Sifu’s Corner | How Qigong, Tai Chi & Wing Chun Can Drastically Increase Your Martial Arts Skill

In this video I am working with Mark on his sensitivity we are playing a game that incorporates Push Hands from Tai Chi combined with a our Ngo Dac Na’s Hands Game which is a pre cursor to Chi Sao from Wing Chun.

When I teach a student I have an idea in my head of what I would like to teach. With that said, that almost always changes once I feel their energy that day.

Learning this skill goes way beyond knowing what your opponent is about to do. It can help you in every area of your life. We will share more about that in a post soon.

One of the reasons why we stress learning Tai Chi & Qigong is because it helps your body to relax so that you can feel the energy around you.

So let’s talk about this video.  I like to look at Tai Chi as Defensive/Counter-Offensive and Wing Chun as Offensive/Counteroffensive.

I tend to use Wing Chun techniques when I am attacking, or when I am counter-attacking. When I am playing defensive I tend to favor Tai Chi techniques.

The best way to express this idea physically is to combine Push Hands and Chi Sao together. In this lesson you are watching Mark is learning how to combine the 2 skill sets.

Because in our Wing Chun training we incorporate a game called “Playing Hands” before learning how to play Chi Sao you can start working on this almost immediately.

The Magic that happens when you combine Wing Chun and Tai Chi together…

What if I told you that you could increase your Kung Fu skill 20 years faster, would you be interested in learning how?

I am sure you would and the good news is you don’t have to sign up to anything or buy something to find out how because I am going to tell you how in this article, keep reading. 🙂

To become a better martial artist and quicken the time it takes to become proficient at your martial art you need to learn one thing.

Why? Because you need to get to a place in your training where you know why something you are doing is or is not working. The only way to do that is to have increased sensitivity.

In my opinion, the 2 best types of training that teach your body to feel are Push Hands from Tai Chi and Chi Sao from Wing Chun.

When you combine these 2 training exercises you can learn to interpret what you are feeling and thereby be able to answer your own questions.

In fact, I tell my students that you don’t actually start learning until you develop your ability to feel. Because it’s not enough to understand why something works or doesn’t work. You have to feel why it works or doesn’t work. When you can feel it, you can fix it.

…Until you feel it, you can’t fix it. 😉

Gain 20 years of martial art skill in less than 5 years here’s how…

That’s a bold statement isn’t it? I am sure you are skeptical but if you follow this blueprint you will be well on your way to becoming an amazing martial artist.

I won’t sugar coat anything you absolutely need to follow these directions completely in order to see progress.

1. You need to learn Sil Lum Tao from Wing Chun. Absolutely memorize this form because all the offensive and counter offensive techniques you will ever need in your entire life are within that one form. Practice this form everyday.
2. You will also need to learn the first third of our Yang Tai Chi form. You will need to memorize this and practice it everyday.
3. Finally you need to learn a memorize our 10 basic Qigong exercises and also do this everyday.

Sije Jamie and I have talked about this many times and the benefits of doing Qigong regularly, see how Qigong can even help with grieving.

Speaking of Sije Jamie, she has made great strides by doing these things. She doesn’t do them every day (though her Qigong daily is on point), but she is consistent enough that people are often floored at how little she has been training, and dare I say she has schooled \people who have been training way longer than her. That just shouldn’t physically be able to happen, but that’s the difference of training internally vs. externally. It can be that dramatic of a game changer.

And just imagine if she did it daily… It’s also how I got better and increased my martial arts skill drastically. In my 8th year of Wing Chun I had come to a crossroads, I couldn’t further my skill until I finally listened to Sifu Phu and started training in Tai Chi and Qigong. Again, imagine if I would have listened sooner! Lesson: Don’t put of till tomorrow what you can do today. 😉

Learning to feel and cultivate your chi is that kind of difference maker. So don’t discount Qigong and Tai Chi has for the elderly only. You’d be making a HUGE mistake.

Note: Now while these things seem magical, there’s no easy button. It’s going to take some time to learn these things and do them right. However, once you do, your daily practice of these forms and exercises can be done within 15 to 30 minutes a day.

That’s it! Once you learn them you can get them all done within 15 to 30 minutes. And while you are learning them you are still reaping benefits, so just imagine how much more you will benefit once you have them down!

The other part of this is going to require a training partner. Get a friend or spouse, it doesn’t matter who, just make it happen. Get a training partner to train with on occasion.

You are going to learn how to play push hands and you are going to have to learn how to Chi Sao eventually, but you can start with learning how to play our hands game.

To all of you who are learning online, I have some awesome news for you! We teach you all the technical skills you need to learn. The only thing you need to do is show up in your training and find someone to train with when you are ready. 😉

Sensitivity training is the only thing you can’t train alone, which is 1/3 of your training. While there are some things you can do to increase your sensitivity without a training partner, you are still going to need one to really test things against resisting energy.

Need help finding a training partner? Here is a 11 ways to find a training partner.

If you are not a member of Enter Shaolin yet, here is our free gift to you. Ready to start training or want to see inside Enter Shaolin? Start Here.

Got questions or thoughts on the above? Comment in the comment section below.

Happy Training,

Sifu Larry Rivera
& The Enter Shaolin Family

1-844-KUNGFU