THE ART OF WAR
The Bingfa of Sun Wu, or Sunzi, is the classic book of strategy. Miss Li said that she
used to be always reading it when she was young, and people used to say
to her 'What are you going to be? A general?'
Here are some of its ideas ...
If you have two sides which come together, something is bound to happen: what comes out will depend on how each of the two sides changes. They must change - it is a law of nature - and the outcome depends on how. Usually the change will not be analysable, but understood only by intuition and instinct: 'whatever words tell you, it is not worthwhile to listen'.
Anything at a higher level depends not on explanation, but on practice, experience and research: 'when you try to pass on your knowledge, words reduce the quality of the truth'. This is true in all aspects of life, but becomes clearest in the martial arts. Anything you really know, do not try to explain, as you will only make things more confused.
'If you are a good fighter, the best way: do not fight. Put things in order, prevent things getting into a disordered state. Whether personally or in the army, keep silent and mysterious.' So, Miss Li said she keeps things mysterious, so that people will treat her well, a psychological trick of teaching. And her advice to her students was: when you see something, do not think 'she is looking at me', be blind and you will see more, see to the bottom.
Do not take 'self-defence' too seriously. We must march with the times: open-handed or stick fighting is clearly out of date in an age of pistols and other advanced weapons. Wu Shu is about skill and about the evasion of fighting. The highest form of 'self-defence' is evasion: no matter what technique is used, you cannot be caught. 'You know how I do my self-defence? I stay indoors at night!' If you go around boasting about your strength, you will have to fight everyone.
Thursday 8 November 2018
Saturday 3 November 2018
Summer School 1983
CHINESE GYMNASTICS
Yi = 'skill', 'art'
Wu = 'public official', 'guardian of the law' ... using the body and weapons to protect the state
Wu Yi = physical skill, physical education ... more modern would be Gong Fu
Ji = physical skill in the sense of moving, hitting
Ji Ji = physical sport
An early authority on skill is the Han Shu records, a many-volume encyclopedia of arts and skills (not philosophy). From this it seems that there were two kinds of martial art:
1. Shou Bo = empty-handed fighting, like karate, for self-defence
2. Shuai Jiao = wrestling as a sport, literally drawn from the image of horns, and branching into competition of strong breathing
And there were two other branches of physical art:
3. Jian Shou = sword art and archery, for self-development
4. Tu Na = regulation of breath and qi, the basis of the other arts, preparation for any of the others
These were related to Zhuangzi's saying: 'use skill to overcome force'.
Many of these sports and practices can be found as early as the Qin emperor. And there are other early texts on movement and breathing for health and longevity. For example, copying the movements of the Five Animals: tiger, deer, bear, monkey, bird. Copying the qualities of their movements: the way the bird moves its wings, the way the monkey moves its limbs, etc.
Xing Yi is also old, the legend being that its systematic formulation was by Sun Wu and especially Yue Fei - also known as 'the Flying Bird' - who studied the writings of Sun Wu, and studied archery with Zhou Tong, who remained the 'father of his art' though he also studied other arts with other teachers. Then Yue Fei became a national statesman, a general trusted by the emperor, who drove out the Mongolians from China. However, the Mongolians were good horsemen and had a better diet, so Yue Fei only won battles because he knew how to train his army, and how to use weapons: according to the legend, his method was doing Xing Yi.
Shaolin in legend is from Da Mo, a monk who came from India, which can be told both from his name and from his eyes in traditional pictures ... he is definitely a monk. He created the movements to give his little monks something to do when they were restless. So Shaolin was originally called 'Luohan Quan', 'monk quan', the Shaolin Temple connection coming later. Nobody knows where the Shaolin Temple was, perhaps in the North. It is thought that the North was tougher than the South because more vulnerable to invasions, so Shaolin is considered a 'Wei Jia', or 'external' martial art, based on five animals: dragon, tiger, leopard, snake and crane, using their movements for self-defence. Another external art was 'Chang Quan', 'long boxing', a very elaborate and complicated approach, with much jumping. It is impossible that it is now pure, because nobody could possibly have remembered it all.
Wu Dang is a mountain in the south, where legend has it that Zhang Sanfeng founded a quan, he too was religious, possibly a Daoist. This system was originally called 'Mian Quan', 'silk quan', both because it was soft and because so much silk was made in the South. Note that it was named after silk and not cotton, for cotton is soft but not strong, silk is also strong. Wu Dang is considered a 'Nei Jia', or 'internal' martial art. This quan also flowed down through Hua Tuo, a Chinese monk and leading doctor, though not clear whether he was earlier or later than Zhang Sanfeng. He developed breathing exercises to increase circulation for cleansing the body of illness. He also used five animals, the Wu Qin Xi, the Five Animals/Birds Game, but these related more to Tu Na breathing exercise for longevity, and thus to the Tai Ji tradition.
In the North, Qi was emphasised for fighting, close to Karate and Aikido.
In the South, Qi was emphasised for health, close to medicine.
In the North, they emphasised legs, connected with climbing mountains.
In the South, they emphasised arms, rolling the ball and circling.
In the North, there was more of an Islamic influence, the surname Ma coming from Mohammedan.
In the South, there was more of a Buddhist influence.
Tai Ji, Ba Gua, Xing Yi, were not originally in one school, but were a later synthesis by Sun Lu Tang and the people just before him. Sun Lu Tang was a man like Confucius, who did not invent the art, but revived it, and collated ideas and texts from the wider culture. Miss Li said that, though she learned from her teacher, she feels she has to research the points continually to see if they are right and what they mean.
It is good to know the three forms, but nobody can do all three equally, because of the limitations of individual physique. It is wrong to make Tai Ji carry the whole burden of 'self-defence', the other two do have fighting aspects and should carry that burden more, but even they are still mainly for health. The difference between Xing Yi and Ba Gua and Tai Ji is that the first two send out qi towards 'the enemy', but Tai Ji absorbs it back and neutralises it. The traditional Chinese order was Xing Yi, Ba Gua, Tai Ji, even beginning with quite external forms for the young children. This was the order in which she learned: Xing Yi to strengthen the muscles of a weak race. We do not need this so much in the West, as we are better fed and have more gymnastics at school.
Miss Li said she preferred 'self-development' to 'self-defence' ... if we can put Nei Jia Wu Shu on that road, it will have a great future in the world.
Yi = 'skill', 'art'
Wu = 'public official', 'guardian of the law' ... using the body and weapons to protect the state
Wu Yi = physical skill, physical education ... more modern would be Gong Fu
Ji = physical skill in the sense of moving, hitting
Ji Ji = physical sport
An early authority on skill is the Han Shu records, a many-volume encyclopedia of arts and skills (not philosophy). From this it seems that there were two kinds of martial art:
1. Shou Bo = empty-handed fighting, like karate, for self-defence
2. Shuai Jiao = wrestling as a sport, literally drawn from the image of horns, and branching into competition of strong breathing
And there were two other branches of physical art:
3. Jian Shou = sword art and archery, for self-development
4. Tu Na = regulation of breath and qi, the basis of the other arts, preparation for any of the others
These were related to Zhuangzi's saying: 'use skill to overcome force'.
Many of these sports and practices can be found as early as the Qin emperor. And there are other early texts on movement and breathing for health and longevity. For example, copying the movements of the Five Animals: tiger, deer, bear, monkey, bird. Copying the qualities of their movements: the way the bird moves its wings, the way the monkey moves its limbs, etc.
Xing Yi is also old, the legend being that its systematic formulation was by Sun Wu and especially Yue Fei - also known as 'the Flying Bird' - who studied the writings of Sun Wu, and studied archery with Zhou Tong, who remained the 'father of his art' though he also studied other arts with other teachers. Then Yue Fei became a national statesman, a general trusted by the emperor, who drove out the Mongolians from China. However, the Mongolians were good horsemen and had a better diet, so Yue Fei only won battles because he knew how to train his army, and how to use weapons: according to the legend, his method was doing Xing Yi.
Shaolin in legend is from Da Mo, a monk who came from India, which can be told both from his name and from his eyes in traditional pictures ... he is definitely a monk. He created the movements to give his little monks something to do when they were restless. So Shaolin was originally called 'Luohan Quan', 'monk quan', the Shaolin Temple connection coming later. Nobody knows where the Shaolin Temple was, perhaps in the North. It is thought that the North was tougher than the South because more vulnerable to invasions, so Shaolin is considered a 'Wei Jia', or 'external' martial art, based on five animals: dragon, tiger, leopard, snake and crane, using their movements for self-defence. Another external art was 'Chang Quan', 'long boxing', a very elaborate and complicated approach, with much jumping. It is impossible that it is now pure, because nobody could possibly have remembered it all.
Wu Dang is a mountain in the south, where legend has it that Zhang Sanfeng founded a quan, he too was religious, possibly a Daoist. This system was originally called 'Mian Quan', 'silk quan', both because it was soft and because so much silk was made in the South. Note that it was named after silk and not cotton, for cotton is soft but not strong, silk is also strong. Wu Dang is considered a 'Nei Jia', or 'internal' martial art. This quan also flowed down through Hua Tuo, a Chinese monk and leading doctor, though not clear whether he was earlier or later than Zhang Sanfeng. He developed breathing exercises to increase circulation for cleansing the body of illness. He also used five animals, the Wu Qin Xi, the Five Animals/Birds Game, but these related more to Tu Na breathing exercise for longevity, and thus to the Tai Ji tradition.
In the North, Qi was emphasised for fighting, close to Karate and Aikido.
In the South, Qi was emphasised for health, close to medicine.
In the North, they emphasised legs, connected with climbing mountains.
In the South, they emphasised arms, rolling the ball and circling.
In the North, there was more of an Islamic influence, the surname Ma coming from Mohammedan.
In the South, there was more of a Buddhist influence.
Tai Ji, Ba Gua, Xing Yi, were not originally in one school, but were a later synthesis by Sun Lu Tang and the people just before him. Sun Lu Tang was a man like Confucius, who did not invent the art, but revived it, and collated ideas and texts from the wider culture. Miss Li said that, though she learned from her teacher, she feels she has to research the points continually to see if they are right and what they mean.
It is good to know the three forms, but nobody can do all three equally, because of the limitations of individual physique. It is wrong to make Tai Ji carry the whole burden of 'self-defence', the other two do have fighting aspects and should carry that burden more, but even they are still mainly for health. The difference between Xing Yi and Ba Gua and Tai Ji is that the first two send out qi towards 'the enemy', but Tai Ji absorbs it back and neutralises it. The traditional Chinese order was Xing Yi, Ba Gua, Tai Ji, even beginning with quite external forms for the young children. This was the order in which she learned: Xing Yi to strengthen the muscles of a weak race. We do not need this so much in the West, as we are better fed and have more gymnastics at school.
Miss Li said she preferred 'self-development' to 'self-defence' ... if we can put Nei Jia Wu Shu on that road, it will have a great future in the world.
Saturday 27 October 2018
Summer School 1983
CHINESE MEDICINE
Literary legends of the origins of life are similar throughout world cultures, but in China perhaps a bit older. So, written records in the period of the Han Dynasty refer to a prehistoric Shennong, ‘Spiritual Farmer’: an intelligent man who became the tribal leader. Men like these not only taught people how to grow things from the earth, but also told them about herbs to use when they were sick. His Ben Cao (‘from the grass’) classic divided herbs into three categories:
1. Superior drugs, non-poisonous, possessing rejuvenating properties, which can be taken for a long time without any harm ... ‘it won’t kill you, it won’t cure you’!
2. Medium drugs, possessing tonic effects, with toxicity depending on the dosage, so not too much was taken.
3. Inferior drugs, employed to cure disease and considered ‘poisonous’, i.e. producing side effects, also often using actual poisons to counteract poisons, and should therefore not be taken for any length of time.
Still semi-legendary, though more historical, was Huangdi, the ‘Yellow Emperor’, another leader who was an expert on herbs and drugs. He was responsible with a doctor, Qibo, for writing the Nèijīng (‘inner classic’) which became the canon of orthodox Chinese medicine, accepted by later scholars.
Religion and medicine: the relation between body and mind, unorthodox Chinese medicine, an area in which there were sorcerers, the use of wine, priest doctors worshipping specific deities, witch doctors, faith healers ... all depending on faith, though faith healers as such used no material objects, only faith.
Philosophy and medicine: the Chinese philosophy of disease, the other side of the coin being the philosophy of health ... and here is where Miss Li would locate Tai Ji. But this area was a bit dominated by scholastic subtleties and characterised by respect for authority, petrified formalities and pedantic excess of detail. However, within this were two central doctrines which formed the basis of all Chinese medicine:
1. Yin and Yang, ‘the two principles’, which generates the Bagua, ‘eight changes’, with strong relations to mathematics, astrology and the I Ching. Miss Li said she accepted the validity of this connection, but did not follow it herself. It uses the straight and broken lines to record natural changes. It is supposed to date from Fu Xi, who was given a revelation on the backs of the crane and the turtle. Each of the eight changes has a special name and a symbol, but without a very precise definition: it depends on personal interpretation, and that personal meaning can be very hard to communicate. Yin/Yang represent female/male, soft/hard etc. In terms of our human body, the skin is Yang, the inside is Yin; the back is Yang, the front is yin; the empty organs are Yang, the solid organs are Yin; the heart and liver are Yang, the spleen, lungs and kidneys are Yin.
2. Then comes the Wu Xing, ‘the five elements’. The human frame is supposed to be made up from a harmonious mixture of these five primordial substances. Proper health depends on a good balance of the five elements. Sayings reflecting the importance of balance are: ‘when you are too happy, you become exhausted’, ‘when you are too spiritual, you lose contact with the earth’, ‘even good things must be taken in moderation’. The five elements generate each other and subjugate each other. The five main organs correspond to the five elements. This is material, but there is also a mental side ... shenxin, body and mind. Man is the ‘little universe’, a microcosm: you have Tai Ji within Tai Ji, you are moving within the larger universe.
Tai Ji, Xing I, Ba Gua are therefore very subtle names, and the names of their forms are also elegant and subtle. But most translations into English are very crude and clumsy, without subtle meaning or clarity.
The I Ching has very little to do with Tai Ji, it has a little bit more to do with Ba Gua, but for the Internal Martial Arts the crucial text is actually the Yijin Jing, which is still quite solemn and scholarly, but which deals with the eight changes of the muscles, and is thus more closely related to Tai Ji and Ba Gua than the highly philosophical I Ching. There is also the Wu Xing Xi, or 'five animals game', which has a lot of therapeutic value.
In traditional Chinese practices they paid attention to diet, meditation to get blood pressure down, and then also exercise afterwards. Qi Gong Shan Shen Fa, meant the use of qi to strengthen your health, by quietening the mind and calming the breath; also the use of qi to overcome illness.
Zhang Sanfeng was a monk, a Daoist, and it is believed that he discovered many of the points on the body, but some say it was Feng I Yuan. Whichever, they discovered 36 points, then later in fighting reduced to nine fatal points, now today being revived for medical purposes. Miss Li was sceptical about this, 'perhaps I am more Western than you!'. The nine fatal points were considered to be: behind the ears, back of the head, back of the neck, solar plexus, back of the lungs, on the psoas area. The key is how they are touched, for one way of touching would be to cure. It is in Ba Gua that these fighting techniques would be most prominent, using the fingers, or the chop. This also relates to the place and time: in the medicine field it is very helpful to cure people, and in martial arts the timing is also the crucial thing. Another way of showing that Tai Ji is not a fighting art is that it does not have the fingers or the chops to kill or hurt.
Literary legends of the origins of life are similar throughout world cultures, but in China perhaps a bit older. So, written records in the period of the Han Dynasty refer to a prehistoric Shennong, ‘Spiritual Farmer’: an intelligent man who became the tribal leader. Men like these not only taught people how to grow things from the earth, but also told them about herbs to use when they were sick. His Ben Cao (‘from the grass’) classic divided herbs into three categories:
1. Superior drugs, non-poisonous, possessing rejuvenating properties, which can be taken for a long time without any harm ... ‘it won’t kill you, it won’t cure you’!
2. Medium drugs, possessing tonic effects, with toxicity depending on the dosage, so not too much was taken.
3. Inferior drugs, employed to cure disease and considered ‘poisonous’, i.e. producing side effects, also often using actual poisons to counteract poisons, and should therefore not be taken for any length of time.
Still semi-legendary, though more historical, was Huangdi, the ‘Yellow Emperor’, another leader who was an expert on herbs and drugs. He was responsible with a doctor, Qibo, for writing the Nèijīng (‘inner classic’) which became the canon of orthodox Chinese medicine, accepted by later scholars.
Religion and medicine: the relation between body and mind, unorthodox Chinese medicine, an area in which there were sorcerers, the use of wine, priest doctors worshipping specific deities, witch doctors, faith healers ... all depending on faith, though faith healers as such used no material objects, only faith.
Philosophy and medicine: the Chinese philosophy of disease, the other side of the coin being the philosophy of health ... and here is where Miss Li would locate Tai Ji. But this area was a bit dominated by scholastic subtleties and characterised by respect for authority, petrified formalities and pedantic excess of detail. However, within this were two central doctrines which formed the basis of all Chinese medicine:
1. Yin and Yang, ‘the two principles’, which generates the Bagua, ‘eight changes’, with strong relations to mathematics, astrology and the I Ching. Miss Li said she accepted the validity of this connection, but did not follow it herself. It uses the straight and broken lines to record natural changes. It is supposed to date from Fu Xi, who was given a revelation on the backs of the crane and the turtle. Each of the eight changes has a special name and a symbol, but without a very precise definition: it depends on personal interpretation, and that personal meaning can be very hard to communicate. Yin/Yang represent female/male, soft/hard etc. In terms of our human body, the skin is Yang, the inside is Yin; the back is Yang, the front is yin; the empty organs are Yang, the solid organs are Yin; the heart and liver are Yang, the spleen, lungs and kidneys are Yin.
2. Then comes the Wu Xing, ‘the five elements’. The human frame is supposed to be made up from a harmonious mixture of these five primordial substances. Proper health depends on a good balance of the five elements. Sayings reflecting the importance of balance are: ‘when you are too happy, you become exhausted’, ‘when you are too spiritual, you lose contact with the earth’, ‘even good things must be taken in moderation’. The five elements generate each other and subjugate each other. The five main organs correspond to the five elements. This is material, but there is also a mental side ... shenxin, body and mind. Man is the ‘little universe’, a microcosm: you have Tai Ji within Tai Ji, you are moving within the larger universe.
Tai Ji, Xing I, Ba Gua are therefore very subtle names, and the names of their forms are also elegant and subtle. But most translations into English are very crude and clumsy, without subtle meaning or clarity.
The I Ching has very little to do with Tai Ji, it has a little bit more to do with Ba Gua, but for the Internal Martial Arts the crucial text is actually the Yijin Jing, which is still quite solemn and scholarly, but which deals with the eight changes of the muscles, and is thus more closely related to Tai Ji and Ba Gua than the highly philosophical I Ching. There is also the Wu Xing Xi, or 'five animals game', which has a lot of therapeutic value.
In traditional Chinese practices they paid attention to diet, meditation to get blood pressure down, and then also exercise afterwards. Qi Gong Shan Shen Fa, meant the use of qi to strengthen your health, by quietening the mind and calming the breath; also the use of qi to overcome illness.
Zhang Sanfeng was a monk, a Daoist, and it is believed that he discovered many of the points on the body, but some say it was Feng I Yuan. Whichever, they discovered 36 points, then later in fighting reduced to nine fatal points, now today being revived for medical purposes. Miss Li was sceptical about this, 'perhaps I am more Western than you!'. The nine fatal points were considered to be: behind the ears, back of the head, back of the neck, solar plexus, back of the lungs, on the psoas area. The key is how they are touched, for one way of touching would be to cure. It is in Ba Gua that these fighting techniques would be most prominent, using the fingers, or the chop. This also relates to the place and time: in the medicine field it is very helpful to cure people, and in martial arts the timing is also the crucial thing. Another way of showing that Tai Ji is not a fighting art is that it does not have the fingers or the chops to kill or hurt.
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