Women in Martial Arts

For many generations, the Chen family produced highly adept female martial artists. For it is commonly known that Kung Fu is about skill, rather than brute strength. Women - like men can be equally skillful at anything. But one incident was to shape Chen family history for many generations:

Chen Ziaoniu had two older brothers, and trained along side them diligently, until she became better at the Chen family form of Taijiquan than they were. When she became old enough to marry, the son of a wealthy family made advances towards her. Ziaoniu's parents rejected him in favour of an honest young man called Zhao.

The spurned wealthy young man possessed considerable martial skill, and proceeded to persecute and harrass the Zhao family, damaging crops and attacking individual members. Before she married, Ziaoniu had made a promise to her father that she would not show her martial ability to her new family - and she stuck to this promise for a good number of months. But a person can only bear so much torment, and finally, she drew her sword and dealt with this bully and his entourage with considerable ease.

Now, if Ziaoniu's husband had any self-respect, he would have thanked her for helping his family out, and cherished her as a valuable asset. But instead, he blamed her for causing the trouble and waited until his father died before sending Ziaoniu back to the Chen family - disgraced. It is hard to believe in these modern times, but back then, this was the ultimate dishonour to be brought onto any woman.

Vowing to never practice Chen Taijiquan, Ziaoniu broke her sword in two. She was inconsolable, and after an extensive period of mourning, hung herself. She was buried with her broken sword. Following this horrible incident, Chen Xunru decreed that Chenjiagou Taijiquan would not be taught to women.

There are many things wrong with the way women are treated around the world - but looking at this tale reminds me that we have moved on a great deal.

London olympics will now hold women's boxing - for the first time. I am overjoyed. Up until now, the given reason why women weren't allowed to box in the olympics was "Women are unstable and cannot control themselves."

Perhaps we haven't moved far enough - yet.

Feet and Shoes!

One of the first tweets I made on twitter was as follows:

"Once you start Tai Chi, you begin a lifelong search for the perfect pair of shoes."

The post received a great deal of replies from the tai chi community - and rightly so. The feet are fundamental in the Tai Chi dynamic of rooting to the floor, and are pushed against the ground to create a "rebounding" force that travels up the body for release of energy for martial purposes.

Your toes should slightly grip the ground, and the heels should be in contact with the floor. This makes the foot substantial at the front and back, but hollow in the middle. The arch works as a spring, so it should not be pushed to the floor. This is achieved by keeping the foot relaxed, and not straightened.

Your foot should also remain upright, and should not roll, rock or twist. So before practicing, ensure your ankles are loose and warmed up.

To support the unique Tai Chi requirements, making sure you have the perfect pair of tai chi shoes is really important. They should:

• Support the foot, without constriction or padding the arch too much.
• Allow you to feel the ground.
• Improve the grip on your chosen practice ground.
• Cushion the sole without losing feeling of the ground.

So pay attention to your feet when you train. Take time to find the perfect pair of shoes. They really do make a difference.

Youthful Tai Chi

Tai Chi is concerned with nurturing pre-natal chi. This is the original life energy that we all receive from our parents at conception. As we get older, this pre-natal chi gets depleted or replaced by other, less vital forms, and the body decays as a result.

Now, this may seem far-fetched. You can choose to believe in the concept of chi energy or not. However, the concept of Chi is based on real measurable, experiential phenomena that were observed by traditional Chinese doctors over many generations. one things you cannot argue with, is the outcome.

I mean, how many octogenarians in the UK can do this?

Be happy.

Tai Chi Breathing

One of my tai chi teacher friends had a student who was very diligent in his practice (let's call him 'Bob'). When asked whether he was happy with the move he had learned, Bob would say the same thing...

"It's ok, but I will get it right when I learn the breathing."

He went to a seminar with Chen Xiaowang and asked "How can I breathe correctly?"

Master Chen said "Breathe in."

Bob breathed in.

Then Master Chen asked him to breathe out. Bob breathed out earnestly.

"Breathe in," Master Chen said.

Certain that he was on the verge of some great discovery, Bob breathed in again.

"Breathe out," said Master Chen.

As Bob exhaled, a smiling Master Chen said "You've got it." and returned to the rest of the lesson.

Some FAQ's about breathing

How to breathe?

Breathe from the stomach, like singers do. If your chest is being expanded and contracted, you are breathing wrong. As you breathe in, your stomach should expand, and as you breathe out, the stomach should return. There should be no excessive effort to the breathing, and there should be no point where the breath is held.

When to breathe

If you are practicing your form, you should breathe out when you are releasing energy - even if your movements are slow. Inhaling should be done when you gather energy for a strike. The speed of breath should indicate the speed of the movement. So an understanding of the self defense aspects of your movements is key to getting the breathing right. As most moves have more than one practical application, you can choose which point to exhale and inhale.

What if I forget where I am with breathing?

Believe it or not, this is a very common mistake amongst beginners - especially when they are concentrating hard. My advice is... If in doubt, breathe out.

What about reverse breathing?

This is not something I can teach you without one-to-one direct tuition. My advice is to seek out someone who can train you properly. Also, understand that reverse breathing, while excellent for training, can cause damage if you keep doing it outside the training room.

What is Hsingyiquan?

Hsing yi is a compact, effective internal martial art developed by Song dynasty General Yue Fei. It is a dynamic system involving moving forward and occupying the space of your opponent.

To strike, the practitioner pushes forward with his/her trailing leg and strikes before the leading foot hits the ground. This ensures that the landing of the front leg does not cushion the force of the strike.

Hsingyiquan forms are characterised by their linear movements and direct stepping. However, this 'direct' style disguises the 'soft' internal power that is the cornerstone of all internal styles (taijiquan, qigong, baguazhang and hsingyiquan).

The 5 elements of Hsingyiquan are as follows:

Splitting	劈	Pī	Metal	Like an axe chopping up and over.
Pounding	炮	Pào	Fire	Exploding outward like a cannon while blocking.
Drilling	鑽	Zuān	Water	Drilling forward horizontally like a geyser.
Crossing	橫	Héng	Earth	Crossing across the line of attack while turning over.
Crushing	崩	Bēng	Wood	Arrows constantly exploding forward.

Nature of Conflict

One of my twitter friends @Trevoke (follow him... interesting, thoughtful, mindful posts) asked me about the nature of conflict.

From an anthropological viewpoint, conflict is how nature selects the strongest, most successful attributes for survival. Conflict - at it's most basic is the struggle for life against the forces of nature and competition for procreation and scarce resources. It is driven by the need to survive and tempered with a fear of death. It is commonly known as the survival instinct.

Sometimes, we forget how things are. We perceive our environment to be more dangerous than it is. Our eyes and ears were designed to detect immediate threats. But with an international media industry, mobile phones and computers we are informed of every mishap around the world. As we become more knowledgeable, the more threats we will perceive. The more threats we perceive, the more our survival instincts will be triggered.

In a modern society, our survival instincts are expanded by technology and intelligence. This is a great source of inner and outer conflict. But your survival instinct can also be distorted. Consider money. Can you eat it? Can it protect you from the elements? No. Yet every day, people kill each other, fighting over money. Their survival instincts have been distorted by modern values.

Taoists have a name for distorted or expanded survival instincts. They call it "failure to see things as they are". Another Taoist teaching is to "put aside comparisons". For the more we compare one things to another, the more we risk being disappointed, angry and depressed.

In the basic natural struggle to survive between competing species, there is no absolute morality. However, we live in an organised society where are actions can provoke the survival instincts of others, which cause repercussions. One single action can send ripples that extend well beyond our immediate field of view.

Reflect on conflict for any period of time, and the enlightened mind has to acknowledge that as everything is connected, the cycle of violence, suffering and retribution has been rolling on since before recorded history. As we have become more analytical in our thinking, we have sought to exert ever more control over our environment and also each other. The resultant conflict has been inevitable.

Teacher - why do I have to stand like this for ages?

During most of my taijiquan classes, I will have a section where we practice form until we reach a posture, then stop like statues. Then I go through the class adjusting everyone's posture. It is probably the least popular activity amongst my students. I regularly get questions as to why we do this.

Posture practice does not only teach you to stand in an anatomically correct position. It allows you to recognise where unnecessary tension is, and relax into the posture. This may seem boring to practice, but your balance and rooting will improve dramatically as a result.

When I was in China, I became good friends with a stocky guy called Feng. As we practiced, I could not help noticing that his form was 'unorthodox' to say the least. A less polite remark would be 'rubbish'. His head weaved, his body leaned like a galleon in a hurricane and his shoulders were all over the place.

When the training moved to pushing hands and san shou, we teamed up. I expected he would be a pushover, but as the lessons continued, he swatted me around like a rag doll. My 'superior' technique was nothing against his rooting and power.

Later I asked Liming Yue if he knew Feng, and what his training methods were. Liming said that Feng did not do much form or pushing hands work, but he would stand in Zhang Zhuang and other postures for at least 2 hours every day!

Two hours - sheesh!

Standing in postures requires only standing room and zero equipment. Your rooting and power will go through the roof. So, next time you practice your form, stop a while, breathe deeply, relax all unnecessary muscles and pay attention to your posture. Standing postures can also be used as a meditation, therefore instrumental in the calming of the nervous system.