YMAA NEWS

NEW FROM YMAAThe Essence of Shaolin White Crane By Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming352 pages, 488 illust., 7x10, ISBN 1-886969-35-3At last, the secrets of internal power development are revealed in this long-awaited bookfrom Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming. This comprehensive martial arts training guide exploresWhite Crane Gongfu, one of the most famous martial styles developed in China. MartialArts Qigong is integral to White Crane Gongfu, and is a proven way to build explosive fightingpower, known as Jin.In addition to fighting power, martial Qigong builds robust health and longevity. By focusingon the spine and torso, Shaolin White Crane develops and maintains a strong, suppleupper body. Flexibility and strength of the spine are notable results of this training.It is commonly recognized that Shaolin White Crane is the root of Okinawan Karate, andhas heavily influenced Japanese martial arts. From this book, a Karate practitioner willbe able to trace this root back, and gain profound comprehension of empty-hand styles.Soft Cover $29.95Sneak Preview, continuedflying. This is different fromlocal birds, such as the sparrow,who use their wingsalone to carry their body andtherefore cannot fly long distances.Naturally, when longrange flying birds are fighting,they generate powerfrom the center of their bodyand from their chest.However, let us analyzeJin’s generation from the martialpoint of view. Theoretically,as long as there is a joint whichallows you to bend and thenstraighten, then it is considereda bow. These bows are constructedfrom the muscles andtendons in the joints. Throughcontraction and extension, thebow is able to generate power.In our body, there are two largebows which are constructedfrom the two biggest muscleand tendon groups. These twobows are the torso and thechest. If you look at the body’sstructure, you will realize thatthrough the contraction of thetorso and chest muscles andtendons, you are able to pull,push, lift or do heavy work.Once you have injured thesetwo bows, your power will be6significantly reduced. Again, ifyou look at Olympic athleteswho throw the javelin or discus,in order to generate greatthrowing power, the torso andchest must be skillfully appliedto the movements.In order to generate strongJin for fighting, these two bowsare emphasized in all Chinesemartial styles. This is the samein Southern White Crane.Southern White Crane specializesin the training of the torsoand the chest. We can see thisfrom the White Crane Qigongtraining, in which the spine andthe chest movements are themain focus. Through WhiteCrane Qigong training, a practitionerwill learn how to rebuildhis spine and chest from weaknessto a stronger level. Thisincludes the muscles, tendons,and also the ligaments. Onlyafter a practitioner has masteredthe Qigong movementsand coordinated it with hisbreathing, Yi, and Qi, can theJin be manifested with the coordinationof other, smaller bowssuch as the shoulders, elbows,and wrists to manifest the Jinto its maximum potential.-You should understand thatin order to have strong Jin, youmust have a strong physicalbody (Yang) and an abundantlevel of Qi (Yin). The physicalbody is like a machine and theQi is like electricity. If either oneis missing, the power will not bestrong. Therefore, in WhiteCrane you are training to generatepower from the waist’s jerkingor shaking, and from thisshaking, through the spine andchest, the power trembles outwardand becomes the Jin.Often, a White Crane beginneror a practitioner fromanother style only knows howto tense the muscles and tendonsof the spine and chestwithout knowing how to relaxthem. It is common in this situationthat the spine ligaments,the joints, or the muscles aredamaged. This is commonlyseen in Karate styles in whichthe tension of the torso is heavilyemphasized.4. Southern White Crane specializesin short and middlerange fighting. As we havealready seen, SouthernWhite Crane developed inthe south of China. Due tocontinued on page 7