Cotton Style Seminar with Mr Chen Yong Kan, Saturday 26 May 2007
Hosted by FWC Oxford, together with Real Wushu Scholar
by FWC Instructor Stefan Warhaftig
On Saturday 26 May, 40 martial artists gathered in Oxford to be introduced to Cotton Style Kung Fu with Mr Chen Yong Kan, its leading practitioner from Shanghai, China.
Cotton Style is little known, and certainly not practised to any high level, outside of Shanghai. In Shanghai, however, it is famed for its no-nonsense approach to producing top quality fighters. The UK martial artists were very fortunate to have this day with Mr Chen. His usual approach is that he would rather not have any students if they were not completely committed to their training.
The day began with Karim Daoud leading the group through a series of foundation training exercises from the Cotton Style. Mr Daoud is an Instructor of Fujian White Crane Kung Fu based in North West London, and for the duration of Mr Chen?s visit has been training extensively in Cotton Style. It became obvious that he had quickly acquired some proficiency in the style, together with an impressive level of Mandarin translation ability (Mr Chen speaks no English).
Mr Chen then took over, refining the group?s practise of foundation exercises. In common with many other Chinese martial arts there was a focus on building strength and endurance in the legs and waist and on keeping the body relaxed and ?whippy?. Although Cotton Style is fundamentally a ?soft style? and so has common elements with the more well-known Tai Chi, Mr Chen would emphasise ?first be hard, then be soft?. And this does seem in keeping with how Western practitioners fail to realise the point of soft styles ? they mistake soft for floppy and pay no attention to building that strong foundation. They look for ?energy? and ?chi? rather than allowing it to happen through developing a strong, flexible and healthy body.
So that was the hard part. The fun part began when the room paired off to practise a range of partnered fighting drills. Some would pick up the essence of Cotton Style principles as they countered to a set attack. Others turned it into a brutal conditioning exercise that would go on and on, causing the most colourful bruises to appear all over the body. There was a fine line between too little force and too much damage. Too little would get a disdainful look, but too much would result in a finger-wagging telling off. However, he seemed particularly enthusiastic when the two biggest men in the room (and we?re talking 20-stoners) paired up and practically beat each other up. I?m not sure if he was impressed with their style, but as he took photos to show everyone back home he gave an encouraging thumbs up!
Mr Chen?s teaching was very hands on. He would correct individuals, showing how the smallest change would produce the desired effect. And when he wanted to show the correct way to do it, it normally ended up being a very painful demonstration. Everyone responded immediately to his teaching style and any nervousness on either side (teacher or student) didn?t last long.
Possibly the most interesting part of the day was at the end. Everyone was given a rest (after one last foundation exercise that simply involved lying on the floor holding the body rigid for ten minutes ? deceptively gruelling) and Mr Chen took questions. The questions ranged from topics on Cotton Style, to general fighting principles, to Mr Chen?s own training and of his students.
The day was an overriding success. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet a martial artist of such high ability outside of travelling to China. Mr Chen, like many of his contemporaries, is not well-known outside of his training circle. Their ability is from a lifetime dedication to their training, not to promoting themselves to pander to Western desire for mythical or magical powers. I would like to thank Master Ngo, Chief Instructor of FWC Kung Fu, for his work in arranging for Mr Chen?s visit to the UK, and hope that Real Wushu Scholar can carry on with its agenda of bringing the very best of Chinese martial arts to a wider audience.