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Tai Chi, Zen and Martial Arts

Just This Moment - A Lesson From Tea

Submitted by ashe on Sun, 13/05/2012 - 11:10am
Tea set in Chinatown
Bernie and Holly at the Gate in San Francisco Chinatown
"Each point itself is complete"
Master Sam FS Chin

Zen & The Martial Arts: What Is Zen?

Submitted by ashe on Sun, 29/04/2012 - 7:22pm

I was fortunate enough to have Willie come to Tempe recently to get some extra training in with me and he had a question about Zen and how it applies to our training in the Martial Art Of Awareness.

"What is Zen?" is one of the most common questions posed by beginners to I Liq Chuan and how that actually applies to training martial arts.  In this quick video I attempt to address that issue as simply as possible.

Falling Leaves In Phoenix Magazine!

Submitted by ashe on Mon, 09/04/2012 - 5:15pm
Phoenix Magazine recently called for a quote regarding awareness based martial arts exercise and the carry over to the game of golf.

Notes From The Whiteboard - 03.25.12

Submitted by ashe on Mon, 26/03/2012 - 8:06pm

Sunday's class ended up being a private lesson with Moose, and since he's working on his student level two, we spent a long time talking about the hip roll, finding the limits within the hip roll and triangle energy and maintaining the square-ness of the hips.

Take a look at the notes from the white board, questions welcome!
©2012 CFILC

眞義歌 - Zhen Yi Ge, Ode To The Real Meaning (Of Tai Chi)

Submitted by ashe on Sat, 10/03/2012 - 7:58pm



From time to time I enjoy re-reading the old "Tai Chi Classics". As students of I Liq Chuan, we should be studying "the cause", and the classics only discuss "the effect", so from the perspective I think you can't really learn anything from them, but I do find they make nice martial arts poetry.

Tiger Above, Tiger Below

Submitted by ashe on Sat, 06/08/2011 - 11:16am

The real trick of pursuing a martial art like I Liq Chuan over the long term is recognizing the end of the duality of "on the mat" and "off the mat", so that one is always training.

The I Liq Chuan system guide opens with the following;

意力合一
yi li he yi “awareness and the physical (actions) as one”

意控制力
yi kong zhi li “awareness gains control over the physical”

用意用不力
yong yi bu yong li “use (only) awareness and not physical (force)”

Zen and The Martial Arts - Mindfulness Of Breathing

Submitted by ashe on Fri, 22/07/2011 - 12:29pm

The breath is used as an indicator for when you are going beyond the limit of strength. Part of tai chi is to recognize things as they are, or as such (Dao 道, or the nature of things).

I have strength, why can't I use it? We all have a certain amount of strength, this is our nature. The thing is when I try to go BEYOND the limit of my strength that my action turns into struggling, and I will lose the tai chi balance in my body, because everything has it's limits.

Understanding the limits is tai chi, so I use the breath to keep the body in yin/yang balance. when I start to struggle in my action, such that it starts to restrict my breathing, I know I need to change so I can relax again.

The Importance Of Smiling During Meditation

Submitted by ashe on Sat, 11/06/2011 - 12:23pm

Ever notice the gentle smile on the face of most Buddha and Bodhisatva statues?

In The Anapanasati Sutta: A Practical Guide to Mindfulness of Breathing and Tranquil Wisdom Meditation , Ven. Vimalaramsi writes that remembering to smile during meditation is crucial.
"Imagine, for a moment, the young Bodhisatta resting under the Rose Apple Tree as a young boy. He was not serious and tense when he attained a pleasant abiding [jhana] and had deep insights with a light mind. Want to see clearly? It’s easy!
Just lighten up, have fun exploring and smile! Smiling leads

Zen and The Martial Arts - Formlessness

Submitted by ashe on Mon, 21/03/2011 - 5:41pm

I Liq Chuan is called "The Martial Art of Awareness" for good reason. Zen philosophy is inextricably interwoven into it's training approach. It's simultaneously the most difficult and most rewarding part of practice.

Recently in one of my local Tempe, Arizona classes at Falling Leaves Kung Fu, we were discussing I Liq Chuan's "Three Mental Factors" of present formless and neutral, with an emphasis on "formlessness", and how that formlessness applies to martial art.

The formlessness here is a mental quality of formless. In a recent conversation with my Sifu about the subject he explained "it's more about not locking (mentally) onto things".

Falling Leaves Kung Fu Ranked #1 in Tempe / Phoenix Arizona!

Submitted by ashe on Sun, 06/03/2011 - 5:06pm

Kung Fu Lessons Tempe Arizona Falling Leaves Kung Fu has been ranked #1 in the Phoenix Metro area for Chinese martial arts. (although the ranking of the top three seemed to fluctuate depending on the link you clicked).

I've worked really hard to bring the best Chinese martial arts instruction possible to the area. To help us celebrate, come get started with a free trial of two weeks!