6 1/2 Concepts of Chi Sim (System Concepts)

[cwhoss]

In the glossary under the system concepts the meaning of the character Lau was given as 'flowing continuously'.

I have always understood the term to mean 'to leak' (see Lo family definition), and another character (mandarin pronunciation 'liou') to mean flow.

Is this due to a difference in dialect? How does the term 'to leak' (even if we are only talking about the Lo family definition) apply to Wing Chun?

[hardhitter]

:bazooka::eek:

Do you think the half point really means "to leak"? Christian, you are a hardhitter.

[cwhoss]

Under the system concepts (Glossary page 212 in my book) the meaning of this particular chinese character is translated as 'flowing continuously'.

Under the Lo family pole concepts (page 213) the meaning of that same character is translated as 'leak'. Note that under pole concepts a 2nd character is translated as 'drip'. I haven't studied the pole yet but it makes sense that if you have a 'drip' you might have a 'leak', and vice-versa.

More importantly the (mandarin) dictionary definition of that character is to leak.

So are the character and translation wrong under the system concepts? Or wrong under the pole concepts? Or is it my understanding that is lacking? And if it is my understanding, how?

[passing_through]

cwhoss,

Here's the dictionary definition of Lauh (http://home.vtmuseum.org/terminology/characters.php?dfn=c&Ssearchfield=English+Translations&SsearchFor=leak&Ssortfield=Definitions&Sway=ASC&Slimit=20).

It's your understanding that is lacking.

The idea of the half-point is to flow. Flow is the ability to connect and change/adapt "on the fly." Rather than get caught up in the words, look for the concept the words are trying to convey.

From the system point of view, lauh means the ability to flow continuously and not get stuck, not be fixed, in any moment.

From a more narrow focus, dealing with pole fighting, there is specific training in mechanics to develop flow as well as a tactical point of view.

You can look at the system point of view as more general and the specific pole concepts as more specific.

Does one word have only one meaning or does can context influence the meaning of a word? As an aside, think about this:

You have a set of terms that are in Chinese that you use for training, based on what you've been taught. Not only do you have the words, you also have the experience to relate to the words and feel the words perfectly describe your experience. So, you have a friend who's Chinese and you show her your terms and the translation you've been given for the terms. How accurate would she be if she told you the terms were not translated correctly and gave you the dictionary definition? From a literal sense, she's be right - but what about the context and meaning that relates to your experience? All languages have slang - and technical terminology that looks like jargon to outsiders. For example... what's a "ID ten T" error? Write the numerals for ten and see what you get (that's from Stephen ;)).

Sincerely,
Jeremy R.

[cwhoss]

I believe I have finally found the answer to my question - why, in the 6 1/2 points, is the character
'leak' used to represent flow? It took a 3rd reading of the book for the answer to slap me in the face...

Let's examine the character 'leak'. You have water (the 3 lines on the left), outside of a structure (the
rectangle with a tail), and rain within. (Background note: I spent around 8 years in Taiwan and Hong Kong,
and had the good fortune to study mandarin Chinese at the National Taiwan Normal University).

Are they the same? No. Given a hose as an example - water running thru a hose and water leaking from a
hose are clearly 2 different concepts. Water flows. Structures (such as the hose) leak. This is a universal truth - in the East as well as the West.

What if this were used in a martial arts context? An attack flows against a defense, which has structure.
Just as a continuous heavy rain reveals leaks that would go unnoticed in a light shower, so too would a continuous attack reveal cracks in an defensive structure that would otherwise not have been readily apparent...

Final proof of concept? (An embarrassing admission - I first really noticed this in the glossary!)
Chapter 2 Table 2.1 Chi Sim Weng Chun Page 31 of the Mastering Kung Fu book