Lift Hands Magazine Volume 15 September 2020 - The Multi-Award Winning Magazine of the Year 2019

volume 15

September 2020

Wudang Hand Weapons: The Original Da Shou Part 3 The Spear

Kung Fu Cooking 20 Questions With Gavin Richardson

Medical Implications of Combat T’ai Chi Ch’uan Part 3 Martial Equilibrium Part 3

What Can Go Wrong In A Conflict?

Editor Nasser Butt

British Martial Arts Awards Magazine Of The Year 2019

perception realization activation action

Lift Hands

The Internal Arts Magazine Volume 15 September 2020

Editor

Nasser Butt

L’orso Solitario

Published by L’orso Solitario Books, Leicester, United Kingdom Lift Hands The Internal Arts Magazine Volume 15 September 2020 Editor Nasser Butt Copyright © by Nasser Butt, 2020 & Fa-jing Ch’uan Internal Chinese Boxing Schools Nasser Butt asserts the moral right to be identified as the editor & owner of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the editor.

Waiver of Liability: The publisher assumes no liability for the use or misuse of information contained within this book. By purchasing or electronically downloading this publication, the reader hereby, waives any and all claims he or she may have now or in the future against Nasser Butt and Fa-Jing Ch’uan Internal Chinese Boxing Schools or its affiliates.

The points of view represented here are solely those of the authors’ concerned. You do not have to subscribe to them if you do not wish. Nor is their inclusion here necessarily an endorsement by Fa-jing Ch’uan Internal Chinese Boxing School or its affiliates.

Cover Photo (main): Mohamed Jabateh, Abass Ali & Dr Gregory T. Lawton Cover Design © Nasser Butt, 2020 Cover Photography: Abass Ali Back Design: Copyright © Nasser Butt 2020; Photography: Marios Eleftheriou

lift hands

September 2020

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contents

Editor’s Note

Page 9

The House of Mouse The Art of Amy Faulkner

Page 11

Martial Equilibrium - Part III Tony Bailey

Page 13

Erle Montaigue’s Mother Applications To The Small San-sau Peter Jones

Page 17

The Spear: The Wudang Hand Weapons Part 3 Nasser Butt

Page 22

Kung-Fu Cooking Andy Haynes

Page 31

Falling & Unfurling Ramakrishna Chedumbarum

Page 34

Summer Campus 2020 - The Next Level Ramon Soranzo

Page 38

The Medical Implications of Combat T’ai Chi Ch’uan Techniques: Investigating Blunt Force Trauma - Part 3 Dr. Gregory T. Lawton

Page 51

I Am Love Andy Haynes

Page 66

20 Questions with Gav Richardson

Page 69

How Long…?

Nasser Butt

Page 77

Arise Dr. Gregory T. Lawton

Page 82

What Can Go Wrong In A Conflict?

Katherine Loukopoulos

Page 84

The Energies of Taijiquan - Part 3 Nasser Butt

Page 92

Going To Class Gavin J. Richardson

Page 100

Hadjios Valley Camp 2020 Details

Page 105

Peasant Talk

Page 112

Useful Contacts

Page 113

The Art of Louiseneige Be

Page 114

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English Edition Link Italian Edition Link

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editor’s Note

Nasser Butt

elcome to Volume 15 of the multi-award winning Lift Hands Magazine.

We are now heading into the autumnal and winter months, with three quarters of the year elapsed already.

Most martial arts dojos and schools are still closed, or working in an extremely diminished capacity. The scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions are still with us across the globe.

For the martial arts community, these have been trying times indeed, as it has been for most folk whose livelihoods have been severely impacted during the past six months. Having said that, as much as we all need to earn a crust or keep a roof on our heads, what drives the real martial artist and tutor is not the money - rather, it is a desire to be able to practice their beloved arts and to also pass that learning on to their students. Nothing gives us more pleasure than nurturing and developing our students - mentally, physically and spiritually to the best of their and our abilities and capabilities.

So, this period of uncertainty may well prove to be a blessing in disguise… a test for both the teacher and the student.

Lift Hands Magazine, with each passing issue, has continued to increase its readership worldwide, which currently stands at 19.2K across 105 countries. You can see the list on the next page. This is no mean feat, nor is it the work of any singular person. I consistently receive emails on a daily basis praising the magazine for the good old-fashioned information it provides without pandering to egos or celebrity. As I’ve said already, this information is not of one person or style alone and to each and every contributor I thank you sincerely from the heart, it is you who have made the magazine what it is.

Volume 15 continues with the final parts of the excellent ‘Martial Equilibrium’ series by Tony Bailey, as well as the highly informative ‘The Medical Implications of Combat T’ai Chi Ch’uan Techniques: Investigating Blunt Force Trauma’ by Dr. Gregory Lawton and Peter Jones’ ‘Mother Applications To The Small San-sau’ - these are all consummate and peerless martial artists providing their knowledge and experience for free, and talking of consummate martial artists… well they don’t come with any better a pedigree than Katherine Loukopoulos Sensei, who routinely imparts her knowledge and wisdom in these pages.

I’d like to welcome a couple of new contributors to Lift Hands - Andy Haynes and Gavin Richardson - a great addition to the family.

Volume 16 of Lift Hands Magazine will, God Willing, appear in December - Yes, it’ll be that crazy time of the year called Christmas when we next meet! It’s going to be a special issue that’s all I’ll say for now, so watch this space.

If you have any articles to submit, then please do so by the end of November latest. Volume 16 is going to require some preparation.

In the meantime, I wish all our readers and martial arts family the best.

Stay safe, stay healthy… and if you can lend a helping hand to anyone in these times of need, then extend your hand - this is the Way.

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105 Countries 19.2K Readers Albania Algeria Argentina Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bangladesh Belarus Belgium Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Cambodia Canada Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Cote D’lvoire Croatia

Cuba Cyprus Czechia Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt Estonia Fiji Finland France French Guyana Gambia Germany Ghana Greece Guatemala Hungary Iceland India Indonesia

Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Madagascar Malaysia Malta Mauritania Mexico Moldova

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Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Palestine Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russian Federation Saudi Arabia Serbia Slovakia

South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Tunisia Turkey Ukraine UAE United Kingdom USA Uruguay Venezuela Vietnam Zimbabwe

Spear

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Martial Equilibrium Part III Tony Bailey

W

e left part 2 of Martial Equilibrium with a statement – Our intent helps us to use a technique and make it work, but just as we need physical standards to shape our skill, we also need a moral standard that helps us to choose the right technique in the first place. Then the question – What are these standards and how do we know them?

Where do we find the right standards to ensure we are working towards the ideal technique and the ideal version of what a martial artist should be? We have teachers setting examples and organisations setting rules and guidelines, but with so many different teachers and organisations, we don’t have complete uniformity of standards there, especially in our world of martial arts. We quite naturally take on the ideals of our teachers, but in the greater scheme of things, who’s to say those ideals are correct? Everyone will have their own ideals, believing theirs is correct. How many wars, for example, have been started and continued by people who genuinely believed what they were doing was right? Who is to say that my ideals, my standards are correct and better than yours?

The Greek Philosopher, Plato (428 – 347BCE), would argue that such ideals or ‘blueprints’ for standards are held in a kind of cloud bank of knowledge, to which we are all wirelessly connected. The information is already there before we are born as it forms part of a ‘mass consciousness’ we are all connected to. Plato relates this to what he called the 'Realm of the Forms'. Although the theory of the Forms was later thrown out by other philosophers, it was again revitalised later and anyone who’s read Tom Campbell’s My Big TOE (Theory Of Everything), will see its similarities echoed in the Larger Consciousness System that the former NASA Physicist talks about in his theory. For now, we’ll use Plato’s forms to explain a principle.

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Plato asserts that the physical realm, our physical world - the matter we experience and interact with each day, is not really the 'real' world, it’s a shadow of reality. Instead, ultimate reality exists beyond our physical world in the spiritual realm or the realm of forms - the true reality of perfection outside of the physical realm where the forms for; Roundness, Beauty, Justice, Goodness etc, reside. The physical realm is changing and imperfect, as we know all too well. The spiritual realm, however, exists beyond the physical realm and the incorporeal forms there are perfect, unchanging concepts of truth, which transcend time and space. Our attempts to replicate the best version of something within the physical realm, an example of form, doesn’t always, or hardly ever, match the actual ideal of that form in its highest and truest manifestation (a true martial artist trains in the constant pursuit of perfection, knowing it’s unlikely they will ever reach it, yet they still continue to train).

In a martial sense, our ‘form’ or standard comes from what our teacher tells us is good, or not, when we are learning and they in turn, received their standard from their teacher, tracing lineage back to the founder or designer of the form in the beginning. We copy the standards of our teachers, hoping they have stayed true to the standards or forms of the founders, but we also learn from physical experimentation and experiential standards which tell us directly and instinctually, when something feels right or wrong and this is how martial arts styles have developed over the centuries. Each successive teacher making their own decision whether to stay true to the form they were taught, or design a new one influenced by their own experiences. That takes time and practice and needs a framework or solid foundation, a form, from which to start. In Ju Jutsu, once we have practiced our skills enough, throwing for example, we begin to develop a certain sensitivity that allows us to make many small changes during the technique according to changes in our opponents’ weight, position, resistance etc that our body recognises, accounts for and makes adjustments for, without conscious thought. I imagine I’m not alone in the practice of having my own students occasionally train blind fold for that very reason, to take away that sense which we come to rely on so much, so that we may further develop the sensitivity of the others. Different types of training exercises can be used to attain the ideal form; some traditional, some modern, but the intended form is the same. There can be many different roads between us and our final destination, each leading to a different journey experience, even if the intended destination is the same. Ultimately, the journey will either get us to the intended destination, or we will end up at a different one, either way, we have been transformed in our pursuit of attaining the ideal standard.

We are fortunate to have good teachers who hand down to us that tried and tested framework from within which we will base our efforts to replicate true form. Like Plato’s Realm of Forms, the true framework, the ideal standard handed to us by our teachers, is the form and our physical efforts to replicate it are different examples of the form. The example of the form isn’t the form itself and the form cannot be identified or described purely by looking at one example. (Much like my analogy of Milkshake and different flavours).

The idea of the forms as an abstract truth may still be correct, with an ultimate truth of what martial artist-ness is, residing in the spiritual realm, but our own personal standards, our example of forms, tend to be a mixture of; practice which we are taught is correct (fluency) that which we have found by experimentation works (pressure test) that which we believe just intrinsically ‘feels’ right (ethics).

Any one of these, or all, could be wrong, but we will never even get close to realizing the true form, the ideal technique, if any of these are missing from our studies. Fluency, Pressure test and Ethics, just as I covered in Martial Equilibrium part 2. Good teachers are so important in setting out pathways for us to achieve the intended standards and therefore helping us to continue improving both our techniques and ourselves. We constantly train amid this never-ending search for perfect technique and it is this journey of discovery, trial and error which helps to change and shape us as martial artists and as people.

We are transformed by the journey and every day we change in our ability to perform these physical tasks. But just because we cannot always, or never do, perform perfect technique, it doesn't mean that we do not understand it, or recognise it, or should stop trying to achieve it. This helps to foster perseverance in our mental training and together with the correct intent we can continue to strive for perfection and make a daily advancement in our studies for the benefit of our martial arts, ourselves and the people around us.

So, with this in mind, you should accept that it is going to take time to master these skills and enjoy the journey ahead. Continue to train in the techniques that you think you know, as however good we think our technique is, it can ALWAYS be improved and don't become impatient in your quest to master techniques as you will focus on negative rather than positive thoughts. The one who says, I learned everything there is to know in 10 years, has not truly learned anything except to polish his own dark sided negative ego. Even when Carl Jung (1875 – 1961)

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said: “How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark side also If I am to be whole.”

He was referring to the fact that we need to acknowledge the dark and use it responsibly, effectively, in a balanced state of equilibrium with the light. If we ignore the dark (shadow), Jung says it gets ‘blacker and denser’ and we become in danger of being overcome by it and projecting it onto others. ‘this integration [of the shadow] cannot take place and be put to a useful purpose unless one can admit the tendencies bound up with the shadow and allow them some measure of realization – tempered, of course, with the necessary criticism. This leads to disobedience and self-disgust, but also to selfreliance, without which individuation is unthinkable.’

- Carl Jung (A Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity) As I said in part 1, Perseverance through repeated practice will breed fluency and confidence in the physical skill, but without good intent and a balanced approach, the technique, good as it may be, is no more than a loaded gun in the hands of a chimpanzee.

Remember our common, central theme of equilibrium: ‘Good technique is useless without the understanding and knowledge of when to and when not to use it.’

Seek, foster and maintain Martial Equilibrium, endeavouring to make a daily advancement in your martial knowledge.

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Erle Montaigue’s Mother Applications To The Small San-sau A Brief Introduction Peter Jones

W

e are going to have a brief look at the last two of Erle's Mother Applications from the small san-sau

Number's 11 & 12.

Always learn the small San-sau as it's meant to be done. We have now come to the end of the mother applications and it has been great going over them briefly, hopefully you have enjoyed them and maybe it has sparked some interest into Erle's mother applications. There is a lot more to learn about them which I know you'll enjoy discovering. When you are learning the small San-sau, take your time and enjoy learning it, there is so much in the small San-sau, so spend some time going over it as there is a lot to learn, not just "Look at me I can do the kata". Yes, it’s always great when you can do the San-sau from start to finish and remembering where everything goes, but this is where we start to really learn about the small San-sau, and what it has to offer. If you look at the points that you are striking, then learn about them in both their healing and martial aspects, which will lead you to a great system, the same goes for Erle's mother applications. Now when you look at the small San-sau and the mother applications - "What a complete system”!

In this issue I have attempted to draw the postures as I can't get together with my training partner to take the photos, due to the Corona virus lockdown. So, I hope the drawings will be ok. It's just something to go by.

Eleventh Mother Application

Some of the points used: Stomach 5 [ST 1], Governor Vessel 20 [GV22] This method begins from the arm lock of the small San-sau.

We start this one with a strike to the side of the neck with your left palm and at the same time you strike your partners fore head with your right palm [Illustration 1].

Immediately grab your partners head or ears, pulling him down violently onto your knee which is coming to meet the head or neck, [Illustration 2].

Finally, with your right elbow, strike your partner’s head upwards [from the front of his head to the rear] into GV20, [Illustration 3].

Illustration 1

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Illustration 2

Illustration 3

Twelfth Mother Application

Some of the points used: Triple Heater 12 [TH12], Small Intestine 16 [SI16], Gallbladder 21 [GB21] We start this one just after the single whip posture of the small San-sau.

This starts with you striking your partner’s arm with your right forearm, [Illustration 4].

Then you strike straight into the side of your partner’s neck with your right palm, [Illustration 5].

Illustration 4

Now using your right palm you grab the top of your partner’s shoulder and pull him back at the same time you kick the back of your his left leg, [Illustration 6, overleaf].

As your partner is falling back you strike again using your right palm into the side of the neck, [Illustration 7, overleaf].

Illustration 5

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Illustration 6

Illustration 7

I hope you have enjoyed going over all 12 of Erle's mother Applications in Lift Hands magazine.

Whether you already know them and even if you don't, hopefully I have given you an insight into these applications to the small San-sau as either a refresher, or as a future development in your training .

As I have constantly repeated throughout the months‌ enjoy your training and the path you are on.

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Introduction

A

gain, in the realm of the warring arts, the spear - like the sword - should require no introduction!

Returning to E.T.C Werner in his historical work - Chinese Weapons - published originally in 1932 in Peiping [Beijing]:

Originating in the pointed stick, sometimes hardened by being thrust into fire, the spear, artificially pointed, is either used (in the lighter kinds) for throwing, or (in the heavier kinds) for thrusting. Those of intermediate weight are used for either purpose. But a spear thrown at an enemy may be thrown back; consequently it comes in time to be made either so that the head comes off and remains in the wound, or it is made with a hook or a barb, thus practically securing the same result.

In some cases a cord1 is attached to the shaft, thus enabling the latter to be recovered when the head remains in the wound. The distance in which these weapons are hurled is increased by the use of a sling, made of cord, a knotched-stick, or a more elaborate contrivance…

The single pointed spear was called ko ⼽ (cf. supra). The ko ⼽ is explained as a flat-headed chi 戟 (p’ingt’ou chi 平頭戟), which was a weapon for thrusting and hooking…

1.

We will see the re-emergence of this idea with the Dart in the second half of the Hand Weapons.

The Spear The spear is usually the second of the hand weapons of the Wudang. However, I am placing it here as the third. In functionality, it is deemed our ‘long range’ weapon, where we use our fingers and nails to cut, stab and thrust especially around the eyes, neck and throat!

Just like the Hammer and the Sword, the Spear teaches the practitioner the basis of the four primary energies P’eng, Lu, Ji and specifically Arn - and develops the concept within single striking hands! It teaches us how to use our forearms [representing the shaft], and the palm, the tips of our fingers, and nails [representing the head of the spear].

Just like Werner’s description above, the weapon represents both, the different weights as well as the varying lengths of the spear. It is imperative that the readers understand that although we are dealing with the nature of the individual weapon here - in Da Shou all the weapons come together into a singular idea!

All the principles discussed in the previous issues apply here too. If you are unsure or have not read the previous issues of Lift Hands [Volume 13/14], I suggest the reader to go back and consult those issues for clarification before attempting the current method.

I will simply go straight into the solo method followed by the two-person method. Readers are advised that the images are for illustrative purposes only and one should seek a competent teacher from whom to learn.

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The Solo Method

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Stand in a reverse Gōng Bù stance with your right leg forward and your left leg back. This isolates your hips, so that your primary movement comes from your waist. Your weight distributions are 70:30 percent in favour of the left leg. The hands hold the classic ‘old man’ posture - left hand p’eng and right hand hinge [Figure 1]. The right hand is held slightly yang.

As you start to bring your weight forwards onto the front foot, your waist turns to your left, causing your right hinge to bump across your centre as it changes state from yang to yin [Figure 2]. Your waist now turns back to the right, causing your right arm to rise in an arc, level with your eyes [Figures 3 & 4].

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

As your weight arrives forward, your waist snaps back to the left, causing your right hand to roll and cut across back towards the left [Figures 5 & 6]. This again conceals the skill of rolling and sealing!

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Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

The waist continues its movement to the right as the weight [through the action of the waist] shifts slightly backwards pulling the right hand with it [Figure 7]. Immediately, the left leg issues the extra weight from the previous movement forwards causing the fingers of the right hand to thrust [Figure 8].

Finally, to finish, the waist continues its leftward motion as you simply fold your right arm across your centre [Figure 9]. The waist turns back to right, the right hand is yin, as if hooking something across the body. The weight moves back towards the left foot as the fingers of the left hand thrust forwards at throat height [Figure 10].

The practitioners must note how the hands remain upon the centre throughout the method. It is the centre [waist] which is causing the hands to move and change shape. In order to achieve this your arms must be in a total state of soong!

Figure 10

The drill must be practiced until you can execute it in its entirety at a fa-jing level on the beat of one! As already mentioned previously, it must be practiced four ways.

Do remember that students were given one weapon per year to develop and master before they could go on to the next one. This means that there is more to this drill than meets the eye!

In the two-person drill overleaf, both practitioners must agree upon the purpose and the pace of their training, otherwise they will fail to learn the lessons which the drill will impart.

All transitions must be fluid. The whole body must move as a single unit - connecting from the feet through the waist to the hands and rooted. The energy sunk into the Tan-tien!

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The Two-Person Method

A

B

To start the method B throws a straight punch with his left hand at A down the centre.

A bumps B’s forearm with his right hinge as he shifts his weight forwards onto his right leg, turning his waist to his left.

A’s waist turns back to the right causing the right arm to rise in an arc as the fingers rake across the eyes of B from left to right.

A’s waist snaps back to the left as the right palm rolls and turns upwards and the fingers now scrape B’s eyes from right to left.

The waist continues its movement to the right as the weight [through the action of the waist] shifts slightly backwards pulling the right hand with it. Immediately, the left leg issues the extra weight [from the previous movement] forwards causing the fingers of A’s right hand to thrust into the pit of B’s throat [CV 22]

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A now folds his right arm across B’s left forearm and whips his waist once more to the right, opening up B and now thrusts with the fingers of the left hand into the pit of B’s throat, as his weight shifts back to his left leg.

B borrows the energy from A’s turn to the right and bumps A’s left forearm to his left, using his own right forearm, as he shifts forwards. The roles have now reversed and B continues to do the entire drill.

A Word of Caution The points and targets mentioned in this drill are for reference purposes only! They are extremely dangerous and at no point should any attempt be made to actually strike your partner!

Only the hinge component of the drill is permitted with reasonable power!

To develop power, each individual component of the strike can be carried out with a partner wearing strike mitts upon their hands.

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W

hilst training the other day, a partner happened to mention that he wanted to have a go at making his own bread, and knowing that I used to work as a chef, asked me if I had a good recipe. He had very little culinary experience, and as the conversation went on I began to liken the process to the methods that we follow when learning Taiji, through this I became acutely aware of the parallels between cooking, and training in the martial arts… (and to take this further, as an abstract reflection of learning many skills in life, but for the purpose of the article, we’ll stick to Kung Fu and Cooking!)

In both cases, right at the beginning, we have little to no skills, no experience, and no frame of reference. All we can do is follow the instructions that we’re given… be that either a ‘recipe’ or our ‘form’. Anyone who has tried to learn cooking from scratch, will know that when following a recipe for the first time, the end result can often look and taste nothing like it’s intended to! The subtlety and nuance isn’t yet present as we follow the instructions to the letter. So it is with our form… but the process of following the recipe introduces us to key skills and principles of cooking… skills that require practice and refinement. The more you practice the recipe, the greater understanding you gain of the cooking methods involved.

Once familiar with the basic recipe, we begin to experiment… making slight adjustments, a change in quantity, cooking time, adding a little extra here and there... and at this point, there is a tendency to under or over season the recipe, to cook it for too long or too little, to misunderstand a cooking method, and so on. It can be frustrating! We don’t always understand why it didn’t work as it should, or why it doesn’t look the photo in the recipe book!

At some point though, through practice and experience, we begin to understand the interaction and nuance of the ingredients and flavours, and the methods begin to make sense. The ingredients, the timing, the skills and the flavours all become integrated into your knowledge base. So we move on to the next recipe, and the process begins again! Although this time, you have transferred some of your skills and experience to the new dish, and it makes more sense… you have a greater understanding of how to handle the ingredients and balance the recipe, and the cooking methods are becoming more familiar... whilst at the same time learning a whole new set of skills and principles, all of which are equally transferable back to your original recipe!

As the chef’s palette improves through experience, so does their understanding of the interaction of different flavours. Eventually, through constant practice, the recipes change from a rigid set of instructions to a simple point of reference, the experienced chef will adapt the given recipe based on their own personal skill level and understanding of the methods contained within. It’s still the ‘original’ recipe, and it still produces the required ‘dish’, but its flavour and nuance is individual to the chef who created it… ask two different chefs to prepare a soup, and you can end up with two very different looking and tasting dishes, but they’re both still a soup!

And so it is with our Taiji… the many drills and methods we are given all teach us skills and fundamental principles which will eventually form the basis of our very own recipe book, entirely unique to us, which over the years we practice and refine to constantly improve. Although our recipe book is uniquely our own, the principles behind it are fundamentally sound, and could easily serve as a starting point for a beginner.

Were a beginner to read our recipe book, the process would begin again, from their own level of experience. They would follow the recipe, with little to no understanding of the subtleties and skills present within, or the painstaking work which was needed to learn those skills… but the recipe book itself is sound. With practice, they too begin to grasp the underlying skillset, and their own understanding will begin to blossom, until eventually the recipe becomes their own… both unique to them and yet still representative of the original dish.

In conclusion, It seems that any expression of art would follow this process… the beginning of learning any skill begins with mimicry, and many do not progress past this level. Anyone can follow a recipe, but if that’s all you do, then that does not make you a chef. Once you learn the underlying skills behind the recipe, and take the time to study them as a method within themselves, only then can you begin to create!

The accomplished chef can look at a dish and deconstruct it, appreciative of the methods and skills used in its creation – Likewise, the proficient martial artist can see a technique, and deconstruct it to its fundamental principles, appreciative of ‘how’ it works, rather than just being content that it ‘does’ work.

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‘

Part 1

Falling’, or as the Chinese term would say 'Crashing in,' is one of the initial mistakes many beginners in the martial arts make. The definition of this is [paraphrasing from ‘Explaining Tai Chi Principles,’ attributed to Yang, Ban Hou; translation by Paul Brennan] “to lead with the head such that you can be controlled by the opponent.” It’s an easy mistake to spot, even in experienced fighters who throw a punch and miss causing them to fall or stumble. The reason for this issue, after so many years of training, would be lack of understanding of the foundations.

How to deal with this?

If the issue is in the foundations look to foundational forms. In Tai Chi’s Old Yang Style form, our foundational form, the first three postures address this. [I’m not saying Tai Chi is the only martial art that address this, but in general the Chinese and Japanese arts seem to be the ones that address it in the most methodical and scientific way.

Then again I have not done all martial arts so I cannot say they are the, ‘best,’ just the ones that have worked for myself.]

The posture in the form is p’eng. The first time we take an advancing step, the step of fire. The position of the feet can be seen below:

Figure 1 We can clearly see the diagonal line from one foot to the other. If we ignore the idea of using the waist for the moment, we see that any commitment of our weight [and by extension our power] cannot be transferred outside this line. If we do, we start to fall, see figure 2:

Figure 2

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If we even deviate a millimetre [or as the Chinese would say ‘a hair’s breadth’] from transferring the power between the two anchoring points on the ground, our feet, then we will be falling outside the zone where our power can be controlled. Up to now we have ignored the arms. When we punch, it’s the waist that must direct this as we transfer our power forward or backward see Figure 3:

Figure 3 Bear in mind that if we cannot understand the transfer of power in figure 1 while trying to strike, we fall back into the bad habits described in figure 2. How does Tai Chi address this? With the set of postures called Grasping sparrow’s tail and the most basic push hands (not using a ‘power stance’). These postures and training methods emphasise the turning of the waist in conjunction with transferring out weight from one foot to the other. When we break this down we can dictate our ‘sphere of moving with power/awareness,’ in Figure 4 below:

Figure 4 Now we see that turning the waist left and right and between the two extremes of where our power sits between the feet shows the extent of our movements with our arms. Reaching beyond this sphere without adjusting the position of the feet, (without maintaining all the thing discussed above), would mean we start to crash. The last part here which underpins the concept of, ‘moving with awareness,’ is the placing and committing of weight transfer with the ability to withdraw the foot, or ‘stepping like a cat’, a Tai Chi fundamental. Of course the basic principles of, ‘suspending the head by a plumb line,’ and , ‘central equilibrium,’ all apply automatically.

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To anyone who would say, ‘well thats not the way we fight. It seems overly rule based and impractical and slow,’ I would say yes, that is a correct assessment. You don’t fight like this. However if a martial artist cannot do these pre-requisites of correct movement properly without any external pressure, then how can one be expected to fight?

Once we start to move and step with awareness the possibilities of our fighting range, our sphere of awareness becomes endless and varied. A blank canvas allowing us to adapt to any situation. I’ll end this part of the article with a line from the great pole boxing theory, ‘the root is to discard the self and follow men.’ If we cannot understand ourselves and, ‘discard,’ what we are doing because it has become so familiar to us, how would we be able to follow our opponents?

In part 2 of this article we will explore how the grounding in this article leads to the ability to unfurl.

All quotations and paraphrasing are taken from ‘https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2013/09/14/explainingtaiji-principles-taiji-fa-shuo/’ and ‘The Great Pole Boxing Theory’

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One of the socially-distanced group photos.

Introduction

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his has undoubtedly been a special year for everyone. The well-known health emergency has affected the lives of all of us, in our health, in the economy and in the certainties about our future. I, too, was uncertain whether to attend the campus - in July there was still a lockdown in Leicester, then reduced to just a few neighbourhoods, and there was the fear of the quarantine, then removed, between Italy and the UK, while it was restored between UK and Spain, France, Benelux and other overseas countries such as Australia. Two participants from Belgium and the Netherlands had to give up at the last minute due to the closure of the UK borders unless a 14day quarantine was done in some hotel! In the end, a healthy stoicism prevailed over the alarmism continuously fuelled by the mass media, convincing me to finalize the entire trip organization from Milano to Leicester. Nasser took care of my stay by contacting a hotel outside the city in a village near his home just to avoid any quarantine problems on return. After this long but necessary introduction, here I am finally at the Campus 2020 entitled “The Complete Small San-sau with Root Methods�!

Day 1 The 2020 Summer Campus started Friday, August 21 in the afternoon. We were about eight participants, most of them Nasser’s students or senior instructors and practitioners in Leicester and Coventry. Unfortunately, the restriction of mobility among the Great Britain regions limited the number of further interested participants from Wales, Scotland and England. Though not a necessary requirement for participation, we all shared a common background of practice in Taiji - Old Yang Style - and most of us had already attended the 2019 Summer Campus and the following Cyprus workshop in the October. This allowed us to start from a solid base of concepts covered last year such as Sung State, Three Circles Qigong in its Four Palm variants, applications to the Form, thus being able to concentrate on new topics which this year have been many and tough!

We began with a powerful Qigong taken from the 4th Dim-Mak Cornerstone: The Mountain with slight adaptations combining the Yang/Ying components and the 3 Circle Qigong. Mountain because it represents the cone - large at the base and narrow at the top. The volcano has this characteristic, it accumulates energy at the

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base and releases it in an explosive way through the crater. Likewise, this qigong is aimed to store and pack Qi into the Tan-tien to be used for health benefits or released explosively in self-defence. Further, it teaches us the active and passive components of the Taiji palm and all of the permutations in-between.

Explaining here how to execute it in detail goes beyond the scope of this article. However, I will broadly describe the external movements of the Yang part, whilst sketching the Yin part.

Yang Part: Stand in normal Qigong posture with hands in front like beginning the form, half closed eyes looking forward, tongue on upper palate and breathe through the nose. Breathe in and as you do that, your hands move out and circle upwards as the palm begin to roll and turn up.

Your weight shifts from the left heel to the right heel and towards the ball of the right foot.

As you breathe out, the tongue drops to the lower palate, the palms roll and circle downwards, as your weight shifts from the ball of the right foot to the ball of the left foot and back to the left heel. To do it correctly you must have complete Sung in wrists as they roll.

You do this for seven breaths in total. Starting with large movements, each time the circles become smaller and smaller until by the 7th breath it is virtually invisible – the mind, however, continues to make big circles.

Developing The ‘Upper Heavenly’ Circuit

Now, stand for 7 breaths, imagine energy coming up the backbone over the head and into the Tan-tien activating the upper heavenly circuit. The tongue remains on the upper palate during both inhalation/exhalation.

Yin Part: Immediately after finishing the Yang component, our hands start moving in and circle upwards as the palm turn up like the 8th palm in Baguazhang.

Same breathing as Yang however you rotate in reverse and breath 8 times. At the end you now pause 8 breathes as the mind, as you activate the upper heavenly circuit!

As you close stepping backwards you go straight into your 3 Circle Qigong boosted from the previous qigong.

When you cultivate the stillness for 7 and 8 breaths, for the Yang and Yin part, you can really feel the movements of large circles concentrated in still hands and, as in the volcano, you feel ready to explode releasing all accumulated energy. We are in a perfect Wuji state - in stillness and fluctuating at the highest potential energy!

And it is also possible to feel the Qi or bio-electricity flowing on the arms and generating heat.

All movement in the Form, the Root Methods, the Small San-sau consist of these Ying-Yang spirals. Take for instance Brush Knee & Twist Step, Wave Hands like Clouds of the Yang Lu-ch’an Form or the opening and closing movements in Small San-sau above all others and you’ll recognize what has been explained so far!

If we do not respect these natural laws, we would have movements disjointed and squared off that would not work for self-defence or health!

We continued with the Yang Lu-ch'an Root Methods that represent the seventh Ring of the Yang Family. They are short sets of movements which cover the advanced fighting methods of Taijiquan’s Form based upon dim-mak and fa-jing - giving us small, hard and explosive movements.

In this context, they add invaluable understanding on how 'energies' are combined, and they train the natural subconscious reactions in the self-defence applications ... with the brutality of the first Yangs.

When you learn them, you put a key into the lock and opens the door into the advanced level of Taiji and Small San-sau!

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The first three Root Methods cover the same segments of the Small San-sau: “Grasping Sparrow's Tail”, “Fishes in Eight” and “Single Whip”.

The Root Methods can be taught only in situ. However, to get an idea of how they are performed you can see the video explained by Erle Montaigue himself!

If you like to begin to learn them from the video, I suggest training “Sleeves Dancing Like Plum Blossoms” in the YLC Form to your best whose footwork recalls the heavy movements of the Root Methods that often repeat in the forms.

By practicing them with dedication, you will recognize the Yin and Yang spirals that alternate in every single movement generating the fundamental ‘energies’. For example, in the “Cross-Step Rollback with Fa-jing” of the first Root Method the Yin and Yang spirals clearly manifest as well as in the last Rollback you have Yin spirals in

Enhanced Qigong: Cultivating Stillness.

both hands ready to explode in Arn, and so on and on.

As mentioned, there are subtleties in the execution that can only be grasped in situ, for instance how to perform a sequence of three different whip-hand strikes followed by a palm strike ... counting ONE! The first day ended a little later than expected and we left with our brains literally cooked!

Day 2 We briefly recapped the arguments of the day before and then started with the Small San-sau (SSS) perhaps one of the best training methods of the Taiji fighting system.

Based upon the postures of “Grasping Sparrow’s Tail” up to and including ‘Single Whip’, the form has its origins in Yang Cheng-fu as opposed to Yang Lu-ch'an.

The form exhibits the four major energies of P’eng, Lu, Ji and Arn and teaches us a whole myriad of skills regarding the combative elements of the system including our understanding of combining long and short energy in a single motion.

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Root Methods: Seize The Sparrow’s Tail

The SSS is a training method that has Five Levels, with H'ao Ch'uan being the highest level. At the highest level there is no solo version of the form!

In this Campus we were introduced to level four which - as Nasser clearly explained - Erle Montaigue never taught publicly on video or DVD, but only taught it orally, in class, to his personal students who had reached a proficient level of understanding.

What is this level four? Compared to the other known levels it does not involve changes but leaving the word to Nasser in his forthcoming book Small San-sau Unlocked ...

“We are gradually introduced to more ‘movements’ as we steadily head towards the advanced level until we are able to identify energies, small and large circles, connectivity, adhering, heaviness, lightness, passive and active, inversion, substance and applications, to name but a few.”

And this is where Nasser brought us starting from the previous Campus workshop in 2019!

After practicing the San-sau form, performed first slowly and concentrating on all the movements both the classic ones and the ‘extra’ movements, we trained the two opening movements Arn and P’eng in the two-person version. But not before spreading the sanitizing gel on our arms, hands and necks!

In the SSS, your partner acts like a 'Wooden Man' - he or she, in other words, is a punching bag!

There are only a few points during the SSS where your partner does “something other than throwing simple punches”. One of these is at the beginning, the Wooden Man can test the defender’s structure with predefined movements. For instance, your partner following his right/left hook may continue to force your block and break your structure. The Wooden Man can test also the defender’s rooting, with for instance a hinge intercepting your attack to his neck. And so on…

In other words, the work of the Wooden Man is not to compete! If the Man of Wood begins to compete, the practitioner fails to learn or develop properly!

Developing ... what?

Connectivity is one of the most critical concepts. The student must learn to connect with himself and then attach himself to his opponent! The Small San-sau is a 'master tutor' of connectivity. By understanding how to connect with the body, then with the mind and spirit - there is no opponent!

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Developing the Small San-shou: Elliot Morris - Senior Instructor under Erle Montaigue - putting Andy Haynes through the paces!

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In the Small San-sau one can train several variants to the classical Form. In the opening movement, for instance, both defender’s palms are slightly facing down, one on the opponent’s Neigwan, the other on his Stomach 9. So alternatively, you can strike the opposite side of the partner’s neck with the palm facing up and experience a different circle – now Yang. Or scraping the eyes with the palm facing up/down or striking the neck with the elbow if you are in a closer position.

After training all afternoon, we finished a great day two, tired but feeling Yang!

Moments of Magic We had a great time at the Studio despite the city being partially in lockdown. During the breaks we ate food which Nasser had ordered from the restaurant near the unit and fruit and home- made cakes that Sylwia had generously made available. We spent our time sitting down to rest or taking notes or repeating the movements we had just learned, sometimes with the help of a classmate. We shared our experiences joining our hands to do push hands. Nasser answered any questions by showing the more advanced aspects with respect to the Campus itself.

All of this certainly affected the group’s learning, making each of us progress faster than had if we’d been practicing alone. That’s the magic of a Campus compared to simply learning from a video or a book. There is pure energy spreading among the participants on a subconscious level and the breaks also play an important role.

Among the various recreational activities, we tried and exhibited the new white and grey T- shirts from The Guild!

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Final Day We arrived at the final day of the Campus on Sunday August 23rd training the twoperson Small San-sau at level four. It is only with a sparring partner that you understand this great training method.

Unlike the solo form where you learn how to move your centre, the circles, the concept of mapping, Fa-jing and so on, it’s when you train with a real partner you learn to connect to the opponent without being awkward in execution as you bounce forward or even collapse on the Man of Wood.

Distance control is a key factor. Even using Fa-jing, you need to be able to control your blows just by touching or lightly hitting your partner, although in your mind they happen at full power!

There are two other points in which the Wooden man does something different. In the “Fishes In Eight” sequence - your partner intercepts your last Arn with a high P’eng in his left arm and launches with the other hand an upright punch at the height of your left ribs. Also, in the next posture he intercepts your left-hand blow to his temple with a right-hand P’eng and throws a straight punch with his other hand to your right ribs.

Here is where the ‘extra' movements start in the San-sau at the fourth level or more correctly - here is where the omitted movements for beginners are re-inserted into their correct place! They are here designed to accompany your blocks with a strike, hence requiring much more coordination. At this level, we have entered the area of combat or real self-defence.

In the two-person training it is not easy to find the perfect synchrony in movements, in which case it is necessary to slow down a bit. Non-competition is the key factor, but some energy from both partners must be put in anyway!

Grasping The Campus 2020… Tail This Campus represented both an evolution compared to last year and a progression of the skills acquired in 2019. Summarizing by bullet points, on this Summer Campus we understood: • • • • •

the difference between entering the opponent's circle or drawing the opponent into your circle, as the key in all fighting situations and in two-person training methods - push hands, da-lu, etc.; how outward and inward circles and spirals generate our answer to the above point, that is the primary energies P’eng, Lu/Rollback, Ji and Arn and - by combination - all other postures in Taiji Form (try them yourself!); the fundamental role of the module “Grasping Sparrow’s Tail” contained and repeated in all its variants, in the Form; the concept of active and passive, as the differential role of full-empty, heavy-light, right-left, high-low, continuously alternating in legs, arms and hands to get maximum power; how to reduce the circles to develop small frame in the Form and in the Fa-jing, through specific Qigong and training methods.

Finally, we were able to put all these key aspects into practice through The Complete Small San-sau which represents the apex of the training methods and, level four is what takes street fighting skills to a higher level than what is normally studied and practiced.

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I have done my best to describe these tools, but the best thing is to learn from a very experienced teacher helping you with a physical touch or... by dropping a few grains or hairs of his beard to activate your internal transformation!

Conclusion The Campus finished on Sunday afternoon and we had our brains cooked. But I’m sure that all this information will be released over time with continuous practice and training.

In the end, Nasser thanked everyone and mysteriously pulled out two diplomas. After a brief speech he gave to Tony Gough the grade of 2nd level Instructor of The Guild. Congratulations and good work as a teacher at the Studio!

I was hugely surprised when Nasser mentioned my name, giving me the grade of first level instructor. I must confess that I was amazed, and I thank Nasser and my classmates, for their support, something that enhances this award which I will cherish with honour, love and respect. It represents a constant commitment to train and improve.

I would like to conclude with an epic sentence from the film The Matrix, in which Morpheus tells Neo: "There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path" What a deep lesson this sentence teaches to all of us!

In The Guild, we share this journey for knowledge as equals and, with an equal passion without jumps or shortcuts in order to achieve the highest levels.

Arrivederci Leicester and God willing ... see you in 2021!

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Photo by Anne NygĂĽrd on Unsplash

The lowliest ant busied in the dirt knows this truth, how is it then that you do not?

Translated From A Foreign Tongue

his article on The Medical Implications of Combat Tai Chi Chuan, Investigating Blunt Force Trauma, Part 3, has been preceded by Parts 1 and 2. If the reader of this article has not read Part 1 or Part 2 of this series, it is recommended that they first review those two articles. Part 1 of this series on The Medical Implications of Combat Tai Chi Chuan Techniques, Investigating Blunt Force Trauma was an introduction to several techniques which included sealing the blood, sealing the breath, displacing the bone, bone fractures, and gouging, or hooks and the significant medical consequences of these techniques. In Part 2 of this series we investigated the physiological effects of various strikes to the human body systems, such as the circulatory and nervous systems and their anatomical components. Additionally, the parts in this series are being written in sequence from greater to lesser physiological damage inflected on an attacker’s body. Therefore, the techniques described in Parts 1 and 2 have the potential to do more physical harm than the techniques covered in Part 3. Properly executed Combat Tai Chi Chuan techniques, which are firmly based upon the essential principles of classical Tai Chi Chuan, represent the authentic practice of Tai Chi Chuan in reality-based offensive and defensive applications for the purpose of selfdefense.

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The writing of this series was begun prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the violence that has been escalating in cities around the world but it was written with an awareness of increasing violence resulting from unarmed and armed attacks on innocent citizens world-wide and an awareness of the growing potential for increased violence that could occur in the coming months on unprecedented levels. Increasing numbers of individuals are being attacked, injured, and killed on the streets, on their way to work, at family and public gatherings, in parks, in their automobiles, and in their homes. Many of the attacks against individuals are from muggers, criminals attempting home invasions, violent protesters, rioters, and looters whose attacks against others are often unprovoked. The attackers are employing weapons of opportunity such as rocks, bricks, sticks, and street signs, but guns and knifes are ubiquitous in many cities and so injuries and deaths from these weapons are skyrocketing. People who formerly espoused gun control reforms are now arming themselves (In countries where they are allowed to own guns) at unprecedented levels and guns and ammunition are in short supply.

These worldwide events with escalating violence in our cities place the question of the moral appropriateness of reality-based self-defense in a clarifying context. Where criticism of self-defense techniques whose prime purpose is to incapacitate, maim or to kill an attacker frequently faced moral condemnation, those arguments have dimmed in the shadow of rampant social unrest and violence. Considering the obvious decline in society and the decay of existing institutions of governance, justice, public safety and education, there is every reason to believe that the need for personal self-defense training will greatly increase in the immediate future.

The most effective self-defense techniques are those that are the simplest to execute and those that are based upon the fewest but most efficient movements. I call this approach “effective simplicity”. The more esoteric or complex a self-defense technique is the less likely it is to be effective. Therefore, in many cases, a welldesigned self-defense program is better at preparing students to defend themselves and their families from an attack than years of martial arts training. The original foundation of most traditional martial arts systems is based on lethal combat techniques and Tai Chi Chuan is no exception. Unfortunately, many Tai Chi Chuan students and practitioners have not trained in the combat aspects of their art and therefore they lack these skill sets. Several times in this article I will quote this military adage, ““Remember, you will fight as you train!”

Where a marital artist trained in light or limited contact kumite, san-sau, or sports fighting may kick an opponent in the thigh, a martial artist whose art includes Chin Na will attempt a thrust or kick intended to shear through the ligaments, menisci, and connective tissues that attach the femur to the tibial bone. If a student is “realistically” trained, they will execute an attack without moral hesitation or concern for “rules”.

Let us review several of the essential elements of the application of effective self-defense techniques. elements These elements include:

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1. Embrace the concept of effective simplicity.

2. Practice a few well-honed and effective attack sequences and combinations.

3. Practice your techniques once for form and flow, once for strength and power, and once for speed. When you practice at full speed do so with form, flow, strength, and power.

4. Offensive and preemptive attacks – if you perceive that you are going to be attacked do not wait for the attack, but rather initiate an offensive attack.

5. Deliver an attack that is the most decisive and destructive that you can deliver.

6. In self-defense there is only one speed, blindly fast.

7. Self-defense has no rules or limitations. When you are faced with an attacker who is threatening your wellbeing or life you are morally and legally justified in answering the threat with extreme violence to the point of incapacitating the attacker.

8. Use all the self-defense tools that you have been trained to use, your fingers, hands, wrist, arms, shoulders, head, hips, knees, legs, ankles, feet, and even your teeth.

9. Do not waste effort or time on attacks that will not maim or completely incapacitate an attacker.

10. Never fight on equal terms and counter whatever skills, abilities, or weapons an attacker brings to the fight with a greater counterattack.

11. If an attacker or opponent has superior skills, is larger, taller, heavier, and younger, use an appropriate weapon to defend yourself.

12. Be aware of and use the environment that the attack is occurring in including the walls, windows, poles, sidewalk, and every solid object that an attacker can be pushed or thrown into.

“When the opponent makes the slightest move, you move first”.

Yang Family Secret Transmissions Compiled and translated by Douglas Wile A word about the practice of Tai Chi Chuan. Many students of Tai Chi Chuan never learn to perform their Tai Chi Chuan form at full speed but continue to practice in the slow meditative style that is so common. Once you have learned a Tai Chi Chuan form to become proficient at fighting you must be able to perform the form at full speed and in addition you must practice the various Tai Chi Chuan postures over and over again as training drills and you must practice the postures applications with the three characteristics of form and flow, strength and power, and speed. Another word of advice, do not sacrifice speed for strength. If I had to chose between speed and strength. I would always chose speed. Remember, as little as, “Four ounces can move one thousand pounds”, especially if that “four ounces” gets to its target first!

Look into the technique of using four ounces of energy to control the force of a thousand pounds. Such techniques as these do not depend upon brute force to overcome.

Tai Chi Classics, Waysun Liao

X-ray of dislocated knee Source: Duprey K, Lin M. Posterior knee dislocation. West J Emerg Med. 2010;11(1):103-104.

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In the x-ray image above, we see a posterior dislocation at the knee. This injury can be induced by a strong thrust or kick to the anterior surface of the knee joint at or below the patella which is at the junction of the femur and the tibial bone. A dislocation of this severity and degree will completely shear and detach the ligaments of the knee. Such an injury will result in extreme pain and an inability to bear weight on the joint or the leg.

The most effective means of destroying a joint is to create a fulcrum point against a “bony landmark” on your own body and to destroy the joint capsule by forcing the joint to bend in a direction and degree of motion that the joint would not normally bend to. A bony landmark is a location on a joint that provides a firm “table” over which you can effectively apply force to an attacker’s joint. In the demonstration photographs to follow I am demonstrating trapping a kick and creating a fulcrum point against my forearm and hip, but you can use any firm bony surface by which to destroy a joint. In addition to using a fulcrum you should also twist or “split” the attacker’s joint. When you do this you are using both torque and shearing to dislocate the joint and to tear the ligaments and tendons of the joint capsule.

Trap the extremity, create a fulcrum, twist, torque, or “split” the joint.

Driving a shearing force (elbow) through the joint to dislocate and destroy the joint capsule.

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Like many martial arts instructors I have taught students self-defense who have been the victims of vicious attacks, incidents of physical assault, or domestic abuse. While the reader may think that my methods are extreme and that this approach is too violent, I am reminded of the young female student that I trained who was raped in her home by two men, at knife point, and in front of her eleven year old daughter and husband. I believe that she would disagree with you.

Many traditional martial artists enjoy the esoteric, metaphysical, and philosophical dimensions of their art and the many benefits that are derived for their mind, body, and spirit, but it must not be forgotten that the authors and originators of these arts were themselves fierce fighters and warriors who lived, not unlike today, in a time of lawlessness and violence. The growth of the martial arts was nourished and watered by the need for personal and family protection. That need still exists today.

The context of this article, and the previous two parts of this series, is that situational awareness, avoidance, and de-escalation has failed, and you are now in a life and death self-defense situation. Therefore, the techniques that are described in this article are designed to preserve your life, or the life of someone else. As a martial arts instructor to have a student reach this point and realization means that everything that I have attempted to inculcate within them in terms of preserving the peace, avoiding violence, and that “It is better to heal than to harm” has failed. In this kind of situation force is justified, warranted, and perhaps the only way that you will survive. To prevail you must persevere mentally and physically and be willing to escalate the violence to the point of incapacitating your attacker. If violence must occur do not hesitate to inflict it. From the words of one of my teachers, “Never enter a fight without the intention to kill, and the willing acceptance of your death. But do neither, do not kill and do not die.” The meaning of these words is to never face an opponent in any contest without the expectation of death, even in the most benign of encounters. This attitude speaks to the heart of the martial spirit.

It is recommended that anyone who believes that they may be placed in a situation where they have to employ maiming or lethal force should educate themselves regarding their local or national self-defense laws and the legal consequences of injuring or killing an attacker. For example, in some legal jurisdictions you have the right to preemptive offensive actions if you believe that your life is endangered. While you may have the legal right to defend yourself there is a definite legal distinction between acts of self-defense to the point of incapacitating your attacker and being able to withdraw from an attack and crossing the line from self-defense into engaging in “combat”. In many legal jurisdictions, although you may have first been the victim of an attack, if you cross the line into combat you have become an aggressor and both you and your attacker will be subject to legal sanctions. As many legal advisor’s state, “The first fight is to defend yourself or those you love, the second fight is the legal battle that will often follow the incident”. The second fight may be against criminal charges or defense against a civil lawsuit from your attacker or their family.

Chin Na and the Traditional Martial Arts: Traditional Chinese martial arts, including both internal and external systems, contain Chin Na techniques intended to seize, hold, or lock joints. For those readers unfamiliar with Chin Na technique, applications, and terminology these are the board categories: 1. "Fen jin" or "zhua jin" (dividing the muscle/tendon, grabbing the muscle/tendon). Fen means "to divide", zhua is "to grab" and jin means "tendon, muscle, sinew". They refer to techniques which tear apart an opponent's muscles or tendons.

2. "Cuo gu" (misplacing the bone). Cuo means "wrong, disorder" and gu means "bone". Cuo gu therefore refer to techniques which put bones in wrong positions and is usually applied specifically to joints.

3. "Bi qi" (sealing the breath). Bi means "to close, seal or shut" and qi, or more specifically kong qi, meaning "air". "Bi qi" is the technique of preventing the opponent from inhaling. This differs from mere strangulation in that it may be applied not only to the windpipe directly but also to muscles surrounding the lungs, supposedly to shock the system into a contraction which impairs breathing.

4. "Dian mai" or "dian xue" (sealing the vein/artery or acupressure cavity). Like the Cantonese Dim Mak, these are the technique of sealing or striking blood vessels and chi points.

Historically, and for military applications, original traditional martial arts systems contained strikes and grappling techniques intended to maim or to kill. For the purposes of sports competition these techniques were removed or watered down to the point where succeeding generations of marital artists either did not receive realistic training in these techniques or they had little or no practical experience in their application.

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In Chen Pan Ling’s Original Tai Chi Chuan Textbook, translated by his student Y.W. Chang Chen, Pan Ling wrote, “In ancient times, Chinese martial arts experts knew physiology very well. They used hit-vital point (tien Hsueh) to destroy the nervous system, to stop chi and blood circulation,,., and to damage the internal organs of the body. They used catch-and-snap technique (chin na) specifically to damage muscles, irritate sinew points and tendons, and to control the functions of the joints.” Chen Pan Ling then continues by stating, “If you do not know physiology well it is impossible to use such extraordinary techniques. He then continues his discussion by explaining how to train in these techniques.

Photo of the author with Y.W. Chang student of Chen Pan Ling and the authorized translator of his book, Chen Pan-Ling’s Original Tai Chi Chuan Textbook In this era of “mixed martial arts”, the traditional martial arts have been the recipient of criticism by amateur sports martial artists who fight for titles and trophy’s and professional sports fighters who compete for titles and money. Of course, unless a fighter is visiting from another planet all fighting systems practiced today originated from one or more traditional martial arts. There are those who like to point out that traditional martial arts and martial artists frequently do not do well in sporting contests against contemporary mixed martial artists.

However, there are numerous examples of traditionally trained marital artists who have successfully “crossed over” from the traditional martial arts to contemporary sport fighting.

There are many reasons for the poor performance of some traditional marital artists who attempt to compete against fighters in mixed martial arts competition. Some of the reasons are related to poor training and conditioning, lack of complete training in a traditional martial art system where vital training such as Chin Na training has been omitted, and unrealistic or delusion thinking regarding the esoteric applications of complex traditional fighting techniques. Perhaps the main reason is that in order to compete in modern sporting contests a traditional martial artist must adhere to a set of competition rules that strip away the maiming and killing techniques that have been the foundation of most traditional martial arts for centuries. Remember the adage, “Never play another man’s game” and the military mantra, “Remember, you will fight as you train!” If you train to grapple and to strike avoiding lethal and maiming anatomical areas of the body that is how you will fight in a high stress encounter. There is a significant difference in the mental intent of attacking an elbow joint to dislocate it and to rip its ligaments apart as opposed to attacking the joint to lock or control it in the hope of obtaining a submission to win a sporting contest.

An important aspect of becoming a successful, effective, enduring, and capable martial artist is found in the moral balance and the physical health of the fighter. Too many martial artists and sports fighters have succumbed to their baser instincts, passions, and behaviors. Martial arts competitors in the amateur and professional fighting sports are seduced by short term glory and rewards and sacrifice their health and physical abilities to steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. The demands of preparing and training for professional competition and then engaging in the extreme violence that is glorified in sports fighting contests rapidly expends the talent capital of young martial artists. Hence, we witness the revolving door of sports fighters who have their 15 minutes of glory only to end their careers with a catastrophic injury. Most concerning among the long list of musculoskeletal and central nervous system injuries that sports fighters experience are

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traumatic brain injuries, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease.

It is not so much the system or style of martial art that a man or woman practices that determines their capabilities as a fighter. It is rather their moral balance and physical conditioning. If a fighter cannot control their baser instincts, vices, and addictions they will not last long as a fighter, they will sacrifice their personal health and wellbeing. I frequently share this statement with my young students, “The vices and addictions that you do not overcome in your life will be the cause of your death, but before you die, you will slowly lose your abilities and capabilities, you will lose the things that you enjoy doing in life, and you will watch them fade away.”

If you are observant and consider the decline of many aging marital artists few personify good health habits and consequently by their 4th or 5th decade of life, they have experienced serious health problems such as obesity and have lost their physical capacities as martial artists. Aging is inevitable but most “aging” is neglect, the result of poor diet and lifestyle habits, and a lack of proper physical conditioning.

Misplacing the Bone, or Destruction of the Anatomical Joint Complex In this article, Part 3, we are going to investigate the application of extreme hypermobility to the joint complex involving traction, torque, and shearing forces directed at joints. The normal movements of a joint occur around an axis which involves joint physics. Joint physics may be defined as traction, torque, shearing, and accommodation, and involves flexion, extension, adduction, abduction, circumduction pronation, supination inversion and eversion. These movements are known as joint range of motion and they are normally measured in degrees of movement within the distance and direction that the joint can move. Range of motion is restricted by the anatomical architecture of a joint, mainly its capsule, ligaments, and tendons.

The joint complex is comprised of the bones of the joint, usually two, the joint capsule, ligaments, muscles, and tendons. In addition, each joint and its anatomical components will have nerves and blood vessels. All this anatomical architecture from the bones to the soft tissue structures is vulnerable to attack. Depending upon the technique used and against what kind of anatomic structure it is being used against there is the potential for an attack to result in destruction of the integrity of a joint, extreme pain, and permanent disability.

The human body contains 206 bones that are held together by connective tissues such as ligaments and tendons.

Over half of the bones in the body are contained in the hands and feet. Bones meet or are joined at a joint and there are hundreds of joints in the human body, some moveable and some immovable. From a fighting perspective we are primarily interested in the major joints that can be dislocated through the destruction of the joint complex with a tearing of the connective tissues that hold the bones of the joint in place. Using the shoulder as an example, the shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body, and it is held in place by the rotator cuff tendons. Techniques that serve to dislocate the shoulder joint will frequently cause a full or partial tear in the rotator cuff tendons and a dislocation of the shoulder joint.

Learning to dislocate a joint and to destroy the joint complex requires basic knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of joints and the limits of their normal range of motion. Anatomy and physiology of joints should be a routine part of the education of a martial artist. In addition to learning about joint anatomy and physiology martial artists need to know the kinesiology (science of body movement) or range of motion of a joint because the destruction of a joint will be accomplished by moving the joint beyond its normal range of motion. One example, again using the shoulder, is to move the shoulder joint into extreme hyperextension which will separate the head of the humerus from the glenoid fossa tearing the rotator cuff tendons and the ligaments of the joint capsule.

The following images demonstrate techniques to dislocate the shoulder joint tearing the rotator cuff tendons and the ligaments of the joint capsule. The first photograph shows a standing arm lock to shoulder dislocation, while the second technique employs a “Guillotine choke” with the radial bone applied to the attacker’s airway and positioned to crush the airway. The next step is the dislocation of the shoulder joint. Many of the major bony landmarks of your body can be used as natural surfaces over which to bend and destroy an attacker’s joints.

Learn how to use them effectively.

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Applying the standing arm lock to dislocation of the shoulder joint.

Application of a “brachial stun� to setup the entry for the Guillotine choke and radial bone airway crush.

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Demonstration of the Guillotine choke with the edge of the radial bone applying pressure to the airway, while dislocating the shoulder to destroy the joint capsule.

X-ray of dislocated shoulder
 Source: Hellerhoff / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

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When a sports grappler is attempting a joint lock, the technique is normally applied with increasing strength and pressure against the joint until the “end range” or limit of the range of motion of a joint is reached. Upon reaching the joints end range the martial artist will feel resistance in the joint and the attacker will begin to feel pain. This is the point in sports fighting where the opponent will submit.

Within a self-defense scenario the joint technique is not applied with gradual strength or pressure into the joint, but rather with a sudden explosive manoeuvre of the joint that quickly moves beyond the joints end range or the limit of the joints range of motion. This sudden explosive movement destroys the connective tissue attachments of the joint detaching and tearing the ligaments and tendons that are attached to the joint.

The set up and application of a joint lock in a sports contest is significantly different than that which may occur in a self-defense scenario where the purpose is not to “lock” the joint or to force a submission but rather the intention is to destroy the integrity of a joint as quickly and forcefully as possible. For example, in practicing the Japanese art of Aikido, first control involves a wrist and an elbow lock with a takedown to submission. In the Korean martial art of Hap Do Sool a wrist lock is combined with rapidly and powerfully driving an elbow through the elbow joint, dislocating the joint and tearing ligaments and tendons from the bone. The Aikido technique is elegant and “nonviolent” and the Hap Do Sool technique is brutal, violent, and effective.

Store energy like drawing a bow; release it like shooting an arrow. Yang Family Secret Transmissions Compiled and translated by Douglas Wile

Demonstration of an elbow break by drawing the wrist lock to my waist hip bone to create a fulcrum and then driving my forearm through the attacker’s elbow joint.

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Once again, I am demonstrating the concept of creating a fulcrum over which to destroy the attacker’s joint capsule. In this photograph I am rotating my waist to break the attacker’s elbow joint against the natural curvature of my rib cage.

Dislocation of the Fingers and Thumb: Opportunities to dislocate and separate the joints of the fingers, the metacarpal bones, and the thumb may occur when an attacker has grabbed on to a victim such as in a bear hug, choke hold, or any attempt to restrain a victim by holding on to their arms, wrist, or hands. In recommending an attempt to dislocate or separate the metacarpal bones of the fingers and thumb we are assuming that because of the position that the victim is in, other more lethal or maiming attacks are not practical, for example, crushing the attackers airway, gouging into an eye socket, dislocating the mandible, or grabbing and crushing the genitals.

Some traditional martial arts teach complex finger, hand, or wrist techniques and the more complex the technique is the less likely it is to be effective. If you study the anatomy and the range of joint motion in a finger joint, the metacarpals, you will learn that they have excellent range of motion in flexion but limited range of motion in extension. A finger placed into hyperextension is very vulnerable to dislocation, separation, and complete detachment of the ligaments that hold the metacarpal joints together. Depending upon the attacker’s grip and hand position the thumb is often the easiest of the digits to dislocate. Finger dislocation and separation is also very painful. However painful finger or thumb dislocation cannot be relied upon to stop an attacker in every circumstance which is why if a finger dislocation is executed against an attacker an immediate more effective follow-up technique should also be employed. There are many scenarios were pain alone is not an effective deterrent to stopping an attacker. High levels of adrenalin and street drug use are two examples where an attacker may be impervious to pain. This principle of following one disabling attack with another is called “continuous” attack and it involves attacking until the attacker is on the ground and incapacitated.

Normally, within our rules of engagement we begin with the most effective technique that the situational circumstances allow but in some cases, as with a grab or choke hold, a finger dislocation may need to be employed before a more effective technique can be executed.

As mentioned above some martial arts instructors teach intricate and complex finger dislocation techniques but the most effective way to dislocate and separate the metacarpal bones is to combine three movements; pull, twist, and bend.

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1. Pull - traction the finger.

2. Twist - torque, turn or rotate the finger.

3. Bend - hyperextend the finger to its separation point.

We find in our classes that our students learn these three finger attack manipulations faster than complex finger locks. They just must remember; pull, twist, and bend. The analogy that we use is removing a turkey leg from a roasted turkey on Thanksgiving Day. To separate the leg from the carcass you will naturally pull, twist, and bend the leg and the soft tissue structures, ligaments, tendons, and joint cartilage will separate and tear apart.

Demonstration of finger dislocation with the 3 techniques of pull, twist, and bend. Also demonstrated is stepping directly on the attacker’s foot to limit movement and their balance.

I have placed my elbow into the attacker’s throat.

I do not ascribe or recommend a cookbook approach to fighting techniques. Every attack is unique and may be completely unexpected. As they say, “Everyone has a plan until they are punched in the face”. Rather, the martial artist should be so well trained and comfortable in their art that they are capable of moving with creative, spontaneous, and instantaneous attacks and attack counters without thought.

Photograph Dislocated finger, 5th Metacarpal Source: Mdumont01 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

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Conclusion: The object of this 3-part series of articles has been to investigate the medical implications of authentic Tai Chi Chuan utilized for combat purposes and as a realistic form of self-defense. It is a sad situation that contemporary Tai Chi Chuan has been stripped of much of its historical roots as a combat martial art and has been relegated as a metaphysical new age exercise and meditation practice. As a result of this inaccurate connotation Tai Chi Chuan has been discarded by many martial artists, fighters, and self- defense instructors as too esoteric and convoluted to have any practicality in serious combat, fighting, or self-defense situations.

I have an extensive personal library, collected over a period of more than 50 years, of books on Tai Chi Chuan.

None of these books, many of them considered to be Tai Chi Chuan classics, contain the basic combat applications of Tai Chi Chuan that have been included in these articles. This observation is not intended to be a criticism. In the past it was simply not considered appropriate to transmit combat applications, often thought of by teachers of Tai Chi Chuan as ‘secret” information to only be shared with “inner door” students, in publications intended for the general population.

It is my hope that this brief series of articles on The Medical Implications of Combat Tai Chi Chuan Techniques, Investigating Blunt Force Trauma, has placed some light on authentic Tai Chi Chuan and its historical roots as a formidable martial art.

Photography Credit and Assistance: Many thanks to the gifted and talented photographer Abass Ali for his excellent images and to Mohamed Jabateh who assisted this effort as my “attacker” and who endured no small amount of pain for his effort. Both Abass Ali and Mohamed Jabateh are talented and dedicated martial artists who, although in their teenage years, have trained with me for the past 8 years.

The author, in his 8th decade of life, (far right) with students Mohamed Jabateh (far left ) and Abass Ali (center)

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About the author: Dr. Gregory T. Lawton, D.C., D.N., D.Ac. is a chiropractor, naprapath, and acupuncturist. He is the founder of the Blue Heron Academy of Healing Arts and Sciences where he teaches biomedicine, medical manual therapy, and Asian medicine. Dr. Lawton is nationally board certified in radiology, physiotherapy, manual medicine, and acupuncture. He was the vice president of the Physical and Athletic Rehabilitation Center which provided physical therapy for professional athletes, Olympians, and victims of closed head and spinal cord injuries.

Since the early 1960s Dr. Gregory T. Lawton has studied and trained in Asian religion, philosophy and martial arts such as Aikido, Jujitsu, Hap Do Sool, Kenpo/kempo, and Tai Chi Chuan.

Dr. Lawton’s most noted Asian martial art instructor was Professor Huo Chi-Kwang who was a student of Yang Shao Hou. References: 1. Chen Pan-Ling’s Original Tai Chi Chuan Textbook, Chen Pan Ling, Transliterated by Y.W. Chang, Translated by Y.W. Chang, and Ann Carruthers, Ed.D, Blitz Design, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1998, Copyright Y. W. Chang and Ann Carruthers 2. Shaolin Chin Na Fa: Art of Seizing and Grappling, by Liu Jin Sheng, Shan Wu, Shanghai, China, 1936 (Copyright Andrew Timofeevich 2005).

3. Tai-Chi Touchstones: Yang Family Secret Transmissions, Compiled and translated by Douglas Wile, Sweet Ch’i Press, Brooklyn, New York, Copyright 1983, Douglas Wile 4. T’ai Chi Classics, Waysun Liao, Shambhala Publications, Boston & London, 1977/1990, Copyright Waysun Liao 5. Trail Guide to the Body, Second Edition, Andrew Biel, Books of Discovery, Boulder, Colorado, 1997/2001, Copyright Andrew Biel

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WARNING Colourful & Explicit Use Of Language [including dead seagulls]!

Do Not Proceed If You Are Offended Easily!

I

t would appear that I have inherited some of the craziest folks on the planet - practicing martial arts - as friends [and students] from a certain Reverend Anthony Sean Bedlam Pillage!

What can I tell you about Gav Richardson?

Hmmm… you know what - I’m going to plead the fifth on this one and simply let him loose on the readership.

I will add one thing though… it is the first time that I have had to place a warning at the start of 20 Questions but then, Gav wouldn’t be Gav without his ‘colourful’ language, nor faithful to his Scouse heritage if such were not the case and of course, this is the whole point of the questions - to get to know the real person behind the art!

Oh, I will add a second thing…

He really is a cuddly bugger when he is not “coughing up his giblets” all over the place!

So, here goes…

LH: Hello Sausage, it is great to have you here at Lift Hands, please tell our readers a bit about yourself.

GR: My name is Gavin Richardson. My friends call me Gav and my really close friends call me whatever they like!

I started my martial arts training in 1984 and continue to study and develop my skills to this day. I have studied lots of different disciplines over the years and have developed an understanding of what works and how to teach it to students from all backgrounds.

During my time teaching, I have developed outstanding communication skills, having worked with a diverse group of people of all ages races, genders and abilities. I have fantastic leadership and interpersonal skills, and consider myself a very good listener who can follow instructions as well as being able to delegate tasks to others when needed. I’ll willingly tackle any task with determination, commitment, tenacity and enthusiasm.

As a Physical intervention Instructor, I am responsible for the training and development of staff, both in the UK and USA. My duties include physical intervention training and hand to hand combat where I teach weapon awareness courses covering anti knife and edged weapon technique through to disarming techniques. These techniques are incorporated in to the close protection tactical training modules.

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As a close protection officer I have worked with clients all over the UK and USA in all roles within the teams from SAP to TL. I continue my own development and research and seek out people of influence in order to help me gain a deeper and more effective understanding of my roles and responsibilities of a Close Protection officer and Martial Artist.

I have spent most of my time as student learning from the best people in the world these include: • • • • • •

Sensei Kase (Shotokan Karate) Sensei Kato (Shotokan Karate) Mo Teague (Jeet Kune Do) Richard Bustillo (Jeet Kune Do) Geoff Thompson & Peter Consterdine (BCA) Nasser Butt (Taiji)

I hold the following qualifications and certifications: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

4th Dan Sho Go Ryu Karate.

4th Dan Way of the Spiritual Warrior Instructor.

3rd Dan Shotokan Karate 2nd Dan Go-Kan-Ryu Karate 1st Dan Full Contact Kick Boxing World Combat Arts Instructor. (Functional Jeet Kune Do) IMB JKD Instructor. (Jeet Kune Do) Mo Teague’s Hard Target Instructor. (Personal Protection) BTEC Level 3 in Close Protection.

Health and Safety, 3-day First Aid Certificate City & Guilds, 7303 Teachers Certificate BTEC Level 3 in Delivery of Conflict Management BTEC Level 3 in Delivery of Physical Intervention Pearson BTEC Level 3 D13 advanced first Aid in Pre-Hospital care.

LH: Thanks for that Sausage! Certainly got some pedigree there!

Well, if you are ready for your questions, let us begin - If you could have personally witnessed anything, what would you want to have seen?

GR: I love history and engineering so seeing the great pyramids being built and completed and seeing them in all their glory would have been fantabulous.

LH: If you had to leave earth on a spaceship and take 4 people with you, who would they be?

GR: Well my head says it would be my two kids and two grandkids…but the way the question is written suggests planet earth would carry on as normal. Therefore I would leave them with the rest of the family and follow my heart, I would take the Swedish Nymphomaniac Beach Volley Ball team.

LH: Hmmm… I can see that [laughs]! In what ways are you the same as your childhood self?

GR: I like to take thing apart to see how they work. Even as kid I would take things apart, whether it was my bike with the spanners or a dead seagull with a pen knife. Now I'm not a bad spanner twirler when it comes to fixing the cars etc. and I have a fairly good knowledge of anatomy through my first aid training. (I just don’t bother to cut up dead animals…or do I??? Does butchery count???)

LH: Dead seagulls??? Oh dear, maybe I should go expand on that warning! Dare I ask what animal best represents you and why?

GR: Hmmmm probably a big dog! I'm loyal to my friends very protective of the ones I love. I have a nose like a blood hound and can smell pot heads a mile away [don’t like drugs]. I love having my belly rubbed and playing in the sea or any stretch of water, and if you get on the wrong side of me I will quite happily bite your face off.

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The problem with being big dog right now is that I fall off the couch every time I try to lick my own balls!

LH: What is your greatest strength or weakness since you’ve already told us that it’s not licking your dangle bits?

GR: The ability to communicate and influence others and a weakness for chocolate and cakes.

LH: Do you trust anyone with your life?

GR: Yes there are couple I could count on if needed.

LH: How do you want to be remembered?

GR: As that great big sexy psychopath. He did what he wanted, where he wanted, when he wanted and with whom he wanted. He took care of his family and close friends didn’t give flying fuck if you liked him or not. For he was the BIG WALLOPER. BIG CHIEF OF ALL THE SAUSAGE NOSHERS & THE LOVE CUDDLE KING! LH: What have you always wanted and did you ever get it?

Gav teaching at the martial arts expo Kaizen 2019

GR: To be able to hear in stereo and NO [I’m deaf in my left ear] and to get of rid of this bloody cough I have [over 23 years now of coughing my giblets up every few hours]!

LH: Do you know your heritage?

GR: A good chunk of it from near history yes.

LH: Are you still learning who you are?

GR: Always, life is a journey. If I can I will always try to pick the path less followed or to make my own. Some people don’t like that. Or won’t come with me on a trip, but average people don’t go on excellent adventures.

Boring people don’t learn new skills and meet new people.

LH: What, if anything, are you afraid of and why?

GR: I personally don’t think I have any fears for me personally. I quite like the usual stuff like snakes and spiders, heights and the dark. I have no problem with pain either receiving or inflicting [evil grin] but I suppose seeing the kids getting hurt or harmed. That would wind me up.

LH: What is the most memorable class you have ever taken?

GR: The first lesson I did with Mo Teague, down at his dojo in Weymouth. My Spiritual brother Tony Pillage had introduced us and Mo invited us down for a private training session with him at his club. It was my first introduction to the Filipino Martial Arts and Mo’s Functional Jeet Kune Do. At the end of the class he offered us his holy trinity. The first was his one inch punch. When I demo it I hit the shoulder or chest Mo doesn’t do that… a nice strong punch on chin I got. I just started laughing as I knew Mr P was next and he didn’t look keen. Next

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With close friend - The Late Tony Pillage

Next was a bicep strike. Pillage went first and got a good whack to the side of the neck and instantly went the colour of boiled shite. He had a wobble and went down on one knee. I took mine and my legs went as well but I managed to stay up… I was laughing my head off, Mo was grinning his little evil grin. Pillage looked ready to cry. He then offered up the last of the 3… his heavy hand. I took the first shot this time. a lovely big drop of the hand onto the back of the neck. The legs had gone, I turned into Norman Wisdom wobbling around the room laughing like a nutter and using every single part of the force I could muster not to go down on the floor. We both looked at the Pillage monster. He just smiled and said fuck it come on then.

About a second later he was flat on his back I think I pissed me shorts laughing. That was the start of my JKD training and I drove down to Weymouth every Wednesday for the next few years to learn more.

LH: What book has influenced you the most?

GR: Unlimited power by Anthony Robbins LH: What ridiculous thing has someone tricked you into doing or believing?

With Tony Pillage

GR: Somebody tricked me into doing martial arts years ago…said I would be good it. Lying bastards!!!

LH:Who or what has been the greatest influence in your life?

GR: In the Dojo it would be Sensei Kase JKA Shotokan.

Outside the dojo it would be Merlin my old Rottweiler, he taught me that when ever there was a new or strange situation or problem to over come I should give it a good looking at from all angles then give it a real good sniff (breathing and meditation exercises) then if I couldn’t change it or eat it or fuck it I should just piss on it and walk away.

LH: What is the craziest thing one of your teachers has done or made you do?

GR: When I was at school they tried to make me believe in some invisible space zombie who sees everything you do and condemns you to burn forever unless you love him.

I remember for our religion class we had a nun teaching us and our form tutor was also our Science teacher.

They were walking down the corridor one afternoon when I was going the other way. I stopped them both and said I have a question for you two.

“Go ahead Gav what is it?”

I said to the Nun, “When we were in RE you told us we are descendants of Adam and Eve, is that true?”

“Of course it’s true!” she said in her strong Irish accent.

OK, I turned to our form teacher, “So you know when we were in Science and you told us about Darwin and how we had all evolved over the years to where we are now is that true?”

“Of course it’s true! he said. “We looked at the evidence through the text books.”

“Ah yes I said I remember now…so which one of you is lying to me???”

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All’s I got was detention for being cheeky.

LH: When did you screw everything up, but no one ever found out it was you?

GR: I'm not sure I ever have… when I break things I usually laugh loudly and take great pride in my fuck ups. I did shoot one of my cousins in the balls with and air rifle once, but he has kids now, so no real harm done. I whipped one of our Dobermans on the bollocks with an 8 foot leather bull whip when I was about 13 for a laugh…He didn’t find it funny and tried to eat me.

And when I was about 16, I had screwed a scaffolding plank to the roof of the shed and hung a punch bag off it. It only took a few hours for the bag to smash all the front of the shed in. then the shed collapsed into a pile of broken timber and me mum battered me. So I didn’t even get away with that either!

LH: Oh, heck… whipping a doberman in the nuts! I definitely need to expand the warning at the head of the questions! Dare I ask if you had to choose to live without one of your five senses, which one would you give up and why?

GR: Losing the sense of smell wouldn’t be the end of the world. There are some right dirty smelly fuckers out there. You know the ones. People who smoke then want to talk to you up close or the others who don’t even clean their teeth…they smell like they drip shit on their corn flakes in the morning! I've no time for them and true to form, I will normally use all of my tact and subliminal forms of communication to let them know they smell bad. I find something like “Hey you, ya smelly bastard, fuck off away from me ya fuckin stink!” works wonders.

LH: If you could select one person from history and ask them one question - who would you select and what would the question be?

GR: Nikola Tesla. I would ask him for his notes. I believe he could have changed the world for the better given the chance.

LH: How would you describe your art in ten words or less?

GR: Making extreme physical violence look like a love cuddle.

LH: Well Sausage… that has been enlightening and may also be the end of 20 Questions!

GR: My pleasure.

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A Note

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Having just finished my Summer Camp 2020 a few days ago, I was asked a question afterwards as to why I have been placing so much emphasis upon the Small San-shou for the last few years?

Well, there are two very simple and logical answers: I haven’t finished teaching it yet - which signifies the vastness and depth of the subject matter!

It’s a test to gain entry to the Erle Montaigue System!

I’ll begin with the second point first - it being the easiest.

Small San-Sau is one of the tests that one must take in the Erle Montaigue system… I regard this exercise as one of the most important training methods as it teaches, timing, balance and coordination, where to strike, how to strike, the direction of dim-mak strikes and the power to use. It must be stressed however, that although each technique could be used as a self-defense method, you must only ever treat the small San-Sau as a training method, never taking away or adding to it. It was designed by persons of martial genius to teach us something and to change it in any way is to take away from what it has to teach you.

Erle Montaigue Internal Gung-Fu Volume 2 I’d say that the above statement requires no further clarification.

Regarding Point 1… I started writing about the importance of the Small San-shou way back in 2014 and started teaching its ‘hidden’ principles in 2016 both here in the UK, the USA and in Italy, along with the associated training methods! I stated way back then that it takes around 5 years of study to develop and understand. So, here we are in 2020… and by my simple reckoning we still have another year to go!

Whilst editing the current edition of Lift Hands Volume 15, I came across the article ‘How Long…?’, which I had written in 2017 and another note in 2014. It made me smile that I have consistently stated the importance of progressional learning for several years now - and yet still the same questions are being asked of me!

Below is the revised and edited 2017 article.

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It

amazes me how in the modern era we have so-called martial arts ‘masters’ who give out imbecilic advice to their students on a daily basis and are never challenged by anyone about it!

These self-appointed ‘masters’ with their lofty titles and ‘Mickey Mouse Degrees’, can easily be found out by a diligent student by simply carrying out a little basic research for themselves.

I regularly receive questions from students who have been confused as to “How long it should take them to learn a specific form or a training method in their Taiji?”

Let us clarify this point once and for all by using simple logic and the advice left to us by some of history’s greatest warriors, and some common sense!

Firstly, we must understand the difference between learning a form and studying and understanding a form they are not one and the same!

Learning a form or a training method can be done relatively quickly depending on the individual concerned but that does not mean that you understand it or know it! For example, a dancer or anyone involved in body mechanics can learn the movements of a form or a training method very quickly but, that DOES NOT mean that they now know or understand it and are ready to move onto the next thing!

According to one of the greatest warriors and strategists in history, Miyamoto Musashi, it takes: “A thousand days of training to develop, ten thousand days of training to polish. You must examine all this well.”

Let me make it simple… what Musashi is telling us is that it takes approximately 3 years to learn and almost 27 years of study to know and understand! These are not merely fancy words or sayings - they are instructions to be followed by diligent students!

Furthermore, Musashi continues: “It is necessary to know ten thousand things by knowing one well. If you are to practice the way of strategy, nothing must escape your eyes. Reflect well on this.”

Here Musashi is re-emphasizing the point of studying and understanding ONE subject “well”… it’s not rocket science!

According to Dong Yingjie, one of the foremost disciples of Yang Cheng-fu, in his book - Methods Of Applying Taiji Boxing (Taiji Quan Shiyong Fa) - co-authored by Yang Cheng-fu: “When beginning to learn the Thirteen Dynamics solo set, it takes about three months to become acquainted with it, about a year to become familiar with it, and about five years to become good at it.

After that, the more your practice the more refined it will be. But without the authentic transmission, that will not be the case. Without the authentic transmission, the only result will be a slightly strengthened body. The boxing theory after ten years would still be confusing. How would you know its profound subtleties?”

The Thirteen Dynamics are the foundations of all things Taiji… again, note that Dong is in total agreement with Musashi and clearly points out the differences between learning, knowing and understanding a form!

The Small San-shou is a training method of the Thirteen Dynamics!

It takes FIVE years to just become “good” according to Dong and many more years to refine it and if not done right then “The boxing theory after ten years would still be confusing. How would you know its profound subtleties?”

I have consistently stated that Erle told his personal senior students that it would take “five years of study to begin to understand the San-shou” - that doesn’t mean that you simply ‘do’ the form for five years and that’s it NO! It means that you have to study and breakdown every facet of it and understand it for at least five years yet today students are being given idiotic advice that no - we don’t need to train it for that long. It can be done

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quicker, or that it’s not even relevant!

I’ll let you into some ‘secrets’ - since my works are being read and plagiarized - I’ll throw this bone for free not that it’ll make any difference to closed minds: The San-shou should be, looked upon as a component of training taught alongside the traditional forms thus, giving them meaning. It can be split into four distinct categories: Upper Body Strikes - consisting of fists, palms, elbows, forearms, fingers, shoulders, head, etc.

Lower Body Strikes - consisting of kicks, stomps, knees, etc.

Throws - consisting of take-downs and sweeps, etc.

Seizing - consisting of locking the joints, breaking, choking, strangulation and submission holds.

Based upon the postures of ‘Grasping Sparrow’s Tail’ up to and including ‘Single Whip’, the form has its origins in Yang Cheng-fu’s modified form as opposed to Yang Lu-ch’an.

The form exhibits the four major energies of P’eng, Lu, Ji and Arn and teaches us a whole myriad of skills regarding the combative elements of the system including our understanding of combining long and short energy in a single motion. Sadly, as always, students fail to spend the amount of time required to fully understand this training method!

Erle would say that if a student were to study the Small San-shou for 5 years, along with the Post training, then he or she would be a formidable fighter being able to deal with virtually any attack!

How many of us can honestly say that they have spent or invested in that loss for 5 years?

The Small San-shou is so much more then just techniques or combinations strikes. It teaches us the absolute correct body mechanics, distance and timing skills. There are 5 levels at which it is taught. At its epitome of ‘freestyle’ attacks it really is something to behold. However, most students will never achieve these heights. Not because they are incapable but, as I have already said, because they never study it long enough to allow the form to reveal all its secrets!

There are so many more additional or rather ‘hidden’ movements contained within the form which are rarely taught except to a handful of students [bet I have your attention now!]… although these have always been alluded to or even briefly been demonstrated by Erle over the years!

I may be wrong in the following claim (but I’m probably not and will happily be corrected if otherwise) that I am, perhaps, the only person who has Erle on film showing virtually the whole Small San-shou including the ‘hidden’ movements!

I’ll give you a few moments to recover from your shock…

I was toying with the idea around a couple of years ago to put together all my raw footage of Erle on the Small San-shou and release it as a DVD - however, I decided against it.

I had to ask myself the question why did Erle not release this information on tape himself? Was it a case of holding back information? NO! Erle would always share his information. But, it was rather a case to distinguish students who had invested time and followed the path he had laid out and started to see things for themselves. It was a tool of encouragement that they were on the right track and of course, it also acted as a safeguard against those rip-off merchants who have unashamedly taken Erle’s information for their own nefarious use!

I have only recently [2014] started to teach some of these elements to my students - or at least those who have been investing time in loss and they have certainly had their ‘eyes opened’! But, I will openly admit that I will only pass on things in their entirety to those students who continue to invest time and train hard and have started to show inklings of understanding! It is the correct way to do things.

So, how many of you practicing the small San-sau have trained the above?

Have you learned how to reel inwards? Have you learned how to reel outwards? Have you been taught how to connect the ‘energy systems’? Have you been shown how to develop and release the energy from the joints?

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These ‘masters’ instead of teaching elements progressively will come teach you a random form -just so you can have something ‘new’… but like the emperor’s new clothes - these are worthless!

So, let’s put this advice into context: Folk like Musashi, Yang Lu-ch’an, Yang Ban-hou and Yang Shao-hou, Sun Lu-tang, Ching Ting-hwa - who spent their entire days training, fighting wars, maiming and killing, and honing their skills 24/7 whilst teaching professional soldiers and Imperial Guards the same skills are telling us that it takes a long time of study to understand and know your forms or training methods - years, decades - and then we have the modern donkeys telling us … Oh, you don’t need to train for as long as that to understand! We can do it quicker! We’ll get you your ‘Master’s Degree’ quicker - look, I got mine after 6 years! These fools have not even trained one full-day’s training of the Masters of old nor even been in a schoolyard fight let alone anywhere near a battlefield and yet they are claiming that they have the authority and knowledge to change the forms or training methods with their little egotistical minds!

Oh, the vanity of fools!

The same ‘masters’ when faced with a larger opponent and failing will tell us that the training methods or forms need adjusting to make them work!

Well… Dong is clear on the subject: “Do not complain that Taiji cannot be applied nor blame your instructors for a lack of instruction. It is fundamentally related to internal skill…”

It’s a lack of understanding and skill - get it? It’s not a difficult conclusion!

Musashi… he who killed his first opponent - a trained samurai - whilst still in his early teens tells us: “Teaching people a large number of sword techniques is turning the way into a business of selling goods, making beginners believe that there is something profound in their training by impressing them with a variety of techniques. This attitude toward strategy must be avoided, because thinking that there is a variety of ways of cutting a man down is evidence of a disturbed mind. In the world, different ways of cutting a man down do not exist.”

Although, I have used the small San-shou here as an example this applies to all the forms and training methods no exception!

They say that a fool and his money are parted easily and that every student deserves the teacher they get…

Question is who are you going to believe? The real warriors who actually lived, walked and died on the Way or the paper tigers who’d be blown away in an instant by an amateur boxer - yet they’ll tell you that they know better?

When time frames of study were given by real Masters, they were given for a reason. The longer the time frame the deeper the required study of the subject matter!

Enjoy the journey!

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Arise Dr Gregory T. Lawton

Vernal spring of emerald green has bloomed again, golden glints of sun brush the clouds with ruby hues against cerulean ripples of sky Pick up the trumpet, two blasts will suffice this day.

The fabled thief came in the night, arise.

Come off our coach, arise.

Step out your house, arise.

Leave your piles of gold by the door, arise.

The stars have fallen, the moon gives no light, the heavens are cleft in twain, and outside your door is a new Heaven and a new earth, arise.

You admire my words until you disagree with them.

Why do you think the prophets speak in parables and metaphors they love you too much to disagree with you, they would rather climb upon the cross than argue with you.

Not every dog will bark, not every cow gives milk, and not every tree bears fruit.

Thus the Trainer, the Farmer, and the Gardener must test them - as the Miner clarifies gold from dross.

The lowliest ant busied in the dirt knows this truth, how is it then that you do not?

At the dawn of this day the butterfly crawled from its cocoon but your heart remains asleep.

Arise!

About the authorDr. Gregory T. Lawton is an author of many books, most of them in the area of health science, but also in the genre of Asian martial arts, philosophy, poetry, and prose. Dr. Lawton is a passionate award winning artist and photographer who finds his artistic and creative inspiration in nature, and who frequently attributes the source of his images and writing to the 19th century Persian Prophet, Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Baha’i Faith, and the 13th century Persian poet and Sufi Mystic Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī. Dr. Lawton has been a member of the Baha’i Faith since 1970 and embraces the Faith’s principles related to the promotion of world unity and peace.

Kindly reprinted with permission from: Translated from a Foreign Tongue, Copyright 2013, Revised 2017 Dr. Gregory T. Lawton Muyblue Productions 2040 Raybrook Street, SE Suite 104 Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546 616-285-9999

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Lift Hands would like to thank Katherine Loukopoulos Sensei for providing this exclusive book free of charge to our readers. To get your download link please visit and join our group page on FaceBook: Lift Hands: The Internal Arts Magazine

Image - 1983 USA Nationals

Synonyms for ‘War’: Noun • • • • • •

A state of armed conflict between different countries or different groups within a country A sustained campaign against an undesirable situation or activity Conflict arising from a lack of agreement or harmony Belligerence A dispute or argument, typically one that is long and complicated Resistance or dissent, expressed in action or argument

Verb • • •

To engage in a war To put an end to To protect or shield from harm or danger Source: https://www.wordhippo.com

All the martial arts including fencing and wrestling, give us an opportunity to train and to prepare ourselves for conflict. In almost every lesson we test our abilities and we focus to surpass them. Furthermore, we participate in tournaments where safety is ensured and winners of the day are declared. A combination of dojo sparring and tournament fighting can develop in us a sense of false confidence.

The danger of developing false sense of confidence is the nature of beast. Training halls and tournaments with rules for safety are not real engagements. They can provide us with a sample of anxiety, fear, and the will to survive; that is, the will to win the match with our opponent, but again, this is not for ‘real’.

When we have lost a tournament our egos are bruised but our life is intact. When we make mistakes against our opponent while training, there are no problems because we can repeat the techniques again and again.

When we are faced with real danger in a dark street alley, when an intruder brakes into our home or place of work, when we are faced with thugs for whatever reason and we cannot avoid but engage in order to save our life and the lives of our loved ones, the engagement is real. There is no time to warm up our muscles, and there is no room for mistakes.

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Image - Base Tourney - Robert Palm

USMC Camp Lester PT 1985

What can go wrong in the worse moment possible?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

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20.

Over-estimating or underestimating the intruder and the situation!

Lack of adequate training and preparation.

Lack of speed due to lack of training and/or nervousness.

Mistakes in judgment on distance between attacker and ourselves.

Not enough strength to execute the defense.

We are not aware of our surroundings.

We are injured and the attacker is aware where we hurt.

Our emotions are not in check.

We are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

We were overtaken by the element of the surprised attack.

Although we try to make a move we have ‘frozen’ in place.

Not aware where our feet are planted in relation to the adversary.

Overtaken by fear and can’t think.

Our face is an open target, and we are also out of balance.

Not thinking smart about our personal safety.

We are overpowered by the number of attackers.

We are overpowered because the attackers have weapons.

We lack the ability to adapt to the emergency situation.

Our own ‘weapon’ breaks.

We have no more stamina and we give up.

The person who overcomes and most likely succeeds in a real life threatening attack is a person who is physically fit, alert but not paranoid, knows of his environment and his surroundings, does not take short cuts through dark alleys, lonely parks and parking lots, has patience, is modest, is low key and does not use threatening body language, words or tone of voice.

We are not cowards by running away from a life threatening situation. We are preventing physical damage, becoming emotionally rattled, filing Police Reports and visiting hospital emergencies… all this can be avoided by simply ‘walking or running away’. Smart thinking gives us an opportunity to live another day.

Katherine Loukopoulos Bubishi Team Austria 22 September 2020

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The Energies Author’s Note: In the third part of this article on The Energies of Taijiquan, I will continue giving brief descriptions of the main energies. I have left the introductory comments published in Part 1 below to avoid repetition.

Outlined below are the basic descriptions of the energies - which I’ll be serializing over the next few issues. I have not placed them in any specific order, [although, obviously some would be learned or developed before others], I have pretty much listed them as they exist in my notes. My teacher taught eclectically and my notes reflect that and our conversations - but that does not mean that there is no order!

Further, in some instances, I have added a bit of extra detail, although not in all cases, to give the practitioner food for thought with reference to their form and what it may mean. I was not spoon-fed by my teacher - I was nudged and cajoled by my teacher to work things out systematically and logically through progression.

Establishing connections between the various threads of one’s training is critical. If you are unable to establish connections and or identify common threads then you may well fall short in skill! This is not the fault of the art nor of the teacher - provided, he or she, have taught you correctly - it is the fault of the student of not having practiced or trained diligently, or progressively!

The entirety of Taiji’s Long Boxing is based upon The Thirteen Dynamics repeating themselves endlessly and ceaselessly, linked via transitions and transmutations leading to a higher understanding.

Finally, the list below is not definitive, nor exhaustive. Different schools may use different terminology to describe the same thing, or may even interpret it differently. You do not have to subscribe to it. It is simply a record of what has been passed down in our line descended from Yang Shao-hou and like all mighty rivers there will be many tributaries, and side branches! ************ Before proceeding onto the next group of ‘energies,’ I’d like to advise the readers to familiarise themselves with The Treatise of Wang Zongyue - also, sometimes, referred to as Great Pole Boxing: The Theory.

Wang’s treatise is essentially the ‘bible’ of Taijiquan and any serious practitioner who does not repeatedly turn to this document for the entirety of their practice will be at a loss.

Not only does the treatise give us the precise rules for our practice and development as a beginner - it evolves with the practitioner as his or her understanding develops further.

Neutralizing Neutralizing is a critical skill in Taijiquan and is sometimes referred to as ‘Awareness Energy’ - i.e. knowing yourself and your own energy and your enemy, his energy, movements and the changes in actions.

Based upon the Taiji Classic: Stand like a level balance, Lively as a carriage wheel - Depress one side and the other follows.

Its foundations are sticking and yielding, along with understanding and realizing the errors of ‘neither coming away, nor crashing’ in. Like in all the energies, p’eng energy plays a critical role in neutralizing.

Neutralization is a subtle skill and should not be mistaken for retreating - which is actually evading. You must recognise and move smoothly with your opponent’s energy regardless of the direction they take. Timing plays a critical role in neutralizing - too early means that you are unable to draw him in and too slow means that the

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neutralization itself remains incomplete.

You must weigh and measure your opponent on the scales [balance] and yet not allow yourself to be measured.

Whilst measuring you must follow simultaneously. The skill of neutralization is based upon the waist and the legs, and not on the shoulders or hands.

The waist is the axle and the two shoulders are joined and wait for the wheel to move horizontally from side to side. The wheel moves in an erect position. The smallest touch from any direction causing it to turn. This is how the skill of measurement is developed [especially through the practice of Da Shou], and is called the directional measurement of awareness energy.

The higher the skill of neutralization, the smaller the circle of neutralization! The poorer the skill the larger the circle and if the student does not study progressively over several years, trying to physically reduce the circle too soon will cause stiffness to develop in the upper body.

Drawing In Drawing In consists of two components: 1. Luring your opponent into action when he is not doing anything.

2. Enticing your opponent to move along a path of your choosing when he is in motion.

It occurs between neutralizing and seizing and makes use of the whole body - including the hands, waist and feet.

The idea behind drawing in is to get your opponent’s energy to conform to your own by guiding that energy.

There are many methods to drawing in successfully, the key is to neutralize the power of your opponent until it is almost but not fully spent and then draw them in at will.

It can be also achieved by luring through ‘feigning,’ or more importantly by ‘sacrificing’ yourself to follow your opponent - by using awareness energy and feeling the sinking of your weight on one side in the direction of the movement if your opponent adds strength in any direction. If the energy moves inwards, then the wheel rotates, allowing you to draw in your opponent. If the energy move outwards then ‘pull’ to move a thousand pounds with four ounces!

The action of the wheel is hidden during the uneven sinking and can occur in any direction.

Seizing The skill of seizing is subtle and is carried out just before issuing. It is not merely a movement of the hands alone… it is a movement of the entire body rooted in the waist and the legs and driven by intent. Its skill and subtlety lie in the transitional motions - i.e. footwork, orientation and manoeuvring. This is why critical attention must be paid to transitions in Long Boxing and all its associated training methods.

When seizing, one must seize upon the active joint and with such a subtlety that by the time the opponent realises it is already too late. A good practitioner can ‘seize’ an opponent by merely adjusting and adapting his body to his opponent’s movement in an instant without the need to issue - in other words ‘check-mate’… the opponent already knows they are done for, no different to a lioness cornering her now helpless prey! This requires many years of practice and good instruction and particular attention must be paid to the centre of balance and the position of the head, so that the practitioner is not crashing. Beginners must adhere to the knees holding the line with the toes ‘rule’ and not allowing the weight to shift beyond the knee. Later when one has mastered and understood the skills of the Post and the function of the ‘sweet spot’, and developed the power and dexterity of the legs through the Large Roll Back - the knee can move beyond the toes without the weight following.

Like neutralizing, the opponent must be weighed and measured on the scales - the height and weight must be equalised for a successful measure. And just like in neutralizing, the smaller the circle of the practitioner, the greater the skill and the greater their ability to disrupt the circle of their opponent. The skill of the circle - its size and ability to disrupt the opponent’s circles - are the two sub-divisions of the aspects of seizing known as the formed and the formless respectively.

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Issuing Issuing energy is a vast subject which would require an entire tome in its own right! It is far too complex a subject to verbalise, however, I shall list the major components as bullet points below.

Issuing is a component of our attack or striking energy, without which there can be no attack!

If neutralizing is to be considered defence then issuing is offence - a fundamental component of combat. In combat, like yin yang itself, the two must co-exist in order to avoid defeat.

Issuing is based on understanding three critical fundamentals or essentials: 1. Opportunity - This arises from your opponent making an error [i.e. over-reaching, lost balance, have revealed their intent too soon, or simply having got ‘stuck’ during execution etc.].

2. Direction - The key is to follow and issue in the direction in which your opponent’s energy is coarsening regardless of whether that is up, down, forwards, backwards, left, right, straight or curving!

3. Timing - Timing is critical. If you are too early then your opponent will not yet be in the right position, leading you to err through crashing or resisting. Too late and your opponent recognises your issuing and is able to neutralize it easily. The exact right moment is when your opponent’s ‘old’ energy has been spent and the ‘new’ energy has not yet begun [an important component developed through Da Shou], they are in retreat or simply got stuck!

However, the above three, although indispensable, are not the only components of issuing successfully.

First and foremost, you must understand the pathways of energy and the notion of what forms the ‘root, branch, leaf’ network of the whole body, the upper body and the lower body - ‘The Body Tree’: 1. The Whole Body - The foot is the root, the torso is the branch and the head is the leaf.

2. The Upper Body - The shoulder is the root, the elbow is the branch and the leaf is the hand [wrist].

3. The Lower Body - The thigh is the root, the knee is the branch and the leaf is the foot.

When you understand the ‘tree’ - its network of roots, branches and leaves - then when seizing and before issuing you must control all the sections of the root of your opponent. This is the real meaning of ‘destroying the root’1 or ‘uprooting’ your opponent - not simply making them move as we see in the silly ‘pushing hands’ competitions!

The plough, axe, shovel/spade and stump-puller methods of The Wudang Hand Weapons - the precursors to Push Hands, along with Joining [Pushing] Feet, all develop these essential skills.

Alternative view of two images showing the devastating’ turkey’ wing choke hold based upon ‘double p’eng’ & ‘ji’ controlling and destroying the root of the whole body and the upper body simultaneously.

With Idris Mohammed Ali 1. Understanding

the ‘Body Tree,’ controlling and destroying the root of your opponent, and issuing form a major component of the 35 Weeks In The Erle Montaigue Training System and the 35 Weeks Additions as well as Houses 2, 3, 5 & 7 of The 12 Houses of Yang.

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Whole Body: Head = Leaf

Upper Body: Shoulder = Root

Upper Body: Hand = Leaf

Whole Body: Torso = Branch

Upper Body: Elbow = Branch

Lower Body: Thigh = Root

Lower Body: Knee = Branch

The ‘Body Tree’ with its network of Roots, Branches & Leaves

Lower Body: Foot = Leaf Whole Body: Foot = Root

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Using double p’eng in breaking and controlling the root of the upper body via the leaf [hand/wrist] and the branch [elbow] and the lower body via the branch [knee] - producing a devastating throw whilst breaking the wrist, elbow and shoulder.

With Woz Levins

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Further, whilst issuing we must take into account the distance and once again, using the body scales, we must also account for the opponent’s height, size and weight.

As a general rule, if he is short issue to the upper body, if he is tall - then issue to the middle or the lower body [likened to chopping down a tree]. Likewise, if your opponent is top heavy, issue to the upper body and if he is bottom heavy then issue to lower body. If both top and bottom are equal than issue to the middle!

As per the rules of Taijiquan, when issuing you must issue with the whole body, ensuring that the four cornerstones are working harmoniously and smoothly, and that the power is released wholly as if you are throwing something away without any intention or doubt of keeping it - in other words, you give yourself up to the movement.

There are two ways of moving our internal energy whilst issuing: 1. Front to Back [‘innate to acquired’] - energy sinking to tan-tien and from there to limbs.

2. Back to Front [‘acquired to innate’] - energy sticking to spine and moving from there to your limbs.

Do not focus on power. The act of thinking will hinder the release of power. The more unconscious you are of the power the heavier it will be received. If the release of power is not smooth or fluid, then this is most likely due to the error of ‘triple pausing.’

The three points of pausing are: 1. The Arms - consisting of the shoulder, elbow and heel of palm.

2. The Torso - consisting of chest, belly and tan-tien.

3. The Legs - consisting of hips, knees and heel of foot.

Once again, at the highest level of skill, the circle will become smaller with half of the circle being used to neutralize and the other half to issue - attack and defence existing within the one sphere.

Issuing in Taiji separates into many sub-energies, which include: Emptying

Binding

Breaking

Rubbing

Tangling

Crushing

Inching

Severing

Extending

Rolling

Sinking

Drilling

Dividing

Stiffening

Interrupting

Shaking

Stirring

Rousing

Twisting

Giving

Taking

Collecting

Provoking

Grabbing

Exchanging

Concluding

Sheathing

Sneaking

Outward Reeling

Inward Reeling

Folding

Joining

Lifting

Borrowing

There are more sub-energies, however, it is not in the remit of this article to list them all and describe them exhaustively, I will, however, give a very brief description for a few of the not so obvious ones below: Rolling This is when a large circle changes to a small circle. We use the spiral from the large circle to the small. An example of rolling is single whip, which can be used to devastating effect in any direction, and where each part - the fingers, knuckles and wrist - articulates turning downward like a wheel. It also develops the skill of understanding how to allow impactive forces to move around the joints instead of through them, thereby avoiding injury - especially to the wrist or hand.

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Releasing Energy This is the converse of rolling where the small circle changes to the large circle and we use the outward spiral of the change.

Sneaking This is when the attacking component is obscured by another limb or body and it sneaks out from under or around the part to strike. It is most commonly used in close quarters and/or when switching gates. In the small San-shou, the component of ‘fishes in eight,’ for example, involves the element of sneaking when switching sides.

Concluding This is when we catch our opponent off guard when there is a gap between bodies. It is a sudden release and showing of energy where we enter and strike without separating Lieh, Releasing, and Striking.

Folding Not to be confused with the folding principle of attacking or splitting! The notion is simple - if you wish to move something up, then you must begin from below and if you want to move something down, then you must begin from above.

A simple analogy for this concept would be lifting a box up from the ground… in order to do so, you must first lower yourself!

The final part of The Energies of Taijiquan [Part 4] will continue in the next volume - Lift Hands Volume 16, December 2020

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I

t was a glorious day. The sun was shining, the top was down and I was blasting round the country lanes in my Ferrari convertible.

Angelina Jolie was sitting next to me in a rather tight World Combat Arts tee-shirt. We pulled up at some traffic lights and she leaned over to give me kiss.

Left to Right: Anthony Pillage, Mo Teague [centre] & Gavin Richardson

Strange, I thought, that felt like an elbow in the ribs. I went to kiss her hoping for the familiar sensation of warm flesh on flesh - only to feel another less present but equally unmistakable sensation. It was that good old fashioned elbow again, right in the ribs! Angelina smiled at me with those wonderful plump and curvaceous lips, gently opening her mouth and said, “Turn that bloody alarm off!” Another elbow was delivered. I looked at her, puzzled but there it was again “TURN THAT BLOODY ALARM OFF!” Her accent had changed. Angelina no longer spoke with her sexy silky tone, but instead she sounded a lot more like a grumpy half asleep Scouser.

Exactly the sort of tone I’d expect to come from my wife when she had been woken despite not needing to get up for least another four hours.

One eye opened and I was back in the real world. With my best Neanderthal grunt I rolled over and hit the alarm button. It was 4am. I looked out the window to be greeted by a pitch black sky and heavy rain lashing down without mercy. The trees on the other side of the field were being bent sideways by the wind and I thought, great, I can’t wait to go out in that.

Twenty minutes later and I was checking my bag. Bag gloves: check. Boxing gloves: check. Vale tudo gloves: check. Focus mitts: check. Training knife: check. Kali sticks: check. Judo Gi: Check! Bottled water: Check!

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Fruit: Check! Butties: Check! Red Bull: Check! Training notebook: Check! Hmmm, I thought, there’s something missing. Ah yes, painkillers! I will need them later.

With the car packed up I was off. It was now 5am, the weather was atrocious and I had 280 miles in front of me for my trip to Weymouth to train with my instructor Mo Teague. The stereo went on and I pulled off the path.

Three Red Bulls later and I am sitting with the hand brake on, looking for a gap in the traffic. I can see the RAC building about a mile in front of me and I know that the M5 is just around the bend, but the M6 at 7.00am is not a nice place to be. Forty minutes and about a mile and a half later and I’ve passed the road works. The “lead welly” goes on as I join the M5. I find it quiet and open, so I try to make up for the time lost on the M6, as I head off with forced optimism towards the sunny south. My high spirits are in for another battering. The weather continues to be nasty; really nasty and I’m doing about fifty miles per hour with the wipers on full.

It seems to take hours to get to junction twenty-five, where I get off the motorway and onto the country lanes.

With a momentary smile I remember the lovely Angelina.

Finally the weather eases off and as I reach Yeovil the sun comes out. It’s now 10.30am and I’ve only got about half an hour to go.

I was introduced to Mo Teague about eight months ago by a very good friend of mine, Anthony Pillage. I had been looking for a new instructor to help with my martial arts development. After 20 years studying Karate, I wanted to widen my experience and learn new skills. I already ran a successful Karate club here in Liverpool.

I’ve always tried to be open-minded and although the classes are based on my Shotokan background, we use lots of moves and combinations from many different styles. Being Bunkai and reality-based, our attitude to training is very similar to Mo’s, so I found it easy to learn and adapt to the way he does things.

There are many Jeet Kune Do classes all over the UK but very few of Mo’s “Functional Jeet Kune Do.” As an instructor with the WCA (World Combat Arts) I get to train with him whenever I can get down to Weymouth. At the moment that’s only every other week! We opened Liverpool’s first “Functional Jeet Kune Do” class in Fazakerley on October 11, 2004, and the classes have really taken off. The excitement and enthusiasm shown has been outstanding, so much so that when I was introduced to Richard Bustillo he invited me train with him at the IMB conference in LA in June of 2005.

Better still because I will be going over as JKD instructor under Mo I can take a number of students with me. So far we have 6 people all looking forward to training with some of the best martial artists in the world, but that’s another story.

As I walk into Mo’s dojo. Its 11.15 and my legs feel like jelly. I’m as stiff as a board, but I’m happy. There are big smiles all round, as Mo welcomes me in. “Good trip down?” he asks. “Yes, no worries” I reply, “Took a bit longer than I expected, but can’t change the weather can we.” I get a warm smile and the pleasantries are over.

“Right then Gav, ten times round the dojo then ten times the other way to loosen your legs up” - and so it begins After a good warm up we start on the pads. Jab, cross, hook, uppercut, I work the combinations and come in at different angles to get my arms loosened up. Two minutes in and I’m sweating already. Jab, jab, cross. Jab, jab, cross. Jab, jab – BANG! A focus mitt slaps me across the head, “Thanks Mo.” “Guard up” he says with a smile, and on it goes. We do about half an hour on the pads working different combinations and really getting the blood flowing. We stop for a drink and I write out the combinations so I can go over them back home with my own students. One thing that I really like is that Mo is so organised and systematic. We do the class and I write down the notes. To continue the correct learning formula, I then type them up at home and give them to my students as we repeat the session in my classes. This is far better than trying to rely on my legendary bad memory.

Back to the training; “What do you want to work on today” Mo asks. “Well, grappling is my weak point so if it’s okay can we do that,” after twenty years of Karate I have a fairly good punch. I also know lots of knife and stick work, but the grappling and groundwork is all new to me, so without further ado I’m on me back and rolling young Shane from my guard into the mount before sliding over into the scarf hold.

We drill the positions again and again until Mo is happy that they are right. Next we move onto key locks. I demonstrate the few I have learnt and he fine tunes them for me. Using poor Shane as his assistant he shows me

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another half dozen ways of applying them from different positions. I have a go, but it doesn’t seem to work that well. “Do it to me so I can feel which way it goes,” I asked, knowing it is going hurt, but I feel it’s the best way to gauge the pressure needed to pull off the move.

Have you ever noticed how many involuntary sounds your body can make when pain is applied? From grunts and groans to weird growling, choky noises.

When you train with Mo Teague the first thing you learn is to tap out. Pretty much everything he demonstrates hurts and it hurts like hell. Those weird noises just can’t be held in when it feels like your having your head shoved up your own bum!

Another half an hour or so and I’ve got a few more key locks under my belt, so it’s onto the ankle and the knee.

Oh my god I want to cry! He shows me this move called the calf crush, not just once but a few times to make sure I understand it. I thought my leg was going be ripped off! Then it was my turn to try it on Shane and I must say it’s very easy to do. I also feel a hundred times better when somebody else is making the silly noises and tapping the mat.

Next we move onto a rolling knee bar. It’s Shane’s turn as I get my leg stretched and try not to sound like a big tart, groaning on the floor. The next move is the nastiest yet, a sort of triangle leg choke with an arm bar. Shane is good at this one! If he does it right, the choke is so strong that you watch the world go dark instantly. You don’t tap out of a move like that; you slap the hell out of him in blind panic. If he gets the leg position wrong and doesn’t choke you, the hold just squashes your head and jaw together so it feels like your teeth are going to explode, while the arm bar is going to dislocate your elbow. I like that one and try for ages to get it right.

With five pages of notes to type up and very sore ankles, knees, elbows and shoulders, Mo says it is time to try some Vale-Tudo (Brazilian for “Anything Goes”).

It sounds good to me; a roll on the mats and the chance to hit back.

Yeah, right! I get to lie on me back whilst Shane takes the mount. I have two minutes to get him off as many times as possible whilst trying not to get punched and elbowed in the head. It is only light contact, but when you’re on your back getting hit with elbows fists forearms and whatever else your partner can hit you with it feels like you don’t have a chance.

I weigh close to sixteen stone. Shane is probably about nine stone. Stood up I could swing him about like a rag doll. But down here he is outstanding. It didn’t matter which way I twist or turn I cannot get the little bugger off. He is like my Rottweiler with a bone. In two minutes I think I get him off once and that is only because he got bored hitting me. “Time” shouts Mo. It has to be the best word I have heard all day.

“Right, change roles” he says. I think, “Right, you little bugger… let’s see how well you move with me sitting on top of you.” I climb on top him and drop my weight. I hear funny noise as his lungs are squashed. We tap gloves and off we go. At one point I want to yell Yee-haar! And wave a cowboy hat in the air. It’s like riding a bucking bronco machine at the fair, except we are hitting each other as well.

I think I last about fifty-seconds before I’m thrown off, but I’m straight back on and decide upon a more serious focus. This time I'm staying here, I think to myself. I end up being so focused on staying on that I actually forget to hit him. That’s when I hear Mo’s voice saying, “Don’t just sit there, hit and look for submissions.”

Submissions? How the hell do you do all that? You are expected to hold on, hit and not get hit, control the partner and be ready to get a submission position when the opportunity arises. The method to attaining these seemingly ungraspable goals is to simply practice, practice and practice some more.

We did two more rounds of Vale-Tudo and I wanted to die. I was sweating like a pig, my arms and legs felt like lead. All I wanted to do was crawl over to the corner and recover in peace. But I could hear voices. The kids had started to turn up with their parents for the start of the early class, they were all watching Shane and I rolling about like two mad dogs fighting over a bone. Finally “Time!” was shouted. It was the last one of the day and I was finished (in every sense of the word).

We stood up and grinned at each other, we had both landed the odd sly dig and we were both covered in little bruises and red marks. As the kids started their warm up we went off to get changed. It was going on 4.30pm and we had been training for over FIVE hours. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun? Shane went home and

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Mo and I went for a bite to eat and a chat about training and life in general.

Is it just me or do you feel more alive after a good training session. The more it hurts and the harder you work the more you appreciate your rest periods. Sitting in the pub my body is getting itself back together, as I finish a rather large mixed grill & down a pint of fresh orange.

Mo now seems a thousand miles removed from the mad instructor who was tying me in knots just an hour or so before. We talk about how my classes are going in Liverpool and how the students are progressing. He gives me tips on fine tuning technique and ideas to help Improve fitness levels. Mostly we just chat like two mates who haven’t seen each other for a couple of weeks.

To me Mo comes across as a quiet and peaceful man - intelligent and very well educated - his manner is relaxed and open. As we walk through Weymouth he says hello to somebody virtually every other step. You can see people are genuinely happy to see him, but at the same time he has a sort of glint in his eye whereby you know if things got out of hand he would make very short work of anybody stupid enough to cross him.

By 6.00pm we were making our farewells and I was heading back to the car. A handful of pain killers, another Red Bull and I’m sorted. I head out of Weymouth, heading north to Liverpool and home.

It is just touching midnight when I stagger in through the front door. The wife has waited up for me…again. I know she is back at work at 8.00am and she looks as knackered as I feel. As I do her a cuppa she asks How my day was: “Hard, got swung around and tied in knots, punched in the face and elbowed in the head.” “The usual then” she says with a weary grin. “Yes, you know me, I Love all that.”

As we finish our drinks, I ask “Can you do us a favour in the morning?” “What?” she queries back, putting her empty cup in the sink. “Try not to wake me when you get up” With a final slap around the head, my day is finished and I follow her up to bed.

For information on Functional Jeet Kune Do classes in Liverpool Call Gavin Richardson 07968 534 640 Special thanks to Jamie Clubb for helping with the organising of this article.

Copyright©Gavin Richardson 2005.

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Fa-jing Ch'uan Internal Chinese Boxing Schools are pleased to announce our fifth annual T'ai Chi Ch'uan Camp on the sundrenched island of Cyprus in November 2020 Based at the scenic Hadjios Valley Resort in Mazotos - a couple of kilometres from the pristine beaches off the Mediterranean coastline this will be a great opportunity to learn one of the most ancient Chinese martial arts, renowned for its health properties, on the island of Aphrodite over 3 days.

The camp includes: Qigong Old Yang Style T'ai Chi Practical Training Methods For Health/ Martial Arts Self-Defence Whether you are a novice or already have some experience and would simply like to brush up on the foundations, or have ever wondered how the art is used as a system of selfdefence - then this will be the perfect way to get a great insight into T'ai chi Ch’uan (Taijiquan).

You will receive a minimum of 5 hours/day

of training under instruction over 3 days.

All villas are fully furnished, including a functional kitchen as well as a washing machine and fridge. Full Wi-Fi is available throughout the resort at no extra cost.

Date: Friday - Sunday 6-8 November 2020 Training will begin at 12pm Friday.

Cost of training: 210 Euros for those registering by Wednesday 1 April 2020. (The cost will rise to 250 Euros for those registering after this date.)

Cost of Accommodation: 150 Euros/Villa based upon a minimum of 3 nights (Fri/Sat/Sun) at Apollo Villas. Each additional night is 40 Euros for those wishing to extend their stay or arrive earlier. We have negotiated an exclusive special rate with Apollo Villas, allowing you to spend three days in luxury at an incredibly low price!

Meals: All guests will find a basic ‘Welcome Pack’ upon arrival at their villa for making their own breakfast , etc.

For lunch and supper we have negotiated a special rate at the local Mazotos Tavern - based in the centre of the village, where Bambos and his family serve up the most delicious traditional meals with a wonderful friendly service!

Alternatively, folk are free to make their own arrangements or even cook in the villa, buying produce from the local high street, if they so wish.

Please note, although partners and family are welcome, accommodation will be prioritized for those training as this is a busy time of the season!

Each villa is selfcontained and has two bedrooms and can sleep up to 4 people sharing.

Participants will be expected to arrive on site by Friday (6 November) morning latest or Thursday* evening 5 November 2020) earliest and depart Monday 9 November or after the final training session on Sunday, unless they have extended** their

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stay in advance and are departing later depending upon flights. */** These will incur additional charges.

All accommodation costs must be paid in full at the time of registration. (PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE NONREFUNDABLE.) Nearest Airport: Larnaca (15 km from resort).

Information for local carhire services is available upon request.

Please contact Nasser Butt for further information and registration: Tel: +44(0)7792242150 Email: explosivefist@gmail.co m Visit our website for further information on what we teach: www.fajingchuan.co.uk Website for Hadjios Valley: www.apollovillas.com/ hadjios-valley/

The Oldest Established School of The Erle Montaigue System In The UK

Ammanford Scouts Hall Monday 7.30 - 9.15pm Wednesday 7.00 - 9.00pm Sunday Full Day (Monthly)

Peter Jones Chief Instructor Taiji Pa-Kua Internal Fighting Arts

taijipakua@gmail.com

Gaku Shi Juku Kendo Kai www.leicesterkendo.com

Internal Force The Complete Jin

The power is complete. The power of your whole body is trained to become a single unit, distinguishing clearly between substantial [Full] and insubstantial [Empty].

To issue power, it is necessary to have root.

Power starts from your foot, it is directed [commanded] at your waist, and expresses at your fingers, issuing from your spine and back. With it there should also be a rousing of all your spirit, [paying attention to] when the opponent’s power is about to come out but has not yet issued, my power connects with and invades his instantly, neither late nor early. It is like using a leather [tinder] to start a fire or as if a spring is gushing forth.

I advance and retreat without the slightest disorder, seeking the straight within the curve, I store and then issue. Thus I am able to be effortlessly successful. This is called borrowing his force to hit him with, using four ounces to move a thousand pounds.

Five Character Secret By Li I-yu Taken from T’ai Chi Ch’uan Ta Wen Chen Wei-Ming

Regular Contributors:

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Tony Bailey Louiseneige Be Nasser Butt Amy Faulkner Andy Haynes Peter Jones Dr. Gregory T. Lawton Katherine Loukopoulos Alan R. Ludmer Gavin Mulholland Krish Pillay Colin Power

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ontacts

Editor: Nasser Butt Email: lifthandsmagazine@gmail.com Peter Jones - Chief Instructor Taiji Pa-Kua Internal Fighting Arts taijipakua@gmail.com The Guild of Internal Martial & Healing Arts Email: theguildofinternalarts@gmail.com

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The Art of Louiseneige Be

Abstract

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