LEARN FROM A MASTER FACE TO FACE (OR NOT AT ALL!)
These series of post are mainly
my own LIMITED thoughts and experience from practicing Yiquan and should be
taken with a HUGE DOSE OF SALT.
Why are true Internal Martial
Arts so difficult to learn? In the age of instant communication through the
internet and plethora of online learning materials such as video and audio, why
is there still the need to seek an instructor and learn through the old fashioned
way of master and disciple? This is a pertinent question and one that is not
apparent at the onset.
In this day and age, there are many
charlatans and shameless people who are out to make a quick profit. Obviously
then, one cannot be faulted for being immediately suspicious of so-called
masters that require you to be a student under them and pay an inordinate
amount of fees for many years whilst learning drib and drabs of knowledge. Are
they as knowledgeable as they profess to be? Why am I not learning anything
useful? Why am I not progressing? Are they needlessly prolonging the
instruction to make a quick buck off me?
All these are true and valid
questions! And more often than NOT, you may meet many so called Masters that
are exactly that. Charlatans! So, you are unable to meet any reputable Masters
in your area, why not rely on online learning materials from Instructors that
have a proven reputation, someone that’s the ‘Real Deal’, so to speak? It’s
better than doing nothing, right?
And that is the precise
conundrum! The question is whether it is possible to learn an Internal Martial
Art without face to face contact with a Master for a prolonged period of time
(say between 1-3 years). As with all
things, there are outliers, but in general, I would say NO! It’s better not to
learn at all rather if you are unable to seek out and learn from a true Master
for many reasons. And what is the reason for this? There are many reasons but I
can elucidate the top three below:
1. SUBSTANCE OVER FORM
When we begin to learn an
internal martial art, we begin by mimicking the external movements performed by
the Master. Whilst this is acceptable at the very initial stages, this is
gradually remedied via the feedback loop as discussed below. What is important
to note is that the Master attempts to remedy the subtle errors by identifying
the various issues and giving specific instructions via certain exercises. What
is being remedied is the substance or essence of the movement rather than
getting the student to perfectly mimic the movements of the Master.
This is where the huge
divergence appears. When we attempt to learn without detailed instruction, all
the effort goes into trying to mimic exactly the movement of the Master. We DO
NOT understand the exact underlying why a certain movement is made that way,
why the position arm and shoulder should be this and not that. We attempt to
mimic him the best we can with our limited understanding and knowledge. Even
with extreme diligence, you can at best mimic this movement to no more than
50%, if you’re lucky.
Even if you have videos of him
in a 3D image, you will be unable to mimic his movement exactly. Unless he’s
willing to wear tight fitting clothes or be naked, you won’t be able to see how
he is actually moving his kua, thighs, pelvic muscles, internal organs and
breathing. This is when he’s in a semi static position. If he is actually
moving, it is very difficult to perceive this subtle movement. An example by
analogy would be the video of cheetah sprinting at the last video in the post here.
The movement is performed in a split second and unless is explained very
clearly, you won’t have an inkling of what’s going on. And even if it’s written
down in absolute clear terms, you still won’t be able to understand what’s
going on unless you’ve some experiential learning via direct practical
experience.
In short, this sort of
superficial understanding is merely mimicking the form rather than the
substance. A true Master takes into account the disciple’s body type, his strengths
and weaknesses. He attempts to impart the essence, the substance and the
rationale behind the movement. If the Master succeeds in imparting this
knowledge, even if the external movement differs somewhat slightly from the
Master, the actual effect on the opponent is somewhat similar i.e. able to
neutralize the opponent’s force and uproot them.
Conversely, even if you are
able to MIMIC the movement of a Master to 99.9% externally, it not only
absolutely USELESS but could be downright HARMFUL. To an external viewer, the
movements may seem even more graceful and powerful than the Master. However, an
opponent will feel absolutely nothing once he crosses hands with a pretender.
It’s just like someone memorizing a manual on how to ride a bike. But ask them
to actually get on the bike and he’ll fall no matter how well he manages to
memorize the manual!
2.
It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break
them.
The reason why mimicking is
such a dangerous action is that it’s almost impossible to get the action
correct. Most students repeatedly make the same type of mistakes day in, day
out even with substantial feedback from a Master. What chance does a person
mimicking someone online has to get the movement correct? Almost NIL! Unless he’s
a martial arts genius!
The process of getting even the
simple zhan zhuang posture correct is an arduous process of gradually
correcting one’s posture correct, strengthening the less used muscles, tendons
and ligaments of the body. Of attempting to relax one’s internal organs and
breath naturally using the abdomen more rather than the lungs. Of rooting the
feet to the ground and stretching one’s kua. There are so many things to
attempt to get right simultaneously that it’s almost an impossible task. And it’s
a process that requires a lifetime to refine.
Without someone to give proper
feedback and guidance, it’s extremely easy to get some areas incorrect. The
problem is that over time, these imbalances become more pronounced and misaligned
over time. And if you’re too diligent without being discerning, this only exacerbates
the situation.
Imagine if you’re building at
100 floor skyscraper vs building a single storey house. It’s perfectly fine if
your there’s a minuscule slant in the wall of the single storey house. But when
you’re attempting to build a skyscraper, even the slightest deviation may
result in the entire skyscraper collapsing! Diligently practicing an internal
martial art without discernment is analogous to trying to build the skyscraper
without ensuring your foundations is proper. Not only is it bound to fail but
there are dangers as well. Even if the skyscraper doesn’t topple over, what can
you do to rectify the tilt? Well, you can read about the leaning Tower of Pisa
and the monumental effort and cost to try and straighten it. All which were
only partially successful. The same goes for your practice. Repeated erroneous
actions become bad habits! And such bad habits are notoriously difficult to
break. Better prevent them rather than rectify them later!
3.
THE FEEDBACK LOOP
The feedback loop is essential!
At the higher levels, after each cycle of action, one must pause for a moment
to reflect whether the movement was performed satisfactorily. In Yiquan, the ‘Yi’
or ‘Intention’ is paramount! And what I am doing correct? Am I loosening my
joints proportionate to the force exerted by my opponent? Where exactly is my
opponent directing his force towards? How do I negate his force appropriately?
What will be his likely follow up action? How do I counter it then?
In the beginning, it is
impossible to even discern what are the variations and issues that may occur.
Both the Master and disciple need time. The Master needs time to slowly impart
his knowledge to the disciple but not too overload him. The Disciple needs time
to digest the information intellectually. He also needs to be diligent in doing
the necessary exercises so his BODY can DIGEST the information EXPERIENTIALLY!
IN CONCLUSION, my own
experience tells me, any Internal Martial Art can only be learnt from a Master.
And one that is not only proficient, but also is earnestly and honestly trying
to impart to you all that he knows. But this goes both ways! The disciple must
also be sincere in learning and diligent. It takes both hands to clap, so the
saying goes.