The Acorn & Siu Nim Tao (part I)

by

Sifu Aaron Vyvial

& Mary Ceallaigh

"Whatever we do lays a seed in our deepest consciousness - and one day that seed will grow."  

"Mighty oaks from little acorns grow."

These statements reflect on the potential within people that is concentrated and carried within. The oak tree's acorn is a fruit, which contains one seed.  This seed, like Siu Nim Tao, has encoded within it everything it needs to become a strong, peaceful warrior in the forest, once the multifarious conditions of natural law are right for it.  Within the acorn is a powerhouse of nutrients and information for the seedling's success.  It is encoded not only with mighty strength, but also the flexibility to persevere through trials and hardships. And all the droughts, frosts, and catastrophes that can happen with life on earth.  


The acorn holds a secret map about the art of living, which reveals itself over seasons, and eons, through the ups and downs of life.  Being that human existence on planet earth in the last 100 years has been one of unprecedented wars that have killed around 35 million people, the conditions for humanity have been harsh.  And far exceeding that is the number of people eliminated by absolutist governments through genocide and forced famine that has exceeded all wars (and is the equivalent of a nuclear war in and of itself).   


In China, upwards of 60 million of its native people were killed for the various dictatorships since 1900 (through genocide and murder through famine), referred to by scholars as the Chinese Holocaust.  Many well-known martial art practitioners chose to escape these conditions and migrate with their families to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other parts of the world. Those masters started to teach within the overseas Chinese communities but eventually they expanded their teachings to include people from other cultures, an adaptation to the conditions they found themselves in.  It is from both the incredible tenacity and aware accessibility of Ving Tsun Kung Fu that Sifu Moy 10 Tung Vyvial and the Moy Yat Kung Fu Academy in Austin and Houston came to be.

If Ving Tsun kung fu is an oak tree, the practice of Siu Nim Tao form that we do before every class is the acorn that contains all the information needed for full maturation of a student. The Nim Tao is your mind/soul for lack of English word. Siu Nim Tao trains the way of the Nim Tao. When you start your training, the little nim tao becomes big Nim Tao and your big Nim Tao eventually can become a great NIM TAO just like an oak tree.   Siu Nim Tao is the small beginning or seed that grows your Nim Tao into the oak - the acorn is the present moment becoming The Future.  

Through the 108 moves of Siu Nim Tao we train the Nim Tao, our thought process, and we develop Ding, or the vast potency of quietness/stillness, in an internal alchemy according to the moment as it is.  The way of Siu Nim Tao is about thinking just enough and restraining from overthinking so that the natural process is freed up.  Or, in other words, deepening our relationship to natural law.  


So, Siu Nim Tao is the most important component of Ving Tsun and we need to spend the time working on this acorn so that our Kung fu can grow naturally into the mighty oak that it should be.   In your own personal training try to spend a few weeks focusing on slower Siu Nim Tao practice. Make sure all of your forms are at least 5 minutes long or as long as an hour.  Relax the body and relax the mind, this will take your training to a whole new level.