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MONTAIGUE
Author: Sensei Ron
You went on to England from the USA?
Yes. England is, to me, like coming .home. I have people teaching there who are my own students now and I like them a lot. I went to Manchester first of all for our Northern England representative, Steve Hurst. Steve was one of Master Chu King-hung's instructors and now, for reasons of his own, has decided to come along with us.
What is Steve's background?
Steve has been involved in the Martial Arts for many years. He started in Karate and other Martial Arts and eventually found Taiji to be what suited him the most. He is a good lad and has great respect for his students. Like most in the UK, Steve likes to teach Taiji as a fighting art. His students are good people who like to get into the self-defence area. I had one person come all the way from Malta for the workshop. Mario Borg has been studying the Martial Arts for many years. He teaches the T' ai Ki Ken of Kenichi Saiwa and has been trying to glean what he could from my videos for years, so this was our first meeting. His Martial Art is very good and he's a really nice man. Mario now represents the WTBA in Malta. From Manchester I went to teach for our Leicester rep., Russ Merryfield. Again, Russ has a long background of Martial Arts and still teaches other Kung-Fu styles - they break bricks at demos etc. and also treat Taiji as it was originally intended, as a fighting art.
Next was Swansea for our rep in Wales, Tony Court. Once again, Tony has been studying many different Martial Arts for many years and is an old muso like myself. (So, too, is Russ Merryfield). The Welsh lads like to rough it a little and I quite enjoy myself when I go there. It was a little different as I also had to give a Taiji healing workshop in Swansea where we had more women than men. Usually I have all men.
From Swansea I went to London and I really like Jim and his students because they're tough. Mostly East Enders with broad Cockney accents and they like to fight. In fact it's really good for Taiji when Jim gives a demo somewhere, and some Karate school is also there. Some of the lads from the Karate school at their last demo were 'pooh-poohing' the Taiji so Warren, one of Jim's students who knows his way around the ring, walked over to this chap and invited him out! He backed down quickly. These lads are always fighting! During the class, if one lad passes another, he will give him a quick shot to the midsection or face and an ensuing rough-and-tumble ignites. But all in good fun as they all have been together with Jim for many years, which says a lot for his way of teaching. They also practice Hung-gar and Jim goes to Hong Kong each year for lessons. They're a nice lot of lads. Jim Uglow has a very hard punch - in fact, one of the hardest that I have been hit by, along with Alan Weiss in Ottawa.
In London we had one man arrive from the West Indies especially for the workshop, Patrick Boulassy. We had Georges Saby, our rep from France, Leo Wagner, one of our reps from Germany, and Gerold Issur, also from Germany and our rep, along with Tuesday, his lady.
You have been hit by ... Please explain?
I practise and teach Iron Shirt Qigong and it is my belief that anyone who does practise and teach this should be open to a full-powered shot to the midsection, including the solar plexus. So I allow them to have a go. I felt the power right enough, but nothing happens. It is also a way of knowing who is able to use the whole body in punching and who cannot. Jim can.
And Alan Weiss?
Yes, from London I went to Ottawa for our Canadian rep, Michael Babin. Michael is a colourful character who also teaches Taiji as it should be taught - as a fighting art. He has a great attitude towards the Martial Arts and his students and is always trying to bring people together in friendship. One of his teachers is Alan Weiss, who studied from Mr Li. Alan was allowed to punch me and this is the only time I have felt the old barrel bend. He has tremendous power in his short punches.
The 'Old Barrel'?
Yes, in Iron Shirt Qigong we tend to build up a sinewy mass, unlike muscle fibre, that literally forms a barrel around the vital points on the front of the body. It's not like rippling muscle, as this would tear and damage the internal organs if struck with this much power.
I was in Ottawa for three days and then travelled to Denver for Mike Sigman. Now, I had never met Mike and did not know his Taiji at all. Now that I have met him, I know his Taiji is very good. Mike is a strong man and has a torture chamber in his basement!
A torture chamber!?
Yes. Well to me it is, because it reeks of hard work. Every conceivable contraption for developing the right muscles for Taiji is down there; things that I just looked at and would not even attempt. He has these iron bars that he sort of throws out and catches and I just tried to pick one of these things up and although I probably could, desisted for fear of tearing muscles! He has a 'thing' made out of a woodworker's bench with springs and pulleys etc. This is to teach him to use connective energy when striking. And
strike he does! This man can knock you out using his shoulder! And he does not even have to 'load' it; it can be lying on your back when he strikes.
Mike is also a nice man who tries to bring people together. He also has a woman student, Kim Furry, who is the 1989 and 1990 women's heavyweight (although she is only all of8 stone) pushing hands champion. She won this title in the US National Chinese Martial Arts Competition in Houston, Texas. Mike's views differ in several directions but we got along very well as he, too, has the tendency to 'ask to see' when people make ridiculous claims etc. If they can do it to him then he will believe. All of this is good for the Taiji business in making it a little more realistic. So now I go back home and how happy I will be to be back in the lucky country. I love Australia.
You have not talked about Pa-Kua Chang. Did you teach any of this art?
Yes, I usually only teach this rare art when people ask. Michael Babin is really interested in Pa-Kua and so we spent some time on that area. It was interesting because Mike is of the larger variety and some of his lads are also. So we worked on the Pa-Kua in its two levels, that for the larger person and that for the smaller person. The larger person is able to just crush anything that comes in contact with him to get at the centre while the smaller person must use evasive techniques and the peculiar Pa-Kua walking:
Tell me about this type of walking, why do you do it?
Many people think that we walk in a certain circular way and using a certain slipping footwork in order to move quickly. That's wrong. We walk this way as the feet play an important role in attack and defence. A Pa-Kua person should be able to attack with his hands and feet at the same time, attacking to liver and kidney points on the legs as the hands are pounding inward. We also practised Da-lu and his lads were very quick to pick up this exercise.
I thought that you didn't agree with 'normal Push Hands'?
Da-lu is not Push Hands. This is where we learn about footwork. The hand applications are only there so that we can learn the footwork.
Your overall impressions of your trip?
As I said, it will be good to get back home. I love the people that I teach and I love meeting new friends but the travelling is so bloody draining, both mentally and physically. Usually when I get back home from one of these trips, I never want to see another airport for as long as I live and I miss my wife and two and a half children greatly ... a missing that even a phone call each day cannot fix.
Thanks Erie.
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