COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION OF MY TRAINING -- DRAGON FORCE, LIGHTNING SPEED AND DIM MAK
Exploding Dragon Force during the Dragon Strength Course
Sifu Kevin Barry
Shaolin Wahnam Ireland
19th December 2014
Dear Family,
Dragon Strength was by far the most extraordinary event I have had the privilege to experience in all my time in this quite extraordinary school. It amazed and awed on so many levels that I can only nod in agreement to the descriptions of it as 'life-changing'. It constitutes a complete transformation of my training of the arts and a profound deepening of my appreciation of the enormous depth of the arts. But most of all it allowed me experience first hand the quite exceptional power of our minds, a lesson which is worth its weight in gold.
Far from the course being about learning how to kick and punch using patterns from the Dragon Strength Chi Circulation Set, it was in fact an absolute masterclass in high-level mind-training. It affected every part of my being and I suspect it will take years for it to be processed. It was simply incredible.
Our journey began with the learning of the routine of the set on Day 1. There was much about the form that I hadn't picked up from the video so having Sigung revel the set in all its wonder was an absolute joy. The set is a lovely cross over between Taijiquan and Shaolinquan and as someone who had never practiced Shaolinquan before, some of the patterns were less familiar to me in terms of flow than others. But this was great and I learned so much from just the learning of the form. I particularly loved the Dim Mak combat sequence - I must confess that I hadn't spotted it beforehand. Having it revealed was one of those oooohhhh aaaaahhhhh moments!
It doesn't seem appropriate to differentiate between Day 2, 3 and 4 as they all merged so seamlessly together as one single flow of Shaolin wonder. The three keys skills offered by the course - Dragon Force, Lightening Speed and Dim Mak - were all transmitted by Sigung over these days in a manner than was so effortless, there were times when it was quite unbelievable what we were experiencing.
Day 2 begun with us learning the breathing skills of the set. I had never been taught such high level breathing skills before, and although it was only a stepping stone to Dragon Force for us, I could feel my Taijiquan skills expanding within my mind as the lesson progressed. It was wonderful to experience and just by themselves, these breathing skills leave me with so much to practice and benefit from in the months ahead.
Sometime after this, without any formal announcement or declaration, Sigung transmitted the quite profound skill of developing Dragon Force to the class. Sigung just lead us into it. It was one of these priceless moments: in Horse Stance, performing the opening patterns of the set, following the instructions and smiling from the heart, it was as if I was suddenly overcome by a boundless and bouncing flowing energy that was very powerful, fast and free. It was like the headwaters of a great river where the flowing water is full of turbulence and energy and bounces down the river channel with tremendous vigour and life. Think perfect white-water rafting conditions!
Somehow I feel that as the skill of training Dragon Force develops within me over time, my experiences of it will change: the white-water effect was just a playful introduction! Perhaps in years to come it will feel like more like the lower reaches of a great river where the water flow is more controlled and steady, deeper with greater volume, more powerful, and somewhat more suitable for harnessing in ways that are of benefit to me. Its inherent wisdom will flourish too I suspect, for very wise it most certainly is. Its the journey of a life time in finding out.
After experiencing Dragon Force we progressed to learn a fabulous spectrum of very high level skills: developing flowing Dragon force on both the energy and mind levels, developing consolidating Dragon force on both the energy and mind levels, developing flowing and consolidating force at the same time and, of course, the quite remarkable skill of using our mind to direct our chi to direct our form, which by the way was how we attained the skill of Lightening Speed!
Practicing Taijiquan at the level of the mind is to experience the Great Teachings of Past Masters of the Art. No, I don't mean learning about them or understanding them from an intellectual perspective, but to actually experience them. To feel them. To breathe them. To be them. For me, It felt as if the boundaries between my physical self and the Universal Mind broke down somewhat and the energy of the cosmos became part of my consciousness … or rather, my consciousness became part of the cosmos. I know this already from an intellectual perspective as most people do, but to actually feel it was the key.
As I practiced my Taijiquan on the level of the mind (with fairly wild form I must confess) I could feel great spirals of chi circulating and flowing all around me and within me: the chi was flowing from my body out through my arms into my Cloud Hands … and flowing from my Cloud Hands into my arms and into my body. It was as of my Clouds Hands were the conductor to a wonderful orchestral flow of energy and delightful harmonies. It was a very beautiful experience.
Developing Lightning Speed during the Dragon Strength Course
But despite the wonder of the moment, it was of course only a little glimpse of the true nature of the art made possible by the extremely high level at which Sigung teaches intensive courses. Repeating the point from my opening paragraph, my appreciation of the enormous depth of Taijiquan was one of the true highlights of the course for me.
The mysterious art of Dim Mak - the third great skill offered by the course - was taught on the fourth day.
After Sigung taught the essence of the Art to the class - all of which is a closed secret - we partnered up to apply Dim Mak on each other. We first had to use Dim Mak to inflict an internal injury on our opponent and, subsequently, heal the injury using skills which are normally taught in a healing course. I trained with three people that afternoon and for my first two partners I certainly felt some internal effects of the Dim Mak applied on me. Likewise, they felt some internal energy effects from my application of Dim Mak on them. It was then however that I paired up with Dr. Damian Sipak …
When Dr. Damian Sipak applied the Dim Mak on me it was as if the strike bypassed my physical self and energetic self and struck directly at the level of mind - my thinking facility was taken from me, I lost balance and collapsed against the wall in a blank state of being. I can't claim I was in a daze, for to be in a daze implies a level of thinking - I was simply blank.
Moments later when Damian Sipak applied the healing techniques to purge the Dim Mak from me, I collapsed on the floor in a heap and experienced a truly epic and all powerful emotional release of energy, thoughts and feelings. It was so powerful! It was as if the cleansing of a lifetime of Chi Kung visited me as I lay on ground in a deep state of Chi Flow. Damian Sipak worked continuously on me throughout the Chi Flow (which lasted sometime) and succeeded in purging the Dim Mak from my system. For this I am extremely grateful. Thank you Sipak!
After the class, healed from the Dim Mak but still extremely emotional, my dear Brother Sean very kindly looked after me by providing a shoulder to cry on (both literally and figuratively) and offered words of comfort. Thank you Sean. It was a demonstration of the true meaning of the word brotherhood.
And to ensure absolutely no ill effects remained, Sigung very kindly cleared away any residual negative the following day - it wasn't necessary as I had been purged but did offer me peace of mind. Thank you Sigung.
I was very grateful that Day 5 was more grounded and worldly! We trained combat in the morning with a sequence we devised ourselves from the set and Sigung taught some invaluable skills in how to apply our sequence. In the afternoon we enjoyed the last of the force training session - using Dragon Force to train Taijiquan and Iron Wire force - and we were also introduced to the most exquisite but as-of-yet-not-formally-named slow moving "Black Tortoise" method. In two words: powerful and very beautiful.
And so ended Dragon Strength. It was quite an experience.
***
A week has now passed since the course ended. While the full benefit of the course will take years (lifetimes?) to process, already I can feel hugely significant shifts: my thoughts are clearer, my perception is wiser and I have a calm presence in myself. It is as if my mind has grown and is now operating at a deeper level of consciousness. Life is the same but my perception of it has changed.
Naturally I have been very tired this from all the force training - earlier in the week I went to bed just after 7pm … something I haven't done since I was a kid! Returning to a new equilibrium in my energy levels and seeing how my training evolves over the next while promises to be a most interesting adventure.
***
So how do I go about offering my deepest and sincerest gratitude to Sigung for offering to both myself and the 52 other course participants such an outstanding treasure as Dragon Strength? Easy - I do so in simple, direct and effective manner: Thank you Sigung. Thank you from the absolute core of my very being. It was a most extraordinary experience and one that left me truly humbled, awed and very incredibly empowered. It was an extraordinary privilege to be invited to attend and one that I am extremely grateful for. Thank you and may the blessings of a 'Thousand Splendid Suns' visit you and your wonderful family for your kindness and generosity.
I would also like to thank Sipak Chun Yian and Siguma Wei Foong for all their extremely hard work in organising everything.
I would also like to thank Dr. Damian Sipak for very kindly adding an extra special bonus to the course - a cleansing so deep, it would have to be experienced to be believed. Thank you Sipak!
I would also like to offer my deepest thanks to my Sifu for her endless wisdom, encouragement and teachings to me over the years, and also for the lovely words of encouragement offered in the lead up to the course. They created the perfect mindset heading to Malaysia and contributed to the epic experience that it proved to be.
All the best and happy training to all my dear brothers, sisters, uncles and aunties I had the privilege of sharing the experience with - it was a pleasure.
Kevin
Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan and Shaolin Chi Kung classes in Dublin & Cork
http://www.taijiquan.ie/
Applying dim-mak in free sparring during the Dragon Strength Course
The above discussion was reproduced from the thread Dragon Strength Course Experiences from our Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
LINKS
Videos of Dragon Strength Course 6-12 December 2014
Videos of Dragon Strength Course 12-18 December 2014
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