gongfu

 In kung fu, it can be difficult to obtain information about the mental aspects. Even with decent teachers, some teachers neglect this important part of gong fu training. There are various methods to develop various qualities, and various teachers will help you train the mind in several ways. If you aren’t paying attention, you might miss it. For example, if your teacher tells you to focus on something during training a certain posture and to remain that way for a certain length of time, this, among other things, is training the mind. If instead you just assume the posture and watch t.v, your not doing anything but wearing out your joints. It isn’t secret information, you can find different real ways to train the mind in most good books on gong fu. It is however, sometimes easy to overlook. I think it is better that way, since until you master the rest of the content, you probably won’t go back and take the mental training too seriously. When you get to the point that the body is pretty competant with gong fu’s moving patterns, mental training opens the door to a whole new realm of gong fu. “One thing at a time, and a little each day is the best way.” my Grandfather always says that.

 In this article, I would like to present a relatively simple, ten minutes per day way to radically tranform the mind from a mushy unorganized mess, into a sharply focused weapon. This method is great for aggressive linear attacking, like that found in xing yi, since it trains the mind to focus itself into something, penetrating. This is an external method. The only internal method that I know uses the same concept, only it is applied to the body instead of an external object, and not to sound too hokey, but since I do know enough to know that doing that wrong could be dangerous, I admit that I don’t know enough to talk about it.

 This is the external method:

 Sit half lotus, or full lotus, depending on your ability to sit in the lotus position, which is the position where you sit “indian” or crossed legged and have either one foot on the opposite thigh or both feet on the opposite thighs respectively. 3-5′ or about a meter away from where you will be sitting, place and light a stick of incense. Sit still and watch the glowing ember. What I mean by “watching” is not that you stare, or deliberatly focus, just that you watch it carefully and intently. The mind, naturally bringing up everything from physical discomfort to your studies and personal life is completely ignored. What I mean, is that while your mind may start to wander, don’t think about whatever comes to mind, just ignore it. it is after all, you, your mind, and you can either think about what comes up or not think about it. Not that thinking about that thinking is anything but redundant nonsense. What is important is just not thinking, instead watching, carefully and intently, that glowing ember at the end of the stick. Not for any purpose, or reason, except that because it is glowing. forget about yourself and anything else in the room, just watch. Slight physical discomfort from twisting the legs will help you in not thinking about anything else.

 Everyday, watch a stick of incense burn all the way out. It is best at night, when it is really quiet, but it doesn’t need to be otherwise dark. Eventually, you will notice a calm of mind in your daily self and an ability to think about one thing for a very long time. Next, you might notice that you can pay attention to anything, no matter how lame. At this point, you could go on to the next stage, which is training martial intent. For this, you simply do the same thing as before, only now as you watch the incense burn down, you watch it spitefully, with bitterness or ferociously and with courage. You can train the martial intent in many different flavors depending on the style you do, and the spirit exhibited. You should look at what constitutes the “spirit” of your style, and what that spirit means to the method by reading the old poetry and literature of the style if you are interested in this aspect of gong fu.

 It sound easy, and maybe you will find it easy. But most people find it difficult to concentrate like that. As soon as you realize you have lost concentration, just start concentrating. This practice is one way you can build concentration.

 Originally, this method was used to train archers, so it would make sense to train like that if you were a police officer or another professional using a firearm. The most important result of this practice is your minds ability to focus very intently on one thing, whether it is a target or a concept, this practice is as beneficial today as it was centuries ago.

 Peace.

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