Seeking the source
Sun Sigung and Shaolinsi by Lance Bernard - Tai Chi Chuan Instructor

Late this summer, Sifu Wing Lam and senior Tai Chi instructor Lance Bernard made their second annual visit to Beijing, China, to perfect their Sun Style Tai Chi skills under the tutelage of Grandmaster Sun Jian-Yun, daughter of the systems founder, Sun Lu-Tang. In addition, as during their previous visit, they also honed their skills in Sun Lu-Tang's versions of Ba Gua and Xing Yi.

Sun Style Tai Chi is unique among all the Tai Chi systems because it represents the fusion of the principles underlying the three major "internal" martial arts: Tai Chi, Ba Gua, and Xing Yi. The Tai Chi principle is represented by the softness of movement; the Ba Gua principle is represented by the style's emphasis on footwork and mobility; and the Xing Yi principle is represented by the orientation of the torso to a straightforward direction of movement and by the relatively noncomplex martial applications.

We might point out that the Wing Lam Kung Fu School, as the American Branch of the Sun Style Tai Chi Research Institute, is the only school in the United States certified by Sun Jian-Yun as teaching authentic, traditional Sun style Tai Chi. Although this style is taught by other schools, our experience indicates that their version of the system is influenced (to a greater or lesser degree) by the international Wushu competition routine which often does not always accurately reflect the fusion of the three "internal" martial arts.

This latest trip was highlighted by an important event. In a formal ceremony, Sun Jian-Yun commissioned Sifu Wing Lam as one of her disciples. This event was made even more notable by the fact that he is her first (and, so far, only) American disciple. Several other distinguished disciples of Grandmaster Sun, some of whom traveled hundreds of miles, attended the ceremony as a sign of respect for Sifu Wing Lam. The ceremony was capped by a grand dinner and (yes) free-flowing amounts of beer and potent Chinese wine. Even our Sifu, who seldom drinks any alcoholic beverages at all, imbibed a bit more than the amounts to which he had been accustomed. This resulted in Lance surreptitiously snapping a photograph of one of the guests administering accupressure to relieve Sifu's rare moment of light-headedness.

Anyhow, when they first arrived in Beijing they were greeted by what residents called the hottest summer in 50 years. With both temperature and humidity in the 90's, Sifu Wing Lam and Lance found themselves drenched in sweat after only a few minutes of practice. Although the air in Beijing normally exhibits a high level of pollution rarely found in the United States, the misery of our two travelers was compounded by a summer atmosphere noxious even by Beijing standards. Fortunately, this situation lasted for only a few days. A thunderstorm on the fourth day of their visit lowered daytime temperatures to the 70's and 80's, and brought the air quality to a tolerable level.

After about a week into their visit, Sifu Wing Lam and Lance took a side trip to the Shaolin Temple to attend its annual martial arts festival. To get there, they had to take an eight -hour train ride to the city of Zhengzhou in Henan Province, then a wild three-hour bone-jarring bus trip to the city of Deng Feng, which is about a 40-minute car ride from the Shaolin Village.

The City of Deng Feng deserves special mention at this point. Most Chinese cities are not known for their level of cleanliness. For one thing, the Chinese soil is high in clay; when it dries out (as it does in the summer) winds and breezes quickly coat everything in a fine layer of dust which settles on every exterior and interior surface. Secondly, the level of sanitation in China is a far cry from that to which we are accustomed in the United States: garbage, trash, and other forms of refuse are often strewn freely about. However, Deng Feng is a happy exception to this sad standard! Recognizing the miserable state of sanitation, the Chinese government has instituted a competition among cities as to which one is the most sanitary city in China. And Deng Feng wants to win! Because of this, it is illegal even to throw a cigarette butt or gum wrapper on the street. And, to combat the ubiquitous dust, modern street sweepers regularly scour the city each and every morning. Add to this the fact that the air quality is excellent due to the city's elevated location and you have, as a result, a city impressive even by American standards. Congratulations, Deng Feng!

The Shaolin celebration commenced in the morning with an impressive, colorful, and wonderfully cacophonous opening ceremony in Deng Feng, attended by many high-ranking members of the Chinese government. After the opening ceremony, our travelers were whisked to the Shaolin temple in a private van. For miles and miles along the way the numerous students of the many local Kung Fu schools in that area were lined up along the road demonstrating their skills.

Understandably, tickets to the demonstration were difficult to come by, but Sifu and Lance were able to obtain them. The program itself consisted of a two-hour story which symbolically told of how the Shaolin monks had defeated a Japanese contingent bent upon subjugating the Chinese people. The story was artfully told through a series of group and individual forms demonstrations, group and individual sparring demonstrations, and some impressive iron body demonstrations. The whole event was capped by raucous performances from several lion dance bands. Afterwards, Sifu Wing Lam and Lance toured the temple itself, ate lunch with the eldest monk, and had a short meeting with the temple's abbot, Shi Yongxin.

Once back in Beijing, it was more practice, practice, practice. The routine was punctuated, or course, by Sifu's discipleship ceremony. All-in-all, the trip lasted seventeen days. Even though it was often arduous and sometimes downright unpleasant, they also had a lot of fun. More than that, however, was the fact that they again had the opportunity to train under Sun Jian-Yun. That, in itself, was an invaluable experience, one they will never forget.