20-21 September - Mengs of AZ Workshop

[Levi]

I would like to thank my Sifu and Sigung, Master Loewenhagen and Master Meng, for the informative and active workshop this weekend on the Museum's Curriculum.

I think I can safely speak for all parties involved in saying that the weekend was very hands-on and that the logic of the sequences of learning was easily apparent.

Thank you again for answering many questions and making our path, and the work we still have to do as students, clearer.

-Levi
Mengs of AZ

[ShawnMiller]

Levi was very correct in stating that the seminar was very hands on as a couple peoples lips will attest to.
I would like to thank my Sifu and Sigung as well. The amount of information was enormous but the way that it was given made it easier to digest. now it is just time to work on the body part of it.
As was said, "The mind understands. The body knows."

Shawn

[Savi]

I truly enjoyed this seminar as well. Despite a busted lip - there is a pic in JK's forum photos - I still learned a great deal. Being an instructor at the school really puts things into perspective. Such that one can actually distinguish why and when you would introduce a new concept to somebody. It's all about the right time and place to do just that. Sigung Meng was very clear in the Chan Faat (methods) lecture about how cohesive the methods truly are, and now it makes much more sense to me why they exist.

There is much excitement inside me to complete all four levels of Saan Kiu training! To be able to go up against some of the tenured higher ranks in other styles with just these basic methods will be quite interesting...

[BennyMeng]

We had two intensive days of training, this time with a focus more on a Fau Kiu to Saan Kiu experience. I think I type for everyone that it was a rewarding weekend for everyone, myself included. I told them that the next one will be a Saan Kiu to Weng Kiu experience. Thanks go to Sifu Richard and his dedicated, core group of students/instructors.

BM

[passing_through]

I feel the curriculum as presented this weekend was very logical and easy to understand. The exercises were very basic and all related to each other in terms of time, space, and energy.

I would suggest that the written guide to the curriculum be re-written to follow the same easy logical flow. I know that re-writing was started Saturday, but I might have further suggestions to simplify it more.

As someone who has had no Martial Arts experience prior to Meng's Martial Arts of Arizona, I think the current curriculum will help me a lot as well. I think experienced Martial Artists take these basic, simple beginner drills, body mechanics, and concepts for granted. Hopefully the new curriculum will give new students a good basic foundation in Martial Arts, and at the same time hold their interest long enough to build a foundation for the Hung Fa Yi. Quite often a new student comes in excited about Hung Fa Yi, but soon finds it very difficult to understand. Coupled with a lack of basic skill and the new student quickly leaves the school.

The new curriculum will work to solve this problem and will lay a good foundation upon which the Hung Fa Yi and the three treasures of Shaolin can be built.
- JK Walz

The strength of our current curriculum lies within its practical approach to training. To a beginner with no previous martial or combat training, and to an accomplished athlete and martial artist as well, the sequence of learning is straightforward and immediately applicable.

Beginning with basic, natural body movements, the curriculum introduces the theories and mechanics of fighting throughout all ranges of combat. Gross motor skills, whole body coordination, and distance maintenance are introduced and further focused at later stages towards an end product of maximum efficiency.

The nature of the techniques are consistent throughout the curriculum, with a new tool being introduced and drilled until the basic mechanical and energetic components are understood, then hones into their final combat form.

With fast-paced partner drills that immediately develop realistic combat reflexes and awareness, every subsequent level either puts a new tool in the practitioner's belt of further refines a previous tool. The lessons at each level are clear, concise, and immediately applicable.

The paradigm of Heaven, Human, and Earth, coupled with the paradigm of Time, Space, and Energy, fundamentally alters the nature of combat training. Consistent with this shift in focus, the new Museum Curriculum addresses all ranges of combat and all available corresponding tools in an efficient and effective manner – one that is both accessible and applicable to all able-bodied persons interested in realistic self-defense free of inefficiency and illusion.
- Levi Melton

I began my Hung Fa Yi training with quite a bit of prior martial knowledge. As such, the ability to learn martial concepts had already been fostered. There are a lot of students who come to learn that also have a strong foundation, but many have no prior experience. For these practitioners, it is vital to establish a common vocabulary, both in body and mind, to draw from. It is impossible to have an articulate conversation when there is no common language. The curriculum that has now been established by the Museum provides that link. It gives all practitioners a common ground, regardless of what knowledge they do or do not have. Once this has occurred, the Hung Fa Yi system can be learned readily and easily. This curriculum addresses all ranges of combat and all scenarios. With this all encompassing approach, there is no need for supplemental instruction. There is a strong foundation that remains throughout, and there is no guesswork.
- Crystal Melton

The new curriculum is structured to allow a new student with little or no previous Martial Arts training to achieve a level of proficiency in a short time period. It also allows a student to recognize the simplicity and effectiveness of Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun.

This knowledge and insight is achieved through by the process of Hou Chyun San Sau (the interaction of Oral Communication and Physical Activity) and the Saam Mo Kiuh concept of Wandering, Awareness, and Focus. The current level material is approached through the use of the ranges of combat, referenced by Heaven, Man, and Earth (Long, Medium, and Short). Each exercise and technique is explained orally with a brief demonstration of the application and correct rang, followed by the student actually performing the technique first as a motion/body mechanic, and finally with the student applying it to another object or person. In this way the student experiences each exercise through Saam Mo Kiuh and will learn the differences between what is real and what is illusion.

The levels of learning are divided between Saan Kiuh experience/training, and Weng Kiuh, Hung Fa Yi specific knowledge, so that the student's learning will progress by adding layer upon layer of understanding coupled with real life experience.
- Mark Jones

The new curriculum really breaks down and focuses on what new students need to have for a good foundation in the basics of martial arts. It also gives senior students an idea of what they should practice on in order to get better at their kung fu. I really like the new curriculum because it gives me a rubric to grade myself by. I can look at it and say to myself “I need to work on this, this, and this.” I can also see where I am going to go next. With my Yip Man training, I feel I already have bits and pieces of Hung Fa Yi. The new concepts (HME, ying yang, etc…) are either reinforced again, or I can easily learn them. The curriculum provides both types of students (new and senior) something to focus on as we continue our training. The new curriculum will keep me on my toes, as a senior student, by throwing new concepts at me. I can focus on these concepts while teaching my junior brothers the basic concepts of martial arts. It’s true when they’ll look at me, they will probably see what they are going to achieve, even though they can read it on the new curriculum. We all now know our goal and what we wish to achieve.
- Monib Ahmed

The study of Hung Fa Yi has given me the opportunity to study the history and origins of Wing Chun from its beginnings in the Shaolin temple. The curriculum moves you through multiple stages and progressions of history, philosophy, and concepts. Directional and dimensional training is covered at all levels of development.

HFY covers the different stages of combat and strategies that are employed at each stage. Through the study of HFY, I have gained a much stronger understanding of the Shaolin philosophy of Heaven, Man, and Earth. This has given me a greater understanding and ability to recognize where the attack is taking place and how best to deal with it.

What I find most impressive about Hung Fa Yi is the science. The science drives correctness of structure that can be seen, tested and taught in a very precise manner. Once the science is understood, it is easy to understand and see if your body has it. This removes the possibility of illusion. When illusion has been removed, there is only truth. Isn’t truth what we seek most? Hung Fa Yi will be a lifelong journey for me on the path to greater enlightenment.
- Carl Davenport

The first day of the seminar dealt with levels one through three of the curriculum. The first level of training gives the basics that are necessary for any martial arts. It also gives you the basic foundational teachings of learning such as HFY being combat and yoga being health. The first level is more of a general self defense/combat. The second level gives more detail on closer ranges, more urgent time frames. This is the time to start training bridging (e.g. kiu sau). I find this part of the curriculum to be a stage in learning that is longer than the first. The third stage gets you a little closer by learning to use kiu sau in a grappling time frame. Using these three levels of training gets you closer to efficiency than some other martial arts that I have trained, and in a shorter time. The best part is you’re not even close to finishing the Siu Nim Tao level of training. I love it.
- James Crump

HFY offers me a very efficient tool to employ. Its concepts, principles and philosophies can relate directly to application. Given its systematic structure, teaching methods can be accurately and effectively reproduced. I have always been aware of time, space, and energies, but being aware of them simultaneously gives a big advantage when assessing the strength, weakness, and abilities of my opponent. The economy of movements has helped me refine my current skills which, in turn, allows me to absorb the HFY teachings much more quickly.
- Rashad Shipman

As most things the curriculum is well layered. I can see the skill you will build in clearly defined steps. I think it is going to help people stay interested as well as let people break down things to a level each individual can understand. It is very easy to feel overwhelmed and hopefully the curriculum will help student focus on what their immediate goals and needs are and leave their distraction behind.
- Ryan Jacobson

It is a well thought out, from beginning to end. The curriculum is made up so that any person can obtain the skill necessary to defend themselves. Even if the individuals don’t have a background in any martial arts, the system can help them obtain the skills.

The system is built up of various ways to utilize your body (hands, legs, hips, upper torso) so that any person can generate great power through the use of these body parts to defend themselves. With the kicks, footwork and punches that are in the system, the curriculum makes it easy to understand how to make these very effective without wasted energy. The curriculum helps you understand the difference in time and space while you’re using the movements that are learned in the curriculum.
- Johnathan Gorman

The curriculum is very user friendly. By first showing basic movement (punches, kicks and footwork), and then marrying them to the concept of Heaven, Man, and Earth, allows the student to start to understand the concepts of Time, Space, and Energy.

Teaching the body proper movements with basic strikes and movements gives the student a frame of reference. This frame of reference will allow them better understanding of the concepts in the HFY formula. Heaven, Man, and Earth teaches range and helps students see how to flow between strikes and movements that are proper at that moment in time.
- Shawn Miller

We just recently participated in a seminar covering the Saan Kiu portion of our Siu Nim Tau curriculum, conducted by Master Meng and Sifu Loewenhagen. I believe the goal of the seminar was to help clarify the logic flow of the general program for the instructors, assistant instructors and future instructors. Also, we touched base on the necessity of understanding HFY Chan methods of teaching and experience. I felt that this portion of the seminar was the most intriguing.

One of the main things we focused on was the Saam Mo Kiu approach to HFYWCK. To illustrate the 3 bridges of awareness training, Master Meng focused on a 3 step process: 1. Brief demonstration and explanation, 2. Dry run, as in “air training” and 3. Applications. We discussed and understood the reasons for each step in focus and development. From gross motor skills/mechanics to attributes to real time combat apps, we began to not only understand but also know the logic flow of this approach. We were able to cover two years worth of training and knowledge in just two short days! This was only possible because the teaching methods always point back to SMK, and Master Meng and Sifu Loewenhagen spearheaded the whole event of course.

Within our curriculum, four of the first eight levels are focused on general combat training. It is in these levels where we focus on all ranges of combat. The perspective is oriented towards understanding common denominators of combat, rather than focusing on various techniques to illustrate different ranges of fighting. I found that once I understood this approach, going through the four Saan Kiu ranges was quite easy. Also, the way the curriculum is structured allows the student to flow within all the Saan Kiu levels and areas of combat training in a cohesive fashion. Once I went through all of the Saan Kiu training levels, I realized that every single progression could be taken to full combat or sparring speed. The connection each drill has to every other became quite obvious. I found this to be quite ingenious!

Many things were also shared about HFY Chan. It was clear that HFY is a unique branch of Chan unto its own, based on the teaching methods shared by Master Meng. Much of what was shared previously I learned was only part of another puzzle. Hou Chyun Sum Sau, for example which basically means “direct transmission of knowledge, body experience” is only part of a larger saying. The truth behind all that was shared in the “Hou Chyun” portion of the seminar was too deep for me to fathom. I know this is due to my lack of experience in this realm. What has been revealed to the instructor core was a sneak peek into the framework of HFY Chan, which I found to be a true gem in itself. One thing that was noted is that all disciples of HFY must learn all its aspects from the combat to health to its roots in Buddhism. Although I cannot elaborate on it because it is still too new to me I know have much to learn. I most certainly look forward to what lies ahead in my journey.

Overall, this past seminar really helped me understand how to teach more effectively by improving my comprehension of the curriculum, gaining a better understanding of Saam Mo Kiu, learning more about Chan teaching methods, and best of all experiencing true masters demonstrating it all to me. I know with Sitaigung Gee, Sigung Meng and Sifu Loewenhagen’s (and all the HFY leaders and disciples) expertise in teaching these precious Shaolin gems to the family, HFY will last forever.
- Savi Kruoch

The curriculum was built as a system to impose the aspect of efficiency in martial combat. The concepts of time, space, and energy are applied to the curriculum, allowing a helpful blueprint of how one might approach the system. It is nothing more than a guide that allows one to learn in his or her own way depending on their perception of the curriculum. The curriculum, in my opinion, should be viewed more as a tool to help you open your mind and broaden your Fau Kiu experience than a rulebook filled with restrictions.
- Liza Loewenhagen