Following the
Disappearing Footprints of Yesterday
by J. Reynolds Nelson
A great article about Wu Style Grandmaster
Wang Hao Da published in Qi
Magazine Issue 48: Following the disappearing footprints of yesterday
[Back
to George Xu Home Page]
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In 1923 Shanghai was one of the outstanding
cosmopolitan centres of our planet. In addition to the
transient panorama of the time, including leading
politicians, socialites, bold criminals, and imperialistic
carpetbaggers, it was a great centre of Martial Arts.
Regularly occasioned by the great Boxers of the day like
Chen Fake, Yang Cheng Fu, Wu Chien Chieh, among others,
there also lived a young Daoist named Ma Yueh Liang.
It was in this
year that Wang Hao Da was thrust headlong into the doomed
city. Before he was a teenager he was already pressed into
hard labour and by the time the Japanese arrived to occupy
the city he was used to surviving 20-hour workdays on two
bowls of rice. Before he was forty his body was racked with
ruin, his health on the verge of collapse.
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During the Cultural Revolution, when it was a crime
to associate with named criminals, he ignored the rule of law and
begged Master Ma to take him on as a student to preserve his life.
While the majority of Shanghai culture was bent on self-destruction,
Wang Hao Da spent his days secretly practicing the Art he learned
behind closed doors from one of Chinas’ greatest Masters. Unable
to work any longer, he devoted every moment observing, listening,
and practicing with his great teacher. One of only three students
Master Ma dared to accept during these dark years, Wang Hao Da had
exclusive access to, arguably, one of the paramount resources of the
century. By the time the Cultural Revolution ended and Ma Yueh Liang
was allowed to emerge from self-criticism, Wang Hao Da had learned
many of the secrets of the Master.
Day after day he would go to the local park and
cross hands with all who would push him. For years he searched to
understand the principles he had learnt by feeling the bodies and
centre of others. He invested in loss, for time and again his soft
touch was overwhelmed by forceful and hard artists bent on the path
of strength and power. His character was undiminished, for daily his
health improved. A small man in any case, he had never expected to
overwhelm those often twice his size. His search was for the true
internal power his teacher had shown and assured him could overcome
any and fulfill his need to recover. Finally, twelve years ago, after
33 years of practice and while his teacher still lived, he
discovered within him the bloom of his teacher’s seed. Standing on
the spot in any park in Shanghai, Short leg Wang as he is
affectionately known, will take on and defeat all comers, enigmatic
smile on his face, heart happy.
This May he will travel to San Francisco for
his fourth year to train western students in the life-giving
and empowering Art he was so fortunate to comprehend. Unlike
so many, who have all the wealth and power in the world yet
seek more and are never satisfied with their lot, Wang Hao
Da is a happy and fulfilled man, humble to his core and
genuinely desirous to pass on those precious secrets. While
only now becoming well known in the west, Grandmaster Wang
is widely acknowledged by his contemporaries in Shanghai and
has been shown the highest honours of his city’s Martial
Arts community. Last September we had the great good fortune
to introduce him to our community here in Great Britain,
where he shall return in September 2000. Thanks to Master Xu
Guo Ming, who introduced us and translated the words and
meanings of the Grandmaster, we are able to report here the
essence of his message.
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Correct central equilibrium {Zhong Ding} is the
basis for everything else in Taijiquan. One must focus with their
complete intention {Yi} to differentiate that which is external and
separate from one’s centre. The centre is the key; it must remain
straight and hidden, concentrated, deep inside the body constantly
changing, spiraling into the earth for the most part. One must
gather all the Qi {energy} to your centre. It is this structure that
is the basis for internal power {Nei Jing} or Zhong Ding Jing, and
essential for good health and longevity. The Dantien {lower abdomen}
is alive! Not only does the Dantien push down inside the open hips
but also it turns, spirals, bounces, and shoots; inside the
structure is always full, always condensed. When you play the Taiji
form you are performing the interaction of your Zhong Ding and
Dantien. This hidden internal play moves the outside, not
necessarily the entire body like a single lump of wood, rather by
gathering everything to your centre, your outside body follows the
direction of this internal command. It is because your inside works
so intensively that you receive the health benefit of Taiji. If one
only works externally and has strong skin and muscles but weak
organs, vessels, and bones, then the outside may thrive while
internally you are dying.
Spiritual concentration is crucial. Your Yi must be
strong, focused, pure, intent, gathering, confident, and sensitive.
It is the Yi/Qi that work together to develop Nei Jing, not ones
outer display of strength, {Li} that epitomizes all that is Taiji.
The Yi is used at first to search internally for correct alignment
of the Zhong Ding, the Dantien and its range of motion, to
differentiate between open and closed, empty and full, extension,
rooting, and connections. As one develops this inner sensitivity the
next goal is to practice control over these basic principles in the
correct way, so that the body remains straight, connected, rooted,
full, and spirals throughout the Taiji form. Yi is accountable for
the gathering of the Qi, and works in harmony with it, in order for
these principles to be applied. Yi is responsible for relaxing the
external body, the muscle; for storing the Qi one develops in
practice, for making smaller circles and spirals, for condensing
movement to small frame, and eventually to no visible movement in
order to develop Nei Jing.
Rooting three feet into the earth has a double
meaning. First one must make their Yi/Qi thick and sink heavy into
the earth at least three feet down. Secondly one’s Zhong Ding,
like the tailbone, is a third leg and its foot must be buried into
the earth.
Rooting is a very important concept in Taiji. Your
root must always be deeper than your opponent. In order to dig them
out you must be below them. The Dantien and Zhong Ding must be
structurally sound and without correct root this is impossible.
However you must not be rigid! You must be light and agile,
changeable, quiet yet quick. You must learn to balance your power
downwards and upwards; the bottom is heavy, the top is light;
connected. In order to root you must have a good understanding of
the hips. The hips are very complex, the inside hip {Kua} must be
free to open and close, spiral into the earth. The outside hip must
be strong and flexible to grip the earth, and the sacrum and
tailbone must be straight and changeable. The bowl of the pelvis,
like a wok or cauldron must be round and accommodate the Dantien.
When you develop an understanding of how these things work in
harmony your rooting will become more profound.
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Grandmaster
Wang and his teacher the late Grandmaster Ma
Yeuh Liang.
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Learning to connect is fundamental, yet I
have been surprised how western students have missed out on
this basic principle. Gripping the earth, whole body
structure power {Gatsa Jing} cannot be neglected. Just
because one concentrates to the centre, develops correct
Zhong Ding, the outside body is not tofu. Extension is the
basis of connection, yet many people wave their arms around
in an unconnected and disharmonious method. As a minimum
requirement the three external harmonies should be observed,
the arms and legs emerge from the spine and work as such.
Yes I say work the internal exclusively, deep internal soft
movement like water, full like an air bag, but not at the
expense of basic connection – extension.
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Silk reeling power {Chan Si Jing} is a significant
component of the Wu style. Every movement must be a spiral. One
spirals into the earth and one spirals away from the Zhong Ding for
discharge of energy, simultaneously. Learning Chan Si is implicit in
the form, and form practice should be serious, without tension,
without the energy coming up. When I play Taiji my whole body
spirals, my feet spiral into and on the earth, my Zhong Ding
spirals, my Dantien spirals, my Yi/Qi spirals. My structure outside
hides my snake inside. Spiraling stretches the vessels; cleanses
the organs, strengthens the bones, and invigorates the entire body.
It has been one of the components that restored my health. Now I am
like a baby, soft yet tenacious, heavy yet changeable, flexible yet
powerful; each day I become younger more rejuvenated and my spirit
is thus affected as well. What could be more valuable than good
health and happiness?
Taiji form and push hands {Tui Shou} have been my
method of rejuvenation and progression. One uses Taiji form practice
in order to understand the self, Push Hands to understand the Nei
Jing. Each day I practice Wu form, Master Ma’s Longevity Qigong,
and Tui Shou. In my form practice I am mindful of many principles. I
have included 8 basic ones for you to contemplate. In my Qigong
practice Yi/Qi and pure internal work is my guide. I Push Hands in
the park every day. Win or lose is of no significance. I lose every
time if I use Li. I win if I am quiet, if my Nei Jing is pure, my
Zhong Ding Jing correct. Over the years I pushed hands with many
people. The one quality I respect most in an opponent is their
ability to listen. One can only progress if they have the power to
listen {Ting Jing}. If their character is so flawed that they must
win at all costs, if they must resort to such base instincts and low
level techniques and force, I have no misgivings about returning to
them what they aim at me.
The harder they attack, the further they fly.
by J. Reynolds Nelson
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