Issue 78 - Tse Qigong Centre

In so doing, Master Wu explained, this second time he
saw the same movements and information in a completely
new light, and his practice entered a higher level. He felt not
only that his Tong Bei was new, but that he as a person had
changed too. His teacher told him that whatever one
u n d e r t a k e s ,
whether it be in
martial arts, work
or life in general,
one must do
everything to
one’s best ability,
so that others feel
at ease around
you and will trust
everything you
do.
Master Wu
says that he still
follows his
teacher’s advice and imitates many of his habits, like keeping
a diary about his practice and progress or even any regression,
so as to continuously try to improve himself.
Master Wu went on to explain some of the facets of
Tong Bei in more detail. Every system has its own method of
training, and Tong Bei has three steps: -
1. BASIC TRAINING - DAN CHAO
There are 24 Dan Chao or “single strikes”, which are to
train Fa Jing (the issuing of power) and Nei Jing (internal energy
training).
2. MOVING STEP TRAINING - XING BU
Xing Bu Training also has 24 movements, and within
this stage there are also 3 types of training method.
3. THE TONG BEI FORM
All facets of the Tong Bei system are incorporated in a
linked series of movements which now comprise a full form.
Master Wu explained each aspect more fully. The Dan
Chao includes all kinds of single movement strikes, including
palm strikes, punches, elbows etc, and each strike must be
practised for blows coming in from or going out to any direction,
eg: left/right/up/down/centre, and for delivering the strikes
for both upper, middle and lower positions.
In Tong Bei the hand is never just brought back after
one strike and then thrown back out again; actually the hand
in Tong Bei can strike from wherever it is positioned, so there is
no waste of energy by striking and withdrawing and then striking
again. In Dan Chao one cannot use strength, or “Li”, one’s
arm and body must be relaxed, so that one can use the
intention and Dantian power. The aim of the Dan Chao single
strike training is to be able to get the Dantian power to extend
out from the Dantian and be expressed in the hands and feet.
Dan Chao issuing power (Fa Jing) has five specialities,
which are: Song (relaxed), Kuai (fast), Cui (crisp and clean),
Tan Xing (springy) and Yin (hard). He explained that the strike
in Tong Bei must have all these qualities, and he stressed that
the quality of “hard” does not mean that the practitioner is
rigid or uses strength, rather it relates to the force of the blow
that the opponent will receive.
Every bone has marrow inside, and during the single
movement strikes, one trains the Fa Jing (issuing power) so
that the marrow flows freely through the centre of the
bones.This also has the result of making the arms more powerful
and more resilient than ordinary people’s. Therefore Tong Bei
fighters receive
fewer injuries
“This step is to
harmonize the flow of
Qi and the breathing
with the postures.”
during a fight as
their arms etc are
firmer. Additionally
it teaches the
student to have
“tou jing” or
penetrating power.
The practitioner will
practise the Dan
Chao for up to one
hour everyday.
The second
level of training,
“Xing Bu" or moving step training also has three types of training
method:
The first is slow separate movements, which are
performed in a sequence, but the emphasis is on doing each
one separately to get the correct posture and energy flow.
The second step is to join these 2 or 3 separate movements
together to make just one continuous movement.
The last step in this phase is to put all the practiced
series of movements together into a running form, so that it
comprises one long series of continuous attacks and strikes.
Now one can perform the full form. In the Tong Bei
form itself there are also 3 steps to the training.
1. Gong Li Tai Zhu Quan: -
The form is practised like a series of standing postures.
Each posture within the form is held for the count of at least
three breaths, in order to get the Qi to flow and to be able to
relax into the postures. This way the form can last for over
fifteen minutes.
The main aim of this step is to harmonize the flow of
Qi and the breathing with the postures, to increase the stamina
and to build the root and legs so that the hips and legs have
a good root and can utilize the earth power.
2. Wen Tai Zhu: -
This next step is to practise the intention (or Yi) and the
energy. To make sure that in every movement one has a
sensation that the potential force and spirit, energy and the
intention are all working in harmony and the correct sequence
of the spirit striking the opponent, followed by the energy and
the intention is achieved. And that all postures are practised
correctly.
3. Wu Tai Zhu: -
This last level is to practise the martial applications of
each posture, to check whether the practitioner can use them
or not.
Master Wu stressed that the main aim in all the stages
of the training is to make staying relaxed throughout the natural
state of the practitioner.
The other features of Tong Bei training he said are body
conditioning and two-person training drills.
Qi Magazine Jan/Feb/Mar 2006 page 25