On Wednesday 11 June 2014 my Sifu Martin Gale hosted a special 2h Qigong and Wing Chun seminar at the Hexham class. This was part of his bi-annual visit to the area. On that night, Qigong and Wing Chun students were able to deepen their knowledge of the skills and learn more of the principles and applications.

During a standard class, there is not always enough time to delve into more in-depth knowledge. That is why a longer and dedicated seminar is so valuable to have time to learn more details, practice them and digest them.

On the night, Sifu took the Qigong students through the first form of the Dayan (Wild Goose) syllabus, called  Balancing Gong. As all of the students were already familiar with the movements, Sifu was able to convey how to bring into the movements relaxation, good posture and moving from the body’s centre (called the Dantian). These are all fundamental principles of Qigong, which sound straightforward on the surface but can take some time to really apply and feel in the body.

The junior students liked it as these were new concepts to them. The senior students also liked it as whilst they were familiar with the theory, checking and improving the practice is always needed and welcome.

There was also lots to learn for the Wing Chun students. They were able to practice Siu Lim Tao (first form of the system) on one leg, which tests one’s leg and internal strength and balance. The second form (Tsum Kiu) was also covered and many interesting and unusual techniques were tried out. Sifu explained one of his signature technique, the back hand Lap Sau, which worked very well indeed.

In Wing Chun it is important to Chi Sau (meaning sticking hand) with many different type of people. Whether they are bigger, smaller, more junior, more senior, for each hand that you touch you learn something new and improve your Chi Sau skill . To that effect, the students were able to Chi Sau with Sifu, which is always a very good experience.

Not everybody was able to attend on the night, but for those who missed the seminar, they have the opportunity to meet Sifu again on his next visit for a Qigong and Wing Chun seminar in the autumn.

Some photos from the night are available in the Qigong Gallery.