Sifu Wong Kiew Kit's Home Page

Questions-Answers Series

SELECTION OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
FEBRUARY 2017 PART 3

Question 1

Answer

You have done very well in your Vipassana meditation, but it is obviously not for you. Your attainment is meant for monks who want to be enlightened. But you are not ready for enlightenment. You should practice something down to earth, like our arts.

Question 2

Answer

It is a matter of perspective, just like samsara is nirvana and nirvana is samsar is a matter of perspective. If you are enlightened, samsara is nirvana. If you are not enlightened, nirvana is samsara.

Similarly, if you are enlightened, life is an illusion. If you are not enlightened, life is real.

As you are not ready for enlightenment, your life is real, not an illusion. If you don't eat, you go hungry. If you can't avoid your opponent's attack in sparring, you will be hit.

Question 3

Answer

A monastery is for monks who want to be enlightened. If you are not ready for enlightenment yet, you should not be in the monastery.

Our school is for normal people who want to live a normal life well. To be healthy and happy, to have a family, to bring goodness to other people is normal, and this is what we give priority to in our training.

To be sick and unhappy, to shy from having a family, to bring harm to other people is not normal. This is what we forbade our students to do.

Question 4

Answer

You need not be scared. Having insight is beneficial, but abusing insight is not. I would suggest that you practice standing meditation instead of sitting mediation. Practicing chi kung daily is an excellent way to regain good health.

Question 5

Answer

The teacher monk is right. Once you have the thought of not getting enlightened, or have any thought, you will be pulled back to the phenomenal world.

The methods you underwent at the monastery are meant for those who want to be enlightened, not for people who want to live a normal life in the phenomenal world.

If you want to live a normal life well, diligently practice the arts taught in our school.

Question 6

Answer

You can and should do whatever for your wholesome needs.

Sitting and walking meditation as practiced in the monastery do not contribute to your wholesome needs at present, though they may contribute to the wholesome needs of monks who want to be enlightened. So, stop practicing them.

Chi kung and kingfu as practiced in our school contribute to your wholesome needs. So, continue practicing them.

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Editorial Note: Franz' questions will be continued in the March 2017 Part 1 issue of the Question-Answer Series.

Question 7

Answer

In "Dragonfly Dots Water" the sole of the foot is used as a striking point, whereas in "Reverse Horse Spring Kick" the back of the heel is used. Relatively, "Dragonfly Dots Water" is gentle, whereas "Reverse Horse Spring Kick" is hard.

Both techniques are used mainly to strike an opponent's groin unexpectedly, with the exponent's back towards the opponent as if the exponent attempts to run away. Although there are fine shades of difference between the two techniques, they can be used interchangeably.

Question 8

Answer

It is faster to help a sick person recover by teaching him chi kung, and it must be the right type of chi kung. Actually Taijiquan is chi kung, but it is powerful chi kung.

For convenience and better understanding, we may classify chi kung into three categories:

1. Health Chi Kung -- for overcoming illness, and attaining good health, vitality and longevity.
2. Chi Kung for Peak Performance -- with focus on mental clarity and internal force, and includes chi king for scholars and chi kung for warriors.
3. Chi Kung for Spiritual Fulfillment -- ranging from the basics of being peaceful and happy to the most advanced of expanding into the Cosmos.

Taijiquan belongs to chi kung of the second type, i.e. chi kung for peak performance. Peak performance includes effective combat as well as daily living. Hence, Taijiquan is too powerful for sick people to recover.

Examples of health chi kung are Five-Animal Play, 18 Jewels, and 18 Lohan Hands. It is a common misconception that to recover from illness, especially from so-called incurable diseases like cancer and heart problems, one must practice powerful chi kung. This is a big mistake.

For a sick person to practice powerful chi kung is like asking him to lift heavy weights or run a marathon. It will aggravate his illness or may even kill him.

A sick person should practice not only low-level chi kung, he should also practice the least powerful of the low-level chi kung. Five-Animal Play and 18 Jewels are excellent choices, and they should be practiced at the lowest level. It they are performed at high level generating too much internal force, they could be detrimental.

Another common misconception is that any chi kung that can overcome so-called incurable diseases is very high-level. One main reason for this misconception is that chi kung has been so ridiculously debased today that much of chi kung practiced today is merely gentle physical exercise that cannot overcome any illness.

Hence, any genuine chi kung which is actually low-level can be wrongly mistaken to be high-level, just as in a hypothetical situation where everyone were blind, a person who could see with only one eye would be considered advanced, when actually he had been compromised when compared with a normal person who can see with both eyes.

Why is chi kung that is specially meant to overcome illness be considered as the lowest level? This is because overcoming illness is the first of the steps in the progress to the highest goals in one's development. Chi kung can also be classified into the following five categories:

1. Medical Chi Kung -- for overcoming pain and illness.
2. Chi Kung for Health -- for attaining good health, vitality and longevity.
3. Scholars' Chi Kung -- for promoting mental clarity.
4. Warriors' Chi Kung -- for increasing internal force.
5. Spiritual Chi Kung -- for attaining the highest spiritual achievement.

The progression described in the above five categories of chi kung is only logical. If a person is sick, he must overcome his illness before he can talk about having good health to do his work well. He should perform his job well, i.e. duty before aspiration, before he enjoys himself in scholarly or sporting pursuits. After having done his duty to himself, family and society, and have enjoyed his scholarly and sporting hobbies, should be dedicated himself to attain the highest spiritual fulfilment.

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If you have any questions, please e-mail them to Grandmaster Wong via his Secretary at stating your name, country and e-mail address.

LINKS

Selected Reading

• What is Zen
• Historical Development of 16 Jewels and Shaolin Wahnam Methodology and Material
• Seeing the World as I Never Could Before
• Crushing Fist of Praying Mantis Kungfu
• Junk Shop and Cowboy Town

Courses and Classes

• Intensive Chi Kung Course
• Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course
• Intensive Taijiquan Course

• List of Certified Shaolin Wahnam Instructors
• List of Shaolin Wahnam Chi Kung Healers