As you'll read about in my Publisher's note in our upcoming Nov+Dec 2013 issue, the O-Mei Kung Fu Academy where I was previously training closed. Master Tony Chen sold the facility to Wing Martial & Cultural Arts Academy. My coach, Yan Fei, has decided to take a break from teaching and support his fiancee (remember, he formally disrobed a long time ago) in her bakery business Moos Cakes. Seriously, he's a Shaolin baker now.
Wing Academy has hired on Shi Yantuo, who worked at O-Mei for a spell in 2010, but then moved on to another school. He eventually left there and has since been a freelance monk, teaching mostly privates. We've kept close over the last few years, working on some articles and even developing a DVD on Tamo Cane. So I'm back under Yantuo, mostly taking privates because he has yet to build up much of an adult student body at this new location for him. If you're in the area, join us. The teacher/student ratio is awesome. Here's Yantuo's website: ShaolinTradition.com.
So now, Yantuo is starting me all over again and I'm very pleased to go back to the basics, as it's all about those basics. He is currently just working me on two forms: Xiaohongquan and Meihuadao.
In my private practice, I'm still doing Baduanjin and trying to maintain Yan Fei's Qixing Tanglang and Bajiquan. I've also been dabbling in the Simplified 24 Tai Chi since Kung Fu Tai Chi Day 2013, but I must confess that I'm not taking that very seriously right now.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
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Lian Huan, Xiao Hong, CHXYM, Rou Quan Yi Lu
Xiao Hong is still ugly........
I love XHQ. It's a brilliant form, the mother form of Songshan Shaolin. It's so dense. I first learned in it '95 and have studied it under maybe half a dozen monks by now, and continue to extract new angles and ideas from it. As Kung Fu forms go, XHQ is a masterpiece.
Or do you mean that your personal rendition of XHQ is ugly? If so, well, even after all those years and all those masters, my XHQ is ugly too.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
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Or maybe it doesn't appeal aesthetically to you?. In comparison to all of the spectacular jumping around that wushu performers do,I guess it doesn't look so flashy. But hey, it's not about being flashy. Neither is CYXYM either.
XHQ is lovely when it's done right, I've had it good for about two months then it got rusty again. When mine is rusty I say it's ugly. Not the form in general.
CHXYM is more my thing. But XHQ is my real struggle, because it hits you on memory, fitness, flexibility, technique, and stances - and that's why it such a good litmus test.
I love it all really.
The Guo Song Xiao Hong on youtube is sublime:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dFKKw9V5zc
Once again, I am RONIN.
I really enjoyed working under Shi Yantuo. He was an excellent coach. For a while, we were working xiaohong, dahong, qixing, tongbi, taizu, meihuadao, & shisanqiang. I was also keeping up Yan Fei's baji & qixing tanglong and my own baduanjin. Over the summer, I was grappling with some health issues, and Yantuo focused me on two forms only: Tamozhang and Pan Gen. But tomorrow, Yantuo leaves for San Diego, and I won't be going back to the wushuguan formerly known as O-Mei again.
Now I must find a new Shaolin coach. I know there are plenty in the Bay Area, but finding one that fits into my schedule and can work with my special needs may be challenging. Plus the majority of Shaolin disciples here are biaoyanseng, and I'm really hoping to find someone who's more chuantong. We shall see...
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
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I've heard it associated with wugulun/xinyiba but to be honest, I don't know much about it beyond the form itself. Yantuo started showing it to me a few months ago, and it was the first time I was exposed to it. It's not a 'demo' set by any means. I really like it - it's got an almost Tai Chi like energy, which is something I should really cultivate in my practice now. I was hoping to get more from Yantuo on this (my usual strategy is to write an article, which forces both me and the master to really dig into researching the topic) but he was too busy with his move. Maybe some future day.
Who did you learn it from pazman and what more do you know about it? Should we start a discussion thread devoted to Pan Gen?
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
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I'm not sure how many people know it on this forum but we can discuss it here.
"I'm a highly ranked officer of his tong. HE is the Dragon Head. our BOSS. our LEADER. the Mountain Lord." - hskwarrior
daily I try to do my top 5 favs at least 10 times each, and when I'm able to I do them weighted.
xiaohong
18 luohan
da luohan
qi xing
changuxinyimen
zhaoyang (recently added)
baduanjin in the morning
and Im working on yijinjing
also I try to do ji ben gong a few times a week for a an hour or so.
forms I want to get to a daily practice yet I dont now them well enough are mi zong quan, and da hong quan. surprisingly I havent had anyone to teach me these since Ive been training for 16 years. as long as Ive studied traditional songshan Shaolin hands, I have not learned da hong in its entirety yet. theres a couple other famous hands I dont know yet would like to learn, like Pao Quan for example
Amituofo
"色即是空 , 空即是色 " ~ Buddha via Avalokitesvara
Shaolin Meditator
Since Shi Yantuo left for San Diego (where his school is thriving I hear and I'm so happy for him), I've gone back to Bak Sil Lum practicing at The Academy of Martial and Internal Arts with my Sihing, Sifu Ted Mancuso. In a strange bit of synchrony, I'm scheduled to teach Shaolin Temple jibengong there starting tomorrow (it's prep for the potential visit of my master, Shi Decheng, next month - I'll let you know if that happens Djuan - you must check it out).
Anyway, my personal Shaolin Temple curriculum is paired down now as I'm rebuilding my BSL. I'm still retaining Pan Gen, Xiaohongquan, and of course, Baduanjin. And I've added Da Luohan since last year (rebooted actually since I learned it before). Been toying with bringing back Qixing or Tongbi. We'll see. One of the AoM&IA students is learning BSL#5 and I'm enjoying refreshing that at the moment.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
sounds nice, I'va always been interested in Bak Sil Lum, in fact one of the first books I ordered from WLE , back in like 2001 or 2002 or something, was Moi Fah, the red paperback, and at that time, I dont think I had much understanding of the difference between BSL and Songshan Shaolin, and just my own guessing. Sifu Wing Lam had the beautiful stance on the cover and I judged the book by it's cover lol, it was a good investment still. The fundamentals in the book worked out well, and though I didnt master the form from that book, I did learn a lot from it. My teacher at the time was strict against books and videos with me at least, he said that stuff was for people who already mastered or at least understood the basics. So I went on with my training with him to learn all of wu bu quan (which he taught with application and I thought was such a big deal)
and xiaohong quan a year later.
Now that I've been reading your book, I'm looking back at those days and wondering about Bak Sil Lum again. It was naturally attracted on my own before, and I dont think its coincidence.
Right now, as of this moment, I'm digging vigorously into Qi Xing & Changhuxinyimen Quan more than anything else, in terms of applications.
I run through the other forms for meditation/sport when Im up to it. I really had to narrow it up to the QiXing sect of hands for in depth study though.
Jibengong I have to stay on top of as well, just because Im getting younger lol....Ive been reading and hearing for a while to focus on a handful of skills and work one taolu to "make it my own" , and extract/cultivate the "Ba" and drill it, same for application/variations. and because I dont have the structure of a school to train at right now, I have to discipline myself that way, for the sake of my attention span, and follow up skill.
I'm looking forward to meeting with you , and I would love to be able to experience training with you and Sifu De Cheng.
Amituofo
"色即是空 , 空即是色 " ~ Buddha via Avalokitesvara
Shaolin Meditator