The 5 Animals of Shaolin

 

Can you learn a form from a book?

Well- I have tried. With interesting results. 

The video below shows Sifu Wong Kiew Kit. He is doing a form that I have learnt from his book on Shaolin Kungfu.

Below is a link to a video of me doing the same form.  

The differences tell us that there has been a miscommunication about some parts of this form, don't they? Nonetheless- I am happy with the version that I am doing. After all- I have been practicing it for a long while now before I saw this video. No lightning came from the sky to punish those who have adapted traditional forms for the sport of Wushu during the 1960's. Nobody gets punished even for making up their own forms so- just relax... 

Had I belonged to a Kungfu club or school, however, I would have taken care to do the form as it is taught by that school. 

Changes in forms are actually a common occurrence in Asian martial arts and I have learnt at least two versions of a number of forms in one style of Karate. Benefits that I have derived from regularly practicing this form are:

1. I have learnt to channel qi all the way to my fingertips when striking with them. This has enabled me to strike rather hard targets quite hard with my fingertips.

2. My palm strikes have gained explosive power and can even generate gusts of wind that can blow out candles.

3. Aside from moving back, left and right to avoid attacks I have become used to sinking into a low crouch to evade high attacks.

4. As an alternative to blocking and counterattacking I have learnt to evade an attack and at the same time exploit the opening that it creates. Yes- your opponent opens himself up when he attacks.

5. I have learnt Shaolin footwork. Shaolin footwork is very similar to the footwork of Karate, with minor differences.

All these benefits have very little to do with the sequence of the form and showed up in spite of me having gotten a couple of movements wrong here and there.

I do not learn or practice forms for competition or display. Sure- a nicely executed form looks beautiful, but I still derive benefit from doing it alone in the morning. 

A shorter version of this form gets analysed in my new book that is coming. In Taolu Practice for Kungfu I look at the reasons for form practice being part of martial arts and along with that, of course- how practicing forms helps the development of one's martial art skill.

I hope you all have a good weekend and a nice week ahead. Keep on training! :)