Wing Chun is the most popular form of Chinese Kung Fu in the world today, with over four million practitioners. The art as it is presently understood has been handed down from teacher to student for more than three hundred years. Wing Chun offers many things to many people because of its holistic approach. For some, it offers a course on ancient Chinese art and culture, such as the philosophies of Confucius, Laozi, Sun Tzu, and Traditional medicine. For others, it provides a means to acquire self-defense skills, flexibility, coordination, and stamina, as well as enhance one's physical and mental fitness. In addition, it helps the practitioner develop humility, focus, determination, self-discipline, self-esteem, self-respect, confidence, character, and a means to access our untapped strengths, Foremost, it offers the practitioner the ability to apply Wing Chun principles to daily life.
Water style is the next step in your internal arts journey. The movements resemble floating clouds and flowing water, sometimes calm, sometimes surging. Like tai-chi, the Water style is a popular internal martial art known for centuries to transform your health.
Water style, also known as Lui He Ba Fa, emphasizes smooth, flowing movements that alternate between slow and fast, soft and hard, like the transformation of water between solid, liquid, and steam. The student learns how the body generates force through alignment (kinetic energy), and how to channel qi (intrinsic energy) into powerful movements, resulting in improved circulation. Water style is said to have the firm softness and fluidity of tai-chi, the intense power of xingyi, and the evasive coiling of Bagua.
Learning and mastering this form offers a beautiful way to refine your mind (Xin) and spirit (yi)
The ancient practice of tai chi is known to be an effective way to improve your health, fitness, and relaxation. Tai chi is often described as “moving meditation” because it simultaneously benefits your mind, body, and spirit. You will learn natural ways to relieve stress, improve your balance, feel energetic, and strengthen your bones. Tai chi uses low-impact moves to stimulate your circulation and cardiovascular system and can be used to relieve arthritis. The gentle stretching and deep breathing within tai chi help you to feel calm and relaxed. Tai chi practice has been shown to have a beneficial effect on T cells. In a study conducted at the Chang Gung Institute of Technology in Taiwan, 12 weeks of tai chi practice resulted in a significant increase in regulatory T Cells. Monocytes (large white blood cells) also decreased significantly. Lower Monocyte counts are an indication of good health, since Monocytes increase in response to infection and chronic inflammation, indicating poor health.
Xingyiquan was created in imitation of the fighting techniques and spirit of twelve animals. In Xingyiquan, the entire body from top to bottom, from front to rear, and from inside to outside, is all combined together as one. This is achieved by connecting the Qi throughout the body ("threading into one"). Normally the Qi seems to be disconnected because the mind does not perceive it as being one. The top here means the head, which includes the mind, the center section implies the hands and the waist, and the bottom section indicates the legs. When the Qis in the different parts of your body are threaded into one, then when one place moves, the entire body will follow in coordination. You can see that in martial arts the primary root of everything is the Qi.
This cannot be reached through force or done (simply) by imitating. When it is time to be calm, it is quiet and transparent. In this position, (you) are steady like a mountain. When it is time to move, like thunder and like (a mountain) collapsing. The speed of emitting (Jin) is like lighting. In addition, when calm, nothing is calm. The surface and the internal, the top and the bottom, all without disorder and the meaning (i.e., the way) of inhibiting each other (i.e., stagnation). When moving, nothing does move. The left and the right, the front and the rear, all without pulling (dragging), and the shape of swiftly moving around. It is just like water flowing downward, it is so powerful that nothing is able to stop it. It is like (a cannon is) fired internally, when (it is) shot, (you are) not fast enough to cover your ears. Without considering thinking, without bothering to plan, simply reach the goal without expectation. (When) this (goal) is reached without intention, then isn't it the natural way?
All of the above accomplishments cannot be achieved through force or imitation. You need to really comprehend the meaning of the theory and experience the actual feeling of the postures, and then gradually every posture and movement will become natural and automatic. At this stage, when you are calm you are steady and rooted like a mountain, and when you move your power is like a collapsing mountain and you are as fast as lighting.
When you are calm, your entire body is calm from the inside (mind) to the surface (postures). Once you start to move, there is no stagnation and no confusion. You move as fast and smoothly as water rushing down a hillside, and as powerfully as a cannonball. All of this comes from your natural reactions. You do not have time to think or to anticipate. They are done without plan or expectation.
Because the Qi must be accumulated daily to gain the benefits, Gong (i.e., Qigong) is trained for a long time (before) success. In contemplating the way one passes through the holy door, one must wait until one has listened repeatedly and gained sufficient knowledge and has reached the stage where he suddenly comprehends and has not ignored achieving through thorough training, and then he knows that these things are not (divided into) difficult and easy. The achievement can (only) be reached as an end by itself, (it) cannot be (done) through waiting and (it) cannot be speeded up. Follow the steps and catch the pace, advancing according to the (proper) order. Only then will the organs, skeleton bones, limbs, and joints connect automatically, and the top and bottom, the external and internal not have difficulty communicating. Then those randoms will be gathered and those divided will be unified. The four limbs and hundreds of skeleton bones will all belong to one Qi.
