Loren Christensen is a great guy. I have had a couple of email correspondences with him, and he offered me some advice on writting and publishing. If you have not picked up any of his books, you are missing out. There is a link to his site on the right hand side of my blog. This is a clip from one of his fantastic DVDs from Paladin. Enjoy and learn something!
Loren W. Christensen
Another GJFFK Update
I have received an number of emails from people asking questions about what I am doing with the GJFFK form, and what these changes are.
As stated in previous entries, I am going through that form, as well as the 8 trigram staff form, and simply working the form. I am not looking for hidden applications, although I did discover some applications which had become obscured due to the changes that have crept into my form after many years of getting hung up on the idea of making the form “pretty” for tournament competition. I have openly confessed that I had become over conscious of practicing the performance of the form and more and more losing sight of the utility of the form.
Forms should not be pretty.
One funny side note – in spite of openly confessing the above information, some people have actually bought my GJFFK book and then slammed me in emails (of course not in person, why would they do that??!!?!?) for the very point which I have openly confessed here as well as several martial arts forums.
I have also openly admitted that the idea for this project came from Mr. Burgher’s excellent work “Five Years, One Kata”. I do not intend to write a book about what I am doing, as some people are claiming is my intent. I am blogging about it, because this is a free format, and easily accessible to anyone who wishes to read about it. There is also video on the way.
The point of what I am doing is to discover for myself how I should be doing GJFFK. IF you do it exactly like your Sifu, you have missed the point. The point of the form is not to make it an exact replica of your Sifu, it is to make it your own personal expression.
As I said, video is on the way. I have several videos which can show you much better than I have time to explain in writing. If you care, keep checking in, and you can see it.
It should not be long now!
Classes set to formally resume.
For those who have not been notified, the classes resume effective immediately. There will be a small change in the schedule and the pricing.
For the schedule, we will be holding classes on Saturday’s only for the foreseeable future. There are many reasons for this, but they are best discussed in a personal setting. The classes will be Saturday’s from 3:00 – 5:00. The classes are still held in my garage, so the weather will still have a powerful effect on you physically and mentally. When and if things change, I will add extra days to the schedule.
Regarding the price structure, it will be as follows – all students will pay $60 per month. The price remains the same if you are coming every week or not. There are times when due to my schedule with KICKSTART I have to cancel some of the Saturday classes, and on these months I will prorate the tuition. I still do not charge for rank testing, the tests (when they occur) are done at cost.
Due to a recent virus on my computer, all contact information has been lost, so those of you who know each other, please pass the word along. If you are interested in getting started but have not been here before, email me at sifuatlarge@gmail.com and I will get you started.
One year with Gung Ji and Bagua Staff
After being thoroughly inspired by a book called “Five Year, One Kata” by Bill Burgher, I began a similar task for myself.
Now, the main point of the book was to decipher the hidden applications of the katas he selected (Gojushiho for those of you interested).
I gave it some thought, and consulted some people whose opinion I respect, and ended up with a decision that my one year project was intead going to be a three year project.
Year one, which is already underway, is an intensive study of two forms. For the empty hand I have chosen Gung Ji Fuk Fu Kuen. And I decided to add a weapon form to the study as well, namely the staff. The staff form I have chosen is Eight Diagram Staff, which I chose mostly because I never felt that I was as good with that form as I could be with just a little dedication. (I was always more interested in blades than sticks).
One of the things that I have discovered in my study in Gung Ji is a majot flaw that crept in over time. I have been criticized for so many straight arm movements in my performance of this form, and have even been told that is exhibits my “Mainland influence”. I have no mainland influence that I am aware of, and so I ignored the criticism, as I usually do when the criticism comes over the internet.
Well, I understand now what the hoopla was about. By being so determined and focused on Gong Kiu (Hard Bridge) throughout everything that I do, I was neglecting a very important bridging concept – Lau Kiu (Reserve Bridge).
Remember, the bridges in Hung Gar are not this technique is Gong and this is Lau and this is Jai…the bridges are concepts which are first understood and then applied to your techniques.
In this case, I was bulling my way through the opponent in my mind. Now, make no mistake, I am very big and very strong, but there is always someone stronger. If I were to come across someone stronger, my Gong Kiu is not going to work. If their strength is equal to mine, my Gong Kiu may or may not work (in this instance it would depend entirely on the luck of timing).
All of the bridges are to be used. Just because you have a favorite, does not mean that that is the only one you need.
I put out my Gung Ji book right as I was beginning this project, and already my GJFFK has changed. I am going to be filming and placing some stuff on Youtube to (hopefully) show my progress as I go through this project. Like I said, the form is already changing, which makes my book like a time capsule. I was flipping through the book last night, and saw all of the straight arms…ah well, we cannot all be perfect.
My main policy right now is in the shut up and train category. The posts here may be infrequent, but I am quite busy. I will be updating the project as new things come up.
GJFFK (Step 15)
FIngers Support Heaven
The translation for this one does not reflect how my school does this. After the final extension from number fourteen, on the fourth Tiger Claws ripping to the waist, we go into a Lance Hands (a poke to the eyes performed with both hands simultaneously). Once the eyes are poked, the elbows drop, and the hand are returned to the Four Fingers Support Heaven position. Unlike the drawing here, in my school the hand position is a true Fingers Support Heaven. The fingers will be slightly separated, and the thumb will be pointing forward, and pushed as far down as the joint will allow.
Some schools, including Master Lam himself (if one follows the text in the books to the letter), the lance hands will be directed to the torso of the opponent. A fingertip strike will not hurt your opponent if this is your target. It will damage you. There may be something I am missing in the translations. One should be careful in target selection. This falls into the category of the Inch Bridge. I would target the eyes, or barring that, a secondary target would be the throat.
