Sifu Franklin Fick Interviewed by MartialArtsReport.com
Sifu Franklin Fick was interviewed by MartialArtsReport.com
The interview covers:
- How Sifu Fick got started in the Martial Arts
- The differences, similarities, and characteristics of Southern Shaolin, Tai Chi, Xing Yi, and Bagua
- More about Tai Chi Training
- More about Qigong
Tai Chi Chuan can Enhance Other Aspects of Your Life
Tai Chi Chuan can Enhance Other Aspects of Your Life. This is a common statement and many people who are unfamiliar with Tai Chi training will dismiss it either as a basic statement meaning that fitness makes everything better or they might think it has some esoteric meaning. The truth is actually different and very practical, but to fully understand how Tai Chi can benefit your life you need to understand two core aspects of Tai Chi Training.
Tai Chi is not like other exercises. It is a moving mediation, a martial art, a method of energy cultivation, and so much more. Of course these aspects of the training can enhance other aspects of the practitioner’s life, but these are not what we will talk about today. Today we will talk about two fundamental aspects of the training that are not esoteric. They are coordination and awareness/mindfulness.
When we train Tai Chi we need to be coordinated. The Tai Chi classics state that when one part moves, all parts move and when one part stops, all parts stop. This is a basic requirement. It means that the whole body has to be coordinated and work together. By training this way we change the way we use the body. Instead of only using the arm, we engage the torso and the legs, with power from the ground. When we train this way we discover and make this more efficient way of movement our natural way to move. Once you discover a more efficient way to move the body then that should become the way you move. It is hard to go back to an uncoordinated and unconnected way of movement. This new connection will bleed over into everything that you do because in everything that you do you are using your body. So Tai Chi training can make you a better golfer, maybe help to improve your tennis game, and also many people who practice other martial arts report that Tai Chi training helps improve their martial arts drastically.
The second aspect of training that we will discuss is awareness/mindfulness. In order to train Tai Chi and be connected and coordinated you need to be aware and mindful of what you are doing. If you are not aware or mindful, then there is not way that you can ever improve with your Tai Chi Training. When you are training Tai Chi your awareness is focused on what your body is doing: shifting the weight, stepping, moving the body and arms. For many people this is a new thing, they are not aware that they never really paid any attention to these things before. Once this type of awareness is developed it is not something that can be turned off so to speak. After practicing Tai Chi for a while it is common for a student to have moments in their life where they become aware of how they are holding their body and adjust themselves to be more efficient. Maybe they are standing in line and realize that they are standing with tension and decide to adjust their posture so that they are using their body more efficiently and are in a greater state of relaxation.
Practitioners can also utilize awareness as a tool to enhance any other activity. Once a student realizes that they can be aware of their movements and improve themselves in Tai Chi practice it is not a large leap for them to start becoming aware of what they are doing in other tasks. They might start to analyze their body for tension and posture while sitting at the computer, while driving, carrying groceries, or during any other activity. This awareness and adjustment process can make any activity more efficient and coordinated.
The problem is that a newcomer to Tai Chi usually thinks that Tai Chi is like any other exercise that they have experienced before. That is why you see many practitioners just “going through the movements.” If you train Tai Chi correctly then it is much more then that and the benefits will be amazing.
Training Prohibitions: Don’t Exercise When Too Full Or Too Hungry
This one is pretty much a no-brainer. Even in Western culture we know that we should not eat a sandwich and then go for a run or that we must wait a certain period of time after eating to go swimming. This is just common knowledge and this same knowledge applies to the practice of traditional Chinese Kung Fu.
Before practicing traditional Chinese Kung Fu you should wait at least 45 minutes to one hour after eating. And, you should wait 45 minutes to an hour after practicing to eat. This ensures that your stomach is not full while practicing. This is important for several reasons.
The first reason why this is important is because, when you eat your body diverts energy away from other functions to focus on digestion. This means that other nonessential processes in the body take second stage to the important physiological process of digestion. When the body is in the process of digesting a meal it is not the best time to exercise, resources are already diverted and are not available for strenuous exercise.
In addition, when you eat your stomach becomes full. The process of digestion works to break down the food in the stomach and sends it further down the digestive tract. If the stomach is full moving around too much can hinder the process of digestion. In addition, when the stomach is full and you move around it can place stress and pressure on the surrounding organs and tissue.
So it makes sense not to eat before training, but why should we wait after we train for certain amount of time before we can eat? The answer is also simple, after we finished training the body is in a cool down period as it returns to the state of rest. During this time it’s important for the body to naturally go through this process, changing from works to rest. This process should not be interrupted. If you eat at this time, then naturally this process will be interrupted. Not only would it be interrupted by the physical addition of the food in the stomach, but the body will start to divert energy away from other processes and channel it to the process of digestion. This would basically hinder the body from going through its natural cool down process, which is important for normalizing the body’s systems, repairing damage, and making the body stronger.
Some people might forget that these prohibitions are important, especially if the practice time is devoted to something non-strenuous like Tai Chi or Qigong. Why keep these prohibitions if it doesn’t feel like you’re doing a strenuous exercise? The reasons are the same, and these prohibitions are just as important regardless of how strenuous the exercise is. It is very important to warm the body up before exercise and cool the body down after exercise. This process is physically interrupted if a meal is taken too close to training.
Now we must cover the other aspect of this provision which is not to train when feeling overly hungry. Similar to training on a full stomach, when you train on an empty stomach and you feel hungry the body is also not in its optimum state for exercise. Usually when the body is in a state of hunger and means that the body is lacking energy. This means you don’t have the resources to perform strenuous exercise. You won’t get benefit from exercise period because it’s like trying to drive a car without a gas, you just won’t get anywhere. In addition, if you exercise while in a state of hunger, then your body will not have the resources to cool down and repair itself after the exercise finished. If you feel hungry, it is better to eat something and then wait to do your training.
Something as simple as not eating too soon before and after exercise or not exercising when hungry can have a profound impact on the body’s state of health in the long run. Proper training can build the body over time, increasing your health and vitality. This simple prohibition can help make sure that you don’t damage yourself and that your body has the resources to become stronger and repair itself after strenuous training.
The Best Time to Practice Tai Chi, Qigong, or Kung Fu.
A common question that beginners often ask is: “what is the best time to practice?” The best answer to this question is that the student should practice whenever is most convenient for them. Usually the problem students face is finding the time to practice, not deciding which time of day would give them the most benefit.
New students are usually very enthusiastic and this enthusiasm leads them to question and ponder in the hopes that they can learn everything about the art, style, or practice that has them so enthralled. But, the question “What is the best time to practice?” does not have a simple answer.
The day can be divided into nighttime and daytime. These two periods correspond to Yin and Yang. The night corresponds to Yin and the day corresponds to Yang. Traditionally the best times for practice were during the transition between these two periods. That makes the best time to practice around 6 AM and 6 PM. During these times you’ll notice that the quality of the day is different. The air is quiet and somehow it seems more peaceful. In traditional thought this is because the energy is changing from Yin to Yang or Yang to Yin. These two periods for practice also correspond to the rising and the setting of the sun. In the morning the sun (Yang) is rising ending the period of night (Yin). In the evening the sun is setting which is the ending of the Yang period of day and the beginning of the Yin period of night.
The Yin and the Yang periods can also be divided in half. At the halfway mark it is considered that the energy for that period has reached its maximum and will now go into a period of decline. This means at noon the Yang energy has reached its peak and at midnight the Yin energy has reached its peak. Some traditions say that these times are also beneficial for training. But a common prohibition in many arts is to avoid training at midday because the Yang energy at this time is too strong.
In addition to these large divisions of the day, traditionally the Chinese day is also divided into 12 periods. Each of these 12 periods is two hours long and each of these 12 periods corresponds to one of the 12 energy meridians. This means that for each of these two hour periods the energy is activated in one of the organs and its corresponding meridian. So training times can also be chosen based on this knowledge, but this type of consideration is beyond the scope of most practitioners.
In general the student should first choose a time that fits into their schedule, a time that is convenient for them to train or practice. The most important thing is to practice. Without practice there will be no benefit. The next thing the student can consider something more specific like is this time a beneficial time for practice according to traditional thought. Generally it is considered that in the morning or the evening is the best time to practice. This corresponds with the Yin Yang theory discussed previously. Any consideration taken beyond this point is usually not necessary. If it is, this is the type of knowledge that will be given to student by the teacher.
Traditional Chinese Kung Fu and Qigong Training Prohibitions
Anyone who’s been in the Chinese martial arts for a period of time will be familiar with some sort of training prohibitions. Some of these prohibitions make perfect sense like don’t exercise with a full stomach. But, other prohibitions seem very far-fetched and almost mystical. To the Western mind some of these don’t make any sense at all. In this series of articles we will tackle someone most common prohibitions and explain their reasoning.
Before we get started with explanations we should first layout some of the common prohibitions. Some of these you may have heard before and some of them might be new. This list is not all-inclusive and should not be taken as such. These are just some general prohibitions that I can come up with off the top of my head while sitting in front of my computer.
- Don’t exercise when to full or too hungry.
- Empty the bladder and bowels before exercise.
- Wait at least one hour after meals to train and wait one hour after training to eat.
- Don’t expose yourself to wind as you practice or after you practice.
- Don’t practice when it’s raining or storming out.
- Don’t practice while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
- During training or after training avoid drinking anything cold.
- Don’t practice when angry or upset.
- Don’t use the bathroom directly after practice.
So these are just some general prohibitions for practice. As you read the list I’m sure you can understand some and some might be a little confusing.
In the coming articles will go into each of these prohibitions and explain them a little bit more.
You must keep in mind that these are just general prohibitions. Certain arts or certain practices might have their own specific prohibitions depending on the nature of the training, the goal of training, and the origin of the practice or art.
It’s important to remember that even though we might not understand the reasoning behind a certain prohibition we must remember that there is a reason these rules were passed down. These prohibitions were passed down so that students could benefit and avoid certain dangers. Even though the origin of certain rules might not follow what we consider scientific knowledge today, we must remember that they were created based on observations and experience.
The Three Most Common Injuries in Traditional Chinese Martial Arts
This article will be about the most common injuries people get practicing Traditional Chinese Martial Arts.
In Traditional Chinese Martial Arts the practice includes issuing and receiving force. The areas that are the most susceptible to injury can be considered the weak links in the body. It is especially important to know these areas and practice correctly to avoid any possible injury.
The three most common areas that receive injury are the knees, shoulders, and lower back. The knees are susceptible to misalignment and strain. The shoulders and the lower back are also susceptible to strain caused by misalignment during issuing or receiving force.
It’s important as you practice to keep the knees in proper alignment. The knees are a hinge joint and only function as such. Because many beginners are more focused on what their hands are doing, thinking about pre-forming a powerful block or a powerful punch, their awareness and attention is sometimes not on the proper alignment of the lower body. Even advanced practitioners can sometimes also have this problem. To avoid injury and also ensure that you are generating the most power is important to keep the knees in proper alignment. This will ensure a proper connection with the ground and is an important aspect of being able to generate whole body power.
The shoulders are also a common area of injury. This type of injury usually happens when the shoulders are misaligned while receiving force. This can happen during push hands or even during sparring. In this scenario what commonly happens is the body is an incorrect position to dissipate an incoming force and, while trying to adjust to transform the force, the shoulder is misaligned. When this happens the small muscles of the shoulder can be damaged because they are no match for the incoming force. This is why it is very important to practice slowly and softly at first. Then build speed and power. Shoulder injuries take a long time to heal so it is best to be careful and avoid them.
The third area that is a common site for injury is the lower back. It is easy to strain the lower back when the body is not correctly aligned while either issuing or receiving force. This type of injury like the shoulder strain can take a long time to heal from.
These three areas can be considered the weak links of the body. The knees are very important for connecting the body with the ground. If the knees are not correctly aligned you cannot use the ground to issue or receive force. The shoulder is very important for directing force from the arms, through the torso, and into the ground. The shoulder is also important for issuing force from the ground, through the torso, and out. The lower back is extremely important as it connects the upper and lower.
It is important to pay attention to the alignment and the connection in the body. These are the most important. Speed and power will come later. Without alignment and connection true speed and power are not possible.
Short History of Yang style Tai Chi
Yang style Tai Chi Chuan is named after the Yang family. Yang LuChan (1799-1872) learned boxing from Chen ChangXing (1771-1853) while he was employed in the Chen Village. Later when Yang LuChan returned to his home in Yongnian county he gained recognition for his boxing ability. Yang LuChan became even more famous after moving to Beijing where he was employed by the royal court. His skill earned him the nickname "Yang the Invincible."
Yang LuChan trained his sons Yang JianHou (1839-1917) and Yang BanHou (1837-1892) in his boxing style. They both became very skilled due to the harsh training that their father put them through. Yang BanHou also earned the nickname "Yang the Invincible" because of his great boxing skill.
Yang JianHou’s most famous sons were Yang ChenFu (1883-1936) and Yang ShaoHou (1862-1930). Yang ShaoHou was very skilled and learned most of his skill from his uncle Yang BanHou. He practiced the "Small Frame." The characteristics of his style were lively footwork, well-knit small movements, and alternating quick with slow actions. "He was swift and powerful in delivering his blows and, with eyes blazing like torches, a grim smile on his face and roaring and howling as he darted back and forth, he was held in awe by others." He was also very rough on his students and therefore his teachings are not as wide spread as his brother Yang ChenFu’s are today.
Yang ChenFu was not only very skilled but his teachings are the most popular and widespread today. His style is also known as the "Large Frame." The movements of his form are extended, rounded, graceful, and preformed at a slow even pace. People of all ages and health constitutions can practice and benefit from this style. The postures are soft on the outside but conceal hardness within which is described as steel wrapped in cotton.