WAVE-BREAKING HANDS AND OTHER FORCE TRAINING METHODS
An old picture showing Grandmaster Wong practicing "Taming Tiger"
Question 5
Grandmaster Lam Sai Weng practiced Iron Wire, yet he also practiced everyday for hours the "Technique of Wave Breaking Hands".
My question's are:
Would it be beneficial to our practice if we also incorporated the Technique of Wave Breaking Hands into our training?
Would he have practiced other external methods, like our methods of Tiger Claw training?
Why do you think he practiced Wave Breaking Hands, when Iron Wire is already very powerful? Is it because the standard was exceptionally high back in those days?
Sham
Answer
For us in Shaolin Wahnam, while it is beneficial to incorporate the “Technique of Wave breaking Hands” in our practice of Iron Wire or any training, it is not necessary. It is because we have many other better methods to choose from.
Our choice of force-training methods is unprecedented in kungfu and chi kung history. Even masters in the past did not have our wide range of choice. They also might not have our philosophical understanding. We also have the benefit of chi flow, which not only automatically erase adverse effects due to deviation but also enhance our result. Past masters might not have chi flow the way we do.
An excellent method to complement Iron Wire is Yang Style Taijiquan. It is worthwhile to note that for other people, including masters, practicing Iron Wire and Yang Style Taijiquan at the same time will cancel out each other’s benefit. But for us practicing these two opposing arts together will enhance our result. This is because of the magic of chi flow, which even masters may not know.
Two other excellent force-training methods that can enhance Iron Wire are Wuzuquan and Baguazhang. Any other force-training method is also helpful.
Just enjoying a chi flow after Iron Wire or any other force-training method will enhance our result. It will also erase any adverse effects unwitting sustained due to deviation.
For those who may be interested, the Technique of Wave Breaking Hands practiced by Grandmaster Lam Sai Weng was as follows.
Tie a long plate of human hair (from the head) together to make a loop. Go into a Horse-Riding Stance. Place the two arms in the circle of the loop. Open the arms in various ways with the arms striking the plated hair.
With hindsight, I discovered that this training generated chi flow. I believe that it was the chi flow that enhanced the force developed from Iron Wire training.
The Technique of Wave Breaking Hands is not specially meant for the training of Tiger-Claw. It can be used to supplement any force training, but is specially good for the arms.
Two typical external methods of force training for Tiger Claw are gripping jars and jabbing fingers into beans. Grandmaster Lam Sai Weng was well known for his Tiger Claw, and I believe he would have trained these two methods.
When I was training Tiger Claw, my sifu, Sifu Ho Fatt Nam, taught me three other external methods besides gripping jars and jabbing beans. They were Taming Tiger, Hopping Tiger and gripping an iron ball.
In Taming Tiger, a practitioner does push-ups but using tiger claws instead of the open palms. When he has attained a reasonable standard in Taming Tiger, he hops about in all fours using his tiger claws and his toes from one end of a room to another. Gripping an iron ball is like gripping a jar except a small but heavy iron ball is used instead. These three external methods are not usually taught in most other schools.
But a superior force training method by a big margin for Tiger Claw training is “Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws”. This is an internal method and has to be personally taught by a master. I do not know whether Grandmaster Lam Sai Weng practiced this method. If he did he might not mention it as it was a secretive method.
Tiger Claw trained from external methods may result in a powerful grip. But Tiger Claw trained from “Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws” enables a master to direct his chi from his Tiger Claw into an opponent’s organs, meridians or any part of his inner body. In my sparring in my younger days, some opponents later reported to me that they felt some form of electricity penetrating into their body making their limbs or the whole body numb even when I did not use much force.
I guess Grandmaster Lam Sai Weng did not practice Wave Breaking Hands as part of his Iron Wire training; he practiced it as a separate art. The standard of internal force and of combat was certainly higher in Grandmaster Lam Sai Weng’s days.
Once I asked my sifu, Sifu Ho Fatt Nam, who was a professional Muay Thai champion himself, whom he thought would win in a fight between Wong Fei Hoong and a modern international Muay Thai champion. After thinking for about a minute he said that Wong Fei Hoong would win. His Tiger Claw was so powerful, my sifu explained, that a single sweep by Wong Fei Hoong would tear off a knee of the Muay Thai champion.
Grandmaster Wong performing "Fierce Tiger Cleanses Claws"
The questions and answers are reproduced from the thread Legacy of Wong Fei Hung Q-A Series by Sifu in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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