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9/24/2025 0 Comments Principles of Yi- Intention “Principles of Yi”
Remember Yi is an idea of intention, a name to call this happening of a unifying and driving force that we inherently possess. These principles are to help us develop tools to describe and put it to easier use.
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Snake Turns Over (a.k.a-ARM SNAKES/ARM GRABS) In martial arts we learn that basics are the most important aspect of training. No matter what level you’re looking at, the basics meld and evolve with you as a martial artist, never part from them. Basic techniques lead you, when given the correct guidance, to principle based movement and free form application. Along your progression the principles will be made a part of your natural movement. As you progress it’s always good to continue the practice of basic techniques. In your art you’ll find that basic techniques will feel and function slightly differently as you evolve and progress as a martial artist. Internalize the practice and forever you will find it grows you into an ever changing, deeper and more apt individual.
In Kwan Ying Dao, Arm Snakes are the epitome of basic techniques. Their practice builds solid foundations that will help you with a wide variety of great martial attributes. Including but not limited to: breaking out of grabs, full body power at short ranges, stability and strengthening the wrist, grip strength, “wrapping” the body, power in the forearms for hard + strong blocks, sinking into and drawing power from the earth, and last but not least learning the proper kinetic chain and structure for the delivery of punches, grips, pulls, and exchanges. Arm Snakes are done in horse + 2nd stances keeping the bottom half of the body fixed and sunken into the ground while the top half of the body performs the movement. Though movement in the legs is not visible while doing the exercise, internally there should be movement and tension to guide the arms and keep stability in the stance. Arm snakes are generally done in temple horse as opposed to ko horse. In Kwan Ying Dao we have a ‘temple stances’ and a ‘Ko/Gao stances’. Temple stances are more suited for application whereas Gao stances are more for strength training and flexibility. Throughout the rest of this blog post we’ll dive into the particulars of horse and second stances, as well as the 7 parts and program of the snake turns over exercise. Before we continue a deep and heartfelt thank you to Dave Cial for introducing me and urging me to practice this program, Ron Mohr for elaborating more deeply on it, and to Steve Encamp for sharing his lineage's practice of it.  Soft style principles set an internal foundation for goodness by correcting the mishaps of imbalanced responsibility, passion and/or drive. All three are important but without the right mindset from the beginning you will lack the knowledge to adequately apply yourself to heal and build a solid root in practicing your honorable way. Learning how to handle your physiological and emotional environment will strengthen you to handle the circumstantial hardships that life will throw at you. With these foundations your personal application of the art will be widespread and in turn benefit your whole life. This is another/ the main reason I say soft style is the foundation for hard style. If only the hard style is trained without the soft there is much higher risk of succumbing to your own ego and the natural inflation that comes from witnessing one’s growth in personal strength. So every time we train we are drawing from our eternal spring within. Every time we train it is as if we are drinking a glass of water, remembering where it came from. Your discipline, passion, and drive to find your way, a good way. The Way. This starts with the phrase... Mind calm blend with the universe! From a Taoist point of view there are 4 postures/ways of meditation:
Below are my thoughts and philosophy on meditation that are of particular importance to our life as a whole and to that of our tai chi, qigong, and kung fu practice. Being that meditation can have a religious focus I’ll touch on this briefly, although, I firmly hold that a person’s spirituality is completely up to them. Because of this I’ll never strive to convert anyone to any belief over another as long as it doesn’t contradict the student's goals to live a healthy way of life. This chapter isn’t meant to be a theological dissertation, "witness" nor a letter for conversion. That being said I’ll include how I’ve come to evolve within the practice of meditation through different belief systems and share with you my overall understanding of meditation as I apply it in and outside of a healing and martial context. I’m constantly evolving in this pursuit as meditation is a very deep practice and some would say a lifelong process of uncovering. Some of these practices I've been doing for my entire adolescence into adult life. These flow from 4 main traditions: ... 8/16/2025 0 Comments How to approach Basic Methods (Ji Ben Gong) and Token Training in Kwan Ying Dao When Kwan Ying Dao was created by Feeman Ong he organized the art in soft and hard styles, northern and southern shaolin. It’s for this reason the practice of Kwan Ying Dao emphasizes training in all 4 for natural balance to counteract the extremes of each frame of thought (Too soft =toothless tiger, Too hard =brittle body + fragile mind, Northern Kicks, Southern Fists). Since Feeman Ong was a devout Buddhist and Taoist our art naturally flows from both of these methods. The Buddhist’s focus on bringing one’s self to live the 8 fold path (Yang hard style) brings balance to the Taoist’s focus on living in complete naturalness to derive their (Yin soft style) ideals. Traditionally students would practice both methods simultaneously through learning soft and hard practices at different times throughout the week with certain basics as a foundation for both. In both of these categories we have meditation, qigong, 2 person drills, push hands/step sparring or slow sparring, moving step push hands/shuai jiao/ wrestling, and live sparring. In time soft style and hard style meet at the precipice in the center. Giving the practitioner innate awareness and ability that unfolds naturally to protect oneself from harm in every sense, through shifts in habits, mindset, lifestyle and martial practice. The basic training in each system is similar, although in the beginning each ‘style’s’ approach can seem quite opposite. Soft style’s approach starts slowly using awareness with minimal tension whereas hard style’s approach starts with rigorous training coming to stack maximal tension onto various alignments. Naturally this leads to certain pros and cons depending on the person's yin/yang balance and/or desires of what they want from training. Soft style tends to be more yin predominate whereas hard style is more yang predominate. Since we are drawn to our similar nature, it makes sense that naturally people will lean toward their similar qi, yin to yin + yang to yang. Although it is important to note, health and balance comes from balancing oneself with the opposite of what they naturally have more of. Our opposite qi will always feel uncomfortable, therefore as the Chinese saying goes: In order to taste sweet one must be willing to eat bitter. 7 Methods of Training in Soft Style and Hard Style:8/5/2025 0 Comments Kwan Ying Dao Salute Many traditional Chinese martial art styles have their own unique type of salute. Just as Japanese karate styles usually bow or have a certain presentation prior to beginning a form, Chinese styles have a set of movements to introduce their particular system. Most are finished by bringing the fist and hand together. Kwan Ying Dao is no different in this regard. At its root Kwan Ying Dao is a Southern Shaolin inspired style. This has many implications to how our entire system is set up. The salute is no exception. To start to understand the practice and the reason for our attention to detail and breaking things up so specifically is to explore what it means to be a person who practices Southern Shaolin. Traditional Shaolin styles are separated into north, south, western and eastern branches. Of the 4 only 2 still exist today; these are the northern and southern branches. All styles of Shaolin kung fu originated in the temple by various monks keeping imparted kung fu knowledge alive, whether it came from inside the temple or was brought in by outsiders. This cultural practice was prevalent until many martial art masters and practitioners fled China during the cultural revolution and more following the boxer rebellion. The revolution and cultural shift lead to the destruction of various temples, the murder of many teachers, and the outlawing of martial art practice. From that point on Chinese martial traditions split away from their homeland and many teachers no longer trusted Shaolin, nor the bulk of Chinese mainstream with their knowledge. Many traditional martial arts became underground practice and had to become far more secretive and selective to who they chose to teach. Following this betrayal by the Chinese government many traditional kung fu systems spread out from China. Kwan Ying Do is one of those systems as Master Feeman Ong left China around this time in the 1940s-50s. How does this history impact our practice today?
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Author- Daniel HydeInstructor of Kwan Ying Dao Kung Fu and Shu Family Tai Chi Chuan. ArchivesCategories |
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