"The purpose of
Ving Tsun Kung Fu is to lead you to be free and relaxed. This can never be
achieved if you are tied physically and emotionally to techniques. You must
free yourself from dependence on mechanical expression
and trust your body, your kung fu to protect yourself..." Grand Master Moy Yat
and trust your body, your kung fu to protect yourself..." Grand Master Moy Yat
In the view
of eastern wisdom, a student is an acorn sprout that is connected to both the
past and the future, with commitment as its taproot. In Ving Tsun, this
root is also experienced as the horse stance. Different students may have
different learning styles, and any given individual's practice on any given
occasion may fluctuate according to a variety of conditions such as weather,
diet, hormonal cycle, biological cycle (circadian and lunar), metabolic state,
etc. Some students may fluctuate more than others, but eventually, every
acorn that sprouts and grounds grows a stabilizing tap root that can endure
much and stabilize itself.
A Sifu who
teaches students to cultivate their Siu Nim Tao may have the opportunity to see
the process of a human version of a whole new oak tree unfold within their own lifetime.
As to the students who may not commit to practice, the acorn laying
dormant for whatever reason, the Sifu understands that everything has its own
time and that it is all connected like the oak's unique root systems of
many hundreds of miles in length. Students
find Siu Nim Tao as part of a long journey, and teachers parent the moment as
it is, varying student-by-student, body-by-body, mind state-by-mind state.
Teachers teach Siu Nim Tao, and trust the inherent process in each student,
regardless of outcome. Like the
story of the elderly
master who was planting a little oak tree: A neighbor saw her as he passed and said, ‘Old woman, do you
know you won’t have a chance to see that tree grow?’ ‘Yes,’ she replied
with a contented smile. ‘I know.’
Longevity
& Fertility: The steadfast oak can grow
to an age of many centuries, leaving little acorns with the capacity to
multiply into many worlds. On our
earth at this moment are some ancient oaks still standing in Britain and northern Europe that are well over
1000 years old. Like that, the
authentic martial artist embraces the secrets of aging well (and the fact of
dying). The elderly martial artist
has a vitality, luminosity, and lucidity that outlasts many a peer, and graces
their last breath.
Preciousness: Each acorn nut holds one
fruit seed, unlike the seed-pods of other great trees like the pine, tamarind,
and banyan which contain many seeds. Each time you practice
Siu Nim Tao, you experience preciousness, because you are the acorn in action.
Sustainability: The oak outlasts all trees. The
more a student understands Siu Nim Tao and the path of the Ving Tsun Code of
Conduct, the more that sustainability is cultivated in body and mind. This deepens the practice of
skillfulness so we understand the necessity of living the kung fu life, both as
individuals and in committed partnership.
Practicing self-cultivation and relationship just like we practice Siu
Nim Tao, life gets renewed rather than depleted.
Variability: Each oak tree's production of acorn fruit can vary
strikingly over a given area. Most
years, only a few acorns are produced.
Many new acorns are eaten by birds or later by animals on the forest
floor (or, in the case of the human tree, the conditioned self-sabotaging
habits of individuals). Like other trees, the oak tree has its super-abundant
years, which remain mysterious to modern science.
Synchrony: Amazingly, oaks across
long distances have highly synchronous years of abundance, this is known as
"acorn synchrony." In
Ving Tsun kung fu, a family style system and a pure form from the heart have made
geographically distant schools into a closely-knit world family.
In your own home life, experiment with cultivating a daily practice of Siu Nim Tao form each morning and evening, as recommended by our Great-Grand Master Yip Man. Even just a quick 3-minute flow each sunrise and sunset will change your life for the better, and make you strong.
