THE GATELESS GATE A Martial Newsletter

thewandererskungfu.com

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That is my Sifu on the cover. He taught me the value of a newsletter, of sharing knowledge with the community, and although I just brought home a baby girl, and I’m in graduate school, and I have a full-time job, and I teach, I feel it is necessary to make time to keep putting a newsletter out, even if I am

the major (and sometimes sole) contributor. There was no Spring 2016 newsletter, and I apologize; I have no excuse. Hopefully you’ll enjoy this one

and the many more to come, as well as digging into the archives on my website and re-reading more than four years of newsletters(!).

I am fortunate to say my Sifu does indeed know real Kung Fu.

I can’t believe I’m standing up and leaning over to get this arm break/gua da…shame on me!

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APPLICATIONS

A variety of Baguazhang applications from recent classes, as well as a basic application of the opening movements from our Yang Family Taijiquan form…enjoy!

Baguazhang: Double-Stroke Back with Kick

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FROM ME 2 U: Teaching and Learning

Through normal interactions at work and in your everyday life, you will find that you sometimes disagree with

certain people, and you may even argue and yell, but rarely does it ever come to blows (I hope). It is the exact

opposite when you are in a Martial Arts class. It often starts with an errant punch, and then fuel is added to the

fire in the forms of misunderstanding, impatience, immaturity, ego, insolence, a lack of compassion, and a

generally bad attitude.

I can speak to these quite well, because I mastered them all at one point or another during my training.

Despite my shortcomings, I have learned a lot, and am at the point where I can help others get through it. We all

feel a lot of things when we get hit (besides pain), but it takes a mature student to take a deep breath and learn

the lesson, and it takes an experienced Instructor to guide a student through those lessons.

Misunderstanding: Don’t ever assume it’s as straightforward as it seems; some lessons are learned years after

they are taught.

Impatience: I used to be very impatient with myself, and rushing or forcing the situation never made it happen

any quicker (usually the opposite happened). I was never impatient with my Sifu when it came to wanting more

techniques, but I was in the minority in this regard. Your Teacher has a plan, and will give you more material

when you are Ready. Trust your Teacher.

Immaturity: This can manifest in many ways, including as many of the other characteristics mentioned here,

but this is especially bad when it comes to self-control. A big part of Martial Arts is gaining mastery of oneself,

and this is Not an easy undertaking to begin with, so when a student is given methods to cause harm to another,

and he/she does so wantonly and without compassion, thought, or control, it is a very big deal.

Ego: If anybody ever tells you they have no ego, Run The Other Way, that person is a psychopath, or a

pathological liar, or both. From my experience, you learn to quiet it and direct it when necessary. Again, this is

no easy undertaking as the ego is at the very core of who we are, but given time we can guide it so that it

provides positive reinforcement rather than arrogance and turmoil.

Insolence: At some point, and sometimes at many, many points, every student is pretty disrespectful to his/her

teacher. When you realize it, make adjustments and move on. Be humble. Remember, these arts are a treasure, a

gift; they are not transmitted lightly, and should not be received lightly. Your Teacher doesn’t have to teach you

ANYthing, or bother to repeat himself over and over again until you remember maybe half of it, or let you spar

with him. As my Teacher would say, “BE GRATEFUL.” And be humble.

Lack of Compassion: After a few years of training, you will have traded hands with several other students, and

hopefully been to tournaments where you can test your skill against other practitioners. At this point it should

be obvious that our commitment to training, our personal drive for perfection and development at this school,

far exceeds that of most of the population. Because of this, most people around you will not stand a chance in

physical conflict with you. You must always train to pull the punch, to hold back, to support those who cannot

support themselves. This is part of your training. If you do not learn this lesson, you cannot and will not

progress.

A Generally Bad Attitude: You think you deserve the next part of the form. You think your partner during that

last drill hit you a little too hard. You think these warmups are boring, or this technique is so simple. You think

the Teacher doesn’t pay enough attention to you in class. Take a deep breath, and reset. I have a toddler, so I

know what an immature, bad attitude looks like. Those who exhibit such poor behavior and negativity will not

be allowed to participate. Period.

Most people never work up the courage to face their greatest enemy looking back at them from the mirror

because it is an arduous process, this path of self-examination, pain, and growth. There are so many people I

know who I KNOW are never going to explore themselves the way we do through this Practice. It never gets

Easy, and it never ends, but that is part of the allure; there is always another peak to ascend, another door to

open, on our way to Enlightenment. Let us journey up this Black Mountain TOGETHER. –JSB

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Masked Avengers - A kung fu film review

Masked Avengers is a supremely campy 1981 film. The production values might be low, but the skill is very high. If one can look past the highly visible fake sideburns, there is a lot of good material. It is a Shaw Brothers film directed by Chang Cheh, and starring the Venom Mob, staples of the Shaw Brothers Films. The plot of the film is fairly straightforward. There is a band of thieves running wild on the countryside. The protagonist fighting group decided enough is enough after a related family is attacked and killed to steal a dowry and bride. The group is tipped off about the hideout being near a small town, and suspicion grows once their scout is murdered outside of that town. The movie is actually quite intriguing in the middle, and becomes a small whodunit while the band is trying to figure out who the leader is in the small village. The revolving suspicion and clever plot turns are very entertaining, and keep you watching in the interludes of the amazing action.

The real gem in the movie is, of course, the final battle. After the heroes are tipped to the location of the masked criminals base, the confrontation between the hero masters and the evil masters begin. The battle is full of deadly traps, gravity defying tridents, and a seemingly unending menagerie of other weapons. Particularly gripping is the main character, played by Sheng Chiang, fighting with dual fans, which slowly turn to metal chopsticks. He then pulls out an iron ring from his body, which I am still not entirely sure where it came from. The whole fight lasts around 15 minutes, and the choreography really even puts Daredevil to shame, with the very long takes. I am inclined to believe everything was not cleverly spliced together to make it seem like a long cut, simply because I doubt they had the capabilities in 1981, for the budget this film had. While all of the weapon work was amazing, a lot seemed overly showy. While this makes the movie much more exciting, it bothered me a little bit. There was much inefficient trident throwing, which I guess really gets the point across that the masked gang knew their weapons extremely well. Furthermore, the “final bosses” all had a

minute long entrance special, which always brings my mind back to Raiders of the Lost Ark, when after the swordsman shows his skills, Indy just pulls out a gun. With that said, for a movie it was amazing. This movie was great. While it is extremely campy, the martial skill is hard to beat. This was my first foray into the Venom Mob, but it will not be the last. One of the most critical points of this movie online, has been that it was filmed after Sun Chien or Lo Mang had left the group. Given these complaints, I feel I need to go back to the beginning and watch their filmography!

-Jason Price

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Horse Stance Basics – From a 9- Year Old By Jesse I. Angle and Aurelius R. Angle

My youngest son has often watched me practice and occasiaonally tries to follow along (see for instance my article in the Winter 2014 Newsletter). He’s quite observant and I once overheard him describing one of the horse stance basics to a friend and providing an example of what he would use it for. His own thoughts, I’ve certainly not told him what to do (other than not locking his elbow when he punches, cause it gives me the heebie jeebies when he does it). So out of curiosity I sat him down and asked him to describe what each of the horse stance basics could be used for. I’ve used some of my own words to try and describe his thoughts as best I could. 1) Slap Down, Upper Circle - Since the upper circle covers both sides of the body, he very much thought this a good technique for blocking an attack coming in from the side, such as for instance an inside chop. 2) Slap Across, Low Circle - Well an attack from above would hit the head first, so not that. Seems like the Slap Across could block an attack coming from an opponent to one side while the Sweeping Palm would block a low strike from a 2nd opponent to the other side. 3) Upper Circle, Low Sweeping Palm - Since this covers all angle, top to bottom, this can generally be used to block an attack coming from any direction, so long as you get the timing right. Specifically, it probably makes the most sense to block with the forearm surface. 4) Corkscrew Punch - Simply put, punching the stomach area. I asked him what if I grabbed his punching arm. Lo and behold, he pulled back to chamber just like he’s supposed to, turning my grabbing arm over and then punched. Me and my fellow students often have a hard time “doing the technique” and get caught up with the presence of another person involved. I was particularly

impressed that this didn’t seem to bother a younger mind. 5) Vertical Punch - Slightly less impressive, this is just the same as the prior punch, only aimed at the face instead of the stomach. 6) Inside Chop - Similar to the Upper Circular block, this blocks an attack, redirecting it away from you and then creates an opening for the strike. 7) Outside Chop- Using the slap to push an incoming strike out of the way, then using the brief opening to strike. Interlude - At this point he randomly mentioned using a crescent kick just like an upper circular block, redirecting an incoming strike (likely a kick) with the leg before kicking an opponent in the head. 8) Back Fist – He didn’t see this is a strike, he saw it as two blocks. For instance, against a 1-2, using the hook to block the first strike and then the back fist to block the second strike.

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| WHAT DOES LEARNING KUNG FU MEAN? | The place where we practice our Kung Fu is called the Kwoon (Cantonese) or Guan (Mandarin). But it's much more than that. It's a place of physical refinement. Of mental focus and abatement. Of spiritual purification. It is a place where we will find a teacher - If they Are a True Teacher - who will never let us fall, never falter in their tutelage, and will make a bridge of themselves over which their students shall cross. For some students, it merely means teaching them to become tournament champions. For others, it means teaching them to become champions at Life. That all sounds pretty lofty, but it's very true. The question then becomes: How can a place where combat arts are taught; where people are taught the very best, most efficient ways of causing harm to one another, bring Any level of refinement or spiritual Anything? The Teacher-Student Relationship When a student opens the school door and walks through, she or he is walking Out of their everyday, hectic, family and occupation, lifelong friends and coworkers-filled life, and passing through an invisible portal Into a dimension of their own creation where time slows down, to spend time at their Other occupation, with their other family, lifelong friends, and coworkers. It is a place sacred only unto Ourselves. It's a place where we voluntarily place ourselves under the authority of someone whom we have entrusted to confront us with

difficulties of the mind, the body, and the spirit. Ever-progressing in their difficulties, for as long as we may endure. He or she has the experience of an aged guru, sharpened by a military general's wit and deviousness. A Professional, capable of reading our every strength and weakness as clearly as a therapist. No, no level of trickery will outsmart them: their tenacity knows No Bounds. And we willingly ask for this - no, we Require it. It is only through these elements of contention, both within and without ourselves, that we are able to walk the road leading throughout all of the facets of our struggle towards personal development. At each level, our teacher is there to only add more to our burdensome load, threatening to ever-topple, yet somehow

maintaining balance with - For - us. When our minds are troubled and we feel an anxiety or trepidation, a true teacher ensures that all of the information necessary for progress is given to us in advance and the example is set forth before us by them. When we fall back into the poor physical habits of practice, their watchful eye corrects us and leaves personal waypoints for our own individual spirit to follow back to correctness, so that eventually they are no longer needed. When an attitude that comes from no place of logic or reason causes us to react poorly with anger or other negativity, the teacher waits on the path - their very being a torch seen distantly in the darkness so that when the illumination is finally able to pierce the darkness within us - that torch Guides us Home. And when fear of every kind; apprehensions about our physical ability to do something, despair of not being able to reach our next goals, nervousness when put on the spot and there's no way to save face - only face the music, when the All-Encompassing Fear of FAILURE looms all about us - just squeeze your hand, and find assurance by the firm grasp of your teacher's own hand sworn to never let you go.

-Da Shi Gung Marc Black

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Water Bucket Weight Training By Jason Price

Recently, we had a new exercise in class. This was to carry a water bucket down a length, to another bucket filled with water, add another 2 cupfuls to our bucket, and then return with it. The final trick is to mandate the specific way of holding the bucket. There were 4 versions. The first version was grasping the bucket between the forearms, and clenching closed. The second was using palms to grip. Third, only fingers around a small lip. Finally, only 2 fingers around the lip. I was thoroughly expecting the exercises to go from easiest to hardest, however for the most part, they became easier as we progressed. Obviously they all got harder within the exercise themselves, as the weight kept increasing every time, but each successive exercise seemed more manageable, with the exception of the final 2 finger version. This is, I believe, due to the required structure to hold the bucket in each case. With the forearms, a good amount of force was needed inward, to stop the bucket from falling. This is in addition to the force needed to simply hold the weight of the water above the ground. Since forearms generally don’t bend (with the exception of Bagua drills…), the surface area available to grip is minimized. The only way to increase the grippable area is to grip harder, which compresses the bucket, but requires even more exertion of force. Once moved onto the palms, I could get my hands around the bucket more, creating additional grip area, and more friction to aid in keeping the bucket aloft. This is also the time I found I could relax my shoulders more and adjust the carry position to move the load up the chain to my back muscles closer to my center or core, relieving the effort on my upper arms and shoulders. This is continued into the finger holding, as the arm structure can be realigned to more efficiently direct the weight of the bucket into my center, by eliminating the remaining “kinks” in my kinematic chain (i.e. my wrists). While the next step does increase the difficulty, it does further clarify the point, as the 2 fingers used were the ring and middle. Looking at your hand, you may notice that when held straight out, these 2 fingers line up neatly with your radius and ulna. This final iteration was a naked chain directly from the force application point to my core, thus conserving energy spent and in practice, making the exercise “easier”. While this may defeat the purpose of the exercise from a strictly physical viewpoint, it can show off a very useful concept for Kung Fu. Fighting/sparring is a very strenuous exercise, and anyway you can reduce your required effort can be a lifesaver. In application, this can mean to use your whole body, eliminating “kinks” in your attack chain, thus allowing the power to flow from your strong core muscles, out to the point of attack. Even if throwing a punch with these muscles, the more your arm/wrist/shoulder bends, the more force is lost to inefficiencies which are most often made up for by using more energy. The unfortunate side effect of this, sadly, is tiring out much quicker. Short and sweet conclusion, be direct in your attacks, and allow the force from your core to flow as directly to your target as possible.

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Examples...From top to bottom: forearms, palms. 4 fingers, 2 fingers

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RISE ~ OVERTURN ~ FALL

Whether it is the Ward Off of Yang Family Taijiquan, Sparrow Leaves Flock of Jiang RongQiao’s Baguazhang, or Drill-Split from Xingyiquan and Shaolin, all of these styles have developed an expression of the singular idea: rise-overturn-fall. Although there are literally an infinite variety of forms each of these techniques can take (which is why they are incorporated so often…they’re effective!), I will try to highlight some basic differences between these three expressions of the idea mentioned above. Ward Off begins as a subtle buoyant force, slightly to one side so as to unsettle the opponent and deflect. As the overturn portion occurs there is a drilling/shearing aspect, as well as the lapping motion of a wave breaking, which leads right into a pull-down or smothering “Fall” ending to the technique. Of course, the Fall is also the beginning to the next technique, Roll Back, but that observation requires its own article. Being rooted is the most important aspect in making this technique work. Relaxing and Listening are second. The first half of Sparrow Leaves Flock can be thought of as an inverted tornado: Steady, wide base at the bottom, swirling and rising up to a focal point, like a conical helix. The Overturn is happening continuously, but really happens at the apex. And then the Tornado “spits” your palm out, and off it flies for the Fall! The turning of the waist is of paramount importance! Drill-Split is the most Direct of the expressions; Rise with a wedge of the arms leading with the fingertips like a spear, allow the hands to exchange positions and turn over as your sides do, and expand out with the now-lead hand and down with the now-rear hand (don’t forget to turn the waist and put your body behind it! Drop the dantien with your weight and the stance shift!). Even with this more linear variation, there is some subtle-but-crucial roundness to the whole affair. And that is a very, Very brief introduction. What’s interesting is that the more you understand about the techniques, the more connections you can draw, and the more often you see the “themes” pop up. For example, the transition from Embrace the Moon at Chest in a 40-60 stance to Hold the Ball in an Hourglass stance in Jiang’s form; beginners simply step up and switch hand positions, but more advanced students may display the characteristics of ALL of the techniques noted above during that transition.

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The Words of the Masters

“There is a word, guan, that has an interesting double meaning.

In ancient interpretations, the word meant contemplation. In

modern times, it came to designate a Taoist temple. The left

side of the word represents a heron. Standing in the water

patiently, sometimes capable of a singular stillness, with

unblinking eyes and perfect balance, the heron symbolized

concentration, stillness, and great patience. The right side of the word is the

character for seeing, thus underscoring the idea of vision.

It is another way of saying “Look within.””

~Deng Ming-Dao

In this section, I will simply present a passage,

and leave it up to you to study.

My wish is that you will benefit, as I have,

from hearing the words of Those who Know.

Practice.

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