One of the oldest of the planetary martial arts is Shaolin. It was brought from India by a fellow named Bodhidharma, and has been pivotal to martial arts the world over. Interestingly, Shaolin eventually changed into an internal art atop Wudan Mountain.
I know there will be those who disagree with the concept I present here, but I hold to it, as I have watched students evolve, and the evolution of art from Shaolin to Wudan mirrors what I have seen students go through on a personal level. Indeed, as students peel layers off the art, so do they add layers of awareness within themselves, and attain the truly miraculous.
The students just starting out in Shaolin learn to expend energy from the tan tan, to spread that energy throughout the body and make the body like a rock. Arms become iron windmills, stances become permanent bolts to the planet. This, however, is all based on concepts of exploding energy, and outward expulsion of energy from the body.
As a student explores the various martial arts he will come across the concept of drawing in energy. The act of guiding a punch, instead of just bashing a block into it, increases awareness of the concept of absorbing energy, instead of just putting it out. This progression of art often begins with Shaolin, begins the transition with a softer art like Wing Chun Kung Fu, and goes whole body with a Wudan art like Tai Chi Chuan.
If the student studies a hard art, and does so with intelligence, he will eventually evolve into the soft. The fact of growing older, of the body no longer being able to handle the hard arts, will draw the student onward into the softer arts. He will develop his punch so that he doesn't undergo neck injuries, he will learn to use his legs so his hips don'thave problems, and he will naturally evolve his art from hard to soft.
As these progressions of age and art occur, students learn to use their minds and their bodies with less effort, and and they are often surprised that the abilities they gained in the hard arts grow even greater. Instead of exploding energy through their bodies, they push the energy with less effort, and focus it. Thus, awareness builds, and the blinders come off.
Instead of exploding energy brutally through their bodies, the students seep the energy through their bodies. They learn to guide this energy with their awareness, and the smallest of their motions contain ideas of energy. They learn that the crude body energy they used when they were young and robust was...unaware.
Finally, the transition is made in full, and the Shaolin adept becomes the Wudan sage. Instead of reacting with violence, the Wudan master observes his opponent, and moves with him, drawing in whole body energy and transforming it to his needs. Yet, though there is wisdom in the Wudan Gung Fu, there is no disdain, for the true sage knows the need for his early Shaolin, he knows the benefit of understanding energy on low levels if he is to transform it to high levels. - 16887
I know there will be those who disagree with the concept I present here, but I hold to it, as I have watched students evolve, and the evolution of art from Shaolin to Wudan mirrors what I have seen students go through on a personal level. Indeed, as students peel layers off the art, so do they add layers of awareness within themselves, and attain the truly miraculous.
The students just starting out in Shaolin learn to expend energy from the tan tan, to spread that energy throughout the body and make the body like a rock. Arms become iron windmills, stances become permanent bolts to the planet. This, however, is all based on concepts of exploding energy, and outward expulsion of energy from the body.
As a student explores the various martial arts he will come across the concept of drawing in energy. The act of guiding a punch, instead of just bashing a block into it, increases awareness of the concept of absorbing energy, instead of just putting it out. This progression of art often begins with Shaolin, begins the transition with a softer art like Wing Chun Kung Fu, and goes whole body with a Wudan art like Tai Chi Chuan.
If the student studies a hard art, and does so with intelligence, he will eventually evolve into the soft. The fact of growing older, of the body no longer being able to handle the hard arts, will draw the student onward into the softer arts. He will develop his punch so that he doesn't undergo neck injuries, he will learn to use his legs so his hips don'thave problems, and he will naturally evolve his art from hard to soft.
As these progressions of age and art occur, students learn to use their minds and their bodies with less effort, and and they are often surprised that the abilities they gained in the hard arts grow even greater. Instead of exploding energy through their bodies, they push the energy with less effort, and focus it. Thus, awareness builds, and the blinders come off.
Instead of exploding energy brutally through their bodies, the students seep the energy through their bodies. They learn to guide this energy with their awareness, and the smallest of their motions contain ideas of energy. They learn that the crude body energy they used when they were young and robust was...unaware.
Finally, the transition is made in full, and the Shaolin adept becomes the Wudan sage. Instead of reacting with violence, the Wudan master observes his opponent, and moves with him, drawing in whole body energy and transforming it to his needs. Yet, though there is wisdom in the Wudan Gung Fu, there is no disdain, for the true sage knows the need for his early Shaolin, he knows the benefit of understanding energy on low levels if he is to transform it to high levels. - 16887
About the Author:
Al Case has analyzed the martial arts for 4O years, he began his Wudan training in 1974. You can see how soft he is by picking up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.
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