When we are unaware in our bodies, when we are not connected to the feelings of our body (through the mind and senses) then it is easy for tension and stress to enter. The reason is that tension has become our default setting! The body must respond with tension (tension through muscular force) because if it doesn’t then the body will fall right over.
But if we can become Mindful of our posture and movements then we can keep tension and stress at bay, not allowing them to be the default response and locking us up. In this way, relaxation becomes the response and we meet force through a complete feeling of the body’s mass and connection. We unify the body through relaxation and we move the relaxed mass through open and free joint rotation. This allows freedom of movement in the whole body and makes it possible to move in a mindful way, unlocking the power of our focus and mind.
Wing Chun Kung Fu is a practice that develops this skill and in my opinion there is no place better in the world to learn Wing Chun than in Hong Kong. Many of the great Wing Chun masters in the world derived from Hong Kong and our teacher Chu Shong Tin was one of them.
We were very lucky to come to HK at a time he was around set us on a path in developing and cultivating Mind Force (Nim Lik), which brings out relaxation and openness and now we work daily to pass on this teaching to help others find the same.
– Chris Tannous (Instructor at Mindful Wing Chun Hong Kong)