Ballarat Kung Fu Academy

Chi Gong and Nei Gung

2009-09-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

We use these exercises in our classes, but what are they?

Chi/Qi - "Energy" or "Spirit"

Kung/Gong - "Skill"

Nei - "Internal"

Chi Gong is "Energy Skill" and Nei Gung is "Internal Skill."

The difference is subtle and not obvious in translation.

Chi Gong

Chi Gong is better translated as "Health Exercises." Theses exercises are for general health and are usually suitable for anyone. Through daily practice, they increase overall health and well-being. Although the movements and shapes used in these exercises may be contrary to martial art principles, they are still valuable for keeping healthy.

Nei Gung

Nei Gung is translated as "Internal Skill" and is often associated with the Chinese internal martial arts, Tai Chi Chuan, Hsing I Chuan and Bagua Zhang. It is used to build the particular strength that these martial arts utilise. The postures and exercises usually follow the principles of the martial art they are aiming to complement.

Crossover

There is naturally some crossover between the two categories and the seperation is often mor inidividual preference and opinion.

In class...

We do the same set of Chi Gong exercises at the start of every class to help loosen, stretch and prepare the body. To contrast, we follow it with a specific Nei Gung set, depending on what you will be practicing for the class. This comparision help to emphasis that our Chi Gong exercises are for broad and general health and our Nei Gung exercises are specific and martial arts related.

Until next time, keep training!

William Mioch

Start of the 24 Short Form

2008-07-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

Here are the postures that we have covered so far from the 24 Short Form, and their order.

1. Opening Move (Arms up, arms circle)
2. Holding the Ball/Parting the Horses Mane X 3
3. White Crane Flashes Its Wings
4. Brush Knee Push Step X 3
5. Play the Pipa

Also, have a look at this post for a complete list of the moves.

Grasp Swallows Tail and Single Whip (has a complete move list)

24 Form Detailed Move List (has a detailed description of the first 6 postures)

See you in training,
Bill

PS: Feel free to leave comments to let me know you've seen the post.

New Website!

2008-05-16T23:51:00.000-07:00

BKFA finally has a website!

http://www.ballarat-kung-fu.com/

BREAKING NEWS!

2008-04-28T01:24:00.000-07:00

Kung Fu Classes starting in Ballarat and Brown Hill!
Starting in June the Ballarat Kung Fu Academy will be running Internal Kung Fu and Tai Chi classes in Ballarat and Brown Hill! These will complement our existing classes in Creswick.

Please email me for more details: wmioch@hotmail.com

Keep Training!
Bill Mioch

Standing Form - Zhan Zhuang

2007-12-21T04:15:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

I promised I would post some photos showing the first two sets of stand form. Before I do that, I thought I would detail a little of the history and lineage of our current Stand Form sets.

The martial art of Yi Quan (I Chuan, 意拳) was founded by Wang Xiangzhai (王薌齋), a Xing Yi Chuan master. He decided in the 1920's that martial arts (Xing Yi Chuan in particular) in China were becoming too concerned with forms (see Wushu (sport) for a possible long-term vindication to his opinion). So he created his own martial art and called it Yi Quan.

From Wikipedia:
"Yiquan is essentially formless, containing no fixed sets of fighting movements or techniques. Instead, focus is put on developing ones natural movement and fighting abilities through a system of training methods and concepts, working to improve the perception of one's body, its movement, and of force."

One part of Yi Quan is Zhan Zhuang (站樁) or as we call them Standing Form.

Wang Shu Jin (or Wang Shu Chin) trained with Wang Xiangzhai at some point, and took some of his Zhan Zhuang exercises and incorporated them into his own system, modifying them to suit his purposes. The Standing Form sets we study come from Wang Shu Jin, although my current teacher has studied with present day Yi Quan practioners. His experience has again modified the exercises we practice.

My next post will be describing why we practice our stand form. If there are any questions or comments, feel free to post them!

William Mioch

Special Bulletin 2

2007-11-18T23:13:00.000-08:00

Another Special Bulletin. This time I wanted to give you all a heads up. On Friday I came down with Bell's Palsy, a temporary paralysis of one side of the face.

It's caused by an inflammation of the facial nerve, which passes through a small hole behind the ear. When it's inflammed, it gets "pinched" by the hole and stops working. Most people recover by three weeks. Here is a link to more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell's_Palsy

Just so you don't think I'm trying out my Rocky impersonation when you see me next!

Our new baby!

2007-11-13T16:56:00.000-08:00

We interrupt your regular posts to bring you this special bulletin:

Sabrina Fae Mioch was born Saturday 10th November at 8:45 am, weighing 7 pounds 11 ounces. Mother and baby are home and doing great.

24 Form Detailed Move List

2007-11-01T04:19:00.000-07:00

Creswick - Tai Chi/Kung Fu Class, Thursday 8pm, 1/11/07
As requested, here is a more detailed breakdown of the move/postures to help you practice at home.

Opening Movement (Preparation)

Raise Arms
Lower Arms
Raise Arms
Lower Arms and Twist to Left
Circle Arms Clockwise
Finish with Holding the Ball, Right Hand High

Parting the Horses Mane

From Holding the Ball, Right Hand High
Part the Horses Mane, Left Hand Leading
Holding the Ball, Left Hand High
Part the Horses Mane, Right Hand Leading
Holding the Ball, Right Hand High
Part the Horses Mane, Left Hand Leading

White Crane Spreads (or Flashes) its Wings

Bring the back foot up and shift weight backwards (Empty Step)
Raise Right Hand, Lower Left Hand
Twist Hips from Right to Left
Raise Left Hand, Lower Right Hand
Twist Hips from Left to Right

Brush Knee-Push Step

Raise Right Hand, Lower Left Hand
Step Left, Brush Left, Push Right
Raise Left Hand, Lower Right Hand
Step Right, Brush Right, Push Left
Raise Right Hand, Lower Left Hand
Step Left, Brush Left, Push Right

Play the Pipa(/Lute/Guitar/Zitar)

Bring the back foot up and shift weight backwards (Empty Step)
As weight shifts backwards, hands brush hips and circles out and up
Hands finish in a guard position, left hand forward

Repulse Monkey

Together

Back Hand (Right) goes back and up
Front Foot (Left) goes back

Together

Weight transfers onto back foot
Back hand pushes past ear and into guard position

Repeat 3 more times

And that's all I had time for this week! I'll finish off the list in the coming weeks.

Have a great day,
Bill

The Heel Kick

2007-10-24T02:19:00.001-07:00

Creswick - Tai Chi/Kung Fu Class, Tuesday 8pm, 23/10/07

Tai Chi

The Heel Kick we went through in class contains a lot of small pieces. Let's review them here.

Lift Heavens
From the Single Whip at the end of Cloud Hands, the right hand goes back and the back leg straightens, making your hands appear to lift up.

High Pat the Horse
Your right hand comes forward past your ear and brushes forward along your arm.

Draw the Bow
Your right hand circles down and past the inside of your left elbow, then forward and out, towards the direction we will kick.

Heel Kick (Right)
The hands come down, cross over and then circle up. The right hand and foot go out together.

Box Tigers Ears
The foot comes straight down, the hands brush the hips and come forward to Box Tigers Ears. The thumbs are downward your fists are a heads-width apart.

Heel Kick (Left)
We then executed a left heel kick in the opposite diagonal direction.

We'll review the move on Thursday and see hwo we go from there.

Until then, keep practicing!

Cloud Hands and Xing Yi Chuan

2007-10-18T04:51:00.000-07:00

Creswick - Tai Chi/Kung Fu Class, Thursday 8pm, 18/10/07

Tai Chi
Tonight we introduced Cloud Hands. Cloud Hands (or Waving Hands Like Clouds) is one of those "all together moves."

Cloud Hands requires that your hands, arms, hips, legs (your whole body) all move together. Contrast this with some other moves: White Crane focuses on hip movement, Parting the Horse's Mane focuses on Ward Off, etc. You need to be thinking about a lot of principles at the same time to get the hang of Cloud Hands. But once you do, you'll forget all about them and just do it!

Kung Fu - Hsing I Chuan
In our Kung Fu component, we did some more Hsing I Chuan (or Xing Yi Quan, depending on romanisation). Hsing I means form/intention, and Chuan in this context refers to boxing/style. Hsing I Chuan is a much more aggressive internal style than Tai Chi Chuan.

Animal Forms
We reviewed Tiger and Tai. We introduced Snake in this class. Snake is about using unexpected angles for attack and defence.

Five Elements
We reviewed Drilling and introduced Splitting. Splitting has more components than the forms we have done so far. It might take a while to remember them all!

Grasping Swallow's Tail and Single Whip

2007-10-16T03:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first post on our class oriented blog! Here I'll be posting relevant supporting material after each class.

Creswick - Tai Chi/Kung Fu Class, Tuesday 4:30pm, 16/10/07
At tonight's class we introduced two new moves for our 24 Form. The sequence for the 24 Form is listed below. Where there is a common alternative name, I have included that in brackets.

Opening Movement (Preparation)
Parting the Horses Mane
White Crane Spreads (or Flashes) its Wings
Brush Knee-Push Step
Play the Pipa(/Lute/Guitar/Zitar)
Repulse Monkey
Grasping the Swallow's(or Bird's) Tail Left
Grasping the Swallow's(or Bird's) Tail Right
Single Whip
Cloud Hands (Wave Hands Like Clouds)
Single Whip
High Pat the Horse (Stroke the Horse's Back)
Heel Kick Right
Box Tiger's Ears
Heel Kick Left
Snake Creeps Down Right
Golden Cock on One Leg Left
Snake Creeps Down Left
Golden Cock on One Leg Right
Jade(or Fair) Lady works the Shuttle
Needle at Sea Bottom
Fan through Back
Parry and Punch
Finish (Apparent Close-up)

Phew! As you can see, 24 is neither the number of moves, nor the number of unique postures.

Grasping Swallow's Tail
I said today that Grasping Swallow's Tail is one of the moves that is fundamental to Tai Chi Chuan. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, it demonstrates (in all styles that I have seen) at least 4 of the 8 energies. The sequence we did in class today was:

Ward Off - Upward and Outward
Roll/Pull Back - Backward/Absorbing
Press - Straight and Forceful
Split - Opposite Directions from an Original Point
Push - Straight and Driving

Secondly, every move in this sequence can be used "as is" in your push hands. There's nothing mystical or hidden about them. They are basic and effective moves.

Single Whip
Single Whip is one of the more well-known Tai Chi postures. It is common to most forms, although it varies slightly. I demonstrated today how it can be used against a wrist grab.

The basic concept of Single Whip is using one arm to create an opening (the "hook" hand) and using the other arm to attack.

Push Hands Sensitivity
Lastly, we did a series of push hands sensitivity exercises. In Tai Chi Chuan, it is said that the Forms are for conditioning and Push Hands are for self defence.

We practiced feeling two things, a forceful push and a deliberate withdrawal. Once you have contact with someone, they can either attack or disengage (and then attack or run). Feeling for that push coming or that hand pulling away is these two situations at their most basic.

The only way to develop touch-sensitivity is to practice your push hands, so we'll try and do a little bit each class.