Summer School with Master Choi

"We don't hit empty, we hit full.  It's safer that way.  You know what I'm talking about?  Here, throw a punch, you feel it, you'll understand."

This is how summer class began when I visited Master Choi at his house in August.  As soon as I sat on the couch, I was punching at him and he was defending himself, explaining to me all the time.  It was proof through contact, and it was quite convincing.

Master Choi had a thick book on his coffee table, with markers and labels.  It was a compilation of over 500 styles of Qi-Gong published by the Chinese government.  He showed me this book many years ago but what was amazing is that he was still researching and analyzing it.

He was saying that the older we get, the more prone to illness we become.  He was researching Qi-Gong and he said, "Qi-Gong is not to heal, it is to prevent illness.:  He also stressed the fact that anytime you're moving your body, even when doing Qi-Gong, this external training.  Master Choi believes that only Yi-Quan Standing Meditation is the true working of just that ch'i and not the body.

Master Choi then reviewed the standards of " inside united and outside harmony."  After lunch at the Ginza Buffet, we returned to Master Choi's house where he signed my teaching certificate.  He also told me that the Chicago Aikido Club asked permission to use his speech from the Illinois Martial Arts Hall of Fame for their club blog.

Before leaving we discuss details of Master Choi's upcoming seminar at the Academy.  He asked me what the students want to learn. I said what ever you want to teach.  He said, "Good, I want to lay the foundation, and work on their inner and outer harmony."

Grandmaster Wai-lun Choi will be coming to Minnesota October 28th and 29th.  Seminars will include Standing Meditation, the Dragon for Nine-Joint-Harmony, the Dragon for Self-Defense and Martial Arts Application, continuing the Luk Hop Bat Fat Main Form.  More information and a sign-up will be available at the studio. This is a private seminar open only to Academy members.