INTERVIEW WITH THE GRANDMASTERHistoric interview with Grandmaster Wang Xiang Zhai
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HOW ZHAN ZHUANG CAME TO THE WEST
GRANDMASTER WANG XIANG ZHAI
Wang Xiang Zhai was born in Hebei province, China, in 1885. As he was a very weak child his parents sent him to the famous Xing Yi Quan Master Guo Yunshen to improve his health. Master Guo taught him many standing postures which the young Xiang Zhai had to practice for hours at a time. During his younger adult life Wang became a soldier in Beijing. From the age of 33 he travelled around China studying with famous martial artists. After 7 years of research and study he returned to Beijing and penetrated the inner circle of Masters in this city as well as in Tianjin and Shanghai. Wang subsequently taught many influential martial artists and his own fame as a great Master spread across China. After extensive research and practice he concluded that martial arts based on physical techniques were mostly useless in real-life situations. It was mastery of Chi that would always be the decisive factor in victory or defeat. He named his new art Yi Quan with reference to the Xing Yi Quan he had originally studied. Yi means "Intention" and Quan means "Fist" or "Boxing". Later it was called Da Cheng Quan which is "Great Achievement Boxing". It is still known by both these names. Grandmaster Wang did research into the healing aspect of Zhan Zhuang towards the end of his life and worked with many hospitals. He died in 1963 in Tianjin. He was one of the very first Chinese Masters to publicly teach Zhan Zhuang and he was also the teacher of Professor Yu Yong Nian. |
PROFESSOR YU YONG NIAN
Yu Yong Nian was born close to Beijing in 1920 and for decades he was the world’s leading authority on both Zhan Zhuang and Yi Quan. As a young man in the early 1920s Yu faced a crisis in his life. After completing his studies in western medicine he qualified as a dental surgeon. Long hours of work in the Beijing Railway General Hospital drained him of energy and left him close to complete exhaustion. Following the advice of a friend, Yu joined a group of people who were studying Zhan Zhuang under the guidance of Grandmaster Wang Xiang Zhai. He was advocating it's benefits for health and martial arts. The power of this system to restore energy was soon evident to the young dentist and he became one of his teacher’s most enthusiastic and diligent students. He continued practising up to the age of 93. After 9 years of training Professor Yu began using the system as a treatment for internal diseases at his hospital. He had many success stories in hospitals around China. Following on from this he began to teach Zhan Zhuang publicly in the mornings in Yun Tan Park, Beijing. After the Cultural Revolution was over Professor Yu published books on Zhan Zhuang and taught the full system to his only western-based disciple, Master Lam Kam Chuen. He also acted as senior consultant to the publication of Master Lam's superb book... The Way of Energy |
MASTER LAM KAM CHUEN
Lam Kam Chuen was born in Hong Kong shortly after the second world war ended. From an early age he studied Chinese martial arts and trained under some great masters in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. As a master of Chi Gung, Tai Chi and Feng Shui he is considered to be a leading authority in these arts outside of China. Master Lam is a qualified Bonesetter and Herbalist. He came to the West in 1976 and was the first instructor appointed to teach Tai Chi classes by the Inner London Education Authority. In 1987 Master Lam gave his very first demonstration of Zhan Zhuang which he had studied in Beijing under Professor Yu Yong Nian. So impressive were Master Lam's Chi Gung skills that a leading UK Martial Arts magazine called him “Chi Master Extraordinary”. He is also founder of Lam Style Tai Chi. Following the widely acclaimed BBC series The Way of the Warrior Master Lam was invited to act as a consultant to the sequel publication The Way of Harmony. This was followed by publication in 1991 of his ground-breaking book The Way of Energy. Zhan Zhuang would no longer be a mystery. Master Lam subsequently featured with Professor Yu Yong Nian in the outstanding 1995 documentary on Zhan Zhuang... Stand Still - Be Fit produced by Channel 4 television. |
ZHAN ZHUANG / YI QUAN and Traditional Chinese Medicine
Grandmaster Wang Xiang Zhai gave little credence to the theories of either Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) or the 5 Elements system and did not believe they could be truly related to Zhan Zhuang, or it's parent art Yi Quan.
He was not in favour of visualisation practices such as attempting to circulate Chi through the Microcosmic Orbit (Governing and Conception Vessels), or maintaining a specific focus on the Dan Tien whilst training. He also considered that breathing should be natural and it was best to avoid artificial methods like "reverse breathing". These types of practice can disrupt your energy flows. Rather he considered it was better to view Zhan Zhuang as a Standing Meditation which would also facilitate a natural and significant development of your whole energy system as regular practice continued over time. TCM was an unfortunate victim of the horrific actions of the Communists during the "Cultural Revolution". The Red Guards went on the rampage destroying anything they found that belonged to the older traditional culture of China. Entire libraries of books were burned in huge bonfires and many doctors of TCM were persecuted. After the "Cultural Revolution" was over belated attempts were made by the Chinese Government to reconstitute TCM, but in many ways it was too late because so much had been lost. Some witty pundits even suggested the new TCM be renamed "Traditional Communist Medicine". Whilst this was somewhat facetious it is fair to say that modern TCM is a pale reflection of it's former glory. The original method of direct (psychic) diagnosis which could identify health problems by reading the patient's aura had long disappeared. It was replaced with less accurate indirect methods such as Pulse and Tongue Diagnosis, which aimed to find "patterns of disharmony" in the patient's energy - with varying degrees of success. The highest diagnostic skill of Medical Chi Gung, which is being able to look directly into the body to see what is wrong with a patient, is extremely rare in today's world. Another issue noted by Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit was the many inaccurate translations of Chinese texts into English. This had the effect of propagating further misunderstandings of the original ideas and meanings. "5 Elements" is the older brother of TCM and predates it. Much of Chinese culture is based on 5 Element theory along with Yin-Yang theory. Together they represent the five different phases of energy and the duality of energy. These fundamental ideas go right back to early Daoism. The 5 Elements are considered to be Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. It is important to understand they are not real elements. In ancient China the elemental labels were probably assigned for convenience to help ordinary people grasp the five energetic phases they represent. The 5 Elements (Wu Xing) are more accurately described as the "5 Movements" or the "5 Processes" because they represent the five distinct energetic phases of the annual Yin Yang cycle, as set out below. (see also later video)
In 5 Elements there is a Creation Cycle (Sheng) and a Destruction Cycle (Ke). They both have a reverse cycle. In the Sheng Cycle each element is claimed to create or generate the next one in an ongoing (clockwise) sequence. There is also a reverse (anti-clockwise) direction which is called the Overacting Cycle (Cheng). In the Ke Cycle each element is claimed to destroy (or control) another element. This relationship is shown by linear movements around an interconnecting pentagram. The reverse sequence is called the Insulting Cycle (Wu). Grandmaster Wang had very little time for these theories in terms of relating them to Zhan Zhuang and Yi Quan. But that may not be the final word as he also once said "My way will not be truly understood until after 100 years". So that does leave room for new developments in our understanding of the energetics behind this great art. After the death of Grandmaster Wang the leadership of his great art was passed to his senior disciple Professor Yu Yong Nian, who researched the art on a scientific basis for decades. In 2006 Professor Yu published his 210 page Manual "Zhan Zhuang & The Search of Wu" based on over 60 years of practice and exploration. This is the world's most scientific study of Zhan Zhuang. |
The 7 Steps of Yi Quan (Da Cheng Quan)
It is very important to note that Zhan Zhuang is a lot more than the 1st Stage of training. It is practised throughout all of the other steps because it is the fundmental basis for developing power in Yi Quan. Indeed the efficiency of Yi Quan is primarily based on the use of internal force which is progressively developed through Zhan Zhuang. Without this internal power Yi Quan would be just another external martial art relying on muscular force. The 5 Elemental Energies As much of Chinese culture is based on the 5 Elements in daily life it is common to relate many things to it. In the case of Yi Quan the 5 Elements may be regarded as five different types of energy. But they don't follow the normal sequence of either the Sheng Cycle or the Ke Cycle. Master C S Tang in The Complete Book of Yiquan has identified the following 5 Energetic Stages of training :
1st Stage - Wood Energy Zhan Zhuang is the first stage of training where the focus is learning to stand correctly. Every stance is a variation of "standing like a tree" with different but complementary energetics. You start with the 5 "health stances" where the weight of the body is evenly distributed on the soles of both feet. Stances are practiced in the order presented in Master Lam Kam Chuen's book "The Way of Energy". At a more advanced stage you will progress onto training in stances which help to extend the flow of Chi through your extremities. Here the emphasis is on shifting your bodyweight off-centre in various ways. Some positions involve standing on one foot. These advanced stances are identified as the 6th to 9th Positions by Master Lam. Information on the "combat stances" of Zhan Zhuang which facilitate the use of internal power for the practice of Yi Quan will be found in "The Way of Power". This book is Master Lam's sequel to his first publication. 2nd Stage - Water Energy If you think of a stance as a "shape" in this stage you are following the principle of water by learning to move from one shape to another in a fast and fluid manner. It can be regarded as a moving form of Zhan Zhuang. The main idea is to reflect the quality of water which is to be able to instantly assume any form and be either soft or strong. 3rd Stage - Fire Energy In the 3rd stage the emphasis is to learn to release energy in an explosive manner which is the main quality that Yi Quan is so famous for. This is applied to a whole variety of martial arts techniques and pushing/striking drills. Energy can even be projected with a striking technique deep into the opponent's body to attack internal organs with potentially lethal effect. 4th Stage - Metal Energy The 4th stage has a defensive quality and here the idea is to make the exterior of the body as hard as metal and to resist any assault by an opponent. This is facilitated by bringing out a layer of Chi to the surface of the body to act as a shield against physical attacks. This type of protective Chi Gung is sometimes called "Iron Shirt". 5th Stage - Earth Energy This is the final energetic stage where the emphasis is to integrate all the previous stages of training into a unified whole. The Master is able to manifest any aspect of the previous stages of energetic training in any situation. There is also an advanced skill called "Receiving Energy" where the force of an attack is absorbed and instantly returned to the opponent with no injury to the Master. This level of skill is extremely rare in today's world but it was possessed by Grandmaster Wang Xiang Zhai. |
The authentic meaning of the "5 Elements"
Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit explains the misunderstandings
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Other videos by Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit
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