CLUB MASTER HOANG: POST 525 06Nov2021 POSTURE TRAINING - STANCE 11 LOTUS- SANGANO MORNING- AUTUMN PICTURES- MURAL ART in Sardegna

POST 525 06Nov2021 POSTURE TRAINING vs STANCE TRAINING

- STANCE 11 LIEN HOA LOTUS - AUTUMN Pictures

MURAL ART in Sardegna

SANGANO MORNING

STANCE TRAINING versus POSTURE TRAINING

Although these two practices are fundamentally different they could be confusing to some learners because they both start with a given stance.

STANCE TRAINING aims to make the learner know how to perform correctly a given stance and to strengthen the legs and the body accordingly. Consequently the learner will know how to use that stance in a fighting situation or in other circumstances. The number of stances in martial art is limited; say 18 basic stances plus some special ones. The name of each stance could suggest a meaning or a symbol. Learning the 18 stances is likely learning the alphabet in order to write and to spell well your language, so this is the fundamental knowledge in our ARTS and a passionate training for those who like to go far.

POSTURE TRAINING uses stances as a foundation for the position of legs but its aim is quite different to stance training. Posture training must consider the whole body as a posture which engages all parts of our body: legs, arms, hands, head and so on to express the meaning, the spirit, and the beauty of the posture under practice. The number of postures is endless because most of postures are extracted from a form (quyen, kata) or built upon a combination of different parts of the body. It is important to know that a same physical posture could have several different names because they come from different sources and bear different meanings. In the Vietchi system we can easily count over a hundred postures well known to our black-belts; for example Bai-Di-Xa already presents eight postures when Tinh-Mat can count for much more items./.

g.m Charles Phan Hoang, Canada,September 2021

VIETCHI POST Autumn 2021

SEARCHING FOR THE MOST DIFFICULT STANCE

INTRODUCTION- In fact, for beginners all stances are difficult to perform correctly. For some young black-belts they would think BUTTERFLY-Stance (Ho-Diep-Tan, No 18), SNAKE-Stance (Xa-Tan, No 15) and NEGATIVE-Stance (Thai-Am-Tan, No 13) are on the list of difficult stances while STANDING-Stance (Lap-Tan, No 1) and HORSE-Stance (Trung-Binh-Tan, No 9) are easier to study. They are not wrong but later, one day when they reach the high level of our arts they will discover that new dimensions of the study of stances could change their view. The key question to this subject is For What Purpose a Stance Is Considered Difficult? Is it for fighting purpose or for body-and-mind training?

Regarding the fighting purpose, we can say right away that one of the most difficult stances could be the FIGHTING-Stance (Chien-Tan) which is not on the list of the 18 basic stances, and it is difficult to practice because it is moving and changing all the time following the changing position of the adversary.

Now under the notion of Educational Martial Art, let’s us explore a stance that seems much less for fighting purpose and much more as a special posture, the LOTUS-Stance (Lien-Hoa-Tan, No 11).

DESCRIPTION- For the description of this special stance please get a careful look at the attached picture. You will notice that in this Lotus-Stance the feet are joined and the body is straight. It is very difficult to stay still and stable in this position for a long moment; try to practice this for five minutes and you will find yourself how hard this physical challenge could be.

If the Chien-Tan (Fighting-Stance) is designed for victory above adversary, on the reverse the Lien-Hoa-Tan is training for victory over oneself. In the role of teacher you should design several scenarios to train your students accordingly.

MINDFULNESS- The spirit of Lien-Hoa-Tan could be expressed in the following motto: high spirit and solid foundation.

THE LOTUS FLOWER, in this stance, is a symbol of Stability, Purity and Beauty. We keep this notion in mind and apply it to whatever we do: thinking, acting, working, caring for our body and keeping our belongings.

LIFE PHILOSOPHY- The following poem in Vietnamese integrates the teaching of G.M Phan Hoang for a young black-belt who will be later a good teacher.

“LIÊN-HOA-TẤN

Một đóa hoa sen nở dưới trời

Tỏa ngàn hương sắc khắp nơi nơi

Giữa vạn binh đao hồn phẳng lặng

Chân quyền xuống tấn, hết đao binh

Canada, 10 September 2021- Phan Hoang”.

Here is the main idea in the above Vietnamese poem:

(Spontaneous rendering in English:

LOTUS -Stance

A lotus flower under the sky

Suggesting beauty and high spirit

From a peaceful mind amid all kinds of fighting

To know that true martial art is for ending all wars.)

g.m Charles Phan Hoang, Canada September 2021

VIETCHI POST Autumn 2021

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POST 525

QUOTATION

…those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt
26th President Of The United States