All of the training in Meditation, Buddhist cultivation, Qigong, Kung fu and Tai Chi are aimed at letting go. We don't strive to acquire more, though at first, this may be our primary focus. Because of course, in the beginning without having the proper tools and a proper foundation, we certainly cannot accomplish much. But 20 years ago when I began, all I could think about was acquiring skills, acquiring power, and more power, and more and more and more - until I reached a phase in which I came to see that this direction had its limitations in achievement. Some of that is just how you feel as a young person, but a lot of it is societal pressure and lack of understanding. In the art of internal Kung fu, in the study and practice of self cultivation, the way of practice should ultimately lead you to see that letting go of constant desire and the need for ego stroking will only get you so far. 

SO HOW TO PRACTICE?

1. First, we should understand what we are trying to do in our practice. 
2. Next, we should apply the methods. 
3. Finally, we should be diligent, unrelenting, vigorous and brave in our application of those methods. Simply put, practice consistently. 
   

UNDERSTANDING OUR GOALS
I always ask my students to recognize their goals.  Then I encourage them to broaden their scope, and push a little further.  If their goals are only physical, I'll encourage them to reach those goals but to also think beyond.  Ultimately, a good student's goals will line up with the genuine art of practice that their Master is passing to them.  This may take time, but hopefully a student will come to this point, if not at first-eventually.
The goal is to reach the art of learning to let go, to quiet the mind and develop a higher level of wisdom and understanding.  The irony is that the ones who strive the hardest to accomplish the fancier side, the physical techniques only - will be left empty of the spirit and depth of the true way of martial arts and practice. The longer they strive, the farther away the understanding becomes.  So we must first recognize our short term goals, and try to have some long term goals that line up with the genuine way. 

APPLICATION OF THE METHODS OF PRACTICE
This can be tricky. At Gold Summit we specialize in helping others with this. First we apply the methods we learn in class-during class. Then we learn to apply the methods of concentration, self awareness, good habits etc. outside of class. A good student will do the work outside, then work with their Teacher as often as they can.  A good student will learn the way to be a good student, and continually strive for this. If you are unable to be a good student in your practice and in your respect, how will long term and high level results really come?

DILIGENCE AND VIGOR IN PRACTICE
What we think is patience, is often not the true test of patience.  In the world now, everything is fast- what we want is often at our fingertips. This is an amazing thing in some ways. We can reach across the world to touch other cultures and people in just a few seconds, with almost no effort.  But the downside to this is that we have no patience.  We think putting in a few years into our practice should yield the results that we so desire.  If it doesn't, we want to give up and go on to the next thing. Sometimes we want to blame our teacher or someone else for what we have not yet accomplished. Other times, we just don't believe its possible.  The true test is whether or not you keep practicing ,using genuine cultivation methods, during these times.  Keeping yourself healthy will allow you to have more vigor in your training. Keeping your mind from wandering and having a lot of bad habits, will help to keep you focused long term on your training and practice.  Having good habits is key to staying focused. We can address this in another post. 

Remember that its about letting go of our pre conceived ideas, our desire to protect ourselves at all costs from criticism, and slowly letting go of the ego that prevents us from hearing the truth. When we can work to let go, we can hear our inner wisdom, and we can tap into the ancient way of practice. 

This is the type of conversation that I often have with my students, both kids and adults.  I recently spoke to one of my students who is just turning 12 years old. She asked me about doing exercises at home. I was hoping that she would do more Kung Fu training, but when I asked what type she was doing she replied "lots of sit ups."  This young student is fairly strong and shows tremendous promise in the Chinese Martial Arts. She is not heavy set, nor is she unhealthy, and is quite pretty.  When I heard her answer, I immediately realized she thought she needed a flat stomach much like her peers and the media were telling her. 

With the fitness business boom in our country, and the influence of hollywood celebrities who adhere to a rail thin figure-its no wonder that both girls and boys, men and women have a skewed perception of health. So I use the Kung fu body as an example to many people.  Whatever style you practice, your style will usually yield a strong, flexible body. Most people who train are naturally thin, but depending on your diet and training methods-a body type can range.  The point is that the goal is not to look good. The goal is to be balanced, to develop yin-yang balance internally and to harmonize with one's environment and nature.  Kung fu training gives very strong legs-a little bigger than the average skinny pant could possibly accommodate. The waist and backside, especially for westerners, will grow somewhat, because you are storing energy and building muscle. Some bodies have a thinner waist, and others have a thicker waist. The thicker waist types can usually throw, toss and take down opponents with greater ease. 

I made sure to encourage  my young student to spend time with me so we could talk more about not succumbing to those pressures. I told her beautiful was not just thin. She smiled and looked so relieved. We should really consider this situation carefully.

But in every fitness magazine and fitness guru on twitter, you see the low body fat physique to an extreme. Women with six packs and larger, sometimes implanted breasts sends a message that a woman should be unhappy with her body otherwise. For the man, the gigantic shoulders, biceps, chest and top heavy look may make him believe that he is not fit otherwise.  The kung fu body does not look to inflate the upper body, with a thin waist and spindly legs. Adaptability, relaxation, speed, fluidity, timing and most of all-longevity are cultivated through the root in the lower body and relaxation of the upper.  An upper body that is too big from weight training will slow a person down, decrease sensitivity and adaptability. In addition, it will not facilitate the storage of qi (energy) at the center of the body because the lower is weak and the upper is strong-a backwards concept in Chinese medicine. Does that mean that Martial Artists don't do any kind of weight training? or develop their upper body at all? No it does not mean that - the point is that sculpting the body to look good, is not the epitome of health, fitness and finesse. 

When I used to teach boxing, sometimes I had bouncers who wanted to improve their punch. Believe it or not, I had a 300 lb. bouncer who could not punch as hard as I could when I was 120 lbs. The reason? technique, speed, relaxation.  He was big, overly muscular in his top half and had difficulty relaxing. Don't get me wrong, he was strong. I am sure he could lift someone up and toss them around-but there was no finesse, no punching power, and very little adaptability. 

So I will say that we should consider the ideals of beauty that we are exposed to and ask ourselves-is it really natural and healthy?  Should we perpetuate the unrealistic and ultimately, unhealthy ideals by supporting them?  How do we break those patterns? Accept that women should have a little body fat to be healthy. In Chinese medicine theory, women cannot have the healthiest babies or be fertile without yin- the soft side. A strong woman may also be soft at times, so this is not an anti feminist comment. This is not to say that having too much body fat is good, but rather a comment on the constant striving for losing pounds and fat is unhealthy. 

Also accept that a man is healthy and appealing with a naturally strong, healthy physique not one that is forced, and created with hours of weight lifting and cardio. Fitness and health come more naturally through practicing healthy diet, not eating late hours at the evening, engaging in healthy, moderate exercise and being relaxed in life.  Meditating, Qigong and Tai Chi should be cultivated as a balance to hard exercise and fast paced life. True health is not a superficial look, but begins in the internal world. American people are most frequently yin deficient-they lack the calm, the soft, the patient, the quiet.  If we can cultivate the yin side, we can find a true balance of health. Otherwise, our constant need to look good, be active and cleanse, cleanse, cleanse-will actually age us faster!

~Laoshi Markle 

In 2012, when I had the opportunity to teach Kung fu (wushu) at Changzhou College of Engineering Technology to the Physical Education majors, I also had the opportunity to row at Dragon boat practices with the students. 

When I showed up with the Deputy Director of the Physical Education Department, Simon, some of the students from the Martial Arts classes were there. All of the students seemed as if they knew I was coming and gave me a nice welcome. Some of the students whom I had not yet met were calling me "Mr. Wu" and when I laughed, Simon told me very seriously that they were respectfully and intentionally saying "Mr."

The Dragon Boat Teacher, shown standing, was very strict. There were also 2 other girls who rowed with the guys, and I was pleased to see that. 
I had never rowed before.  They gave me no preparation as to how to use the oar, or what technique to use. I was sure that they were just including me for fun, and assumed I would not really try. I can't be sure because, as I said, they were very respectful. To me, I was serious in trying to learn more about Dragon Boat racing and was determined to be part of the team, even if just for a short time.

I had to quickly watch other people and figure out the fastest way to get the oar in the water and then how to use less hard strength. This was a task. The student next to me gave me a quick tip on how to hold it, and then we were off down the river at a quick pace. There was no gradual increase in speed, but rather it was full force the whole time-as fast as we could go down and back on the man made waterway. My goal was to keep my oar going smoothly into the water, while keeping up with the guy next to me. When everyone is rowing full speed, keeping the oar going smoothly into the water is one of the most important and challenging things. Anyone who does not keep the smoothness can cause the whole boat to slow down. I can say that my martial arts training was very helpful. I was able to keep up with the team and able to row without much friction. I also learned a great deal about rowing. 

The Teacher said he was surprised. I asked if they could come to America to teach and have Dragon Boat racing. They promptly said that Americans would not be interested! Interested? I am sure that many of you would be! I told them so, and we will see what happens in the future. 

More pictures and stories about my last trip or two to China coming next time. 




P.S. There was no Dragon head on the boat, because when they would turn the boat around in the waterway, the boat wouldn't fit with the head-so they just used the head during competitions.

After all the crazy scheduling of Sister City events and meetings, I spent the first day of China's National Holiday with some of my students. 2 were missing due to having to travel home to see their families, as National Holiday is a huge time for touring and visiting with family. 

The night before, James, to the left of the boy in the center, treated me to dinner and we discussed life in China. The next day, all the boys shown here picked me up at my fancy hotel and took me to lunch. In the afternoon, I spent a couple of hours training them. Bai Yang is the student in the center. He is very serious and will come to America next year to study Kung fu & Qigong, meet my American students, learn some English and enjoy the Buffalo and Niagara Falls area. James can speak decent English while the other 2 cannot speak much. 

Though Bai Yang is in China, he does not have much opportunity to learn the traditional arts. I taught him things such as meditation, basic Qigong, stretches and the philosophy of a traditional artist. As he has old injuries and certain lifestyle habits, I advised him to practice these things first before he is ready to learn more form work. Last year, I taught these boys a few moves of the Tian Long Quan- Dragon style and they were eager to learn more. 

I have realized from teaching both American and Chinese students that they have some very important things to learn from each other. Chinese students are very respectful to their Teachers. SInce Bai Yang has shown such an intense interest, even over email, I offered to teach him some Kung Fu when we met up. I did not ask for money as I want him to understand what it entails first. But Bai Yang, immediately understood that if I was his Teacher, he had to be a good student. He does a few things of note.

He always signs his name in emails "your student." He took a cab more than 45 minutes to my hotel, just to get me into a cab to take me to lunch, which he insisted to pay for. In addition, all the boys escorted me to the train station to see me off. Because I had so much luggage, they asked the boss if they could go into the restricted area to help me onto the train. To my surprise, they stayed with me until the moment I set foot on the train. Though I know they like me as a Teacher, what is more important is that they understand that the relationship is a 2 way street. Its not worship to take care of your Teacher's needs, and it does not mean your Teacher is weak and cannot survive without you. They understand the Teacher has skill and experience that they don't have, and that it is something to be cherished.

Some Chinese students can learn a thing or two from American students as well. I am not talking about the serious students who train in competition or in the mountains, but the average young person who dabbles in Martial Arts in China. American students have a deep desire to improve, and a love of the philosophy. American students are often willing to experience some of the tough training because they like the feeling of pushing themselves. As I told my class in Changzhou College last  year, my American students were willing to be pushed harder than they were. Much to their dismay, I picked on them for this. American students are very interested in incorporating the philosophy of Buddhism and Daoism into their daily lives. This is an advantage over someone who just wants to learn movements for competition or fighting. This is the way to cultivate the real spirit of the arts. American students ask a lot of questions and being able to express themselves is high on their priority list. I used to find this off putting, because like a lot of Chinese teachers, it seemed like a challenge. Though asking too many questions and being too loud in expression can be a hindrance to learning and concentrating, it is also a very good way to learn when used with discipline. 

My hope is that both my Chinese and American students can spend time together and learn from each other. As a Teacher, I am still a student of life. We should always be striving to be better students. Being a good student is the way in which to learn more fully.  Learning the etiquette does not make you a good student-that is the beginning. Only when you are truly sincere in your relationship with your Teacher, will you get somewhere. When that happens, it simply does not matter what part of the world you are from.