BUT I DON'T WANNA...

by Phillip Starr

How many times have you, or perhaps one of your classmates muttered something like, “But I don’t wanna do that @#$% form again!” Of course, the same complaint is often heard when the instructors calls out that everyone is to do more reverse punches, basic front kicks, or whatever. You just REALLY are sick and tired of doing the same thing over and over…

I know I did, back in the day, especially when I trained under the tutelage of my primary gong-fu teacher, sifu W. C. Chen. I recall when he showed us how to stand in the basic xingyiquan posture known as “santi shih” and told us to stand in this way every day for at least 15-20 minutes. I simply couldn’t understand how standing still in this posture could help me become a strong fighter (and baguazhang has its own version of the same posture). I wouldn’t truly understand it for many, many years…

And when I thought I understood, I later realized (through constant, REGULAR practice) that there was MUCH more to it than I thought! To this day, I am still discovering more about it! It’s more than just standing in a balanced position; it conditions certain muscles and other tissues, AND it teaches certain critical principles – if you pay close attention and study it as you do it.

In baguazhang, we would practice walking the circle in EVERY class. Every. Class. I thought, after some time, that I understood this routine pretty well…after all, I had become quite adept at it. But as the years passed, I realized how little I really understood. That basic exercise would foster the development of various skills that could easily be applied to any other form of martial art. If I hadn’t practiced walking the circle so much, I never would have known about them!

The same is true of our most fundamental techniques; the basic reverse punch, lunge punch, front kick, and so on, will impart their secrets only when we are physically and mentally prepared and able to receive them. How much more so our basic form(s)! And we cannot be prepared mentally or even physically able to understand these hidden mysteries until we have practiced them countless times!

Your teacher may or may not know of these special keys, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t discover them. However, it’s best if your instructor knows of them so that you can verify what you’ve found and discuss it to find out more about the various ways they can be applied. And this is one of the problems in martial arts today; many, many teachers only understand something of the “outer shell.”

Don’t say, “I don’t wanna do…” Just do it. And pay close attention while you do.