“There are many styles of Chinese martial arts. After the Sui (589-618 AD) and the Tang (618-907) dynasties, they were divided into two schools: shaolin and wutang. Within these schools, there are further divisions. We speak of shaolin as external style and wutang as internal style. Others say shaolin is hard style (wai kung), and wutang is soft style (nei kung). In any case, because they are arts of combat, Chinese martial arts must contain both soft and hard techniques so that they can encompass both defense and offence. The only difference between shaolin and wutang os the method of training students…(in) my own experience, younger or stronger people are better suited to practice shaolin … wutang takes longer. … practice … using large circular movements; but combat conditions require small, curved movement. The more you practice … the smaller your curve of movement should become”
Chen Pang Ling’s Original Tai Chi Chuan Textbook
The Best Punch is a Counter
“I have already stated that attack is the trump suite in boxing, and have also pointed out that attack does not necessarily mean rushing or charging at or after your opponent. Attack, indeed, commences earlier than hitting. For the ideal punch, or perhaps it would be better to say the best punch, the most effective one, is a good, stiff counter, to a ducked, brushed aside, or otherwise evaded lead.
It is usually best, whenever possible, to “draw” your opponent into a lead before hitting out on your own account. The advantages gained thereby are four in number. In the first place, you have forced your opponent to commit himself to a decided step and can therefore be moderately certain of what he is about to do. Secondly, you have to a very large extent deprived him of the ability to change his position and guard swiftly enough to deal successfully with any offensive you may yourself adopt. Thirdly, by his mere action of hitting out, you will or should secure an opening of sorts, can or should make him present you with a fair target at which to aim. Fourthly, and most important of all, you will have borrowed some very considerable force from him to add to the power of your own “counter” delivery. For the more speedy and the heavier his advance or lunge towards you in the action of punching, the heavier and more painful will be the “dig” with which you meet him on his way.”
The Straight Left and How to Cultivate It, 1910, by Jim Driscoll
Tranquil Sitting
“Meditation develops your innate energies. With practice, you can take charge of your mind and body, preventing disease before it arises. Shouldn’t everyone make an effort to learn something like this? Superficially, meditation looks easy, but if you practice without patience, determination, and a long-term sense of devotion you will never realize its benefits. To give readers a guide to meditation, I have therefore summarized my many decades of experience.”
Yin Shi Zi, October, 1954
“To meditate means to realize the imperturbability of one’s original nature. Meditation means to be free from all phenomena, and calmness means to be internally unperturbed. There will be calmness when one is free from external objects and is not perturbed.”
Bruce Lee
Another great and very clear book on meditation is Yin Shi Zhi’s Tranquil Sitting: A Taoist Journal on Meditation and Chinese Medial Qigong. It sounds imposing but it isn’t. It contains very clear and practical instruction on how to meditate.
