I now find myself regularly practicing and exploring Hsing-I as part of my advancement material. As a result I find myself contemplating the concept of intent; a particularly important concept because intent (I, pronounced ‘e’) is in the name of the system Hsing-I. The hope is to use the ‘I’ to strike or otherwise act before your conscious mind has formed the thought; this bypasses all of the slow confused conscious thought we usually have to go through while performing techniques. The obvious paradox: how am I going to not use my preconceptions to practice a series of preconceived movements? Seems silly. My solution: practice. They call it kung fu for a reason after all.
One day whilst helping out I was asked a “what if” question involving a hair grabbing chin-na. As in “what if I ended up facing the wrong direction?” I did what I always do when asked a question where I am not sure about the answer, I told the questioner to put me into said situation so we may observe my invariably spectacular response. Often my invariably spectacular responses vary from the spectacular and result in my face turning blue or something of the sort. However, this is not always the case and my body seemed to know what to do and have a response to this particular variation. While I have not necessarily been taught every variation on every imaginable hold, by learning many different chin-na and practicing them with different people I have gained a rudimentary understanding of the underlying principles. I had no conscious thought regarding the technique, I had not been taught the variation, and I was just as surprised as the recipient as to what occurred. Eventually it occurred to me that I already know how to act without conscious action and do so on a regular (if not predictable) basis.
Upon further reflection, and some time later, I realized that these sorts of things happen regularly when Shao-Lin are put into a position where they are forced to improvise. Given enough time, repetition, training, and pressure our bodies are forced to find a way to cope with surprises if we don’t stop them with erroneous thoughts. The erroneous thoughts part is the tricky bit; it takes time and relaxation to turn off the chattering monkey that tends to rattle around in our heads. Wait a minute, this sounds kind of like hou tien ch’i; maybe there is a reason meditation is taught along with Shao-Lin.
I used to be very proud of my ability to multitask. In college or work it often seems very useful to be able to get homework done during a boring lecture or to type out a report while eating lunch and listening to music. Our culture and technology tends to encourage having as much sound and flashy pictures and computer programs in front of us as possible at all times. At this point, I am very proud of myself on the rare occasion when I can do one thing at once. This is significantly more difficult, but I think having somewhere to be and something to focus on helps. To me, this is the best part about martial arts, it gives me a place to relax and focus on the task at hand; one punch, one kick at a time, no room in my head for taxes, traffic, or television. This is part of the reason we bow at the entrance to a Shao-Lin school, it’s a reminder to leave our mental baggage outside.
Maybe if I can relax and do one thing at once, I can get good at one thing at once. Maybe if I can do one thing at once, I can act correctly without having to think about it consciously. Maybe all those techniques and training methods amount to something if piled on top of each other for long enough. How does one cultivate ‘I’? Practice, focus, relax, and have fun. Best part is, even if all does not go according to plan, you’re still having fun at the end of the day.
See you in class
-J
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
i think schools sholud focus more on physical education. and yes, learning how to defend yourself may be a good way to do this, by making it fun. the pros of what you listed is, people will know how to defend themselves, and be more healthy and level minded. however, they might use the new fighting techniques they learned to fight each other. but i think we sholud take this chance, because it could improve our individuality and healthiness.too many obese americans
I think anyone who’s ever been to any of the Chinese Shao-lin Center (for instance, ours in San Francisco) would challenge the assumption that schools “need to focus more on physical education”. The warm-up alone leaves advanced level black belts who have been training for years and years with the cardio kick and strength training needed to develop the applications and master the techniques inherent in the forms. I’d encourage anyone who thinks that even that work out is “manageable” to come to the Kung Fu Hustle up to Coit Tower on the weekends, which incorporates intense cardio bursts with meditative breathing, chi gung and tai chi – the only program of it’s kind in San Francisco (much less the Bay Area) that I know of. In addition, there is 3 to 4 hour long “Yin Yang Stretching and Conditioning” festival offered throughout the year by the school that would floor anyone in no time.
Physical conditioning and understanding is important, but you also need to think about what you’re doing and apply techniques. For a petite person like me (and many other who are much larger than me and have told me the same) there’s no way that you can take someone to the ground, execute a sweep or even a punch or kick effectively with strength alone. It’s all the techniques and principles of Shao-lin that come into play when we engage in sparring in class. And being able to read your opponent is critical. I’ve found the more times I’ve relaxed without forcing some type of technique, I’ve been successful at performing moves that I never thought I’d be able to do.