Time To Upgrade and Renew

Peace Be With You!

Always hoping there is brightness in your life!

It's time to upgrade my computer and I'll be so glad when that process is successfully completed. I've also told myself that I've earned a short break from publishing my Blogs and need time to rejuvenate and listen to my Ori. That sounds right! At the latest I'll be posting for the New Year. But who knows? Maybe sooner. I will certainly send out an email to those of you on my various Blog email list.

The Blogs will still be live so feel free to visit and reread some of my past Post. Hopefully you will find their relevance unconstrained by time.

Be Well!


Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif

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Preview Wu-Te: A Guide To Parents - Why Train Your Children in
the Traditional Martial and Healing Arts?

Why Do We Study Kung Fu?

Namaste’ Students and Readers!

A new semester will be starting in a few weeks and that means another semester of Kung Fu and Qigong training. We hope you will register early and spend the next few months doing what we do so well together. We have fostered a wonderful spirit of cooperation, support, and team work in our classes which I’m sure is one of the reasons that we have students come back and repeat the classes for years. Our senior instructor Seifu Andrew will be teaching the Friday afternoon Qigong class (as well as an evening Kung Fu during the week) and I will be teaching the Friday morning integrated (beginners and intermediate students) Kung Fu class. I’ve discussed the entire 1st Rank Lesson Plan in my previous Posts and encourage new students to read and intermediates to review what has been said.

As some of you know I grew up in Harlem, N.Y. during the 60’s and 70’s and it is there that I had my first and lasting exposures to the martial arts. After messing around in a few systems and styles I found Grand Master Alan Lee and the Chinese Kung-Fu Wu-Su Association in downtown Manhattan. Although some other really great martial artists had a significant influence on my martial arts development it is Grand Master Alan Lee’s teachings that are most visible in what we do and how we do it. It is his take on Shaolin Kung Fu that permeates the 7 Circles System of Southern-Northern Shaolin Kung Fu Wu Su. I believe that most people who come to the martial arts – and stay – are looking for something special. They are curious and seeking to unlock certain mysterious and hidden potentials that push and pull on them from within. They are looking for something that they can use as an anchor for their sense of self, something that is dependent completely upon them and their choices. Ultimately, the one thing that we can control is our own body-mind-spirit and the Traditional Martial and Healing Arts brings each student face to face with the ultimate challenge – to master self, and the ultimate reward – self-discipline. Thinking of our Four Principles – Humility, Kindness, Patience, and Discipline – they all emanate from the power of the self and the first three – humility, kindness, and patience – are all dependent on the fourth – discipline, self-discipline.

Self-discipline may keep you committed to something that you do not want to do but self-discipline alone will not enable you to achieve your highest potential. Another important ingredient is passion – a love for what you do! Like me and hopefully like you, millions of people around the world feel that passion for the martial arts, and if we include China, Thailand, and India the numbers are in the billions. The martial arts feed that passion that we all feel in some very important and impressive ways. What do we study Kung Fu? Because is feeds our body-mind-spirit in a perfect and satisfying way.

Body

Martial Arts training is one of the best ways to keep you body in tip-top shape. The body thrives on movement and kung fu offers us a wide range of body movements from which to choose. When we train it is All-Systems-GO! Every part of your body gets engaged in the process. Punching, kicking, stepping, spinning, jumping, blocking, and locking movements require that the bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves, heart, lungs, eyes, ears, arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, and toes all work together in a coordinated effort towards perfection. During training we demand that our bodies exceed the normal demands that we place on it in our everyday lives. And every time your body responds to that demand, every time you push it towards peak performance, after every class you feel that you have the ability to accomplish any goal that you set in your mind. Your heart becomes stronger, your circulatory system becomes healthier, your lungs function more efficiently, and you begin to move more gracefully and with greater agility. Suddenly you realize that you feel more comfortable in your body and it rides like a well-tuned finely crafted automobile. It is after all – your ride. Why shouldn’t you ride in the best? Especially if it is completely up to you to keep it mint condition.

Mind

Training in the martial arts has a positive effect our minds in several ways. First comes an enhancement in focus and awareness. This ability to concentrate – to be in a state of mindfulness – emerges from the demand that perfect body movement places upon the mind. In order to master the techniques of your art you must first learn to mimic the movements of your teacher. This requires that you pay attention both to the teacher and to yourself. Your body communicates to you when your technique is imperfect and you can only hear its messages if you are mindful, focused, aware, and in the moment. Can you name one area of your life where the ability to focus, be mindful, be aware, and in the moment would not benefit you? Doubtful! As your mind learns and develops these powerful lessons it does just apply them in the arena of your training. It applies them in every area of your life because through training you become a focused, mindful, and aware individual. Those characteristics become a part of you– a part of your core personality, your Ase Ami (Energy Signature).

The martial arts are based around fundamental principles of mathematics and science. I discussed this in my last Post. From your basic movements through to your advanced techniques and fighting you are engaged in a mathematics and science-based problem solving process either trying to master a particular technique or trying to out-maneuver an opponent. Traditional Martial and Healing Arts training requires that you control your emotions, that you avoid anticipation or prejudgment, that you seek to return your environment to a state of harmony, that you value the life of other living things, that you honor your teachers, respect your elders, and protect your family. In the microcosm of the temple (any place where we are training) each student is called upon to develop these qualities right there – with and among their fellow students and teacher. As these qualities develop in the temple they begin to go out into the world with the student as a part of their identity, and these qualities become the hallmark of one who has chosen to devote their life to the Way – the Warrior Priest. Confidence, self-esteem, a sense of achievement, and feeling of belonging, a sense of personal power, all seasoned with a healthy dose of humility, kindness, patience, and diligence and we have the makings of a complete human being. Healthy body, healthy mind! Just one more ingredient to add!

Spirit

As you experience the profound things that we as martial artist are able to accomplish you will no doubt come to sense that life is layers upon layers of mysteries waiting to be discovered, experienced, and revealed. Especially during your Qigong training – which is such an essential part of your development – you will learn to past through the mental barriers that blind the average person to the confines of the world of material illusions. As you begin to develop your ability to feel and move the qi you will no doubt experience a sense of spiritual empowerment – regardless of your particular religious or non-religious beliefs. This sense is felt as an awareness of your self as existing in relation to your body but yet, not your body in any absolute sense. Within this experience are insights that can change your views of the world that you live in and the people with whom you share it.

Just think! Something that feeds the body-mind-spirit all at once, that permeates its positive lessons and benefits into all other aspects of your life, and that elevates your level of personal security – all wrapped up in one neat package. Hope to see you in our classes!



Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif

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Preview Wu-Te: A Guide To Parents - Why Train Your Children in
the Traditional Martial and Healing Arts?

Chin Na: Mathematics, Science, and Philosophy

Namaste’!

Our summer RAD class has been great because the students are focused, motivated, and fully engaged. Learning Chin Na is a wonderful experience opening the mind to the wisdom of Mathematics, Science, and Philosophy. Of course I should mention that the experience of learning and practicing Chin Na is also fun. We discussed some of the philosophical aspect of this art in my last Post. The life lessons embedded in the practice and philosophical understanding of Chin Na include harmonizing, blending, yielding, asserting, self-restraint, mercy, empathy, compassion, balance, foundation, direction, coordination, and clarity of purpose. All of these lessons apply not only to the proper execution of Chin Na techniques but also to the Path that the wise man (or woman) will follow in his or her everyday life. Mathematics, Science, and Philosophy are the master tools of the Warrior-Priest for they are the means by which he or she removes uncertainty and establishes definitive purpose.

Mathematics

Mathematics, the abstract science of number, quantity, and space is an important language for understanding the nature of our reality. Everything in creation seems to have mathematical characteristics associated with its existence and functioning. Just as Astronomical mathematics focuses on understanding and explaining aspects of the physical universe, and applied mathematics focuses on the functional use of mathematics in the practical fields of research and development, so to the martial arts has a mathematics-based focus on the development and application of techniques. This is especially true in the art of Chin Na.

Efficient – Achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expenditure of energy or resources.

• It should not take more to two (2) – three (3) steps (moves) to gain control over your opponent’s movements
• It should not take more one half (1/2) to two thirds (2/3) of your power to execute your technique

Relative weight, height, upper-lower body ratio, arms and legs length are all mathematical assessments that fortunately you mind is able to make without you having to actually do the math. Likewise, how hard to strike, how deep to press, how much to twist are also subconsciously processed calculations that your mind makes especially after proper training. Efficiency is the underlying mathematical principle being expressed in Chin Na. The efficient use of Qi, physical strength, and movement. These three coalesced into dynamic power when they are properly applied based upon the Sciences of Anatomy and Physiology. Anatomy is the branch of science concerned with the bodily structure of organisms. Physiology is focused on how the body of organisms function.

Rhythm – A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound. Actually for us it is both – movement of the body and the sound of the breath. Rhythm is a regularly recurring sequence of events, actions, or processes. Rhythm is fundamentally mathematical in nature.

The effective application of Chin Na requires a mastered rhythm that allows the practitioner to move with perfect grace and timing – creating a symbiotic relationship between himself or herself and the opponent(s).

• It should not take more than three (3) seconds to gain initial control over your opponent – one thousand and one - one thousand and two - one thousand and three. If initial control is not established in three (3) seconds your technique is likely to fail allowing your opponent to escape and counterattack.

Science

Chin Na is the mathematical application of self-defense techniques based upon the mechanics of the human body – its anatomy and physiology.

• The fingers are not designed to bend backwards against the back of the hand and only the fingertips can touch the palms
• The finger joints are not designed to bend backwards or sideways not to be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise
• The fingertips are hosts to the beginning and end points of various meridians and are not designed to be squeezed or pressed
• The hands are not designed to lie flat against the wrists not to be bent sideways
• The elbows are not designed to bend backwards
• The shoulders are not designed to bend backwards horizontal to the shoulders
• If the elbows are pressed the shoulders must follow
• If the head is controlled the body will follow
• The muscles can seize and be seized
• The qi pathways is vulnerable where bone, muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves, and blood vessels cross paths
• If the feet cannot follow the head the body will be in confusion (Sticky Dragon)
• The body needs both blood and qi – stop the flow of one and the other will fail
• Make your opponent’s body move in ways that your body rebels against

Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif

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A good Chin Na Reference Book: Shaolin Chin Na: The Seizing Art of Kung Fu, Yang Jwing-Ming, Unique Publications, 1982, ISBN: 0-86568-012-4

Introduction to Chin Na (So-po Pamo)

Namaste’!

Some of you have signed up for our RAD (Restrain, Arrest, & Detain) class this summer, and I am looking forward to the eight weeks. We spent the spring talking about Qigong and this is a good time to write a few Posts about one of the ways your qi development finds direct application. Our 21-Day Challenge was about taking control of your self. As was expressed before, Qigong practice is a good technique to use in supporting that effort. Now what we want to explore is the process of extending your control from yourself to the other. In the Me’je Oruka System and Yoruba language So-po ati Pamo (or So-po Pamo) translates to Lock and Hold. If every individual were to put effort into controlling his or her self, we would have no need to control the other. But sometimes, some individuals either lose self-control, or become of a mind that they desire to take control of others without the inherent right to do so. When these individuals appear and circumstances arise So-po Pamo may become necessary. In Me’je Oruka, So-po Pamo is a stage of tolerance where there is hope that the offending individual when confronted with the challenge that they face will regain their senses and choose to exercise self-control. As Omo Orisa (Children of Orisa) we do not wish to do harm to another and choose to live our lives in Peaceful Space. However, maintaining Peaceful Space also means being willing and able to restrain the misbehavior of others, to arrest harm where we are able, and to detain the progression of that which violates the freedom and well being of the community and its members.

In the Chinese language Chin Na roughly translates into two words, ‘seize’ (chin) and ‘control’ (na). Hence, the major purpose of Shaolin Chin Na as practiced in our 7 Circles System of Kung Fu is to quiet or stop an aggressive action without maiming or injuring to a serious extent. Consider Chin Na’s placement in our Nine Levels of Self-Defense.

The 9 Levels of Self-Defense

1. Avoid
2. Evade
3. Redirect
4. Lock & Hold
5. Induce Pain
6. Inflict Injury
7. Maim
8. Render Unconscious
9. Terminate a Life

At levels 1 & 2 there is no physical contact between you and the offending party and this is our preferred way of being. At level 3 a minimal amount of contact will be necessary to redirect the aggressive action but that contact is soft and grazing. Level 3 represents and important threshold in the progression of an aggressive action. If that threshold is crossed the individual may have only one more opportunity to regain self-control before bringing greater pain and harm to themselves. Level 4 is a doorway to the remaining five levels, a doorway that each student and teacher of the 7 Circles Systems hopes and strives to avoid entering. That is the Spirit of Wu-Te! When contact is made at level 4 the offending party has failed to regain self-control and arrest their own behavior, they have become a threat and more direct action has to be taken.

Chin Na or So-po Pamo focuses on grabbing, pressing, and twisting techniques applied to the opponent’s joints, muscles, and nerves. These techniques can causes reactions ranging from mild discomfort to severe pain and unconsciousness. Level 4 extends its influence all the way through to Level 9 of the Nine Levels of Self-Defense. Although the primary purpose of Chin Na is to restrain, arrest, and detain the opponent, there are some Chin Na techniques that are used to maim or kill. From the standpoint of So-po Pamo, Chin Na, and the Nine Levels of Self-Defense, it is the offending parties choices as to how many levels you are compelled to go. Our words should complement our intention and repeatedly offer the opponent the opportunity to stop the progression.

Qigong and Chin Na: The Historical Connection

In 527 A.D. the Indian Buddhist Prince named Da Mo (we currently practice the Da Mo 12 Palm System of Qigong named after him) arrived at the Shao Lin Temple to preach. After years of meditation in a local cave he wrote two books, one of which is his thesis the Yi gin Ching that was written to increase the health and strength of the monks. This text laid the foundations of Qigong practice in the Shao Lin Temple. Seven hundred years after Da Mo, General Yeuh Fei (Sung Dynasty 1130 A.D.) founded the Eagle Claw Style after studying with a student of the Shao Lin Temple named Chou Ton. General Yeuh Fei used the external Shaolin foundation to create his style of Eagle Claw. And Eagle Claw lies at the root of Chin Na. The success of Eagle Claw troops during the Sung Dynasty period made it eminently clear that the style was worthy of respect. We will be tapping into this long and powerful lineage over the next eight weeks.

Classes at PVCC start this Friday, June 1st. Not too late to register for PED103KF Section 17748!

Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif

Support the Wu-Te Performance Troupe

Preview Wu-Te: A Guide To Parents - Why Train Your Children in
the Traditional Martial and Healing Arts?

A good Chin Na Reference Book: Shaolin Chin Na: The Seizing Art of Kung Fu, Yang Jwing-Ming, Unique Publications, 1982, ISBN: 0-86568-012-4

Change, Qi, and Qigong

Namaste’!

Today, April 28, 2012 is the last day of our 21-Day Challenge for Self-Mandated Change. Thirteen people actually signed up and who knows, many more may have taken the opportunity to participate even though they didn’t sign up. There is a survey to the right so that everyone who participated whether you signed up or not can acknowledge your success or continuing effort. I shared several comments on my Seifu Sharif Facebook page during the past three weeks and hope they encouraged your success. I must admit my personal challenge turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated but as I’m writing this Post with only hours left before the end of the 21st-day success in clearly in my grasp. In fact, I’m already thinking about the next positive lifestyle change I want to make. That’s what it is you know! Any permanent change of positive consequence ultimately must be a lifestyle change because something has been removed permanently from your daily habits of behavior. That is why it is so important to fill-the-void as I mentioned in my last Post.

I recommended using Qigong as a meaningful activity to fill-the-void. Lets talk a little bit about why I make that recommendation. It has to do with the understanding what the word Qi represents. Here is a question for you. What is the ultimate source and essential reality that sponsors and supports the process of the coming and going, the manifestation and flourishing, the weakening and disintegration of everything? In the 7 Circles System we use two words to answer that question. One word represents the Shaolin perspective of China and the other represents the Ifa perspective of West Africa. In Chinese we refer to Qi and in Kwa (the Yoruba language) we say Ase (ah-shay-ay).

The Chinese Perspective on Qi

According to Lin Housheng and Luo Peiyu, “Qi (vital energy) is something by which the ancient people understood the phenomena of nature.” The first conceptualizations of the presence of Qi came about by observing the natural environment in all of its manifestations. They go on, “They considered Qi to be the essential substance forming the world and through its movement and change to be the cause of things coming into existence in the universe.” It is this notion of the intrinsic nature of Qi that in turn leads to the medical view that “Qi is the fundamental substance to constitute the human body and that its movement and change account for the activities of life.” The ancient texts are replete with statements that express the idea that ‘human life solely depends on Qi’ and ‘a thing takes shape when Qi accumulates, and the thing dies out when Qi dissipates’.

According to Simon Wang, M.D., Ph.D. and Julius L. Liu, M.D., Qi is regarded as “the only elemental substance that possesses force or energy in the universe. At the very original stage of initiation of the universe, there was nothing but Qi.” In other words Qi lies at the root of everything in creation. “Because of the function and movement of Qi, the nature occurred and developed into the universe, so did the earth, man and everything else, all of which are interrelated, interacted, interchanged and interdependent.” So when you engage in Self-Mandated Change you are actually engaged in the process of manipulating the essential element of the creation and dissolution of things, Qi.

“The universe has everything you can think of. As the result of Qi man was formed as a microcosm of the universe, a little universe, which has everything you can think of as well. The universe has Qi as the essential energy and so does man. The universe has spirit, so does man. The earth consists of water mostly, so does man (water constitutes about 75 percent or more of the body). The universe has the sun and the moon, rain and thunder while man has the head, eyes, tears and voice. The earth has mountains, valleys, plains, rivers, trees, and grasses while man has the shoulders, armpits, belly, vessels and hair. The mountains can smile and the rivers can sing, so can man. The earth can be polluted and sick, so can man. The universe needs the balance and the harmony of Qi, so does man. Both the universe and man obey the same laws.”

The Ifa Perspective on Ase

The Me’je Oruka branch of the 7 Circles System is rooted in the Ifa tradition of Nigeria, West Africa. From the Ifa perspective, in the beginning there was nothing but the Ase, the dark material from which all things come, the Realm of Infinite Possibility. The first thing to emerge within the Ase was consciousness. The Ase became self-aware, a Sentient Being. It is this Sentient Being, Olodumare who calls into existence the creative process. This is Olofi-dumare, the One who calls to the material of the darkness and says to it come forth, willingly or unwillingly, and the Ase takes forms in response to thought, will, and intention. As you can hopefully see the essential idea of both perspectives points to the same truth, that is, you and I have the ability to change the configuration of the universe, especially or most directly as it related to your or my personal everyday reality. The various styles that we employ in the Me’je Oruka aspect of the 7 Circles System are based not on animals (as in our Shaolin Kung Fu) but on the various Orisa (sentient energy forms that exist by will of Olodumare). In a broader sense we not only practice these Orisa styles but also use ritual, ceremony, fasting, and prayer to conjure the Ase and bind our movements to its flow.

Qigong in general is the way of cultivating Qi inside the human body. Internal Qigong focuses on moving the Qi internally for health, healing, and self-defense while External Qigong focuses on techniques for extending Qi outside the body for health, healing, and self-defense. Another division or branch of Qigong practice is Hard Qigong versus Soft Qigong. You can use Qigong practice as a way of adding energy, a tail wind to all of your other endeavors. Qigong practice is a moving meditation full of the essential energy of creation. Change, Qi, and Qigong practice are all connected to each other.

Don’t forget to check your success with the 21-Day Challenge on the Survey in the right menu.

Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif

Support the Wu-Te Performance Troupe

Preview Wu-Te: A Guide To Parents - Why Train Your Children in
the Traditional Martial and Healing Arts?

Qigong For Health & Longevity – The Ancient Chinese Art Of Relaxation / Meditation / Physical Fitness, Simon Wang, M.D., Ph.D. & Julius L. Liu, M.D., The Eastern Health Development Group, Tustin, CA, USA, ISBN: 0-9641605-2-8

300 Questions On Qigong Exercises, Lin Housheng and Luo Peiyu, Guangdong Science and Technology Press, Guangdong Province, China, ISBN: 7-5359-1269-9/R - 232

Self-Imposed Discipline

Namaste’!

Friday, March 30th was the big 640 million dollar Arizona Mega Million drawing. Reportedly, three people had all the numbers and will share the mega-prize. Of course, that means there are almost a billion people (around a billion tickets were sold) who have to snap back to a more demanding reality. Then again, even winning a half-billion dollars can be demanding. Life is challenging and that makes Self-Imposed Discipline very important. Some traditions teach that the individual is a wretched creature, born in sin, and helpless in the face of life’s challenges. Other traditions teach that the Creator gives to each individual the means to do much for him or her self in this world. Still others say that the individual must never set a limitation on what they can achieve. Successful living is in the striving! Regardless of which perspective is your own, Self-Imposed Discipline will have value in your life. Everyone has something that they would like to change. There are attitudes or behaviors that you want to stop because they no longer serve your best interest. There are also attitudes or behaviors that you want to incorporate into your everyday way of living and being in the world. Change is occurring all of the time but self-mandated change is another creature (so to speak). Lets take a deeper look at Self-Imposed Discipline and its connection to Self-Mandated Change.

Self-Imposed Discipline

Self-Imposed implies that the task, circumstance, experience, or condition is a choice of the individual and is not levied by an external force. Much of what you will accomplish in this life will come about because of your ability to impose discipline on yourself. Without this ability you are totally dependent on other people to move you towards growth and change.

Self-Discipline

Self-Discipline is the ability to control one’s feelings and overcome one’s weaknesses. It is also the ability to pursue what one thinks is right despite temptations to abandon it. Notice that there are two distinct but related aspects to Self-Discipline. On the one hand it involves the ability to overcome that which we deem necessary to leave behind. On the other hand it involves the ability to strive to achieve something that we have deemed necessary to our growth and progress.

Think about it for a moment! Isn’t there something that you want to leave behind? It could be anything! It could be a habit of thinking or an attitude that causes you unnecessary problems in your relations with others. It could a habit of behavior like not getting enough sleep, oversleeping, being late for important obligations, drinking too much, smoking, or eating poorly. It could be a tendency to exaggerate or to lie. You know better what challenge burdens you the most. Maybe you have been trying to deal with it for years and still it haunts you. Here is your chance to confront it again!

Self-Restraint

The first aspect of Self-Discipline is Self-Restraint. Self-Restraint is restraint, control, restriction, limitation, curtailment, rein, prudence, and discretion imposed on you, by you, for you. It is self-restraint that is necessary to extinguish the old and unproductive aspects of your life and to make room for the new and productive changes that you want to put into place.

Whenever we strive to break an old habit we create an empty space in our lives. This is the reason that many people fail at Self-Mandated Change. They think that will-power and denial or abstinence will suffice for them to bring about lasting change. Not so! There is another important aspect of Self-Discipline that must be exercised simultaneously with Self-restraint in order to succeed at Self-Mandated Change. Isn't there something that you want to do? Spend more time reading, writing, singing, dancing, exercising, or with your family; or maybe you want to master some Kung Fu or Qigong technique that really fascinates you. Maybe your positive thing to do is to set aside time everyday to meditate on gratitude, or to help out a local non-profit. What is it that will light your fire once again so you can feel your groove?

Self-Motivation

Self-Discipline must embrace both Self-Restraint and Self-Motivation. You are Self-Motivated when you are motivated or moved to do or achieve something because of your own enthusiasm and interest. You are animated to act without needing pressure from others, and in fact, will act even without the encouragement of others. You can only be self-motivated and enthusiastic if you have a genuine interest in something. When you act to impose Self-Restraint (and therefore create a void) you must also be Self-Motivated to do something that will fill the void with positive thoughts, feelings, neuro-chemistry, personal rewards, and recognizable benefits. Of course, I recommend Qigong or other activities that actually change your body-mind chemistry releasing powerful bio-chemicals of pleasure, euphoria, relaxation, clarity, and calm.

A Twenty-One Day Challenge

It is always good to have a support system working with you as you strive to achieve Self-Mandate Change. Not that anyone will be watching or monitoring you. No one will even know what it is that you are trying to change. That can stay your secret! But just the idea that other people are also going through the same process can strengthen your own discipline. I was taught that a habit could be broken or put in place in twenty-one days. Lets put that to the test. Let me invite you to join other readers of my Blog in a Twenty-One Day Challenge of Self-Mandated Change. It is completely up to you what you choose to exercise Self-Restraint over. And it is completely up to you what you choose to fill the void. Pick something that feels important and doable. As long as the end result is a better you in some way then you will be able to mark this challenge a success in twenty-one days. As we say at the beginning and end of all of our classes, our intention is to feel healthier, stronger, better, and wiser as you progress through the twenty one days and complete the challenge. I’ve put a brief survey in the right hand column of this Post. Just check yes if you plan to participate in the challenge that will begin on the morning of April 8th and last until the evening of April 28th. In next month’s Post we will survey again to see how many of you experienced success with your Self-Mandated Change. I hope you will share this Post with your friends and invite them to participate in the challenge. Lets have some fun and share in the joy of each others success.

Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif

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Preview Wu-Te: A Guide To Parents - Why Train Your Children in
the Traditional Martial and Healing Arts?

About Qigong Pt 2

Namaste’!

It is difficult to imagine my life without my practice of the Traditional Martial and Healing Arts. In fact I would say that this knowledge and practice has saved my life many times and helped me to mitigate or heal a number of ailments. My short list would include an umbilical hernia, a broken finger, a traumatized back from a motorcycle accident, a broken toe, and more than my desired share of sprains, bruises, and fractures. Beyond the benefits of accelerated healing of physical ailments and injuries the knowledge of the Traditional Martial and Healing Arts can help you to avoid and evade people, environments, and circumstances the could result in harm or injury to you. When most non-practitioners think of the martial arts they think of fighting. Of course fighting or more appropriately self-defense is a fundamental part of Traditional Martial and Healing Arts (THMA) training. But from our perspective as practitioners, self-defense begins with mastering the self. In TMHA training the student is encouraged and guided to confront every aspect of their self, their physical body, their degree of discipline and determination, their essential character, the elements of their personality, their strengths and weaknesses, and their attitude towards life and death. One of the first things my teacher, Grand Master Alan Lee had his students do was to pot and grow a small plant, to nurture life and understand the process of growth. One of the most fascinating and awe-inspiring aspects of TMHA training for me is Qigong. TMHA is about more than just fighting. It is about Self-Defense in its purest and highest form. It is about striving to achieve a perfect expression of the unlimited potential that lies dormant in each and every individual.

Beginning with the mastery of your self is a fundamental aspect of many cultures around the world. During my travels to China, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Africa I saw evidence of the importance that these cultures place on achieving the integrated self, mind-body-spirit. Meditation, prayer, qigong practice, tai chi, tai chi sword, chanting, making offerings and burning incense to ancestors and at sacred shrines were all integrated into the fabric of everyday life. The practices convey the understanding that the individual who awakens in the home, walks into the school, or reports for work must be whole if the society is to remain intact. Each morning in China the parks were full of people doing qigong and other traditional exercises of the culture before going off to work. In the schools, children did qigong exercises before beginning their academic activities. In the hospitals, patients were trained in qigong techniques to treat their illnesses or facilitate their healing process. In the factories workers engaged in various group qigong exercises during work breaks. U.S. companies would do well to look deeper into the benefits of TMHA training, especially Qigong. I left China understanding that the group that does qigong together, moves together. And that is true on a lot of different levels!

During my 40 years of qigong study and practice I observed and experienced many things that still benefit my students and me, things that allow me to teach Qigong with conviction.

• My teacher Grand Master Alan Lee’s body was virtually impregnable.
• My teacher Master Abdel Muquaddim Abdur-Rashed could cut through two red bricks with one hand while holding them with the other.
• I witnessed a Qigong master cut through three high-grade plastic chopsticks with an unfolded twenty-dollar bill.
• I witnessed another master burn the foil coating off of a chewing gum wrapper while it was balled up in the palm of his hand. He used nothing but his qi (chi) to do this.
• While teaching a Qigong class with about 20 students I was able to make the entire class sway in unison (their eyes closed) simply by pushing them with my own qi.
• A student with chronic asthma, on inhalers and in and out of the hospital two to three times per year, was asthma symptoms free after six months of Qigong training.
• I have a video of a Qigong master cutting through two red bricks with a single page of newspaper folder over twice.
• I spent about two to three minutes doing external qigong around the head of an executive with an executive size headache. No aspirin necessary! The headache was gone!
• A student had suffered back pain for years with no relief from any source. During one of his first classes and his first complete repetition of one of the exercises in our Fire Flower System of Qigong he heard and felt an obvious pop. The agonizing pain was gone from that moment and didn’t return.

In my book, Unlocking The Healing Powers In Your Hands: The 18 Mudra System of Qigong I list some of the many ailments and illnesses for which Qigong has proven to be effective as a treatment or a cure. As a teacher one of my greatest rewards is when students come to me and report that their qigong practice has help them to feel more centered and calm, and that they are better able to maintain their control when confronted by the stressors in their everyday lives. That feeling of the integrated self is what I witnessed entire cultures striving for during my travels.

Have you seen the Shaolin Monks on any of their world tours and trips to Phoenix? There are awesome entertainment and offer a powerful demonstration of the potential in every human child. There is a whole world out there waiting for you to discover and explore it. And, there is an undiscovered fountain of potential that is there in you, also waiting for you to discover and explore it. Qigong is the vehicle that can take you on that journey into the realm of subtle energies!

Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif

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About Qigong Pt 1

It is my first Post of 2012 and I hope your New Year is off to a good start. There is so much drama going on in the world that it can be difficult not to get caught in the funnel and drawn into the madness. It can be equally difficult to keep the world’s drama from intruding itself into your life. The conditions of the world can serve to move you towards your Path in life or they can influence you to take roads that are not meant for you to travel. That is why we study the Traditional Martial and Healing Arts. We practice the philosophy of Wu-Te promoted during the 6th Century A.D. by the Buddhist Monk and Patriarch of the Shaolin Temple Tradition, Bodhidharma (Ta Mo). Wu-Te (Martial Virtue, Martial Discipline) means that we practice the Traditional Martial and Healing Arts in order to achieve physical, mental, spiritual, and social well-being. One of the most important parts of our training is the practice of Qigong. What we today call Qigong was first introduced to the Shaolin by Ta-Mo as a system of breathing exercises based on the ancient Pranayama (breathing techniques and disciplines) exercises of his homeland, India.

Each school semester Seifu Andrew and I switch between teaching the Kung Fu Class or the Qigong Class. This semester it is my turn to teach Qigong. Since my Posts focused on Lesson Plans 1 and 2 least year, I thought we spend the next few months sharing some wisdom to help you with your Qigong training and development. Qi (chi) is a Chinese term meaning air, breath, life force, or vital energy. It is energy in a quantum state, a basic component of all levels of the Cosmos, including the life force that circulates within and animates the human body and all living things. In other words, Qi is not just some metaphysical idea. Qi is part of the objective reality.

When I was a pre-teen and teenager, I use to fall asleep with my arm suspended in the air as though it was lying on an invisible cushion. It was only later that I realized that what I was experiencing was the objective reality of Qi and its place in the Quantum Field. When Grand Master Alan Lee taught me the 8 Silk Weaving Qigong Exercises I immediately fell in love with the system and the experience of feeling the Qi. Many of you have already had this experience and are ready for more. Some of you may be studying Qigong for the first time and have that experience to look forward to in the near future. Qigong practice does not always entail using a formal system of movements, postures, or breathing. You can practice your Qigong for a few minutes at work, school, home, or in a nearby park. Sitting or standing in a good posture, clearing your mind by focusing on your breathing, and regulating your breathing are all that are required to engage the Qi and call its presence and power into your awareness and experience.

It is never good to restrict students in their pursuit of knowledge for such pursuit is based on an inner drive tied to ones Destiny. To block someone from his or her Destiny will result in the creation of negative energy. Reading books on Qigong can be very helpful when a teacher is not available and even to supplement what you are getting from your teacher. In my case, I was fortunate enough to study directly under a master, to travel to China and demonstrate my own Qigong discipline in the presence of masters. And of course, I returned from China with several books on Qigong. I’ve read them all! I subsequently traveled to Southeast Asia and Indonesia furthering my knowledge of the ancient and varied traditions of what I sometimes call body-mind energy manipulation exercises. The name is too long to be useful except in stating that when we speak of Qigong we are talking about the Chinese version of something that is quite widespread in the traditions of indigenous cultures around the world. The Chinese have raised that practice to a profound level of excellence and offered it to the world. Today there are Qigong students, practitioners, teachers, and masters of various nationalities and faiths on virtually every continent. Most of them would not consider themselves to be martial artists. They are doctors, lawyers, school teachers, students, professors, soldiers, business people, dancers, actors, musicians, and public servants. Hopefully, you are and will continue to be one of them.

What I have compiled in Unlocking The Healing Powers In Your Hands: The 18 Mudra System of Qigong is based on the knowledge and experience of my past four decades dancing with the Qi. I’m biased of course but nonetheless let me suggest that if you haven’t read this book it would give you a good foundation for internalizing the things we will be talking about in my next few Posts. There is an exercise in the beginning of the book on the Ho-Me-So Breath and Feeling the Qi. Buy it and try it!

What is Qigong?

Chi Kung (Qi gong, Qigong) is a comprehensive system of body movements and breathing exercises aimed at stimulating, potentiating, and manipulating the life force or vital energy. These techniques strengthen the immune system, tone the muscles, add flexibility to the joints, repairs and revitalizes body tissue, increases energy and stamina, and produces a deep level of relaxation and calm.

Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif

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The What If Meditation

As we approach the end of a year and the beginning of a New Year, we hope that the New Year will bring about some positive changes in our lives. People around the world are filled with hope and anticipation of dreams to be fulfilled and goals to be achieved. The tendency to only look ahead at the turn of the year can actually limit our ability to be successful in the future. Ask yourself how many times you have made New Year’s resolutions that you never kept. Quite a few, huh? Don’t feel too bad, since you are not at all alone. It is not a personal defect or anything like that! It just has to do with how you approach the New Year and the resolutions you make. The most important thing, even before planning what you want to accomplish in the future, is to look back over the past year and imagine what if you had done all of the things that you had planned on doing.

The 7 Circles Blog is devoted to the principle of Wu-Te, we practice our martial and healing arts for the purpose of mental, physical, spiritual, and social development and well-being, so let me focus my end of the year comments on your training. This time last year you may have been thinking about how far ahead you wanted to be in your training. You may have thought about techniques and forms you wanted to master, Qigong and strength goals you wanted to achieve, or health and wellness lifestyle changes you wanted to make. If you failed to achieve your goals in 2011, all is not loss. Those 2011 goals can still play an important part in helping you to achieve your goals for 2012.

Here is what you do!

Spend some time meditating on each of the goals you did not achieve for 2011. Allow you mind (which needs to have blanks filled-in) to ask the question, What if I had done what I said I was going to do? What if? Permit your imagination (which loves stories) to fill-in the blanks that your mind is seeking to fill.

As you imagine all of the positive changes that could have taken place your nervous system will be drawn into your imagined experiences. Don’t be critical, asking a lot of why you didn’t do it questions. What you want to dwell on is the positive ways that things could have changed. You want a joyful and positive experience of the past possibilities, not the negative experience of their loss. This process will allow your body/mind to actually experience the biochemistry of success and this will motivate you to seek that feeling and experience by actually being more successful in meeting your new goals for 2012. Remember, your nervous system does not know the difference between an actually experience and something that is vividly experienced in the imagination. You can use this to your benefit.

After spending some time drinking in all of that positive energy from your What If Meditation set your short-term and long-term goals for 2012. Goals are very powerful wisdom! They act like high potency fuel and a directional guidance system. Great minds and those who accomplish great things (large or small) have been guided by goals. It has been said that you should not expect to get a different result if you continue doing the same thing. That means if you want some different results in your life during 2012 then you need to set some goals to bring about change. Take the time to review the Training Tips from my January 2011 Post.

A number of you tested for your initial ranks this month and I was pleased with the performances. Congratulations on taking the test! I look forward to your continued progress in 2012.

A BIG THANKS to Seifu Andrew for all of his teaching and support to our students throughout the year. I plan on completing some more videos for Youtube this coming year especially the 7 Circles Short Staff Form and our 7 Circles Twin Swords Form. Look for them in 2012. One of my goals looking forward.

Have a Great 2012! I hope to hear from you!

Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif

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Training For Perfection

Namaste!

What is the point of training if it is not to achieve perfection? Perfection is an illusive goal but without the magic of its call we would be lost in the world of mediocrity. Perfection is seductive in its appeal even with regard to small things. Your biochemistry and emotions experience a pleasurable shift when you feel that you have done something to perfection. Although perfection is not always achieved striving for it is the most important aspect of your training. It is the part over which you have the greatest control. Perfection is the condition, state, or quality of being free, or as free as possible from all flaws or defects. Striving for perfection is the action or process of improving something until it is faultless or as faultless as possible. If you love the martial arts as I do, your lifelong joy will be striving to perfect each of the techniques that you learn while studying the 7 Circles System. The same applies for my readers who are studying some other martial arts system.

Striving for perfection requires time and dedication. It requires that Humility, Kindness, Patience, and Diligence all be applied to yourself, to how you think about and treat yourself as you struggle to overcome your flaws and master each aspect of your art. In our system we use a simple but effective training formula to achieve perfection. We understand that it is not practice that makes perfect. Only perfect-practice can give birth to perfection!

Training Level 1: Slow, No Power

In level one your goal is to experience each anatomical aspect of the technique you are practicing. By moving slow you give yourself time to see and experience things that will slip into the void when the technique is applied full speed and with qi. You can feel the earth pushing back against your feet as your move. You can experience the movement of your joints, the alignment of your body, your balance, and your form at the final point of execution. When you train at Level 1 you are programming the fine details of the technique into your nervous system, each detail being progressively executed to flawless perfection. You can also use Level 1 training as an opportunity to infuse soft qi into your techniques by using proper breathing techniques and conjuring you qi as you move through the technique.

Training Level 2: Slow, With Power

In level two your goal is to train your muscular, skeletal, and respiratory systems to work together in perfecting the particular technique. Level two breathing method is the Agni (Fire) Breath that we use in our various Qigong systems. You are training, programming, teaching your nervous system exactly how you want the various parts of the technique to be coordinated. You are still moving slow, so again you have time to experience the tension in your muscles and how differently your joints move when your muscles are tense versus when they are relaxed as in level one. You have the opportunity to train your muscles to explode with the power of the breath at the precise points in the technique that you want it to occur. Your nervous system will remember this basic training.

Training Level 3: Fast, No Power

In level three your goal is to train your nervous system to execute the particular technique(s) with repetitive perfection and increasing speed. The technique(s) should flow through your body like the blood flowing through your veins, with an inwardly perceptible perfection. At this level you are giving the techniques over to your unconscious mind more fully. If you have truly practiced the technique(s) at levels one and two then you have done what you need to do under the direction of your conscious mind and you are ready to take a step into the realm of No Mind. With the techniques you have learned in the first few Chambers you are ready to begin our tradition of Fighting Dancing. Fighting Dancing is an excellent method of level three training that allows you to integrate all of your techniques while in the state of No Mind. You have one foot in the door now enter the mysterious room where perfection resides.

Training Level 4: Fast, With Power

In level four your goal is to add the power of your intention and your breath to the technique(s) you are executing. Your intention and your breath awaken your qi. The qi flows through you guided and directed by the silent message speaking to it from the realm of No Mind. Your breath sounds your intention. Your body movement declares the presence of strength and power. Your nervous system responds to imaginary opponents as your imagination confronts it from the realm of infinite possibility. You experience the harnessing and releasing of the tremendous power that you have the capacity to create. And most importantly, you get to taste one of the sweetest of life’s nectars, the taste of perfection.

As with most of what we practice in the Traditional Martial & Healing Arts, this method of Training for Perfection applies equally well to other areas of your life and your other endeavors


Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif

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Our Perspective On Wu-Kung

OK, so this is really my October Post! Remember, I was late Posting for September. This seems like a good time to tie some things together with some practical knots. We practice the 7 Circles System of Southern-Northern Shaolin Kung Fu Wu Shu for health and performance purposes. Self-defense abilities develop as a natural consequence of the movements and techniques in the System. When we practice the 7 Circles System of Southern-Northern Shaolin Kung Fu Wu Kung our intention behind the movements shifts so that Self-defense becomes the priority. In the 7 Circles System most of the movements practiced for Wu Shu are also practical and effective for Wu Kung. Some of the requirements of training for Wu Kung are more demanding than those for Wu Shu. But one of the primary differences is that in Wu Shu training you are in complete control of your movements. When training for Wu Kung the goal is to be able to face one or more opponents whose own choices will also influence your movements and intentions. In other words, in Wu Kung you must control yourself and your opponents. You must not only act (as in Wu Shu), you must also react.

Wu Kung means fighting or self-defense. Now that we have covered Chambers 2-7 of the 7 Circles System you need to understand how to put those pieces together into a coherent and effective fighting style that fits you like a glove. Mastery of the System is a long journey with continuous challenges along the way but you will also experience many successes to keep you motivated and progressing everyday in every way. I have been training for over 40 years and hope to enjoy doing so well into my old age. Being a true devotee of the Traditional Martial and Healing Arts is a lifestyle change that requires humility, kindness, patience, and diligence.

Picture yourself facing one opponent! Assume that no weapons are involved except your opponent’s body. Now lets assess Four Aspects of the Situation.

The Threat

The threat in this situation comes from the opponent’s body. He (or she) can strike at you with the five extensions of the body, their legs, arms, or head. The legs can bend to make their knees into effective striking surfaces but not without first moving the legs. The arms can bend to make their elbows into effective striking surfaces but not without first moving the arms. That means that at the most basic level there are five (5) anatomical weapons that you need to be concerned about. With a more sophisticated opponent there are nine (9) anatomical weapons that your opponent can use to hurt or injure you.

The Eyes

Many students make the mistake of looking into the opponent’s eyes. This can be a costly mistake for many reasons.

• The eyes are not one of the five or nine anatomical weapons that threaten you (unless you make the mistake of looking into the eyes of a kung fu and qigong master or well trained practitioner).
  
  
• You have probably heard the expression the eyes are the window to the soul. There is another expression you should be aware of. The eyes can project qi! Just like the cobra a skilled qigong practitioner can distract and even hypnotize you with their deep penetrating stare whether they are looking into your eyes or not. The piercing emptiness in their eyes can make you lose focus on what is important. A moment of hesitation is all they would need.
  
  
• Depending on the relative height between you and your opponent, looking into their eyes can move their feet (legs) out of your line of vision.
  
  
• Depending on the relative range between you and your opponent, looking into their eyes can move their feet (legs) out of your line of vision.

Your eyes should be focused around the midpoint of your opponent’s body so that movement in any of the anatomical weapons can easily be detected.

A Quick Anatomical Comparison

Once you know that you are facing an opponent it is important to make a quick anatomical comparison. Is the opponent taller than you? How much of their height advantage is from the waist down (in the legs)? An opponent may be taller than you but have shorter legs and a longer torso. You could have a legs advantage even though they are taller. What is the reach advantage or disadvantage when comparing the relative length of your and the opponent’s arms? The quick anatomical assessment will give you your first hint of the parameters of the opponent’s movements that put you at risk of being hit.

Establishing and Controlling Range

As you strive to master what you have learned in Chambers 2 thru 7 you will become better able to establish and control the range between you and your opponent(s). Stances, Stepping, Turning and Shifting are the essentials for controlling the range between you and your opponent. Ideally, in one step or shift you want to be far enough away to avoid any damaging effects of the opponent’s attack; and in one step or shift you want to be in close enough to effectively counterattack. This ideal is not always possible but it is an important doorway into Chin Na, the Art of Seizing and Holding.

These Four Aspects of the Single Opponent Situation remain essential even when facing multiple opponents. Of course, Establishing and Controlling Range becomes much more challenging when facing multiple opponents. Good topic for a later Posting.

Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif

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Keys to Lesson Plan 2: 7th Chamber – Blocking

I’ve been busy editing my publications into eBooks for the Google eBook store. This is really my September Post, a little late but no less important for improving your enjoyment and progress in your Kung Fu training. The 7th Chamber speaks of some of the most important things you can learn to do with your arms. Your arms and hands are your most instinctively based tools of defense. The speed with which your arms and hands can move instinctively to swat a fly away from your face is really quite amazing. Of course, sometimes you move so fast you end up hitting yourself in the face or head. Catching a falling object, bracing yourself from a fall, or reaching out to save someone else from a fall – they are all pretty incredible moments of mindless speed and dexterity if you think about it. The 7th Chamber is about harnessing that natural speed and dexterity into a series of movements that are designed to create a self-directed force field around the vital parts of your body.

Our Strategy, in the 7 Circles System is to develop a fluid and powerful force field capable of opening and closing doors. The Doors are the pathways to the vital and vulnerable areas of your body – your opponent’s targets. When a block closes a door to stop your opponent’s attack, it should also open a door or pathway to some vital and vulnerable area of their body. When you close a door with one arm to stop your opponent’s attack you should also be opening a door for your other arm (or your blocking arm) to attack. The 7th Chamber introduces our Two Basic Blocking Styles, Moving Barrier Blocking and Target Specific Blocking. The specific Systems are called Plum Flower Fist/Palm Blocking and Mighty God 8 Fist/Palm Blocking.

Lets look at Target Specific Blocking first!

Our Mighty God 8 Fist/Palm Blocking System uses the Conventional & Black Tiger Fist or the various Palm Hands to attack the opponent’s attacking arm or leg from any of the four (4) primary and four (4) secondary directions. Making contact with the opponent as they commit to their attack can redirect the energy of their attack back into them compounded by your own release of Qi into the contact point. Target Specific Blocking (TSB) can completely disable a limb from further use as a weapon against you. Remember what is happening! You are drawing energy from the earth through push-back and moving that energy through your body and arms, reinforcing it with your breath, and delivering it to the point of contact – a small spot on your opponent’s arm, hand, leg, or foot. An effectively delivered TSB can end the confrontation. The downside is that your target, a moving arm or leg is a relatively small target. The block is too easy to miss (mainly to the lower arms and legs) in a fighting situation, especially with multiple opponents. If it emerges from no mind, in the moment, and connects, you will be glad you used it. If you miss the cost could be high so we always reinforce a TSB with a secondary force field, something you will learn in class.

Low to the ground, spinning like the tornado, pushing and pulling like the tide, empty as the air, solid like a wave, moving on the currents of unseen forces, opening and closing doors with a mystical dance. This is the inspiration behind Moving Barrier Blocking Style and the Plum Flower Fist/Palm Blocking System. Although described as a four (4) direction blocking system Plum Flower Fist/Palm Blocking is really the first step in building a fluid and powerful force field capable of opening and closing doors. You should approach the one hand, two hand, and alternating hands training methods with good posture and a relaxed state of body and mind. Moving Barrier Blocking is about using circular movements (centripetal – toward the center, and centrifugal forces – away from the center) to redirect linear and other circular movements. MBB is about making space for fullness of the opponent to enter a void that you have created for it, and then filling the emptiness that is created in the opponent when they enter into the void.

Thousands of hours of perfect practice over the years will help you to develop a fluid defense driven by instinctive speed. Your arms and hands will begin to act like tentacles trapping, deflecting, and intercepting the opponent’s attempts to reach your vital and vulnerable areas. You will be able to open and close doors with grace, precision, speed, power, and effectiveness.

Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif

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Keys to Lesson Plan 2: 6th Chamber – Fist Way

We started the year out with some Training Tips and the February Post on Mastering the Discipline of Breathing. This would be a good time to review that Post. We spent the last few months discussing the 2nd – 5th Chambers of Lesson Plan 1. You know now that your power comes from your ability to maintain a connection to the Earth that creates pushback and Earth Qi, and to control your breathing in order to access and control the forces of Heavenly Qi. You should now understand that when these two disciplines are put into harmonious integration qi will flow though your body and you can control the direction of its flow. You should also have a better understanding of why we put Stances, Stepping, Turning & Shifting, and Foot & Leg Way before Fist Way. Lesson Plan 1 teaches you how to connect with Earth Qi and Heavenly Qi and cause it to flow through you. Now you can direct the power of those internal forces outward through the various parts of your hands.

Lesson Plan 2 introduces you to the Five Basic Striking Surfaces of the Fist. Many of the techniques in our 7 Circles System are actually open hand or animal hands techniques. But the fist has a unique bone structure that sets it apart from any of the open and animal hand techniques. It is versatile, hard, and handy. It is your portable hammer if you happen to need one. And yes! Some of the Shaolin masters practice driving nails into wood with the various fist techniques. The head of the fist where the large joints of the index and middle fingers converge and protrude slightly is the most obvious striking surface and the one that that average street fighter will use and expect. Fist Way teaches you to multiply your advantage (muni ipa ifa – seize the advantage) by using all five striking surfaces of your fists, the head, the heart, the hammer, the back, and the eye. Since each of the striking surfaces attacks from a different angle the opponent has to deal with a much more complex array of possibilities. Add in your dynamic movements from your Leg Way training and your ability to move the qi however you choose and you become a force to be reckoned with.

The striking surface is the point on your hand where you will direct the qi. It is the end point of your delivery system. What you are delivering is energy, gathered in you, directed by you, and delivered by you from the striking surface of your hand to the contact point on the surface of your opponent’s body. Yes! Release the energy on the surface of your opponent’s body. In some systems the hands are hardened so that the practitioner can punch or strike into or through the contact point. That is, the hand pushes into the body compressing its surface. In the 7 Circles System we also train our hands to be hard not to penetrate the contact point but to focus and control the energy that we are releasing into the contact point. For us it more like breaking glass than punching through wood, a short snapping technique as opposed to a deep penetrating technique. We train to gather and release qi using our bodies as the conduit for that process.

Our Conventional Fist is used for penetrating blows and our Southern Stone Fist techniques. Our Black Tiger Fist is used for Qi Extension blows and snapping power to deliver qi to the opponent by touching the contact point we have chosen. If you practice creating snapping power with each of the Five Striking Surfaces of the Fists you will develop a skill the will serve you well in maintaining good health and in elevating your abilities at self-defense.

Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif


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Keys to Lesson Plan 1: 5th Chamber - Foot & Leg Way

Now that you understand the importance and significance of the first four Chambers and now that you have learned how to root yourself to the ground to create push-back from a firm foundation, it is time to think about translating or directing the energy of push-back outward through the legs and feet. Students often wonder why in the 7 Circles System do we begin training our legs and feet before training our hands. If you have read the last few Posts then you now understand why. Whatever we are going to do with our hands it will be our legs and feet that get us into position by acting as a conduit for the force of push-back. Earth Qi (other than that which you consume in the form of food) makes first contact with your body at the feet and moves upward or in the direction that you choose to move it. When using the legs and feet for offensive and defensive techniques the energy of push-back first moves up the body and than downward again towards the legs and feet, and ultimately to the particular striking surface (knee, toe, instep, outside edge, inside edge, bottom, or ball of the foot). We could leave the toes out since they are such a vulnerable part of the foot.

Many of you younger martial artists out there, or those who have been trained in northern styles may enjoy the power of high-kicks that the force of push-back can generate. If it works for you and you enjoy it, stick with it! However, there is a strategic and tactical advantage to our approach of low kicks. The strategy is to weaken the opponent’s foundation and retard, frustrate, and thwart their means of movement. The 7 Circles tactic is to the attack the opponents’ feet and legs by kicking low and kicking fast. Consider the strategic logic of this approach. The human mind tends to go towards points of physical contact. Anyone who has had a fly land on some part of their exposed skin knows that their mind immediately shifted to that point of focus, no matter what they were doing. You may choose to ignore or disregard the information but it is impossible not to make note of the occasion (of contact). Likewise, when you kick to your opponents’ foot, his or her mind immediately checks in with the foot to see what the sensation was all about. When the opponent’s mind goes to his or her foot, it is no longer focused on the defense of the upper body. So, by employing tactics that move the opponent’s mind from upper to lower body (and vice versa) we create both pain and opportunity (openings).

Our system is 85% to 90% hands, but our training has a 75% to 85% Leg and Foot Way focus. The first five Chambers are essential to the effective emergence of the seven animals of the system. The Nine Low Kicks are the pillars of our kicking system. The Four High Kicks usually follow the Nine Low Kicks like a lady who gracefully moves through a door that has been opened for her. Our high kicks also emerge like a sudden gust of swirling wind with damaging consequences. It is important to practice throwing even your low-kicks high and stretching out your leg muscles. This will add even more explosive power to your kicks when you throw them to their low targets.

The 5th Chamber completes the materials required for testing to 1st Rank 1st Degree. Hopefully these Posts will assist you in acquiring a deeper understanding of the principles underlying the 7 Circles System and to fall in love with it as I have been for over 40 years.


Live Wu-Te

Seifu Sharif


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Keys to Lesson Plan 1: 4th Chamber - Turning and Shifting

Namaste’ Students and Fellow Martial Arts Enthusiasts!
Stepping, as we discussed in my last Post, breathes life into our stances and makes them more dynamic. Likewise, Turning and Shifting elevates our stepping making it more dynamic and powerful. Turning and shifting also creates certain dynamic forces that are not generated (in the same degree) when we simply step from one stance into another. Turning is the act of moving or causing something to move in a circular direction wholly or partly around an axis or point (such as your center of gravity or center of mass). Shifting is the act of moving or causing something to move from one place to another, especially over a small distance. For example, shifting instead of stepping from a right-leg bow and arrow stance to a left-leg bow and arrow. All of the principles that apply to stances and stepping must be maintained during turning and shifting, that is, when turning and shifting one must maintain Center of Gravity, Balance, Foundation, and sense of Direction in order to control the Force of Momentum.

There are certain principles of physics that apply to any object in motion including your body. Momentum is the quantity of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of its mass and velocity. When you step forward from a left leg bow and arrow stance into a right-leg bow and arrow, advancing in on your opponent, you create momentum based on the mass of your body and the velocity (speed) with which you move. As you reach the forward limit of that second stance and begin extending your punch the force of momentum of the body’s forward movement is transferred to the forward movement and momentum of the punch. As you master our strategic stepping techniques you will be better able to create the impetus gained by a moving object (body, legs, hands, weapons, etc.). Momentum is the driving force gained by the development of a process or course of events, in this case your stances, stepping (integration of stances), turning and shifting.

Generally speaking, stepping tends to move the force of momentum in straight lines, even though the straight lines may be in different directions. By using our turning and shifting techniques you are able to bend those straight lines into curves and circles harnessing the power of centrifugal and centripetal forces. Centrifugal force is the tendency for objects to move away from a center. By turning and shifting in strategic ways, for example crossing behind dragon or bow and arrow crossing over behind turning, we can generate centrifugal force taking an opponent off balance causing them to spin around and away from our center. You can also use a similar turning and shifting technique to create a twisting movement in our body, and a corresponding centrifugal force in our arm and hand, as you cross over behind turn into a back-fist or elbow strike.

The force of momentum can also be bent in the opposite direction creating centripetal force. Centripetal force is a force that acts on a body moving in a circular path and is directed toward the center around which the body is moving. Every time you make contact with your opponent you become the center of a circle around which you can force your opponent to move either in a centrifugal motion (around and away from you) or in a centripetal motion (around and in towards you). As you master you stances, stepping, turning, and shifting you will be able to move in such way as to cause your opponent to experience a centrifugal force acting on their body that suddenly changes to a centripetal force with destabilizing consequences, or vice versa. 

Stances, stepping, turning, and shifting lay the foundation for all that you hope to experience and accomplish through your martial arts training. When these basic elements are well integrated your movements will become fluid, your body and mind will interact with greater harmony, and you will be able to defend yourself effectively even against multiple opponents. But there is more! Remember, Wu-Te! Behind each of these important elements is a deeper philosophical concept or idea that should influence other aspects of your life. Stance also refers to the attitude of a person or organization toward something or someone, a standpoint. Just as you must be mindful (and eventually mindless) about the stances you take in your martial arts training, you must also be mindful (and never mindless) about the stances you take in life. In fighting there are occasions when one must take a strong stance of resistance and then there are occasions when a less rigid stance is required. It is that way in life as well! Some positions are not worth defending and some attitudes are not worth maintaining or supporting.

Stepping not only refers to the movement of your feet during your martial arts training or when walking down the street. A step is a measure or action, especially one of a series of actions taken, in order to deal with or achieve a particular thing. Just as your martial stances and stepping require a sense of intention and direction, so too your life course requires that you know when and where to step, that is what steps you need to take in order to accomplish your life objective. We study the martial arts for physical, mental, social, and spiritual development. Each element of your training is conveying a deeper lesson about how to live life well. This is what we mean when we refer to the traditional martial arts, that is, the training and techniques are designed to carry hidden messages that aid in the development of the well-rounded and whole person.

Turning has its benefits as a martial technique and it carries a message about how to live life well. In life you must know when to turn away, turn towards, turn around, take-a-turn, transform or turn into, turn down (an offer, invitation, or temptation), or turn your attention to a different object of interest. As you practice turning in your martial arts training you are also conditioning your mind-body-spirit to be mindful of and open to the need to turn in one way or another in your everyday life. Likewise you can shift your physical position, your emotional state, your mental disposition, and your worldview as the need for change presents itself. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Chambers of the 7 Circles System are your four cornerstones for establishing an intimate connection with the earth, a strong foundation, fluidity of motion, and dynamic powers the you can generate through push-back, the force of momentum, centrifugal forces, and centripetal forces.


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Seifu Sharif

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