Issue 51 - Tse Qigong Centre

Sometimes Western medicineconcentrates too much on every smalldetail. Actually, we should look for thecause of the problem, not just thesymptoms. If a person is starving, theymay easily have other illnesses as well.We can give them food to eat and sendthem away, but what about their nextmeal. If where they live has no food,then the problems will still come back.Just like taking an aspirin to get rid ofa headache. Actually we forget that thebottle says pain reliever. Taking it willonly help disguise the pain. Sometimesit is better to let the body take care ofthings naturally.Chinese medicine uses herbsand acupuncture, treating illness at itsdifferent stages. Their function is thesame as in Qigong and that is to makethe Qi and the blood flow freely. Whenthe flow of these is restricted, then therewill be illness. However, even with these,you need to strengthen the Qi after thetreatment. Otherwise, these also willonly be temporary solutions. I met ayoung man in his twenties who, whileplaying sports, injured both his kneesand back. So before he was even thirtyyears old, he had surgery on his kneeand back. When he tried to do Qigong,he found suddenly that he was very stiff.Even simple movements like moving upand down or moving his waist in acircle, he could not do. Even to turn hishead to look over his shoulder was verydifficult.I have always said, even if theorange is a little bit rotten, give it to mewhole, then I can help fix it and makeit better. But once you have surgery, youcut a lot of nerves and make it difficultfor the Qi to pass through that area.Instead, if we move that area more,rubbing it gently and doing as muchmovement as feels comfortable, thenwe may find that it will recovernaturally. Everyday that we live, we aregetting older. The older we get, thenthe more problems we can have.That is why we practise Qigong.Qigong can help the body restorebalance to the organs and make thechannels open so Qi and blood canflow. Qigong can also help the bodystore Qi, like putting something awayfor a rainy day, so that if we do get ill,then we can recover more quickly. Allit takes is more practice.Yours sincerely,Michael TseElementsof Wing ChunMr. Tse,I would like to start by saying thatI have just finished your book withGrandmaster Ip Chun, and I thought itwas wonderful. You find very few booksthese days that take the time to breakthings down in the manner that you andyour team did. Itseems that mostbooks want tocram theknowledge of awhole art into abook, and by doingso leave out keyelements.I’d like tointroduce myself,if I may. I amtwenty-seven yearsold. I currentlystudy Wing Chunin Columbus, OH.I have somequestions that I’dlike to ask, if youhave the time toanswer them. Iknow that you’rebusy, and any timethat you would taketo answer themwould be greatlyappreciated.1) I haven’t begunto learn Siu LimTao yet, I’mcurrently workingon a “box stepping” pattern. I haven’t seenmention of this pattern in your book orany other. Should I question the validityof what is being taught to me? I don’tmake a lot of money, and what I do spendon training I’d like to learn what I set outto learn. I have only been studying for amonth, however.2) Do you know anything about the WingChun (they spell it Ving Tsun) museum inDayton, Ohio? It’s only an hour or so awayfrom me, and if the training that I’mreceiving now is not valid, why not drivethe distance to learn true Wing Chun?3) I’ve seen a lot of criticism of WingChun’s self defence aspect recently, andI’m wondering. Are there too many peoplethat learn the motions of the art, and thenthink that they can figure out theprinciples? I think it is truly the greatestMartial Art around. I don’t like to see orhear it debased in any way.I apologize for the length of thisletter, I just have so many questions. Onceagain let me thank youfor your book withGrandmaster Ip Chun.I found it veryinformative.Thank you foryour time,CV, Columbus, OhioDear CV,I have not heardof box stepping, but itdoes not mean that itis not part of WingChun. Some peoplewill create a certaintype of training to helpyou develop the WingChun skill better. Aslong as it is not againstthe Wing Chunprinciple of the“If it helps yourWing Chun training,it is alright.”centreline. So if you find this helps on yourWing Chun training, then I would think itis alright. If you find it is nothing to dowith Wing Chun, then you have toconsider by yourself.In regard to the Wing ChunMuseum, it is organised by Sifu Moy Yatand my Sifu, Ip Chun, has visited there. Iam sorry that I have never been, but Iheard that it is quite nice. Sifu Moy Yat isthe student of Grandmaster Ip Man.Personally, I have not heard anyparticular criticism of Wing Chun otherthan people debating what is the originalWing Chun. Wing Chun has a fourhundred year history, since the QingQi Magazine 5