MIND LIKE MOON
The student returned home and plopped down on the couch. The book was sitting on the coffee table where he had left it that morning. He picked it up, paged through the book, and found a chapter called. “Liao Wu-ch’ang – The Blocking Master.”
My name is Sui Wan Jou. I’m a Shaolin priest. My training includes over 40 years of 5-Animal Kung Fu. I’ve mastered all five animal forms and twenty-three major weapons. I left the temple five years ago to help anyone who needed my services.
My path has led me to discover other styles and teachers. I have learned from them and incorporated their knowledge into my own personal art. I learned Ngok Fei’s fighting style and his locking form, Lin Kuen. I traveled south and met the master of Pai Lung (White Dragon). One part of the training was to break two knuckles of my hand to create one super knuckle. This was necessary for striking special points on the body to cause death.
I traveled to Fujian in the south. I stopped in a small village for the night. The next day, I heard loud voices resonating through the open window of the inn. I looked out and saw a small man surrounded by a group of rowdy teenagers. The man was calm and seemed unconcerned. I was about to run down the inn’s steps and help him when suddenly the teenagers started attacking.
He blocked effortlessly as he moved through the crowd of teenagers. Not one of them was able to land a blow. It was like he knew about the attack before it was delivered. I stood and watched in amazement. After about 10 minutes, the teenagers gave up and moved on.
I ran down the steps of the inn to introduce myself and try to learn his secret. I introduced myself. His name was Liao Wu-ch’ang. I asked him how he knew about the attacks before they struck. He said he didn’t know. It was awareness. His grandfather taught him the secret at an early age. He didn’t know if it was a style of Kung Fu because there were no attacking techniques. Everything was based on awareness, footwork, and blocking.
The first thing his grandfather showed him was footwork. These include the cross, twist, drop, steal, and stork. He spent years just learning how to go from one stance to another smoothly. The next step was blocking. These include the brush, crane’s wing, dragon’s tail, roll back, and hook. These were combined with grabs to keep the attacker off-balance.
After 19 years of training, his grandfather gave him the secret of secrets. “Mind Like Moon.” Without knowing this, everything he had learned to that point would be useless. He shared the secret of developing this knowledge, but it is useless unless you have a teacher show you. Therefore, I will not include it here. However, I will share the philosophy that one needs to embrace.
Mind Like Moon states: With the development of this attitude, the consciousness will immediately be aware of any opening in the opponent’s defenses. Clouds blocking the light of the moon are likened to nervousness or distractions, which interfere with the correct apprehension of the opponent’s movements and make it impossible to see the attack and to apply the proper technique.5
The student laid the book down on the coffee table. That’s what the Master told him that morning. He was too focused on distractions and lost sight of May Jou’s attacks. He remembered an old Bruce Lee quote from a movie, “Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss that heavenly glory.”