Issue 49 - Tse Qigong Centre

Cover: Wen Shan QuanQi Magazine is published by the Tse QigongCentre. Its aim is to bring you information notreadily available in the West.Editor:Michael TseDeputy Editor: Darryl MoyEditorial Assistants: John HayesSarah BloomfieldSimon BedfordCaroline GarveyMike StensonMarketing/Distribution: Jessica BlackwellSubscriptions: Jayne RowlandsSweden:Barbro OlssonConsultants (Listed in alphabetical order):Columnists:Grandmaster Chan Chi HoGrandmaster Chen Xiao WangGrandmaster Ip ChunGrandmaster Yang MeijunGlen GosslingJ. Reynolds NelsonDr. Shulan TangTse Sihn KeiAdam WallaceReaders may contact any of our contributors c/oQi Magazine.We encourage all our readers to contribute articles, lettersor questions for possible inclusion in future issues ofQi Magazine.Articles appearing in Qi Magazine do not necessarilyreflect the opinion of the editor.Adverts appearing in the magazine are not necessarilyendorsed by it or the editor.Exercises appearing in Qi Magazine are for referencepurposes only. Thus anyone wishing to study should seekqualified tuition.Michael Tse 2000.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced, stored or transmitted in any way without thewritten permission of Michael Tse.Advertising: Qi Magazine has proved to be an effectiveway of reaching a wide variety of people. All enquirieswelcome.For UK call: 0161 929 4485For USA call: Jessica Blackwell (425) 823 0199Subscription: Costs per year:UKUSAEuropeWorldwide£20 inc p&p.$35 inc p&p£25 (airmail) inc p&p.£30 (airmail) inc p&p.For UK/Europe/WorldwidePlease send payment in Pounds Sterling. Payment can beby Credit Card or Cheque, drawn on UK bank, payable toQi Magazine:Qi MagazinePO Box 59 Altrincham, WA15 8FS, UKTel:0161 9294485 Fax:0161 9294489email: tse@qimagazine.comFor USA/CanadaPlease send payment in US Dollars. Payment can be byCredit Card or Check payable to Qi Magazine:Qi MagazinePO Box 2697, Kirkland WA 98083Tel:(425) 823 0199 Fax:(520) 441 6578email tse@wildgooseqigong.comhttp://www.qimagazine.comISSN 1358-3778Today many people who study martialarts are just interested in the fightingside. They want to be Bruce Lee, JackieChan or Jean Claude Van Damme andlook cool, so other people will be afraidof them. If they can have big muscles,fast punches and high kicks, then theywill be very happy. These people thinkthat fighting is just like in a computergame such as Street Fighter or MortalCombat where the opponents usewhatever techniques they can to hurttheir opponent. Although these gamesare entertaining with their exclamationsof “Ah!”, “Shu” and “K-O”, where exactlyis the martial art discipline and tradition?Where is the meaning of the martial arts?People who want to use martial arts justfor beating poeple up, miss the point.There is no respect for either the skill orSifu. The new generation studyingmartial arts misses the point.Did you know that in the old times,you could not study martial arts easily?This is because the Sifu would not teachanyone until they knew the person wasgood. The student also needed to treatthe teacher like their father and take careof them when they were old. Manyteachers inherited their skills from theirfamily and were not allowed to teachoutside the family. Inside the family, theywould force the children to study, evenbeat them and punish them, makingthem repeat the techniques over andover until they became perfect.Otherwise they would not be given theirdinner or alllowed to go out to play.Sometimes they were even made to standfor hours in a particular posture. This kindof attitude was very normal in the past.If you have seen the film, FarewellMy Concubine, then you can see howhard the children studied their skill. Theteacher could even kill their students ifthey did not listen. Even Jackie Chan andhis Beijing Opera brother, Samo Hung,were trained very strictly and could bepunished severely. If at that time Jackieor Samo had given up and run away, theworld would not have these great actionstars. They paid a very hard price in thebeginning, but at the end they both gotthe good result. Fortunately, at thatmoment China was not influenced by thewest in trying to spoil the children.Chinese say “A strict father willhave a good son. A kind mother will haveprodigal son.” So historically fathers werevery strict with their children and whenthe children grew up, they would lovetheir parents even more. When we trainour pets, like dogs or horses, we are strictwith them in the beginning. Then whenthe animal knows how to behave, youcan be more relaxed and easy.I remember when I was 14 andstudying Wing Chun with my uncle (whowas Ip Man’s student). I was really afraidof him. He did not smile easily and I hadlittle money as well, so I could not payhim too much money. Instead I helpedhim to plant and prepare herbsfor his patients. Sometimes, Ilearnt nothing new for a coupleof months and I had to keepdoing the same techniques overand over again. However, Ialways found I was very lucky tohave the chance to learntraditional martial arts skill,instead of joining basic schoolclasses like karate or other sports.My uncle was very strict with meand would make me practise atechnique again and again untilit was right. I remember thathaving the opportunity to studywas a treasure for me. I practisedeven when I walked, sat and laydown, going through a techniqueuntil I knew it was right.It is rare to find this kind ofattitude today because children havebeen spoilt. If they stand too long, walktoo far or have too much study, they willcontinued on page 7Qi Magazine 1