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4/15/2024

Hand Signs

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The Five Rivers and Four Sea’s
 
     In Chinese history, Chinese scholars greeted each other with a hand sign using the right open hand to cover the left fist symbolizing peace. A martial arts warrior (Wu, martial, uses characters meaning scholar and warrior), however, generally held his weapon in his right hand and therefore greeted each other with the left open hand covering the right “fist”.
     During the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) many Chinese fought against the Qing government which they considered corrupt and the standard bow’s (Bao Quan) meaning started to change. The Left open palm symbolized the Moon (Yue), and the right fist the Sun (Ri). When placed together it meant Bright (Ming). However, this was also understood by martial artists and revolutionaries as “over throw the Qing and restore the Ming”.
     In a philosophical way, the Confucian ideal of the perfection of a person through the pursuit of both the scholar’s path and the martial path can be seen in the martial bow. The right fist represents the martial component of the martial artist or Wu and the left open palm represents the scholarly aspects of the person or Wen (man). In the traditional arts of kung fu one will notice that the left palm covers the right fist.
     The closed fist is a universal symbol for violence, rigid, and does not have the capacity to grasp new things and become gentle. The open hand palm symbolizes openness, respect, courtesy and piety. This represents the more scholarly pursuits of knowledge and wisdom.    

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Bao Quan

    The kung fu bow (Bao Quan or Bao Jong) is generally done with the left open hand representing the moon (Yue) covering the right fist representing the sun (Ri). The union between the two represents that one is bright (Ming). The left open palm covers the right fist, in the open palm the thumb is kept bent, not kept straight like the other four fingers, this represents that one is humble.
     In a general greeting (Zuo Yi, non-martial artists) it looks almost the same as the kung fu bow, however, the fingers of the left hand are not held out straight but are all bent and touch the back of the right fist.
     The Five Rivers (or lakes) and the Four Sea’s is a more poetic expression of the standard kung fu bow. The meaning of this expression is; when the Five Rivers (the left open palm) joins the Four Sea’s (the right fist) then the people within the Five Rivers and Four Sea’s are all brothers. In actual meaning the explanation of the Five Rivers and Four Sea’s is as follows:
Five Rivers                                                                        Four Sea’s
Dong Ting      Hunan Province                                       Bo Hai      Rising Sea
Po Yang      Jiangxi Province                                          Dong Hai     East China Sea
Qing Hai     Qing Hai Province                                       Nan Hai      South China Sea
Tai Hu         Jiang Su Province                                       Huang Hai   Yellow Sea
Xi Hu           Zhejiang Province
     The symbolism of the Bao Quan in a Chinese kung fu school would have a more martial meaning based on the ancient philosophy of Wude, or the Martial Virtues. Wude was based on Confucianism, whose principals are basically outlined in the Chinese Classics. The Books now recognized as the highest authority in China are comprehended under the denominations known as The Five Ching and The Four Shu. Notice the similar heading under Confucianism, The Five…and The Four…, and martial heading, The Five Rivers and Four Sea’s. The symbolism of the Bao Quan in a Chinese kung fu school would mean:
The Left open palm is the Moon Yue
The Five Rivers symbolizes the Noble Mind
The Thumb, bent, mean that no rules will be broken.
Integrity of Morals (Adherence to a Standard)
Intellect (Pertains to one’s Knowledge)
Physical (Pertains to one’s Health)
Aesthetics (Appreciation of the Beauty)
The Right fist is the Sun Ri
Bravery
Courage
Energy
Intensity
     The Left palm covering the Right fist means that the left palm is stopping the fist, meaning that one is brave but not starting the trouble. The Dragon style motto fits perfectly here; Control yourself, let others do as they will, this does not mean you are weak. Control your heart, obey the principals of life, this does not mean that others are stronger.

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3/15/2024

Fire Character

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    Usually in a central spot within the kung fu training hall, Kwon, is a place where we show our respect. This area is known as the Li (the strength) or by it's traditional name of the Wu Tan or Martial Altar. The use of the name Altar or Shrine will create some discomfort in some students. However, the Altar is not "religious", in the case of the martial arts the Wu Tan pertains to the founder and successors of the system. 

     Bowing and lighting incense is done as a form of remembrance; not worship. On some Wu Tan you will see a statue of General Kwan Kung, on ours in most branch schools you will see General Kwan Kung with his Kwan weapon and sometimes a statue of him sitting down reading a book. General Kwan Kung was a General in the Chinese army and a school teacher. Having a statue of both would show him as a warrior and a scholar.

     General Kwan Kung was a general during the Three Kingdoms Period (CE 220-280) and he is honored for his Righteousness (Yi), Loyalty (Zhong cheng) and Fortitude (Jianren) and his placement on the Wu Tan is for respect to the ideas of what he represented and to inspire students to emulate those qualities in their daily lives and in their martial training.

     Some Wu Tan contain couplets, these are usually two vertical lines of Chinese characters one on the left side and one on the right side of the Wu Tan. These are usually use to provide incite into the system, ours is the Dragon Style Motto; Control yourself let others do as they will, this does not mean that you are weak. Control your heart, follow the principals of life, this does not mean that others are stronger. The Dragon Style Motto is not seen on our Wu Tan, however, you will see the character for Fire, inverted.

     Whenever it appears on the Wu Tan, or placed in a couplet, or in a solitary central position (as ours is) it is always inverted. Inverting a character plays with the relationship between Invert (Daozhi) and Arrival (Daoda), while both sound similar their meanings are different. The inversion of the character Fire means that the arrival of the intent that is required to implement the techniques of the system.

     In other words, it invokes the "fighting spirit", Zhandou Shen, that is desired by a martial artist. Also, the inversion of the Fire character represents a safe guard for those who have already achieved this fighting spirit; that to much fire destroys. So, Temperance and Self-Control must be central to one's training. Controlling one's fire in order to avoid escalating confrontations and personal burn out. 




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2/12/2024

The Five Area's of Basics

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     The Northern Dragon system of kung fu is not unlike other styles in the area of basics, however, it is in this area that Northern Dragon is unique. Northern Dragon uses our basics in three "Bridges", that being, the Long Bridge, the Short Bridge and the Inch Bridge. Bridges are similar to Zones of which Northern Dragon uses five, they are; Neutral, Long, Short, Na (joint locking) and Shuai (throws).

     All five of these zones require perfection in the Five Area's of Basics which are; Stances, Stepping Patterns, Blocks, Strikes and Kicks. If you are defending against an attack it can happen in many ways such as, one on one, multiple opponents, armed attacks, grabbing to name a few. Also, you need to consider your surroundings, what if you are attacked at night, or in an elevator, what about stairs?

     Some systems are already limited like Judo, it has throws but mainly deals with single opponents in the Na Zone. They do not deal with effectively with multiple opponents, it requires space to execute the throws, there are no joint locking techniques and so on; it's not a complete martial art, it's more of a martial sport. Any style that has sparring rules, a "ring", a referee, time limits, single opponents, no strike areas and so on, these "style" would be more of a martial sport and not effective on the street.

     In Northern Dragon we spend a lot of time perfecting the basics. It's not always easy, depending on what age a student is we are sometimes faced with a young student who might not have the full endurance to practice effectively or maybe they are not flexible. Or, the student could be older and dealing with structure related problems like arthritis or disc related injuries. Even though the ages are different both will "practice" in their own ways, many times this is where the mistakes in training come from.

     In the training hall, the student is learning from their instructor. They are taught how the movement is supposed to go, and then they practice. This way enforces their Visual, Auditory, and Tactile skills they need to remember what they saw, what they heard, and what they felt in that technique when they learned it from their instructor. Then, when they practice at home these skills are reinforced and should carry them into their next class. We as teachers we will not always be there correcting the skills the student has learned; and this can be frustrating.

     The student must remember the steps of the skill. This is the way it was instructed to them, we do not want the student to just listen to what we say and do it, they must internalize the teaching so they can remember how it is done so their workouts sessions away from the school are done correctly or at least maybe they will feel that the technique is not right, something just does not feel correct and they will remember to ask during their review of skills session in class and ask their instructor.

     Your practice must be as close to perfect as it can be. It is when a mistakes happens in ones technique, that the student is not correcting that creates the problems and the frustration with ones motivation. In the Five Area's of Basics the student learns how their base technique is to be done, then when they are working on others skills they will notice how these basic combine to form a related skill. Take a Horse Form as an example, once you learn your basic Stances they combine into a related skill when you are learning a Horse Form. Horse Form's are just different combinations of the Stances, which the student already knows.

     Of Course some skills are difficult and some are easy, usually even this area is not that difficult to understand, easy skill's come first, then slightly harder ones and later more difficult ones. Just like in school, we all started in kindergarten and progressed from there. You know yourself so you know that some things are easy to do and over time you might not put the proper effort in doing that skill with the same determination as when you first did it, and that's when the mistakes come in. Kung fu means "time, skill, ability, hard work and effort" every time you practice you must practice this way with the right determination to master the skill.

     You might notice that the harder skills are usually done correct and this is because of the concentration you put into that skill, it was a little harder for you to do it so you worked harder at it. Have you noticed that your more advanced forms are usually right and you beginning forms are where all the technical errors are? Just remember that everything you do must be done with the same level of perfection, concentrate on the Five Area's of Basics, everything after those skills are just different combinations, keep this thought with you; There are no advanced skills, just different combinations of the basics. Practice does not always make perfect, only perfect practice makes practice perfect!




 




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1/14/2024

The Mysteries of Taiji

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     April, towards the end of the month, is usually celebrated as World Taiji Day, this is the accepted date that has been chosen for the founding of Taiji. The Internal martial arts name their home as Wudang Mountain at the Purple Heaven Temple (usually just referred to as Wudang), the Internal arts being arts like; Taiji, Hsing Yi, Bagua, Liu He Ba Fa and so on. Though many of these arts were created outside of Wudang, almost all of these systems will list Wudang as the center of the Taoist Internal arts just as Shaolin is listed by many as the center of the External arts even though many styles were developed and created outside the walls of the temple.

     Taiji is said to have been created by Zhang San Feng thousands of years ago, Zhang San Feng was a Taoist monk who lists Taiji as being created at Wudang, he is also known as Zhang Jun Bao he was born East of Liaoning province at the end of the Song dynasty. Zhang San Feng is known at Wudang as the founder of all Internal martial arts.

     When Taiji became known here in the West it was recognized as a slow moving exercise and was not generally known as a martial art; those seriously practicing this art knew it to be martial and different in it's movements and skills from Shaolin. As Taiji was taught in Senior centers or community classes and continued to grow in popularity here in the West the martial side of the art was less emphasized and students began to see it more as an exercise. This slow moving exercise was not seen as being effective for street self-defense, it did not seem realistic when compared with how people could attack in tournaments or maybe what they saw in the movies.

     With the popularity of DVD's and online training, the emphasis of Taiji was again seen as an exercise of meditation and physical therapy type training one could see some "martial" applications being demonstrated but because the student was not training in a training hall they again were not seeing the real practice of Taiji. Also, many instructors may have trained in Taiji for martial purposes but found it much easier to teach many students a watered down form instead of the years necessary for martial instruction and over the many years that Taiji has been available here in the West it has become less and less a martial art for the these very reasons to the general public.

     There will always be some students who only want to train in Taiji as a moving meditation and there will be instructors who will teach it that way and for those who are looking for something deeper in their studies then it becomes important to be able to fine a teacher who has the necessary skills and time in their own training to pass on the martial applications. Proper teachers of Taiji are still training under instructors and they have learned their skills from masters with numerous years of training usually starting very young. They have been guided one on one by these teachers and have met other masters introduced to them as their training family. This is the proper way to learn Taiji and kung fu, knowledge passed down directly from master to student over a very long time, there is no short cut to martial training.


     

 


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12/17/2023

Two Man Staff

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PictureArticle for Inside Kung fu Magazine on Two Man Staff with Sifu Mike on left.
                                                                                  

Requested by Editor Dave Carter
for Inside Kung fu Magazine
 
Long before the age of the discovery of metal, there was the stick. Formed by artisans into a shaft made from white oak, rattan, or bamboo it became a walking stick or a tool to carry water buckets, and when freed of this burden it could instantaneously, in skilled hands, become a weapon.

The staff, or Kun in Chinese, is like a grandfather with many descendants. Place a metal tip on it and it becomes a spear or with a flat blade a kwan, and if you add two metal joints you have a three sectional staff, all of this from a simple stick. Outside of swords, the majority of all Chinese weapons used on the battlefield would involve it sitting on a staff.

It is for this simple reason that historically the Chinese have considered the staff as the forerunner of all weapons and the most important of the long weapons. Traditionally in most kung fu schools, the staff is taught first followed by the spear and then the broadsword. The staff coordinates the upper and lower body and right and left sides. The spear continues to coordinate the right and left sides and the broadsword refines the right and left arms.

Having understood the basics of the staff, the spear would become the king of the long weapons and the broadsword the king of the short. However, no weapon can be used without a complete mastery of the five areas of basics, being; stances, strikes, blocks, kicks and stepping patterns, as these five unarmed areas form the base of all techniques in kung fu, and no movement or techniques can be performed without it falling into one of these areas.

Weapons, long or short, are simply an extension of the arms; any block in kung fu can be traced with a similar movement using a staff as can any strike. You can block with the staff and kick or strike with your free leg or hand, and all movements coordinate with your stance and stepping patterns of your particular style. Even the concepts of Chin Na can be performed with a staff as similar circles used to break a hold using your hands can be used to lock, dislocate or break the joint if the staff is grabbed.

 
BEI KUN, NORTHERN KUNG FU STAFF

The base art of our kung fu style is Northern dragon kung fu, so we use a Northern staff which is about 6 feet, whereas the Southern kung fu schools use a staff around 5 feet though both schools also have the longer 8 foot staffs. The double end staff or Shuang T’ou Kun, sometimes called the head length staff or P’ing T’ou Kun, is the common staff used in the Northern kung fu schools.

My teacher, Grandmaster Chen, Chi Shi explained that the Shuang T’ou Kun in our system is simply referred to as Pang meaning stick or staff. The shaft used on this weapon comes in two different types, one being a straight even diameter from top to bottom, and the other being tapered with the top being thinner and the bottom thicker, this type of shaft is seen on the spear.

The Pang can be held in two different positions being the middle or Zhong, and at the end or Chiao. Holding the middle Zhong position divides the staff into three two-foot sections.  This is a common way to hold the staff, but it does present a shorter striking range if you are focused on hitting the body.

However, in our system it’s not the body which we are striking but his lead arm or leg. In this way we stop the opponents weapon from being used by fracturing the arm that holds it or damaging his forward leg to limit his mobility.

Holding the staff in the lower Chiao position gives you a greater range, your right hand holds the very bottom of the staff and your left holds two feet up from your right. Holding the lower Chiao position divides the staff into two sections, your holding section of two feet and your striking and blocking section of four feet.

If your opponent holds his staff in the Zhong position you can out reach him by holding yours in the Chiao position. It would become a game of skill, what we call Roundness of Change, if both sides were to use the Zhong or Chiao positions.  In using either position you must be skilled in switching between the two positions, switching between the left and right side lead, and in knowing how to hold the staff in your hands. Sometimes you hold the staff with both palms downward, sometimes with one palm up and the other down, and on rare occasions with both palms up.

 
ZHONG MEN AND KONG MEN

The word “men” in Chinese means gate, we have already seen the word zhong which means middle or central, so Zhong Men refers to the middle or central gate, Kong is harder to understand but roughly means angle or “from the outside”.

Zhong and Kong Men are terms used in our system to explain straight and circular principals in armed and unarmed techniques. If an opponent strikes along the 12, 13, or 6 o’clock points, Zhong Men, we counter by using techniques on the Kong Men which would be any numbers but the above. It is a difficult concept to understand but through practice it does get easier.

You must understand that both sides, you and your partner, have these same two gates and usually you are mixing these gates in your own body. For example, if your footwork is circular, Kong Men, your hand work might be straight, Zhong Men. It’s the same when you are working with weapons, you are responding to what your opponent is doing and countering his movement.

By practicing two-man routines with weapons, you are practicing a prearranged set of attack and defense. To really understand these concepts you need to “spar” with weapons, a prearranged set is not realistic and does not present the difficulties and challenges that actual weapon sparring will produce.

LEUNG REN KUN

Leung Ren Kun means, two-person staff, this is a basic two man routine used in our style to work the basic skills of attack and defense in the use of weapons. In the Northern dragon style, Lung Jop Pai®, all weapons are interchangeable. This two-man staff form can be performed with spears or combinations of weapons like spear and broadsword, or spear and kwan any combination of weapon can be used.

There is a learning process as each weapons characteristics would have to be learned before you would know how to apply them in two man routines. Before you practice any two man weapon routines you must be skilled in the five areas of basics; Stances, Strikes, Blocks, Kicks and Stepping patterns. Weapons are an extension of the arms so it makes sense that your basics would have to be learned first before learning any weapon.

The same circles and straight lines used in your kung fu style would be the same ones seen in your weapon routines. All weapons in Chinese kung fu follow the 13 Points which resemble a clock going from 1 o’clock to 12 o’clock with the center 13 point being straight jabs.

Practice with a partner and make sure that both of you are using a staff of the same material. Pair oak to oak, rattan to rattan or white wax wood to white wax wood. Have one partner strike involving these lines, and the other blocks. If you mix the material of your staff it can cause splintering or breakage.

Over time there will be normal damage, if its rattan and it splinters, get rid of it, the splinters or unsafe as it can penetrate the hands or feet. If white wax wood breaks just cut it to size for a Childs weapon. Practice slowly and over time increase your speed and power as your confidence improves.

The young martial artist may have greater explosive strength and stronger punching or kicking abilities, but it is with the older martial artists that one finds the best and effective staff techniques. So the saying “fear the old man with the staff” is quite true. 

 

 




 


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11/21/2023

Straight Line Knife Defense

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Straight Line Knife Defense                                                                                    5/6/08
Requested by Editor Dave Carter
for an article for Inside Kung fu Magazine.



In today’s modern times, it can be said that the practice of the martial arts can fall into three basic categories; self defense, health - physical fitness, and theatrical performance - sport. However, Chinese martial arts trace their history back well over 5,000 years ago and during this time martial arts were practiced mainly for military self defense purposes.

We, as practitioners of the Chinese martial art of kung fu, should start with the present and work our way back in time to understand how our martial art was used and the purpose of its creation. If we understand the vastness of
China and the need of this country to protect itself and its people, then we understand that kung fu is foremost an art of self defense.


 So, as a self defense art it can be said that all Chinese kung fu shares some common similarities in the 5 areas of basics; stances, strikes, blocks, kicks and stepping patterns. Therefore, no movement can exist within the art of kung fu without it falling into one of these five areas. The use of weapons would fall mainly in the strikes and blocks categories as weapons are an extension of the arms.

 Warriors trained in the art of kung fu would learn the 5 areas of basics along with military strategies and the use of weapons. Two of the weapons that common foot soldiers would have trained with are the broad sword and the straight sword. It is from these two weapons that we get our “modern” day knife defense skills from.

 All weapons used in kung fu are performed along 13 points or lines, and as such, no weapon can be used without it falling into one of these 13 lines. I have had potential students tell me, during their interview process, that learning weapons are outdated as you won’t be carrying a broad sword or spear with you on the street.

 To a very small extent this is true; we would not be carrying traditional weapons with us on the street. But all kung fu weapons can be looked at as an extension of the arms and all movements within kung fu trace straight line movements or Zhong Men, and circular movements or Kong Men within their techniques. Anything placed in the hands can therefore become a weapon because of the circular and straight line techniques already being used.

 

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THE 13 POINTS

The 13 points are a concept that I use to teach our students defense and attack lines when using traditional weapons. This concept has been used in our system since it’s founding, however, it can also be applied to any weapon that an opponent can use against you including a gun. Any weapon that an opponent uses has to trace one of these points, in understanding this concept you can limit your techniques to just that point. 

To understand the 13 points a little easier visualize a standard clock about 6 feet tall drawn on a large glass surface, standing behind this glass is an attacker holding a knife in his right hand (your left side). If the attacker stabs overhead in a downward direction, then it is coming at you from the 12 o’clock point. If he stabs upward from the bottom, then it is coming at you from the 6 o’clock point and so on. The 13 point would be straight at you in a forward stabbing motion.

STRAIGHT LINE KNIFE DEFENSE

This article will be covering techniques involving knife attacks used on straight line thrusting jabs, a future article will cover techniques used in circular knife attacks. Also, for the sake of this article assume we are beyond the point of talking our way out or being able to get away; you have tried that and were unsuccessful; now you are in what I call “Red Line”.

A while back I talked about soldiers being trained in the use of the broad sword and straight sword, using this example; you can train in two man drills using broad swords. Now if you replace the broad sword with a knife, you can do the same drills. It’s the same as a broad sword only shorter! Now do the same drill with your partner only this time one of you has the knife and the other defends bare arm. Where you would block with the broad sword, block similar with your hand or arm but block on his arm not where you would with the broad sword blade on blade.

 

Weapon defense is serious business there is no room for theatrics, or sport, or flash-like moves. In knife defense you must focus intently on the specific technique. Concentrate on executing every movement exactly and practice those steps over and over until it dissolves into your muscle memory and your mind.

Since this is dealing with straight line knife defenses we can dispense with all the what ifs” and center right in on defending the 13 point. Take a look at the pictures; you will see several things that are common in each one. First, in our system we perform all our blocks on the outside area of the arm, not on the inside. Second, whatever hand is holding the knife; put the same-side leg forward. So, if he is holding the knife in his right hand (your left side) put your left leg forward. 

We call this stance a San Ti stance, it looks just like a “boxing” stance and your attacker would think you are trained in boxing and not martial arts. This will give you more of an advantage as you are not telegraphing your trained ability in the martial arts. In this position, place your forward foot on the ball of the foot and most of your weight on your back leg. This makes your stance and forward foot light, your back leg holds your weight as this is the leg that you spring forward from.


RED LINE
Red Line is a term, that I use, which means that the opponent is close enough to you to make contact with a strike, kick, or in this case, a knife. Think about it, you need to practice for real, it makes no sence to practice a knife defense skill with enough space between you to drive a car through! Practice for real, move close enough to your training partner to be touched by the knife if he extends his arm and practice from here.

From the above position, the closest target to your opponent’s knife would be your left arm or left leg. For your opponent to reach your body with the knife he would have to move the blade forward about two feet, however, keep in mind that he can reach your arm in about one foot. However, taking a wound to the arm is not as severe as a stab wound to the chest which could be deadly.

Using a rubber knife, practice with a partner in the above position and get used to this range. Practice some simple jabs forward and see how fast it takes to reach you, understand this speed. For now only have the attacker jab forward, do not have the attacker move off line and circle around, just keep it simple to the straight line. Latter when you are more confident with your skills switch off to a real knife and do the same drills. You need to understand and work through the realism, fear, and uncertainty that a real knife attack presents.

 

CSD RULE

CSD stands for Clear, Stabilize and control, and Disarm and is the basic rule of knife defense. We don’t block the weapon arm, we guide it, stick to it. You must understand your system and how it relates to real weapons!

 “C” Clear your body of the knife’s line or angle of attack. Step off line from the attack slightly to the outside and forward to dissolve the range, we do this to shorten the distance and move beyond the knife’s zone. Moving backward gives the attacker a target which he can track. Break up his thinking process and interfere with his plan by moving yourself out of his range and him into yours.

 “S” Stabilize and Control the knife by breaking the base of the attackers balance by using joint locking and breaking skills to twist and jerk the attacker off balance. Stepping patterns which place your bodies balance to an advantage used against his weak points.

“D” Disarm the knife by using joint locking or breaking skills such as Chin Na. Take the

knife away or move it out of the way with your foot. Never lose control of the knife. Once the attacker is disarmed, move away from him; remember that your right to self defense ends when there is not longer a threat to your life.

 


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10/1/2023

Dragon Tales             Upper, Middle and Lower Levels

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It can be said, that martial arts can be performed under several classifications; Self-defense, Sport/tournament/physical fitness, or Theatrical. Northern Dragon is classified as a self-defense art, it is a complete martial art that utilizes the 6 Tenants; the Four Methods, the Five Areas of Basics, the Five Zones, Weapons, Martial Strategies, and the 11 Aspects of Physical Fitness.
These 6 Tenants describes what a style needs, to be classified as a "martial art". Today the use of the term "martial" is overused. Just because a style has punches and kicks, or even weapons, does not mean that it is "martial" or even effective as self-defense.
A system, time tested and proven, created hundreds of years ago, passed down directly from multiple generations from Teacher to student would be what Traditional, means.
Northern Dragon is based on the mythological dragon. The Chinese dragon was benevolent, the bringer of the rains as was classified under two of the five elements; Earth and Water. A dragon was seen in the air (Upper level), on the Earth (Middle level) and in the Water (Lower level). So, metaphorically speaking, the dragon system has techniques that utilizes skills for the Upper (Shang Shen), Middle (Zhong Shen) and Lower body (Xia Shen). Some styles use techniques in one or two areas, therefore, being less effective in self-defense.
Take a look at the above picture, this picture was taken in the early 1970"s and shows Sifu McCoy demonstrating the Rising Punch as seen in the 1st Hand Set 8th Rotation. However, we usually teach this skill from the Middle level, this picture is demonstrating the same skill but from the Lower level. Also, some of the skills can use a type of lean to the body (Yi Shen).
Two skills that can "lean" are the Wave Punch (Bo Chong) and Rising Punch (Shang Chong), usually these two strikes are performed with the upper body in the standard upright position, but can also be applied by leaning the body forward from the waist; as seen here.
However, the dragon has a flexible body and it's power uses both Soft (Sung) and Hard (Gong) forces and a relaxed type of power or strength in which the technique starts off relaxed and then muscular strength is used by tensing the muscles at the moment of impact these applications flow together as the dragon floats and sinks.
Changing the height of the skill between the Upper, Middle and Lower levels makes the skill look like a dragon floating and sinking, rising and falling as it flies to the clouds and drops down under the waves.




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