One of the oldest martial arts on the planet is Shaolin. It was brought from India by a fellow named Bodhidharma, and has been an inspiration to martial artists the world over. Interestingly, Shaolin evolved into an internal art atop Wudan Mountain.
I know there will be those who disagree with my theory 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. Indeed, as students peel layers off the art, so do they peel off the levels of blinders within themselves, and attain the truly miraculous.
The beginning students learn to expend energy from the tan tan, to spread that energy throughout the body and make the body hard. Arms become like iron, stances become as if permanent fixtures to the planet. This, however, is all based on explosion, and outward expulsion of energy.
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.
The odd fact of the matter is that if the student stays within a hard art, he will evolve into the soft. The unfortunate fact of aging, of the body no longer being able to handle the explosive energy of hard arts, will bring the student into the softer arts. He will punch so that he doesn't experience whiplash in his neck, he will use his legs so he doesn't suffer hip problems, and he will naturally evolve his art from hard to soft.
As these progressions of age and art occur, students learn to be softer, using their minds and their bodies to use less effort, and yet retain the abilities they have gained from the hard arts. Instead of violently thrusting energy through their bodies, they use the energy slowly, and focus it. Thus, the blinders slowly come off, and awareness seeps in.
Instead of exploding energy brutally through their bodies, the students learn to channel and guide energy through their bodies. They learn to manipulate energy easier as their awareness builds. They learn that the body energy they were so proud of when they were young and robust was a mere shadow of what they were capable.
Finally, they make the change from hard to soft, from inner to outer, from internal to external, and the Shaolin adept becomes the Wudan sage. Instead of using violent art, the Wudan master moves with an opponent, drawing in the energy of the attack and transforming as he wishes. Yet, though there is wisdom in the Gung Fu of the Wudan variety, there is no disdain for the hard, for the true sage knows the need for his early Shaolin training, he knows the benefit of understanding energy on hard levels if the student is to make the transition to the softer Wudan intelligence.
I know there will be those who disagree with my theory 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. Indeed, as students peel layers off the art, so do they peel off the levels of blinders within themselves, and attain the truly miraculous.
The beginning students learn to expend energy from the tan tan, to spread that energy throughout the body and make the body hard. Arms become like iron, stances become as if permanent fixtures to the planet. This, however, is all based on explosion, and outward expulsion of energy.
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.
The odd fact of the matter is that if the student stays within a hard art, he will evolve into the soft. The unfortunate fact of aging, of the body no longer being able to handle the explosive energy of hard arts, will bring the student into the softer arts. He will punch so that he doesn't experience whiplash in his neck, he will use his legs so he doesn't suffer hip problems, and he will naturally evolve his art from hard to soft.
As these progressions of age and art occur, students learn to be softer, using their minds and their bodies to use less effort, and yet retain the abilities they have gained from the hard arts. Instead of violently thrusting energy through their bodies, they use the energy slowly, and focus it. Thus, the blinders slowly come off, and awareness seeps in.
Instead of exploding energy brutally through their bodies, the students learn to channel and guide energy through their bodies. They learn to manipulate energy easier as their awareness builds. They learn that the body energy they were so proud of when they were young and robust was a mere shadow of what they were capable.
Finally, they make the change from hard to soft, from inner to outer, from internal to external, and the Shaolin adept becomes the Wudan sage. Instead of using violent art, the Wudan master moves with an opponent, drawing in the energy of the attack and transforming as he wishes. Yet, though there is wisdom in the Gung Fu of the Wudan variety, there is no disdain for the hard, for the true sage knows the need for his early Shaolin training, he knows the benefit of understanding energy on hard levels if the student is to make the transition to the softer Wudan intelligence.
About the Author:
Al Case has practiced 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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