ORIGIN, SOFTNESS, FORCE AND SHEN OF COTTON PALM
"Flowing Breeze" of Cotton Palm
Question
Where did the Cotton Palm lineage originate from, what was known of the set before Sigung learnt it and what insight has Sigung acquired since learning and passing on this unique set?
On learning the Cotton Palm I can say that there is something deeply embedded in this set. Personally I have never experienced such power and focus during a course before. The softness, force and expanding shen were a gift worth waiting for.
James
Answer
I believe Cotton Palm originated from very high level Shaolin Kungfu. It was at a level most Shaolin proactitioners might not have attained or even dreamt about. Later it was developed by the great Zhang San Feng on the Wudang Mountain. It might have been taught at the time of Wang Lang, who lived a few centuries later, as Cotton Palm was also found in Praying Mantis Kungfu.
However, it was lost in Shaolin Kungfu. Shaolin students practiced Shaolin Kungfu as an external, hard style, though we in Shaolin Wahnam still practice it as internal kungfu. Cotton Palm in Praying Mantis today exist as outward form, without its inner aspects. Cotton Palm in Wudang Kungfu is stll soft and flowing, but usually without its tremendous force.
Cotton Palm was known as an internal art and was very powerful. It would be difficult for many people, especially in Western societies, to image how one could be very powerful without using muscular strength. Indeed, muscular strength is strictly discouraged.
This is a very significant thought I learned in practicing high-level kungfu, i.e. one must not use muscular strength. In fact, the more relaxed a practitioner is, the more powerful he becomes. If he tensese his muscles, he blocks his energy flow which contributes to internal force. Some kungfu practitioners may know this principle, but they never have any chance to experience it.
I recalled the time when I learned Wuzuquan from Sifu Chee Kim Thong, the living treasure of the People’s Republic of China. His eldest son, Sifu Chee Boon Leong, who taught us on behalf of his father, always reminded us “mg meng yong lak” which in the Fujian dialect means “not to use strength’.
At that time I did not know how to develop internal force, though I could experience it from my sihengs, or senior classmates, who were very powerful but did not use any muscular strength. I believed like most people that if I practiced the technique over a long time, I would eventually have internal force. Our students are very lucky; they know the underlying philosophy and have the necessary skills to acquire internal force. It was later when I learned from Sifu Ho Fatt Nam, the third generation successor from the Shaolin Monastery at Quanzhou in South China, that I developed some internal force of my own.
Many years before this when I was learning from Uncle Righteousness, I learned a Cotton Palm set from a sidai, or junior classmate. This set was from Praying Mantis Kungfu, and was just called Cotton Palm. But I did not know how to develop Cotton Palm force. I just learned the routine. Most people, then and now, just learn the routine.
When I prepare myself to teach Cotton Palm, I read all I could from whatever sources I could get. From my understanding and practice, and from what I gathered from whatever resources I could get, I composed a new set of Wudang Cotton Palm, which was taught at the UK Summer Camp this year, 2017. It is a marvelous set, not only for combat but more significantly for our daily living.
A lot of wonderful things are embedded in the Cotton Palm set. Wudang Cotton Palm is the climax of Shaolin kungfu development. When Shaolin Kungfu is practiced correctly, it gives good health, vitality, longevity, peak performace and spiritual joys besides combat efficiency. Unfortunately, most Shaolin and other martial art practitioners do not have these wonderful benefits. Worse, they harm themselves in their tensed training and ruthless sparring. Wudang Cotton Palm is more than ordinary Shaolin Kungfu. It is its climax.
How does Wudang Cotton Palm give these wonderful benefits in a short time and at a high level? The chi flow in the practice of Wudang Cotton Palm gives good health, vitality and longevity. When blockage is cleared by chi flow, a practitioner overcomes his illness and has good health. When the chi flow is vigorous, he has vitality. When he has accumulated a lot of chi from his chi flow, he has longevity.
Wudang Cotton Palm develops mental clarity and internal force., which in turn contributes to peak performance. The chi flow in his practice of Wudang Cotton Palm open his heart and sets his spirit free, giving him peace, happiness and freedom. Wudang Cotton Palm is a marvelous set.
"Press Palms" of Wuzuquan
This question and answer are reproduced from the thread 10 Questions Cotton Palm in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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