Integrating the teachings of many Taoist masters, including Chang San-Feng, the creator of Tai Chi; Wang Tsung-Yueh, the legendary 19th-century master; Bruce Lee, the actor and martial artist who made the "one-inch punch" technique famous; and the Magus of Java, a living master able to discharge energy in the form of electric shocks, this book explores the history, philosophy, internal exercises, and physical practices of Fa Jin. Drawing on Iron Shirt Chi Kung and Tan Tien Chi Kung techniques, Master Mantak Chia and Andrew Jan reveal the secrets to collecting yin and yang in the lower tan tien and discharging the energy with seemingly effortless yet explosive force. Illustrating several routines of the Tai Chi partner practice of "Push Hands" (Tui Shou), they explain how to apply Fa Jin techniques by "listening" to your opponent's intentions and countering the natural instinct to resist force with force through yielding softness and redirection. The authors also detail how to prepare for this advanced practice through stretching, meditation, breathing, relaxation, and energetic exercises.
Mantak Chia has been studying the Taoist approach to life since childhood. His mastery of this ancient knowledge, enhanced by his study of other disciplines, has resulted in the development of the Universal Healing Tao system, which is now being taught throughout the world.
Mantak Chia was born in Thailand to Chinese parents in 1944. When he was six years old, he learned from Buddhist monks how to sit and "still the mind." While in gram-mar school he learned traditional Thai boxing, and he soon went on to acquire considerable skill in aikido, yoga, and Tai Chi. His studies of the Taoist way of life began in earnest when he was a student in Hong Kong, ultimately leading to his mastery of a wide variety of esoteric disciplines, with the guidance of several masters, including Master I Yun, Master Meugi, Master Cheng Yao Lun, and Master Pan Yu. To better understand the mechanisms behind healing energy, he also studied Western anatomy and medical sciences.
Master Chia has taught his system of healing and energizing practices to tens of thousands of students and trained more than two thousand instructors and practitioners throughout the world. He has established centers for Taoist study and training in many countries around the globe. In June of 1990 he was honored by the International Congress of Chinese Medicine and Qi Gong (Chi Kung), which named him the Qi Gong Master of the Year.
ANDREW JAN
Dr. Andrew Jan is a senior instructor for the Universal Healing Tao system. He first became an instructor in 1992 and has been a senior instructor since 2001. He began studying martial arts as a young child and has been studying the internal arts of Wu Shu for 25 years. His teachers include Chen Lu, John Yuen (Blackburn Tai Chi Academy), Liu De Ming (Associate Professor Martial Arts, Fujien University), Huo Dong Li in Beijing (Senior Judge, Beijing Wu Shu Federation), Zhu Tian-Cai (one of the contemporary "tigers" of Chen Jia Guo), and of course Master Mantak Chia.
Andrew Jan has won multiple medals in Push Hands competitions and won a Full-contact All Styles, Lightweight Division title in 1984 in Victoria. In 2000, he became the National Tai Chi and Wu Shu Champion in the over-forty section and also won first place in Wu Style, Yang Style, and Weapon divisions.
Dr. Jan is currently an Emergency Medicine specialist and Direc-tor of Emergency Medical Services at a large private hospital in Perth, Western Australia. He is also a qualified acupuncturist with the Medical Acupuncture College. He was born in Australia to a Chinese father and an English mother. Dr. Jan has always found himself exploring and synthesizing Eastern and Western traditions, an ability he applies to healing as well as martial arts. He is married to his loving wife and fellow practitioner, Fiona, with one daughter, Nikita.
Teachings from the internal martial art classics and from current masters of these disciplines provide us with clues about the methodology employed in discharge power. However, internal arts are always difficult to describe because they are, by nature, internal and subjec-tive. Descriptions of chi, mind, and specific visualizations vary from master to master within a discipline as well as between different traditions. These variations occur even when the masters are performing essentially similar tasks. Perhaps there are multiple internal methods that achieve the same discharge power. Alternatively, a master may be unable to describe in words the internal happenings that occur with the release of power, or unwilling to reveal too much about this esoteric art. In former years, masters would teach such techniques only to a small number of select students. Consequently, the art of Fa Jin is on the decrease.
To further complicate matters, variations of Fa Jin exist. They range from Bruce Lee's one-inch punch to throwing an opponent in the air to transmitting an electric shock or intense heat. Despite these constraints, this book will nevertheless attempt to outline the methodology of Fa Jin and share this knowledge with all. By building upon the principles of Iron Shirt Chi Kung, the foundational form of Tai Chi Chi Kung, Tan Tien Chi Kung, the Fusion practices, and Kan and Li practice, we hope to arrange the information in a succinct and understandable way.
This book endeavours to create an original view of Fa Jin by blending the Universal Healing Tao internal training with the yang Tai Chi classics and teachings from present-day masters. The power generated by this blend of insight is practiced in the Tai Chi Chi Kung Discharge Form, which demonstrates five of the eight gates that can express discharge power. Another practice for cultivating discharge power that uses all eight gates is Push Hands. As a part of its discussion of discharge power, this book provides an overview of Push Hands routines and principles.
Many Tai Chi classics are now available in English thanks to authors such as Yang Jwing-Ming, Benjamin Lo, Barbara Davis, and Douglas Wile. This book will make direct references to available English translations of the works of Yang Lu-Chan, Wu Yu-Hsiang, Wu Cheng-Ching, and Li I-Yu. (Please note that spelling in some of the quotations that retain pinyin is altered slightly to maintain consis-tency with the authors.) The next book in this series will explore the Wu style, focusing on the works of Wu Quan-Yu.
However, translation of historical Tai Chi texts is difficult because there are multiple meanings for many of the original characters. Accurate translation requires an appropriate depth of understanding of Tai Chi principles in order to extract the inner meaning. In other words, the depth of translation can be only as deep as the translator's current mindset. Furthermore, understanding of the principles of Fa Jin can only occur when the student is ready to comprehend. Much of that understanding will come through meditation and the domain of martial interaction that allows hidden forces to materialize in the physical realm.
This book focuses on the reader who has an interest in both Taoist mystical practices and martial practice. It will suit the accomplished Tai Chi practitioner who seeks a deeper understanding of the energetic aspects of Fa Jin training, as well as the practitioner who has made some accomplishment with meditation and seeks a deeper understanding of the physical and martial domains. The book will be invaluable not only to students of the Universal Healing Tao system, but also to Tai Chi and meditation students of other schools who are searching for a fresh approach to this internal art or wishing to broaden their knowledge.
Book's Contents and Sample Pages
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