Right on the edge of happiness

Martial arts has always been a strange animal. I find it paradoxical that people have a desire to be strong without an understanding of where real strength comes from. If I tell a stranger who comes to my school that I teach how to invest in failure they may leave on the spot. We live in a society where the motto,’ Invest in success‘ , is yelled from the roof tops and our idea of success is what we can obviously see. In Kung Fu the things of importance are not obvious and, quite frankly, not necessary in our daily affairs. This practice is about rebellion, not the kind that everyone thrives on, the attention grabbing affair, but rather the inner struggle: doing otherwise when it is most difficult. What I am talking about is pushing ourselves the point of failure, always slightly beyond our capability and instead of submitting to defeat,  getting up and doing it again. This may appear to be masochistic at first glance, but as an experiental method it can be the highest form of self examination. Traditional methods are directed towards the highest ideals for self examination.

A real school should be a forum where individuals learn to give up what is most wanted for what is most needed.  For us, what is most needed is  an unbroken line of attention matched by an unbroken line of force. In traditional methods to stop conflict is not as important as how a conflict is dealt with; to reconcile opposition and create new continuing lines of innovation is the ideal. The teachers responsibility is to pull the best effort from the students and keep them safe at the same time. This requires enough skill from the teacher to give the students freedom to make mistakes and  take chances without being beaten down or injured. A good teacher with proper skill should be able to say to their students, “Do your best! I promise not to hurt you and if I get hurt in the process I will not blame you.”

Kung Fu has a  pragmatic methodology that is experiential by nature. Without experiential verification there can be only words, postures and pretty movements. A good teacher should be open about exchanging with the students not only through showing but through physical contact. This can be as simple as checking the rooted mobility of a student or moving on to various levels of free practice. The free empty hands sparring and/or weapons practice may be competitive but self examination is the true intent. Traditional schools should avoid excessive amounts of heavy protective equipment because they allow people to be clumsy, aggressive and stupid. We should develop fluidity and make adjustments in the degree of force we use. That’s what real skill is. It is one thing to keep yourself safe at the cost of another person. A skillful practitioner should be able to keep himself and the other safe. The degree of the skill the practitioners possess dictates the level of intensity of the interaction between them. The more skill the practitioners have the less protective equipment they should need.

The skill of the practitioner is in direct relation to  the responsibility given in a traditional school. The structure is similar to an extended family. In order for the family to flourish there must be mutual assistance and a shared common goal. The first and most important goal of practice should be an impartial self examination leading to a deeper understanding. To do this we need to remove all the internal dialogue that infests itself into every waking moment. Intense physical practice along with calm breath can be very efficient for quieting the mind. The form and function of a traditional school is an intense physical method requiring a response to spontaneous changes along an unbroken line of direction, force and attention. This is right on the edge  where we are most awake and alive. Once a person has tasted the essence of this profound yet fleeting experience there is no turning back. We want to go deeper and for this to happen we must invest in the unknown. In doing so we know that failure is just around the corner. This is what is meant by investing in failure, holding on to the essence of the unbroken line until it breaks.  Our success is in the duration of time we maintain the unbroken line. This is not fighting in the ordinary sense because a real fight should last only a short time and it is not particularly enjoyable. What we want to do is maintain that razors edge as long as possible. To live right on the edge of happiness is a worthy goal.

The meaning of “GOU”(hook) in praying mantis

The translation for the word ‘gou’ is hook, like a fish hook or a grappling hook. it is a name given to an item or tool that used to catch hold of something and pull it in. In the praying mantis system it is one of the first of the twelve words used for the essence of the style. There are more than twelve words that are used to formulate the system, depending on the branch of praying mantis and the lineage there can be any where from twelve to thirty one. Over time I will go over the  main twelve  and will continue with the others if and when I feel the need.

The term gou as a technique in Seven Star and Plum Flower Praying Mantis is generally connected with the signature hand position practitioners refer to this as the Praying Mantis hand. It is also called the Intercepting hand or tiao shou. The hand extends out and the fingers drape downwards in a kind of hooking position as in the following illustrationss.

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This is not a grabbing maneuver. The intent is not to hang on the opponent to keep them from moving away but to break an opponents timing and alter their avenue of escape. When the opponent reaches out with and attack of some sort the response is to extend, intercept and hook along the line of force that has already been given.

One of the misconceptions regarding the hooking method is that in the praying mantis system is the idea that tiao shou or the signature praying mantis hand is required for it to work. In the beginning of practicing this method it may be true that this is only way to do guo. The main reason is because in the beginning we can only understand this as principle of technique rather than a principle of force. In the pure essence of all practices if we have the ability to intercept, adhere and follow a force then a physical latching maneuver is more of crutch than a necessity. In other words the use of the tiao shou technique when performing guo is useful but not required. This hooking energy can be done quite well without the use of the hand at all. The less encumbered we are by the physical mechanics of a method the more easily we can respond with immediacy to a force we encounter. The following illustration give one example of just a condition.

When examining any technique or methodology of practice we must always keep in mine that in the end it comes down to how we respond to and generate forces.