Malacca Hung Gar Wushu Classes

For any Malaccans who are interested to learn Hung Gar style of traditional wushu, you can learn it at Malacca Teochew Association, Jalan Hang Jebat (Jonker Street). There are class for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday which all begin from 8:00 till 10:00pm. That's right 2 hours per session. Here's the contact numbers of the person in charge: Mr. Huang 012-6758881 or Mr. Chang 012-6316262.
If you want to watch their You Tubes, Just type "Malaysia Malacca Hung Gar".

Technique Application 5

1. With the opponent punching with a right hand. Use your right hand to intercept by means of hooking on to his right hand wrist. Turn your torso to the right. Left hand to buffer the opponent's right hand punching.
2. Then you right hand reaching out to the front of his neck. Resting on it and immediately grapple his neck to the left with your left leg sweeping out to the right (just like kicking football) toward his right leg. And your opponent will fall to his back.

Technique Application 4

Refering to the diagram above, when the opponent is pushing his right elbow towards your chest. From a left punching posture, bend your elbow downwards to intercept you opponent's attempt as being shown in the diagram above.

Martial Ethics

Chinese Wushu embodies a profound philosophy and a sense of human life and social values (some people therefore call it "philosophic Chuan"). It emphasizes traditions, experience and rational knowledge, all of which are clearly reflected in the martial ethics of Wushu. That's why it can display the oriental civilization via combat skills and become an inexhaustible treasury of the human body culture.
As a form of social ideology, morality differs in different historical periods. It is the summation of the code of conduct of a given society for the adjustment of the relationships between man and man and between man and the society.
Generally speaking, it evaluates man's behavior and adjusts each other's relations with such conceptions as the good and the evil, justice and injustice, fairness and partiality, and honesty and dishonesty.
Wushu is a system of skills and theories the Chinese people have developed through their struggle with nature and in the course of their social life, for combat and to promote health and improve one's temperament.
Combat in the usual sense means violence, bloodshed and death. For this very reason, few of the various combative techniques and skills in the world are combined with morals.
On the contrary, Wushu has been influenced ever since its birth by moral principles and has developed a complete code of moral behavior.

Martial ethics, formed in such a Chinese cultural environment, has become a distinct feature of Wushu and is an essential part of the study and understanding of Chinese martial arts.

The main points of the martial ethics are

Respect for Human Life
In ancient China, human beings were regarded as the most valuable treasure of nature. Man is called one of the "four greats," together with the heaven, earth and truth, or law of natural activities. Who respects human life loves life better and who knows human life better knowns Wushu better. It was for protecting and maintaining human life that Wushu took birth.

Emphasis on Moral Principles
Moral principles provide the basis for maintaining a stable relationship between man and man, and between man and society. Those who want to learn Wushu shall respect these principles and never do anything harmful to these Chinese cultural traditions.

Emphasis on Moral Conduct and Manners
While learning martial skills, one should also cultivate the fine qualities. A sense of justice, diligence, persistence, honesty and hard work are also encouraged.

Respect for the Teacher and Care for Each Other
In learning Wushu, one should try hard to master everything that is taught. Both teacher and student should take care of each other and treasure the friendship between them.

Modesty and Eagerness
Those who learn martial arts should keep improving their skills and refrain from being arrogant and imperious, and flaunting their martial skills while belittling others.
Everyone should learn from each other to improve and be united and cooperative with each other.

Freedom from Personal Grudges
In learning Wushu, one aims at self-defence, and improving one's physical conditions. One should not contend with anyone on account of a personal grudge or bully the weak. No martial skill should be overused or be resorted to for deliberate provocation.
No bullying of the innocent is allowed and it is enouraged to take up the cudgels to uphold justice and truth.

Persistance and Perseverance
The practice of martial arts is a hard task which takes time and requires arduous efforts. Steadiness and persistance are required. One should learn and try to fully understand the essentials and inner meaning of each routine. The very cream and true essense of Wushu can be learned only through thought and actual body movements.

Various Wushu schools in Chinese history had their own detailed code for martial ethics. The Shaolin school, for example, established the ten commandments for its followers. The Wudang school also regulated "five notes" in recruiting followers and teaching martial arts Martial arts are taught not to people with bad qualities, not to evil-minded people, not to bellicose people, not to drunkards, and not to those who flaunt their martial arts.

Source: http://www.chinavoc.com/kungfu/ethics.asp

Techinque Application 3

Diagram 1 : When the opponent punch forward with a left fist. Reach out for his fist with your left hand and grip his wrist. Diagram 2 : Take a step forward on your right leg to position yourself at the outer part of your opponent's left Hill Climbing Stance. At the same time swinging forward a right Horizontal Chopping Fist unto the back of the opponent's head.

Technique Application 2

Refering to diagram 1: Let say if the opponent punch right to your face with his right fist. What you do is you reach out to his right punching hand with your right hand also. At the same time your left leg advances a step forward. Apply the mantis hooking hand technique to catch his hand at the wrist part. Grappling it downward. Followed by a left hand plucking technique onto his right hand where between the wrist and elbow your plucking hand should rest on. Then immediately, you counter attack with a right fist as being shown in diagram 2. The name for this tactic is Hook-Grapple-Pluck -Punch

Martial Arts Etiquette

Martial Arts Etiquette and Corporate Etiquette

Chinese Martial Art masters insist that a student should learn to know the etiquette before learning martial arts. There are various rules for manners and behaviors before or after the exercises. They embody the modesty and manners of the performers, mark a good start of a practice routine to be executed, demonstrate the aims of the different schools of boxing, and give an outline of its soul and spirit. It is the long tradition of Chinese Martial Art to have correct guiding thoughts and noble morality, stress civilization and manners, and learn hard to improve one's skills and cultivate moral character. Etiquette means a salute or greeting before a martial arts routine. Their forms vary in different schools but they have one thing in common unity and modesty.
A Martial Art performer greets the audience or opponent before commencing actual routines, which harmonizes the atmosphere, as in the case of an chairman or a lecturer before opening the board meeting or starting his lecture.

Here are some key points of the Martial arts performers greetings
Bowing, as generally used by ancient Chinese martial artists of all schools. It's serious, solemn, but simple, and it can be taken by performers with or without a weapon in hand. The performer stands upright, looks at those he salutes, bends over and bows his head as an expression of reject The performer resumes the standing position after the salute.
Palms joining is a basic greeting form mainly taken by Buddhists, and Buddhist followers, but is also popular among Martial Art performers due to the influence of the Shaolin school. The performer puts his palms together vertically in front of his breast, bows his head a little, doses his eyes, bends over in a standing position or crosses his knees while sitting, as an expression of sincerity. Among the greeting forms are Hand raising, Palming and Lianhua greetings. For standardizing Martial Art greetings, the Chinese Martial Art Association has set the fist-holding greeting as the official greeting form for both Martial Art masters and pupils in competitions, training and performance.
A fist holding greeting is executed as follows Make a fist with the right hand, put it against the center of the left palm with the left thumb bent and the four other fingers of the left hand stretched, push the two hands forward with the palms facing those greeted, arms in an embracing position and shoulders dropped down. The greeting should be done with ease and confidence.
The bent left thumb indicates that the performer is not arrogant or high-handed; the left hand's four fingers coming together means an integrity of moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic education, a must for a Martial Art performer to be noble-minded. The right fist indicates valor and vigor; the fist is stopped by the left palm which means being brave but not wishing to make trouble or breaking the rules. In executing a fist-holding greeting, one should commit special attention to its

Source: http://www.martrix.org/managementtraining_martial_art_ethics.html

Video - Cha Chui Quan

The Seven Stars Mantis Boxing is considered to be one of the Hard Mantis group in traditional wushu. This may be due to a strong Northern Shaolin Long Boxing influence in Seven Star Mantis. This happened when Master Wang Rong Sheng (the grandmaster of Luo Guang Yu) the practitioner of Shaolin Long Boxing having picked up the new form (Northern Mantis) from Li Zhi Zhan. When the skill being passed down to Fan Xu Dong, the synthesis of these 2 styles became more consolidated. So the Chachui Quan is one of the clearest evident of the Shaolin influence in the Seven Stars Mantis Boxing. You see the routine that I performed above looks more Shaolin if you compare it with Perngpu Quan.

Technique Application 1

Refering to the diagram 1. When the opponent projects a right hand punch, raise your  left palm to intercept with the left leg advances forward at the outer side of the opponent's right leg. The intercepting palm then immediately thrusting forward and towards the opponent's chest.

The Back Chopping Punch (Perng Qui)

Back Chopping Punch (PerngQui) comes with Plucking Hand technique. Refering to the illustration above, it is a left back chopping punch with right plucking hand technique. The back chopping punch must be at the eye level. While the plucking hand's fist has to be at just right below the left elbow. The back chopping punch needs to be positioned to the centre line body/torso angled at 45 degrees. Refer to the top view diagram.

The Application of Mantis Hook Hand 2

A mantis hook hand intercepts the opponent's assault by sticking and grabbing the wrist of the punching hand using 4 fingers: thumb, middle, ring and little finger. These 4 fingers gripping correspond to the contour of the wrist. So, such gripping action is very firm indeed. Refering to the illustration above, once you have hook(1) the opponent's wrist, grapple(2) it in a slant manner to the side. Then with the same hand punching(3) forward unto the opponent's face.

Does Westernization = Modernization?

by Marie Anthony

Usually when we talk about traditional wushu's relevance to modern times, we concentrate on the question "how can it help us to improve ourselves and our society?" Of course, those of us who love the art easily have a lot to say about that. All we have to do is examine our own experiences. Though details vary from person to person, basically our stories would hit on the same points: It's a great exercise for health and fitness. It builds strength of character and promotes inner growth. It challenges us to awaken and develop those parts of ourselves in which creative abilities and expanded thought exist. The outcome to our acceptance of this challenge is the next chapter in every person's story.

As an ethnic art, it provides practitioners a living experience of Eastern philosophy and wisdom. And let's not forget the obvious: it teaches advanced techniques which can be used for high-level combat. Performed correctly, the movements have a power, flow, and depth that is beautiful to watch and fulfilling to perform. One could accurately say that traditional wushu massages the entire person: body (inside and out), mind, and spirit.

To an outsider, this must seem too good to be true. But, this isn't the whole story. Practitioners must have the guidance of a true master who transmits the techniques of a pure lineage. For their own part, they must log in many hours of hard work, be willing to face their own errors and limitations, and carry on in the midst of discomfort and uncertainty. They must endure physical, emotional, and mental pain, persevere through frustrations, and struggle with long, boring hours of stance training, basics, and repetitive practice. They must discard many old habits and learn to think, move, act, and react in ways that go against their natural, customary way of doing things.

Traditional wushu is very old, as is the culture in which it was born. It is the culmination of centuries of wisdom, experience, testing, and medical knowledge. In contrast, our lives move at a machine-gun pace, with too many things to do, too much information to contend with, and too many changes which have come too quickly. Today's technical innovation makes yesterday's invention obsolete. And events half way around our shrunken globe can affect us with almost the same intensity as if they happened down the block. In this context, a discipline with roots in a strong culture that spans many centuries can be a lifeline of stability, grounding, and peace.

But being old doesn't automatically make something better in every way. With the passing of each generation, all areas of life--traditions, arts, religions, science, fashion, etc.--are automatically reevaluated in the light of the current situation and tastes. In addition, no matter how ancient, traditional wushu is a living art. Quite naturally it must continue to evolve and grow. In other words, it must be modernized or it will lose its vitality and die.

Modernization has to do with examining something, to judge what should be preserved and what discarded. It brings things up to date, improves, and renews something that was slipping away into an unintended "retirement." At the same time, modernization can be dangerous. It can kill what it should have revitalized. We've seen it happen. An older neighborhood, home to hard-working lower-income families, looks tired, rundown. So it's "redeveloped" into blocks of expensive condos for busy professionals. How do we keep from crippling or killing the very thing we are trying to preserve?

Before we examine communist China's experiment, the so-called "modern wushu," it's necessary to review some background. As the 19th approached the 20th century, Western industry, commerce, science, politics, and warfare was on the rise, dominating the world and bringing about changes to other cultures. China, an old civilization which for centuries had isolated herself from outside influence, was behind the times. Therefore she suffered greatly at the hands of Western countries and entered this century a cheated, badly beaten, and demoralized nation. China's response to this sad state of affairs was to catch up through rapid modernization. Major efforts went into learning from the West. Students were sent overseas for their education and, after their return, were given important positions in government and society. Western science, investment, technology, and the democratic political system were studied and adopted. They rushed to build railroads and freeways, and install electricity, plumbing, gas, and modern conveniences to improve their standard of living. They changed their old military style in favor of modern armaments. They instituted the Western educational system and school structure--from elementary school to Ph.D. programs.

And like many other countries, in the midst of this enormous struggle China went astray. Having lost self-respect and confidence, they began not only to enjoy but also to imitate western music, painting, theater, and other arts. Baseball, tennis, western calisthenics, and other activities replaced their own sports and recreation. They made the mistake of believing that Western culture and standards were superior to theirs. They confused modernization with Westernization.

Today Asia is on the rise. But it appears they may have forced too much development too soon. Their focus was too narrow without regard for side effects. Short-term advantage has now revealed long term liability. Among other things, China has experienced devastating acid rains, red tides, shrinking forests, pileups of garbage and toxic waste, water shortages due to contaminated ground water, and heavy air pollution. Their higher standard of living has a sobering price tag: health hazards and potential environmental disaster.

In China's rush to modernize and compete with the West, traditional wushu, has also become a casualty. To make wushu more acceptable to Westerners and promote it in the international arena, the government created a new performance art for Western-style competition. They poured in an enormous amount of resources and effort into this program: training athletes and coaches, aggressively searching out and recruiting talented children for training, giving high status and special privileges to the athletes, popularizing it within their borders, and promoting it world-wide, with a goal of obtaining acceptance as an Olympics event. They set up a clear scoring system, standardized forms, required techniques, time limitations, and trained judges, referees, timekeepers, and scorekeepers. And though they call it "wushu", it's heavily mixed with Western ballet and gymnastics.

The Traditional Wushu Association has no complaint with promoting wushu through competitive sports. Nor do we disrespect the dedication of modern wushu practitioners or their abilities as athletes and performers. However, the culturally hybrid modern wushu itself is a another matter. Modernization must be accomplished without violating or altering the basic principles and philosophy which form the heart of traditional wushu. Communist modern wushu is quite a different animal from the ethnic treasure it is pretending to be. Props such as light-weight "weapons," colorful Chinese-style costumes, and gestures borrowed from Chinese acrobatics, opera, and traditional forms give it an exotic, Asian look. However these details are superficial, the shiny surface covering an empty shell.

In fact, "modern wushu" has discarded just about every element that gives the ancient art its unique character and makes it so valuable. First of all, the very principles and training procedures involved in ballet and gymnastics are unhealthy for the body and even have the potential to trigger dangerous psychological conditions such as eating disorders. "Modern wushu" requires locked joints, over-stretched bodies, and hyperextended postures. Practitioners carry the qi high, sucking the breath into the chest area. Though the arms and legs are often moving fast and furious, the observer will notice that their torsos are relatively quiet and carried very straight, as they are in classical Western ballet, for balance. Interestingly enough, traditional Chinese Opera actors who specialized in certain female roles were required to undergo a very painful training, wearing special shoes which simulate a woman's bound feet. The wooden apparatus, in which they stood on their toes, was several inches long at the base. It turned upwards to support the actor's foot, ankle, and shin and it was bound on with a cloth wrapping. Children in training spent a great deal of time learning how to wear and move around in these special devices. In order to balance they had to keep their upper bodies unnaturally straight. In more recent times, this practice has been discarded by many opera stars, including Mai Lau Fong, the greatest actor specializing in these roles, because it is so damaging to a person's health.

Like ballet and gymnastics, the performing careers of its practitioners peak and even end at a very early age. These are not activities which can be carried on by people throughout their long lives. Quite obviously, communist China's wushu is diametrically opposite to the health-building principles and practices of traditional wushu.

The same is true in the area of self-defense. They employ single-point movements which have only one intention. For example, a punch is merely a punch. This is totally against traditional wushu's basic philosophy that all movements must be multiple-point, with multi-purpose application. As an example, a block is executed in such a way that it is simultaneously a punch which, depending upon the opponent's reaction, is switchable to a totally different technique in an instant, seamlessly without interruption of movement.

"Modern wushu" throws in spectacular athletic leaps and rapid-fire movements which many people may confuse with high-level wushu technique. But before athletes execute the leaps, they run to build up momentum and wave their arms for balance. In martial arts, preparatory actions and meaningless movements are inconvenient and dangerous. Traditional wushu's high-level movements must be executed without extraneous help. The practitioner must attack or defend from exactly where he is, maintain balance without relying on the arms, and his movements must be efficient. In a real fight there's no time to get into a convenient or comfortable position before delivering a technique.

As a result, modern wushu is useless for self-defense. It damages rather than heals the bodies of its practitioners. And because it lacks the depth and essence of the original art, how can it begin to compare as an art to enrich the spirits of performer or spectator?

Modern technology has shrunk our once vast planet. Its many cultures make up an extended community in which all nations, giant or tiny, interact and influence each other. We can communicate almost instantaneously with people around the world merely by pushing a few buttons. It is the responsibility of each country to share its finest and most unique traditions and practices with everyone else and, in turn, be open to receiving the offerings of others. China has opened her arms to Western science and technology. If she offers us modern wushu in return, then we in the West can only feel cheated. What we want and need is China's finest: her authentic, traditional martial arts.

Westernization is not modernization. How could we modernize Chinese cuisine--another valuable cultural gift enjoyed by millions all over the world? For one thing, serve it differently. Use knives and forks, not chopsticks. But if we change the basic principles and procedures of the cooking itself, we will turn the Lion's Head (Chinese meatball) into just another hamburger.


Copyright 1999, Marie L Anthony. All Rights Reserved.

The Application of Mantis Hook Hand.

(2)As the opponent throws a right punch unto you. Use the right mantis hook hand to intercept the assault. What is meant here would be you should catch his right punching at the wrist, immediately diverting his force to the right in down slanting manner. (3)At the same time counter attack with a left punch.

What Are You Looking Forward To.

First of all, when you stated to learn traditional wushu, what do you really expect? Are you looking forward to those fancy movements like the one you saw in Jacky Chan and Jet Li movies? If so, you’ll be definitely disappointed. Anyhow there is no place for Jacky and Jet wannabe, you still can live without it. So what about gold medals and trophies? I may say yes if there’s a traditional wushu competitions at club level, school level, state level and national level. Also the highest level would be the 4th International Traditional Wushu Competition/Festival which would be held in Shiyan, China this year 2010. When is it? I didn’t remember the date but you can check it out yourself. But if I were to talk about this in the context of Malaysia, the competition for traditional wushu at both school level and national level are pretty much unlikely at the moment. The matter of running a traditional wushu competition is much more complicated compares to modern wushu. Where each schools of traditional wushu has got its own criteria and set of rules to determine excellent exponent. Another thing is that, traditional wushu doesn’t enjoy the recognition like modern wushu do from the government. Even that a medal won from a traditional wushu competition would be perceived less glamour than the modern wushu ones being the counterpart.


Since there are so many minus points right from the start which had already painted a bleak picture unto you, what does traditional wushu really have to offer. Again and again, I find myself reiterate those same old lines, same old words. But to be straight forward with this, if you’re the kind who enjoy practicing wushu since when you’re young. And if you wish to carry on with it for many years to come ( I mean for decades to come), this is what I recommend you: the Traditional Wushu. Choose whatever schools or styles that suits you, stick with it and delve into it. Finally, may you enjoy your accomplishment in the later years to come.

How To Form A Mantis Hook Hand.

(2) Bend all in the middle, ring and little fingers first. (3) Bend in a little the index finger with the tip of the thumb on the middle segment of the index finger. (4) The outer view of a mantis hook hand. (5) The inner view of a mantis hook hand. (6) The frontal view of a mantis hook hand.

Video - Shi Ba Shou Quan

I'm performing in a manner of soft practicing. As you watch the video, you could notice that I'm more focus on the handworks. And my stance are rather small like standing/walking posture all the time. So, when I do not have enough space to practice in full stance at home, this is what I do. And I intend to practice it in a more relax manner by slowing down a little.

Supplementary Punch (PuQui)

(1)Supplementary Punch or PuQui is perform by an even fist thrusting directly forward while at the same time a palm is moving inward toward the punching hand shoulder.
(2) The should hit the part of the palm that is below the little finger. Refer to the diagram.
(3) Punching should remain straight with the palm resting on the side of your chest.
(4) You should angle a degree of 135 between the punching hand and your body.

Relax Your Body With The Mind Stay On Focus

Relax your entire body with the mind focus in each and every movement of your body and limbs. A focus mind would brings you to a meditative state as you’re performing a taolu(routine set). Let your awareness observes and feel the happening of each form being the orientation of the body, the route of the handwork’s movement, the gaining of momentum, the exertion of impact force and the coordination between hands and legs.


Observing how each form emerging with its route of movement and momentum. And as it disappeared, another will rise and disappear again, and so on. Just relax your muscle while the mind stays focus and perform you taolu slowly, step by step manner. It is also important to allow yourself the time to observe your own movement. So this is the time you’re improving your kung fu gradually.

When you are practicing, do not have an imaginary opponent in your mind. Your mind is suppose to focus solely in what you perform physically. So to let the body and mind combined into one.

I had thought about writing this note at the beginning but I don’t know where to start from until I came across Mr. Adam Hsu’s article title “Relax”. I had this article of his posted in my blog previously. He is very right that in Chinese traditional wushu, you cannot rush things out to get the result. Give yourself the time to learn and re-learn. And that is what I am doing now in my wushu practice.

Punch Towards the Centre Line

When you're practicing left and right even punch, always remember that your fist must be at the same level of height with your shoulder. You should punch out directly to the centre line with your eyes fix onto the top part of the knuckle. Always remember to relax your entire body as you started to punch slowly.

Do Not Blame The Form-Only-Practicing School

Lately, I had read some articles and comments on the internet regarding the development of traditional wushu both inside and outside of China. I had came across some criticisms on some traditional wushu learning centres had been labeled as form-only-practicing school for the reason such school didn’t teach or giving their students the exposures of sanda(sparring). These schools are said to be the ones responsible for the deteriorating standard of traditional wushu nowadays. While at the other end the are schools that just run sanshou or sanda sessions where the practice of traditional taolu(routine set) had been set aside. The one that don’t practice sanshou or sanda seems to be the one who has to take the blame. Anyhow, I don’t think everybody will agree with such point of view.


In order to address this matter, we need to study the traditional Chinese education system first that is totally different the European models. Take an example, the young student who studies Confucious will usually begins with the texts like Di Zhi Gui, San Ji Jing and so on. The young students have to spend six years at the primary level (xiao xue) before moving on to higher level (da xue). The traditional Chinese education system does not have intermediate or middle levels. So, at the primary level, the Confucious students work hard to memorized the classic texts. They go on write and read, read and write until they are well versed with every of the classic texts. Then only they proceed to the higher level. At this higher level the teaching of Confucious really begins. Usually the teacher will bring his students around for a study trip from time to time. The teacher and students do not bring books along the study trip! This is because all the classic texts are already inside their head. So what’s the purpose of having to bring the books along? Along the journey the teacher will expound in detail each part of the classic text and the students have got no problem in following the lesson. So this is the way that traditional Chinese education is being conducted through generations. This had also influenced other branch of discipline as well. And, Chinese martial art were also the one among them.

If I were to make comparison here, the traditional wushu routines or taolu is equivalent to that of the classical Confucious text. Everybody must practice it, everybody must read it without exemptions. Taolu is the root of any particular Chinese martial art school. Without it the knowledge and skill could not be passed down systematically or in a complete manner. So, do not blame those who only practicing the form (taolu) only. Who knows maybe they have got their very own reasons for not venturing into sanda or sanshou. Practicing the taolu only without the applications exercises would not cause the downgrade of the quality of traditional wushu. Traditional wushu stress on long term practicing. If you practice the taolu attentively, then over a length of time, you will come to master the essential skills of martial art. Of course the only thing that you may have lack is the experience of putting into use of what you had learnt. But no one can deny that with a sound foundation in taolu would enable you to master the applications of form much more faster. So, you are not lagged far behind. But only one step left to be taken forward to be standing on the same line as other martial artists.

Lets take another example. If you’re learning Trigonometry. What do you think you should learn first? The formulas of course. How many formulas are there in this particular topic and how each formula works and what are the governing mathematical rules? These groups of formulas can be equated to a taolu with a number of forms (tactics) inside it. As you practice the taolu oftenly would gradually making you well versed with it. And the same thing applies to Trigonometry also. After you are well versed with the formulas, then only you are able to try solving the mathematical problems. It’s the same with wushu, that is only when you are well equipped with the basic know how then should you venture into the applications of the form. From the elaborated example given, now you could see the importance of taolu practicing in traditional wushu. Although the taolu may looks rigid from its outlook, but it never meant to be so if you continue to delve into it. Soon or later you’ll find the logic why the forms/ tactics are composed in such a way in any particular taolu. Taolu enables you to learn both form and skill in a systematic way without anything being left out. It also serves as a reference for forms/tactics vocabulary of a particular wushu school.

Lets take a look at Japan, where the karate-do practitioners would immediate switch back to their curriculum of kata practicing once their tournament days are over. This shows the significance of kata in karate-do and taolu in traditional wushu. So, what do we understand from this is that kata practicing and taolu practicing is about making a journey. It can lead way beyond that of self defence, it can teach you things about yourself you may never have known, had you not began training.

Traditional wushu and its taolu training principles is a vehicle that can transport you beyond the training arena and into your day to day life. Gradually it would enable you to look at things differently from the way you used to. Until nowadays you can still find traditionalist old masters in the Far East training on kata/taolu everyday until the day they died, and no one would tell you that they did it just to stay fit in old age. So, traditional wushu can be whatever the student wants it to be.

My Level 1 Coachmanship Certificate.

I earned my level 1 coachmanship certificate from the participation in National Coachmanship Certification Scheme which was organized by National Sport Council from 23rd till 27th April 2007.

My Level 2 Coachmanship Certificate.

I had attended the Level 2 National Coachmanship Certification Scheme which was organized by National Sport Council from 22nd till 27th September 2008. (my English name was wrongly spelt in the cert. It suppose to be Shervmen Loi Nai Ping)

Modern Wushu vs Traditional Wushu - by Hai Yang

Chinese martial art has a long history, beside there are many different styles, there are two important categories: the Modern one and the traditional one. In China, most of the time, people call martial art as Wushu as a whole although there are differences between each other. Some times, in order to differentiate them, people will call the traditional one as traditional Kung Fu.


So where did the modern Wushu come from? Actually, when we studied the history, we will find that the modern Wushu was born from traditional martial art (we do not use the term traditional Wushu in order to avoid the confusion), since the modern Wushu can not come from empty space.

In 1950s, Chinese government tried to promote martial art as a national sport, they believed in this way,that the country will become stronger and stronger, the country could save a lot of healthy care expenses. Since back to that time, the communist government just began to apply the universal health care system in cities. The result of that idea was great, since Chinese people began to do organized exercises in the whole country. Back to that time, there were some movies about how to promote the healthy life style through doing exercise, martial art was just one of them.

In order to make more and more people to have the chance to practice martial art, they had to simplified the practice, and many famous masters took that idea very seriously. So to many styles of martial arts, there would be the simplified version as well. After a few years hard working by many great masters, more and more people took martial art as a way of keeping good health, martial art masters got more respect than before, many famous masters even became member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the C.P.P.C.C. is at same political level as Congress in China, it could not happen before. For example, Chen Fa'ke, Wang Ziping and many others.

At the same time, in order to promote that type of simplified and standardized practice, the government encouraged youth to practice in the government sponsored martial art schools. Students who practiced in that type of public martial art schools would study the standardized practice. So from that time, teaching martial art in public school has become a job, it has never happened before either. Before, only people who could pay could practice martial art with private teachers.

After created the new system of teaching, practice and managing the schools, the government made many competitions to encourage students practice better.

Later on, for the competition reason, teachers had to teach their students more difficult movements in order to compete others in martial art event. This was the reason how the fancy movements come from. That was for the needs for competition and demonstration.

So if someone went to the government sponsored martial art schools, normally that person would learn the standardized practice, or people call them as modern Wushu. If the person stay with some masters who were keep the traditional way of practice, that person would study less fancy movements and eventually would practice more application of the movements.

Now we could understand that the modern Wushu was from the traditional practice, and they just focus on different aspects for different purposes.

Since there were no government support, the development of traditional martial art could not keep the quick pace as much as the development of the modern Wushu.

From 1980s, Chinese people began to realize that the modern Wushu has so much limitation that they began to practice and promote the traditional martial art more and more. From that time on, there have been many traditional martial art associations and organizations to be created in the whole country. These associations have published many articles, books in order to keep the practice going. Many old masters did not have education at all, so in order to make their practice survive, many associations sent out their employees to write down the old masters' teaching or help them to write books. This is why right now, there are so many martial art books in China about traditional practice. Because martial art from ordinary people, only the practice of ordinary people will make this art survive.

In China, any styles have standards, no matter modern one or the traditional one. It is not that the modern one is beautiful and the traditional one is ugly.

But in the outside of China, there has been a common misunderstanding that if someone does not practice martial art very well, that person will claim that he is doing the traditional way. It is a insult to the traditional style. How come traditional practice can be ugly?

Any martial art needs speed, force, flexibility, application, and many other factors to be a art. The modern Wushu is not created for combat purpose. It is a type of sport for demonstration and form competition. The traditional practice has been for self-defense purpose from the day it got created. But many people who practice Chinese martial art lack some of these aspects, instead of realizing their mistakes, they would say that they are the traditional practice. Even some martial art teachers do the same thing. It makes the quality of Chinese martial art worse and worse.

In China, there is a proverb: if you look down something, you have to be better than that. Let's apply this principle in the martial art community: if we look down Wushu, we should be better than Wushu. But the present situation is the opposite: people use the word "traditional" as an excuse of doing wrong practice or low quality of practice.

People can choose the modern way of practice, and people can choose the traditional way of practice too. Both of these two practices have their own advantages and disadvantages. So it is better to keep peace between these two. For sure the traditional practitioner will feel get insulted if his practice is looked as the modern one, and vice versa.

In my opinion, doing wrong practice or ugly demonstration is not the traditional way of practice. Traditional practice is very beautiful and enjoyable to look as well.

Video - Gong Li Quan (Making An Upstart Syllabus)

During my time being a wushu student, we used to learn the Northern Shaolin Tantui 12 Series as our kung fu foundation. Those who do not learn the Tantui Series would have to go through Mantis 14 Series. This would usually takes more than half a year to complete learning before starting the first wushu routine. But time changes everything especially our fast-pace society nowaday. Spending eight months on the foundation doesn't seems to interest many. Not many students would have such kind of endeavour. Anyhow, I would prefer an alternative to this. And that is starting with a Shaolin primary boxing : Gong Li Quan (Force Boxing).
Gong Li Quan can a powerful tool to build your foundation in Seven Stars Mantis Boxing. But beginner who chooses this route need to put extra effort in practicing it. The volume of this boxing may seems much lesser compares to Tantui 12 Series and Mantis 14 Series. But do not underestimate it. This routine is really a big help in your effort to familiarize your body with Chinese martial art movements and postures. It enhances the coordinations between hand and hand, and hands and legs. Besides that, the more you practicing it, the better you are at force generating and channeling.
The video above comes from Chinwoo Federation of Malaysia

Build Your Character

Just recently I came across an article written by a Wudang Master about his concern for traditional wushu. After finished reading then I browsed the comment section. There is comment from a practitioner who chosen to be known as jujutsu ronin whom disagreed with the master's point of view regarding the type of student he identified. Such comment which I had read makes me penned down some thought of mine here. Anyway the article I mentioned above is already availabe at my blog and you can find it in my previous posting.
There are in fact a lot of peoples who are interested to take up learning martial art. And yet not everyone is interest to go for sanshou, sparring etc. - we need to take that as the fact.
In this modern age, the survival and revival of traditional wushu is largely depends upon preservation efforts. But noted that preservation efforts alone does not really guarantee a fruitful outcome if it doesn't correspond to the interest of the society at large.
To explain this further, some peoples prefer sparring. It's the place where they got the chance to throw punches and kick hard at their opponent. And they really feel the thrill of doing so. Anyhow, what about those who are interested in martial art but are not ready to commit themselves with this section of the sport? Should we just turn them away? Just because these guys are afraid of getting whacked by someone else in the arena? Is it just because such a matter should disqualify these guy from learning martial art? For sanshou exponent , leitai exponent, sparring exponent or whatever you may like to call can be train out for ordinary guys provided them the right system of training. This is because we the human will always adapt ourselves to the new environment  we encountered through the experiences of our five senses combined with analytic cognition abilities. And then we gradually master the elements of the concern subject. There is no secret in this. Martial arts especially the traditional ones are being all encompassing by its nature. It trains to bring out the best of you through character building and not just making you a good fighter in the arena. But it also makes you a cultivator of moral, ethic and virtue through out your life. Doesn't this makes you a much better person than an exellent fighting machine? You may says that only those who are afraid to fight would says such a nonsense. But think again, even your fist could be as hard as steel and your kick is as deadly as poison, how long do you think you can live on like that. Always remember that we are all part of the Nature and are all subject to the law of Nature. That is from the day we are born into this world, we grow up, we age, then we fall sick and finally we die. Our bones, our veins and our flesh have never stop from aging from day to day. You may be proud with your fancy kicks and lightning speed punching when you're in your 20's. Do you think you can remain ever the same when you hit your 40's. Lets face the fact.
I'm more concern with what martial art can contribute to my daily life or I can say I'm more concern in channeling the spirit of martial art into my everyday life. Just like everbody else, I've have a life to live and I want to live it in a meaningful way. It's already 20 years I've been practicing traditional wushu right from day one. Each time I practice, I'll sweat and tiring my muscles and exhausting the whole body. So, what do all these meant to me. I mean what do I learn from all these? I learn to presevere, not taking things for granted - no pain, no gain. I learn not to give up simply just because I face difficulties/obstructions in whatever I do. I recognise the importance of being patient. I also learn to work with system; to do my work in an orderly manner. Just like I'm practicing wushu taolu(routine) where the handworks and legworks are coordinated to each other in an organized manner.
So, what I would have to say here is that traditional wushu, karate-do, teakwondo and many more are not about knocking your opponent out of the arena. The more important thing is that it builds your character (a phrase borrowed from "Karate Kid" the movie.)

Hill Climbing Stance

For Hill Climbing Stance, the gravity point of your body is shifted from the centre of your body towards the fore leg (the one with the bent knee) while the hind leg must be straightened up. Both the feet should be 45 degree oriented from the principle line. Refer to the diagram.

Wudang Zhang San Feng Pai Master Yuan Xiu Gang's Concerns About Traditional Wushu

My master recently wrote an article about his concerns for traditional wushu. I figured some folks on this forum might be interested in having a read:
In the 1960’s and 1970’s Chinese martial arts prodigy, Bruce Lee, brought to the world Chinese martial arts, or “wushu”. Since Lee’s exposition and dispersion of wushu, many people from other countries have become greatly interested in it.In the early 1980’s the “Shaolin Temple” movies again brought more interest in wushu to different parts of the world. As a result, in the past 20 years wushu developed rapidly to its peak in China, as well as overseas, and wushu enthusiasts and practitioners can now be found everywhere. However, with the impact of modern economic society, wushu has become commercialized and dramatized primarily for entertainment and performance, which has brought its steady deterioration and decline. Also, since traditional wushu is known by very few, the heavily emphasized performance based trend has become a tremendous impediment to the development of traditional wushu, with more people interested in learning performance wushu than traditional.
In the past few years the learning atmosphere for wushu in China has deteriorated rapidly for the following three reasons:
Because of the commercialization and dramatization of wushu, some wushu schools solely focus on the external and superficial aspects, placing all of their emphasis on how it looks and basing their judgments of skill on its external display. For a modern wushu student it only takes two to three years of training before they are prepared for performance, which is also considered the major goal of their training. This type of training cannot achieve the original intent and purposes of wushu, which are knowledge of and proficiency in self-defense, a strong body, cultivation of heart and character, longevity, and spiritual development. This modern trend has brought a complete change to traditional wushu, guiding students to learn shortcuts in training. There is no short cut in traditional wushu; looking for shortcuts is contrary to its essence. When students begin to age and lose their physical ability, they begin to tire of this style of training and lose interest in continuing to train. Not only will they have continued injuries, but emotionally they will become distraught and question the purpose of their training. In Chinese culture, there is a saying: “Lian quan, bu lian gong.Dao lao yi chang kong.”What this means is that if one only practices the external form and pays no attention to their self-cultivation and the internal aspect of their training, later when the practitioner becomes older they will realize that they have gained nothing and wasted all of their efforts.
With the current trend in modern wushu, when a modern practitioner’s training is completed not only is there a discontent with oneself, but there is also a lack of recognition from society and a lack of employment opportunities. This has become a practical concern nowadays for this type of wushu practitioner.
Since the Revolution, China has employed a strict form of population control; typically a family consists of four adults and one child. Therefore, many of the children are treated as the pearl in the palm, making the children less able to endure difficulties and learn the true value of hard work and the importance of determination. The real essence of the Chinese phrase “Shi nian ru yi ri,” “ten years is like a day,” has become a boring legend that is impossible to achieve to children.At the same time, there are parents who are not willing to allow their children to endure this form of learning.
In the past, a master and a disciple formed a formal relationship of transmission. The Chinese saying “Yi ri wei shi zhong shen wei fu” means that “one day spent with a master and he becomes your father for a life time.”Thus, a good master brings up good disciples; and good disciples are willing to listen to their master without wavering in their devotion and foundation. The master will do what it takes to train his students, and the students will follow. The master does not only train his students in wushu, but also has strict expectations of his students’ daily lives and personal growth. Before students become official disciples, the master will strengthen both the wushu and personal character of his students. When his students have fulfilled all of his requirements, the master will then give a specific physical artifact to each student as a representation of the student officially becoming a disciple of the master. This disciple will have been rigorously tested and trained over many years by the master in both wushu and the disciple’s personal development. Master Yuan believes that if one has chosen the pathway of wushu then one must have the passion and strong will to transmit and develop wushu with all of their energy and continue to walk this pathway for their life. These qualities are often lacking in modern wushu.
In Wudang wushu the training first focuses on “form” and then “intention”. Master Yuan’s training regime is to first soften the body, then to strengthen it to the right hardness (“hard” here does not mean stiff or rigid), then from the right hardness to the right softness, and to finally fuse the right hardness and right softness to become one. Hardness without softness is like steel: it is strong, but can be broken with a single twist; jumping and spinning in modern wushu with large overly expressed movements, while at the same time adding regular combat training usually causes injuries to the students. Similarly, if we train only softness but not hardness, we will lose the basic defensive power that is trained for in actual combat, let alone the power for attack. Losing both of these means losing the meaning of the practice of wushu.
Master Yuan believes that for internal wushu one needs to first build the right basics of body mechanics and movements and the movements must be practiced correctly. After one has trained in the correct body mechanics and movements one can begin to regulate breathing and cultivate “qi” through standing and sitting meditation. Only when both training systems have been attained can one combine “form” and “intention” together. When this is done, forms and movements can flow uninterrupted like clouds and running water. Looking from the surface there is no force, only “intention”, but in the true practice there is a full power hidden within, without fully expressing itself.If one continues to practice there will be unlimited “qi” congregated in the “dan tian’’ (the “dan tian” is the physical energy center of the body) ready to be used and can destroy all hardness.
Through his years of teaching, Master Yuan has observed that there are three main types of students who come to learn.
The first type is founders, teachers, or coaches of wushu schools. These students generally have a good mentality and can respect the teacher and the teachings. Generally, their purpose for coming to study is to upgrade and refine as well as to learn some forms to bring back to their own schools to teach. These students usually look to learn many forms, but because of their older ages and also their own personal responsibilities (maintaining their schools, family, etc.) they do not have enough time to fine-tune and refine their limitations.
The second type is those with jobs or careers. Due to the lack of attention paid to their bodies’ conditions plus the added pressure from work and daily life, many of these students have some health issues and often feel exhausted. These students generally come to build up their bodies and to “recharge”. This type of student usually cannot spare too much time to learn systematically. They generally are interested in relaxing their mind and learning some qi gong and tai ji so that they can continue their practice when they return home.
The third type is generally students who just graduated or have left school. These types of students usually do not know much about society and their minds are not matured. They do not have accurate judgment or discernment towards people and things, and therefore cannot find an ideal job. Some of them are not satisfied with their current position and are searching for change. Due to the promotion of wushu through movies, television, and other media, many of them come to learn.
Because of the different needs of these three types of students, it is hard for a wushu school to maintain a standardized training program. Currently, Master Yuan tries his best to customize a training program for each student based on their body, mind, and social conditions so that each student can gain something through their personal learning experience. However, from the view-point of developing and maintaining traditional wushu, Master Yuan believes that it is only the third type of students that have enough time and energy to carry on traditional wushu. These students are usually young, not matured mentally and emotionally, and do not have a clear direction for themselves and their future. However if there is an experienced master to guide their minds, sharpen their will, and help them to analyze the development of traditional wushu in the world, it should not be difficult to find the right person (one who is developed in both wushu and character) to carry on the teachings of traditional wushu.
Thanks for reading! There's more to the article, but I don't want to flood the board too much.
Yuan Zi He
wudanggongfu.com