INSIGHTS

   from  the              

Ching Yi Kung Fu Association Newsletter

JULY 1989

  by Michael Alan Brown            President -  CYKFA

Edited by W Kraig Stephens CYKFA Black Belt #68

PUBLISHED WITH PERMISSION OF THE CHING YI KUNG FU ASSOCIATION

INSIGHTS:  "Gongfu is Gongfu":  After completing the Ching Yi Kung Fu Association basic training program and receiving my Black Belt certification, I first considered specializing in the Praying Mantis system, then eventually chose Xing Yi as my lifetime specialty.  However, I have never set aside the other forms that I learned from Dr. Wong.  I still maintain regular practice of Taiji, Bagua, and the Shaolin forms.

Over the past 18 years, I have come to realize that if you diligently practice the complete CYKFA system, you and the forms start to become "one with each other", and the forms themselves start to become indistinguishably interwoven.  Perhaps those of you who have taken other specialties would have different experiences, but as a Xing Yi man, I now find that all my Gongfu is Xing Yi.  The two essential elements -- the Xing (form/technique) and the Yi (will/intent) -- are always the same regardless of what action my body is doing at the time, be it Beating Tiger Pole, White Crane, Taiji, or the Five Elements.

If you know where -- and how -- to look into your forms, you will find that all the same techniques and principles are there, and that "style" and "origin" and "differences" in the martial arts exist only in the minds of beginners.  They need clear-cut separations, compartmentalizing, and simplification to assist them in choosing a school with training methods that fit their particular needs.  The chosen style allows learning the basics, instills pride and self-confidence and  fosters a feeling of belonging to a "unique" group.

Such a separation is useful in early training, and the perpetuation of the different "styles" and "forms" should be maintained for the sake of artistic and historical continuity and to help the next generation of martial artists to get started on the path.  But at some point, you must realize that you are not a Praying Mantis man or a Bagua man or a Taiji man, but a Gongfu man.       Gongfu is Gongfu.