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My first Yiquan student came out from Madison, WI last weekend to train with me for the afternoon. The Yiquan teaching body here in the U.S. is not… large. It was nice to have an excuse to expound on the beauty and science of Yiquan even if for just a few hours. Some zhan zhuang, shi li, tui shou; we covered a decent amount of ground. Well, the stone has now been dropped into the pond…

Master Yao is writing a piece for the Beijing Wuhuan Magazine (a magazine produced by the Beijing Wushu Association) and asked me to submit a short article describing my experiences as a foreigner learning at the school. I thought I would post it here as well…

I came to Beijing from the United States specifically to learn the art of Yiquan. I had over 10 years of experience in the practice of other martial arts styles, particularly Taijiquan, but I felt that something was missing from my understanding of combat and it was my hope that Yiquan would provide the missing piece. I did not know too much about Yiquan, other than the fact that it emphasized the practice of standing postures and the development of real combat ability. But this sounded very promising to me, and I made plans to study with Master Yao Chengguang since he and his school, the Beijing Zongxun Wuguan, have an excellent reputation. I have now studied with Master Yao intensively for almost a year, and I have been extremely pleased with the results. Gradually, through his guidance, I have recognized the true meaning of martial art, the true essence of combat ability, which has been a real revelation.

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Last night my Yiquan teacher Yao and I did a traditional baishi ceremony, where he accepted me as a “close” student (sometimes known as a “disciple” in martial arts). It was a nice evening; some warm speeches were made, followed by a nice dinner with my kungfu brothers and sisters, which ran quite late into the night.

Being a martial arts disciple is actually a fairly serious commitment; it’s a signal that you will devote yourself to your teacher and their art, and do your best to develop it, both in yourself as well as the world. You have, in effect, joined your teacher’s martial arts family.

It’s a responsibility I fully intend to honor and he knows it.

Well the heat here in Beijing has been fairly steady, punctuated by the occasional violent thunderstorm and torrential downpour. That, combined with waves of hungry mosquitoes, has made the daily training somewhat of an added challenge. I recently counted the number of active and healing mosquito bites on my legs and arms and arrived at the startling number of 74. And yes, they itch :-/

With the killer humidity around here, it is not unusual for my sweat saturated clothing to be literally dripping from the exertion. Even doing my standing practice, sweat drips of my arms, forming small pools of sweat on the ground around my body. So these days, I wring my shirt out five or six times during practice, each time forming large puddles on the ground. I have had people see me after training and exclaim with surprise, “Oh, I didn’t know it was raining!” Alas, no, it is not.

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I’ve never known too much about the ancient Japanese sport of Sumo, but it’s always caught my eye. The strict customs, traditions, and ritual surrounding Sumo and the jaw dropping proportions of its participants are fascinating. This amazing picture came out of the UK’s Guardian and shows the current Yokozuna, the Mongolian Asashoryu being thrown by the Georgian Kokkai. Wouldn’t want to break that guy’s fall.

It gives one pause to wonder what life events happened in order for these two, a Mongolian and a Georgian, to be so far from home, and after a life of climbing the ranks to the pinnacle of Japanese sumo, to face off for this brief moment in time.