practice. Big thanks to Hendrik for sharing this with us all!

[theo]

I have shown you these in the real world
http://wingchunkuen.com/modules.php?...&p=13374#13374

The rest is your journey and your own karma.

All respect to you, GM CHC, Yik Kam and the ancestors! I for one value and appreciate all of the teachings and preservation with great consideration.

And will keep you updated on how things go, Won't forget the source of the water!

[Runlikehell]

Very interesting. I'm going to try these walking exercises for myself.

[Graham H]

Thanks for sharing your experience Theo. Sounds similar to visits by other people to Hendrik. He has many detractors on the forum but his real life persona seems much different to the online one.

As I guess it would be with everybody.................... even Terence.

[Hendrik]

During my visit, we went over some simple walking exercises that are easy to do and will have great benefit in loosening up the body. The first one is forward backward movement and the second one involves twisting spine movements. Each of them open up different energy channels and should be performed naturally, loosely. You should not feel tired after doing this simple exercise but light and refreshed.....

These are taken out from the Yik Kam salutation... two basic conditioning of the body, the forward backward loosing of spine and the twisting loosing of spine... thus they cover the basic of the body movements, open up different sets of medirians...

It has a good benifit to health if one do it everyday for 100 steps with ease like extremely light walking, when the stomach is not full or about an hour after eating. Remember if while doing it one doesnt feel good. stop doing it. using the body as the indication. dont feel good is an indication of either did it wrong or not suit to the body..

the first one looks like 21.17 --22. the second one looks like 23.40 with the hand rest on the waist. all got to do with medirians....

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/PCfwINzHcGs/


I have been working on reconstructing the details of what is there in the 4 section Yik Kam slt for decades... so it is not just a set but lots of stuffs in it....

Dont do or do too many of the first one if one has a LOW blood pressure condition. Never do all of step with heavy breathing (if one could heard one's breathing it is too heavy, if one trying to manual the breathing that is too heavy, one needs to let the breathing flow by itself unnotice and relax, no physical brute force either)

[Hendrik]

All respect to you, GM CHC, Yik Kam and the ancestors! I for one value and appreciate all of the teachings and preservation with great consideration.

And will keep you updated on how things go, Won't forget the source of the water!

You are welcome.

[kung fu fighter]

He is pushing right in my chest, so I dont have arm to change and also since it is chest no step or angle to change. Let Theo tell you..

Thanks for the reply Hendrik!

So you are adjusting the angle of your body in relation to the opponent's force so that the opponent can't can't find a solid place to exert his force onto, as he would if you were doing peng jin? ( similar to yang lu chan holding a sparrow in his hand and not allowing it to take off because he adjust to the sparrow's leg pressure)

I had a friend who did wu tai chi whom as well as wing chun, in chi sao he was able to do this really well when you apply force against his body.

[Hendrik]

Thanks for the reply Hendrik!

So you are adjusting the angle of your body in relation to the opponent's force so that the opponent can't can't find a solid place to exert his force onto, as he would if you were doing peng jin? ( similar to yang lu chan holding a sparrow in his hand and not allowing it to take off because he adjust to the sparrow's leg pressure)

I had a friend who did wu tai chi whom as well as wing chun, in chi sao he was able to do this really well when you apply force against his body.

I delete my reply post because I like to leave it to Theo.

Your theory sound interesting however what you think is not what I do. Read my post again, I clearly said nothing todo with angle.

[JPinAZ]

These are taken out from the Yik Kam salutation... two basic conditioning of the body, the forward backward loosing of spine and the twisting loosing of spine... thus they cover the basic of the body movements, open up different sets of medirians...

I have been working on reconstructing the details of what is there in the 4 section Yik Kam slt for decades... so it is not just a set but lots of stuffs in it....

Curious why you would have to 'reconstruct' yik kam slt for so long? (specially if you are lineage holder as you claim to be) Didn't you learn these things from your sifu when you learned YK WC decades ago?

[Hendrik]

Curious why you would have to 'reconstruct' yik kam slt for so long?

That depend on how deep and details and maximization of the practice effect one like to go into. It involves verification, attainment, and mastering.

For example, using two simple steps which usually most 95% will miss to open up 80% of the body's channel. and when one is doing it needs to get the effect of open up that 80% of the body's channel.

It is not about mimic something others do but make what one practice alive.


Another example

Sergio brought up a great point in 3.23 about Ip Man's practice. what is the reason behind the two practices and how to do it properly? and how long one needs to take to truely knows what is going on? that type of things need to be iron out. and that takes lots of time and dedication.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4eWIAYvf9Q

Didn't you learn these things from your sifu when you learned YK WC decades ago?

Learn and mastering is a very different thing. learning the set and knowing each bits and be able to use each bit is a different thing.

Using Yik Kam writing's description as a reference and target intending to capture and arive as describe depend on one's level of kung fu and kung fu is a journey often needed decades to attain.


A sifu can only lead one to the door and the rest is one's own journey. Practicing an art is a journey not watching a movie. even one has the 6 directional force vectors tool as a tikect to get into the cinema, one still has to practice...and practice.

[JPinAZ]

And I thought Wing Chun was supposed to be simple

I understand practice and we all need that (and some much more-so than others), but when someone says they have been "working on reconstructing the details of what is there in the 4 section Yik Kam slt for decades", that says to me that something isn't complete, or it is lost, and they are attempting to put it back together - that's reconstructing.

Using Yik Kam writing's description as a reference and target intending to capture and arive as describe depend on one's level of kung fu and kung fu is a journey often needed decades to attain.

I wouldn't think someone claiming to be a lineage holder of an art would still be having to piece together their art from some writings of it's inventor. To me, that sounds more like someone trying to learn kung fu from a book or, they don't really know the system as it's inventor intended so they are trying to make it up.

[Hendrik]

And I thought Wing Chun was supposed to be simple

Thought is not Kung fu, in fact, thought is misleading. Ask Theo what lesson he learn from something even simple.

I understand practice and we all need that (and some much more-so than others), but when someone says they have been "working on reconstructing the details of what is there in the 4 section Yik Kam slt for decades", that says to me that something isn't complete, or it is lost, and they are attempting to put it back together - that's reconstructing.

Same with any art which passed in a long time,
150 years after Yik Kam , lots of indepth things are distorted, lots of things are lost reference to the kuen kuit that is a fact. either one face it and reconstruct it to get back the essense or one keep on thinking one is right but ignore the distortion.

in every generation there are reconstruct or rework needed because no sifu is perfect and no sifu knows it all. So there always room needed for repair/reconstruct. and it happen in any art and any lineage if the art or lineage is an alive one. That is just a part of evolution.

There is no such thing as I do it as what my sifu and his sifu and his sifu's sifu did and that its. it is can one get the result as what the writing says disregards of what my sifu and his sifu and his sifu's sifu's did. if not, then go back to scratch board and research until the day you could get the result.


As even in Zen or Chan, every generation, those who is enlightement and having the mind seal working to reconstruct the buddha's teaching for the present time. look at what late Ven Hsu Yun does. that is the reality.

I wouldn't think someone claiming to be a lineage holder of an art would still be having to piece together their art from some writings of it's inventor.

To me, that sounds more like someone trying to learn kung fu from a book or, they don't really know the system as it's inventor intended so they are trying to make it up.

1, who care what is a lineage holder title means? I dont.
and title or label doesnt mean anything in the context of can one activate the engine of the art.

2, Your thinking is true for tribal logic which assume the chief of the tribe always = GOD and everything is linear. In the real world, that is not going to happen. after the second generation of the inventor. any art after the second generation evolution things will be distorted or lost when time passed. that is reality.

3, One cant learn kung fu from a book but a kuen kuit when understood precisely can lead one to advance kung fu beyond's one's kung fu. Refer to a Kuen kuit is not about dont know the system instead it is about making the system alive and refinement.




Welcome to the real world instead of simplified tribal type of world as in the Shaw's brother Kung fu movies, "this is not Kansas any more TOTO." as it says in Alice in the wonder land.

I would love to live in a world like what you think too.