Wujifa: Mental and Physical Means for Discovery and Growth

“Different people learn different ways.” This is one of the most important sayings my teacher shared with me early on in my practice. Over the years, I’ve understood this to mean many different things. Working with other people, I’ve noticed how true this actually is.

Continuing on with this concept, one should learn to be open and develop the skill in exploring both practical methods and the meta aspects to paying conscious attention to input and how one engages with opportunities for input as well as managing input as one discovers how to focus one’s attention in connection with the targets aimed for.

In the beginning before 10,000 things

By “practical methods” I mean practicing repeated forms, or what we like to call “medicine” in Wujifa over and over again (whether they be standing, movements, working with tools or training aids, etc.) to develop a sense of feeling and connection. As we say in Wujifa, “the method is not the truth, once you get the feeling, get rid of the method.” We must have these practical methods though, because “we are where we are” and the methods give us a place to start practicing feeling and connecting more.

“Meta aspects” are noticing how you notice. The reasons you want to notice this are:

1. To notice and develop what you tend not to notice

2. To notice what ways of noticing work really well for you

What I mean by “input” is the way information comes into your conscious and subconscious experience, and the way we recognize it. For example, we have fingers with nerve endings that send signals to our brains. We have ears that pick up on the sounds of the voices of our teachers as we are taught. We have eyes to see the effects of what we are doing in the world. I say “input” to encompass all of these ways and the many others that exist though which we experience.

The reason I use the word “opportunities” is that it reframes the way we look at the world and how we engage with the world. Hence, it makes it possible to notice the information that’s coming to us in its various forms. What happens when we look at things in a frame other than opportunity is that there tends to be a lot of disconnection and forcing or manipulation of data, or even missing it all together. The reason I talk about how one engages with opportunities is more about “how”. If you can notice how you engage with opportunities, it takes you back to noticing the surface and meta levels of input. The learner learns about the way they learn.

What I mean by managing input is that people can become under or overwhelmed, and so understanding both the surface ways we learn and the deeper meta ways we learn can help us to relate to the input we’re receiving in a way that can be optimally explored, even if unfamiliar or uncomfortable and best facilitates our integration of that input. This is why in Wujifa we do certain exercises like side to side. Seemingly simple, but there’s lots of information to be integrated first before we can begin to notice deeper levels.

Noticing is seen as a complex process; how Wujifa enthusiasts and practitioners take in both the meaning and the form of the process. It takes time for those who engage with a practice to progress from first learning to recognize what it means and what it feels and looks like, to understanding and internalizing the basic underlying rules and methods, to subconsciously embodying the principles and philosophy.

Being willing, as a learner, to repeatedly explore the opportunities recurring with practice by noticing the types of questions asked and the types of results noticed, and to explore deeper what these practices mean and how they contribute functionally to the results expected at each level of practice helps in developing other and more effective means of noticing as one continues to evolve.

At the same time it’s important to keep these methods simple enough so the deeper understandings are not overlooked by the practitioner who would otherwise become overloaded with the intake of data.

For many people, understanding the meaning or result aimed for on a simple and basic level is useful before one can recognize and make sense of the different definitions various forms can take on.

It is important that one understand the difference between, on the one hand, methods used to define meaning of a practice and those that help one make sense of the connection and forms of the practice, and on the other hand, to cognitively understand what, why, and how at different levels of practice clearly as they begin and proceed with any Wujifa practice and developing the desired kinesthetic result. The reason it’s important to understand this difference is otherwise one may gloss over what it is that they are aiming to develop at any given stage. Understanding the difference creates a foundation for receiving and noticing, being receptive to processing the opportunities for growth with clear and defined mental and physical means for discovery and growth by process of engaging in these methods and practices.

Martial Arts and Purpose Wujifa System Talks #3

Reading at the tomb of Confucius

The big question in martial arts and of course in Wujifa is the one that people should explore and return to often is why am I doing this or what purpose or reason I am doing and practicing this. There are a number of chunk sizes one can ask this question at as well. One question could be about the smallest of movements or motivations. Another way to explore this question on the reason or purpose is what are you looking for and what are you willing to do to achieve your goals?

This of course is another Wujifa System Talks video which is here to help explore this very question of purpose at the larger chunk size "What are you willing to do to achieve your goals?" Now in this Wujifa System Talks which is the third so far in the series addresses this question. The answer really comes down to every person's willingness to explore and be honest with themselve. Hopefully this video recording will help spark a few questions you may want to explore more deeply. Personally one should return to these kinds of questions every so often to see if your still on the right track and more importantly to see if you really are living up to the goals you've been setting.


Click HERE to watch this video on YouTube

As you may notice that over time we can drift away from what we had been working so hard to achieve. Why we do this isn't as important as noticing this and making the adjustments that will aid in getting back into the habit. It's funny because no matter what we choose to do our action will become habits over time. Those who quit half way through a goal may notice that this pattern shows up in many other places in their life. Another pattern is never taking a good look at what they are avoiding and why. That person is always wondering why doesn't it ever work out, or how it ends up the other guys get somuch success. The interesting thing is that those that see things through are also most likely to develop the habit of seeing things though in other areas of life as well. The choices are before us every day and how make these choices are very important even when it come to very simple and basic things.

This is one of the aspects I like about Wujifa and different types of training, that is noticing the patterns that show up. In Wujifa stance training or Zhan Zhuang practice so often when people start out training they find after a certian point they feel like they are ready to jump out of their skin. Why should this be and how many other places does this show up? Another habit is they dance around in order to distract themselves so they don't have to deal with the issues at hand to get through to the other side of an issue. People who have really made the effort have found this to be one of the most important aspects to their training. Discovering how to follow through on one's intention is so key and such a wonderful thing to notice and develop and can be explored in the simple practice of standing still for example.

Please leave your comment below and let us know what you think. Also, let us know if there is any subject or questions you might want to see explored in future in our "Wujifa System Talks." Making a wonder day starts by noticing and developing those habits and practices that aid in you finding more about who you really are... as always the choice you make come down to what you choose.

Wujifa System Talks More on Basic Stance or Zhan Zhuang Practices

Here is another Wujifa practices video on basic stance or Zhan Zhuang training. This series is called “Wujifa System Talks” that cover fundamental Wujifa or general practices as view through the Wujifa system frame work. In this series you will find more on the “Method” and practice as possibly helpful or even obtrusive to making real progress in you standing or Zhan Zhuang training.


Here is a link to YouTube for those who enjoy watching their videos there.

Principles are a deeper way of practicing as opposed to only training in basic methods that are all too commonly misused these days. Yet, as we say in Wujifa “You are where you are and that’s where you start.” All too often people start blindly following the methods of a system and fall asleep forgetting to probe further and asking themselves the harder questions. Methods you see are like drugs, they can be helpful if used with caution. All too often people end up becoming addicted to their methods and the depth in their training proceeds to stops right there. What are the basics, what are the basic principles? How can I refine and develop a deeper understanding in these elusive principles?

In Wujifa basic stance or Zhan Zhuang is a good place to start. Still you need to learn to eat bitter and seek validation from school brothers or others who are more skilled than you. Seek what you feel and what is at the edge of your understanding. Be willing to make mistakes and ask for help. Train often and focus and stay awake. Develop your intention and awareness in the process. These keys will help you find your way as you train and develop in your Wujifa training as you start on the path.