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SNEAK PREVIEW:New from Dr. Yang, Jwing-Mingand <strong>YMAA</strong> Publication Center:The Essence of Shaolin WhiteCrane–Martial Power andQigong.Packed with photos and drawings,this new book is a detailedstudy of the history and theoryof Shaolin White Crane, and acomplete Qigong training manualfor the development ofinternal power.The following excerpt isfrom Chapter Three: AboutWhite Crane Martial Arts.Next, I would like to summarizesome of the key pointstogether with some of my pastthirty-five years of White Craneexperience.1. Southern White Crane is aSoft-Hard Style. For a beginner,the training tends moretoward the hard side. It iscommonly known that theexternal styles train fromexternal to internal and fromhard to soft. The reason isthat it is easier to be hardinstead of soft. Not only that,in order to use the soft todefend yourself, you mustunderstand the theory ofListening Jin (i.e., skin feelingand sensing), UnderstandingJin, Following Jin, StickingJin, Adhering Jin, and CoilingJin. Then, you must knowhow to apply the theories ofeach into practice. However,the most critical aspect ofusing soft against the hard isthat you must know how tocultivate the internal Qi to anabundant level and be ableto lead the Qi to energizemuscular power with yourconcentrated mind. In orderto reach this goal, it will usuallytake more than ten yearsof pondering and practice.Naturally, it is not easy for a4beginner to learn these highlysecret levels of the art.Normally, in an externalstyle, a master will teach a studenthow to use the concentratedmind to generate local Qi,such as in the arms, and usethis local Qi to energize themuscular power to a high level.This kind of Qigong is classifiedas External Elixir (Wai Dan).From this training, the martialtechniques can be taught andimmediately applied for bothdefense and offense. This procedurewas necessary inancient times, when selfdefensetechniques were criticalfor surviving in martial society.Only after an external martialarts beginner reached ahigh level of skill would themaster slowly introduce him tothe way of meditation. Throughmeditation, the Qi is built up toa more abundant level in theLower Dan Tian. This kind oftraining is classified as InternalElixir (Nei Dan). Normally, thefirst step of Internal Elixir trainingis Small Circulation (XiaoZhou Tian). Through SmallCirculation practice, not onlycan the Qi be stored in theLower Dan Tian at a higher level,but it can also be circulatedin the two most important Qivessels, the Conception andGoverning Vessels. For moreinformation on the Qi vessels,please refer to Chapter 4.Finally, Grand Circulation(Da Zhou Tian) is taught to thestudent. Through GrandCirculation practice, a studentwill learn how to lead the Qicorrectly to the limbs, or anypart of the body, to energize it
continued from page 4to the highest level of Jin manifestation.In order to mentallylead the Qi to circulate smoothlyand freely in the body, thephysical body must be relaxed.A tense body will make the Qicirculation stagnant. Because ofthis, the body must remain soft.Therefore, when a high levelWhite Crane practitionermanifests Jin in his practice orin battle, the physical body isvery soft at the beginning whilethe Qi is led to the limbs toenergize the muscles for action.Once the power reaches theopponent, then the physicalbody is tensed suddenly. Again,this is why White Crane iscalled a Soft-Hard Style.From this, you can see thatthe internal or the soft side ofWhite Crane training, both intheory and practice, is thesame as that of other internalChinese martial styles. The reasonfor this is that it does notmatter how a style was developed,it must follow the “Dao”(Natural Way). I will explain theDao of Qigong theory later.In the past, it was commonlyknown that if a martial artistpracticed the external stylesand another practiced the internalstyles for three years andthen they fought, the externalstylist would always win. Thereason for this is that the externalstyles teach a practitionerhow to use local Qi to energizethe muscles and apply it tofighting immediately. This isnot the same case for the internalstylist, who will still belearning how to be soft andsearching for the ways to cultivatethe Qi internally. However,after ten years of training forboth stylists, the external stylistwill train toward the softwhile the internal stylist movestoward the hard and martialapplications. If they fight again,most likely they will balanceeach other easily. If you wouldlike to know about these subjects,you should refer to thebooks: Tai Chi Theory & MartialPower, The Essence of Tai ChiChi Kung, and The Root ofChinese Chi Kung, by <strong>YMAA</strong>.The beginning sequences ofWhite Crane training, such asJiao Zhan Quan (Angle BattleFist), San Zhan Quan (ThreeBattle Fist), and Qi Xing Quan(Seven Star Fist), are harder intheir training. While the verysoft ones, such as San He Quan(Fan Crane Fist) and Hu DieZhang (Butterfly Palm), areextremely soft like Taijiquan.Many other sequences are acombination of soft and hard,and are trained for actual battles,such as Ba Mei Shou (EightPlum Hands), Z’ong He Quan(Jumping Crane Fist), and ShiBa Lo Han Shou (Eighteen LoHan Hands).2. The Crane Sequences areconstructed from differentJins instead of from individualtechniques. If you havelearned different Chinesemartial styles, you will haverealized that the constructionof most White Cranesequences, especially thebeginning ones, are constructedfrom several Jin patterns.Normally, the beginningsequences are shortand only about five to ten Jinpatterns are included. Thelearning process is short andeasy. However, the trainingprocess is very long and difficult.This is very differentfrom many other Chinesemartial styles such as LongFist (Changquan), PrayingMantis (Tang Lang), or EagleClaw (Ying Zhua), in whichthe sequences are constructedfrom the techniques.Normally, these sequencesare hard to learn and easierto train.In the White Cranesequence training, a firm root isthe first requirement. How togenerate the different Jin patternsfrom the waist with thecoordination of the breathing isthe most critical aspect of thetraining. Normally, it will takemany years for a beginner tograsp the essence of Jin manifestation.It is only after a Jin ismanifested correctly and powerfullythat the techniquesderived from each Jin patternare explained by the master.Generally, each Jin patternincludes four possible categoriesof martial arts applications:Kicking, Striking,Wrestling, and Qin Na. Again,there are several possible techniquesin each categories.In addition, speed trainingis heavily emphasized becauseit is believed that, without goodspeed and power in the Jinmanifestations, even if youknow many techniques, theywill be useless. Therefore,speed and power have becomethe most important parts oftraining at the beginning levels.3. The spine and the chestmovements are the mostimportant. It is believed thatthe reason that long-distanceflying birds, like migratorybirds such as the WhiteCrane or sea fowl, can flylong distances is becausewhen they fly, they movetheir chest in coordinationwith their wings. Because ofthis, they use their body toexecute the majority of theircontinued on page 65
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