|
Tang Soo Do Martial Way Association
Grandmaster Ah Po's 2012 Chi Gong Symposium
by Master
Kevin Watson - 6th Dan
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
On
April 11-15, 2012, Grandmaster Andy Ah Po conducted,
for only the third time ever, an in-depth Chi Gong
Symposium for Ko Dan Ja. This event was by special
invitation and was held at the beautiful Canterbury
Retreat & Conference Center in Oviedo, Florida,
which was the site of the 2010 Tang Soo Do Martial
Way Association Ko Dan Ja Shim Sa, and an excellent
setting for the training and fellowship that spanned
a five-day period.
As anyone who has ever studied anything to do with
Chi Gong can attest, Chi Gong (or Ki, etc.)
represents many things to many people. For some, it
is a way to enhance health. For others, a way to
seek an increase in Martial Arts skills. Many people
study and practice Chi Gong in order to experience
healing or augment their existing scientific
knowledge. Although the study of Chi Gong involves
all of these factors and more, in my experience
prior to meeting and training with Kwan Jang Nim Ah
Po, the study of Chi Gong and it's obvious benefits
remained a strange, esoteric subject to me. Riddled
with mysterious terminology and based on ancient
knowledge which is thousands of years old, to study
Chi Gong seemed as if one had to dedicate all their
time and energy to unlocking all of the riddles one
was confronted with in even trying to achieve a
basic level of understanding.
 |
|
Thankfully, because of Kwan Jang Nim's vast
experience in the study and practice of Chi Gong in
addition to his cultural background, he has
developed a teaching methodology which allows all of
us, as students, to clearly study and approach
training in Chi Gong in a natural, practical manner.
In my humble opinion, one of the most important
factors in Kwan Jang Nim's teaching is the following
principle, which he has expressed on many occasions:
"Ki--commonly referred to as 'internal energy'
or 'life-force', cannot be developed because
it already exists in all living things in the
universe." This is essential, because then
one is free to approach their understanding of Chi
by doing 3 things:
1.) Get in touch with...
2.) Access...
3.) and finally, Channel your Chi.
On an
intellectual level, this is understandable. But, how
do we as practitioners of Martial Arts make this a
reality in our training? Thankfully, Kwan Jang Nim
showed us the way during the entire duration of the
Symposium--through training and practice!
For example, from the very beginning of training,
Kwan Jang Nim taught us the importance of being
open to change. This concept would prove
to be very important over the course of training--as
evidenced by the unbelievable attention to detail in
technique shared with us by Kwan Jang Nim. From
intense practice in basics to the training of all
traditional Tang Soo Do Hyung up to and including
Sei-Shan, the level of detail in every aspect of
movement, breathing, and timing were observed and
corrected by Kwan Jang Nim. As such, we were able to
focus on "getting in touch with, accessing, and
channeling our Chi" rather than trying to "develop"
it, the way one would develop musculature by lifting
weights, or develop one's mind by study of a subject
such as Calculus, etc. To me, this is a real and
genuine "paradigm shift" in thinking and awareness
of Chi Gong.
| |
 |
Also,
strong emphasis was placed on understanding
breathing methods that are seldom, if ever, taught
in any meaningful way. Kwan Jang Nim was able to
show us through exercises and repetition of
techniques how important breathing is, and how it
allows the practitioner to transmit the correct type
of energy--or power. All attendees were given
instruction in Weh Ga Ryu
(external), Neh Ga Ryu (internal), and the
little-known or understood Chung Ga Nyu (combination
of internal and external) methods of breathing that
were taught and developed by the Great Grandmaster
Hwang Kee himself. Why is this so important? As Kwan
Jang Nim Ah Po explained: "Before the Tang Soo Do
practitioner can actually exercise conscious control
over their Chi, they must first be able to
demonstrate control over their external organism
(anatomy, motor skills, physical actions, etc.).
This can only be achieved and accomplished by
understanding the significance of performing
techniques both technically and 'characteristically'
correct." Again, this is part and parcel of why
this training is so crucial, because it gives all
students a way to approach their training with a new
perspective. As Kwan Jang Nim also said: "This is
not so much a 'change' in technique as it is an
enhancement in training."
Words
are sometimes poor methods to describe experiences
and feelings we all have in life. With the type of
training all of us who were privileged to attend
this Symposium shared, this is most certainly the
case, and most especially with me. Training with
Grandmaster Ah Po over the 5-day period and learning
so much--not only about Tang Soo Do and the
technical aspects of the art we love, but about Kwan
Jang Nim's personal background and upbringing in the
traditional Native Hawaiian "Kahuna" and "Mana"
learning principles and methods--was an eye-opening
experience, to say the least! Although the learning
and training never stops at any time when training
with Kwan Jang Nim, opportunities such as the recent
Symposium serve to highlight the need we all have to
remain students always--first and foremost.
Although there were many more training techniques
and methods taught to us during the training than
what I have described here, the entire experience is
one that must be personally engaged in so as to
achieve any level of appreciation for the knowledge
that was given to us by Kwan Jang Nim Ah Po. One
final example I will share that reinforces how much
it means to me is Kwan Jang Nim's introduction of
the "Yu Hwa" hyung that he created in order to help
practitioners obtain a higher level of performance
as well as to preserve his physical legacy. Although
on the surface these hyung may seem simple, they are
anything but! But one observation Kwan Jang Nim gave
to us was that we did not have to go outside of
the Tang Soo Do Ryu Pa to utilize these techniques.
And that, to me, is what is so beautiful about what
we did and how we trained. It should serve as a
lesson to all of us regardless of our background or
other Martial Arts we may have been exposed to--we
don't have to study something else to understand Chi
Gong--it is already a part of our art and has always
been present whether we are aware of it or not!
Truly, this revelation made me happy after many
years of trying to even understand Chi Gong, and I
think I can speak for the majority of attendees when
I say that this was one of countless examples of joy
we experienced in "Getting in Touch With, Accessing,
and Channeling our Chi."
 |
|
|
Grandmaster
Darryl Khalid |
|
In
closing, I would like to thank Grandmaster Ah Po for
being open and willing to share his time, knowledge,
and profound wisdom which spans his 65 years in
Martial Arts. All of us who had the distinct honor
and privilege of attending are in your debt, Kwan
Jang Nim! Additionally, special thanks are in order
for Grandmaster Darryl Khalid, who also gave
willingly of his time and energy throughout the
training and taught us additional Chi Gong exercises
and methods, including "Iron Shirt" Chi Gong and
sharing stories about his training in China. Many
thanks also for Stephen Propst, Sa Bom Nim, who is
Grandmaster Ah Po's senior student and an
inspiration to us all as he accompanies Grandmaster
Ah Po on his travels and helps us to understand
Grandmaster's teachings by his example as a true Sa
Bom. Finally, a hearty thanks goes out to the
following Sa Bom who attended: Master John Dove,
Master Constantino Terrigno, Master Annette Ah
Po-Macias, Master Simon Preston, and Master Adam
Preston.
As Kwan Jang Nim taught us, we are all "Ohana"--family--unified
by our love of Tang Soo Do and each other as
brothers and sisters in the art. This is probably
the most profound gift of all that we all received
as a result of being a part of the 2012 Chi Gong
Symposium. Hopefully we will all be able to train
together again in the very near future!
Tang Soo!!
|
