Getting cranked on!

So I just got back from my first chin na class and I have to say I really enjoyed not knowing what the hell I’m doing! I also have to say that what little kung fu I may have known is gone, gone, gone thanks to taekwondo (in fact it’s SO gone it isn’t even funny).

Anyhow, the class started with some basic stretching and warm-ups. Then we spent about 15 minutes on exercises that are designed to develop hand-eye coordination, forearm strength, wrist strength, and finger strength. These included:

• Dropping then snagging from the air a weight with alternate hands
• Rolling and unrolling a wooden dowel that had a weight attached to the end (this one sucketh)
• Standing in horse stance with one hand at hip and snagging nickels off a table and placing in the hip hand
• Tossing a bag of BBs back and forth and snagging out of the air
• Fingertip push-ups

Then I got introduced to three chin na techniques. One was called a “small hand wrap”, another was “turning body elbow wrap”, and the last was some sort of nasty finger split where the goal is to quite literally tear the fingers apart from what I’d describe as a side standing arm lock.

It sounds like these techiques are taught slowly then once the skill is there then speed becomes the main goal. The instructor also described these techniques as defenses against grabs that could lead to take downs or throws if you fail to execute against an opponent. (if you fail to lock it in you are going to get dumped!) Even though he said chin na is not as effective against punches we also practiced against punches which was enjoyable (and challenging) because it was more flow than a taekwondo hard block.

The main use (so far) seems to be a painful distraction which allows you to momentarily trap an appendage and then follow-up with a strike. Even on these three techniques I’m already seeing how I could easily follow-up with a taekwondo strike. The other thing I noticed is that when these three techniques were properly applied to me there was no way in hell I was getting out.

While there are *some* similarities to taekwondo’s self-defense I can see that chin na is a totally different game. I can also see that my brief time in boxing along with PPCT and taekwondo have overruled anything even remotely resembling kung fu that I once may have known.

Oh and get this: They played Chinese music while we trained! I’ve forgotten that kwoons are generally not militaristic like a dojo or dojang. So, part of my time was spent being nervous and worrying that I needed to bow when these guys could give a rip!

I still have to visit an aikido dojo but I have to say I liked what I saw in chin na. It’s not kung fu per se but it would be a very nice companion art to the hard styles I already know.

~BCP

The Science of Meditation?

Mindfulness meditation: Lotus therapy by Benedict Carey.

Some proponents say Buddha’s arrival in psychotherapy signals a broader opening in the culture at large — a way to access deeper healing, a hidden path revealed.

Yet so far, the evidence that mindfulness meditation helps relieve psychiatric symptoms is thin, and in some cases, it may make people worse, some studies suggest. Many researchers now worry that the enthusiasm for Buddhist practice will run so far ahead of the science that this promising psychological tool could turn into another fad.

This meditative practice is easy to describe but science has not had enough time to study it.

Mindfulness meditation is easy to describe. Sit in a comfortable position, eyes closed, preferably with the back upright and unsupported. Relax and take note of body sensations, sounds and moods. Notice them without judgment. Let the mind settle into the rhythm of breathing. If it wanders (and it will), gently redirect attention to the breath. Stay with it for at least 10 minutes.

It appears that one of the problems is separating the kooks and cranks from those who are teaching something that can actually help.

The question, said Linda Barnes, an associate professor of family medicine and pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine, is not whether mindfulness meditation will become a sophisticated therapeutic technique or lapse into self-help cliché.

“The answer to that question is yes to both,” Barnes said.

The real issue, most researchers agree, is whether the science will keep pace and help people distinguish the mindful variety from the mindless.

Page 3 has a nice summary of four types of meditation and their potential therapeutic benefits.

The problem here is that legitimate scientific study takes decades so these questionable results do not necessarily mean meditative practices have no therapeutic benefits.

~BCP