On the weekend of October 6-7, 2018, I had an opportunity to participate in a Zhong Xin Dao (中心道) / I Liq Chuan (意力拳) seminar by GM Sam Chin in Vancouver, BC. Thank you to Sifu Chris Chinfen for organizing this event, and for Sifu Steve McMinn for hosting it at DoStrength.
The Martial Art of Awareness.
I thought this would be a unique chance to learn about the Zhong Xin Dao philosophy behind the training of movement and awareness, to complement Wing Tsun training.
Recently, Zhong Xin Dao has been formally declared as another discipline through the EWTO organization, by Si-Gung Keith Kernspecht.
Over the last several years, in Si-Fu Ralph Haenel's Wing Tsun Kung Fu, we have
been working on uniting the body and movement with training exercises:
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Folding, sliding
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Opening, closing
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Compressing, expanding
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Pushing, pulling
For my own training and awareness, I have been trying to
expand upon:
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Connections and ability to generate pushing
and pulling forces simultaneously
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Spheres and circles (hence the original name of this blog Kyklosphaira)
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Power from the ground, and absorption into the ground
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Affecting the opponent’s structure on first contact
The first 10 minutes of GM Sam Chin's seminar caught my
attention.
We did not do any physical
training at first. It was strictly a verbal
introduction by GM Sam Chin, yet it captured my mind. Especially in regards to such things as having a reference point, the journey of the neutral path, realizing and recognizing, etc. This was also helpful due to the concurrent timing of another
journey of mine in trying to understand world views and philosophy. When GM Sam Chin talked about the Zen and Tao philosophies behind the training methods of I Liq Chuan, numerous mind-body connections came through to me.
The ability to put a conceptual philosophical framework as a basis for the training of movement and awareness was very helpful to orient some of the movement
in Wing Tsun training.
It does not replace my Wing Tsun training, but rather complements it and enhances it.
Time to bring out Si-Gung Keith Kernspecht's book, Inner WingTsun again.
Many thanks to GM Sam Chin, his wife, and son Hsin Chin for making the trip to Vancouver.
Many thanks to GM Sam Chin, his wife, and son Hsin Chin for making the trip to Vancouver.
I will continue with Haenel-WingTsun, but will also seek out I Liq Chuan training as well. Next stop, Oakland, California...
Happy Training!
