Member's Edition: Martial Arts

ALMA
MARTIAL ARTS
NO V E M BE R 1 9 9 9
V O LUM E 1 , IS SUE 3
Member’s Edition
IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE:

Shaolinquan, Filipino Footwork,
Biomechanics, Karate, Vovinam,
and much more!
http://www.spheral.com/alma/
AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 1

HTTP : //W W W .S P HE RA L. COM / ALM A/
ALMA Martial Arts November 1999

Volume 1, Issue 3
“In a world of ignorance, knowledge is power” - Sun Zi
ALMA Staff
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Fabien Sena, Founder
Arthur Sennott, Editor’s Corner 3

Editor (US)
By Fabien Sena
Qi Corner: May the Force... 4
Christophe Frugier, By Fabien Sena
Editor (Europe)
Secrets of Filipino Footwork 6
M ark Kerr, Advisor
By Arthur Sennott
Traditional Chinese Weapons and Related 11
Contributors Arms , Part 6
By Christophe Frugier
Kondo Yoko Japanese Kata Illustrated: Eian Yodan 16
Submissions Miyamoto Musashi 19
By Kondo Yoko
Interview: Shi De Yang 22
You may submit mate- By Fabien Sena The authors and pub-
rial (text, photos) in a lishers of this material
zip file to The Brain and Physical Activity 25 are NOT RESPONSI-
alma@spheral.com. By Christophe Frugier
BLE in any manner
Chinese Taolu Illustrated: Xiao Hong Quan (Part 27 whatsoever for any in-
Note that submission
1) jury which may occur
does not guarantee
Your Letters 30 through reading or fol-
publication.
lowing the instructions
Application: Draong Sbuding Hand 31 in this publication.
By Arthur Sennott
The activities, physical
Proposition of Criteria for the Assessment of 32 or otherwise, described
Teachers in the Practice of Codified Forms By in this material may be
Christophe Frugier too strenuous or dan-
Vietnamese Form: Thien Mon 42 gerous for some peo-
ple, and the reader(s)
should consult both a
physician and qualified
instructor before en-
gaging in them.

Page 3
Editorial: The Future of Wushu
By Fabien Sena, ALMA Founder and Webmaster
A not her mont h, anot her onships, a long way from the 10
ALMA… ;-) little countries (including 3
“Chines e” countries/regions)
You will notice that we have from my first “International
changed our layout quite a bit. I Competition”. It was very inter-
have to thank M ark Kerr for his esting to see that 90% of the
great work and patience with coaches were from mainland
me. China and most of them were of
the same generation (around 30
This month we are launching years old). Of course the Chi-
something that has never before nese dominated the technical
been done on a M artial Arts competition but in Sanshou
website: a streaming video mar- (previously called Sanda) many
tial arts clips database! ALM A “new” countries like Azerbad-
has been famous for its line jian, Egypt, Romania and Iran
drawings forms database. We reached the highest level. Other
won many awards for this (including “Best Sports countries with a “longer” modern Wushu history,
Website” from the famous UK magazine .Net) but like Russia, France, U SA and Canada also did well
we thought that the future lies in digital video. Thus but not as well as one would have expected.
it is better for martial artists around the world to ac- But when I interviewed most of the teams, all of
tually see the form performed by experts rather them gave the same answer: “Kungfu / Wushu is a
than simply looking at a drawing, which is on the little popular but not as much as Taekwondo. They
other hand much better for “understanding” the do marketing while we try to do martial arts, so we
form. cannot compete in that field.
This combination of the media of videos and draw- ” So what should Chinese M artial Arts do in order
ings should allow everyone to have a better idea of to be really popular ? Should they be really popu-
any style and may inspire some to realize the neces- lar ?
sity of seeking a good teacher to pursue the martial
path. This is all part of our wish to contribute to the The Chinese government obviously exerts a lot of
world's body of knowledge concerning martial art- effort to promote modern wushu, trying to trans-
ists. form it into a sport suitable for the Olympic Games
but there is still a long way to go. To achieve that
Also this month, we have an exclusive interview goal, modern wushu must give up all illusions of
with M aster Shi Deyang, a 31st Generation Shaolin being a martial art. At best, it could be a martial
monk. I specifically made a trip to Hongkong to at- sport with Sanshou (just like boxing, wrestling) or a
tend the 5th World Wushu Championships and to gymnastic-style event for Taolu (kata). I think that
meet with many reknowned martial artists. My in the future we will see modern wushu continue to
overall impression was that modern wushu is gain- transform, going further and further away from tra-
ing wide popularity in many countries. There was ditional wushu. M aybe this is not bad, as confusion
more than 50 countries in attendence at the champi- of genres will only lead to mistakes.

Page 4
Qi Corner: May the Force...
By Fabien Sena, ALMA Founder and Webmaster
The Origins and Essence of Qigong

To the masses, Qigong often took the shape of
The Origin of Qigong boxing (Taijiquan for example) and is a com-
mon means of self defense and exercise, appro-
Qigong is an exercise physical and mental, it is priate for all ages. Some talk also of "hard" or
a psycho-somatic exercise having the objective "martial" Qigong but that is closer to magic or
of improving health and assuring longevity. side show tricks, the real work is on oneself.
Althou it took the name of “Qigong” quite re-
cently it has been present through the ages in It is Chinese medicine that participates and
China. profits by the very principles of Qigong. The
two have many notions in common : Heaven -
The origin extends to the Zhou dynasty (1000 Earth, Yin - Yang, meridians, points, breath,
A.D.) Already in the premiere work of Chinese etc. The essentials of these principles can be
medicine --"The Internal Classic", from the summarized as follows : M an being a compo-
warring states period -- the mechanisms of the nent of the trinity, Heaven - M an - Earth, hu-
Qigong are described and illustrated describing mans should live in accord with all phases of
how to treat common maladies. nature, in all activities humans should follow
this natural course of evolution.
The essence of Qigong is in the philosophy and
thought of Chinese culture. Throughout the The practical benefit of Qigong is in allowing
course of its long history, it was practiced, de- human beings to better adapt to the world and
veloped and enriched by all Chinese, from all to become very sensitive to natural develop-
ranks of society: emperors, princes, mandarins ments. So it can facilitate a reestablishment of
and the common people, because it was trans- balance between Heaven and Earth, and permit
mitted by religious sects of Taoists and Bud- the harmonization of various parts of the human
dhists. Desiring to make themselves immortal, body. If nature loses its balance for a time, it is
the emperors searched all over the country for catastrophe (inundation, drought, etc.); if M an
the "golden pills" and alchemical prescriptions loses proper equilibrium, it creates illness
to bring into their palace, while the religious (physical and/or psychic).
men, living on profound faith and utilizing an-
cestral techniques, attained youth in deep caves The Essence Of Qigong
or in high mountains.
Well it is an exercise par excellence, the "breath
And effectively, due to the strength of these work" differs from other exercises in several
practices, these last ones, were in the end, able respects. It is in fact an internal exercise, the
to reach into a superhuman universe. From essence of the practice consists in a perfect
Confucianist letters, Qigong was nothing short mastery of self, resulting in mental lucidity and
of perfection on the moral and physical plane. a relaxed physical state, that facilitates the cir-
Excellent health and high morals are not guar- culation of both blood and breath.
antees of peace and social securities?

Page 5
Then cons cious, st ruct ured breathing transforms and stores energy in the concerned
(specifically abdominal or so-called “full”) in- organs. But besides these two types of
creases this circulation. This entire process "human" energies, we have need of other
should, as a rule, be done in a state of aware- natural elements as well: pure air, the sun, the
ness and in the required posture. The postures trees and the plants, which are none other
are classified in two families: static postures than the Qi of nature. We must also know
(the body is devoid of large movements) and how to extract all of this Qi, and the Qi of
dynamic postures (the body is called on to others as well.
make certain gestures), all these postures being
controlled and harmonized by the concentrated The congenital Qi and the post-natal Qi com-
mind. bine more or less to become the vital breath
of life: the Qi concisely said, is the pillar
It is to be noted that the terms static and dy- which balances and commands all the human
namic are relative, as is Yin and Yang: in the states: health or illness, strength or weakness,
first case , positive stillness, it appears, the in all the planes of existence. As is indicated
thought, the breath, the breathing and the or- by an old saying, common to both the Orient
gans involved are not moving, all to the con- and the Occident: running water does not
trary! In the second case, the moving posture stagnate (a rolling stone gathers no moss),
yields internal quiet and open, ready to receive proper Qi flow leads to good blood circula-
the Qi of nature. tion, a dynamic and efficient metabolism, and
therefore good health; if the Qi doesn’t flow
From these exercises, in time internal AND ex- freely, it “stagnates” and illness will exist.
ternal, will bore vital force: Qi. Here it circu- M eanwhile this Qi, vital breath, is not with-
lates everywhere in the human body as a cur- out fundamental spirituality and any associa-
rent of energy and is also more material that tion with electricity is in error. It is lively,
spiritual. powered and governed by the human spirit.
In the words of the Chinese philosophers, it per- The state of the mind plays an important role
meates all the universe, it is omnipresence and in the birth, development and utilization of Qi
tangible in all living species. The universe pur- (as if a pump of dirty water was creating a
sues logical developments, the seasons follow soiled flow which contaminated the person
and the Qi does not interfere with it, the Qi is who was using the pump and again yields
the expression of the Dao. Traditional Chinese dirt, the purpose is evident). All spiritual
medicine says that two types of Qi exist: the states which lack the generation of proper Qi
congenital Qi originating from the fetus formed can have psychological and pathological con-
by fertile egg (expression of the Dao maker), sequences. It is important to have a balance
and the "post-natal" Qi that is acquired from our between the physical and spiritual state.
breath throughout the length of our lives. This What’s of primary importance is that one can
post-natal Qi is also referred to in Chinese truly master oneself through the study of
medicine as "grain Qi" because it serves to revi- Qigong exercise.
talize the metabolism at the same time that it

Page 6
Secrets of Filipino Footwork
By Arthur Sennott
Footwork is the foundation of all martial arts. Perhaps the most easily recognized application of
Though different art’s may approach footwork footwork is avoidance. Avoidance can be as simple
training in various ways, all “upright” martial as “running away”, or as complex as eluding an op-
arts use it as the base upon which all else will be ponents punch in away that sends him toppling to
built. the ground, powered by his own momentum. Re-
gardless of the complexity of one’s avoidance
Proper footwork provides one with the ability to method, of primary importance is the ability to
attack, to evade attack, and to generate power. keep from being hit. Of secondary importance is
Footwork is the primary tool that allows one to positioning.
counter attack, from a position of superiority and
relative safety. It is footwork that provides the Positioning
physical means to control and dominate a fight.
Positioning is an immediate outgrowth of avoid-
In this article, I shall describe seven different ance. Without knowledge of positioning, a success-
categories in which footwork can be applied to ful avoidance could potentially put you in greater
your tactical advantage. This will then be fol- harms way than you were prior to your
lowed by a list of stepping drills, which can aid “successful” evasion.
ones ability to utilize the aforementioned tactics.
The drills in this article are primarily based on Positioning is a much more complex subject than
the Filipino martial arts, but they can be applied avoidance. In addition to being a defensive consid-
to anyone’s training, irrespective of style. eration which governs your method of evasion, po-
sitioning is a crucial part of ones offensive capabili-
Seven Categories Of Footwork ties. Proper positioning will not only keep you from
moving into a less advantageous place than you
were, it should provide you with the means to move
• Avoidance to an area of superiority.
• Positioning
• Obstruction Without positioning, avoidance only prolongs the
• Destruction inevitable, at best.
• Stability
• Power Positioning is one of the key tactics of all warfare,
whether it be a large scale tank battle, personal
In an ideal situation, all seven of these methods combat, or even corporate maneuvering. Their are
would be present at any given moment. Ideal is entire schools of martial art which are constructed
however, a seldom seen situation, and while the primarily around the idea of positioning. So, in
practitioner should strive to have as many of your practice, try to always seek a superior position
these qualities present, when ever maneuvering, through any footwork you imply.
he should be happy if he manages to use 3 or
more. Obstruction
Avoidance An avoidance with the proper use of positioning,

can lead to an obstruction. Obstruction is the limit-

Page 7
ing of an opponents ability to move by the use of

some form of barrier. While an ideal use of posi- Destruction
tioning will negate the need for obstruction, the Destruction is, for the most part a fairly simple as-
level of skill needed to obtain such results can take pect of footwork to understand. The most basic way
years to develop. Effective obstruction skills can, to apply the concept of destruction to footwork, is
on the other hand, be taught in a relatively short to simply kick your opponent with your stepping
amount of time, and are therefore worthy of serious action. It should be noted however, that their are
investigation. more advanced, non-impact, methods of destruc-
tion. M ost of these involve a well timed, and well
Their are many ways to obstruct an opponents placed obstruction, that forces an opponent to “self-
movement, we can use almost any part of our body destruct” if he continues to press his attack. While
to seal off any appropri- non-impact destruc-

ate part of his. It should tion is definitely pos-
however be noted that a sible, it generally
sound knowledge of takes a high degree
spinning the opponent’s of skill to effect, and
center axis is required to should therefore be
determine the appropri- left to the province of
ate part of an opponents the “professional”
body to seal. Foot trap- martial artist.
ping is perhaps the most
obvious application of Stability
footwork derived obstruction, but is in no way the
only application. It must be remembered that foot- Stability would seem to be such a self evident con-
work moves the entire body, and any body position cept that it would not need mentioning. Unfortu-
change garnered through footwork is in actuality a nately, it is frequently sacrificed by people, who
part of footwork. are overly concerned with other aspects of training.
This is quite common in martial arts that empha-
It should be noted that obstruction when combined size high kicks. The practitioners becoming ob-
with the torque and momentum of the opponent’s sessed with height, at the expense of their stability.
body, can facilitate a throw, break a limb, or dislo-
cate a joint. Considering this, obstruction leaves us Suffice it to say that any footwork motion you do,
with one very special benefit, it can be ideal for use should afford you stability. Remember that in a
in a situation where there are plenty of witnesses, real confrontation stability and root must be a mov-
and over zealous self defense laws. This advantage ing concept. Static stability is useful for training,
to using an obstructive tactic in such a scenario is but can prove deadly in a serious situation.
that you can dispense with your attacker, while a
crowd swears to the police that you never made Power
one offensive move, and that the opponent just hurt
himself trying to while trying to hurt you. Power as derived from footwork, is a direct mani-

Page 8
festation of stability. Without stability, any power the Left foot passing the Right foot, to establish a
generated will be incorrectly dissipated, and of no Left lead stance of equal length to your original
productive or desirable effect. stance. The exact same motions can be carried out
to the rear, to accomplish the Rear Half Step, and
Power itself, is of course generated from force Rear Full Step respectively.
times momentum, and it must be noted that the
base of most momentum is derived from the legs, It should be noted that while the Straight Step is
and their motions. In other words, momentum is the easiest of all steps to learn, it is probably the
primarily derived from footwork. Additionally , most difficult to use, without putting yourself in a
without the mass of the lower body involved, force worse position than you started in.
will be relatively low. It is therefore, I think, quite
obvious that footwork is of the utmost importance Triangle Stepping
in the generation of power.
Triangle Stepping is one of the most widely used,
and effective stepping patterns. It is common in al-
Footwork Patterns most every nations indigenous martial traditions,
though it is perhaps most commonly associated
with the Filipino M artial Arts.
In order to develop the ability to apply the seven
aspects of footwork, their are several specific foot- Triangle stepping affords one the ability to evade a
work patterns which are useful to practice. These primary attack, while positioning oneself out of
are: range from a secondary attack. While their are only
two basic triangles, male and female to be learned,
• Straight Stepping the ability to quickly and powerfully step in any
• Triangle Stepping combination of the six directions that two triangles
• Cross Stepping define, can take a bit of practice. To develop this
• Hop Switching skill and coordination I shall detail the use of three
specific, prearranged, “foot forms”. These are:
Straight Line Stepping
• The Basic X Pattern
This is the most basic of all stepping skills, it is • The Double Diamond Pattern
common to all systems of combat, and consists of • The Saw Tooth (Seven Star) Pattern
merely stepping forward, and stepping backward. Each of these foot forms comes from a traditional
Their are two minor variations of each. source, and have been used for hundred’s of years
to prepare warriors for battle. For those interested
• The Half Step in the specifics and particulars on the history and
• The Full Step cultural context of each of these forms please wait
for upcoming articles.
To effect a half step, from a right lead, step for-
ward with the Right foot, and drag the left foot up Following is a brief description of each pattern.
to re-establish the original stance length. To effect
the full step, from a right lead, step forward with The Basic X Pattern

Page 9
This pattern moves from, and keeps contact with a stance

central point, the center of an X. It is actually a 4. Steps Left 45°with left foot, bringing the
simple combination of both male and female trian- back foot up, forming a feet together
gle stepping. Starting with a “feet together” stance, stance
and returning to that stance after each individual 5. Steps Left 45°with left foot, bringing the
movement, one: back foot up, forming a feet together
stance
1. Extends left foot rearward at a 45° angle 6. Repeat steps 2-5 for as long as you like
while keeping all of the weight on the
right foot The Double Diamond Pattern
2. Extends right foot rearward at a 45° an-
gle while keeping all of the weight on The double diamond is the most complex of the
the left foot three foot forms. It contains the major aspects of
3. Steps 45° forward to the left with the both the Basic X, and the Seven Star Stepping Pat-
left foot, transferring all weight to that
foot
4. Steps 45° forward to the right with the
right foot, transferring all weight to that
foot
The pattern can be repeated in a continuous manner

as long as the practitioner likes.
The Saw Tooth (Seven Star) Pattern
The Saw Tooth Pattern contains only female trian-

gles, though its arrangement forces one to explore
the relationship of the triangle with the straight line.
While the Seven Star Pattern is quite short, and
technically simplistic, its illusion of broken and
odd rhythms, frequently makes it difficult to grasp
in the beginning of training. It should also be noted terns, in addition to several other combinations of
that the first motion of the form is slightly different both male and female triangle components. To do
from the rest, occasionally leading to confusion. the Double Diamond, one starts from a feet to-
Starting from a feet together stance, one: gether stance, then:
1. Steps Left 45°with left foot, bringing the 1. Steps Right 45°with Right foot
back foot up, forming a feet together 2. Steps Left 45°with Left foot
stance 3. Brings Right foot next to Left forming
2. Steps Right 45°with Right foot, bringing feet together stance
the back foot up, forming a feet together 4. Steps back Left 45° with Left foot
stance 5. Steps back Right 45° with Right foot
3. Steps Right 45°with Right foot, bringing 6. Brings Left foot next to Right forming
the back foot up, forming a feet together feet together stance

Page 10
7. Steps back Right 45° with Right foot As cross stepping is a particular method of body
8. Steps back Left 45° with Left foot movement, rather than a stepping pattern per se, it
9. Brings Right foot next to Left forming can be applied along any actual stepping pattern a
feet together stance student knows, i.e., triangle stepping.
10. Steps Left 45°with Left foot
11. Steps Right 45°with Right foot On S tepping Drills
12. Brings Left foot next to Right forming
feet together stance All of these stepping drills should be begun with
13. Steps back Right 45° with Right foot slow speed and good form. The practitioner should
14. Steps back Left 45° with Left foot gradually increase the speed, attempting to go as
15. Brings Right foot next to Left forming fast as possible while maintaining appropriate body
feet together stance structure. I recommend using a camcorder to ana-
lyze form, it is a great tool.
Repeat pattern as many times as you like.
Once basic competency has been reached, the stu-
Cross Stepping dent should start incorporating various upper body
gestures with the stepping. This can greatly im-
Cross stepping is an often misunderstood tool. To prove independent lower and upper body coordina-
the uneducated eye, it can look quite flashy, and tion.
even self defeating. As cross stepping is the process
of moving, by crossing one foot, either in front of, Additionally, once the basic stepping patterns are
or behind the other, it would seem that it would mastered, one should try and perform random free
sacrifice stability, and invite devastating foot stepping, incorporating all of the previous methods.
sweeps. In fact, if one were to actually attempt to
cross step directly in front of an opponent, one Okay, now go get a move on, and step on it;)
would most likely end up on the ground.
The secret to successfully using cross stepping, as it

is with any technique, is in understanding the con-
text for which it is meant to be used. While we use
the term cross stepping, it is best viewed as, cross © Arthur Sennott 1999
kicking. Cross stepping is an excellent method of
moving from one place to another, while simultane- About the author: Arthur L. Sennott began his
ously attacking your opponents low line. When combined study of Asian healing and martial arts
viewed in this context, cross stepping is not only 20 years ago. He currently maintains a split prac-
quite stable, it also prevents the opponent from tice between Cape Cod, MA, and Milford, NH. Ar-
even attempting a sweep. thur combines his knowledge of Sotai, Kappo, and
Traditional Chinese Herbalism, to specialize in de-
In addition cross stepping can actually be employed generative musculo-skeletal disorders, and trau-
safely, as a true stepping movement, if one has al- matic injury management.
ready maneuvered behind the opponent. From a
rear position, cross stepping can provide a , quick, His current practice of martial arts includes Fili-
and efficient method of movement. pino Kali, Xing Yi Quan, and the Russian Combat
Art: Systema.

Page 11
Traditional Chinese Weapons and Related Arms
Part 6: Urban Dwellers, Rural Farmers, and Seafarers
Last month's installment of this series completed Vietnam, in that even during a period of absolute
our overview of the various considerations (and monarchy, the people were still able to reverse en-
sometimes even lack of consideration) with which tire dynasties when they were discontent, as hap-
the Chinese people as a whole regarded their weap- pened during the revolt of Tay Son. In France, such
ons. an event was called a 'jacquerie' up until
the middle ages.
This month, we are now going to address
several smaller social groups, which in fact But paradoxically, just like the contrary
as a whole constituted the majority of the complementarities of yin and yang, in
Chinese population. They did not possess every country the more that martial prac-
the keen interest in weapons of the other tices were forbidden, the more successful
castes, and instead simply considered them they became. Look at the origin of Chris-
a necessary pain. Indeed as we shall later tianity, which though necessary also
see, some ethnic groups and guilds even de- evinces the rascally wiles of the human
veloped weapon techniques as a result of mind. Besides, just as in the present day,
their daily labour, though it is theoretically not everyone could afford a weapon wor-
possible to argue that their labour was in- thy of the appelation, even though they
stead enriched by their arts of self defense. were extremely necessary for survival.
In general, a ruling power prefers the gen- An important gap therefore existed be-
eral populace to not be in a position from tween the public's perception of the need
which they can readily "rise to arms." Ex- for a weapon and their capability for real-
cept for a few rare exceptions, the stronger izing that need.
the controls placed upon weapons by a rul-
ing power, the more one has to wonder Uncertain roads, the isolated events
about their real motives for instituting these con- which comprise a man's life, the insecurity in the
trolling processes. Consider two famous examples. heart of the cities, organized gangs, the multiple
In the case of the weapons census in France which local potentates, and Japanese pirate incursions are
occured under the Vichy regime, the government just some of the many factors that led the general
was actually formed in collaboration with German populace to develop the means of protecting them-
invaders. Another example, which has close ties to selves by elevating their daily tools to the status of
martial arts history, is the weapon controls imposed weapons. Though these tools were not originally
upon the island of Okinawa by its Japanese invad- intended to be weapons, this made them no less
ers. These controls eventually generated Ko budo, dangerous. Sometimes mercenaries were also used
Shuri te, Tomari te and Naha te as they were taught for protection. They have been presented in such
at the time. films as "The 7 Samurai" of Kurosawa and "The
Beach of the War God".
M uch of the history of China resembles that of

Page 12
In this article, however, we will have to content order to service both butchers, The resulting signals
ourselves with giving those interested in this topic of prosperous competition, both between the two
only a few indications of fruitful areas for deeper butchers and the services supplying them, would
research. then attract new consumers, who would also con-
tribute to this growing cycle of prosperity. Next,
Also, as previouslystated, precise description of the knife merchants will arrive, followed by other pro-
weapons will not be given until the final stage of fessions which service these trades. Every now and
this presentation series, as this will require that new then, one will even find semblances of early corpo-
distinctions be created which will allow us to first rate structures, similar in their goal to the structures
categorize weapons by their intended use, followed created in the West during the middle ages, which
by the reasons allowing them to become utlized as developed from all this economic activity. As a by-
weapons, and finally outlining their evolution as product, these strcutures also created a centralized
weapon. This topic is too vast for the scope of this locale for all these services.
installment.
If caught off guard, a craftsman would have to de-
This chapter will instead be divided into four sec- fend his life and possessions. So it would have been
tions, each corresponding to a different social sub- natural for him to use whatever implements were
group. The groups are:: readily at hand, making them 'weapons by practice',
- Urban Dwellers that is items which were not originally designed as
- Farmers weapons but later became used as such. The pro-
- Seafarers verbial rolling pin with which the angry housewife
- Roving acrobats and other touring groups, to pursues her husband is another example of a
which we will also add land travelers and mer- 'weapon by practice'. Use of similar readily avail-
chants. able weapons resulting in death is even attested to
in the registers of the prefecture of police in Paris
Urban Dwellers up until the end of the last century. Both regular
and chopping knives were used by butchers, per-
haps being a distant ancestor of butterfly knives.
The appellation of 'urban' is essentially arbitrary as The hooks used to immerse skins in different trea-
it really has little to do with what we today know as ments were used by tanners. Sledgehammers, axes,
urban. The population density was not the same, chains, picks, shovels, trowels and other imple-
and the thickest population centers at the time had ments which were usually used as tools later be-
very little in common with today's megalopolises. came dangerous weapons in the hands of desperate
In the cities, craftsmen were often united by a pro- individuals. When such violent exchanges took
fessional body, which usually manifested itself as place within the confines of the city walls, short
district guilds. The districts were most often estab- weapons were favoured because of the narrow
lished because of mandates dictated by the society streets. For example, imagine the embarassing
itself, such as when a guild of tanners located itself situation of trying to defend oneself with 3 meter
at a city's outskirts because of the associated odours staff when the street is only 1.75 meters wide.
of their profession. Another reason was the tradi- Similar problems were associated with the demon-
tional Chinese thought on business practices. For strations of acrobatic feats during these times.
example, if a butcher's propserity attracts another Without sewer systems, which are a modern
butcher to the same location, the number of barges achievement, the streets were basically cesspools
servicing the area would increase proportionately in with no solid areas upon which to place supports.

Page 13
Imagine the results of a perilous jump in these early moved chunks of flesh, resulting in terrible injuries.
conditions... Splash! ! ! The fact that they often carried more traces of
stains from the earth, caused their their injuries to
The police would sometime patrols the streets very fester so much that they easily became sources of
well, but in addition to their proverbial corruption, infection, no matter how minimal they were.
common in every city and time, it was very rare Besides, of the numerous ethnic minorities in
that evildoers would wait for their passage in order China, Vietnam and Japan (the Aïnoses) who de-
to commit their nefarious deeds. Besides, in any so- pended in part upon hunt for their food supply, the
cial system, facts have demonstrated that the richest bow combined with the use of poisons was not en-
have more substantial and important rights than tirely unknown ("Arrow Poisons and Test Poisons",
other segment of the population, usually in direct Perrot and Vogt, 1913, Brother Vigot Editions:
proportion to their fortune. Archives abound of Paris). It is therefore legitimate to think that the use
murderers who were sufficiently rich that they were of poisons was not exclusively confined to this en-
not executed because of intervention, sometimes deavour and the 'evil' novels of mantles and swords
even by the Emperor himself. The temptation was represent them as an honorable rank among secret
great to instead take recourse in the law of the weapons, as in the "Four Brigands of the Huabei"
sword, as it was much less expensive and more ex- by of Gu Long.
peditious to simply empty a quarrel. And afterward,
an accident could befall a middleman so quickly... Peasants at the time were very often "incited to
Sometimes occasions arose in which it was even military activity". Whether it was brigands caught
necessary to defend oneselve against the police or up in the pains of resupplying themselves, a war-
the numerous bounty hunters who were all the rage lord's army on campaign, or an invader's army
at the time. These people were likely to stop people clearing a path through the borders of the empire,
simply because they bore a vague resemblance to a occasions for confrontation by an armed force were
"portrait sketch", which usually consisted of a abundant . When one is a peasant farmer with a
badly tracing of a bandit general outline. When in family to feed, it is sometimes better to simply give
addition to this the opinion of research stipulates up one's skant harvest (hopefully having concealed
their apprehension as quick or dead, one can read- a portion) while hoping to save one's life, than to
ily imagine results of such a confrontation. enter into an unequal fight in which the final result
is dubious.
Farmers When living under the rule of a minor feudal lord,

it was not rare for the peasants to be organized into
a small militia in order to better defend themselves,
Farmers only rarely owned the land upon which with harvests sometimes contained in walled farms
they worked. Sometimes they also worked as part- and warehouses. These militias sometimes made
time soldiers, and though this was a necessary task, good on their threats to retaliate upon those brig-
the majority still performed this task. Within this ands who srayed off the beaten track in search of a
group, "weapons by practice" are abundant: target ("Very Close to Water", Shi Nai An - Luo
scythes, sickles, scourges, shovels, picks, rakes, Gan Zhong)
hoes, pitchforks, trident for rice gathering (known
as "SAI! TIE GEN" in Chinese), rattan baskets
used as scratch shields, poles, oars, and tapered
green bamboo which sliced like a razor and re-

Page 14
Seafarers and Waterfront Inhabi- man gladiators). M any of these weapons are par-
ticularly efficient in the skilled hands of an individ-
tants ual, especially when his life depends using them on
a daily basis as in the case of a harpooner, who is
either skillful or perishes from hunger.
It is necessary to not confound the brave of the A special case which deserves to be metnioned is
lakes and rivers, as one might be led to believe be- that of the boats which functioned as floating
cause of the similarity between the title of this whorehouses.
chapter and the title of the famous Chinese novel.
We are concerned here with those people who Confronted by an illegal crowd, the boarders of
maintain a close relationship with water in their these boats had to be able to defend themselves
everyday life. This of course includes fishermen, when the need arose. Some even claim that Wing
but also merchants, marines (pirates will be Chun was adopted/adapted by this segment of the
dicussed in a later chapter), and landholders of casi-
nos / or floating houses.
By and large, 'weapons by practice' are more

strongly tied to the two previously treated lower
classes, as sailors in the generic sense were re-
quired to have a more professional relationship
with weapons than urban dwellers or farmers, since
justice is much more difficult to maintain at sea
than on land, and almost impossible to achieve
without proper weapons.
Chinese history books almost note a posteriori the

impunity which the various pirates enjoyed while
pillaging the Chinese coasts during the centuries. population because of the style's conformity to the
Vietnamese and Koreans were hardly better repre- specificities of working in this professions. The lit-
sented, though the historical museums of Hanoi and tle room to evolve or develop a technique (the typi-
Ho Chi M inh (Saïgon) present the major battles of cal traditional picture Hong Kong's harbour should
reconstitution that allowed Vietnam to conquer or be enough to give an impression of this), the pro-
defend its independence as the better parts of their gressivity of its attacks (the three parent forms of
naval battles with the ingenuity of the defenders Wing Chun bare hand techniques respectively per-
permitting them to defeat more numerous and bet- mit one to dissuade, neutralize, or mutilate/kill a
ter equipped troops. too enterprising customer if the need arises), its
foundation is based upon limited ground, the long
Fresh water sailors were certainly not as well- stick (3 meters) was the first weapon of the style,
stocked in weapons as their deep sea colleagues, as corresponds to the hooks which were used to guide
the risks were not the same. But even they were not boats in a harbor, its double butterfly knives, the
deprived of a means for defense, using: ropes second weapon taught which also allowed one to
(weighted or not with grapnels or various weights), cut the many ropes found in abundance upon a
hooks, oars, fangs, tridents, harpoons and also the boat. Even without knowing the totality of the
deceptively dangerous net (as made famous by Ro-

Page 15
style, the entire crew of a ship could take part in its ons» (rockets destinies to fire the hostile vessels...).
defense in case of attack by pirates or by competi- These sailors, merchants, and their crews are also
tors. One must confess that there is simply too interesting from our martial artist point of view, as
much coincidence here for it to be ascribed to pure they collaborated in distributing Chinese fighting
chance. And where else has Wing Chun been more techniques during their commercial contacts with
developed in the world until Yip M an than here? the Ryu Kyu islands, and to a lesser extent Vietnam
Certainly not Hong Kong. and Korea. It was often through them that many ex-
perts, such as missionary monks, generals and lite-
Sailors of the high seas must either have a rudimen- rati fleeing a change of power, were transported
tary knowledge of weapon handling or a strong es- from the continent toward the aforementioned
cort, because pirates seldom miss. As much as it is countries.It is because of their reverberations that
impossible to take possession of a house or a ware- we today know of many indigenous techniques,
house while killing its inhabitants because of the such as the perfection of Ju Jitsu schools and Indo-
presence of neighbors, witnesses, and cadastral nesian Silat.
registers, it is child's play to force the master of a
boat to surrender, dispose of its crew, and make it (To be continued...)
up in order to go and resell it elsewhere.
© C.FRUGIER 1998, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED,
In addition to "weapons by practice" that one will
be able to find otherwise on boats, it is not unrea-
sonable to think that merchant boats transported
more traditional weapons, such as bows and pikes,
to see for most considerate of them «heavy weap-

Page 16
Japanese Kata Illustrated: Eian Yodan

Page 17

Page 18

Page 19
Miyamoto Musashi
By Kondo Yoko
"You should know that the true Sky is the place consider that M usashi was an exceptional fighter.
with no clouds", “The Sky is the way, the way is M usashi was also a man of war, he joined the
the Sky”. “Sekigahara” war in his youth and two years later
he joined “Osaka no Jin”’s war. He wanted to be
Those sayings come from maybe the most famous martial advisor for General Tokugawa who was
swordsman in Japan, M iyamoto M usashi. then the most powerful Shogun but his wish was
not accepted and M usashi lived an hard life, not be-
In Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, there is a small longing to anybody [without any body to serve] and
temple called Reiganzen Ji located on M ount Kinpo without wives and children.
and close to this temple a big cave called Reigando
where one of most important mar-

tial arts books have been written :
“Gorin no sho” [Book of the five
rings] but do we really know its
author ?
Born in 1584 in what is now the

southern part of Hyogo prefecture
and the north-eastern part of Oka-
yama prefecture, the young M iya-
moto M usashi got very fast in
contact with M artial Arts. His fa-
ther was belonging to the Take-
yama castle and was a sword and
“jutte” instructor, just like his fa-
ther before him.
In his childhood the M usashi

showed a very strong ambition
and determination to achieve high skills in Budo However he made a poem telling that even if one
and it is said that at 13 years old he defeated a falls in love with somebody, better not waste
fighter from Shintoryu school. At 20 years old he money and be modest than making poems or writ-
started to challenge the most famous fighters in the ing letters. It is widely admitted that he was stingy
country and never lost. Most fights (duels) were in with money and life itself, he was skillful for
took place in Kyoto, Nara, Iga, Edo [now Tokyo], sword and fighting but had to go through hard life
Toyomae, Harima and Ohari. It was quite easy in to survive materially.
that time of unstable government and high pride to
pick up a fight and even if the number of his chal- When he was 29 years old he had the now world
lenges is not sure, some says about 20, others 60 or famous fight with Sasaki Kojiro which took place
more. As it was mainly death or life situation, we on Funajima Island. He used a long wooden sword
made from his boat’s oar against Kojiro’s Iron

Page 20
sword and with one swing overcame his opponent. the hunch from accumulating primary needs for
It is said that in his fights he mainly used wooden fighting and revealing the wildness given by Good.
sword, or a kind of long stick and very rarely drawn As the famous caligrapher Kobo was able to write
his iron sword. with any kind of brushes, M usashi seeked for prag-
matism and practiced without fantasies.
At this time this island was the territory of Hoso-
kawa Shogun and it is said that Kojiro was the mar- In 1632, the prestigious General Hosokawa Tadato-
tial advisor of the general. Ironically enough Gen- shi moved from Toyamae to Higo with the remod-
eral Hosokawa would later welcome M usashi to eling of trade of Katos and stayed there to rule
Higo without any problem. Higo. In 1640 he invited M usashi who is now 55
years old, two years older than the General.
After the fight with Kojiro, a big change happened
to him as a sword master. He looked back to his life The real motive is unsure but people say that Ta-
and realized that he was not really skilled, thereby dayoshi felt friendly toward M usashi personally.
he started to train much harder to find a deeper He was also conscious of the “Edo Bafuku” [Edo
logic in his martial arts. He later said that it was government which tried to control all other territo-
only when he was 60 years old that he understood ries at that time] and wanted to make his territory
the true way of nature and fighting. stable. He was also fond of martial arts and used to
put a spear expert, Takada M atabe, to protect him.
When a fire brings out, people boost with extra en- It is clear that he wanted to make his territory fa-
ergy to fight it, it’s a matter of survival and despair, mous in the martial field.
in Japan we call that “M ight power in a fire” and
the style of M usashi (which is to have no style) At that time M usashi belonged to “Toyomae
overlaps this theory. He didn’t train with bamboo Ogura” ‘s clan and has been gotten spécial treat-
sword as every does now but rather he was getting ment from Ogasawara Tadamasa who was very
close from General Hosakawa.
Tadatoshi treated M usashi as a

special person and Musashi’s
adopted son had already served
for Tadatoshi (his adopted son,
Iori, was born in Harima, Hyago
prefecture, and started serving Ta-
datoshi when he was 15. Gradu-
ally he got more and more impor-
tant role in Tadatoshi’s territory
and was rewarded with a wide
part of lands – 4000 Goku.)
M usashi received many lands and
favors as only high ranked people
could get and enjoyed serving Ta-
datoshi. He has not only talked
about fighting fields but also poli-

Page 21
tics. He wrote “35 fighting principles” after he

came to Higo.
But in 1641, Hosakawa Tadatoshi died suddenly.

The new General treated M usashi exactly the same
way than before but M usashi deeply greaved and
diverted himself with Tea ceremony, Zen practice
and caligraphy painting.
He retreated in the Reigando cave near the temple

where he used to practice Zen and started to write
his ultimate book : “Gorin no sho” two years after
Tadatoshi’s death. ments and to conquer opponent’s guard”.
The book features 5 sections which are Ground, Eiji Yoshikawa wrote in his book “M usashi M iya-
Water, Fire, Wind and Sky. Even if this is about moto” : “… Through the sword, he saw Evil and
fighting, it explains M usashi’s practical theory and Good in human being and had been suffered until
therefore can be applied in many fields. he died. If one always has problems but also the
basic fighting needs to live, one can deal with
It starts with the foundation of fighting and shifts to them”.
sword, the way to train, group fighting, and the
very last section “Sky”. He concentrated on seeking In an era of disorder, M usashi considered the
the truth of the practice and tried to express and sword as not just a weapon to kill people but also
prove the ideas to win, training to gain mental through the light of buddhism as the sword of
power from his experience in a fresh and unique love as well. He died in 1645, just after finishing
way. “Sky” (the chinese character means also “Gorinno sho” and received as religious name
“empty”) is referring to the mental techniques, the “Nitendorakukyoshi”. According to his will, he
highest stage he reached. The essence of his work was put in a coffin and buried in Yuge, which
can be resumed as “fighting a shape of outlooking, later has been called “M usashizuka” (musashi’s
the most important is to predict opponent’s move-
tomb).
The impact on M usashi’s work and

thoughts is still very strong in Japan and
spreads to the whole world. His ideas
on fighting and winning have influ-
enced the greatest men and lead many
to achieve formidable goals but overall
he asked us the meaning of “living
hard” and what can one really do to
achieve ones goal. This is the legacy
and the gift of a man from the 17th cen-
tury.

Page 22
Interview: Shi De Yang

While I was in Hongkong I had the chance to have an Interview with Master Shi De Yang thanks to a com-
mon friend but it was a bit hard to set up a meeting with him as he is a very busy man. First I had to run
into Abbot De Qian to ask him where was De Yang J That was funny and hopefully for me the shaolin
monks are also very nice persons.
After many phone calls it appeared that the only “window” for me to chat with De Yang was at 7 AM in
his hotel on Victoria.
coach the US sanshou team for the

world championship. I played in some
kung fu movies too.
Q : Why are you in Hongkong now ?
A : I came for the opening ceremony of

the 5th world wushu championship but I
am mainly invited by the Buddhist As-
sociation and I will give some lectures
to buddhist groups about Shaolin Chan.
Q : You’ve seen several international

competitions, what do you think of the
level of Wushu in the foreign coun-
tries ?
A : The level is getting better each year,

I think it is mainly because many good
Q : Thank you Master De Yang for receiving me Chinese teachers go abroad to transmit the highest
that early. skills in modern wushu. And the athletes get more
experience to compete at international level.
A : You are welcome, actually I think you are very
early for a foreigner. In Shaolin we are used to start Q : Speaking of teachers going abroad, don’t you
training at 5.30 but usually foreign students don’t want to live in another country than China ?
like to wake up at that time.
A : (smile) In China the competition is fierce, there
Q : Could you speak a bit about yourself ? are many many teachers with very high skills, ex-
perience and knowledge, it is hard to be out-
A : I was born in 1968 in Taikang of Henan Prov- standing. And the condition are not easy for those
ince, I am of the 31st Generation Warrior M onk of who are not the best. So many go abroad where the
Shaolin, came to Shaolin when I was 9 years old. I life level is higher and the competition is less
am a direct disciple of the former Abbot and grand- strong. They are kind of special and can get much
master Su Xi and my martial brothers are De Qian more easily a good life. The best martial artist still
who wrote many books and De Ru who is now remains human and in this world we all need

Page 23
money otherwise nothing can be done. After all A : Those who say that have a little knowledge of
even Damo came from India to teach in China, it is M artial arts in general and shaolin quan in particu-
a logical that some people put the seeds somewhere lar. There is no such separation. Taijiquan comes
else. from Shaolin, Shaolin first excercises were
“internal ones” [Damo’s Yijinjing, Xisuijing and 18
I am a shaolin M onk and I am very happy to live in shou, T]. Even know many forms in shaolin sylla-
Shaolin, there I can teach many and learn from the bus are “internal” like M ian quan [cotton boxing],
best masters. If the Temple decide to send me Jingang quan [Diamond boxing, close to xingy-
somewhere I will go but so far I have no wish to iquan] and so on. It is like trying to separate Yin
move. from Yang, impossible !
Shaolin is a global style that
Q : You said that the encompasses both internal
level of athletes was im- and external aspect of mar-
proving but what is the t ia l p r act ic e.
most important skill for a
martial artist ? Furthermore, Shaolin quan is
a very exigent style to mas-
A : The most important ter. The postures must be
is Wu De (martial ethic). really correct, which re-
Being a martial artist im- quires a lot of practice and
plies many duties. For dedication. But gradually the
many young martial stu- right postures give the real
dents, martial art is just a Gongfu [skills] and this
way to beat people, but Gongfu goes to the bones.
they don’t understand Too many people stop at the
and if they keep on this skin.
way they will never do.
A martial artist must re- Q : A very different subject,
spect other people and many speaks of the influence
avoid conflict as much as of the PLA (chinese Army) in
possible. Wu De is doing Shaolin …
the right thing are the
right time. A martial Artist must have a strong sense A : Well, it is true that many of the young stu-
of Justice and M orality. With skills, one can grasp a dents in the many wushu schools near shaolin
better self-understanding and know ones limits. Later dream to join the Army later. After all they learn
one can push the limits a little further. the basis of discipline, effort, community work
and all of them love their country. I think this is
Q : Many now make a strong distinction between the same in every country. But in the opposite of
“nei jia” (internal styles) and “wai jia” (external Taiwan or Singapore, in China M onks don’t have
styles), they oppose Taijiquan as the “king of inter- to serve the country [usually three years for both
nal” and Shaolin quan as the “king of external”. boys and girls] and thus sometimes there is still
What do you think of that ? some boys who enter into a temple to avoid mili-
tary duties.

Page 24
Q : What do you think Shaolin can bring

to the future generation ?
A : First we are now welcoming more and

more foreigners to learn and later spread
the real Shaolin M artial Arts so I think we
are helping to promote international
friendship thru Wushu. Then Shaolin is a
living symbol of a long martial history,
our duty is to keep it alive and transmit its
beautiful legacy.
[ A phone call reminding him another

meeting forces us to shorten the inter-
view]
Q : Again thank you very much for your

time Master De Yang.
A : You are welcome.
Interview conducted in Chinese by Fabien

Sena
11/05/99 Victoria, Hongkong.

Page 25
The Brain and Physical Activity
Our brain is a structure of infinite complexity, ex- In the following chapters, we are going to be inter-
tremely sensitive to a quantity of variations to ested in several aspects of relationship of the body
which our set of senses give a more exact insight. and the brain.
In spite of the lightning progress of technology, it's
system of analysis and decision-making remains Respectively, we will discuss the analysis of the
the fastest and most efficient in a number of areas. sensitivity of the brain to emotional changes and
Thus, a simple activity such as recognizing an indi- their influence on the body, variations of immuno-
vidual by his silhouette, as we do every day with deficiency as bound to psychology, the organiza-
our close friends and colleagues, remains an insolu- tion of the body/brain relationship a brief summary
ble problem for the most powerful supercomputers. of chronobiology, traumas of the brain and their in-
Beyond the stupendous capacities that it utilizes fluence on our capacities, and finally a study of the
each day in abstraction, it is also bound as closely brain/body as an inverse "relationship" in order to
to our body by an infinity of communication sys- understand psychological problems created by
tems (biochemical, electric, etc.) which are not a sports.
unique sense as we will see.
For a a long time, the West in particular dissociated

the spirit from the body. This politic faded with the
The Brain: A Mechanism which is
European conception of illness and its treatment,
and began to crumble before progress in such sci-
Sensitive to Our Emotions
ences as psychiatry, chemistry, biology, psychol-
ogy, and medicine. The brain regulates the functions of the human
body by a indirect set of complementary systems.
In addition, if one wishes to be entirely objective We have all experienced the somewhat uncon-
about our present knowledge, one will see that scious modifications of our physical state, within
many centuries ago what it is commonly now an otherwise conscience state, that a big emotion
called 'alternative medicine' had already correctly such as fear, love, anger, joy, and sadness, can
uncovered entire areas of knowledge which West- cause in our metabolism through the acceleration
ern science has only just now begun to glimpse. and slowing of the cardiac rhythm, hyper or hypo
These traditions certainly have a tremendous arterial tension, hyper ventilation, perspiration, and
wealth of knowledge to share. modification of the blood mass distribution.
The set of factors involved here are interdependent,
For example, one no longer speaks today in medi- and we will revisit them in a final article on breath-
cal terms of psychosomatic illness, but instead of ing.
the proportion of psychosomaticism within a par-
ticular pathology. Beyond the simple scientific curiosity which usu-
ally limits itself by noting that such demonstrations
Beyond its lone function as the central command induce these symptoms, we can uncover some sur-
center of the body, the brain also influences the prising findings which are useful for our daily life,
way it works. It is as if the performance of a motor and also useful as deep teachings for our martial art
and the working of your car could vary considera- practice.
bly while changing wheel (such as a breakdown) .

Page 26
The example of high-level athletes, particularly in ning again, telling himself that this was true. After
stamina sports such as marathon running , has been all, 12 km was nothing!
studied by Professor P. de Witte (University of
Louvain, Belgium). He teaches us that repetitive In important tests in duration, when the "necessary
sporty activity is like a drug, comparable in its ef- bottom" is reached by an athlete, he arrives at a
fect upon brain at the level of certain chemical stage where he feels an intense weariness, and it is
processes to that of an alcoholic. at that precise moment that he is most tested. If he
surmounts this weariness while haciong reasons to
In this specific case it is taurine, a marker present continue, he will pass this test, otherwise he may
within the brain, whose quantity increases so much just as well simply stop in his tracks.
with repeated practice of stamina sports (a routine
effect) that it has the addictiveness of alcohol. Anyone who practice any of number of physical ac-
The similarities of this point troubled researchers, tivities knows this form of wearniess very well.
who later exploited it to assist in curing chronic al- Sometimes it is the thin voice that suggests that you
coholics. This was done by inciting them during not go to practice on a certain night, perhaps be-
their disintoxication cure to practice stamina sports. cause a long, tiring summer day, or because of stiff
The results in terms of non-relapse were signifi- muscles from the last class, or host of other seem-
cantly better. ingly valid reasons.
But it functions as a necessary incentive to the re- The effort that you need to exert in order to go to
alization of effort and plays the real role of inciting class on those days is nevertheless particularly im-
emotionalism during sports performance. There are portant.
enough cases of numerous individuals fated by
medicine to pass their lives in wheelchairs or The routine processes engaged in through regular
clutches that, through sheer willpower and work physical activity are very important and once again
have succeeded in recovering their motivity. A highlight the evidence found in the case of stamina
number of us envy them, as was the case of several sports. It is the regular routine that eventually not
Olympic champions, such as World Record Holder only allow us to continue in our activities, but even
Wilma Rudolph. leads us so that we eventually become "hooked".
And it is this very same routine that we need to face
Professor de Witte, as we already mentioned, him- if we want to climb higher, become faster or
self a regular practitioner of stamina sports, re- stronger.
vealed in the special issue n°10 of the magazine
"Sport and Life", how he had succeeded in com- In this sense the overcoming of oneself in a physi-
pleting his first marathon. cal test is already a school in which we learn to re-
strain our natural "impulses", and therefore ap-
When he had already run 2/3 of the course, he proach awakening.
stopped while wondering why he was there and
why he had to keep running.
It was then that spectator in the crowd shouted

"Have courage! No more than 12 km left!"
And as "stupidly" as he had stopped, he began run-

Page 27
Xiao Hong Quan (Part 1)
1. Opening.
Both feet stand side by side with both hands hang-

ing down naturally. The head and body are up-
right. Feet are joined. Look straight forward,
breath natural
2. Holding the moon in arms
The left foot takes an half-step left with both toes

grasping the ground. The distance between the feet
is the same as the width of the shoulders. Both
arms are bend and both palms overlap before the
belly with the palm-centers facing up. The right
palm is above the left one. Square the shoulders
and withdraw the belly. The tongue is pressing the
upper jaw. Look forward and take a deep breath.
3. White cloud over the head
Feet don’t move. Left ram moves to the lower

back until it is straightly along the outside of the
left buttock with the palm facing back. The right
palm fends up, palm facing up the fingers pointing
leftward. The force is directed on the palms, the
arms are slightly bent. The head turns left, look left
with intensity.

Page 28
4. Pushing the left palm in “gong bu”
The body turns 90 degrees left. The left foot takes one step for-
ward to form a left “gong bu”. Both palms move in the same
time : the right one move by the outside of the left arm toward
the lower to draw to the waist with the palm facing up, the left
one moves to the upper right and at the inside of the right arm
changes into an straight palm to push forward with the force di-
rected into the palm heel. The fingers are at the same height as
the mouth. Look forward and expire.
5. Erecting an arm, shrinking the body
The left foot doesn’t move. The right leg bends. The right palm
moves downward then to the upper front with palm facing up.
Left palm moves to the right until it erects before the right arm-
p it w it h the p alm facing r ight .
Then the body turns 90 degrees right. The left foot goes to the
middle inside of the right foot with the tiptoes only touching
the ground, both legs squats to form a left “Ding bu”. At the
same time the right palm changes into a fist and the right fore-
arm erects before the right shoulder. The left palm changes into
a fist and rush straightly downward with the side of the fist
close to the upper outside of left ankle. Look left and expire.
6. Pushing the left palm in “Gong bu”
The body turns 90 degrees left. The left foot takes one step for-
ward to form a left “gong bu”. Both hands open into palms and
move in the same time : the right one move by the front of the
chest and the outside of left arm, moves toward the lower right
to draw to the waist with the palm facing up, the left one moves
to the upper right and, at the inside of the right arm, changes
into a straight palm to push forward with the force directed into
the palm heel. The fingers are at the same height as the nose.
Look forward and expire.

Page 29
7. Turning the body and crushing

palm
The upper body turns 180 degrees right to form a

right “Gong bu”. At the same time the left palm
draws to the waist with the palm facing up. The
right arm turns inside, the right palm crushes for-
ward with the palm facing back, finger at the same
level as the eyes. Look at the right hand and ex-
pire.
8. Pushing the left palm while

taking one step forward.
The left foot takes one step forward to form a left

“Gong bu”. The right palm moves left by the out-
side of the left shoulder and arms toward the lower
right until it draws to the waist with the palm fac-
ing up. At the same time, the left palm moves
(To be continued… )

Page 30
Your Letters
Christophe Frugier Asked: influence healing. Its used for many other things as
In a forum discussion you said there are 4 types of well. Of particular interest to this crowd, might be
trauma, but Chinese traditional energetic its use in Xing Yi Quan Gong Fu, where those
emphasis 5 elements. How does this relate? same cycles are used to interpret combative rela-
tionships.
Christophe Frugier
On the other hand we have another model. It is the
6 climacteric aberrations. These environmental
Arthur S ennott replies: evils are:
First of all there are more than 4 types of trauma. I • Wind, Cold, Heat, Damp, Dry, Summer-Heat
said "keeping it BASIC there are 4 PRIMARY
types of trauma". There are actually more types, These are factors that can invade your body and
they are just not as common. Just wanted to set the make you sick (injured is sick too). It is easy to
record straight;) confuse these two models, but hopefully this info,
will help clear all that up. Did I make sense, or
However, types of trauma and the 5 element ener- leave you even more confused?;)
getics, are sort of two different models, that just
sound an awful lot alike. Yes they stem from the Arthur
same ideas, but they are used separately. So to
here’s the deal.
There is a five element energetic model. This

model is applied to the organs in the body, and
many other things. These elements are:
Fire, Earth, M etal, Water Wood
The elements in this model have a predictable inter-

action with each other, represented by:
• The Generation cycle: Fire, Earth, M etal, Water

Wood
• The Destruction Cycle: Fire, M etal, Wood,
Earth, Water
• The Insulting Cycle: Fire, Water, Earth, Wood,
M etal
This model is also used in 5 Element style acupunc-

ture, where various point are assigned elemental
characteristics, and then the cycles are employed to

Page 31
Application: Dragon Subduing Hand
By Arthur Sennott
Execution
1. Partner A (left) uses his left hand to seize partner
B’s (right) right wrist. Note that Partner A uses an
inverted grip with the thumb on the bottom.
2. Partner B yields to the pressure by folding his

right arm at the elbow, while simultaneously plac-
ing his left hand over the fingers of his opponent’s
left hand. Note that partner B should secure his op-
ponents hand such that he is pressing it against his
own forearm, and able to catch and lift the little fin-
ger.
3. In one fluid motion continuing from 2, partner B

should rotate his elbow over partner A’s wrist, us-
ing an up-over-forward-down circle. The final as-
pect of this circular movement should force partner
A to the ground.
Important Points
The wrist lock should be performed in a continuous
spiraling manner. Both hands should perform coor-
dinated, individual spirals, which combine to make
a stronger whole. When ever you place two of your
limbs on only one of the opponent, it is vital that
both those limbs function to their fullest. Any mis-
take can easily be countered by the opponent’s free
hand.
When doing this technique, try to move forward,

into the opponent. This will occupy his center, so
as to make attack with his free hand less likely, and
escape more difficult.
hand position on an inward parry is essentially the
If you have a good sense of timing this technique
same as the inward grab illustrated in the drawings.
can be nasty surprise against an opponent who at-
tempts to parry your punch inward. Notice that the

Page 32
Proposition of Criteria for the Assessment of Teachers in the Practice of

Codified Forms (Quyen / Tao Quyen)
By Christophe Frugier The literal translation is dissatisfactory in that

quyen is associated with the idea of a fist, whereas
It is necessary to arrange elements in order to the word in Vietnamese (and in all Asian civiliza-
evaluate the level of practice at the level for a can- tions: "quan" in Chinese, "te" in Japanese) repre-
didate for the position of teacher. The practice of sents not only the fist but also the forearm until al-
codified forms or quyen can be an important refer- most the elbow, as well as the multiple weapons
ence for the assessment of a practitioner's overall shapes that can be produced by the hand (palm,
level. The committed individual often at this stage pikes, claws, cutting, etc.).
of practice combines the best of the three indispen-
sable components in our disciplines: bodily struc- Instead of pursuing this somewhat sterile quarrel
tural power, knowledge of techniques, and psycho- regarding the the correct term to adopt, we will op-
logical investment. erate under the working term "quyen", and leave
the reader free throughout to substitute another
Again it is necessary that we precisely define a way term that is more in agreement with his sensitivities
of establishing appreciation criteria. and experience.
These criteria must be objective, independent of the
candidate's morphology and especially independent What is a quyen? Even the most commonly given
of the examiner's knowledge of the features which answer to this simple question is rife with contro-
are peculiar to the school as practiced by the appli- versy. It is necessary to define the nature of things,
cant. and to know to what ends they are meant.
The practice of forms can be clearly articulated
The examiner should on no count lose view of the around several categories or specialties with differ-
fact that the purpose of demonstration is not to ing success. We will now quickly detail these.
prove his level of practice, but how capable he is of M aster Phan Hoang in his work "International Viet-
transmitting a teaching. vodao Under Way" details 10 different types of
quyen.
After defining what Vietnamese martial practices
mean by the term "quyen", we will try to provide We will limit ourselves here to a classification of 5
guidelenes which will permit us to specify some points:
important points in the assessment of practice, - bare-hand quyen
without being prejudicial by limiting them to physi- - weapon quyen
cal gesticulation only. - old quyen
- heroic -quyen
What Do We Mean by Quyen? • so-called " internal quyen" (or by opposition,
external).
•
Since the time of Confucius, we are tempted to give Bare-hand quyens are the sets of movements, using
an exact meaning for words so that no miscompre- one or several strategies. These tactics can be spe-
hension can disrupt each other's perception. cific to a style, such as the Thap Tu Quyen of the
"Quyen" can be literally translated as "fist", but in a Vovinam school, or to an animal in the case of zo-
more general sense also means "by hand", or omorphic schools, such as the principles of the ti-
"boxing". This explains the fact that many prefers ger, monkey, snake, crane or dragon of the style
the expression "Quyen tao" to designate a form Tam Quyen Dao, for example, or in correspon-
(t ao) of boxing (Q uy en). T he t erm dence with a philosophical or religious doctrine
"Luyen" ("sequence") is also used sometimes. whose principles are intended to inspire the practi-
Page 33
tioner in his physical application of the form (Am/ stick, the dagger, the dâù or scourge, the whip, the
duong alternation (flexible / hard), the alchemical Plowshare sledgehammer, the san or shovel-, and
theory of the five elements as in Quyen Thieu Ngu the chuy thu or dart. Though numerous this non-
Hanh (earth, metal, water, wood, fire), the theory of exhaustive distinction is very far from accurately
trigram mutation, the Buddhist precepts of those reflecting the reality of the ancestral armed prac-
schools which claim themselves as Thieu Lam, the tices of Vietnam. M any instruments of the modern
Vietnamese translation of Shao Lin). life, such as bench and butcher's knives, haved
since joined the rank of war weapons, particularly
Through training, the fighter develops not only during the periods of civil involvement in the war
physical qualities such as suppleness, strength, efforts of the Vietnamese kingdom.
speed, balance, and proprioception, but also intel-
lectual qualities as some of the particularly long Working with weapons is stricter than barehand
forms require concentration upon each action with work because the slightest defect is amplified by
no tolerance for errors. the length of the weapon and its inertia. It is a work
without interest when seen through the optic of self
Weapon Quyen defense against an armed adversary, because one is
less surprised by the handling of a weapon when
one already either knows it or another that resem-
Weapon quyen probably represent the oldest legacy bles the known weapon.
of the Vietnamese martial schools. Some of these
demonstrate the last remaining branches of tradi-
tional school in the strictest sense of the term (Vo Ancient Quyen
Binh Dinh). Weapons are an extension of the body
and require at least as much work as bare-hand The ancient quyen are a testament that reaches to
forms. us From history. They are often accompanied by a
narration or poem that not only permit one to de-
Forged in the battlefields of the past, they allow the code some of the more obscure phases of the
practitioner to learn how to better position himself quyen, but also that work on the one executing it
in space and, among other things, teach him not to while reciting, through the breath, rhythm and
drag himself in his movements.Once taught even thimble synchronization of different cerebral ac-
before the practice to barehand forms, they some- tivities (cortex/neo- cortex). They often constitute
times contain an astonishing technical wealth. the legacy advanced of schools.
It is not rare for weapons schools to provide the ba-
sis for the practice of deft hands, as one can greatly
progress by analyzing the strategies transmitted by
Heroic Quyen
a certain style of practice through the optics of a
different practice. The heroic quyen have been created by a master or
school that wanted to pay homage to a real or
Following the Chinese classification, there are 18 imaginary figure from the history of Vietnam. The
traditional weapons: the côn or staff, the dao or sa- archetype of these forms is the Quyen Loa Tanh
ber, the thuong or spear, the kich or halberd, the that was created by M aster Nguyen Trung Hoa in
kiêm or right sword, the phu or ax, the soa or pitch- order to remember the legend of the Co Loa cita-
fork, the phuong or to spear, the thiên kich or hook, del, of which the foundations have been recovered
the tiên or chain, the câu or hooks, the fan, the short north of Hanoi. It is necessary to note that this type

Page 34
of form is not exclusive to the Vietnamese, For ex- to scale an assessment.

ample, the Chinese form "Wu Song Breaks M ana-
cles" is similar in intent. The rank obtained in a category will be the arith-
metic average of ranks derived in the category. In
Internal Quyen the case that one of the criteriion is not validable,
the average will remains representative.
The so-called "internal quyen" are more difficult to I. The first category to generate criteria for assess-
define. Exercised as barehand or weapons forms, ment of the execution of quyen.
their goal can vary. They are defined as internal be- These are criteria that we propose can be valued no
cause they contain subtler work at different levels matter what the form, the school of origin or the
which are more advanced than raw muscular specificity of the quyen, i.e. barehand, weapon, or
strength. They can include the prophylactic forms internal.
which have the goal of improving the health of
practitioners. This is accomplished either through a) Rhythm
specific respiratory exercises, as in the case of Bat
Doan, or more martially esoteric forms such as the All forms have a clear rhythm, as defined by their
isometric bodybuilding of the so-called hard quyen, creator of the form and his successors. It is siad
or through the research of the growth of internal that one has arrived at the level of potential being a
energy as defined by different Asian civilizations teacher when the practitioner can measure quality
Asian, Ultimately, we must leave each person free of forms by the sounds of them being practiced,
to form their own opinion. and the mood of their timing, and from there HIS
own rhythm.
Criteria for Evaluation Rhythm must not be defined as the exact time
given to execute a form, which is absurdnonsense
Now that we have gone over the great big wealth in direct contradiction with the evolutionary mind
connoted by the term quyen in the Vietnamese mar- of practice, but as the fast sequence of alternations
tial arts tradition, we are quickly going to attempt in a form.
to define some common areas of appreciation for
all these disparate forms. If one wants to reconsider the quyen from the the
aspect of a simulated fight, the principle of rhyth-
We will first formulate some quantifiable criteria so mic variation is obvious, as in a confrontation the
that we can inspect our our initial assumptions in dead times alternate with empty spaces.
this topic in an objective fashion. This will provide
the examiner with comparable data on this topic so The jury should therefore put before itself the fol-
that he can avoid "judging a leopard by its spots". lowing questions:
It will first be necessary to define the standard scale - Is the shape executed in a monorhythmic way or
of assessment which is going to permit is to codify does it possess contrasting alternations of rapid and
the candidate's rank on a scale of 1 (bad) to 10 slow sequences?
(exceptional). - When the form possesses some symmetrical
parts, are the identical parts executed with the same
We will define these scales for every category with rhythm?
a certain number of quantifiable criteria on which

Page 35
If it lacks rhythm, is this plausible when consider- clear.

ing the technical origin or justified by the previous
and following technical movements in the se- Have these movements been achieved at a satisfac-
quence? tory speed or are they on the contrary insufficient?
This assessment remains for the most part subjec-
b) Concentration tive; but it manifests itself in techniques of attack
or defense which must at least have a minimal
This is the attention, intention, and intensity that speed.
the practitioner invests in his form.
This speed not only materializes in strokes, but
It can be difficult to determine the degrees of con- also in displacements.
centration in a form but a persaon who was sur-
passed form itself is not obvious even if the practi- f) Strength
tioner is concentrating upon his movements, or, on
the contrary, if he lets his mind wander his to other This presents the same limitations for assessment
topics. Coordinated movements of the head which as speed, not only in respect to internal shapes, but
punctuate changes of direction in the form may be a also in an absolute sense.
valid indication of this.
The keen observer must however be capable of
c) Symmetry judge its materialization, or lack of, as a non subtle
physical strength. This is a muscular strength,
When the present form is left symmetrical, and which is opposed to the more specific strength ob-
only in this precise case, have the symmetrical parts tained through subtle work on the joints and ten-
been executed in a similar way? dons that is searched for in the highest degrees of
practice.
d) Breathing
Strength should not materialize in the strokes, but
Is the breathing correct and calm? also in displacements.
This is certainly an easier criteria to observe in the
internal shapes. II. General technique
To overly schematize, expiration most often occurs The second category is the practitioner's general
during the change to external centrifuge (that go technique.
from the practitioner toward the outside), and inha-
lation occurs on the centripetal movements (from "General" technique as defines by us is the set of
the outside toward the practitioner). For informa- physical scorers, the foundations of practice, and
tion on this type of breathing one should look to- the practitioner's technical foundation. It should be
ward traditional texts on Buddhist obedience. apparent in all his techniques, and therefore also in
his practice of forms.
e) Speed
These scorers are respectively: the shape of body,
Wth the the rare exception of internal froms, nearly displacements and intermediate positions that we
all forms present sequences with a sudden accelera- will regroup under only a single criteria, and the
tion of movements or fast movements must be hand shapes and foot actions that we will look at

Page 36
later on. The classic texts teach us that the practitioner must
be as if suspended from the sky by a silk thread at-
a) The Shape of the Body, Displacements and the tached to him at the point of a hundred meetings
Intermediate Positions (the Bai ar hui, or superior fontanelle).
These elements will be analyzed in another part of In the biomechanics of sport, we know that incor-
the assessment of this test. They address an impor- rect alignment of the backbone misleads, so much
tant part of a much bigger whole as the quyen are a so that a rupture in the transmission chain of en-
synthesis of the other domains of knowledge. Some ergy (short term) leads to an ominous distortion re-
important scorers should be clearly present in prac- garding the health of the backbone (lordose, scolio-
tice. sis, etc.)
These scorers are indicated to us in a disturbing co- The second indicator is also based upon the verifi-
incidence by most of the classic texts on martial cation of a correct position through 3 alignments:
arts, whether they be philosophical or esoteric texts 1 - the pelvis
such as the Tao Te King or didactic texts such as 2 - the clavical level (shoulders)
the treatises of Sun Lutang, of the monk De Qian, 3 - the head and the cervical axis
the Vos Thuat Tthan Ky, or Wu Bei Zi, or the oral
transmission of practice rules. and the rules decreed 1 - The Pelvis:
in handbooks of sports anatomy or psychomotricity
(Anatomy of Sports, The M anual of Preparation of Verification of the knowledge and appropriate use
the Common Branch of the Sports Educator, State of the previous rocker of the coxo-femoral axis. It
Patent 1st Degree). drags a correction of the vertebral axis, an in-
creased stability in foot techniques and increased
a) The first marker of a good shape for the body is power through hip actions.
the rectitude of the backbone, though suppleness is
also worth nearly as much. 2 - The Clavical Level and Shoulders:
Correct Position Incorrect Position

Page 37
Knowledge and use of the scapular rocker. Verify a The third and last indicator rests on the articulated
low position for the shoulders during hand tech- chain of knowledge of the practitioner, and by en-
niques.Their correct positioning is fundamental for suing adequate proprioception.
transmission through the mechanical chain of the
dorsal and lower muscular group energy to the This indicator is best observed at the limits of
arms . movements in the shape of body and in the tech-
niques of displacement.
3 - The Head and the Cervical:
One observes the positioning of the joints in rela-
One can value the rectitude of cervical alignment tion to their natural working axis and in relation to
while observing the plane of balance in the gaze the movement that the practitioner develops.
(See diagram). Example: the position Dinh Tanh.
A bad alignment entails an increased risk of trauma Correct Position:

in the case of brutal shock. The line of aplomb of the knee falls before the line
of toes of the foot of the advanced leg.
This second indicator is more important in the prac-
tice of forms because it indicates good bodily con- The rear knee is outstretched, the position of the
trol. foot arranged so that it works along its natural axis
if a frontal or rear constraint occurs.
This triple alignment is FUNDAM ENTAL in inter-
nal forms and no form of Buddhist or Taoist disci- The transmission of strength is optimal and doesn't
pline should be unaware of these internal qualifiers. rupture or dwindle.
These alignments must exist and are necessary, at
least in phases with a natural stance or stances re- Incorrect Position:
quiring an aligned vertebral axis such as Dinh The line of aplomb of the knee extends beyond the
Tanh. line of toes of the foot of the advanced leg, increas-
ing the workload on the joint of the knee.
Correct Position Incorrect Position

Page 38
- M aintains a constant height for the top of the

The rear knee is bent, the position of the foot makes skull with the exception of jumps. One explains to
it work perpendicularly in relation to its natural beginners by having them visalize a ceiling over
axis if a frontal or rear constraint occurs. their head.
The transmission chain of energy is broken as the Specifics for Every Type:
joints are going to bend under the effort and break
it. * Linear:
The objective here is to generate elevated power,
b) Displacements take the initiative or avoid an event.
Displacements in the 8 main directions can be clas- Is it a meaningful amplitude?
sified into three categories: linear, jumped or circu-
lar. We will also include semi-circular movements Does the practitioner make a call in the beginning
in the category of circular displacements, such as of his displacement?
those generated by certain types of displacement
like the M arch of the Snake. * Circular:
Used mainly to avoid but also to generate power.
Indicators for ranking displacements can vary ap- M ore specifically in forms which try to mislead the
preciably from one quyen to another, according to opponent in order to unbalance him.
the ratio of displacements and static positions. But
it is not common for a form to not contain all three It will be necessary to be careful while examining
types of displacements. possible leg crossings that can influence the quality
of balance and stability.
Common Points for all Three Types of Displace-
ment: Is the circular movement fragmentary (using only
one part of the body) or holistic (the body evolve
- Stability: Does the practitioner maintain an obvi- as a whole)?
ous balance in his displacements?
- Speed: Are his displacements believable in rela- Does rooting in the ground participate in the rota-
tion to the type of form that he is demonstrating? tion?
- Coordination of the displacement and the Impact
* Jumping:
Point of Strikes: This is the famous coordination of The jump is traditionally used either in preparation
the eyes, feet and hands, which is rateable. The ad- of a powerful but slow technique or so-called
vice given to beginners is to make hand strikes co- "sacrifice" moves (scissors). It is also used to avoid
incide with the impact of the foot on the ground. It a strike that one cannot block, especially when the
is also the coordination between a movement of the form presents the practitioner as facing armed ad-
superior part of the body and its foundation that versaries.
gives power.
Is the jump ample? Is the necessary preparation re-
- M aintenance of correct body posture during the duced to a minimum? Is the landing flexible and
displacement. steady? The answers to many of these questions
- Equanimity of displacements in the different sec- can help one to determine a rating.
tions when a form uses symmetries.

Page 39
c) Hand Shapes well as the abdominal and dorsal muscles which

transmit power from the lower member.
It is difficult to judge the quality and defects of dif-
ferent hand shapes, especially as their final position It is therefore fundamental that the structural align-
can be interpreted in various ways ( i.e. hits, grabs, ments enumerated here are well respected very
controls, salutes?). well, including during circular techniques.
To make a judgment, it is necessary to trust the ex- d) Feet Actions

aminer's experience on the one hand, and on the
other hand to also maintain correct alignment of the The main action of the lower members is to move,
physiological structures of: but one can also count multiple incidental actions
such as to hit, reap, and sweep. For an analysis of
wrist to elbow to shoulder. displacements one would profit from reading the
next chapter.
The fist shape which we are in the habit of making
naturally is not the correct view of a martial fist, Foot strikes should be efficient from the perspec-
and must be corrected. tive of fighting. This requires 2 components:
1 - Steady supports;
From the natural position, it is necessary to force 2 - Correct technique
the natural pronation otherwise the fist will hit with
the third and fourth metacarpal which are more 1 - Steady Support:
fragile. This is the source many potential accidents
and reminds us of the increased risk of a sprained Appropriate ground support according to the kick
wrist when the position not locked. peformed (circular, lateral, rear, direct, and jump-
ing kicks).
The elbow must not be hyperextended due to the
risk of producing a brutal shock between the head They also require the engagement of the hip if one
of the ulna and radius and that of the humerus at the wants to generate meaningful strength. This en-
time of impact, particularly in the hollow. gagement of the hip is anatomically impossible for
most kicks (with the exception of the direct kick),
This observation loses some of its value in circular if the foot on the ground doesn't turn in its supports
techniques where the elbow remains bent during in the soil toward the outside of the practitioner's
the impact of stikes. The real power of superior body in support on the bullet of the foot. This
member strokes is bound to the action of the hip as rocker allows the practitioner to fully use the open
angle of the femur to pelvis kicks, amplifying the
strength and speed of the movement, due to the
least muscular resistance and an anatomically cor-
rect angle.
M istake: foot is in support on the heel during rota-
tion; foot in support is on the bullet of the foot dur-
ing a direct kick, destabilizing ground support and
the body as a whole.
The support on the bullet of the foot limit its time

Page 40
of rotation in order to permit the opening of the hip,

otherwise one will lose stability, and therefore Note mistake: "football" kick, non-armed.
power.
Avoid if possible in a sequence of kicks with the
It will be necessary to also subsequently verify in same leg, as in the Thâp tu quyen.
an oral way if the practitioner knows that he must
not execute kicks from complete to full power, as b) Control of Hand Actions or M aintaining the
this risks damaging the tendons and cartilages of Guard.
the knee.
Prohibits one from uncovering oneself, not to open
2 - Correct Technique his care.
Foot techniques are many and present themselves Note mistake: to "make an airplane", frequent mis-
under many aspects. take of beginners.
They preserve some common points however when Avoid if possible: When the shape requires large-
it is about estimating the rectitude of their execu- scale actions of the arms, particularly in asymmet-
tion (other than issues of support such as those that ric movements. Ex.: Phung huong quyen.
we have just treated).
c) Shape of Foot Strikes are Correct
a) Raising the Knee of the Leg when Kicking Prior
to Evolving the Technique. To insure that the part in contact with the virtual
target properly corresponds to the executed kick
This permits one to conceal the level of kicks and
the final technique retained. Note mistake: incorrect foot shape.
Avoid if possible: Specific kick to the shape
(Example of Da moc thuoc "scratching" with toes).
d) Correct Body Shape
To use the weight of the body in a movement if

one wants it to be efficient, without becoming un-
balanced.
Note mistake: Unbalance, formal kick.
III. Specific Techniques
It is profitable at this stage that a teacher of a

school presenting quyen specifies what it is that
seems correct or incorrect to him in the form and
its practice.

Page 41
ment while showing and xplaining difficulties and

This note should be able to establish 40 points, 10 the most common mistakes for a form).
can act as moderators, typically for an excellent
practitioner to whom the stress of the exam can One will also combine 10 points of notation here, if
have a part of its meaning lost. the practitioner can detail the main points of physi-
ology and biomechanics to which the pupil should
It is also a guarantee that the one does not "judge a pay particular attention, for example with advice
leopard by its spots". for a specific warming up.
Of the 30 points remaining, 10 will be about the V. Proposition of the Format for an Assessment
physical execution of the form, 10 on the theoreti- Session Type
cal and/or philsophical knowledge that the form of-
fers (ex: Asian theory of the 5 elements for a quye, 1) - Presentation of the Candidate
knowledge of the legend of King An duong Vuong
and the history of the citadel of Co Loa for the Loa The jury indicates the criteria of assessment to the
Tanh Quyen) and 10 in short for martial applica- candidate after his teacher has presented him to
tions of the form where possible. the jury (time of practice, history within the club,
possible sports charts, incentives, etc.).
IV. The Form Seen From the Perspective of Trans-
mission 2) - Realization of the Fhape
For the candidate teacher, the forms is a reflection Once at real speed
of the level reached at the time, and a criteria for Pause of one minute
assessment. But it is also a tool and an instrument Once at slow speed
of formation with which he will be required to Pause of one minute
transmit to his future pupils. Last time at real speed
Pause two minutes
It is fundamental to know beyond mere execution,
how the potential teacher will transmit it. 3) - Questioning of Candidate
For this, it will be useful to make the candidate - The form from the perspective of transmission
redo forms while asking him to specify what par- - Philosophy or historic basis of the form
ticular points he is trying to attract attention to for - M artial applications of the form
his pupils.
4) - Calculation of Averages
This also permits one to verify if the stated princi-
ples were understood before and are now assimi- Deliberation of jury
lated, probably as the achieved form is decon- Notification of candidate as to the results
structed, .
V. Bibliography
One will therefore judge with 20 points based on
the educational technique of the presentation of the Appendix: M odel of Assessment Leaf
form, and 20 points the educational execution of
the form (The ability to make slow-motion move-

Page 42
Vietnamese Form: Thien Mon
Thien M on Quyen is a
basic quyen. A transla-
tion of the name would
be "the meditat ion
door".
It's coded name is

‘Quyen M ot’, or ‘First
Quyen’. It's original
school was the Han Bai
whose leading French
master was M aster Tran
Phuoc Tatseyre.
M ain Stances:
• trung binh tan
• dinh tan
• tieu tan
M ain Techniques:
• fist and block
M ovements:
• on N orth/Sout h,
East/West axis
One must focus the at-

tention on coordination
between blocks and
strikes. It's an easy
quyen but you can spend
hours in working on it.
As it's a symmetrical
form, you can work on it
for reverting moves.

Page 43

Page 44

Page 45

Page 46

Page 47

Page 48

SEE YOU NEXT MONTH!

Member's Edition: Martial Arts

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Member's Edition: Martial Arts

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ALMA

IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE:

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 1

ALMA Martial Arts November 1999

Arthur Sennott, Editor’s Corner 3

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 2

Editorial: The Future of Wushu

By Fabien Sena, ALMA Founder and Webmaster

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 3

Qi Corner: May the Force...

By Fabien Sena, ALMA Founder and Webmaster

The Origins and Essence of Qigong

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 4

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 5

Secrets of Filipino Footwork

Avoidance An avoidance with the proper use of positioning,

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 6

ing of an opponents ability to move by the use of

to seal off any appropri- non-impact destruc-

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 7

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 8

This pattern moves from, and keeps contact with a stance

The pattern can be repeated in a continuous manner

The Saw Tooth (Seven Star) Pattern

The Saw Tooth Pattern contains only female trian-

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 9

The secret to successfully using cross stepping, as it

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 10

Traditional Chinese Weapons and Related Arms

Part 6: Urban Dwellers, Rural Farmers, and Seafarers

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 11

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 12

Farmers When living under the rule of a minor feudal lord,

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 13

By and large, 'weapons by practice' are more

Chinese history books almost note a posteriori the

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 14

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 15

Japanese Kata Illustrated: Eian Yodan

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 16

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 17

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 18

where one of most important mar-

Born in 1584 in what is now the

In his childhood the M usashi

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 19

Tadatoshi treated M usashi as a

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 20

tics. He wrote “35 fighting principles” after he

But in 1641, Hosakawa Tadatoshi died suddenly.

He retreated in the Reigando cave near the temple

The impact on M usashi’s work and

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 21

Interview: Shi De Yang

coach the US sanshou team for the

Q : Why are you in Hongkong now ?

A : I came for the opening ceremony of

Q : You’ve seen several international

A : The level is getting better each year,

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 22

AL MA MEMBERS EDITION · NOVEMBER 1999 . . . . . . . . . 23

Q : What do you think Shaolin can bring

A : First we are now welcoming more and